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form of yoga that maintains full waking consciousness while in a dream state. This ancient art reveals an understanding of dreams as advanced as any proposed by today's modern researchers. The best known of these scientists is Stephen LaBergean accomplished lucid dreamer himselfat Stanford University, which has a famous sleep lab. |
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LaBerge's research offers the basis of what is now known about lucid dreaming. This dream state usually begins in the middle of a dream, but can also occur when the dreamer returns to REM sleep immediately after awakening. It happens when the dreamer realizes that what he or she is experiencing is not occurring in physical reality but in a dream. This awareness may be triggered by impossible or unlikely occurrences in the dream, such as meeting someone from far away in a strange place, flying, or creating objects with the mind, although some people lucid dream without having a specific cue. |
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Levels of lucid dreaming ability can vary greatly. Higher levels of lucidity allow the dreamer to realize clearly that every aspect of the experience is a dream, while lower levels involve varying degrees of awareness. In a high-level experience, the dreamer is able to manipulate the dream, and his or her actions within it. A dreamer's ability to imagine allows the dreamer to act out what he or she would like to do in real life or explore new possibilities. |
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Lucid dreaming can provide you with an important tool for achieving goals, relieving stress, rehearsing new behaviors, solving problems, finding artistic inspiration, or coming to terms with emotional difficulties. You can also direct it to help you access your intuition, if that's what you choose to do. Once you become able to control your dreams, you can then direct them to offer intuitive insight in certain areas. We'll talk more about how far you can go with this in Chapter 21. |
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Developing your skill at lucid dreaming is not all that difficult to do. But because so many various techniques are available, we suggest you explore the possibilities and decide which one will work best for you. In fact, Stephen LaBerge himself has written a book on the topic called Lucid Dreaming (Ballantine, 1990). That's a great place to look for more detailed information on how to learn lucid dreaming techniques. |
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Keeping Your Own Dream Journal |
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Whether you've experienced amazing moments of lucidity in your dreams or are working toward that by recalling simpler dream experiences, writing down your lessons definitely strengthens your dream connections. Here's the format I follow for recording my dreams; perhaps it will work for you too. |
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(Leave this space blank until tomorrow morning, after you have recorded your dream or dreams. Having a dream title allows you to easily look back through your journal to access any recurring themes.) |
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