HOW TO HAVE A WILD LUCID DREAM

 Set an alarm clock to wake you up after approximately 5 hours of sleep. This is done to wake you in a later REM (Rapid Eye Movement) dream cycle where WILD has been shown to work more often than earlier in the night.

Tips

Warnings

 Things You'll Need

 [From NIGHTLIGHT 1(1), 1989, Copyright, The Lucidity Institute.]

How To Remember Your Dreams

Getting plenty of sleep is the first step to good dream recall. If you are rested it will be easier to focus on your goal of recalling dreams, and you won't mind so much taking the time during the night to record your dreams. Another benefit of getting plenty of sleep is that dream periods get longer and closer together as the night proceeds. The first dream of the night is the shortest, perhaps 10 minutes in length, while after 8 hours of sleep, dream periods can be 45 minutes to an hour long. We all dream every night, about one dream period every 90 minutes. People who say they never dream simply never remember their dreams. You may have more than one dream during a REM (dream) period, separated by short arousals that are most often forgotten. It is generally accepted among sleep researchers that dreams are not recalled unless the sleeper awakens directly from the dream, rather than after going on to other stages of sleep.

It can be useful while you are developing your dream recall to keep a complete dream journal. Keep the journal handy by your bed and record every dream you remember, no matter how fragmentary. Start by writing down all your dreams, not just the complete, coherent, or interesting ones--even if all you remember is a face or a room, write it down.

When you awaken in the night and recall what you were dreaming, record the dream right away. If you don't, in the morning you may find you remember nothing about the dream, and you will certainly have forgotten many interesting details. We seem to have built-in dream erasers in our minds, which make dream experiences more difficult to recall than waking ones. So, whenever you remember a dream, write it down. If you don't feel like writing out a long dream story at 3 AM, note down key points of the plot. Also write down the precise content of any dialogue from the dream, because words will almost inevitably be forgotten in a very short time.

Possibly, all you will need to do to increase your dream recall is to remind yourself as you are falling asleep that you wish to awaken fully from your dreams and remember them. This works in a similar manner to remembering to awaken at a certain time in the morning. Additionally, it may help to tell yourself you will have interesting, meaningful dreams. A major cause of dream forgetting is interference from other thoughts competing for your attention. Therefore, let your first thought upon awakening be, "What was I just dreaming?" Before attempting to write down the dream, go over the dream in your mind, re-telling the dream story to yourself. DO NOT MOVE from the position in which you awaken, and do not think of the day's concerns. Cling to any clues of what you might have been experiencing--moods, feelings, fragments of images, and try to rebuild a story from them. When you recall a scene, try to recall what happened before that, and before that, reliving the dream in reverse. If after a few minutes, all you remember is a mood, describe it in a journal. If you can recall nothing, try imagining a dream you might have had--note your present feelings, list your current concerns to yourself, and ask yourself, "Did I dream about that?" Even if you can't recall anything in bed, events or scenes of the day may remind you of something you dreamed the night before. Be ready to notice this when it happens, and record whatever you remember.

If you find that you sleep too deeply to awaken from your dreams, try setting an alarm clock to wake you at a time when you are likely to be dreaming. Since our REM periods occur at approximately 90 minute intervals, good times will be multiples of 90 minutes after you go to sleep. Aim for the later REM periods by setting the alarm to go off at 4.5, 6, or 7.5 hours after you go to sleep. Once again, when you wake up, don't move and think first of what you were just dreaming before writing.

To remind yourself of your intentions and get yourself into the spirit of your dreams, read through your dream journal at bedtime. Learning to remember your dreams may seem difficult at first, but if you persist, you will almost certainly succeed--and may find yourself remembering four or more dreams per night. Of course, once you reach this level, you probably won't want to write them all down--just the significant or compelling ones. And, the more familiar you become with the style of your own dreams, the easier it will be to remember you are dreaming while you are dreaming--and explore the world of your dreams while still on the scene.

[From NIGHTLIGHT 5(2), Summer 1993, Copyright, The Lucidity Institute.]


TESTING THE LIMITS OF DREAM CONTROL: 
THE LIGHT AND MIRROR EXPERIMENT
by Lynne Levitan and Stephen LaBerge


Lucid dreaming offers the promise of enhanced control over dreams. Yet 
the question remains quite unanswered of how much dream control is 
possible. The ability to have lucid dreams also makes possible a way to 
study this issue. After having attained lucidity in a dream, dreamers 
can choose to carry out predetermined experiments testing their ability 
to achieve certain goals. In the "Free Fall" issue of NightLight (Vol. 
4, No. 4) we asked lucid dreamers to attempt certain tasks in lucid 
dreams and to report on the outcome. An introduction to the many 
viewpoints on dream control will put the findings from this study in 
context.



WAYS OF CONTROLLING

The definition of "control" used here is "the ability to determine or 
influence the course of events." This means that an individual's actions 
are causes with subsequent effects. One way to refine this definition is 
to distinguish between voluntary and involuntary control. Voluntary 
control means that you decide you want to produce a certain effect and 
take steps to cause it. For example, you want the house to be cleaner so 
you throw away stray papers. Involuntary control refers to unintended 
consequences of your actions. For example, one of those stray papers you 
threw away was the outline of the presentation you are to give tomorrow. 
The result is you have to write a new one. In a dream, an example of an 
involuntary effect would be causing a dream monster to pursue you by 
running away.

There are different ways to approach controlling dreams. A method that 
does not require lucidity is predetermination: selecting the setting or 
topic of the dream prior to sleep. This is akin to the idea of "dream 
incubation" in which a person works to induce a dream about an important 
topic in order to answer a question or resolve a conflict. In her book, 
Creative Dreaming, Patricia Garfield presents some evidence that 
motivated people can choose to dream about desired topics. Post-hypnotic 
suggestions have also been employed in attempts to elicit particular 
dream topics, again with some success, as described by Charles Tart in 
his essay in Conscious Mind, Sleeping Brain, edited by Gackenbach and 
LaBerge (1988). Success with creating a particular dream setting, 
however, does not imply the ability to control the sequence of events in 
the dream.

Concurrent control is ability to determine or alter the course of a 
dream in "real time," as it happens. This type of control is not limited 
to lucid dreams, anymore than our effect on the waking world is limited 
to times when we are thinking about what we are doing. Anytime we make a 
choice or act in a dream, we are controlling it. We may be unconscious 
of the reason for our choice, but the decision nonetheless originates 
within the self. However, people possessing lucid consciousness in their 
dreams are able to make deliberate choices and actions with full 
knowledge that they are experiencing a dream, and observe their effects 
on the course of the dream.

The question addressed here is how well can we influence dreams in the 
directions we desire? Do actions produce the aimed-for effects? Do we 
have more or less control over our experiences in dreaming than in 
waking?




