Lucid dream: Difference between revisions

For the song by Franz Ferdinand, see Lucid Dreams.

Hypnos and Thanatos, Sleep and His Half-Brother Death by John William Waterhouse

A lucid dream is a dream in which the sleeper is aware that he or she is dreaming. When the dreamer is lucid, he or she can actively participate in and often manipulate the imaginary experiences in the dream environment. Lucid dreams can be extremely real and vivid depending on a person's level of self-awareness during the lucid dream.

A lucid dream can begin in one of three ways. A dream-initiated lucid dream operation (DILDO) starts as a normal dream, and the dreamer eventually concludes that he or she is dreaming, while a wake-initiated lucid dream operation (WILDO) occurs when the dreamer goes from a normal waking state directly into a dream state with no apparent lapse in consciousness. A mnemonic initiated lucid dream operation (MILDO) can happen when the dreamer intentionally affirms him/herself that they will become lucid that night. This can sometimes happen due to dream-signs or spontaneously upon remembrance. Lucid dreaming has been researched scientifically, and its existence is well established. Scientists such as Allan Hobson, with his neurophysiological approach to dream research, have helped to push the understanding of lucid dreaming into a less speculative realm.

Scientific history

The first book to recognize the scientific potential of lucid dreams was Celia Green's 1968 study Lucid Dreams. Green analyzed the main characteristics of such dreams. She reviewed previously published literature on the subject, and incorporated new data from subjects of her own. She concluded that they were a category of experience quite distinct from ordinary dreams, and predicted that they would turn out to be associated with rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep). Green was also the first to link lucid dreams to the phenomenon of false awakenings.

In the early 1970s, Daniel Oldis of the University of South Dakota leveraged the scientific principle of external sensory incorporation in an attempt to influence dream content and evoke lucidity. Three psychological techniques were employed: subconscious suggestion using a tape played before and during sleep; associative signaling using a muffled bell alarm timed to go off during REM sleep; and classical conditioning using a REM detection circuit and a bright eye-light. The results indicated that lucid dreaming can be facilitated using external cues and psychological methods.

Philosopher Norman Malcolm's 1959 text Dreaming had argued against the possibility of checking the accuracy of dream reports. However, the realization that eye movements performed in dreams affected the dreamer's physical eyes provided a way to prove that actions agreed upon during waking life could be recalled and performed once lucid in a dream. The first evidence of this type was produced in the late 1970s by British parapsychologist Keith Hearne. A volunteer named Alan Worsley used eye movement to signal the onset of lucidity, which were recorded by a polysomnograph machine.

Hearne's results were not widely distributed. The first peer-reviewed article was published some years later by Stephen LaBerge at Stanford University, who had independently developed a similar technique as part of his doctoral dissertation. During the 1980s, further scientific evidence to confirm the existence of lucid dreaming was produced as lucid dreamers were able to demonstrate to researchers that they were consciously aware of being in a dream state (again, primarily using eye movement signals). Additionally, techniques were developed which have been experimentally proven to enhance the likelihood of achieving this state. Research on techniques and effects of lucid dreaming continues at a number of universities and other centers, including LaBerge's Lucidity Institute.

Research and clinical applications

Neurobiological model

Neuroscientist J. Allan Hobson has hypothesized what might be occurring in the brain while lucid. The first step to lucid dreaming is recognizing that one is dreaming. This recognition might occur in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is one of the few areas deactivated during REM sleep and where working memory occurs. Once this area is activated and the recognition of dreaming occurs, the dreamer must be cautious to let the dream delusions continue but be conscious enough to recognize them. This process might be seen as the balance between reason and emotion. While maintaining this balance, the amygdala and parahippocampal cortex might be less intensely activated. To continue the intensity of the dream hallucinations, it is expected the pons and the parieto-occipital junction stay active.

Treatment for nightmares

It has been suggested that people who suffer from nightmares could benefit from the ability to be aware they are indeed dreaming. A pilot study was performed in 2006 that showed that lucid dreaming treatment was successful in reducing nightmare frequency. This treatment consisted of exposure to the idea, mastery of the technique, and lucidity exercises. It was not clear what aspects of the treatment were responsible for the success of overcoming nightmares, though the treatment as a whole was successful.

