Lucid Dreaming

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Lucid Dreaming

Lucid dreaming is: dreaming while aware that you are dreaming. Webster's definition of lucidity continues with "clearness of thought or style" and a "presumed capacity to perceive the truth directly and instantaneously". In this sense, lucid dreaming is associated with controlling one's dreams as they are happening. It is a term that was coined by Frederik van Eeden in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol. 26, 1913:

I can only say that I made my observations during normal deep and healthy sleep, and that in 352 cases, I had full recollection of my day-life and could act voluntarily, though I was so fast asleep that no bodily sensations penetrated my perception. If anybody refuses to call that state of mind a dream, he may suggest some other name. For my part it was just this form of dream, which I call "lucid dreams" which aroused my keenest interest and which I noted most carefully.

The term lucid may be a bit misleading. In the literal sense, true control is never actually achieved but the dreamer can influence the course of action indirectly. On a basic level, the dream will take a life of its own but the lucid dreamer is able to subtly alter the direction that it takes. Lucid dreaming is more complicated than this. There are many levels of lucid dreaming and awareness. Awareness that one is dreaming is considered the lowest. Researchers have identified two main types of lucid dreams, referred to as "high-level lucidity" and "low-level lucidity". High level lucidity is defined as "a state in which the dreamer is aware that he is in bed dreaming and that no physical harm can befall him" (LaBerge, "Lucid Dreaming Frequently Asked Questions and Answers", 1997). Conversely, low-leve...

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...ned, lucid dreaming offers powerful potential for both educational and personal applications. "Lucid dreaming could provide the handicapped and other disadvantaged people with the nearest thing to fulfilling their impossible dreams: paralytics could walk again in their dreams, to say nothing of dancing and flying" (LaBerge, "Lucidity Research, Past and Future", 1993). Lucid dreaming is more than just controlled dreams, it is a method of maximizing potential. It is the highest level lucid dreamer that is both the participant and the creator of the dream.

Internet Sources:

http://www.lucidity.com/tucson.abs.html

http://www.lucidity.com/SleepAndCognition.html

http://www.lucidity.com/NL42.1001Nights.html

http://www.lucidity.com/NL62.FoolsGuide.html

http://www.lucidity.com/NL53.ResearchPastFuture.html

http://www.lucidity.com/NL52.LightandMirror.html

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