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Dreaming Essay, Research Paper

Lucid Dreaming Dreams are the playground of the mind. Anything can happen when one is dreaming. The only limitation is that we only rarely realize the freedoms granted to us in our dreams while we have them. Lucid dreaming is the ability to know when one is dreaming, and be able to influence what will be dreamt. A normal dream is much like passively watching a movie take place in your skull. In a lucid dream, the dreamer is the writer, director, and star of the movie. Lucid dreams are exceptionally interesting. Lucid dreaming is defined as dreaming when the dreamer knows that they are dreaming. The term was coined during the 1910+s by Frederik van Eeden who used the word “lucid” in the sense of mental clarity (Green, 1968). Lucidity usually begins in the midst of a dream, when the dreamer realizes that the experience is not occurring in physical reality, but is a dream. Often this realization is triggered by the dreamer noticing some impossible or unlikely occurrence in the dream, such as meeting a person who is dead, or flying with or without wings. Sometimes people become lucid without noticing any particular clue in the dream; they just suddenly realize that they are in a dream. A minority of lucid dreams (about 10 percent) are the result of returning to REM sleep directly from an awakening with unbroken reflective consciousness (LaBerge, 1985). These types of lucid dreams occur most often during daytime napping. If the napper has been REM deprived from a previous night of little sleep their chances of having a REM period at sleep onset are increased. If the napper is able to continue his or her train of thought up to the point of sleep, a lucid dream may develop due to an immediate REM period. The basic definition of lucid dreaming requires nothing more than the dreamer becoming aware that they are dreaming. However, the quality of lucidity varies greatly. When lucidity is at a high level, the dreamer is aware that everything experienced in the dream is occurring in their mind, that there is no real danger, and that they are asleep in bed and will awaken eventually. With low-level lucidity they may be aware to a certain extent that they are dreaming, perhaps enough to fly, or alter what they are doing, but not enough to realize that the people in the dream are just figments of their imagination. They are also unaware that they can suffer no physical damage while in the dream or that they are actually in bed. Lucidity and control in dreams are not the same thing. It is possible to be lucid and have little control over dream content, and conversely, to have a great deal of control without being explicitly aware that one is dreaming. Lucid dreams usually happen during REM sleep. Working at Stanford University, Dr. Stephen LaBerge proved this by eliciting deliberate eye movement signals given by lucid dreamers during their REM sleep. LaBerge’s subjects slept in the laboratory, while the standard measures of sleep physiology (brain waves, muscle tone and eye movements) were recorded. As soon as they became lucid in a dream, they moved their eyes in large sweeping motions left-right-left-right, as far as possible. This left an unmistakable marker on the physiological record of the eye movements. Analysis of the records showed that in every case, the eye movements marking the times when the subjects realized they were dreaming occurred in the middle of unambiguous REM sleep. LaBerge has done several experiments on lucid dreaming using the eye-movement signaling method, demonstrating interesting connections between dreamed actions and physiological responses. It has been debated if lucid dreaming interferes with the function of +normal+ dreaming. According to one way of thinking, lucid dreaming is normal dreaming. The brain and body are in the same physiological state of REM sleep during lucid dreaming as they are during most ordinary non-lucid dreaming. In dreams the mind creates experiences out of currently active thoughts, concerns, memories and fantasies. Knowledge that a person is dreaming simply allows them to direct their dream along constructive or positive lines, much like they direct their thoughts when awake. Furthermore, lucid dreams can be even more informative about the self than non-lucid dreams, because one can observe the development of the dream out of one+s feelings and tendencies, while being aware that one is dreaming and that the dream is coming from the self. The notion that dreams are unconscious processes that should remain so is false. Waking consciousness is always present in dreams. If it were not, we would not be able to remember our dreams, because one can only remember an event that has been consciously experienced. The added “consciousness” of lucid dreaming is nothing more than the awareness of being in the dream state. The first thing that attracts people to lucid dreaming is often the potential for adventure and fantasy fulfillment. Flying is a favorite lucid dream delight, as is sex. Many people have said that their first lucid dream was the most wonderful experience of their lives. A large part of the extraordinary pleasure of lucid dreaming comes from the exhilarating feeling of utter freedom that accompanies the realization that one is in a dream, where there will be no social or physical consequences of one+s actions. Unfortunately for many people, instead of providing an outlet for unlimited fantasy and delight, dreams can be dreaded episodes of limitless terror. Lucid dreaming may well be the basis of the most effective therapy for nightmares. If one becomes aware that they are dreaming they can realize that in a dream nothing can harm them. There is no need to run from or fight with dream monsters. In fact, it is often pointless to try because the horror is in their own mind, which can pursue them wherever they dream themselves to be. The fear is real, but the danger is not. The only way to escape

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