... Lucid Dreaming Holzinger (2009), suggests that dreams have been a major importance to cultures throughout the ages. Native Americans viewed dreams as portals to the spirit world, paths to prophecy and quests. A common phenomenon states, there is an experience in which one is aware that one is dreaming and is able to control what happens in the dream. This experience is known as lucid dreaming. Aristotle may have been the first to write about lucid dreaming, although he did not have a term for it (Holzinger B. , 2009). And some Tibetan Buddhists have been practicing something like lucid dreaming for a long time. In Tibetan Buddhism, it was practiced as a form of yoga, called dream yoga, from the eighth century. The goal of dream yoga is to examine your consciousness and bring you to a constant state of awareness. A big part of the belief system of Buddhism is recognizing the world for what it is, free from deception. A lucid dreamer recognizes the dream world for what it is, a dream (Holzinger B. , 2009). A Dutch psychiatrist named Frederik van Eeden came up with the term for lucid dreams in 1913. He claimed that there are nine well-defined types of dreams in all, including ordinary, symbolic and vivid dreams. He recorded several of his own lucid dreams, and his thoughts during them and upon awakening. He remarked that they often involved flying (Holzinger B. , 2009). Lucid dreaming is normally a rare experience. Though most people report having had a lucid dream at least...
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...[pic] Dream within a dream Are you curious and sometimes maybe a bit baffled by your dreams? Do you wake up with fragments of a dream fresh in your mind and wonder : why was it so real ? well, you are not alone. Sleep scientist wonder the same thing. The sci-fi adventure hit movie,INCEPTION has sparked massive new interest in the concept of lucid dreaming. Lucidity means becoming conscious and self-aware in your dreams, turning the dreamscape into a vivid virtual reality where everything you see, hear, feel, taste and even smell will be just as authentic real life. Tibetan monks have used dream control for more than a thousand years in a philosophy called Dream Yoga. However the modern term ‘lucid dreaming’ was not coined until the 20th century by the Dutch psychiatrist Frederik Van Eeden, meaning ‘mental clarity in dreams’ . The concept of lucid dreams were popularized by Celia Green in the 1960 s. She was the first to point out the link that false awakenings make way to lucid dreams. False awakenings are essentially ultra vivid dreams in which you are convinced you have woken up in physical reality. Yet many such awakenings go unrecognized assumed to be waking reality as they involve things one does everyday on autopilot such as getting up, having breakfast, getting dressed and heading out for work. It thus reveals the remarkable capacity of the human brain to emulate reality. But in normal dreams our self-awareness is shut down. That’s why we often feel fuzzy...
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...three types of dreams Introduction Attention Getter: The world of imagination available to us in our sleep is probably taken for granted by many. However, no one can disagree to the mysteriousness of dreams. Roadmap: In this speech, I will describe four dreams and sleep walking. I will take you through the nightmare, the recurring dream, the flase awakning lucid dream and finally sleep walking body Main Point: First looking at nightmares, we all recognize that their mystery is first and foremost coupled with horror. The International Association for the Study of Dreams, or IASD, provides us valuable insight into their nature. Sub Point: The potential causes of a nightmare are varied. Creative, emotional, and sensitive people tend to have more nightmares, as they are more highly aware of their surroundings and circumstances (IASD 2013). For others, nightmares are side effects of drug and medication use. Others are the result of post-traumatic stress, including the loss of a loved one, assault, or combat (IASD 2013). in addition to daily stressful problems. Therefore, nightmares are thought to be psychosomatic mechanisms to call attention to the issues in our lives (IASD 2013). Main Point: The recurring dream provides less horror to our dreams, and also a deeper mystery. Recurring dreams are those dreams that we have over and over, as if it were a task that we keep trying to complete. In fact, Dr. Angel Morgan writes in the Huffington Post that it may be...
