The term “lucid dreaming” was coined by Frederick Van Eden, who used the term “lucid” to mean mental clarity. A person who is in a lucid dream knows that he is dreaming.
There are many levels of lucidity. People who experience high-level lucid dreams are fully aware that the dream is happening inside the mind, that they are fast asleep, and that they will wake up shortly. People who experience a low level of lucidity will be partially aware that they are dreaming, but not enough to realize that the dream is not really real and that they will wake up soon.
Many people mistakenly believe that lucid dreaming is dream control. Nothing could be further than the truth. LD is not dream control, although it does lead to dream control. People can be great lucid dreamers, but they have little to no power over what they dream about. However, LD is the first step in achieving dream control.
Here are some frequently asked questions about this fascinating topic.
1. Are lucid dreams dangerous?
This question can also be rephrased as: “What if you are fully aware that you are in a nightmare?” In this case, the nightmare vanishes. When you are fully aware that you are in a nightmare and you are also fully aware that it is just a dream and that you are safe in bed and will soon wake up with all the pieces intact, you will stop being afraid of that. The nightmare then ceases to be a nightmare. So if you are plagued by nightmares, LD is the best medicine for you.
2. Is dream control, which results in lucid dreaming, really good?
Many people believe that dreams contain valuable messages and lessons and therefore should not be consciously altered. In other words, if you mess up your dreams by gaining dream control, you will lose those valuable lessons. But this is not true because dreams do not contain any messages. Dreams are entirely internal or of the mind. At best, they give a clue as to what is going on inside our minds.
3. Can you get addicted to lucid dreams and lose all love for real life?
Well not really! This is simply because you cannot live your life sleeping. We only sleep a few hours every day; and we don’t always have lucid dreams. On the contrary, LD can enhance your love of life and give it more meaning.
4. Is it easy to learn to dream lucidly?
You can develop the skill. Some learn fast and some learn slowly. It all depends on how determined you are. You can use any of the ML techniques that are available in abundance. Yes, you can easily learn to have lucid dreams.