Lucid Dreaming

Have you ever made the realization that you are dreaming within a dream? The term for this phenomenon is “lucid dreaming,” and it happens to most people at least once in their lifetime. Within a lucid dream, the dreamer becomes aware they are dreaming and, therefore, may be able to alter the events of the dream. In this capacity, some people utilize lucid dreaming as a transformational practice.

Children and young teenagers tend to have more lucid dreams than adults, and for those that have them regularly, lucid dreams occur about three to four times per month. Some benefits of lucid dreaming may include lessening of nightmares and depression and improved confidence.

“Lucidity calms the mind and body and makes dreams safe. Learning that dreams are safe, involves, in effect, learning not to fear one’s own mental activity…this fearlessness should lead to a relaxation of defensiveness in encountering oneself,” wrote long-time student of Buddhism Andrew Holecek in his 2016 book, Dream Yoga, which serves as a practical guide to ease beginners into the act of lucid dreaming. “When students learn that the mind is a free, safe and private ‘space,’ permitting many options, they may use dreams…to generate new ideas and solutions to problems.”

If you can’t recall a lucid dream, there are some tips for increasing your chances of inducing them. While challenging to study, research suggests that we can prime ourselves before falling asleep by using prospective memory, which is the capacity to remember to do things in the future. For example, use a phrase, such as “the next time I’m dreaming, I will remember that I’m dreaming” every night before falling asleep. In one study with this technique, about 46 percent of the participants’ dreams were lucid after the second week. While recent research is showing positive findings for lucid dreaming on our wellbeing, it is also a practice that is rooted in ancient, spiritual traditions where sleep and dreams are a tool for psychological and spiritual transformation.

Whether you are looking for more presence, confidence, improved mood or simply more playfulness, lucid dreaming can be a useful practice while you sleep. Sweet, and perhaps conscious, dreams tonight!

Want to try? Before you can become the director of your dream, you have to first learn to become aware of when you are dreaming. These practices, done over time, can help induce lucidity.

Tips to Train Your Brain:

• Keep a Dream Journal. In order to have a lucid dream, you have to remember your dream in the first place. The act of simply writing down what you remember of your dreams first thing in the morning can improve your dream recall in just a few weeks.
• Mnemonic Induction. Before bed each night, concentrate single-mindedly on your intention to remember to recognize that you're dreaming. Tell yourself: “Next time I'm dreaming, I will remember I'm dreaming.”
• Reality Testing. In order to lucid dream, you need to be able to tell the difference between reality and a dream. A way to learn that is with a reality check: Assign yourself to perform a specific exercise several times a day, like checking your watch. The repetitive nature of the action encourages it to also show up in your dream, in which it’s always slightly altered – i.e. the numbers on the watch are incorrect or the hands move too quickly – leading you to the realization in your dream that you are, in fact, dreaming.
• Download an App. There are apps to aid you in the above steps, like HowToLucid, which doubles as a dream journal and allows you to set reminders to do reality checks during the day.