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...December 8, 2010 “Dreams versus reality” is a motif that serves an important role in Revolutionary Road. Many of the main characters day dream and imagine theoretical situations. This can be applied in real life to the majority of people because whether tired or bored, one will eventually dream in one way or another. Lucid dreaming is a term created by Frederik van Eeden that is used to describe a dream in which one is aware that he/she is dreaming. This type of dreaming is considered by many as a higher level of consciousness. Most people do not know what lucid dreaming is and those who do rarely are aware of how to realize that they are dreaming, let alone actually manipulate their dreams. Lucid dreaming can have many benefits in one’s life, whether it’s relieving stress, learning or studying, having fun, etc. Also, there is little risk in dreaming lucidly, since dreams do not take place in the physical world. Anything that can benefit many people with little risk should be readily available and encouraged. Dreaming lucidly fits this description yet is not studied often, and on top of that, is not taken very seriously within the scientific community. Lucid dreaming should be a topic that is taught and discussed more often than is currently in everyday life. To understand lucid dreaming, one must understand the two different types of “life”. One of which is waking life, which you probably can guess, refers to one’s life while they are awake. The other of which...
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...Lucid Dreaming Ayeisa Chavez SPCH 1311 MW 8:30 am Irma Garcia March 6, 2013 Imagine going to bed one night only to wake up in a whole other world where anything your heart and mind desired became reality. Flying over clouds, breathing underwater, going to any part of the world or even getting to be with that person you so much desire wasn’t impossible anymore. Well there is a way that can be done, and that’s through something called lucid dreaming. After listening to this presentation I hope you will have a better understanding of the world of lucid dreaming and how it can be done. I will begin by explaining to you in detail what it is exactly. Then, you will learn a few of the benefits gained by this experience and some dangers. Last, I will give you a few simple steps to how it can be done. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? I know I was! As explained in an article by Rebecca Turner, Lucid dreaming is the proven ability to become aware while you’re dreaming, to consciously “wake up” inside the dream world and control your dreams. In other words, it’s being able to do as you please while you dream. Marshall Brain researched that when you sleep, your brain goes through several stages of a sleep cycle. The cycle that deals with dreams is REM or rapid eye movement which takes up 20 to 25% of sleep and your brain is basically shut off during this period of time. Your body becomes paralyzed except for the eyelids and the part of the brain that deals with logic is shut...
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...Robert W. Soderstrom wrote an essay titled “A Single Lucid Dream," about his adventures and volunteer work in Papua New Guinea through the Peace Corps. While in a remote village in Papua New Guinea, Soderstrom described the humble living conditions of the people living there. They lived in grass huts and survived off the lands and an average income of two hundred dollars a year. Although the people did not have much they sustained themselves and helped sustain the others around them. Those who needed help in the village received help no matter what, due to the spiritual desire of the native people. One day Soderstrom brought up the idea of homelessness, and showed the people a picture of two homeless men. Their reaction to the picture was pure confusion, and they immediately wanted to help. The solution the people came up with was to bring the two homeless men to the village, where they would take care of them. They would build them grass huts and plant gardens for them to sustain themselves with. The people in this village lack material wealth but can make up for this with their spiritual wealth. Soderstrom believes that America...
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...During REM sleep dreams can be characterized as being nonsensical, bizarre, and the individual is left unaware that they are dreaming. Certain neural patterns describe this state, such as, the deactivation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Contrastly, lucid dreaming describes a state of sleep where the individual is aware that they are dreaming. Lucid dreaming can also be characterized by increase of 40-Hz wave activity and coherence in the frontal region of the brain. It is interesting to note that lucid dreamers are able to communicate their state by eye movements that can be tracked by an electrooculogram. Apart from the awesome idea of being aware that one is dream, lucid dreaming also have some benefits, such as, treating nightmares. In order to understand the neural changes in lucid dreaming and examine its neural correlates EEG and fMRI techniques were used in this study to compare lucid vs non-lucid REM sleep....
