Behind Sleep and Dreaming: Understanding Lucid Dreaming

Have you ever heard the term " lucid dreaming "? For those of you who enjoy a film called "Inception" you may know a few things about lucid dreaming. Even so, there are many misconceptions about the concept of lucid dreaming itself.

Many people want to master the ability to do lucid dreaming. The reason is, you can do things that you can't do in the real world. But, actually the concept is not completely correct. So what exactly is lucid dreaming ?

Lots of people experience lucid dreams spontaneously, just because their thoughts looks out during that phase of sleeping. Some learn on their own to vild lucid dreaming, planning to harness the capacity of lucid dreams and also utilizing them to their perk. Lucid dreams are actually understood to help with stress and anxiety, problems, resolving phobias, increasing imagination, as well as strengthening motor abilities.

1. What is lucid dreaming ?

Lucid dreaming does allow you to control yourself in dreamland, but this is not the real definition. Regardless of whether you can control your dreams or not, lucid dreaming  is a state where you are in a dream, but you also realize that you are actually dreaming.

In short, if you can be sure that "these are all dreams" when you are in the process of dreaming yourself, it means that you are in the lucid dreaming phase.

According to studies, everyone must have experienced the phase of pre-lucid dreaming. The phase when you start asking "was this all just a dream?"

To consciously make the transition from pre-lucid dreaming to lucid dreaming, you have to do "special exercises" which will be discussed in more detail.

2. Is lucid dreaming dangerous?

Perhaps the most famous misconception about lucid dreaming is the possibility that you don't return to the real world. You will be trapped in a dreamland permanently as told by the movie "Insidious". Wow, maybe it's better not to dream like this.

Fortunately, this is just a mistake. You can still wake up again and interact in the real world.

The danger in question is that you will be confused about distinguishing memories from the real world and the dream world. In short, if you often lucid dreaming, it will seem like you have life in 2 different worlds.

Besides that, you can also be stressed if you experience lucid dreaming in nightmares. By being in a tense situation, your heart rate and blood pressure will increase. This shouldn't happen all the time, because sleep is the only time you can relax and your body can rest too.

3. What are the benefits of lucid dreaming ?

Although it has the potential to harm health, there are also several benefits that can be obtained through lucid dreaming. The simplest advantage is that you can get inspiration from this vivid dream and your imagination will also increase.

Because the experience feels very real, you can use lucid dreaming to hone your skills. If you like playing tennis, you can fight your rivals in your dreams and try new strategies.

Another important benefit is that you can overcome your phobia and fear through lucid dreaming. But of course, it is better to ask an expert who is in this field than to try it out yourself.

4. Preparation for lucid dreaming

The first and most important step is to get into the habit of being more conscientious and observative. Do you know that dreams are "formed"  from memories that you catch in a conscious state?

By being careful, you can compare the details from the real world with the details in the dream world. In this way, you can immediately know that you are actually dreaming.

The second step is to arrange your bedroom for optimal sleep. Make sure your dream will not be disturbed by noise or an uncomfortable bed. You can use a high-quality bed to get optimal sleep for lucid dreaming activities.

The next step is to determine the lucid dreaming method that you want to try. Don't forget to set an alarm so you can wake up from lucid dreaming to go back to sleep again.

Because lucid dreaming eats up energy, you shouldn't spend all your sleep on it. It's better to set aside time for "real" sleep and rest so you don't get sluggish in the morning.

5. Methods for achieving lucid dreaming

Lucid dreaming can be achieved in several ways, such as WILD ( Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming ). WILD requires you to wake up in the middle of your sleep for approximately 1 hour, and try to relax until you automatically fall back asleep.

You will experience a transition from a waking state to a sleep state. During this transition period, you might feel that you can't move your body. This happens because your body's physical condition has entered the state of sleep and this is where you can know that you are actually in the process of pre-lucid dreaming.

The second method that is no less well-known than WILD is MILD. When you wake up from lucid dreaming, try to remember exactly your dream and write your dream in a journal. Before you fall asleep again, think back to what your previous dreams were.

You also have to tell yourself that you have to wake up when the dream reaches a certain part.

These two methods  are the most well-known methods when doing research on lucid dreaming.

How? Are you ready to try lucid dreaming ? Remember, don't let you harm your own health when you have succeeded in entering this clearer dreamland.