Australian psychologist Milan Colic has explored the application of principles from narrative therapy with clients' lucid dreams, to reduce the impact not only of nightmares during sleep, but also depression, self-mutilation, and other problems in waking life. Colic found that clients' preferred direction for their lives, as identified during therapeutic conversations, could lessen the distressing content of dreams, while understandings about life—and even characters—from lucid dreams could be invoked in "real" life with marked therapeutic benefits.

Perception of time

The rate that time passes while lucid dreaming has been shown to be about the same as while waking. However, a 1995 study in Germany indicated that lucid dreaming can also have varied time spans, in which the dreamer can control the length. The study took place during sleep and upon awakening, and required the participants to record their dreams in a log and how long the dreams lasted. In 1985, LaBerge performed a pilot study where lucid dreamers counted out ten seconds while dreaming, signaling the end of counting with a pre-arranged eye signal measured with electrooculogram recording. LaBerge's results were confirmed by German researchers in 2004. The German study, by D. Erlacher and M. Schredl, also studied motor activity and found that deep knee bends took 44% longer to perform while lucid dreaming.

Near-death and out-of-body experiences

In a study of fourteen lucid dreamers performed in 1991, people who perform wake-initiated lucid dreams operation (WILDO) reported experiences consistent with aspects of out-of-body experiences such as floating above their beds and the feeling of leaving their bodies. Due to the phenomenological overlap between lucid dreams, near death experiences, and out-of-body experiences, researchers say they believe a protocol could be developed to induce a lucid dream similar to a near-death experience in the laboratory.

Cultural history

Even though it has only come to the attention of the general public in the last few decades, lucid dreaming is not a modern discovery. A letter written by St. Augustine of Hippo in 415 AD refers to lucid dreaming. In the eighth century, Tibetan Buddhists and Bonpo were practicing a form of Dream Yoga held to maintain full waking consciousness while in the dream state. This system is extensively discussed and explained in the book Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light. One of the important messages of the book is the distinction between the Dzogchen meditation of Awareness and Dream Yoga. The Dzogchen Awareness meditation has also been referred to by the terms Rigpa Awareness, Contemplation, and Presence. Awareness during the sleep and dream states is associated with the Dzogchen practice of natural light. This practice only achieves lucid dreams as a secondary effect—in contrast to Dream yoga which is aimed primarily at lucid dreaming. According to Buddhist teachers, the experience of lucidity helps us to understand the unreality of phenomena, which would otherwise be overwhelming during dream or the death experience.

An early recorded lucid dreamer was the philosopher and physician Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682). Browne was fascinated by the world of dreams and stated of his own ability to lucid dream in his Religio Medici: "... yet in one dream I can compose a whole Comedy, behold the action, apprehend the jests and laugh my self awake at the conceits thereof;". Similarly, Samuel Pepys in his diary entry for 15 August 1665 records a dream "that I had my Lady Castlemayne in my arms and was admitted to use all the dalliance I desired with her, and then dreamt that this could not be awake, but that it was only a dream". Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys was probably the first person to argue that it is possible for anyone to learn to dream consciously. In 1867, he published his book Les Reves et les moyens de les diriger; observations pratiques (Dreams and How to Guide them; Practical Observations), in which he documented more than twenty years of his own research into dreams.

The term lucid dreaming was coined by Dutch author and psychiatrist Frederik van Eeden in his 1913 article "A Study of Dreams". This paper was highly anecdotal and not embraced by the scientific community. Some consider this a misnomer because it means much more than just "clear or vivid" dreaming. The alternative term conscious dreaming avoids this confusion. However, the term lucid was used by van Eeden in its sense of "having insight", as in the phrase a lucid interval applied to someone in temporary remission from a psychosis, rather than as a reference to the perceptual quality of the experience which may or may not be clear and vivid.

In the 1950s, the Senoi hunter-gatherers of Malaysia were reported to make extensive use of lucid dreaming to ensure mental health, although later studies refuted these claims.

The anthropologic studies in 1968 by Carlos Castaneda, for what later became the new age novel, The Teachings of Don Juan, reveals that ancient Mexican natives knew about and encouraged lucid dreaming.

