The Hidden Benefits of Lucid Dreaming
Sleeping and dreaming are forgettable experiences. We think of it as plugging your phone in for the night; its purpose is to recharge the battery for tomorrow’s use. However, it can be so much more than a recharge. Dreaming has a complex function, designed to help us work through anxieties, solve complex problems, and prepare for everyday life. By beginning a lucid dreaming practice, you will begin to understand the deepest levels of your psyche, banish your anxiety and depression, and cultivate a fulfilling life, all by paying attention to your dreams.
If dreaming is so important, why is it easy to forget?
The answer to this question lies in the brain. A study conducted by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke found certain neurons that aid in our sleep-wake cycles, also play a role in dream recall. These neurons are melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) neurons. The study proposes, “MCH neurons help the brain actively forget new, possibly, unimportant information,” said Dr. Thomas Kilduff, Ph.D., “Since dreams are thought to primarily occur during REM sleep, the sleep stage when the MCH cells turn on, activation of these cells may prevent the content of a dream from being stored in the hippocampus — consequently, the dream is quickly forgotten.” Essentially, since dreams are dubbed as unimportant information, we forget them.
Despite this, there is a simple way to prevent forgotten dreams: intention. By telling yourself that dreams are important, dreams become information worth storing. Dreams, when starting out, are shrouded in fog and mystery, but by setting intention, they can become as clear as waking life. Before bed, say in your head, “I’m going to dream tonight,” over and over. Some time spent thinking about dreams in your waking life is key to remembering your dream life. Curiosity is a powerful tool.
The next step after beginning to remember dreams is to write them down to improve dream recall. When first starting out, you won’t dream often or remember small tidbits. It’s important that you write these down regardless of if they seem insignificant. It may seem small, but this signals to your brain that this information is important, and you’ll be able to remember your dreams more often.
Dream journals are useful for more reasons than dream recall. Dreams are a reflection of your subconscious. While the frontal lobe rests and repairs, the subconscious is allowed to run free. By keeping track of your dreams, you have a direct line to this part of your brain. You will become prepared for everyday life, become a problem-solving expert, and conquer your deepest anxieties and fears by establishing communication with your dream self.
How do you gain new skills while sleeping?
Have you ever walked away from a problem to sleep on it, and when you wake up you have new ideas on how to solve it? While you sleep, your brain is mulling over information that it has gained during the day. Our brains have an uncanny way of presenting information; “seeing solutions in surreal metaphors rather than bluntly reasoning them out can help us understand them in a new light,” Alice Robb tells us in her book Why We Dream. By being aware of our dreams, we can connect to the part of ourselves that knows what to do and can see the answers. It’s the same reason authors write a story, rather than saying their point directly. Information is just information, but a story enthralls us; it’s more fun to come about the answer by ourselves than to have someone spell it out.
“We mull over the symbolism; we marvel at their oddness and reflect on what feels true” -Alice Robb
Our brains reveal fears and anxieties in this way, prepping us for everyday life when we wake up. If you’ve ever had a dream about going in to take a test, and when you get there you realize you’re not wearing any pants, then you’re already familiar with this concept. What’s happening here is your brain is addressing all the possible scenarios that would cause anxiety, preparing you for the worst outcomes. While this dream is anxiety-inducing when having it, it’s humorous when you wake up, because your waking self knows better than to forget something as important as dressing yourself. Now that a minute fear is established, it can be dispelled.
As a person who has experienced dreams, you are no stranger to nightmares. Most dreams, even the stressful ones, are healthy preparation for life. Nightmares, however, can seep into waking life and plague you with more worries than you had to begin with. Maybe you’ve crashed your car before and have had dreams about it for weeks after. You’ve had to work through your feelings and develop coping mechanisms to deal with the unease. Eventually, it does go away, but it takes a while to heal from the experience.
This is where lucid dreaming comes into play. Dreams act as a direct route to the subconscious, and by confronting the issue head-on, it goes away. Carl Jung believes nightmares are “shadow elements,” or parts of the psyche that have been disconnected from the self. By reconnecting with these shadow elements, the self becomes whole, and we are healed from the nightmare. Nightmares can go from a terrifying experience to a liberating one. If you have nightmares about crashing your car, by lucid dreaming, you can regain control of the car, effectively overcoming the fear. Nightmares stem from feeling out of control in your life, and by regaining control in the nightmares, you regain control of the fear.
“In forming a bridge between body and mind, dreams may be used as a springboard from which man can leap to new realms of experience lying outside his normal state of consciousness.” -Ann Faraday, author of The Dream Game
Now, lucid dreaming is no replacement for a well-trained therapist, but it is a useful tool in therapy. Dreams are excellent at pointing out things in life that may have gone overlooked, but if you’re not willing to see them, then the problem will persist. Talking about dreams with others is an important part of the process because others have the luxury of seeing things from an outside perspective. Awareness of dreams is a powerful tool if used to its full potential.
While having active participation in your dream life has a lot of benefits, it’s important to not forget that it’s fun! You can lead a rich dreams life, one that is not bound to the limitations of reality. You can fly high in the sky, explore the ocean seabeds, and even have incredible superpowers. Traveling far and wide in your dreams will enhance your dream experience, and cultivate an adventurer’s spirit in waking life!
Lucid dreaming isn’t all about control, it’s about the journey that your mind can take you on. It’s being fully aware of the relationship between your conscious and subconscious minds. When you allow yourself the freedom of this communication, you’ll begin to develop a deep relationship with yourself that you didn’t think was possible prior. To know yourself is to allow yourself to dream fully and unapologetically.
Sources:
Faraday, A. (1990). The Dream Game. Harper & Row.PhD,
C. J. R. (2021). The Art of Transforming Nightmares: Harness the Creative and Healing Power of Bad Dreams, Sleep Paralysis, and Recurring Nightmares. Llewellyn Publications.
C.G. Jung (1963). Memories, Dreams, Reflections. New York: Pantheon Books.
Robb, A. (2019). Why We Dream: The Transformative Power of Our Nightly Journey (Reprint ed.). Mariner Books.
Yamanaka, A., & Izawa, S. (2019). REM sleep active MCH neurons are involved in forgetting hippocampus-dependent memories. IBRO Reports, 6, S19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibror.2019.07.046
