A lucid dream is a dream in which you recognize that you are dreaming. Often people say that lucid dreams are far more vivid and realistic than their other dreams. Another common thing about lucid dreams is that once you have a lucid dream, you usually want to have another one. Most people aim for lucid dreams, even though they might not have ever heard the exact term “lucid dream” before. This is what people want when they tell themselves that they want to dream about something and remember it, or that they want to be able to control their dreams. To be sure there are plenty of benefits of lucid dreams. Here are a few of the benefits of lucid dreams to help you understand why they are so popular:
1. Stress Relief. For the advanced lucid dreamer, who knows how to enter consciously into a lucid dream and knows how to control their dreams, lucid dreams can be great stress relief and a place to blow off steam. After all, the dream world isn't subject to the same rules as the waking world. In a dream you can fly, you can run faster than a train, you can have a perfectly civilized conversation with some woodland creatures; you can even decide to have a conversation with yourself. You can do anything you want in a lucid dream if you are able to realize that you are actually in a dream and that the normal rules do not apply.
2. Trial and Error. Is there a situation at work that is bothering you and you don't know how to deal with it? Are you having a problem with someone and you aren't sure why the dynamic between the two of you has changed? Have you ever wondered what would happen if you actually had told off the woman who cut in front of you at the coffee shop? A lucid dream is a great place to try out new things that you might never have thought to try before—mouthing off to your boss, working through a conflict, deciding which course of action to take. You can try things and play out various scenarios without having to deal with any messy aftermath the way you usually would in your waking world.
3. Therapy. Often there are things that we feel we cannot say and things we cannot do for fear of retribution or because we have issues that we need to work through. A lucid dream is a great way to work on yourself and to figure out why you feel the way you do about certain things. Lucid dreams are also great places to deal with grief as you can dream about someone you have lost and spend a little bit more time with them. Even though you know it is a dream and that your brain is causing them to say what they say, it can be very therapeutic for people who have recently suffered a loss of a loved one.
Lucid Dreaming Tip #1
Lucid Dreams can be very addictive. Once you realize you are dreaming, especially if you have developed the ability to control the actions taking place in your dreams, you are going to want to have more dreams just like that. There is a lot of information that will tell you how to induce lucid dreams and how to make them a regular part of your sleep cycle.
Lucid Dreaming Tip #2
Nobody is sure exactly how dreams happen. Scientists know that during REM sleep the brain's activity is almost like the activity of a brain of a person who is awake, but nobody is sure why this is or how it happens. Scientists don't know if the brain generates dreams or if the body forces the brain to be active during REM sleep.
Lucid Dreaming Tip #3
Analyzing dreams is one of the most popular areas of psychology. There are lots of resources for people who are trying to figure out the symbolism of their dreams. There are online dream dictionaries and dream encyclopedias for sale at bookstores. Analyzing the individual symbols of a person's dream can help that person deal with areas of their waking life and this is why it is such a popular subject.