THE RANGE OF OPINIONS REGARDING DREAM CONTROL

In the modern world, a wide variety of theories and opinions about the 
possibility or impossibility of dream control coexist. At one extreme, 
stand (or, perhaps, stood, as this viewpoint may have faded in the face 
of irrefutable evidence) some sleep researchers whose reluctance to 
believe in the possibility of deliberate dream control came hand in hand 
with their disbelief in the verity of lucid dreaming. Their opinions 
rose out of a faulty philosophy defining sleep as "unconsciousness," 
meaning lack of cognition. A better operational definition of sleep 
would be, "lack of perceptual awareness of the sleeper's environment." 
Without consciousness, clearly one could not consciously will anything. 
So, until an awareness arose among those studying dreams that dreaming 
was a state of consciousness, not unconsciousness, progress was not 
possible in this area.

Another kind of disbelief has arisen from dreamworkers, who employ 
dreams to help people achieve better psychological balance. Much of 
dream-based therapy (although not all) has operated on the premise that 
dreams are things that happen to people, rather than events that people 
create. The creator of dreams has been named the "unconscious." Because 
of this and the prevailing notion in the scientific world that sleep is 
unconsciousness, it has become common for people to believe that dreams 
occur in the unconscious mind, independent of the conscious "ego."

This cannot be true, however, because if it were, we would not be able 
to recall the experiences we have in dreams. Events that do not reach 
consciousness are not accessible to memory. The "I" of the dreamer, the 
one who sees, hears, feels, and reflects on the events happening in a 
dream is the self-awareness, the "ego," and it is conscious, although it 
may not be aware that its present circumstance is an entirely mentally-
constructed world not guided by sensory information from physical 
reality.

As an illustration of the point of view that dreams are both from and in 
the unconscious, here is an excerpt from Working with Dreams by Ullman 
and Zimmerman:

  Q. Can we program or control our dreams?
  A. No, not consciously. If we look upon a dream as a kind of natural 
  resource flowing within us, if we liken it to a river, a river shaped 
  by our life experience, then its flow will not be changed simply by 
  having someone on the shore urge a new direction on it. But if the 
  person on the shore does the work necessary to make a change in 
  direction possible, the flow will alter as desired. The point of the 
  analogy is that there has to be more than conscious intent to 
  influence the flow. There has to be a genuine emotional investment.

In the view expressed, dreams are predetermined "plays" somehow 
programmed out of the individual's current psychological processes. They 
are nothing like waking life. These same authors make an interesting 
comment about lucid dreaming. They state: "Although the dreamer can 
influence the subsequent course of dream once it becomes a lucid dream, 
the element of control occurs only within certain limits. An analogy 
might be Living Theater where, after the actors have created a certain 
framework, the audience is invited to influence the subsequent course of 
the play."

This statement implies that dream control is limited to actions 
appropriate to the original setting of the dream, which has its own 
defined boundaries and rules. This seems to imply that whatever part of 
the mind determines the original dream setting has primacy over other 
parts of the mind. Certainly, one of the great mysteries of dreams is 
what determines the original setting and situation one finds oneself in 
a dream. Despite reports that some people are able to decide what they 
will dream about on occasion, for the most part, dream topics seem to 
arise out of some source that is definitely not in consciousness. 
However, there is no evidence in support of Ullman and Zimmerman's 
contention that dream control is limited by the framework of the 
original dream setting, and many would refute it based on their own 
experience.

The Tibetan Buddhists, creators of the Dream Yoga, teach that it is 
possible to control every aspect of dream imagery. They use dream 
control as a method of comprehending the illusory nature of all 
experience, with the ultimate goal of transcending the relative and 
embracing the Absolute. In  the "Doctrine of the Dream State" from 
Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines translated by Evans-Wentz, we find the 
following instructions:

  At the outset, in the process of realizing [the dream] to be maya, 
    abandon all feeling of fear;
  And, if the dream be of fire, transform the fire into water, 
    the antidote of fire.
  And if the dream be of minute objects, transform them 
    into large objects;
  Or if the dream be of large objects, transform them 
    into small objects:
  Thereby one comprehendeth the nature of dimensions.
  And if the dream be of a single thing, transform it 
    into many things;
  Or if the dream be of many things, transform them 
    into a single thing...

Then, the editors comment:

By such practices, the yogin is taught to realize that matter, or 
form in its dimensional aspects, large or small, and in its numerical 
aspects, of plurality and unity, is entirely subject to one's will 
when the mental powers have been sufficiently developed by the yoga. 
In other words, the yogin learns by actual experience, resulting from 
psychic experimentation, that the character of any dream can be 
changed by transforming or willing that it shall be. A step further 
and he learns that form, in the dream-state, and all the 
multitudinous content of dreams, are mere playthings of the mind, and 
therefore, as unstable as mirage. A further step leads him to the 
knowledge that the essential nature of form and of all things 
perceived by the senses in the waking state are equally as unreal as 
their reflexes in the dream state..."

The Tibetan Buddhists, however, were and are not given to sharing their 
personal dream experiences, so we cannot examine the nature of their 
dreams and their efforts to control them. Some notable Western expert 
lucid dreams have given us a look into what they have been able to 
accomplish. The Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys was an extraordinarily 
accomplished lucid dream and wrote instructively about his experiences. 
He exhorted his readers to strive to control their dreams in his 1867 
book Dreams and How to Guide Them:

Those who would see in the incidents of our dreams merely a succession 
of mechanically produced impressions over which one has no more control 
that a simple spectator has over some pictures will naturally declare 
any effort and any exercise of attention or will to be incompatible with 
the very nature of dreaming. Since the most valuable observations I have 
been able to make seem to me to be due to my ability to maintain the 
faculties of attention and will during sleep, I shall naturally place 
great emphasis on convincing the reader that he can and should exercise 
the same control over himself. Here I come to what is perhaps the most 
interesting of my new propositions, and one that is open to 
experimentation on any reader's part. For it is through the combined 
action of attention and will during dreams that one can take the first 
steps in directing and modifying the course of dreams as one wishes.

Perhaps no one has experimented personally with dream control as much as 
Alan Worsley, the inveterate lucid dreamer who can claim to be the first 
to signal lucidity with eye movements in a sleep laboratory. First, a 
comment from Worsley regarding voluntary and involuntary control in 
dreams: "Non-lucid dreams use many principles that can be used in lucid 
drams. For instance, it is likely, in a non-lucid dram, that if one 
believes one looks into a book about a certain subject, one will find 
relevant pictures in it. In lucid dreaming, one can use this principle 
by deliberately selecting a book about a subject one wishes to study." 