Induction methods

Many people report having experienced a lucid dream during their lives, often in childhood. Children seem to have lucid dreams more easily than adults. Over time, several techniques have been developed to achieve a lucid dreaming state intentionally. The following are common factors that influence lucid dreaming and techniques that people use to help achieve a lucid dream:

Dream recall

Dream recall is simply the ability to remember dreams. Good dream recall is often described as the first step towards lucid dreaming. Better recall increases awareness of dreams in general; with limited dream recall, any lucid dreams one has can be forgotten entirely. To improve dream recall, some people keep a dream journal, writing down any dreams remembered the moment one awakes. An audio recorder can also be very helpful. It is important to record the dreams as quickly as possible as there is a strong tendency to forget what one has dreamt. For best recall, the waking dreamer should keep eyes closed while trying to remember the dream, and that one's dream journal be recorded in the present tense. Describing an experience as if still in it can help the writer to recall more accurately the events of their dream. Dream recall can also be improved by staying still after waking up. This may have something to do with REM atonia (the condition of REM sleep in which the motor neurons are not stimulated and thus the body's muscles do not move). If one purposely prevents motor neurons from firing immediately after waking from a dream, recalling the dream becomes easier. Similarly, if the dreamer changes positions in the night, they may be able to recall certain events of their dream by testing different sleeping positions. Another easy technique to help improve dream recall is to simply repeat (in thoughts or out loud) "I will remember my dreams," before falling asleep. Stephen LaBerge recommends that you remember at least one dream per night before attempting any induction methods.

Mnemonic induction of lucid dreams operation (MILDO)

The MILDO technique is a common technique developed by Stephen LaBerge used to induce a lucid dream at will by setting an intention, while falling asleep, to remember to recognize that one is dreaming or to remember to look for dream signs when one is in a dream.

One easy-to-apply method is to count yours or other people's fingers during the day, making sure it is done diligently and reaches the expected number. If this is done frequently when awake, similar behavior continues into the dream, where by some discrepancy from reality, the dreamer will realize he or she is dreaming and the dream will become lucid.

Another method is to look at text (such as a digital clock, or a road sign), turn away, and then look back. If the person is dreaming, the text will change to something else. The dreamer will realize he or she is dreaming and the dream will become lucid.

A key element in MILDO is reviewing in memory the dream from which one has just awoken. When a point is reached in the dream at which an obvious dream sign occurred (e.g., a man with two heads walks past) individuals performing this technique depart from actual memory and instead imagine they became aware they were dreaming. Upon returning to sleep, these individuals will often find themselves back in the same or similar dreams, sometimes even encountering similar dream signs—a situation that can improve the odds they will remember their intention to question whether or not they are dreaming, and thereby achieve lucidity.

Wake-back-to-bed (WBTB)

The wake-back-to-bed technique is often the easiest way to encourage a lucid dream. The method involves going to sleep tired and waking up five to six hours later. Then, focusing all thoughts on lucid dreaming, staying awake for an hour and going back to sleep while practicing the MILDO method. A 60% success rate has been shown in research using this technique. This is because the REM cycles get longer as the night goes on, and this technique takes advantage of the best REM cycle of the night. Because this REM cycle is longer and deeper, gaining lucidity during this time may result in a lengthier lucid dream.

Wake-initiation of lucid dreams (WILDO)

The wake-initiated lucid dream "occurs when the sleeper enters REM sleep with unbroken self-awareness directly from the waking state". There are many techniques aimed at entering a WILDO. The key to these techniques is recognizing the hypnagogic stage, which is within the border of being awake and being asleep. If a person is successful in staying aware while this stage occurs, they will eventually enter the dream state while being fully aware that it is a dream.

There are key times at which this state is best entered; while success at normal bedtime after having been awake all day is very difficult, it is relatively easy after sleeping for 3–7 hours or in the afternoon during a nap. Techniques for inducing WILDOs abound. Dreamers may count, envision themselves climbing or descending stairs, chant to themselves, control their breathing, count their breaths to keep their thoughts from drifting, concentrate on relaxing their body from their toes to their head, or allow images to flow through their "mind's eye" and envision themselves jumping into the image to maintain concentration and keep their mind awake, while still being calm enough to let their body sleep.

