Everyone dreams at one time or another but not everyone remembers their dreams. On another note, some people consider dreams to be part of your deep subconscious but that would mean that you have no control over your dreams. Other people believe in what is called lucid dreaming.
Lucid dreaming happens when the dreamer is sleeping but they know what their soul is doing. They are able to move, have emotions, to see things and to make decisions as they dream. Have you ever experienced lucid dreaming? Here are some things you should know.
Why Does Lucid Dreams Happen?
Lucid dreams happen in two stages, either REM dreaming or non-REM sleep. REM means “rapid eye movement” non-REM sleeping is a sleeping state, and it is a time when your body has slowed down, the heart rate gets slower, and your eyes are moving slowly. Your brainwaves will become slower as well.
During REM sleep, your brainwaves and your heart rate will get higher. You will begin lucid dreaming at this phase because it is a time when your brain is extremely active.
How to Lucid Dream
Lucid dreaming is something that not everyone wants to experience. This isn’t something that you can always do naturally but as you practice and learn how to make it happen, you can do it more and more on your own. Here are some practices that you can do if you want to do your own lucid dreaming:
Go Into REM Sleep
Even though you might not be able to always get there, getting into REM sleep can help you to increase your chances or lucid dreaming. This is something you can practice making it happen. Here is how:
- Exercise each day.
- Go to bed at the same time.
- Avoid electronics before bed.
- Don’t drink caffeine or alcohol before bedtime.
Test Your Reality
Some people aren’t always sure if they are in REM sleep or not. You can test this in your waking state. In order to do this while you are sleeping, you can do things in your dream that wouldn’t normally happen in a dream. Here is what to do:
- Look into a mirror and see if you see something other than yourself.
- If you have tattoos, look to see if the tattoos are different than the ones really on your body.
Waking Up
Your brain is amazing and complex and even in science people have studied the brain for years and years and still don’t know everything there is to know. Your brain is something that can be trained.
When you want to lucid dream, you can do this by trying the “wake back to bed” method. This means that you wake yourself up when you are five hours into your sleeping. Then, go right back to sleep and this will get your brain right into REM sleeping. You will be conscious at this time and lucid dreaming will likely be easier.
Final Thoughts
Do you get tired of just having regular dreams and you want to try lucid dreaming? Try these steps and see if you are able to get in control of your dreams. Dream, dream, and dream!