Lucid dreaming: when the dreamer becomes the creator

The incredible world of lucid dreaming

What if I told you a story of someone at a campsite who voluntarily decided to jump into a camp fire, started playing with the flames and actually ate them, noting a slightly salty taste, and all of that without getting a single burn? What if that wasn’t enough, and she flew in the direction of the sun, ever faster, ever closer, to the point she couldn’t see anything other than light, and feel anything other than a sense of vibration?

If you think only in your dreams someone could pull off something like that, you hit the jackpot!

The story I just described above was a lucid dream experience reported by dream researcher Beverly D’Urso during an interview with Psychology Today.

Lucid dreaming is defined as the awareness that one is dreaming while in a dream. 

Some of you might have had those kinds of dreams where you doubt whether you’re indeed dreaming or not, which is a proto-version of a lucid dream (a so called “pre-lucid” dream).

But there are individuals who not only know they are dreaming but can actually recall, inside the dream, where they are sleeping and what day of the week it is. 

If that wasn’t cool enough, some can even manipulate their actions in the dream, make objects appear or disappear and grow supernatural powers like flying. They also have logical reasoning inside the dream, which, coupled with the ability to conjure up memories from waking life, allows these individuals to try out things they always wish to do in dreams.

Note, however, that lucid dreaming doesn’t necessarily imply dream control. You can be aware that you’re dreaming but not be able to control anything at all (you are only an observer).

In fact, most lucid dreamers will only be able to influence the course of the dream. For example, they can make a person suddenly appear in the dream, but they will not be able to control what that person does or says. Likewise, you might be able to teleport yourself to a place of your choosing (e.g., a market in New Delhi), but the finer details of that setting (e.g., the spices being sold, the colours of the stands, etc.) will not have been consciously defined by you.

Nevertheless, about one third of lucid dreamers have the ability to summon objects or people into the dream, and, apparently, it all has to do with expectation. While dreaming, it is often recommended to imagine the object/person you wish to see, then slowly turning around and convince yourself that the desired object/person will appear.

Still, even though experienced lucid dreamers are capable to make people appear in their dreams out of thin air, they still have no clue how that person will react. It’s as though each dream character has a volition of its own, which, if you think about it, is really odd since all dream characters are the product of the dreamer’s imagination.

But the bigger question is: are the people who claim to lucid dream really doing it, or are they pulling our leg?

One way to verify the authenticity of lucid dreaming is to conduct an experiment, in which lucid dreamers indicate via ocular signals the exact moment they become lucid. In addition, they can also signal the moment when a particular dream action began and when it ended (e.g., running).

That way, researchers can track the physiological activity (e.g., heart rate) associated with the moment in time when dreamers began their lucid dream as well as when they performed a specific dream action.

Results have shown that when lucid dreamers signal that they are doing physical activity in the dream (such as running), researchers detect significant changes in the heart rate of the dreamer at the exact momement they indicate they are performing those actions. These physiological changes are similar to those when people exercise while awake!

But, and this is key, the simultaneous recording of their electrical brain and muscle tone activity is characteristic of a sleeping brain, proving that they are indeed asleep.

No doubt! These individuals not only are aware they are dreaming but can also communicate with the outside world! Truly astonishing!