Worsley has tabulated his attempts to influence dreams. A complete table 
of his results appears in Conscious Mind, Sleeping Brain, edited by 
Gackenbach and LaBerge. He rates the difficulty of various tasks as 
Hard, Medium, and Difficult, based on the percentage of times he was 
able to succeed at them. For example, he finds all attempts to penetrate 
dream matter with his  dream body to be easy. Making sounds by striking 
things or speaking is easy. Reading single words or short phrases is 
easy, but reading long sentences is hard. He was never able to suddenly 
turn on a light in a dark room, although he was able to do so easily in 
a light room. Flying close to the ground was easy, and got progressively 
more difficult the higher he would try to go.




EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF DREAM CONTROL

The wide range of opinions on the topic of dream control, and the 
reports we received of people's attempts to control dreams, piqued our 
curiosity about why it is sometimes it possible to achieve a desired 
outcome, and sometimes it is not. Because dreams are entirely illusory, 
it should be possible to experience anything imaginable. Thus, perhaps 
failures arise from not imagining strongly enough, or not believing a 
certain experience is possible. On the other hand, perhaps there are 
physiological limitations on the ability to control dream imagery.

Our theoretical approach to dreams is based on the idea that the 
perceptual experiences in dreams arise out of activity in the same brain 
areas that produce perceptual experience in waking. This is why people 
have difficulty distinguishing dreaming from waking experience, and have 
to employ special techniques to recognize when they are dreaming. 
Physiological constraints on dream perception might occur if a certain 
brain area is not in a state conducive to the desired experience. For 
example, it might be hard to make a dark dream light, because the visual 
cortex is not active enough. This is one of the topics of research we 
would very much like to see explored: the relationship between dream 
perception and brain activity.

The NightLight study was designed to assess how successful people would 
be at accomplishing certain well-defined tasks in lucid dreams. 


1. LIGHT SWITCH TASKS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Find a light switch (indoors).

B. Turn it on, and see what happens, then turn it off, and see what 
happens.

C. Turn the lights on and off by willing it to happen and observe the 
results. (These two tasks were counterbalanced so that some tried the 
"magic" first and some second.)


2. MIRROR TASKS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Find a mirror.

B. Observe your reflection in the mirror.

C. Move your hand to your face, watching it in the mirror and observe 
how the reflection behaves.

D. Pass through the mirror and see what is on the other side. (The 
instructions gave an example in which the dreamer passes through the 
mirror and ends up in a different scene.)


These tasks represented a variety of types of influence, ranging from 
things that are easy to accomplish in waking (turning on a light, 
looking in a mirror), to impossible in waking (passing through a 
mirror). In addition, some tasks we thought might be impeded by brain 
state were included (the changing of light level). The purpose of asking 
people to both will a light on and off and switch it was to see what 
effect belief might have on the outcome. It is easier to believe a light 
will turn on when a switch is flipped than that will alone will turn on 
a light.

The instructions asked the participants to try each task in waking prior 
to attempting the tasks in lucid dreams, so that they would have the 
procedure well-rehearsed. Then, they were to try each task at least once 
in a lucid dream. They did not need to complete all the tasks in one 
dream, but could use as many lucid dreams as they needed. So that they 
would not forget details, the participants were asked to awakening 
immediately after the experimental lucid dreams and make complete 
reports of their experiences.




RESULTS

Twenty-seven people submitted reports of their attempts to carry out the 
assigned tasks, fourteen women and thirteen men. Altogether they 
provided 65 lucid dream reports, an average of 1.4 per person. The 
maximum number of reports from one individual was four.

A judge reviewed the reports to determine which tasks were attempted in 
each dream, and scored the result. The scoring for the tasks of finding 
a light switch or a mirror was either as "success" or "failure." The 
results of the actions of turning a light switch on and off, willing a 
light on and off, looking at a reflection, touching hand to face, and 
passing through a mirror received scores of "expected" if the result 
achieved the goal, "no result" if the action produced no response, and 
"unexpected" if something unpredictable happened.

"Expected" for turning and willing a light on and off meant that the 
light went on and off as it would in waking. "No result" meant the light 
did not change. "Unexpected" meant something other than the chosen light 
turning on and off. Examples of unexpected light results were: "the bulb 
slowly filled with what appeared to be thick, black tar," and "When I 
threw the switch, the outside porch light came on instead of the room 
light...didn't really increase the overall illumination."

For the task of looking at a reflection, a score of "expected" was given 
when people reported that their reflections in the dream looked like 
their reflections in waking. "No result" indicated that the person saw 
no reflection. This happened once; the person instead saw gray, swirling 
mist.  If the reflection looked unlike the waking image, the result was 
rated "unexpected."

The same criteria as for the reflection applied to moving the hand to 
the face while watching in the mirror. An example of "unexpected" for 
this task was, "As I raise my hand to my face I see the reflected image 
of my hand go up but from then on I notice an increasingly 
'hallucinogenic' breakdown of the image--such things as my finger, 
detached from my hand, disappearing into my mouth and holes appearing in 
my face."

The result of trying to pass through a mirror was scored as "expected" 
if the dreamer was able to move through the mirror and found another 
setting on the other side. "No result" meant that the dreamer found the 
mirror hard and unyielding, as in waking. "Unexpected" applied to cases 
in which the dreamer got through the mirror, but was then somewhere 
unlike what was described in the task instructions, for instance, in the 
same room, or "in a world of cartoon-like images."

The table [below] shows the results of the participants' tries at the 
tasks. The left-hand columns list the number of people who attempted 
each action and the number who achieved each kind of result. The right 
hand columns display the total number of tries at each task, and the 
number leading to each result.

Looking at the number of "expected" results, that is, cases in which the 
action produced the desired result, it appears that "willing" a light to 
turn on or off and using a dream switch are about equally easy. There 
seemed to be more cases of "no result" with willing the light on, but 
the difference did not pass a statistical test. The data hint that it 
may be easier to get a dream light to turn off than on. However, this 
conclusion may be premature, given that in the majority of cases, before 
trying to turn off a light, the person had already succeeded in turning 
it on. There may be a condition in which if you can turn on a light in a 
dream, you can also turn it off.

Clearly, it was very easy to find things in dreams that are usually 
around in waking, like a light switch and a mirror. People also had no 
difficulty performing the normal action of looking in a mirror and 
seeing a reflection, although it was more likely than not somehow 
different than the usual waking reflection, and in 12 cases (28%) the 
image transformed as the dreamer watched. This happened for 41 percent 
of the participants.

It would be reasonable to predict that passing through a mirror to 
another scene would be the most difficult task, given that it is 
impossible in waking life. However, almost half of those who tried 
succeeded, and 86 percent of the people were able to get their dream 
bodies through the dream mirror at least once, even if they did not end 
up in a new scene. An example of an "expected" mirror result was, "I 
then went through the mirror and tried to imagine that the mirror was 
like water so I could easily slide through it. When I was fully through 
the mirror, I came up to the surface of the water I was in and noticed I 
was in a bright, sunlit backyard swimming pool with a roof shelter over 
it."




