Blog Post #13 05/11/15
The way I see it, lucid dreaming is kind of like a superpower. It is a difficult thing to achieve, and many people wish to be able to do so. a lucid dream is a dream one can have where they are aware that they are dreaming, and in some cases, are able to control their actions within the dream.
Lucid dreams are quite strange, and it is incredibly difficult to understand exactly why we dream, let alone why we lucid dream. Lucid dreams have been a science-fiction mystery for the longest time, and that is what introduces my theory of it being a superpower.
People who can lucid dream often realize that they're dreaming by seeing something in their dream that gives it away. For some, it's by looking at the clock and seeing that time is flying much faster than it should, for others it could be seeing something that they wouldn't see in real life. Most people that I've spoken to who lucid dream have said that they realized they were dreaming when they looked at their hands. Actually, many people who lucid dream are able to achieve awareness when they look at their hands. Often times in a lucid dream, your hands appear distorted or strangely different.
Lucid dreaming can be quite fun for people who can achieve it, because you can control everything that you do. If you are able to master it, you can sometimes control everything that happens in the dream. Lucid dreaming has an interesting history with how people have viewed it. During the dark ages, there were 2 kinds of dreams. There were dreams that were viewed as a higher truth (aka "visions"), and dreams that were provoked by the devil. Lucid dreaming was seen as a form of witchcraft or a satanic ritual of some sort. The superstitions placed on dreams from the past are what introduced our slight disregard for dreams in today's culture, which is kind of sad. Dreams are one of the brain's most beautiful mysteries, and it's upsetting to think that today's generation pays little to no attention to them.
Lucid dreaming is not easy, but it is possible, even for someone who's never done it before. There are certain steps and measures you can take to help induce lucid dreams. Keeping a dream journal is always a good idea, not just for inducing lucid dreams, but for improving brain activity altogether. The minute you wake up, write down as much as you can remember from your dream. Try to keep track of patterns or reoccurring objects that always appear in your dreams, because they might help you to recognize when you're dreaming. Lucid dreaming can also be induced by keeping a light-alarm. Setting an alarm that turns on a light approximately 90 minutes after you fall asleep. At around this time, you should be going through REM (Rapid Eye Movement), where you are at your phase of deepest sleep and are most likely to lucid dream. As well, if you feel like you might be dreaming, or even just throughout your day, do constant reality checks. Look at a piece of text. You should try a clock, but any text should work, including this post. Try it now. Look at the text, look away, then look back. If it has changed or is blurry, then you are dreaming. The same thing work with your hands and feet, because in dreams you hands and feet appear distorted. All these things help to practice functioning within and help to induce lucid dreams.
Dreams are one of humanity's most magnificent mysteries. Dreams are the kind of things that are thought about so little that you'd assume science would have a lot of information about it, but in actuality, scientists have close to no clue why we dream, let alone lucid dream. Dreams are a wonder of the human brain; beautiful works of art engineered for each of our minds. Psychologists use dreams as a way to analyze patients constantly, because you are not conscious, allowing your subconscious brain to take over and expose information about your current condition. Dreams have always been incredibly symbolic and they should be. Being something that has given our brain the power to vividly create a film of our own in our minds, dreams should be seen as something magical and exquisite.
Yours truly,
Kat.N
Lucid dreams are quite strange, and it is incredibly difficult to understand exactly why we dream, let alone why we lucid dream. Lucid dreams have been a science-fiction mystery for the longest time, and that is what introduces my theory of it being a superpower.
People who can lucid dream often realize that they're dreaming by seeing something in their dream that gives it away. For some, it's by looking at the clock and seeing that time is flying much faster than it should, for others it could be seeing something that they wouldn't see in real life. Most people that I've spoken to who lucid dream have said that they realized they were dreaming when they looked at their hands. Actually, many people who lucid dream are able to achieve awareness when they look at their hands. Often times in a lucid dream, your hands appear distorted or strangely different.
Lucid dreaming can be quite fun for people who can achieve it, because you can control everything that you do. If you are able to master it, you can sometimes control everything that happens in the dream. Lucid dreaming has an interesting history with how people have viewed it. During the dark ages, there were 2 kinds of dreams. There were dreams that were viewed as a higher truth (aka "visions"), and dreams that were provoked by the devil. Lucid dreaming was seen as a form of witchcraft or a satanic ritual of some sort. The superstitions placed on dreams from the past are what introduced our slight disregard for dreams in today's culture, which is kind of sad. Dreams are one of the brain's most beautiful mysteries, and it's upsetting to think that today's generation pays little to no attention to them.
Lucid dreaming is not easy, but it is possible, even for someone who's never done it before. There are certain steps and measures you can take to help induce lucid dreams. Keeping a dream journal is always a good idea, not just for inducing lucid dreams, but for improving brain activity altogether. The minute you wake up, write down as much as you can remember from your dream. Try to keep track of patterns or reoccurring objects that always appear in your dreams, because they might help you to recognize when you're dreaming. Lucid dreaming can also be induced by keeping a light-alarm. Setting an alarm that turns on a light approximately 90 minutes after you fall asleep. At around this time, you should be going through REM (Rapid Eye Movement), where you are at your phase of deepest sleep and are most likely to lucid dream. As well, if you feel like you might be dreaming, or even just throughout your day, do constant reality checks. Look at a piece of text. You should try a clock, but any text should work, including this post. Try it now. Look at the text, look away, then look back. If it has changed or is blurry, then you are dreaming. The same thing work with your hands and feet, because in dreams you hands and feet appear distorted. All these things help to practice functioning within and help to induce lucid dreams.
Dreams are one of humanity's most magnificent mysteries. Dreams are the kind of things that are thought about so little that you'd assume science would have a lot of information about it, but in actuality, scientists have close to no clue why we dream, let alone lucid dream. Dreams are a wonder of the human brain; beautiful works of art engineered for each of our minds. Psychologists use dreams as a way to analyze patients constantly, because you are not conscious, allowing your subconscious brain to take over and expose information about your current condition. Dreams have always been incredibly symbolic and they should be. Being something that has given our brain the power to vividly create a film of our own in our minds, dreams should be seen as something magical and exquisite.
Yours truly,
Kat.N