The Benefits Of Lucid Dreaming
Imagine swimming on the deep blue ocean floor next to a submerged submarine, completely surrounded by the vivid colors of the aquatic life. Envision traveling around the world in thirty minutes, seeing everything from the pyramids of Egypt to the frozen tundra of Antarctica. How about traveling the universe on a blue moped that goes faster than the speed of light? What if one could do all of this without ever leaving the bed? With lucid dreaming all of this, and more, is possible.
Lucid dreaming is having full waking consciousness while dreaming. It has been developed to the point where anyone who wants to can experience lucid dreaming. It may even change the way society views dreaming. Lucid dreaming is more advantageous than non-lucid dreaming because one can venture, overcome fears, and enhance abilities.
This report will prove that lucid dreaming is more useful than non-lucid dreaming, starting with the early history of lucid dreaming and moving up to modern times. The content will go in depth on modern influences on lucid dreaming, including the influence of technology. The Tibetan Buddhist views on the dream world and lucid dreaming will be discussed, as well as the characteristics of a lucid dream. The benefits of lucid dreams will be shown and the future of lucid dreaming will be discussed. Although lucid dreaming is a fairly new discovery, it has been briefly mentioned throughout history.
In 350 B.C., Aristotle wrote, “For often, when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream” (Aristotle, 6). This is the first known mention of lucid dreaming. Almost 700 years later, St. Augustine wrote letters that mentioned lucid dreams. Another 300 years after that, around 800 A.D., the Tibetan Buddhists claimed to practice a form of yoga that dealt directly with the dream state. The yoga was designed to maintain full waking consciousness while in the dream state (Ziesing, 1).
The first major advances with lucid dreaming were made by Marquis d’Hervey in 1867 and Frederik Van Eeden in 1913. Hervey wrote a book, Dreams and How to Guide Them, which was based on the twenty years of research involving dreams. This was probably the first extended discussion of this state (Lewis, 151). Van Eeden thought up the term “lucid dream,” and was also famous for “making his findings known in 1913 to the British Society for Psychical Research in a paper titled On Dreams, which encompassed 352 lucid dreams” (“Introduction to Lucid Dreams”, 1).
Although Sigmund Freud was a key figure in dreaming in the nineteenth century, his focus was not on lucid dreaming. He was aware that lucid dreaming existed because in The Interpretation of Dreams, he wrote, “… there are people who are quite clearly aware during the night that they are asleep and dreaming and who thus seem to possess the faculty of consciously directing their dreams”(Stout, 2). Freud had lucid dreams of his own but believed that using dreams for therapy was more productive than using them for mere pleasure (Stout, 2).
More technological advances in lucid dreaming have occurred within the last fifty years. The scientific community used to regard sleep as a complete withdrawal from the world. When sleep research began in 1952, it was discovered that there were different stages of sleep. If a person was to wake from REM sleep, they almost always remembered a dream (Ziesing, 2). There were few books written about lucid dreaming in the 1960’s and 70’s because the topic was not widely known. The most important figure in lucid dreaming of our time, Stephen LaBerge, brought technology to the concept and shed light onto the subject of lucid dreams.
Stephen LaBerge is the most widely know figure in lucid dream studies. He began to have lucid dreams at a young age and continued to have them throughout his life. LaBerge resolved to study the phenomenon while in his psychology graduate program at Stanford University (Lewis, 151). In 1977 LaBerge decided to take the scientific approach to lucid dreaming:
“In laboratory tests at Stanford University and other sites, lucid dreamers proved the existence of this phenomenon by signaling to the researchers. The subjects did this by moving their eyes in a prearranged pattern while asleep. […] When the sleeping lucid dreamers moved the eyes of their dream-body in a particular pattern – up and down, and side-to-side – their physical eyes moved correspondingly; this activity could be seen and recorded by the researchers. Even without these scientific confirmations, lucid dreamers know that their experience is genuine; our body is asleep but our mind is awake.” (Stout, 2)
LaBerge wrote two books on lucid dreaming. The first, published in 1985, was called Lucid Dreaming. He then wrote a follow up book in 1990 called Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming (LD Revisited, 2). In these books, he discusses many of the techniques that he developed in his studies of lucid dreams. Some of the popular ones include Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD), and learning to recognize dream signs. The MILD technique is repeating a saying, like, “I will lucid dream tonight” continuously, while falling asleep. Dream signs are signals within a dream that indicate one is asleep. Tapellini stated that, “one common dream sign: elements within your dream are out of context. Objects are not where they belong within a room, or certain people are in locations they normally wouldn’t be – how often do your parents drop in at the office?” LaBerge also coined the term “oneironats” in his books, which comes from the Greek word “oneiros,” which means dream. He uses this term for lucid dreamers because they explore the dream world.
