Lucid Dreams
Lucid dreaming is essentially dreaming while you are aware that you are dreaming. If you are having a lucid dream, you will usually have some power over your dream — anything from being able to fly or making an thing or room appear behind a door or inside a pocket, right up to having the power to change into animals and create a whole world! It is similar to becoming a director of your own movie. Lucid dreams have now been scientifically shown to exist, and many books have been written about learning how to have lucid dreams.
Each night, we spend somewhere between one and a half to two hours dreaming. We usually dream about once every 90 minutes of sleep. The time you spend in dreams becomes longer as the night progresses, from about 10 minutes to around 45 minutes or a little longer. But what are the meanings of these dreams, and why do we dream?
Many of us will lose awareness when we fall asleep each night and are not aware that we are dreaming. We will doze off to sleep and within minutes it seems we are waking up and remembering our dream. We didn’t realize when we were dreaming that the event or images we saw or were doing was a dream. Whatever we did seemed real, as if we were experiencing the actions in real life. We were not aware that is was not real until we woke up.
Numerous books, charts, dream dictionaries, and even dream software programs are now available for those wishing to explore the meaning of their dreams. The most popular and by far the most intriguing books are about having lucid dreams. Having a lucid dream is one where the dreamer realizes they are having a dream and can take control of it. Lucid dreamers have the power to control their dreams and are able to create many fantasies such as making different objects appear, change their form, or fly around the room. There are many types of forms of lucid dreams, having in common the fact that at some point in the dream the dreamer recognizes the experience as a dream. While lucid dreaming has been shown to exist, having frequent lucid dreams requires much practice and determination. Many lucid dreamers practice specific techniques for their own personal or spiritual purposes.
The term lucid indicates you are awake or aware, and having a lucid dream indicates you are awake during the dream. You are aware what is happening while you are lucid dreaming, and you are aware that the events you are experiencing, or the images you are seeing are not real. You are aware that you’re awake and resting with your eyes closed, and you are actually in control of the dream and can do whatever you like. Having all that control allows you to experience some amazing things that you normally wouldn’t even attempt.
Many people like to fly in lucid dreams and can move things or objects with their minds. Spending time with someone you admire, and passionate or sexy encounters are not uncommon. These experiences are only happening in your dream of course. You are not really seeing these people, and flying around the world, but it is an awful lot of fun to pretend it is actually happening.
Many experts are of the opinion that lucid dreaming allows you to explore your mind and confront many issues you may have, because you are exploring your subconscious mind. It allows you to explore and learn about your true self.
