*This author is not a doctor or certified specialist.*
Have you ever wanted to try something out or explore somewhere that you couldn’t in real life? What if I told you that the limits of reality could be taken away in such a weird aspect?
Lucid dreaming is such an interesting and unknown concept that allows individuals to explore or try basically anything while asleep as if it’s real life, with most of their senses intact.
What is lucid dreaming?
Lucid dreaming is when someone becomes aware that they are dreaming while they are in a dream. Lucid dreaming can happen in a range of awareness from understanding one’s involvement in a dream all the way to being able to control a dream. While the reason lucid dreaming occurs is unknown, various studies have shown that an abnormality from normal dreaming is that there is brain activity in the prefrontal cortex. Being able to lucid dream is quite random. There have been no correlations between any certain type of person and the frequency of lucid dreams.
My experience with Lucid dreaming
I’ve been lucid dreaming since I was in eighth grade. My dreams have consisted of hyperrealistic situations almost like reality. It’s gotten so realistic to the point that I am able to “feel” myself blinking in the dream. Same with taste. When I eat something in a dream, it tastes the exact same as it does in real life. I’m also able to control certain aspects of dreams. I have made it rain, spawned people, traveled, and many other things.
My favorite lucid dream was when I dreamed that I was walking around Italy with my dad. Although I’ve never been to Italy, after that dream, I felt like I had gone. I lucid dream about once a week with occasional breaks. I’ve noticed that they occur more often when I wake up multiple times during the night or write down my dreams in a dream journal.
Although I frequently lucid dream, it’s not always so easy. Sometimes my mind becomes too active and wakes up during a lucid dream, so the dream starts fading. About three out of four lucid dreams that I have will be faded, unable to control, or not as realistic. Faces have always been a struggle for me in lucid dreams as I can’t recount every perfect detail of people and making up unique faces is tricky. Sometimes my lucid dreams are difficult to control. For example, changing places or “teleporting” is very tricky. I often have to plan out how to change the location subtly so that my mind can make sense of it. To get to another place, I have to walk upstairs, go next door, or even “close my eyes” and be in the new place. This doesn’t work all the time either. Trying to control a dream too frequently will ultimately make me wake up due to the large quantity of brain activity.
How to lucid dream
As stated earlier, I normally lucid dream more often when I wake up multiple times during the night or write down my dreams. Another key aspect of lucid dreaming is to have the intent to lucid dream. Since our subconscious brain plays a huge role in how we dream, thinking of lucid dreaming often will start to spread into your perceived brain activity. I once wrote a report for school about the science behind lucid dreaming, and since it was 5 pages long, I thought about the subject constantly as I was drafting. That week it was due, I had three strong lucid dreams.
Ultimately, lucid dreaming is like a hobby. Very rarely have I had a lucid dream that I disliked, although I did have one dream where one of my friends had very bad breath. Hopefully, this article sheds some light on such a strange phenomenon and allows you to gain some insights into the world of lucid dreaming.