DREAMS CAN BE DIRECTED, BUT STILL DO THEIR OWN THING

The lack of large differences in the ease of accomplishment of the 
various tasks is in itself quite interesting. Lucid dreamers are able to 
exert a large amount of control over their dream experiences. But, it is 
far from perfect. Most notable is the reluctance of the mirror 
reflections to show normal images, and their fascinating instability. 
Self-image is of course a very psychologically loaded thing, probably 
with very complex internal representations. This may account for the 
strange images. The instability points up the most prominent difference 
between waking and dreaming perception. Dreams change. We exploit this 
in lucid dream induction training by instructing people to examine 
written phrases repeatedly, watching for them to change. An interesting 
question is whether the perceptual instability results from the lack of 
anchoring sensory input from the physical senses or from a state of the 
brain peculiar to REM sleep.

In their studies, the Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys and Alan Worsley 
observed something they called the  "light switch" phenomenon. This was 
an inability to change the illumination of a room on demand. From this 
study, it seems that this phenomenon is sometimes present and sometimes 
not. Some people who were able to turn on lights reported no concurrent 
change in general illumination, but others reported that there was an 
increase in brightnessÑabout half and half. So, "the light switch 
phenomenon" is not dead, but merely seems to be sleeping some of the 
time. A prime target for research would be to discover what the brain is 
doing under both circumstances.

It was rather remarkably easy for people to pass through a mirror and 
find something else on the other side. One might think, along the lines 
of the quote earlier from Ullman and Zimmerman, that a complete scene 
change would be a difficult thing to accomplish. In fact, we have 
already seen in another study that it is more than possible. In the 
results from an experiment published in the April 1987 issue of Omni 
magazine, 51 people reported trying to arrive a particular pre-selected 
target by spinning in a dream. Eighteen of them (35%) succeeded in 
arriving at their target. Thus, not only is it possible to create a new 
scene, but also to create one that is specifically desired.

In the final analysis, the Tibetan Buddhist view that all dream images 
are transmutable may be exactly right. If so, we wonder if it may be 
possible also to learn to control the stability of these images, 
creating lasting dream scenes and objects, achieving a state of virtual 
reality far beyond the wildest dreams of the computer programmers.





TABLE 1. Results of attempts to control dream content

 [From NightLight 6(3), 1994, Copyright, The Lucidity Institute.]

An Hour of Wakefulness Before Morning Naps Makes Lucidity More Likely

By Stephen LaBerge, Leslie Phillips, & Lynne Levitan

Morning naps provide us highly favorable circumstances for inducing lucid dreams. Two important factors are at work here: timing and wakefulness during sleep. (The term "nap" indicates that the target sleep period is immediately preceded by a period of wakefulness; "morning" indicates the relevant time-of-day.) A series of NightLight experiments exploring the relationships between napping, length of sleep, continuity of sleep, biological rhythms, and lucid dreaming, have repeatedly demonstrated a strong relationship between taking morning naps and increased likelihood of lucid dreaming. (1, 2, 3, 4)

Working from the premise that lucid dreaming is associated with increased REM propensity and REM intensity, both of which are typically at or near their peak late in the morning, the first of our nap studies, "The Best Time for Lucid Dreaming," (1) compared the following sleep schedules: a. Taking a two-hour nap two hours after getting up two hours early (i.e., taking a nap at the normal waking time) and b. Taking a two-hour nap starting four hours after getting up two hours early (i.e., taking a nap two hours later than the typical rising time) to assess their relative value in promoting lucid dreams. Overall, lucid dreams were 10 times more likely in the naps than the preceding nights. More lucid dreams per total dreams occurred in the two-hour delayed nap than in the four-hour delayed nap (an average of one lucid dream out of each two dreams versus one lucid dream out of each three dreams, respectively). Although the number of subjects in this study was not large enough for the differences between the two napping conditions to be statistically significant, it was very encouraging that these nap schedules showed much more effect on lucid dreaming than any of our previous studies of lucid dream induction by mental exercises.

Our second nap study, "Get Up Early, Take a Nap, Be Lucid," (2) compared three different sleep schedules, one each night. In the first schedule, Condition A, participants awakened 90 minutes before their normal waking time, stayed up for 90 minutes, and did a special MILD exercise for 10 minutes before falling back to sleep for a 90-minute nap. In the second sleep schedule, Condition B, participants also awakened 90 minutes prior to their normal waking time, but then went right back to sleep after doing the MILD exercise for 10 minutes to finish a "normal" night's rest. In the third sleep schedule, Condition C, subjects slept their complete normal sleep time, woke up and did the MILD exercise, then returned to sleep for 90 extra minutes. In Condition A (delayed nap), 8% of participants had lucid dreams in the night, and 67% in the nap; none of the participants had lucid dreams in the night portion of Condition B ("normal" sleep with MILD), and 33% in the nap; 17% of participants had lucid dreams in the night portion of Condition C (prolonged sleep), and 8% in the nap. In other words, Condition A (which included the delayed nap) was, by far, the sleep schedule most conducive to lucid dreaming, with a full two-thirds of participants recording lucid dreams under these circumstances. The results of this study indicated that there was something about the delayed sleep that greatly improved lucid dreaming ability, as the prolonged sleep in Condition C, which happened in the same time of the morning as the Condition A nap, was not associated with these elevated levels of lucidity.

The value of a period of wakefulness in promoting lucid dreaming has been known since the late 70s when LaBerge noted that certain activities "in the middle of the night" have been observed to increase the likelihood of lucid dreaming upon a subsequent return to sleep (3). Patricia Garfield, (4) for example, found that, in her case, "sexual intercourse during the middle of the night was often followed by a lucid dream." Scott Sparrow, in contrast, found that early morning meditation favored lucid dreaming (5). Additional anecdotes cited by LaBerge (3) indicated that early morning reading or writing was also favorable. The diversity of these activities suggested that it is not the particular activity, but the alert wakefulness that facilitates lucid dreaming during subsequent sleep. (3)

Following up on this observation, in our third experiment, "The Best Time for Lucid Dreaming: Naps, Mishaps, and Recaps," (6) we planned to study the effect of varying periods of wakefulness before naps (10 minutes versus 90 minutes), but due to an ambiguity in the instructions, many participants did not start their naps at the same time for the two conditions, confounding the impact of varying periods of a.m. wakefulness with changes in the circadian phase. Also, those who were asleep less time probably had less time in REM and, thus, less opportunity for lucid dreams. Despite these complications, we were able to effectively compare the first and second parts of sleep, which again showed a.m. naps to be much better than nights for lucid dreaming.

