Lucid dreaming is when you are not only dreaming, but when you are doing so you know you are dreaming within your dream. Most people have experienced this sensation, while up to 20% of Americans say that they have these types of dreams on a monthly basis. 72% of people that do or have had a lucid dream say they have the ability to manipulate their dreams to their favor. With the ability to control your dreams, that gives the individual the ability to make lucid nightmares have a more desirable outcome. However, there is no evidence suggesting that improving our dreams outcomes have any significant effect on the outcome of depression, anxiety or any other adjustment problems, despite some researchers making those claims.
One interesting point is that researchers have yet to conclude if one is actually sleeping during a lucid dream or if it is just that people say that their dream had a lucid quality to it after they awoke. While lucid dreaming isn't as interesting of a concept as "Inception", it is still somewhat of a mystery and a very unknown experience.
Chapter 5: Lucid Dreaming
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I remember a lucid dream that I was breathing under water and I was definitely knowing that I was dreaming because it was too unrealitisic. As parts of the brain still working in the dream, we may realise the dream when it goes too far and we would be suspicious on that, while my feeling is that in the dream we mainly accept "things" while hardly think about what is that.
Are lucid dreams correlated with particular feelings before or during sleep? While reading this blog, I was curious to know how lucid dreams occur; whether lucid dreams are caused by a state of mind, or brain neurons continuing to fire throughout sleep? It would be interesting to learn more about how lucid dreams are actually occurring in the brain, as well as the types of dreams the sleeper is having, and how they are feeling while having lucid dreams. If the dreams are lucid, how is the sleeper still aware that they are dreaming, and how do they know how to control these dreams?
Lucid dreaming is one of the incredible ways that the brain is capable of tricking you. Similar to sensory illusions, lucid dreaming makes one experience sensations in a way that is not truly real. It is amazing that one can think they are fully aware, when they are in fact merely dreaming.
Lucid dreaming is an example of how powerful the mind is. The brain can simulate sensation, and trick on into believing they are experiencing a reality far different from sleeping in their bed.
Even when we realize things in dreams are obviously not real, the very nature of the dream distracts us from the rest. For example in the water breathing dream you may have known you couldn't breath underwater, but you may have been telling this to a dolphin you were having a very interesting conversation with. I find that most of my dreams are bizarre like this, for example flying on a giant bee leading an fleet of bees against an flock of giant songbirds, or fighting pirates on a giant real life version of the classic "Dont Break the Ice". Its always interesting when i fall asleep.
The concept of lucid dreaming is fascinating to me. I myself have never had a lucid dream or at least cant recall experiencing one. Is lucid dreaming something that occurs randomly or is there a way to control a lucid dream? It would be interesting to learn how the dreamer is able to control their dream and under what circumstances can lucid dreaming occur.
Personally I love lucid dreams. I usually do not remember my dreams any more. I would say that I only remember a dream just a few times a month. However, when I do remember it, it is usually a lucid dream. I definitely feel that I am able to manipulate what is happening in my dream. The power of our minds and the concept of dreams are fascinating to me.
Lucid dreaming is something that fascinates me. It is crazy to think of all the possibilities your brain can play tricks on you while you are sleeping. I wonder if there is anyway to control lucid dreaming for some people? I hope that future research can back this idea up more so it isn't such a mystery!
Is there a way to have lucid dreams more frequently? For example a particular diet or possibly doing a particular task before going to bed. But this is very interesting that people actually know that they are dreaming so they can control it. What part of the brain is firing when stuff like this is going on in the mind? I am sorry I am asking so many questions there is just so much to think about to try to understand how Lucid Dreams work.