psychologist-consultant
“I started keeping dream journals 10 years ago. I can say that they help trace the cause-and-effect relationships of events and, at the level of consciousness, begin to influence your life, agreeing or disagreeing with the events of the dream. Being able to change it is a high level of control over your destiny.”
What is a lucid dream?
A lucid dream is a dream that a person can control. To master this skill, training is necessary.
Dreams are a reference to events that happened to us during the day. If something happens in the morning, throughout the day we will always mentally return to it, whether we want to or not. Dreams are not fundamentally different from this process. Scientifically speaking, the neuronal groups in our brain become excited in relation to some phenomenon and form its representation. Then they return again to this pattern of activity.
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This is normal brain function. Once neurons fire together, they tend to return to their synchronous firing, which is what happens to humans during sleep.
There is a lot of research on what people dream about. They were carried out with the participation of students from psychology faculties. The observers meticulously recorded what happened to them during the day, who they met, what they did, what emotions they experienced. At night, subjects went to bed in the lab, hooked up to an electroencephalograph to determine their sleep stage.
At some point, they woke up the students and asked them what they had seen. These studies have shown that a significant percentage of our dreams have their origin in real experiences received the day immediately before going to sleep.
Instructions to avoid thinking too negatively:
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Thus, dreams are nothing more than information about past experiences. Lucid dreams (LD) – the ability to control the plot in them. This, in turn, allows us to influence the course of events we dream about. This skill is a way to change your life and start managing it.
To have lucid dreams, you need to train yourself to wake up at night. This is the feeling when you are sleeping and you realize that you are in a dream. That is, a certain level of sleep: on the border between the deep phase and wakefulness. To learn to wake up at the right time, you need to train.
neuropsychologist, neuraliner
“Lucid dreaming can be used for self-development, creative problem solving, skill training, and psychological problem solving. It is a useful tool for personal growth.”
How does our brain work during a lucid dream?
Our brain is complex. It processes tons of information, regulates physiology, and supports cognitive functions. During OS, the vestibule of the frontal cortex is activated. This is an area associated with complex functions such as planning and self-awareness.
Between the stages of REM and non-REM sleep, changes occur in the activity of various parts of the brain. This allows us to go from an unconscious state to a conscious state.
Who can have lucid dreams?
In theory, anyone can learn to have lucid dreams. However, this requires training and development of certain skills. Some people are more prone to this experience. They see the operating system regularly without any extra effort.
Personality traits influence the ability to have lucid dreams. For example, creative people or those who are prone to reflection and introspection may be more prone to these types of experiences. There is also a connection between the frequency of such dreams and the ability to remember the most common ones.
The ability to remember what a person saw at night plays an important role in operating system practice. Developing this skill increases the likelihood of lucidity during subsequent sleep episodes.
Let’s look at strategies that will help you stay effective and healthy:
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Benefits of lucid dreams
The benefits that lucid dreams bring to a person:
control over dream content, which can lead to positive changes in life; try new experiences in a safe “play” area; the ability to study the subconscious; improve the quality of rest due to an intense emotional experience.
Techniques to develop lucid dreams
There are several ways to enter this state: from reality checks to methods of tuning in before falling asleep (imagining what you want to see in your dream). Let’s see the most popular ones.
1. Technique “Am I dreaming?”
This option is suitable for those whose operating system starts in the middle of the night, and not at the time of falling asleep. It is necessary to ask yourself repeatedly throughout the day the question: “Am I dreaming?”
This is how we perform a kind of reality test. When a person tends to answer the same question throughout the day, it becomes a habit. This is what is important to determine the line between the real and the unreal.
In a dream, a person will also wonder whether he is dreaming or not. And that’s when he realizes it. Then he will begin the journey to the world of lucid dreams.
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2. “Enter Alpha State” Technique
This method is suitable for those who can log into the operating system immediately after falling asleep. Before going to bed, play music to meditate. It can be any relaxing melody or nature sounds.
Your goal is to relax, not fall asleep. This is called the alpha state. With it, alpha rhythms begin to be produced in the brain. As a result, the line between reality and unreality is clearly defined. You can start traveling.
3. WILD Technique (lucid dream initiated by waking)
It is about awakening self-awareness directly during REM sleep (increased brain activity). What does that require?
You need to lie on your back. Your hands should be at your sides. This will prevent numbness in parts of your body. Take a few slow breaths and focus on your heart rate. Try not to be distracted by anything, soon you will begin to see hypnagogic images or hear sounds. It is important to remain a passive observer for a while and try to rotate around your axis. At the same time, do not move physically, you can try to imagine yourself in a certain place. Then do a reality check. For example, try to fly or go through walls.
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4. WTBB (Wake back to bed) technique
This option allows you to create artificial conditions for the start of the REM sleep phase. This is where lucid dreams most often occur. How to trigger entry into the operating system without waiting for the short phase to occur? You need to trick your brain.
Go to sleep like you always do. Set your alarm clock in advance so that it goes off four or five hours after you fall asleep. As soon as it rings, get up and walk around the apartment for five minutes. Go back to bed. At this point, your brain will be in a borderline state. On the one hand, sleep is not so deep that consciousness cannot control it. On the other hand, your subconscious is already waking up.
5. Keep a journal
This method helps you remember your lucid and ordinary dreams better. Analysis of the recordings can reveal repeated elements or symbols that are used as triggers to achieve a state of consciousness.
This is also a great way to solve psychological problems. The subconscious shows our fears, emotional traumas repressed by consciousness. Taking notes will help you find the root cause of your anxiety. This is especially important for those who frequently have nightmares.
Based on techniques for working with sleep and behavioral psychology, you can change many things in your life.
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