Have you ever had that moment when you woke up right in the middle of a wonderful dream and wish you could have continued in it? Or, on the other hand, have you ever woken up from a dream (actually a nightmare) where you were in an uncomfortable or frightening situation and really wished you hadn't continued dreaming?

There are times when we wish we could identify that everything is just a dream while we are still asleep, and even more, we wish we could control our dreams so that they are the way we want them to be. This is possible through lucid dreaming.

Perhaps, even without knowing it, each of us has had a lucid dream. One example is when we dream that we are flying or doing something completely improbable, and we are aware (called self-awareness or metacognition) that we are dreaming.

From lucid dreams it is possible, with knowledge and training, to control dreams. Read on, learn about this subject, and find tips for getting started.

What is a lucid dream?

A state of consciousness in which a person realizes that he is dreaming, while still asleep, is called lucid dreaming.

The name "lucid dreaming" originated with the Dutch psychiatrist Frederik van Eeden in 1913. In the early 1980s, the German psychologist Paul Tholey determined the three conditions that define a lucid dream: having the awareness of being dreaming, being able to intervene in the dream, and being able to memorize the occurrences.

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Stanford University psychologist Stephen LaBerge developed the first techniques for stimulating lucid dreams.

This type of dream is more common for children, and the more a person matures, the rarer it becomes, as early as the age of 16, with as many as ten of them coming unstimulated throughout their lives.

The lucid dream state of consciousness is produced by two brain regions: the frontopolar cortex and the hippocampus, which become more active. It occurs during REM sleep (acronym for Rapid Eye Movement). In it, thoughts, self-perception, emotions, and decision-making are mobilized.

People who have lucid dreams remember in detail what they dreamed, and have a better memory. It also stimulates creativity and increases the ability to solve problems.

It is worth remembering that lucid dreaming is different from vivid dreaming, which seems real because colors, depth, shapes, objects, dialogues are very clear, allowing one to remember in detail what was dreamt.

There is also a difference between lucid dreaming and false awakening. The latter occurs when we do everyday things while appearing to be awake, when in fact we are still asleep. An example is when you believe you are already eating breakfast, ready to leave for work, when in fact you are asleep and missing the time!

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What is an Omnironaut person?

The person who is able to have lucid dreams is called a onironaut, who is able to move within the dreams even further than he could in waking reality. He lives within the dream with the same intensity as when he is awake, but with more freedom, because there are no rules, everything is allowed.

How to have a lucid dream?

Sleep is part of the biological rhythm of each individual and is renewed every 24 hours, in a cycle called sleep-wake cycle.

The amount of light, by means of the hormone melatonin, determines the sleep-wake cycle. When the brain, by means of the pineal gland, perceives that there is no more light, it begins to release melatonin, capable of inducing sleep.

With the onset of sleep, brain activity slows down. There is an alternation in sleep between non-REM and REM phases. As the brain waves slow down, sleep deepens, there is low brain activity, reduction in metabolism and blood pressure, and motor relaxation. This is the non-REM sleep.

After this slow-wave sleep, the REM phase begins, in which, although the body muscles are relaxed, brain activity is intense.

In the REM sleep phase the dream activity is intense, with dreams with emotionally strong contents. It corresponds to 20 to 25% of the total sleep time and occurs in intervals of sixty to ninety minutes. It is primordial for the individual's physical and psychological well-being.

In order not to inhibit REM sleep, it is important not to drink alcohol or use antidepressants and benzodiazepines. Without the REM phase it is not possible to have lucid dreams.

How do you know if you are in a dream?

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If you have seen the movie "The Origin" (2010) you may remember a scene in which an object identified in the environment had the characteristic to alter the reality in which the person was inserted, alternating dream and waking.

To experience lucid dreaming, it is very important to distinguish whether you are in a dream or awake. In lucid dreaming, you may have a moment when you are clearly in waking reality, when in fact you are in dream reality, mainly because dreams can seem very real.

Some ways to find out if a person is dreaming or awake are:

Induce the mind to check the state of reality - an example is trying to read a piece of paper. If it is too difficult, despite all your skill, you are dreaming. When the mind starts to check reality, it begins to distinguish dream from waking.

Do reality tests - try to check if things are "normal". For example, you wake up and you are leaving for work, when in fact you are on vacation. Try to bring this fact to mind and realize that you are dreaming.

