Search A Light In The Darkness

Monday 19 April 2010

Solve Problems In Your Sleep With Lucid Dreaming

Lucid dreaming is dreaming while being aware that you are dreaming. The idea is that once you are aware you are dreaming you can alter your dreams and control what happens. Once perfected, it allows you to control the direction of your dreams. This is an enticing prospect for creative problem solving since when dreaming, you are restricted only by your imagination, not by the “realities’ of physical constraints or social customs.

Lucid dreaming is like any other skill—some people are naturally better at it than others but most can learn how to do it. To learn how, it’s important to first know a bit about the stages of sleep.Our sleep patterns follow a repeating cycle that involves different levels of sleep having different brainwave activity. Each cycle lasts about 90 to 100 minutes so a person will typically experience 4 to 5 complete sleep cycles a night. The stages of this cycle involve four levels of Slow-Wave or Non-REM sleep followed by REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep.Although some dreaming occurs during the other stages of sleep, the most vivid dreaming occurs during the REM stage. During this time, the higher frequency beta waves keep the mind active. As its name suggests, REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is characterized by frequent bursts of rapid eye movement, along with occasional muscular twitches. The first REM period occurs about 90 minutes after falling asleep and lasts about 10 minutes. This REM period increases in subsequent sleep cycles during the night.

One of the first requirements for having lucid dreams is to be able to recall your dreams. This can be done with a little practice. A good method is to focus your intent on remembering your dreams. Before falling asleep, repeat to yourself over and over, “I will awake from my dreams and completely remember them.” If your thoughts wander, try to come back to this affirmation so that it is your last thought before drifting off to sleep. Another good technique is to keep a dream journal to record your dreams upon waking. Whenever you awake, immediately attempt to focus on what you had just been dreaming and write it down on a writing pad. Try to capture all the key points, such as what you were doing, where you were, and who was around you. Also, note anything strange such as things that wouldn’t normally happen in the waking world. If you find these strange events recur in your dreams, then they are your personal dream signs which you can use to recognize when you are dreaming...READ MORE ...