What is Lucid Dreaming?--CB.
by Christine B.
Dutch psychiatrist and author, Frederick (Willem) van Eden (1860-1932) was the first to coin the phase, “Lucid Dreaming.” Basically, a lucid dream is one where you are aware of the fact that you are dreaming, and you can, in some cases, change the outcome of the dream while you are dreaming it.
Because lucid dreams produce higher amounts of beta-1 frequency brain waves, lucid dreams can be measured scientifically and have been established by researchers.
So what is the point of lucid dreaming? If you master the technique you can create any scenario that you wish in your dreams. You can work out problems while sleeping, travel to places you’ve always wanted to visit, and experience adventures you would never attempt while awake.
Before you start training your mind to lucid dream it is important that you remember your dreams. To do this you will need to keep a dream journal. I have mentioned the importance of keeping a dream journal in the past. Your dreams are doors to your subconscious, and many times dreams are a way for you to connect to the information that is stored there. Keeping a journal will help you on many levels, not merely for lucid dreaming.
One of the ways to train yourself to become aware of your dreams is the reality check method. While you are actively awake ask yourself if you are dreaming several times throughout the day. By doing this while you are awake, your brain will begin doing it while you are dreaming as well. It is also important that you ask yourself if you are dreaming when you are at places that you frequent often when you are awake. Places you think about while awake will show up the most often in your dreams.
Another method that might work for you is to put a dot on your hand or other area of your body that you see often during the day. This can act as a reminder for you to ask yourself if you are dreaming. A good way to determine if you are dreaming or if you are awake is to check out anything in your surroundings that has text or numbers. Look at the text and/or numbers. Look away for a few seconds, and then look back at them again. If they have changed, you are dreaming. In most cases they will remain the same only if you are awake.
This reality check will eventually become a part of your normal daily routine while you are awake and it will then be something you do while you are sleeping as well. Once you are aware of the fact that you are dreaming, you can actively change your dream.
Not everyone has to go through this process. Personally I have been able to lucid dream almost my entire life, although I didn’t realize I was doing it. I can remember many dreams where I was aware that I was dreaming and consciously altered the dream. It doesn’t happen every time I dream, but it does happen often for me. By the way, I do keep a dream journal.
