Aristotle first raised the concept of lucid dreaming in his treatise On Dreams in the fourth century BCE, but the practice wasn’t studied scientifically until the 1970s1. Since then, it has been validated as a “hybrid state of consciousness2 with definable and measurable differences from waking and from REM sleep,” the sleep stage in which we dream. As you can imagine, lucid dreaming opens the door to quite a lot of fun, author of Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self Robert Waggoner tells mbg. But the benefits don’t stop there: He adds that lucid dreaming allows people to tap into the seemingly unlimited potential of the dream world and consciousness itself. Lucid dreams can be opportunities to access creativity, practice certain skills, work on emotional issues3, and so much more, he says. Therapist and dream expert Leslie Ellis, Ph.D., adds that “lucid dreaming can bring you in touch with your own deep spiritual nature and bring about a sense of universal connectedness, and less fear of death.” It’s even been shown to help treat nightmares4, she adds, because if you can become lucid during a nightmare, “you can change the content in a way that feels more empowering right from within the dream itself,” she says. In time, this reframing can lead to “greater flexibility and adaptability to life’s challenges1.” And according to Ellis, you’ll want to bear in mind that lucid dreaming on demand usually takes patience and perseverance. “Even those who regularly experience lucid dreams can’t always do so at will,” she says. “Most times, you will quickly realize this is waking reality and you are not able to become airborne at will, but it will get you into the habit of questioning your state of consciousness—which makes it more likely you will do so while dreaming.” Avoid alcohol and other substances before bed that can inhibit dreams, keep your sleep schedule consistent, and so on. Heads up: MILD does require good dream recall, but here’s how it’s done: “Those who are dissociative or have conditions that lead them to lose touch with reality might find the blurred boundaries between dream time and waking life disorienting,” Ellis explains, adding “it can lead to a further blurring of the line between what is real and what is imagined.” As Waggoner adds, he always tells people, “If you can not handle waking reality, then it seems best to avoid lucid dreaming. But if you can handle waking reality, then it seems generally safe to dream lucidly.” However, according to Ellis, even healthy dreamers can have trouble waking up out of a lucid dream sometimes, “and experience a series of ‘false awakenings’ or will enter a black void before they are able to orient fully to the here and now.” And because lucid dreaming isn’t a typical sleep state, she adds, some dream experts believe too much lucidity can interrupt one’s normal sleep cycle in an unhealthy way. According to Waggoner, the name of the game is to simply “wait until you feel relatively at peace with your waking state experience before beginning a lucid dream practice.”
