Lucid Dreaming

Lucid dreaming is a subject that has only in recent years received a massive amount of investigation by scientists and lay people alike. But what is it? This article aims to answer that question in detail, as well as attempt to share how it can be done.

Although it is a subject that may easily be linked with New Agers, it is not restricted to just helping individuals uncover and realise their full potentiality and spiritual being, but it can also be useful in tackling more ordinary problems or perceived issues that hold people back from being entirely successful in their day to day lives - for example, a fear of heights could be treated through a good dose of lucid dreams that are aimed to specifically medicate the issue. It could also be used alongside or like self-hypnosis in such a way. Or, for those who like adventure, fantasy and supernatural abilities, a lucid dream could be arranged that incorporates such things - like levitation, or going on an adventure similar to Bilbo Baggins' in JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit. Hopefully, at this point, one thing is clear: the possibilities for what lucid dreams can be used for are limitless. But enough of the possible ways in which lucid dreaming can be used: What are they and how does one get to have them?

What are lucid dreams?

According to an interview with lucid dreamer, Beverly D'Urso on psychologytoday.com, 'Even though the term "lucid" means clear, lucid dreaming is more than just having a clear dream. To have a lucid dream you must know that it’s a dream while you’re dreaming. That's it. It doesn't require that you can control anything in your dream, though control is what beginning lucid dreamers often aim at. People get attracted to lucid dreaming because they want to be able to do things they could never do in waking reality, for example, taste fire or fly to the sun.'

   Although there are some differences in techniques recommended by lucid dream experts for lucid dreaming, one of the starting points that appears to be universal is asking oneself, 'Am I dreaming?' at every available moment during the day, in order to get into the habit of being able to ask that in a dream. Yet in order for this to work, 'dream signs' within dreams must be spotted. Like traffic signs on roads help to pinpoint when a person must turn off the road in order to reach their destination, dream signs trigger one's consciousness to realise that they are dreaming - whilst still in the dream. It is usually recommended to keep a dream diary in order to help identify these signs. Doing so can be an insightful experience, because dreams can also be analysed to find deeper insight about oneself.

Recalling dreams

As has already been said, one of the crucial things needed for successful lucid dreaming is the ability to recall one's own dreams. This can be done by keeping a dream diary. A dream diary is usually a notepad that is kept under or near the pillow, and which is kept exclusively for writing dreams upon waking up. There are a few tips that can be followed to make recall easier, and these are:

1. Maintain body position - this means that, once awake, the position in which your body is in is maintained, not changed. So if your body is on its side when you wake up, ensure that you keep it on its side whilst you write your dream down. Only when you have written all the details about your dream that you remember can you change your body's position.

2. Associate a colour with your dream - if, for any reason, you cannot immediately write your dream down, try to associate an appropriate colour to your dream. For example, if you had a dream to do with a body of water, associate the colour blue or turquoise to the dream. Or if the dream involved a sense of calm, it could be associated with the colour blue. If it was to do with healing or greenery, the colour green could be associated with it. Perhaps the dream involved fire or heat - in which case, the colour red could be linked with the dream. Such colour association may differ from person to person and in any case, they  must have the right meaning for the dreamer concerned.

3. Associate a feeling or emotion with the dream - this is the same as the above step, but instead of a colour being associated with the dream, it is an emotion or feeling. It needn't be just one feeling - it could be two. But these must be relevant for the dream and if too many emotions are linked to the dream, this may hinder dream recall, not help it, due to confusion occurring. If a dream involved getting angry towards someone, the associated emotion could therefore be anger. But if a number of emotions were experienced during the dream, it is best to pick the one that is most meaningful or dominant. 

4. Associate a word with the dream - Again, this is the same as steps 2 and 3, but with a word instead. If the dream was to do with water, the most relevant word for it would be 'water'. If the dream was to do with riding horses, the word could be 'horses' or 'horse riding' depending on which is easiest to think of or recall later on. 

There are a couple of reasons why dream diaries are so important. The first reason is that they help the dreamer to become familiar with their dreams and their contents. This is vital, since in order to get to the point within the dream where you realise that you're dreaming, you must be able to recognise that you are dreaming. If you have no idea about the contents of your dreams, you may be unable to become lucid in your dreams. Or you do, but have no conscious or deliberate control over the dream and becoming lucid with the dream. This, fortunately, is where dream signs come in.

Finding the Dream Signs

In Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming, authors Stephen LaBerge and Howard Rheingold define dream signs as: 'peculiarities that appear often enough in your dreams to be reliable signposts of the dream state'. This means that anything that strikes the dreamer as "peculiar" or unusual within the dream is a dreamsign and, should they come across the same or similar sign, can help them to realise, whilst in the dream, that they are dreaming. Once they realise this, they can then take control of the dream and consciously be able to change or add to the overall dream. For example, if a lucid dreamer had a dream to do with a deceased parent, they could easily realise that they were dreaming because this parent was deceased in real life. Although they may not have dreams about this deceased person often, the deceased parent would be a dream sign, because it would trigger the realisation that they were dreaming, since they are able to converse with them (which in real life is not as easy, even if it may be possible ). As a result, they can become lucid and talk to them about more personal matters, or exchange messages with a more personal tone.

Conquering Problems with Lucid Dreams

In her book, Lucid Dreaming, author Charlie Morley provides ideas for how problems could be dealt with, using a technique called 'self-incerption', which works like self-hypnosis by the planting of a suggestion with regard to the problem. These suggestions must have strong intent, and should be spoken in the lucid dream. Morley suggests that in order to tackle, for instance, issues with self-worth, the person should call out, once lucid, 'I am loved, loving and loveable in every single way.' 

If, however, the answer to ongoing problems is less clear cut, the dreamer could, once lucid, ask one of the dream characters questions concerning the reasons why certain problems are going on. These should help the person tackle the same issues in real life.

 

A Final Note

Lucid dreaming is one of those abilities in which practice makes perfect: the more you try for a lucid dream, the more you will succeed. Even if it is difficult initially to become lucid within the dream, it should come eventually, provided that the person is both motivated and flexible enough. Lucid dreaming could be used to have adventures, be like superheroes, or to heal problems in one's life. But they could also be used to find solutions for problems that are difficult to access or obtain in normal waking life. The possibilities are limitless and once one's own journey into lucid dreaming begins, it never ends.

Further Reading 

There are plenty of good resources available for the interested reader in order to find out more. Some good books are listed below, as well as some useful websites.

Brogaard, B - Psychology Today: Lucid Dreaming and Self-Realization. [Last accessed: 9/8/2016]
Lucidity Institute (founded by Stephen LaBerge, and is dedicated to researching lucid dreaming)   [Last accessed: 9/8/2016]
Harary, K and Weintraub, P (1989) - Lucid Dreaming in 30 Days. USA: St Martin's Press.
LaBerge, S & Rheingold, H (1990) - Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. New York: The Random Publishing House.
Morley, C. (2015) - Lucid Dreaming. Publisher: Hay House.
Turner, Rebecca - World of Lucid Dreaming: What is Lucid Dreaming? [Last accessed: 9/8/2016]