“I dream a lot. I do more painting when I’m not painting. It’s in the subconscious.”
– Andrew Wyeth
Sounds Scary? Sounds Weird?
Well, a large section of people is steeped utterly in the depths of lucid dreaming. Yet, when asked what a “lucid dream” is, they fail to understand or express the same.
So, let us begin with what exactly is a “lucid dream”.
A lucid dream is a dream where the dreamer is completely aware of what he/she is dreaming and so is able to exert a control over that dream. It’s more like a world of fantasy where all your dreams can come true. It’s a place where you can imagine yourself getting over your biggest fears and phobias. For instance, even if you are an arachnophobic, you can still imagine yourself as playing with the spiders. If you have agoraphobia, you can still see yourself having a great time with people in any public space. In short, anything impossible becomes possible while you lucid dream.
Is the Idea of a Lucid Dream Real?
Yes, it is totally real and scientifically proven. What you dream (the content) may not be real but, the idea of lucid dreaming is nothing less than reality.
So it is not merely a fantasy playground. Rather, it is a reality that paves way for the fantasy.
Is Lucid Dreaming Beneficial?
(Pros and Cons of Lucid Dreaming)
A lucid dream is an explosion of the senses. Let us discuss a few benefits and drawbacks of lucid dreaming both while asleep and awake.
PROS:
- Self-awareness: A Lucid dream is the best way of finding out about yourself, your likes and dislikes, fears and inhibitions, etc.
- No limits and boundaries: Whatever you dream comes true in the world of a lucid dream. There are no boundaries and no limitations.
- Taps your creativity: It allows the creative juices to flow within you and channels them in a more positive direction by allowing you to look at and do things in a creative manner, even in your real life. You can emerge as one of the best poets, writers, storytellers, scriptwriters, etc. by making a great and good use of your ability to lucid dream.
- Provides a control: In real life, it is almost impossible to exert control over everything and everyone around us. But lucid dream gives you a personal satisfaction by handing over the entire control of your world to you.
- The sense of freedom: In a lucid dream, you can even fly, glide or hover as easily as a bird. Hence while you feel yourself to be constantly in the clutches of the real world, a lucid dream allows you to breathe in an air of freedom.
- Eradicates your phobias: All your phobias (of height, water, spiders, dogs, people) and worst nightmares can become your favorite fantasies in lucid dreams. You can actually come to enjoy and like these things without a tinge of fear. And once you discover the best way to overcome these phobias in your lucid dream, you can also employ that tactic to get over your fears even in the real world.
- Ability to time-travel: Lucid dreamers are actually endowed with the psychological potential of traveling in time and space, thereby uniting the past and future with a tinge of surrealism. It opens up the opportunities to explore and travel in different dimensions even while the entire thing is only taking place in your “mind”. In other words, it’s more like “Going places”
- Gives meaning to your life: Lucid dreamers discover a personal meaning to life. You can know all about your strengths and weaknesses and acknowledge them in the process of lucid dreaming. As you are conscious while dreaming, your ability to introspect increases. Lucid dreaming brings you closer to yourself. It is a world where you can actually come face to face with your dangers and weaknesses to wage a thoughtful war of survival and well-being.
CONS:
- Dissociation: Since everything becomes possible in the world of lucid dreams, it makes it difficult to distinguish dreams from reality. Excess lucid dreaming can even lead one to totally break the link with the real world.
- Renders you alone: Suppose if you are the only lucid dreamer in your group while your other friends do not even have any idea about what exactly is a lucid dream, you will feel left out and alienated. You will be unable to share your stories with those who wouldn’t even understand your fantasies in the first place.
- Obsession: Too much of everything is dangerous. Isn’t it? A lucid dream is no exception to this fact. Too much of lucid dreaming can be detrimental to your mental health. Hence exert some control when it comes to lucid dreaming.
- Distorted perception of reality: Excessive lucid dreaming can take you away from the real world, thereby leading (misleading) you to see a hazy and vague picture of reality. It leads to a distorted perception rendering you unable to combine fantasy with reality.
Both the idea and content of lucid dreaming aren’t harmful. The real problem arises once an individual transforms it into a habit.
Lucid dreaming will be good only when you can keep your dreams and reality separate, thereby avoiding any kind of confusion.
Read Also: How well do you know Dreamcatchers?