Why does lucid dreaming work

About 50 to 85 percent of adults have occasional nightmares. Recurring nightmares , however, can cause stress and anxiety. Lucid dreaming might help by letting the dreamer control the dream. Lucid dreaming is often used in imagery rehearsal therapy IRT. In IRT, a therapist helps you reimagine a recurring nightmare with a different, more pleasant storyline. A small study in Dreaming examined this effect.

Most scientific research has focused on PTSD and nightmare-induced anxiety. But according to anecdotal evidence, lucid dreaming can also ease anxiety caused by other reasons. Lucid dreaming could potentially benefit physical rehabilitation. An article in Medical Hypotheses shares that mentally performing motor skills can increase the physical ability to do them.

This suggests that people with physical disabilities could practice motor skills while lucid dreaming. The authors of the article speculate that people without physical disabilities could potentially use lucid dreaming to improve motor skills as well.

These symptoms may indicate PTSD, a mental health issue, or a sleep disorder. Your doctor can determine if therapy with lucid dreaming is right for you. It occurs during REM sleep. When used in therapy, lucid dreaming can help treat conditions like recurring nightmares and PTSD. Researchers think it might also aid physical rehabilitation. These methods can train your mind to be conscious of your consciousness during sleep.

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For example, a person with social anxiety might use the dream to play out different social situations, allowing themselves to practice engaging with others and see that nothing scary happens. After practicing in the lucid dream, they might feel bolder about trying those same techniques in the real world. Lucid dreamers are also able to open up their minds to be more creative, by exploring the dreams that they experience.

By taking agency and making active decisions through the dream, rather than passively experiencing them, they can make creative connections and test how things work. Lucid dreaming occurs during the REM stage of sleep. During REM , most of our muscles become paralyzed, in order to prevent us from injuring ourselves while acting out our dreams, However, our eye muscles are still able to move.

Since the movement matched their real eyes, researchers were able to study the impact to brain waves and other biological functions while they slept. Lucid dreaming takes time and practice to learn. By regularly practicing the following techniques, you can train your brain to lucid dream. Dreams occur during REM, the last stage of your sleep cycle which occurs in increasing amounts during the second half of the night.

To enjoy more dreams, you need to enjoy more restful sleep to ensure you get as much REM as possible. Good news: REM is also associated with better memory, improved focus, and greater emotional regulation! To get better sleep, follow good sleep hygiene. Keep your bedroom as dark, cool, and quiet as possible. Use blackout curtains or an eye mask to block out any ambient light. Use ear plugs or a white noise machine to do the same with noise. Set the thermostat to a cool mid degrees Fahrenheit.

Finally, before you go to bed, follow a calming bedtime routine. Engage in restful activities like unplugging from your electronics , taking a warm bath, or practicing aromatherapy or meditation. The first step to successful lucid dreaming is tuning in to your dreams. Keep a dream journal by your bed, and the moment you wake up, write down everything you remember from your dream.

If you think faster than you write, try recording your memories as a voice memo on your phone. In addition to letting you record your dreams, the value of these apps over traditional pen and paper is that they allow you to search your dream notes for recurring themes, symbols, and characters—which brings us to our next step.

Review your dream journal regularly and look for any patterns. Do certain themes or people show up again and again? These may provide insights into the types of issues your inner psyche is focused on. Keep repeating it until you fall asleep.

When you wake up from a dream, stay in bed as you write down anything you remember in your dream journal. According to LaBerge, lucid dreamers can remember their identities, think clearly and act intentionally within the dream world.

Sometimes this dream world is extremely vivid, even lifelike. Within that world, a person — especially one who frequently experiences lucid dreams, or actively works to induce them — may attempt to take control of the dream and manipulate its outcome.

They may even try to use the dream state to push the boundaries of possibility, experimenting with things like flying or walking through flames. It may sound far-out, but research by LaBerge and others proves that lucid dreaming is both real and distinct from typical REM-sleep dreaming. The first study recording a lucid dream dates back to There are many possibilities. The only thing that must happen is for the dreamer to realize their experience is a dream.

From there, just about anything could happen. Lucid dreamers claim to have flown through space and visited the sun, danced in fire without being burned and had sex with strangers. The same study found that nearly 60 percent have experienced at least one lucid dream in their lifetime.