Lucid Dreaming 💤

My interest in lucid dreaming started back in high school. I often had vivid dreams that I could recall in great detail the next morning—complete nonsense most of the time. Sometimes, the dream would start on a good note and suddenly anything could happen (bad or good). This made me curious—what if I could control my dreams?

In case you’re wondering what lucid dreaming is: Lucid dreaming or LD (as a shorthand notation that I’ll be using) is when you’re aware that you’re dreaming and can (sometimes) influence the dream.

From the meditative practices of Tibetan Dream Yoga (Stumbrys et al., 2012) to modern neuroscience, as with many human experiences, there are both ancient wisdom and scientific explanations.

One might argue that LD doesn’t exist, that it is only a kind of dream. However, we have scientific evidence that shows otherwise. Hearne (1978) conducted the first detection of LD known to us, by detecting a specific pattern of eye movements previously discussed with the subjects that could not be explained by random movements during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep.

In college, I wrote a review paper on Lucid Dreaming, as an attempt to understand the science behind it and what efforts were made to deepen our understanding of this experience. In my exploration, I discussed the connection between lucid dreams and REM sleep, techniques to induce them (like the Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams, MILD), and even the potential role of substances like Vitamin B6 in enhancing dream recall and lucidity.

I found exaggerated statements and some disagreements in the state-of-the-art. Unfortunately, due to a lack of good quality articles, there could be many articles that cannot fully explain the underlying principles of LD.

For me, lucid dreaming became more than a fascination—it was a way to explore the boundaries of imagination. And while there’s so much still to learn, the potential for discovery is truly limitless.

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References:

Stumbrys, T., Erlacher, D., Schädlich, M., & Schredl, M. (2012). Induction of lucid dreams: A systematic review of evidence. Consciousness and Cognition, 21(3), 1456–1475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2012.07.003

Hearne, K. M. T. (1978). Lucid dreams: An electro-physiological and psychological study [Doctoral thesis, University of Liverpool].