Before starting with lucid dreaming ...

Dash_Iros · March 8, 2004, 12:15am

I gotta ask a question :
Are we really suposed to play with our brain like that ?
I mean , is lucid dreaming somehow … dangerous to you ?

fear · March 8, 2004, 12:19am

hey it’s our brain why not! no i don’t think it’s dangerous. unless you get really excited and have heart attack

Mike716 · March 8, 2004, 12:20am

Not at all, it’s just like normal dreaming but you are aware that you are dreaming.

moogle · March 8, 2004, 12:37am

There has been a previous topic about this…but I can’t remember where it was posted here. If anyone finds it before me, can you post the link to it on this thread?

pav · March 8, 2004, 9:08am

LaBerge:

CAN LUCID DREAMING BE DANGEROUS?

The overwhelming majority of lucid dreams are positive, rewarding experiences. Moreover, lucidity in unpleasant dreams or nightmares can transform habitual fear into conscious courage. The simple state of lucidity is frequently enough to elevate the mood of a dreamer in a nightmare. In a study of the effect of lucid dreams on mood, college students reported that realizing they were dreaming in a nightmare helped them feel better about 60 percent of the time. Lucidity was seven times more likely to make nightmares better than worse.

A parallel concern is that dying in a dream can cause death in reality. If this were true, how would we know? Anyone who died from a dream could not tell us about its content. Many people, after awakening alive, report having died in their dreams with no ill effect. Dreams of death can actually be insightful experiences about life, rebirth, and transcendence.

Some people believe that dreams are messages from the unconscious mind and should not be consciously altered. Modern research on dreaming, discussed further in chapter 5 of EWLD, suggests that dreams are not messages, but models of the world. While awake, sensory and perceptual information governs our model. While dreaming, our bodies are paralyzed and our brain builds a world model based on a secondary source; namely, our assumptions, motivations, and expectations. These biases are difficult to identify while awake, so a world based entirely on such biases, the world of dreams, can help us to recognize them. Thus, dreams are not messages, but are more like clues into the inner workings of our minds. The conscious and critical awareness that accompanies lucid dreams allows dreamers to thoughtfully interpret their dreams while they happen.

Finally, some people worry that lucid dreams are so exciting and pleasurable that they will become addicted and “sleep their life away.” There is a biological obstacle to living in lucid dreams: we have a limited amount of REM sleep. More importantly, lucid dreams can be inspirations for how to act and improve in reality. Your behavior strongly influences your experience in both worlds. Lucid dreams can be signposts for how you can make your waking reality more exciting and enjoyable.

from FAQ at lucidity.com

oneiromancer · March 8, 2004, 11:45am

we’re a bunch of lucid dreamers, OF COURSE we’re going to tell you it’s not dangerous (but then again, i guess our opinion would be the informed one). have you ever expressed an interest in joining the… i dunno… chess club, and have all the chess club members telling you how playing chess can lead to insanity if you’re not careful ???

but seriously, i will say one thing… i think your worry about playing with your brain makes the assumption that your conscious mind is the only form of intelligence in your brain, which i have found is not the case. the subconscious has outwitted, tricked, and refused my best efforts in the past, and will probably do so in the future. if my brain doesn’t want me to play with it, it simply won’t let me, or play with me instead… however you wish to perceive it.

Sureal · March 8, 2004, 7:26pm

Yup.

Lucid dreaming can MAKE YOU DIE INSTANTLY!!!

Um, actualy. No.
Unless you think your dreaming when your not. Cos jumping out the 8th floor window flapping your arms or running full speed into a mirror isn’t really a very smart thing to do. Cos it’ll hurt and junk.

Dash_Iros · March 10, 2004, 6:07pm

ok …
thanks for the info