Are we still dreaming?

Chuang Tzu dreamed he was a butterfly.What joy, floating on the breezeWithout a thought of who he was.When Chuang Tzu awoke, he found himself confused.

“Am I a man who dreamed I was a butterfly?Or am I a butterfly, dreaming that I am a man?Perhaps my whole life is but a moment in a butterfly’s dream!”

Overview

• Lucid Dreaming is the ability to become aware while you're dreaming... to consciously "wake up" inside the dream world and control your dreams.

• Lucid Dreams take you to a fantasy realm where everything you see, feel, taste, hear and smell can be as authentic as your waking reality.

What is Lucid Dreaming• If in a dream, you realize that you are dreaming then

it is Lucid Dreaming

• In other words; it is an alternative state of consciousness.

• A fully lucid dream is rich and detailed - and can create more awareness than you have right now, like 360-degree vision or existing in two places at the same time.

History• 415 AD written in a letter by St. Augustin.

• The scientific community did not recognize lucid dreaming until 1978.

• Practiced by Tibetan Buddhists for a thousand years through a form of dream yoga

• 1913 Term coined by Frederick Van Eeden

• Modern research- Stephen LaBerge and Lynn Nagel of Stanford University in 1978 and 1985 respectively.

Characteristics of Lucid Dreams• Full awareness of dream state (consciously and

perceptually)

• Ability to make free decisions in the dream

• Memory functions as if in waking life

• Awareness of the meaning of symbols

More about lucid dreams

• When you are lucid dreaming, you can pause, rewind and modify your dream.

• You can even introduce new characters of your choice and modify the whole script of the dream…

• All this happens during the dream. This is the most exciting feature of lucid dreaming

Scientific Evidences• This is not a "paranormal phenomenon" of any kind; the scientific community has provided 2 evidences for lucid dreaming.• Communication via In -Dream Eye Movements (1975)• Brainwave Recordings • During REM Sleep (2009)

The Sleep cycle• Each and every night, your brain passes through five stages of

sleep.

• Passing through all these stages takes about 90-110 minutes and marks one full sleep cycle.

• The 5 stages are categorized in two types:• 1-REM Sleep• 2- Non-REM Sleep• Non-REM is further Divided into 4 stages.

Stages of sleep

A full sleep cycle consists of 5 stages:• Stage 1 is a light sleep and you are easily woken.

• Stage 2 is a light dreamless sleep when brain signals stop reaching body parts.

• Stage 3 is the beginning of a deep sleep, a person waking up from this stage remains confused for few moments

• Stage 4 is the stage of most deep slow wave sleep

• REM sleep the brainwave frequency again becomes almost equal to stage 1 and this is the time when a person starts dreaming

Some Lucid Dreamers

• Albert Einstein “Reality is merely an illusion”

• The Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix) "How do I know that my reality is not an

illusion?" This is the key to unlocking a dream and

becoming consciously lucid.

• Thomas Edison• Richard Linklater (Walking Life) "Are we sleep-walking through our waking state or wake-

walking through our dreams?“

• Nikola Tesla (Electromagnetism)

• Chris Nolan (Inception)

• Salvador Dali artwork “Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a

Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening”

Out of Body Experience

• "Out of body" experiences (OBEs) are "Out of body" experiences (OBEs) are personal experiences during which people feel personal experiences during which people feel as if they are perceiving the physical world as if they are perceiving the physical world from a location outside of their physical from a location outside of their physical bodies.bodies.

• At least 5 and perhaps as many as 35 of every At least 5 and perhaps as many as 35 of every 100 people have had an OBE at least once in 100 people have had an OBE at least once in their lives (Blackmore, 1982).their lives (Blackmore, 1982).

• If you wake up and realize that you cant move your body; even cant open your eyelids, then you are suffering through sleep paralysis.

• Ways to reduce this problem:getting enough sleep

reduce stressexercise regularly (but not too close to bedtime)

keep a regular sleep schedule

• A false awakening is a phenomenon in which the scene of the dream changes into that of the dreamer waking up, usually in his or her own bed.

• This can be very misleading to the dreamer, who thinks he or she has woken up, but is still actually dreaming.

• A dreamer can have several False Awakenings in a row.

Conclusion

• A lucid dream is not merely a fantasy playground; it's a chance to interact with your own subconscious mind via dream characters and the fabric of the dream itself.

• Some people learn to lucid dream naturally.

• You can train your mind to lucid dream.

Conclusion Continued…

• We use about 8% of our brain during consciousness.

• But our subconscious mind is active during our dreams.

• The brain is much more busier in our REM sleep as compared to waking life and blood flow through it is almost doubles.

• This awareness can lead to many new possibilities.

References• http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/paralysis.html• http://www.worldofluciddreaming.com/lucid-dream-

ideas/famous-lucid-dreamers• http://www.dreamstudies.com/history-of-lucid-

dreaming• http://www.worldofluciddreaming.com/

dream-control/how-to-control-your-dream• http://www.dreamstudies.com/the-art-of-

dream-control