In 1987, LaBerge founded the Lucidity Institute (www.lucidity.com), which offers newsletters, induction methods, and other information to dreamers. The Lucidity Institute offers retreats for individuals who want to increase their skills in lucid dreaming. The next retreat takes place at the Kalani Retreat Center in Hawaii, covering ten days and nine nights. The retreat includes exercises to develop lucid dreaming, special sleep schedules to promote lucid dreaming, and technological/natural lucid dream enhancers.
The Lucidity Institute developed the DreamLight, the NovaDreamer, and the SuperNova software. Theses devices were the first technological approach to lucid dreaming. The Lucidity Institute designed the DreamLight in the early nineties. This was the first technological device to help people have lucid dreams. LaBerge designed these devices based on studies he made that showed optical cues worked better than cues to the other senses (L.D. Revisited, 2). The DreamLight was worn to bed at night. When REM sleep occurred, the device detected the eye movement and began to flash red lights at a predetermined rate.
A couple of years later, LaBerge released the NovaDreamer. This device was more practical to the average person, since it only cost around $300; The DreamLight cost around $1000. The NovaDreamer has “gentle lights and sounds from the mask that provides subconscious cues that tell you you’re dreaming without waking you up. If you’re able to pick up on those cues – LaBerge says that with the right training, anyone can do it – you’ll experience a lucid dream” (Goldman, 1). The NovaDreamer mask also tracks eye movement to detect REM sleep and will determine how long it takes a lucid dreamer to start dreaming after they have fallen asleep.
The NovaDreamer comes with a workbook with tips on becoming lucid as well as a copy of “Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming,” to give the person general information and build beginner skills with lucid dreaming. The SuperNova can also be purchased for an additional $200. “Combined with the SuperNova interface box which connects to the NovaDreamer, the software enables the NovaDreamer user to keep complete records of sleep data, including timing of REM periods, cues, settings, results and dream reports”(LD FAQ, 2). This software is an interactive program that a dreamer can use to track their results with lucid dreaming and become better at it.
The western world sees lucid dreaming as something new and entertaining, but the Eastern yogis have used lucid dreaming for spiritual awakening since the eighth century. “The seminal Chinese philosopher Chuang Tzu dreamed he was a butterfly. Upon awakening, he wondered whether he was a man who had dreamed he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was a man”(Zhine: Dream Yoga, 1).
This quote contains the center of Buddhist dream yoga and an underscore to a fundamental truth; life is like a dream. Dream yoga is a practice designed to develop lucid dreaming and use the dream state for spiritual awakening. Once lucidity is gained in a dream, the practitioner can learn to control the dream environment and shape it to their liking. The yogis can change the setting of the dream to places of healing, or can get advice from great figures of the past.
One focus of dream yoga is healing a person’s mind. “In accomplishing psychological tasks that are incomplete, or overcoming energetic difficulties, the effects of the dream can extend into waking life” (Wangyal, 1). A second focus of dream yoga is seeing the world as a dream. By doing this, the practitioner can realize that “all life is here today and gone tomorrow, like a dream.” The practitioner also will realize that “daily perceptions in the everyday waking state are also unreal” (Zhine: Dream Yoga, 2).
Lucid dreaming is possible without technology or dream yoga practices. LeBerge’s methods have been proven to work and are used by lucid dreamers everywhere. Every person is not the same, and lucid dreamers require different techniques to achieve the dream state. The first and most important step that is required for everyone is remembering his or her dreams. This is an easy task for most people because all it takes is the intention to do so. On average, a person has five REM periods per night; as the night goes on, the REM periods increase in length. This means that the average person dreams five times per night whether they remember it or not. The easiest way to remember dreams is to keep a dream journal next to the bed every night. Then, when waking in the morning, lay still in bed and let the mind wander to see if it can remember any dreams from the previous night.
The next step is to check throughout the day for dreaming. This can be done many ways. One way is by looking at the hands. In a dream, the lines on the hands never look the same. Sometimes they are scribbled, not there, or one can see their reflection in them. A second way is by looking at writing and then looking away. In a dream writing never stays the same when one looks back. A third way is to think of how someone got to where they are. If someone is in the middle of a desert with Moses, they might want to think of how they got into the desert. After doing one of these checks every hour or so, one is more likely to do one of these checks in a dream and realize they are dreaming.