The fourth in our series of nap studies, reported in NightLight 4.4 (7), compared lucid dreaming frequencies in morning and afternoon naps. The results were clearly in favor of morning naps. Nine of the eleven participants had more lucid dreams in morning naps. Two had the same number of lucid dreams in each napping condition. None had more lucid dreams in the afternoon than the morning. Time asleep, for both nap conditions, was approximately one hour. There were slightly fewer total dreams recalled from afternoon naps, but the difference was not of statistical significance. Hence, it seems that the different times of day must somehow be responsible for the varying levels of lucidity.

In sum, past nap experiments demonstrate the great impact of morning naps in achieving lucid dreams, but leave questions such as the optimum amounts of sleep and wakefulness prior to the naps largely unanswered. The current study brings us one step closer to determining the ideal conditions for inducing lucid dreams by clarifying the effects of varying periods of wakefulness (10, 30, and 60 minutes) before morning naps.

The Procedure

Participants in the "Wakefulness During the Night: Aiming Towards the Perfect Lucid Dreaming Technique" experiment (8) followed three different sleep schedules, one on each night. In Condition A, they went to bed 50 minutes past their regular bedtime, awoke 10 minutes before their regular rising time, read about lucid dreaming for 10 minutes, then returned to bed for a nap; once back in bed they set their alarm to awaken them in 90 minutes, then practiced a modified MILD exercise for at least 10 minutes or until they fell asleep. In Condition B, they went to bed 30 minutes past their regular bedtime, awoke 30 minutes before their regular rising time, read about lucid dreaming for 30 minutes, then returned to bed for a nap; once back in bed they set their alarm to awaken them in 90 minutes, then practiced a modified MILD exercise for at least 10 minutes or until they fell asleep. In Condition C, participants went to bed at their regular bedtime, awoke 60 minutes before their regular rising time, read about lucid dreaming for 60 minutes, then returned to bed for a nap; once back in bed they set their alarm to awaken them in 90 minutes, then practiced a modified MILD exercise for at least 10 minutes or until they fell asleep. In other words, the three experimental conditions all allowed for the same lengths of time for sleep and napping and held constant the activity to be performed during the period of wakefulness (reading about lucid dreaming), but varied the amount of morning awake time before the naps. This allowed us to assess what impact varying lengths of wakefulness prior to morning naps might have on lucid dreaming.

Results: Stay Awake Longer

Twenty-two people (12 males and 10 females) submitted acceptable data. (9) Ninety-five percent of them recalled one or more dreams per night. As a measure of their level of skill in achieving lucid dreams we had asked them how many lucid dreams they had recalled within the last six months, and in their best six months of lucid dreaming. Based on the data provided by the group, we would have expected an average of about one lucid dream approximately every seven nights for each participant if they were not involved in the special conditions of this study. Participants averaged one lucid dream every 36 nights during the nighttime portion of this study, and one lucid dream every 11 nights during the Condition A nap. However, dramatically higher rates were found in nap Conditions B and C. On average, participants experienced lucid dreams once every two nights in nap Condition B, and even more (once every 1.6 nights) in nap Condition C.

Participants reported a grand total of 424 dreams during this study--235 (55%) during nights and 189 (46%) during naps. Three of the 235 nighttime dreams (1.3%) were lucid and 50 of the 189 nap dreams (27%) were lucid. In other words, although 55% of the total dreams were reported in the nights, the great majority (94%) of the lucid dreams occurred during naps. Of the 53 lucid dreams, seven were in Condition A (two during nights and five during nap periods following 10 minutes of wakefulness, 20 in Condition B (none during Condition B nights, and 20 in nap periods following 30 minutes of wakefulness), and 26 in Condition C (one in a Condition C night, and by far the highest number of all, 25, during the nap periods following 60 minutes of wakefulness). Nearly half (over 47%) of all lucid dreams from this experiment were reported to have taken place in morning nap periods following 60 minutes of wakefulness. In our current study five times as many participants had lucid dreams in morning naps after 60 minutes of wakefulness compared to naps after only 10 minutes of wakefulness.

Discussion

Holding the other parameters of this study relatively constant allowed us to assess the impact of varying lengths of wakefulness (10, 30, and 60 minutes) on lucid dreaming in a.m. naps. It appears there is something about the increased lengths of wakefulness that somehow better prepares the brain to become lucid in dreams.

Although five lucid dreams were reported in Condition A naps, 20 during Condition B naps, and 25 during Condition C naps, it is significant to note that of five participants in this study who reported lucid dreams in Condition A naps, four actually took at least 15 minutes beyond the minimum 10 minutes of required MILD time (or a total of at least 25 minutes) to fall asleep. Hence, it may be that if these individuals had fallen asleep after only 10 minutes, they may have had even fewer than five lucid dreams during Condition A naps. Also, this may be yet another indication that longer periods of a.m. wakefulness are much more conducive to lucid dreaming.

Note the preceding statement regarding the relationship between increased wakefulness and increased lucid dreaming may have limits not tested in this study. In other words, we would not want to generalize this statement beyond the current findings for the three periods of wakefulness addressed in this study. It could be, for example, that 120 or 180 minutes of wakefulness may be no more effective, or even less effective, than 60 minutes in bringing about the ideal condition for having lucid dreams. This issue will undoubtedly be of interest in future NightLight nap studies.

Conclusion

Getting up an hour early, staying awake for an hour or more reading about lucid dreaming, doing MILD briefly, then taking a morning nap is an excellent means of achieving lucid dreams. This technique is one of the most powerful, promising means of achieving lucidity.

References

(1) Levitan, L. (1990). The Best Time for Lucid Dreaming. NightLight 2(3). (This experiment commenced in NightLight 2(1)).

(2) Levitan, L. (1991). Get Up Early, Take a Nap, Be Lucid. NightLight 3(1). (This experiment commenced in NightLight 2(3)).

(3) LaBerge, S. (1980). Lucid dreaming as a learnable skill: A case study. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 51, 1039-1042.

(4) Garfield, P. (1975). Psychological determinants of the lucid dream state. Sleep Research, 4, 184.

(5) Sparrow, G. S. (1976). Lucid Dreaming: Dawning of the Clear Light. Virginia Beach: A. R. E. Press.

(6) Edelstein, J. & LaBerge, S. (1992). The Best Time for Lucid Dreaming: Naps, Mishaps, and Recaps. NightLight 4(2). (This experiment commenced in NightLight 3(4)).

(7) Levitan, L., LaBerge, S. & Dole, J. (1992). Morning Naps are Better than Afternoon Naps for Lucid Dreaming. NightLight 4(4). (This experiment commenced in NightLight 4(2)).

(8) LaBerge, S. (1994). Wakefulness During the Night: Aiming Towards the Perfect Lucid Dreaming Technique. NightLight 6(1).

(9) Twenty-eight people submitted data for this experiment. Six data sets were incomplete (typically missing lucid dream reports) or inconsistent, so results from 22 participants were used in this Research Update.

[From NightLight 5(3), Fall 1993, Copyright, The Lucidity Institute.]