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...while you were sleeping? With lucid dreaming, it's a possibility. Charlie Morley, teacher of the Tibetan Buddhist practice of dream yoga, has experienced the power of the dream state in healing. He teaches lucid dreaming to numerous people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder—including ex-soldiers, victims of terrorist attacks, and those who experienced abuse during childhood—as a means to not only cure nightmares, but he says "to open people up to view their nightmares as a call for help rather than an attack from the unconscious." A lot of our fears, traumas, and the shadow aspects of psyche that we have unconsciously rejected...
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...mile a minute. Five minutes after this dream about half of its content is forgotten and in 10 minutes 90% of it is gone. According to the New York time study done on October 20, 2013 by Gary Matter you spend about 6 years of your life dreaming. That’s more then 2100 days spent in a different realm. So today, lets look at how dreams really do occur, the part of your sleep cycle that dreams occur in and lastly different types of dreams. Transition: So where do dreams really start? Body I. REM Sleep A. Rapid eye movement sleep, the part of your sleep cycle charactized by rapid and random eye movement B. Occurs in the cycle for about 90-120 minutes throughout the night 1. REM sleep dominates the latter half of the sleep cycle 2. Five minutes after you wake up half of your dream is forgotten and 10 minutes 90% of it is gone. C. The eye movements may relate to internal visual images of the dreams that occurs during this stage of sleep 3. Associated with the brain wave spikes in the regions of the brain that is involved with vision 4. Studies have shown that your brain waves are more active when you are dreaming than when we are awake. D. Majority of dreams happen in the REM Sleep 5. the most memorable and vivid dreams 6. muscular atonia that accompanies the protection of us from self-damage which could occur while physically acting out these vivid dreams E. Stage 5 - REM - breathing...
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...Abstract In this paper I will be exploring the topic that many people are mystified about, dreams. This paper will go into the most thought provoking theory on how we can control and manipulate our minds to envision what we want to see at night. I will also include a brief history lesson on how people envisioned their dreams to mean in ancient civilizations. In addition on exploring on how many scientists says we can control our dreams, I will talk about case studies in which humans are put to the test on proving theories actually controlling dreams. Can We Control Our Dreams? From human’s earliest civilizations, we have pondered on the idea of -what are dreams? From this article name “The History and Meaning of Dreams” It stated that early...
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...of us have once have dreams. Dreams are a combination of images, sounds, emotions and ideas blended together to form and interesting story. In order to dream we must pass through five stages of sleep. The first stage is light sleep in which you are able to wake up easily. Stage two our breathing and heart rate slow and in the third stage you are in a deep sleep. By stage four you are in the deepest possible sleep. After 90 minutes of falling asleep and after stage four you enter REM sleeping. REM or otherwise known as Rapid Eye Movement is where you spend 20-25 percent sleeping. By the time you’ve awaken you have experienced four to seven dreams. So what happens if you can control your dream, well you are having a lucid dream. The definition of lucid dream is “when you realize you are dreaming and you are able to then control what happens in your dream.” It is estimated that around 100,000 people who possess this skill. Stephen LaBerge of Stanford University and Lynne Levitan had developed a technique for inducing lucid dreams. Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams or MILD is a two step system in which you recognize when you're dreaming and reentering a dream until you go sleep. But since this requires lots of mental training they are working on using external stimuli to induce lucid dreams. From 1940 to 1985, Calvin S. Hall has collected more than 50,000 dream reports and has outlined a coding system to study 1000 college students. Basically dreams all have a common emotion...
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...control everything around you is only possible by lucid dreaming which is an unusual experience in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep where you are conscious that you are dreaming. In this way, people can control their dreams so to make them by preference. For the sleeper these dreams look real, however the dreamer knows that this is not a reality which makes this a skill that provides hours of enjoyable experience (Susan Blackmore, Lucid Dreaming: Awake in Your Sleep?) There are four sleep stages: Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) stage one, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) stage two, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) stage three and four, which are grouped together due to the many similarities, and lastly, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. In the first stage we begin to lose self-awareness and muscle tone. In stage two our body is completely relaxed so as not to react to the upcoming dreams. Stages three and four are marked by the loss of senses and reaction to the environment. Finally...
