Lucid dreaming is a dream where you are able to control your body and know your thoughts, emotions, and feelings. You can control things in a lucid dream, and you can even change the story that the dream is giving you.
What Causes Lucid Dreaming?
Lucid dreaming will come when you are in REM sleep. This is when your brain waves slow down, and your eye movements become less. Your brain is active during this kind of sleep and that is when lucid dreaming happens.
More than half of the people in the world have experienced lucid dreaming but only a few will have lucid dreams at least once a month.
How to Lucid Dream
Here are some ways that you can lucid dream:
Sleep More
In order to lucid dream, you need to get into REM sleep. This means that you need to change your sleeping habits and get more sleep. Here are some ways to have better sleep habits:
- Stay on a sleeping schedule.
- Work out each day.
- Don’t play electronics before bed.
- Make sure your sleeping area is relaxing.
- Don’t drink alcohol or caffeine before bed.
Journaling
People that dream often will keep a dream journal. This is great if you are lucid dreaming. Write down your dreams and then you can go back and read about them and become more familiar with your dreaming habits.
Test Your Reality
You will know if you are lucid dreaming by testing your reality. Do this just like you would do if you were awake. Here are some things you can do to know if you are lucid dreaming:
- Try and put your fingers against the opposite palm. If your fingers go through, you are dreaming.
- Look at a mirror and see if your reflection looks abnormal.
- Pinch your nose and see if you can still breathe.
- Look at a text and if you are dreaming, look away and when you look back it will change.
- Look at the tattoos you have and see if they are different.
Initiating Lucid Dreaming
Here are some ways that you can make lucid dreaming happen for you:
- WBTB or Wake back to bed: This is when you wake up 5 hours after you go to sleep. When you go back to sleep you will get to REM sleep.
- MILD or Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams: Tell yourself that you will have a lucid dream that night while you are awake.
- WILD: Wake Initiated Lucid Dreaming: Keep your conscious mind moving and try having a hypnagogic hallucination.
Benefits of Lucid Dreaming
Here are some of the benefits of lucid dreaming:
- Less nightmares.
- Better sleep.
- Less stress.
- Less depression.
- Gets rid of anxiety.
- Increases your motor skills.
- Helps those with physical disabilities to be able to improve their motor skills.
- Increases creativity.
- Helps to visualize better.
- Sharpens the mind.
Understanding Lucid Dreams
You can get your lucid dreams interpreted just like a regular dream. Write down your dream and find out what your dream means. Dreams that are lucid dreams are more vivid and by keeping a journal you can see the common themes.
Risks of Lucid Dreaming
Here are some risks of having lucid dreams:
- Sleeping issues: This can cause you to not get enough sleep or to have a sleep disorder.
- It can cause depressive issues because of lack of sleep.
- Lucid dreaming can make you question your reality.
- This can cause you to want to disconnect from reality or yourself.
Final Thoughts
Lucid dreaming can help you to be able to control your dreams. If you want to lucid dream, read the article above. This can give you benefits such as improved motor skills, creativity and help you to get rid of sleeping problems, nightmares, and anxiety.
If you have a sleeping or mental disorder, be careful when trying to lucid dream because it can make it harder for you to sleep or to understand reality.