Check the environment - look at the environment and try to check if there isn't in it some evidence of something previously non-existent or out of place. For example, there was no balcony in the building where you live, there is a window where there used to be a door, or the walls were not in red.

Observe the people around you - check if the people in the scene are not already deceased, totally unknown, or very different from what they normally look like, e.g. thinner, taller, younger.

Look at yourself - identify possible changes in your appearance that have happened too fast, for example, your hair has become long or whitish, you can't see your feet or hands.

Test yourself - if you can in one little jump have such a momentum that you can fly away, you are dreaming!

Is it possible to control dreams?

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According to experts on the subject, it is possible to control dreams, defining the plot, the people who will be part of it, the scenarios, in short, choosing the directions for them, as long as you have lucid dreams.

Controlling dreams is a tool that has some benefits:

• It allows you to avoid nightmares or persistent bad dreams, helping you to sleep better;
• Improves problem solving;
• It collaborates in healing processes and health advocacy, according to Dr. Dennis Jaffe and Dr. David Bresler;
• It enables psychological growth, because it facilitates the acceptance and integration of repressed aspects of the personality;
• It reduces anxiety;
• It stimulates self-confidence;
• It improves self-esteem;
• It satisfies desires, among others.

How to control what happens in dreams?

To control what happens in your dreams, you need to master the techniques for having lucid dreams. For this, the best alternatives are:

• Keep a journal to write down dreams, which encourages you to remember them;
• Ask, when awake, "Is this a dream?" as we saw earlier, as it helps create the transposition of lucidity from reality to dream;
• Identify what is a dream. If you try to read a book and can't, even though you are able to, you are in a dream. This identification becomes unconscious, necessary when you want to control what happens in it;
• Redistribute sleep by sleeping for six hours, waking up, walking around the house, and going back to sleep for another two hours.

Are there risks in having lucid dreams?

There are no risks in having lucid dreams. They are an exercise in control, and a way to explore the mind to gain self-knowledge, to become a better person, to resolve one's own hurts, and to evolve in waking life.

During the process of lucid dreaming, what can occur is the so-called sleep paralysis, which gives you the unpleasant and even desperate feeling that you cannot move your body before you wake up, but it is temporary and absolutely normal.

How to have good dreams at bedtime?

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You can dream whatever you want through the practice of lucid dreaming and always have good dreams, including mobilizing your mind to them, even before you go to sleep. Here are some tips:

• Going to bed earlier, as this raises the REM pattern;
• Control your diet, avoiding caffeine, alcoholic beverages (they impair dream control), and sugar (it can disturb sleep, because it is a stimulant);
• Avoid stressful situations, seek forms of relaxation, or perform physical exercises (at least one hour before bedtime);
• Create an ambiance with soft music, reading a book, drinking chamomile or fennel tea;
• Avoid watching violent or frightening images;
• Turn off visual and audible stimuli from electronic devices;
• Consume foods rich in melatonin (hormone capable of enhancing REM sleep), present in almonds, sunflower seeds, radish, rice, bananas, etc.

Is it possible to sleep and not dream?

It is only possible not to dream when you sleep if there is some sleep disorder, so that you don't reach the fullness of the sleep cycle or have it interrupted several times, with a reduction of the REM phase, which can generate concentration difficulties and attention problems.

During a regular night of sleep, everyone dreams. However, we do not always remember our dreams, depending on when we wake up. If we wake up just after the REM phase we will have a full memory of our dreams. However, if we wake up later, we will have more difficulty, because the dream images we have access to belong to short-term memory and are lost withease.

Lucid dreaming causes one to wake up immediately to the REM phase, allowing one to remember dreams more easily, an important step in later dreaming whatever one wants.

You may also like :

• 5 things you didn't know about lucid dreams
• The out-of-body dream experience: OBE and lucid dreaming
• Learn to control your dreams!

For Carl Jung, "the general function of dreams is to try to restore our psychological balance by producing dream material that reconstitutes, in a subtle way, the total psychic balance," so they are fundamental to mental health.

As we have seen, dream control is possible and represents a tool for personal growth. Following the tips for achieving a more restful sleep and performing exercises to reach the state of lucid dream consciousness, in a persevering manner, can support our integral health and bring us a better quality of life. Think about this practice and discover that the mind is very powerful. Make good use of ither!