Lucidity Research, Past And Future

By Stephen LaBerge, Ph.D

There is a state of consciousness in which any human being could experience anything imaginable. Each of us holds within us infinite possibilities. How many of us ever have the opportunity to taste even a hint of them? If we speak of our fantasies of wider vistas of life, we talk of our "dreams." In our dreams, we are free. A man in a dungeon can dream he is a king in a castle, and while he dreams, it is so.

People have long viewed dreams as blessings or curses beyond our control. However, according to Tibetan Buddhists, who for a thousand years have been practicing a form of dream yoga, similar to what in the west is called lucid dreaming, it is possible to gain complete mastery over dreaming. Recent scientific research at Stanford University has begun to provide objective evidence for that claim.

As is well known to NightLight readers, lucid dreaming means dreaming while knowing that you are dreaming. Everyone has, in theory, the capacity to learn to dream lucidly, because everyone dreams every night. Whenever we dream, we find ourselves in complete worlds, as richly detailed, moving and impressive as the world of waking life. This ability to create worlds is the natural endowment of the human mind. In dreams, this wondrous talent is fully demonstrated. The worlds we create in our minds are so convincingly real we cannot easily tell them from the "real" world of waking.

Lucid dreamers develop a frame of mind that allows them to recognize when they are dreaming. From that point, they are free to do as they choose. This freedom, hard to imagine in our highly constrained waking reality, is astonishing, exhilarating, and inspiring. The laws of physics and society are repealed. The limits are only those of the dreamer's imagination.

Who would not want such a genie at their command? Today, lucid dreaming is a reality, currently being enjoyed and explored by thousands of people. However, for it to achieve its potential of expanding the horizons of all humanity, research advances are necessary. Current training in lucid dreaming takes more time and effort than most people are able to commit. Technology exists to assist people in attaining the state, but although it can greatly enhance a person's chances of having a lucid dream, cannot yet guarantee it.

Research into the factors of brain and mind that underlie the lucid dream state could lead to breakthroughs allowing an individual to lucid dream at will, thereby having reliable access to any imaginable experience. This is much more than a remote possibility. Much is already known about REM sleep, the sleep state in which lucid dreaming occurs, and progress has been made in determining how brain activity changes when a person becomes lucid in a dream. Resources are needed for initiating intensive research into the precise nature of the lucid dream state, and the factors of brain, body and mind involved in achieving and sustaining it.

A convenient and reliable means of entering lucid dreams will open the door to a vast treasury of valuable applications. In worlds of unlimited possibility, creativity will become the rule, rather than the exception. People will be able to sample any way of being they wish, living out fantasies unavailable in waking life, or rehearsing for successful futures.

Experimentation in lucid dreaming is completely risk-free, so ideas in business, politics, ecology, athletics, or indeed, any endeavor can be tested in the model world of dreams. Practice in lucid dreams can improve performance, and prevent costly errors in waking reality. The potentials of mental imagery and hypnosis will also be accessible to everyone, because dreams are the most vivid of all images, available even to those who do not have the ability to create vivid mental imagery or to enter deep hypnotic states while they are awake. This brings with it the possibility of enhanced healing capacities, hinted at in research on mental imagery. People may be able to use lucid dreaming to shorten the time it takes them to recover from illnesses or operations, and to stimulate the redevelopment of physical skills following injury.

All that is required to bring these possibilities to fruition is the devotion of research effort into the area of lucid dreaming. The more resources are supplied to this work, the more rapidly progress will occur, and the sooner this priceless tool will be available to help humanity overcome its present crises. It is abundantly clear that we are in need of quickly developing our capacities for understanding our role on Earth and creatively evolving to survive and grow into our true potential. Lucid dreaming offers great promise for helping us to achieve these goals.

With my colleagues (notably, Lynne Levitan and William Dement), I have been researching lucid dreaming at Stanford University for over a decade. I founded the Lucidity Institute to advance research on lucid dreaming and potentials of human consciousness, and to apply the results of this research to the enhancement of human health and well-being.

The Lucidity Institute has advanced towards the goal of making lucid dreaming universally accessible by developing commercially available lucid dream induction devices such as the DreamLight and DreamLink that help people have lucid dreams.

We are continuing research at Stanford aimed at enhancing the ability to have lucid dreams, and tapping the great potentials within them. Those wishing to contribute to the advancement of research on lucid dreaming please consider the following:

* A tax deductible donation to Stanford University, directed specifically "for research on lucid dreaming under Dr. Stephen LaBerge."

* A loan or investment in the Lucidity Institute, Inc. (Currently the Lucidity Institute Private Placement Memorandum is offering $600,000 worth of stock. Approximately $200,000 has been sold already, leaving $400,000 available.) The Lucidity Institute will provide long-term research funding.

The general aim of our ongoing program of research is the investigation of consciousness and mind-body relationships during sleep. Our primary focus has been lucid dreaming , a state of consciousness with remarkable potential. During lucid dreams, people can reason and remember clearly, and act volitionally upon reflection, while remaining sound asleep and continuing to dream vividly (1).

Lucid dreaming makes possible a new paradigm for dream research. Because lucid dreamers can carry out specific dream experiments, control their dreams and communicate with the laboratory while still asleep (2), scientists can now study the dream state directly. We have pioneered the laboratory study of lucid dreaming (1,2,3) at the Stanford University Sleep Research Center, and thus are well positioned to employ lucid dreaming in the study of the nature of human consciousness and to explore the applications of lucid dreaming in health improvement.

INDUCTION OF LUCID DREAMS

Although we have shown that lucid dreaming is a learnable skill (8), currently available methods, involving mental concentration, require considerable investment of time and effort. Therefore, we have sought methods for helping dreamers to realize that they are dreaming by means of external cues applied during REM sleep that become incorporated into dreams and remind dreamers that they are dreaming. We have tested a variety of stimuli, including tape recordings of the phrase "This is a dream" (9), conditioned tactile stimuli (10), and light (11). Light appears to be an excellent stimulus. We have developed computerized lucid dreaming induction devices (the DreamLight, DreamLink, and most recently, the NovaDreamer) that have produced highly promising results. By further developing and perfecting these and new devices and techniques, we hope to make lucid dreaming widely available.

Lucidity cue type and mental preparation: Preliminary studies on the DreamLight device have been promising: 55% of 44 subjects had at least one lucid dream during one study (11). Unpublished research indicates that combinations of the light cue with mental exercises specifically designed to increase one's awareness of the nature of dreaming tend to be more effective than using the cue alone. At this point we do not know what rate of flashing will be most effective. Therefore we plan to compare four different flash rates (1, 2, 4, and 8 flashes per sec) and three different kinds of mental preparation (MILD, discrimination training to recognize the light stimulus, and post-hypnotic suggestion) in a group of 40 subjects. We also are planning testing cues in other sensory modalities such as sound and vibration.