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...Specific purpose: To inform my audience about the 3 types of dreams they might have. Thesis Statement: Introduction I. I was alone in a dark alley, running for my life, panting and sweating, my heart pounding. A. Was I writing an essay? No. B. It was what I had dreamt of when I as asleep one night. II. I have always been curious about the dreams I had a night, why I would wake up crying at times, or maybe even screaming. III. Throughout the period of research, I have found out that the dreams you have can actually relate to the events you participated in during the day. IV. Therefore, I would like to share 3 types of dreams you are most likely to have during the course of your sleep. Body I. The first type of dream and most common type of dream you might have is a falling dream. A. A falling dream is where one has the feeling of falling thru the air feeling frightened. 1. A theory by Professor O’Conner from the University of Glasgow suggests that a falling dream may occur when one has lost control over something. 2. These situations could be linked to work, school home or even in a relationship. 3. As falling dreams are usually vivid, you can recall the contents of the dreams quite easily. 4. The more you can remember, the better it is to figure out what the dream means, and try to correct the problem you may be facing. B. So when and how does a falling dream occur? 1. It typically occurs during the first stage of sleep...
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...Dreams can be fascinating, exciting, terrifying or just plain weird. Dreams have fascinated philosophers for thousands of years, but only recently have dreams been subjected to empirical research and concentrated scientific study. Chances are that you’ve often found yourself puzzling over the mysterious content of a dream, or perhaps you’ve wondered why you dream at all. Dreams can be mysterious, but understanding the meaning of our dreams can be downright baffling. The content of our dreams can shift suddenly, feature bizarre elements or frighten us with terrifying imagery. The fact that dreams can be so rich and compelling is what causes many to believe that there must be some meaning to our dreams. Why do we dream? Some researchers suggest that dreams serve no real purpose, while others believe that dreaming is essential to mental, emotional and physical well-being. Although there is not much agreement on why we dream there are some interesting theories around. One possibility is that our minds are running us through the worst-case scenario during sleep. Disaster preparation you could say. For example if a new mother was to dream of losing her baby she is rehearsing what it would feel like for that to actually happen. So our dreams are just fire drills? Another possibility is that dreaming is actually aiding learning. Some researchers have found that performance on physical tasks is actually enhanced by dreaming about it. Whatever the reason for why...
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...dreaming. What are dreams? This question has fascinated the human race throughout history. From the Ancient Greeks and Romans, to Sigmund Freud in the late 1800’s, till now, people have queried what the mystical stories that play out in the sleeping mind are and why we have them. The Sumerians in Mesopotamia left evidence of dreams dating back to 3100 BC. According to these stories, gods and kings, like the 7th century BC scholar-king Assurbanipal, paid close attention to dreams. In his archive of clay tablets, some accounts of the story of the legendary king Gilgamesh were found (Seligman). The Mesopotamians believed that the soul, or some part of it, moves out from the body of the sleeping person and actually visits the places and people the dreamer sees in their sleep. Sometimes the god of dreams is said to carry the dreamer. Babylonians and Assyrians divided dreams into "good," which were sent by the gods, and "bad," sent by demons. They also believed that their dreams were omens and prophecies. In ancient Egypt, as far back as 2000 BC, the Egyptians wrote down their dreams on papyrus. People with vivid and significant dreams were thought blessed and were considered special. Ancient Egyptians believed that dreams were like oracles, bringing messages from the gods. They thought that the best way to receive divine revelation was through dreaming and so they would induce dreams. Egyptians would go to sanctuaries and sleep on special "dream beds" in hope of receiving...
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