During the actual transition into the dream state, one is likely to experience sleep paralysis, including rapid vibrations, a sequence of loud sounds and a feeling of twirling into another state of body awareness, "to drift off into another dimension", or the feeling like passing the interface between water into air face-front body first, or images or sceneries they are thinking of and trying to visualize gradually sharpen and become "real", which they can actually "see", instead of the fuzzy indefinable sensations one feels when trying to imagine something when wide awake.

Cycle adjustment technique (CAT)

The cycle adjustment technique, developed by Daniel Love, is an effective way to induce lucid dreaming. It involves adjusting one's sleep cycle to encourage awareness during the latter part of the sleep. First, the person spends one week waking up 90 minutes before normal wake time until their sleep cycle begins to adjust. After this cycle adjustment phase, the normal wake times and early wake times alternate daily. On the days with the normal wake times, the body is ready to wake up, and this increases alertness, making lucidity more likely.

A variation on this method is WILDO-CAT. Identical in virtually all respects to the original Cycle Adjustment Technique, differing only in such that on the days in which one is allowed to sleep-in (normal wake times), the subject wakes briefly at the earlier wake time then returns immediately to sleep until the normal wake time. This allows the subject to return to sleep in the hope of inducing a Wake Initiated Lucid Dream. One advantage to WILDO-CAT is that it can be combined with other WILDO induction methods. The WILDO-CAT variation was also developed by Daniel Love.

Lucid Dream Supplements (LDS)

The Lucid Dream Supplement (LDS) technique was developed primarily by LaBerge with others following his lead. LaBerge filed for a patent application in December 2004 that outlined the basic technique of boosting Acetylcholine levels to promote lucid dreaming. The application included misleading details however; such as repeated references of ingesting the supplements at bedtime. It is now known that taking the right balance of supplements after several hours of sleep is far more effective. LaBerge did not name the method nor has he publicly discussed his research. The term LDS was coined by researcher/practitioner Scot Stride who worked with a small group of pioneers, including Thomas Yuschak, to optimize the LDS approach. The LDS method uses primarily non-prescription supplements that are ingested to produce favorable conditions for the brain's neurotransmitters and receptor sites during REM sleep. By increasing or balancing the levels of Acetylcholine, Serotonin, Dopamine and Noradrenaline the person can significantly influence dream vividness, memory, clarity, awareness and mood. Enhancing these mental states during REM sleep significantly increases the odds of becoming lucid. The LDS technique can be combined with other techniques (like WBTB or WILDO) to complement or amplify them to produce even better results. Thomas Yuschak describes the details of the technique in his book and is widely credited with popularizing the method. Based on anecdotal accounts from various website forums, many people who have experienced difficulties with the other techniques, for whatever reason, are using LDS as an aid in overcoming their obstacles. Some people use LDS to jump start their LD practice and then move on to one of the other traditional methods. Other people use it recreationally to experience more memorable and vivid dreams than they normally would. As well as the Lucid Dream Supplement some have reported increase in dream vividness using other vitamin supplements such as B6/B12.

Lucid dream induction devices (LDID)

Lucid dream induction is possible by the use of a physical device. A well-known and the original widely-distributed dream-induction device is the NovaDreamer, designed in 1993 by experienced lucid dreamer Craig Webb, Executive Director of The DREAMS Foundation. The general principle works by taking advantage of the natural phenomenon of incorporating external stimuli into one's dreams. Usually a device is worn while sleeping that can detect when the sleeper enters a REM phase and triggers a tone and/or flashing lights with the goal of these stimuli being incorporated into the dreamer's dream. For example, flashing lights might be translated to a car's headlights in a dream. The NovaDreamer concept and design has been imitated years later by such devices as The Dream Mask by Bruce Gelerter.

Another induction stimulus is vibration. A small vibrator placed on the hand, arm or ankle and triggered by REM activity, or a timer, can also serve as a cue to trigger a lucid dream. Additional techniques include reality tests (as below) practiced in waking life can lead to a test taking place within a dream, leading to the realization that one is dreaming or meditating. Hypnotic suggestion may help a person to achieve lucidity. Michael Katz referenced using simple hypnotic induction for the purpose of initiating lucid dreams in his introduction to the first edition of the book Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light. From the early 1980s, he went on to use this "guided nap" technique during dream yoga and lucid dream training. He conducts training internationally and maintains an archive of examples.

