Control Our Dreams Without Waking

¶ … control our dreams without waking up?

Mankind was always obsessed with dreams, as the experiences presented people with the possibility to escape their daily routines and enter a world made up by their subconscious. Under certain circumstances, people can realize when they are dreaming and can thus control their dreams. This depends on a series of factors, most relating to person's ability to differentiate between dreams and reality (Shulman & Stroumsa, 1999, p. 10). The act of lucid dreaming occurs when a person is aware that he or she is dreaming and can have control over his or her dream (Gackenbach, 1992, p. 265).

Apparently, lucid dreaming can be likened to a state of meditation, with the individual experiencing similar brain activity in both cases (Gackenbach, p. 265). Scholars have studied lucid dreaming for centuries, with some of the first reports relating to the topic going back to the Ancient world.

Tibetan Buddhists were also interested in studying lucid dreaming, and in their opinion the act was a form of meditation (Gackenbach, p. 276). Even with the spiritual character present in most Tibetan Buddhist, normal people are just as capable of attaining a high level of meditation through controlling their dreams. (Bulkeley, 1997, p. 95)

Sigmund Freud was also engaged in learning more about lucid dreams, but he chose not to go in depth of the subject, since he did not consider the subject to be particularly important. It was not until the recent decades when lucid dreams came into the attention of scholars, most of them becoming interested in the concept because of their own experiences while dreaming (Bulkeley, p. 93).

A number of dream researchers have expressed doubt when regarding the existence of lucid dreams. In their opinion, such experiences cannot be considered to be actual dreams. This is mostly because their work was governed by the principle that a human being cannot be in a state of sleep and awake concomitantly, since "to be asleep is, by definition, not to be conscious" (Bulkeley, p. 93). It would thus mean that for a number of people lucid dreaming is an absurd term, given the fact that it puts together two opposed words.

Stephen Laberge is one of the individuals who lobby in order for the world of science to accept the fact that lucid dreams exist. In order to prove his standpoint, Laberge underwent a laboratory study and managed to register a signal on the polygraph record showing his behaviour during sleep. It was virtually impossible for the test's results to be imprecise, as Laberge's gesture was made while he was going through a Rapid Eye Movement (REM) period (Bulkeley, p. 93).

Laberge's desire to demonstrate that lucid dreaming is possible was not necessarily expressed because of his need to revolutionize the science world, but was apparently directed at assisting people in their attempts to control their dreams (Bulkeley, p. 94). Most of those who agree that lucid dreaming exists tend to believe that the ability of controlling dreams can only be attributed to a limited number of people.

When they go through a lucid dream, people who are experienced in controlling their dreams struggle to keep calm, in order to avoid waking up. Lucid dreaming is apparently much more important than people perceive it to be (Bulkeley, p. 94).

Because of the power one has during a lucid dream, it is believed that he or she can look into their unconscious and discover valuable information. Also, when someone is experiencing a lucid dream, their psychological abilities can be sharpened (Laberge, 1992, p. 290). By being able to control what happens in their dreams, people suffering from nightmares are likely to cure themselves (Bulkeley, p. 94).

During normal REM sleep, some of the individual's body functions, such as "

oxygen consumption and heart rate"(Gackenbach, p. 276) are accelerated. According to Gakenbach when a state of lucid dreaming is present in REM sleep, the body functions which are normally accelerated at this stage are further increased (Gackenbach, p. 276).

The behaviour people display during lucid dreams is somewhat similar to that shown when they go through a state of daydreaming or when they fantasise about something in particular. Freud apparently suggested that one of the reasons for which people are capable of becoming aware while they are dreaming is that they manage to maintain the same mental state they had when they were wide awake (Armitage, 1992, p. 17).

Because of the principles promoted contemporary to Freud, his assumptions were refuted because he could not bring any substantial proof it was virtually impossible for such concepts to be accepted in the era of behaviourism, especially when considering that science was still inexact at the time (Armitage, p. 17).

The scepticism expressed by scientists who were contemporary to Freud is mainly based on the fact that proof was inexistent and people could thus contradict every supposition that could not be verified (Laberge, 1992, p. 294).

Considering that in the present day, when it was proved that lucid dreams are real, scientists have brought forward several objections, most linked to the fact that the subjects being studied could have signalled to the outside world from a state of daydreaming, and not from a state of sleep. However, from analysing the psychological activity present in the studied individuals, it became obvious that they were in a REM sleep state (Laberge, 1992, p. 294).

Laberge found that lucid dreams normally occur at the end of the night, similar to how most REM states of sleep take place within the last hours of sleep. During sleep, activity in the left hemisphere is apparently intensified. Because the left hemisphere is one of the key factors in producing lucid dreams (Laberge, 1992, p. 294), it is only logical for lucid dreaming to take place during the last few hours of sleep.

Lucid dreaming is considered to be a blessing by some, as they are passionate about their ability to be in charge of what happens in their dreams. Certain cultures took lucid dreaming further, as they recognized its similarity to mediation and people used their aptitude to go from scene to scene developing new dreams within the dream they were already experiencing (Shulman & Stroumsa, 1999, p. 11).

For some dream researchers, lucid dreams are signs of increased creativity. In spite of the fact that the person dreaming has the power to control what happens in his or her dream; lucid dreams can be interpreted similarly to normal dreams. Lucid dreams are not necessarily dreams in which the person dreaming controls the body as if he or she was not dreaming (Southern, 2004).

While going through a lucid dream, one can also have an out-of-body experience, with the person realizing that what he or she sees is not real and that it is actually a product of their imagination (Southern). Such dreams can appear to be extremely real, influencing the individual in becoming confused, feeling doubts of their perception of reality (Laberge, p. 290).

Gaze shift was essential in proving that lucid dreams exist, as unlike how it is usual during REM sleep, for the individual to shift his gaze uncontrollably, the people experiencing lucid dreams were able to control their gaze shift and were thus able to signal that they were going through an episode of lucid dreaming (Laberge, p. 298).

As studies in lucid dreaming advanced, people proved that they were able to signal the outside world through a variety of muscle movements. "In one experiment, the subject executed movements during lucid dreams involving finger, forearm, and shoulder muscle groups (flexors) while EMG was recorded from each area. The results were consistent" (Laberge, p. 298). It is almost as if lucid dreaming implies that certain body parts are awake at the same time as others were in a state of sleep.