Dreams That Are Lucid

Drive your own dreams! That's the basic idea behind lucid dreaming, the subject of this blog post.

So what is “lucid dreaming“?

If you were to ask twelve people what lucid dreaming was, you’d have a variety of answers. Six people would probably say, “What is what?” The other six would give different answers, but all of the answers would start the same way. Lucid dreaming is when you become aware that you are dreaming. You have a reality check in your dream. You’re in your dream surrounded by aliens, singing Frankenstein posters, backwards running clocks, that really cute girl from third grade (all grown up now), and you’re having a very detailed conversation with Jeremy Bentham at the foot of Mount Vesuvius and all of a sudden you realize you’re dreaming. You don’t necessarily question why that really cute girl is hanging with Bentham in Pompeii, but you’re fully aware that what you’re experiencing is a dream.

Lucid dreaming is a naturally occurring phenomenon. Some people strive to achieve this odd state. There are several tactics all over the web to help one experience lucid dreaming on demand. One tactic involves making oneself very thirsty even going as far as to put salt in the mouth and then going to bed. The theory is that when one drinks in one’s dream one will know they are dreaming, because that person intentionally went thirsty. Just reading that suggestion made my blood pressure go up and I poured myself a glass of cold water.

Other people say that intentional lucid dreaming is just another type of guided imagery meditation minus the “guided” part. (That might make it “imagery meditation”, but that phrase just doesn’t sound right.) For some people this is very easy to achieve.

Step one: make sure you have plenty of sleep.

You don’t want to be chilling with Bentham and in a deep conversation about the Hedonic Calculus and fall asleep. If I were Bentham and if I had crossed the veil of death to talk to someone about some of my more famous work and that person fell asleep, I’d bring a whole host of philosophers and get all cerebral on their butts. Ever seen Socrates upset? Not pretty. Hemlock has nothing on that man!

Step two: play some music.

Many people find it works better to wear headphones that can block out most of the outside noises. Real world noises can yank someone out of any “dreams” they may experience. Some people also say that it’s best to use music with no words. Classical music, new age music, or any other kind of whimsical instrumental should work fine.

Step three: lay down and “chill”.

Lay down in a comfortable and safe spot. Let any muscle tension fade and allow your mind to go where the music takes it.

The theory is that after someone has practiced lucid dreaming via “imagery mediation” (that phrase still doesn’t sound right), they will be able to experience lucid dreaming during their sleep.

Lucid dreaming is fun, but it can also be used to help people who suffer from frequent nightmares. We’ve all had that horrible nightmare where Bentham and Plato end up punching each other while Socrates starts ranting and tells Kant where to shove his free will. I’m sure we all wished we’d had the tools to break out of it too. (Other people have that nightmare, right? Not just me, right?) Lucid dreaming can bring more peaceful nights to people who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Some people believe that dreams are a way of helping us sort out problems we face during our waking hours. Lucid dreaming is considered a more active way to work that problem-solving skill. It’s a balance though. One needs to be awake enough to know they’re dreaming and to guide the dreams, but not so conscious and heavy-handed with controlling the dreams that the subconscious disengages. It’s important to work with the subconscious and not to fight against it.

There are even companies out there who try to offer people products & seminars on how to achieve lucid dreaming. We say: buyer beware!

All of this is just dreaming, right? It’s all just the subconscious playing around and goofing about with images, right? Some people don’t think so. Some people think that lucid dreaming is a gateway to remembering past lives, astral projection, and other “new age” things. Wouldn’t it be cool if we really could use this form of dreaming to sit down with Bentham and discuss the finer points of the Hedonic Calculus? Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could use time between “sleep well” and when the alarm clock goes off to tell Socrates that free will shouldn’t be shoved there?

On the other hand, if you have to practice something it kind of becomes work.

Do we really want our sleep time to become work?

Isn’t the whole point of sleep to rest, relax, and let nature make the decisions?

Not sure how you stand on this point, well maybe you should sleep on it…and get back to us tomorrow.

Tags: alarm clock blog, dream, dreaming, dreams, imagery mediation, intentional lucid dreaming, Jeremy Bentham, lucid dreaming, lucid dreams, Sleep, sleep time, sleeping, subconscious