Lucid dream mask models

The Lucidity Institute produced the original Dreamlight and NovaDreamer models which were originally on sale for $120 and only produced in semi-limited quantities. Funds raised from these devices where used to help fund further research by the Lucidity Institute. A similar device called the NovaDreamer II has been "coming soon" since at least 2004, and should be made available to the general public in late 2009. A similar device known as the Dream Mask has also been produced. Some individuals have created their own devices using foam and simple electronics.

Reality testing

Reality testing (or reality checking) is a common method used by people to determine whether or not they are dreaming. It involves performing an action with results that will be different if the tester is dreaming. By practicing these tests during waking life, one may eventually decide to perform such a test while dreaming, which may fail and let the dreamer realize that they are dreaming. (The more foolproof the reality test, the better, as assuming one is dreaming can be dangerous)

• The pinch reality check: Pinch any part of your body and if you feel no pain (or if it feels "different" or "obstructed" compared to waking life) then it is a dream.
• The nose reality check: As if crossing your eyes, look down at the bridge of your nose. In a dream, you will not see your nose.
• The nose reality check: Pinch your nose and if you are able to breathe without using your mouth, it is a dream.
• Try to stick your finger through the palm of your hand.
• Looking at one's digital watch (remembering the time), looking away, and looking back. As with text, the time will probably have changed randomly and radically at the second glance or contain strange letters and characters. (Analog watches do not usually change in dreams, while digital watches and clocks have great tendency to do so.)
• Flipping a light switch. Light levels rarely change as a result of the switch flipping in dreams.
• Looking into a mirror; in dreams, reflections from a mirror often appear to be blurred, distorted, incorrect, or frightening.
• Looking at the ground beneath one's feet or at one's hands. If one does this within a dream the difference in appearance of the ground or one's hands from the normal waking state is often enough to alert the conscious to the dream state.
• Pick up a book and look inside. Often, the pages will be blank, or change after the second look.
• Look at your surroundings. If the placement of the buildings is different from what it ought to be, you are in a dream.
• Look at your clothing. If you are dreaming, there's a good chance that your clothing is out of the ordinary, too small or too large, or not even there.

A more precise form of reality testing involves examining the properties of dream objects to judge their apparent reality. Some lucid dreamers report that dream objects when examined closely have all the sensory properties, stability, and detail of objects in the physical world. Such detailed observation relates to whether mental objects and environments could effectively act as substitutes for the physical environments with the dreamer unable to see significant differences between the two. This has implications for those who claim there is a spiritual or supernatural world that might be accessible through out of body experience or after death.

Dream signs

Another form of reality testing involves identifying one's dream signs, or clues that one is dreaming. An individual may record their dreams in a dream journal and analyze the common themes to determine one's own dream signs. There are many kinds of dream signs, but they usually reflect the waking life of the person who has the dream.

For example, someone who is a doctor will often dream about performing duties in their field of specialization. The most common, and telling dreaming sign is that something illogical occurs in a completely natural and self-accepted manner (although the dreamer may not immediately realize this).

Dream signs can also reflect wants, fears, things the subject hates, and even finds embarrassing. They can manifest themselves in many different ways, depending on the dreamer.

Recognizing one's dream signs is an important technique for achieving lucid dreaming, and allowing one to become consciously aware of the dream state. The most common of the dream signs are as follows:

• Action — The dreamer, another dream character, or a thing does something unusual or impossible in waking life, such as flying, jumping or running great distances, walking through walls, teleporting/changing the dream setting, or noticing photographs in a magazine or newspaper becoming three-dimensional with full movement.
• Powerlessness — There is a sensational loss of bodily strength. This can mean being unable to move entirely, simply that you are unable to run away from something you otherwise would. This can also include a loss of senses, such as severely limited vision or hearing.
• Context — The place or situation in the dream is strange and includes fictional characters or places.
• Form — The dreamer, another character, or an object changes shape, is oddly formed, or transforms. This may include the presence of unusual clothing or hair, or a third person view of the dreamer.
• Awareness — There is a peculiar thought, a strong emotion, an unusual sensation, a loss of normal logic, or an altered perception. In some cases when moving one's head from side to side, one may notice a strange stuttering or 'strobing' of the image.
• Clocks — The dreamer looks at a clock or watch, looks away, then looks back, and the time could have changed, unintelligible symbols appear on the watch face or even the watch can be gone all together.
• Fingers — The dreamer seems to have an abnormal number of fingers (e.g. more than 5 on a hand).