Physiological correlates of dream content and incorporation of stimuli: Four channels of EEG and four channels of autonomic physiology is being collected from each of 12 to 24 subjects as they are stimulated with flashes of light during REM sleep. Reports of incorporation of light as well as other dream content will then be correlated with the EEG and other physiological measures. Sometimes the subjects will see the light flash in their dreams, but sometimes they will not. Using a computer, we will analyze the EEG and autonomic physiology immediately prior to the time that the stimulus is triggered, looking for differences between the cases when the light is incorporated, and when it is not. By showing us which are the optimal times for applying cues to the dreamer, this research should teach us how to more effectively induce lucid dreams with light.

MIND-BODY RELATIONSHIPS DURING DREAMING

Our work with lucid dreams so far has led to new insights into the connection between mind and body. In a series of studies (summarized below) we have discovered that various dreamed experiences (including time estimation, breathing, singing, counting, and sexual activity) produce effects on the dreamer's brain (and to a lesser extent, body) remarkably similar to the physiological effects that are produced by actual experiences of the corresponding events while awake.

Correspondence between dreamed and actual eye movements We have found that there is a very high degree of correlation between the direction of gaze shift reported in lucid dreams and polygraphically recorded eye movements, a fact that we make routine use of by using eye movements as signals in all of our experiments (1,2).

Communication from lucid dreams We are also planning to improve the capacity of lucid dreamers to communicate with the waking world while dreaming. At this point, they do so by means of eye-movement signals, which are difficult to execute with any complexity. In past studies we have done some preliminary work with a glove containing computerized movement sensors allowing the recording of hand movements during dreaming. The devices were too crude at that point to permit us to see the fine detail needed for distinguishing various hand signals. Current devices are much more sophisticated. We hope to make it possible for lucid dreamers to communicate by means of hand gestures (e.g., American Sign Language) so that we can have on-the-scene reports from the dream world. A glove with movement sensors will be used to study communication from lucid dreams by means of hand gestures, using five expert subjects.

Dream time How long do dreams last? We have been able to receive a direct answer to this age-old question by asking lucid dreamers to estimate various intervals of time while dreaming. The dreamers marked the beginning and end of estimated dream time intervals with eye movement signals, allowing comparison of subjective "dream time" with objective time. In each case, the intervals of time estimated during the lucid dreams were very close in length to the actual elapsed time (1), as shown in the figure below.

Control of respiration during lucid dreaming We recorded the physiology of three lucid dreamers who had been asked to either breathe rapidly or to hold their breath in their lucid dreams, marking the interval of altered respiration with eye movement signals. They reported successfully carrying out the agreed-upon tasks a total of nine times. In each case, a judge was able to correctly predict from the physiological records which of the two breathing patterns had been executed (4). We are currently collecting more data to further determine the precise nature of the dream respiration connection.

Brain function lateralization during lucid dreams Alpha activity was derived from right and left temporal EEG while four subjects sang and counted in their lucid dreams. The results indicated task dependent lateralization: the right hemisphere was more activated than the left during singing; during counting the reverse was true. These shifts were similar to those during waking singing and counting (5).

Physiological responses to sex in lucid dreams A pilot study with two lucid dreamers (one male and one female) who reported experiencing sexual arousal and orgasm in lucid dreams revealed patterns of physiological activity during dream sex closely resembling those accompanying corresponding experiences in the waking state (6).

These studies indicate that the effects of dream events on the brain and body are much more like the effects of real events than like those produced by waking imagery (1). Because dream activities produce real physiological effects, lucid dreaming may be useful for facilitating health and healing, as an extremely potent form of mental imagery. We plan to continue our explorations of awareness in dreams along these lines with the goal of producing a detailed map of mind-body interactions during dreaming sleep for all measurable physiological systems. Such a map could prove to be of inestimable value for experimental dream psychology, as well as for psychosomatic medicine.

EEG mapping of lucid dreaming In past studies, we have determined that lucid dreams are generally initiated during periods of high autonomic nervous system activity--decreased finger pulse amplitude, increased respiration rate and irregularity, and increased eye-movement activity relative to normal REM sleep (12). These factors indicated that dream lucidity occurs during periods of relatively high brain activation, suggesting that sufficient activation of the CNS is necessary before consciousness can be attained. However, we had little idea what was specifically happening in the brain, whether the activation was general, or localized in some particular areas.

In a pilot study we mapped the distribution of brainwave activity from twenty-eight electrode placements on the scalp, examining different frequency bands of EEG during periods pre and post-onset of lucidity in five lucid dreams from one subject. The most interesting findings in this preliminary analysis were in the alpha band (8-12 Hz), where decreases of alpha activity were seen in the posterior left hemisphere, in the first 30 seconds of lucidity. This finding is in keeping with an earlier analysis we performed on a few of our lucid dreams at Stanford of left/right ratios of alpha activity, finding the only difference at lucidity onset to be a decrease of alpha activity in the left parietal region. Decreased alpha activity is generally considered an indication of increased brain activation. Indeed, lucid dreaming ought to be associated with left hemisphere activation, (where language is localized), since to become lucid one must actually spell out to oneself, "This is a dream."

We plan to add to and check our findings by collecting more data from more subjects. This will give us a larger sample of non-lucid REM for comparison and show what EEG differences are consistent for all lucid dreams. Thus, we will gain a basis for the comparison of lucid dreaming with other states of consciousness. Twenty-eight channels of EEG will be collected, and maps of EEG activity will be computed, allowing the determination of which brain regions are involved in lucid dreaming (and perhaps reflective consciousness in general). Five expert lucid dreamers will be studied.

APPLICATIONS OF LUCID DREAMING

In addition to being a powerful research tool in scientific explorations of the dream state, lucid dreaming also offers considerable potential for a variety of practical applications, which include aiding personal- development, enhancing self-confidence, overcoming nightmares, improving mental (and perhaps, physical) health, facilitating creative problem solving, and more (1,7). There is a great deal of public interest in this area; we have received well over 10,000 letters from people around the world wishing to know more about lucid dreaming. For this reason, and because we believe lucid dreaming can benefit humanity, we feel that we have a service to perform in making the lucid dream state more readily accessible.

We would like to explore several potential applications of lucid dreaming. One is the use of lucid dreaming in overcoming nightmares. We have anecdotal evidence suggesting that lucid dreaming should be extremely beneficial to nightmare sufferers, giving them the means to overcome their own fears (1). Not only will they be able to alleviate their nightmare problems, but in so doing they will be able to increase their self-confidence and self-esteem. Lucid dreaming can be a very empowering experience, which is one of the reasons we would like to make it more readily available to people. An experimental self-help group for nightmare sufferers will be started and the efficacy of lucid dreaming to overcome nightmares will be studied and documented.

