Research Paper Lucid Dreaming

Eric J. Marsh English 11 Freestone April 28, 2015 Lucid Dreaming Why did I choose lucid dreaming? As a child, I once had this randomly recurring nightmare. I would be walking home from who knows where when I would just see a car on the grassy medium between a two lanes. Paying no attention I continue forward when a school bus with no driver slowly approaches the trunk of the car. It lightly taps the trunk surprisingly releasing a clear then blue shockwave out in all directions, killing me on impact. This nightmare happened at least once a night for a many days, when one night, while walking the same path and spotting the same car; I anticipated the shockwave and was able to prepare and even evade death. From then on every time I had that “nightmare” I was able to evade and adapt to the events. Eventually the sight of that bus and car allowed me to know I was dreaming, and I was able to control all of the events. Ever since then I have had an interest in lucid dreaming and have aimed to understand it further. This is why I have chosen this topic (and also

because Holly challenged me, and I play to win), to find the answer to the question, what is lucid dreaming? Research Process To begin my research I simply went to Google and typed “Lucid Dreaming” thinking this would be all I need to finish my research quick and painlessly. Unfortunately for me this was not true. Many of the sources I found seemed to lack validity and much of the information seemed to be unreliable “hippie talk” (as I like to call it). After finding this out I decided to think and go about my research analytically. Rather than just Google it and go through source one by one and check for validity I went to the news tab of Google and I searched it there, where I found a few that seemed to be from reputable sources, such as Lucidity.com, science.howstuffworks.com, and nationalgeographic.com. After this I decided to look up videos of lucid dreaming, and found one from AsapScience where they discuss the logistics of lucid dreaming. What I learned Definition I learned many things in my search, but before I can explain any of that, I have to explain what is lucid dreaming? Lucid means “the ability to think clearly”, and

dreams are “successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep”. Lucid dreaming is when you become aware that you are dreaming. The term was coined by Frederik Van Eeden who used the word "lucid" in the sense of mental clarity. What is lucid dreaming? Lucid dreaming, as stated before, is when you become aware of a dream, while dreaming. For most people, this term is synonymous with Dream Control, which is not entirely true. Lucid dreaming is simply being aware, but Dream control is a rarer phenomenon that is often associated with a lucid dreaming in which you control everything in the dream. Why does Lucid Dreaming Occur Lucid dreaming often seems to occur without reason, but not always. To a believer in Freudian psychology, dreams are a window into the unconscious, and lucid dreaming is the bridge between the two. It has been proven that lucid dreams are strongly associated with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This is the section of the brain that is “uniquely associated with the subjective experience of deciding when and how to act” (Susan Blackmore).

Benefits of Lucid Dreaming Besides being a fun late night activity you don’t need to lose sleep over, lucid dreaming can benefit you in many ways as well. First of all, one benefit I know from first-hand experience is the use of lucid dreaming to contain and prevent nightmares. Nightmares are “a terrifying dream in which the dreamer experiences feelings of helplessness, extreme anxiety, sorrow, etc.” (Dictionary.com). Lucid dreaming can also be used as a great study habit. Once a person improves their dream recall (explained later) they can effectively learn things from a dream. The only problem with this is not everything from a dream may be from reality, dreams are nonsensical places, and it takes practice to change this. How to Lucid Dream Lucid dreaming can be attained in many different ways of varying difficulty and skill level. One of the ways that requires the least amount of skill (and most amount of luck) is just to have a randomly occurring lucid dream. Lucid dreaming occurs to the majority of people, the only problem is they don’t have any memory of lucid dreaming, or often dreaming at all. These are cases of low dream recall, the ability to remember a dream. This leads to the next method, increasing your dream recall. For most this is a skill that has to be practiced. Much like working

out increases muscle mass, keeping a dream journal increases dream recall. A dream journal is where you write each dream you remember each night, and the dreams you don’t remember each night. Slowly you will find yourself writing more and more as dream recall increases. Reality checks are another effective way of increasing your chances of a lucid dream. Reality checks are just small checks you do while awake to prove you’re awake. If these are done enough, you will begin to do them while asleep which, if you’re waking checks were done correctly, should alert your conscious mind that it is in a dream. The final two ways to increase lucid dreaming are MILD and WILD. MILD, or Mnemonically Induced Lucid Dreams, involves while falling asleep, thinking about a recent dream and imagining yourself having a lucid dream. This is often accompanied with one saying “I will have a lucid dream” or a phrase similar to that. This is so as to increase the chances of you realizing it’s a dream, while you’re dreaming. WILD, or Wake Induced Lucid Dreams, is a much more advanced version of MILD in which you stay mentally aware while your body falls asleep. This takes more skill, and can sometimes lead to sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis is a condition where your body is still paralyzed (which occurs while you’re sleeping to prevent your body from copying movements that you do in the dream) but you are physically awake.

Lucid dreaming is an interesting topic, and fun night time activity whose research paper (which hopefully was better than Holly’s) allowed me to learn so much about the pre-conscious world. I’ve learned what lucid dreaming is, how it works, its benefits, its causes, and even how to lucid dream. This was a great topic and I had “fun” doing it.

Annotated Bibliography- Lucid Dreaming http://www.lucidity.com/LucidDreamingFAQ2.html#LD "Lucid Dreaming FAQ." Lucid Dreaming Frequently Asked Questions Answered by Lucidity Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. This source gave me really nice rudimentary details concerning lucid dreaming. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYSX51xBkos "The Science of Lucid Dreaming." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. This source gave me the science behind lucid dreaming, asap. http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/luciddreaming.htm Lambert, Katie. HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. This source told me how lucid dreaming works. http://www.lucidity.com/SleepAndCognition.html "Psychophysiology of Lucid Dreaming." Psychophysiology of Lucid Dreaming. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. This source has evidence behind lucid dreaming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dream "Lucid Dream." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. This source had general background information concerning lucid dreaming, and its phases. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/05/140511-lucid-dreaming-sleepnightmares-consciousness-brain/ By Virginia Hughes, for National Geographic PUBLISHED May 11, 2014. "Seeking Roots of Consciousness, Scientists Make Dreamers Self-Aware." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. This source shows the science resulting from lucid dreaming. http://www.easybib.com/ This allowed me to lazily compile an annotated bibliography without sacrificing quality. http://www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-luciddreaming.html