A lucid dream is very different from a non-lucid dream. The most obvious reason for this is because one has their everyday consciousness in the dream environment. A non-lucid dream is like recalling something out of memory that was put there while in bed. In a lucid dream, it is almost as though the dreamer is in the waking world. Although their body is lying in the bed completely still, all of the senses and movements in the dream feel real. Emotions and feeling also exist in a lucid dream:
“During the dream, we might feel any emotion, including ecstasy (perhaps during a visit to a heavenly dreamscape) – or fear (although nightmare creatures can be confronted and even befriended, in contrast to our helplessness during non-lucidity). Lucid dreams give us a chance to know freedom; we can fly, walk through walls, live out any fantasy, and even change ourselves into another person. And when we awaken from a lucid dream, we are not tired from the adventures; our body feels as rested as it would feel from regular sleep, and our mind feels stimulated and refreshed.” (Stout, 6)
There is also a degree of control in lucid dreams that depends on how much experience the person has had with them. A person who is in a lucid dream for the first time may only be able to observe what is going on in the surrounding dream setting. An expert dreamer can change every aspect of the dream. “There are no restrictions on the time, place, or activities; anything which we can imagine can be accomplished with the same visual detail, emotions, and tactile sensations which we would expect from wakeful life” (Stout, 6).
Lucid dreaming also has many levels depending on the individual dreamer. A novice dreamer can recognize that he or she is in a dream but may have no clarity or power to change the dream. “Lucidity is found and then lost, and the logic of the dream prevails over the conscious intent of the dreamer” (Wangyal, 1). To an experienced dreamer, the dream world can be more real than waking life and the benefits can be far greater because the amount of control that is available. “With experience, greater freedom is developed in the dream and the boundaries of the mind are overcome, until one can do literally anything one can think of to do” (Wangyal, 1). Although the control and clarity of a lucid dream can be different for each person, the benefits of the lucid dream can be experienced by anyone.
Lucid dreaming has many benefits. These benefits, which are created by the dreamer, will carry over into waking life. Although lucid dreaming takes a great deal of effort for some to achieve success, it is worth the efforts. The first benefit of lucid dreaming is that one can experience unparalleled adventure. This could include soaring through the sky to anywhere desired. One could create dangerous yet exciting scenarios without fear because they are safely tucked into their beds. A popular aspect of lucid dreaming is complete sexual freedom. Wild fantasies can be carried out without rational consequence. All of these are benefits because one can do the things they always wanted to do, without having to waste time or money.
The second benefit of lucid dreaming is that one can overcome fears. This can mean overcoming a recurring nightmare simply by facing it while lucid. Once the lucid dreamer realizes they are dreaming, that twenty-foot spider can be turned into a tiny bug and squished with no effort. “The confidence you acquire from facing dream fears can extend into your waking life, where you can use it to face and overcome fears and inhibitions that may be hampering your progress and limiting your freedom” (“What is Lucid Dreaming”, 1). This means that after a person with acrophobia walks along a board, over a cliff, in a dream, they will be less likely to panic the next time they have to look out the window of a skyscraper.
The third benefit of lucid dreaming is enhancing abilities for waking life. This can be used for obvious activities like sports, dancing, and playing music. “Lucid dreams feel so real that you can use them to practice and improve skills” (“What is Lucid Dreaming”, 1). Practicing running at top speeds in a lucid dream can prepare the athlete’s mind to run and raise his ambition to win the race. It is also can be used for a person who has a fear of speaking in front of people or for a doctor who wants to take a test run for his first surgery.
Non-lucid dreaming can offer some benefits to dreamers if the content is healing. Non-lucid dreaming is a passive state that the dreamer has no control over. The content of the dream can contain anything, including nightmares. Lucid dreaming is an active state that can be taken advantage of to the benefit of the dreamer. Lucid dreams offer all of these things and more to the people who take the time to learn how to do it.
The future of lucid dreaming has a lot in store. Lucid dream research has come a long way in the past couple decades but still has much more room to grow. LaBerge is still running and conducting experiments at the Lucidity Institutes. His goals include making lucid dreaming more accessible to the future generation, studying the correlation between external stimuli and dream content, and further exploration of the applications of lucid dreaming (LeBerge, 7).
There are also a growing number of web sites devoted to lucid dreaming that are expanding the general publics view on it. One web site offers a forum to novice and expert lucid dreamers providing a venue to share advice and talk about their lucid dream experiences. Now that lucid dreaming is available to the general public, it can change and grow to become a culture of its own.
Lucid dreaming has come a long way through history. It has been developed in our culture with technology, and in Buddhist culture with spirituality. With more studies being done by scientists, as well as civilians, more information is being discovered every day. When people become more aware of the infinite possibilities that lucid dreaming can bring, it will become a bigger part of society. Lucid dreaming may even change the way society views dreaming and make everyone realize the healing potential dreaming has.
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