One can build up a habit of periodically asking oneself throughout the day if you are dreaming, and performing some of the tasks above. This habit will eventually cause checks to be performed during a dream, leading to lucidity when dream signs are remembered and recognized.

Prolongation

One problem faced by people wishing to experience lucid dreams is awakening prematurely. This premature awakening can be frustrating after investing considerable time into achieving lucidity in the first place. Stephen LaBerge proposed two ways to prolong a lucid dream. The first technique involves spinning one's dream body. He proposed that when spinning, the dreamer is engaging parts of the brain that may also be involved in REM activity, helping to prolong REM sleep. The second technique is rubbing one's hands. This technique is intended to engage the dreamer's brain in producing the sensation of rubbing hands, preventing the sensation of lying in bed from creeping into awareness. LaBerge tested his hypothesis by asking 34 volunteers to either spin, rub their hands, or do nothing. Results showed 90% of dreams were prolonged by hand rubbing and 96% prolonged by spinning. Only 33% of lucid dreams were prolonged with taking no action.

Once the initial barrier of lucidity is broken, the dreamer’s next obstacle is the excitement of being conscious within a dream. It is key that the dreamer immediately relaxes upon becoming lucid. There are many methods that work, but in general saturating any of the senses with stimuli from the dream is important. Vision is usually the first sense to fade away, with touch commonly being the last. If the dream starts to fade, grabbing hold of anything close by, making sure to feel the tactile sensation, can prevent the dream from fading. Other techniques include shouting in a loud and clear voice, “INCREASE LUCIDITY!” inside the dream. People are often reluctant to do this, but it significantly stabilizes the dream and increases its vividness. The well-known author, Carlos Castaneda, suggests that the dreamer touch their tongue to the roof of their mouth, an action that greatly increases the realness of the dream.

The experience of losing lucidity and waking up has been described as similar to using a camera to unfocus on a distant object while refocusing on a much closer one. The distant object (the dream body) blurs out at first and eventually disappears completely as the closer object (the physical body) comes into focus. Using a different analogy to describe the transition, the mental or dream body image slowly evaporates like water on hot pavement, as the normal physical body image coalesces and takes its place.

Other associated phenomena

Rapid eye movement (REM)

When a person is dreaming, the eyes move rapidly up and down and vibrate. Scientific research has found that these eye movements correspond to the direction in which the dreamer is "looking" in his/her dreamscape; this has enabled trained lucid dreamers to communicate whilst dreaming to researchers by using eye movement signals.

REM Sleep. EEG highlighted by red box. Eye movements highlighted by red line.

False awakening

In a false awakening, one suddenly dreams of having been awakened. Commonly in a false awakening, the room is similar to the room in which the person fell asleep. If the person was lucid, they often believe that they are no longer dreaming and may start exiting the room and so forth. This can be a nemesis in the art of lucid dreaming, because it usually causes people to give up their awareness of being in a dream, but it can also cause someone to become lucid if the person does a reality check whenever he/she awakens. People who keep a dream journal and write down their dreams upon awakening sometimes report having to write down the same dream multiple times because of this phenomenon. It has also been known to cause bed wetting as one may dream that they have awoken to go to the lavatory, but in reality are still dreaming. The makers of induction devices such as the NovaDreamer and the REM Dreamer recommend doing a reality check every time you awake so that when a false awakening occurs you will become lucid. People using these devices have most of their lucid dreams triggered through reality checks upon a false awakening.

