How the Perceptions of Dream Recognition Have Changed Through the Years

Lucid dreaming is the phenomenon of being aware of your dream state while still dreaming. There are two types of lucid dreams: a dream-initiated lucid dream (DILD) begins like a regular dream with the dreamer realizing that he or she is in a dream while a wake-initiated lucid dream (WILD) happens when a person is awake and falls into a dream without losing consciousness.

Several books and studies have been devoted to lucid dreaming in recent decades; however the phenomenon has been noted as long ago as the fifth century A.D. The term was coined by Frederik van Eeden. Both and author and a psychiatrist, this Dutchman published his findings in 1913 in an article called, "A Study of Dreams." While there was much contention about the term lucid dreaming, the name has stuck ever since.

Once studies were able to prove the existence of lucid dreams, many other studies were performed. In 1968 Celia Green predicted that lucid dreams were linked to REM sleep. She was also the first to associate lucid dreams with false awakenings. (A false awakening happens when a person awakens from a dream within a dream.) In 1985, Stephen LaBerge found that the passage of time within a lucid dream is almost the same as that of a wakened state. The study was duplicated in 2004 with the same results. In 1991 fourteen lucid dreamers reported out-of-body experiences during a study of wake initiated lucid dreams. Scientists hope to use this information to simulate near death experiences.

While children often report lucid dreams, the experiences tend to wane in adulthood. With the right techniques and a honing of your skills, you can condition yourself to induce lucid dreams; however it is difficult to do on a regular basis. Some recommended techniques are:

Dream Recall-It is important to remember your dreams. How do you know you have never had a lucid dream if you can't remember it?

Reality Testing-Often there are events within dreams that can trigger awareness, such as floating and moving through walls.

Other techniques include meditation and hypnotism.

Once you have learned to recognize you're dreaming, the next step is to stay within the dream. Often times a person will wake shortly after realizing their dream state. Stephen LaBerge has discovered two ways of prolonging the dream state. If you try to spin your body in your dream, you use the same parts of your brain that you use during REM sleep. This has been 96% successful in laboratory studies. The other way to prolong a dream is by rubbing your dream hands. This makes one less likely to sense they are lying in bed. It has been 90% successful.

You might wonder why so much work has been done on dreaming, but think about the benefits. Learning to control your dreams gives you a power that you don't have in reality. Aside from being able to create a life you couldn't have otherwise, lucid dreaming is the key to putting a stop to those pesky nightmares.