Lar's Lucid Dreaming FAQ
1. General
1.1. What is Lucid Dreaming?
Lucid Dreaming is knowing that you are dreaming while you are doing
it. When you know that you
are dreaming, you can also alter the dream course. And with practice
you can also develop full
control over your dream, you will be able to create and change the
environment and change your
own appearance. It will be you that are in control of the dream
scenario. You can do whatever
you want to do. Live out your wildest fantasy, or just sit down
and chit chat with someone. You
should also be open for the possibility to share dreams and travel
in time and space when you
develop adequate control over your dreams. The word Lucid means
that you have a clear and full
consciousness. And believe me when I say that Lucid Dreaming can
be much more fun than waking
reality.
1.2. In what stage of sleep does Lucid Dreaming occur?
Lucid Dreaming usually takes place in REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep.
There are five stages of
sleep. Stage 1 being the one you first enter, then followed by stage
2, 3 and 4. As you descend
into deeper sleep your brain frequency slows down. In stage 4 can
it be slower than one cycle
per second (delta sleep). After some time spent in stage 4, about
25 minutes, you return to
stage 3 and 2, then straight into REM sleep. About 90 minutes has
passed now since you started
sleeping. 5-10 minutes is spent in this stage before you go all
the way down to stage 4 again
(also called non-REM sleep). When approximately 90 minutes have
again passed, another
REM-period start. This time the REM sleep lasts longer. And as time
progresses less time in
non-REM sleep is needed and more time is spent in REM sleep. After
4-5 hours you don't go lower
than stage 2. Vivid dreaming takes place in REM sleep, so the more
you sleep, the more time is
spent in REM and the more likely it is that you may have a Lucid
Dream.
1.3. Does Lucid Dreaming interfere with normal sleep?
No. The only difference is that you are aware that you are dreaming.
Unless you have some sort
of sleep disorder that causes you to get less delta sleep, but then
again, it's not the LD's
fault. There is no danger with Lucid Dreaming. But if you have a
bad hearth you might have a
hearth attack if you crash a car, or during sexual intercourse.
Other than that Lucid Dreaming
is one of the safest activities I can think of. It can even be used
for healing...
1.4. What purposes can Lucid Dreaming serve?
Those are so many. First of all, it is lots of fun. You can do whatever
you feel like, without
putting yourself in danger, or spending a lot of money on journeys
or expensive equipment. It
is great for therapy if you have any psychological problems. If
you have a fear of spiders,
that fear can be conquered through Lucid Dreaming. You know you
are totally safe in a Lucid
Dream. So you carefully begin with tiny spiders far away, and as
you get used to them, you
might let them go closer and make them bigger. If there is something
you want to get better at,
like Tennis or Snowboarding, then Lucid Dreaming can improve your
skill. Lucid Dreaming can be
extremely powerful for motor skill enhancement. This is not only
true because of the vividness
of the imagery, but also because the physiological nature of REM
sleep is ideal for
establishing neural pattern without actual movement. Experiments
also show that you can get
physically stronger with mental training. Lucid Dreaming can be
used for healing if you have
any illness. If you wish to have your subconscious read at a rate
of 1 million words per
minute, you can activate that in a Lucid Dream to gain conscious
awareness over the knowledge.
You can meet the author of the book you just read in a Lucid Dream,
and ask questions you are
seeking answers for in the book. Or you can sit down and watch the
whole novel on a big screen
TV with cinema 3D sound. You can use Lucid Dreaming for solving
a complex and difficult
problem, like mathematical problems. You can share a dream with
a friend. Or even a whole group
of people. So you can hang out with your friends when you are sleeping
too, not only when you
are awake. It is also great being a group of people trying to Lucid
Dream. If you find your
friends in a dream, you can tell them that they are dreaming. This
way can you help your
friends gaining Lucidity, and they might cause you to gain Lucidity
if they find you. If you
have full conscious control over a dream can you also use it to
travel in time. You can explore
the future. Even shared precognitive dreaming is possible. With
a little practice can you also
use Lucid Dreaming to leave your body and explore the world. By
doing this you can also meet
other spirits and travel in time. More about this can be found in
the Out of Body Experience
FAQ.
1.5. Can anyone learn Lucid Dreaming?
Yes. Just like everyone dream, virtually anyone can learn to be
aware that they are dreaming.
How long it takes for you to learn Lucid Dreaming depends on how
good your dream recall is, how
motivated you are and what techniques you are using. And how many
hours you sleep each night.
Hopefully techniques and devices will be developed so that you may
have your first Lucid
Dreaming within a few nights. A few techniques and devices have
already given results in such
short time. But there is always room for improvement. In order to
Lucid Dream you should have
good dream recall. Many helpful and effective tips for developing
dream recall can be found in
my Dreaming FAQ.
1.6. What should I do once I'm Lucid?
Absolutely nothing at first. You might want to try to find out how
conscious you are, make sure
that the logical part of your brain is functioning and that all
your senses are working. You
need to remember your intent, do some math tasks, recall a few things
from your life, what time
it is, what date it is, where you are and stuff like that. Look
around you and observe things.
Don't feel like you are in a hurry and need to get things done before
the Dream fades. Also
make sure that you are in a dream, not in hypnagogic imagery. All
your senses should be working
including tactile feelings. I want to emphasize that you make sure
that your logical abilities
are working. Not only do they create your consciousness, they can
also create the most splendid
dreams you could ever imagine. Once you are satisfied with your
logical abilities you can cut
loose and start controlling the dream.
Go to the next chapter - Lucid
Dreaming Techniques
Copyright L Lars Rune Foleide -1999
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