Sleep Paralysis

During REM sleep the body is theoretically paralyzed by the brain in order to prevent the movements which occur in the dream from causing the physical body to move, and wake itself up. However, it is possible for this mechanism to be triggered before, during, or after normal sleep while the brain awakens. This can lead to a state where a person is lying in his or her bed and they feel paralyzed. Hypnagogic hallucination may occur in this state, especially auditory ones. Effects of sleep paralysis include heaviness or inability to move the muscles, rushing or pulsating noises, and brief hypnogogic imagery. Experiencing sleep paralysis is a necessary part of WILDO, in which the dreamer essentially detaches his "dream" body from the paralyzed one. Also see OBE or Out-Of-Body-Experience, opposing the scientific theory of these occurrences stating that the paralysis is actually an occurrence to one who is already "separated" from their physical body meaning that "physical action potentials" have no effect here but "mental actions" do - a hint given that those who are finding difficulty moving are using the wrong "mechanism".

In the nightmare, sleep paralysis may be attributed to an external occult entity such as the hag. The hag visits the dreamer in her nonphysical form and sits on the dreamer's chest causing feelings of terror, suffocation, and paralysis. In the sea island traditions of Georgia and South Carolina, this experience of sleep paralysis is called being "hag-ridden".

Out-of-body experience

An out-of-body experience (OBE or sometimes OOBE) is an experience that typically involves a sensation of floating outside of one's body and, in some cases, perceiving one's physical body from a place outside one's body (autoscopy). About one in ten people have had an out-of-body experience at some time in their lives. Scientists are starting to learn about the phenomenon.

Note: Astral Projection is also similar to the OBE but includes other phenomena.

Wake-induced OBEs and WILDOs of an OBE induction cover such similar ground that common misinterpretation of one as the other (or even equivalence) can be hypothesized. Realistic-seeming yet physically impossible impressions of flying, time-traveling or walking through the walls of an environment matching one's bedroom are equally hallmarks of either. (As those who have experienced them will attest, neither "feels" like ordinary dreams at all.) Their induction techniques are similar, and both are easier to perform at times typical for afternoon naps and late morning REM cycles.

Experiences such as walking through walls are likely to induce an altered state of consciousness in either lucid dreams or OBEs. Both lucid dreams and OBEs can provide access to a wider variety of experience (i.e., psychic, spiritual experience) than is normally available in waking life. Such experience is sought in lucid dreams through the practice of dream yoga.

Rarity

Given the frequent bizarreness, illogic and dislocation of dreams, some researchers have questioned why dreamers are not lucid all of the time. How can our dreaming selves accept as real so many settings, images and events that in waking life, we assume, would immediately jolt us into disbelief? The answer to this has been approached in three categories of investigation. Depth psychology suggests that the unconscious “dream-work” is repressing or inhibiting critical evaluation of the dream in order to perform its salutary function. “Belief” in the dream symbols and experience is required for healing, personality integration or catharsis to take place. Lucidity can only arise if a person is relatively free of un-reconciled conflicts which form barriers.

Physiology suggests that “seeing is believing” to the brain during any mental state. This being said, if the brain actually believes something so much, it will actually believe that it is real. Even waking consciousness is liable to accept discontinuous or illogical experience as real if presented as such to the brain. Dream consciousness is similar to that of a hallucinating awake subject. Dream or hallucinatory images triggered by the brain stem are considered to be real, even if fantastic. The impulse to accept the evident is so strong the dreamer will often invent a memory or story to cover up an incongruous or unrealistic event in the dream. “That man has two heads!” is usually followed not with “I must be dreaming!” but with “Yes, I read in the paper about these famous Siamese twins.”

Developmental psychology suggests that the dream world is not bizarre at all when viewed developmentally, since we were dreaming as children before we learned all of the physical and social laws that train the mind to a “reality.” Fluid imaginative constructions may have preceded the more rigid, logical waking rules and continue on as a normative lifeworld alongside the acquired, waking life world. Dreaming and waking consciousness differ only in their respective level of expectations, the waking “I” expecting a stricter set of “reality rules” as the child matures. The experience of “waking up” normally establishes the boundary between the two lifeworlds and cues the consciousness to adapt to waking “I” expectations. At times, however, this cue is false—a false awakening. Here the waking “I” (with its level of expectations) is activated even though the experience is still hallucinatory. Incongruous images or illogical events during this type of dream can result in lucidity as the dream is being judged by waking “standards.”

Another theory presented by transpersonal psychology and some Eastern religions is that it is the individual's state of consciousness (or awareness) that determines their ability to discriminate and differentiate between what is real, and what is false or illusory. In the dream state, many experiences are accepted as real by the dreamer that would not be accepted as real in the waking state. Some religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism describe states of consciousness (i.e., Nirvana or Moksha) where individuals "wake up", and discover a new or altered state of consciousness that reveals their normal waking experience to be unreal, dream-like, or maya (illusion). The assumption is that there are degrees of wakefulness or awareness, and that both lucid dreaming and normal waking experience lie somewhere towards the middle of this continuum (or hierarchy) of awareness. In this context, there must therefore be states of wakefulness that are superior to normal waking awareness. Just as when the dreamer awakens to realize that a nightmare was illusory, the individual can, like the Buddha, undergo a spiritual awakening and realize that what is called normal waking awareness is, in fact, a dream.

It has been hypothesised that Meditation before sleep can also improve the occurrence of a lucid dream as it potentially minimises the time taken for a person to fall asleep therefore increasing the chances of maintaining awareness to induce a lucid dream.

See also

• Astral projection
• Dream argument
• Dream question
• Hemi-Sync
• List of dream diaries
• Pre-lucid dream
• The Art of Dreaming
• Sleep Paralysis

Further reading

• Barton, Mary E. (2008). Soul Sight: Projections of Consciousness and Out of Body Epiphanies. ISBN 978-0-557-02163-5.
• Brooks, Janice (2000). The Conscious Exploration of Dreaming. Bloomington, IN: 1st Books Library. ISBN 1-58500-539-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Castaneda, Carlos. The Art of Dreaming. New York: HarperCollins, 1993.
• Conesa-Sevilla, Jorge (2004). [4]Wrestling With Ghosts: A Personal and Scientific Account of Sleep Paralysis--and Lucid Dreaming. Philadelphia, PA: Xlibris. ISBN 978-1413446685. {{cite book}}: External link in |title= (help)
• Conesa-Sevilla, Jorge (2003). Sleep Paralysis Signaling (SPS) As A Natural Cueing Method for the Generation and Maintenance of Lucid Dreaming. Presented at The 83rd Annual Convention of the Western Psychological Association, May 1-4, 2003, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |unused_data= (help); Text "isbn" ignored (help)
• Conesa-Sevilla, Jorge (2002). [5]Isolated Sleep Paralysis and Lucid Dreaming: Ten-year longitudinal case study and related dream frequencies, types, and categories. Sleep and Hypnosis, 4, (4), 132-143. {{cite book}}: External link in |title= (help)
• de Saint-Denys, Hervey (1982). Dreams and How to Guide Them. London: Duckworth. ISBN 0-7156-1584-X.
• Gackenbach, Jayne (1988). Conscious Mind, Sleeping Brain. New York: Plenum Press. ISBN 0-306-42849-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Garfield, Patricia L. (1974). Creative Dreaming. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-21903-0.
• Godwin, Malcom (1994). The Lucid Dreamer. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-87248-6.
• Green, Celia (1968). Lucid Dreams. Oxford: Institute of Psychophysical Research. ISBN 0-900076-00-3.
• Green, Celia (1994). Lucid Dreaming: The Paradox of Consciousness During Sleep. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-11239-7. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• LaBerge, Stephen (1985). Lucid Dreaming. Los Angeles: J.P. Tarcher. ISBN 0-87477-342-3.
• LaBerge, Stephen (1991). Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-37410-X.
• McElroy, Mark (2007). Lucid Dreaming for Beginners: Simple Techniques for Creating Interactive Dreams. Woodbury, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications. ISBN 978-0-7387-0887-4.
• Robert Waggoner (2008). Lucid Dreaming Gateway to the Inner Self. Needham, Mass.: Moment Point Press. ISBN 978-1-930491-14-4.
• Wangyal Rinpoche, Tenzin (1998). Tibetan Yoga Of Dream And Sleep. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publ. ISBN 1-55939-101-4.
• Warren, Jeff (2007). "The Lucid Dream". The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness. Toronto: Random House Canada. ISBN 978-0679314080.
• Yuschak, Thomas (2006). Advanced Lucid Dreaming - The Power of Supplements. United States?: Lulu Enterprises. ISBN 978-1-4303-0542-2.

External links

• Lucid dreaming, an external wiki
• Template:Dmoz