Lucid dreaming could provide the handicapped and other disadvantaged people with the nearest thing to fulfilling their impossible dreams: paralytics could walk again in their dreams, to say nothing of dancing and flying, and even experience emotionally satisfying erotic fantasies. Such sensorimotor practice could conceivably facilitate recovery from stroke.

Finally, lucid dreaming can function as a "world simulator." Just as a flight simulator allows people to learn to fly in a safe environment, lucid dreaming could allow people to learn to live in any imaginable world; to experience and better choose among various possible futures.

RESEARCH GOALS

Our goals are to further explore mind-body relationships and the expansion of consciousness during sleep through lucid dreaming. Specifically, we plan:

A. To make lucid dreaming more accessible by further investigations with biofeedback devices like the DreamLight

B. To study physiological correlates of dream content and of the incorporation of stimuli into dreams

C. To map the EEG correlates associated with the emergence of consciousness during lucid dreaming

D. To explore applications of lucid dreaming

REFERENCES

 [From NIGHTLIGHT 6(2), Summer, 1994. Copyright, The Lucidity Institute.]

A Fool's Guide to Lucid Dreaming

By Lynne Levitan

PEOPLE often want us to specify the criteria for lucid dreaming, asking, "Was this a lucid dream?" and describing some definite non-rationality in the midst of a lucid dream. Webster's definition of lucidity is: "clearness of thought or style," and "a presumed capacity to perceive the truth directly and instantaneously." However, the lucidity referred to in the term "lucid dreaming" as coined by Frederik van Eeden in 1913, refers only to perception of the truth that one is dreaming. This is much like the usage of the word "lucid" in psychiatry to describe a patient who is well oriented to time, person and place.

Knowing that you are dreaming, however, does not automatically guarantee full rationality. Then again, being awake doesn't ensure good thinking, either. Nonetheless, we get more comic relief out of the errors we make in dreams, even lucid ones, than the ones we make while awake. Why do we do stupid things in dreams? One of the possible reasons is that we are less familiar with dreams and how they work, because most of the time in them we assume we are awake and so miss out on many opportunities to learn the ropes. Another possibility is that the dreaming brain is actually less intelligent than the waking brain, at least sometimes. Perhaps there is something about the activity of the brain in REM sleep that, on occasion, makes the dreamer's actions seem like those of a brain-damaged person.

The "brain damage" theory is plausible, given that the electrical activity of the brain varies tremendously in REM sleep, from less to more than in waking. Maybe our inner experiences change along with that activity, ranging from dull and irrational, to ecstatic and sharp-witted. On the other hand, the majority of mistakes made in lucid dreams are probably the result of "dream naivete," that is, a lack of understanding of what is and is not appropriate to the time and place of the dream world. Until you have accumulated sufficient experience at testing the boundaries of dream reality, and overcoming inhibitions from waking life, then you are likely to misinterpret situations and overlook chances to try something new.

One way to look at rationality in dreams is to classify different levels of lucidity. At the highest level, the dreamer would not only be aware of dreaming, but also possess complete understanding of the implications of this knowledge, and would behave in accordance with that understanding on all levels from thought to action. The lowest, minimal level of lucidity would be realization of dreaming, but without understanding how dreaming is different from waking, and without acting on the lucidity at all, mistaking events, characters and consequences with those from waking life. Yet, degrees of rationality vary from moment to moment in dreams, so that one wishing to use a scale of levels of lucidity would have to rate each decision, action, or response of the dreamer independently. Averaging the lucidity levels in a dream might be a way of establishing a lucidity "score" for the dream. All of this is for future research to decide.

As a start on approaching this issue, I picked 38 instances of irrational thoughts and actions from lucid dreams. Half came from my own dreams (so no one should feel I'm picking on them), and half from the lucid dreams submitted for the "Minds & Machines" experiment written up in this issue's Research Update. I have classified them into categories of different types of errors. Three categories covered most of the examples.

 [From NightLight 7(3-4), 1995. Copyright, The Lucidity Institute.]

Prolonging Lucid Dreams

By Stephen LaBerge

People frequently awaken from lucid dreams sooner than they would like. Nothing is more frustrating than to invest hours or weeks of effort aiming at the goal of having a lucid dream, and then to wake up within seconds of becoming lucid. Fortunately, however, there are several effective techniques that allow beginners and experts alike to prevent premature awakenings from lucid dreams.

The earliest method for stabilizing lucid dreams was described by Harold von Moers-Messmer in 1938. Moers-Messmer, a German physician, was one of the handful of researchers who personally investigated lucid dreaming in the first half of the 20th century. He was the first to propose the technique of looking at the ground in order to stabilize the dream. [1]

The idea of focusing on something in the dream in order to prevent awakening has independently occurred to several other lucid dreamers. One of these is G. Scott Sparrow, a clinical psychologist and author of the classic personal account, Lucid Dreaming: Dawning Of The Clear Light. [2] Sparrow discusses Carlos Castaneda's famous technique [3] of looking at his hands while dreaming to induce and stabilize lucid dreams and argues that the dreamer's body provides one of the most unchanging elements in the dream, which can help to stabilize the dreamer's otherwise feeble identity in the face of a rapidly changing dream. However, as he points out, the body isn't the only relatively stable reference point in the dream: another is the ground beneath the dreamer's feet. Sparrow uses this idea in this example of one of his own lucid dreams:

"...I walk on down the street. It is night; and as I look up at the sky I am astounded by the clarity of the stars. They seem so close. At this point I become lucid. The dream 'shakes' momentarily. Immediately I look down at the ground and concentrate on solidifying the image and remaining in the dreamscape. Then I realize that if I turn my attention to the pole star above my head, the dream image will further stabilize itself. I do this; until gradually the clarity of the stars returns in its fullness." [4]

A problem with using vision to stabilize a lucid dream is the fact that when a dream ends, the visual sense fades first. Other senses may persist longer, with touch being among the last to go. The first sign that a lucid dream is about to end is usually a loss of color and realism in visual imagery. The dream may lose visual detail and begin to take on a cartoon-like or washed-out appearance. This may all happen very fast; within a few seconds, the dream can fade to black, leaving nothing visual to focus on! For this reason, one might speculate that focus on sensory modalities other than vision may be more useful to stabilize dreams. As it turns out, one would be right.

Dream Spinning

In December, 1978 I had the good fortune to discover a highly effective technique to prevent awakenings and produce new lucid dream scenes. I started by reasoning (mistakenly but as it happens, felix culpa!) that since dream actions have corresponding physical effects, relaxing my dream body might inhibit awakening by lowering muscle tension in my physical body. The next time I was dreaming lucidly, I tested the idea. As the dream began to fade, I relaxed completely, dropping to the dream floor. However, contrary to my intention, I seemed to awaken. But, a few minutes later became clear that I had actually only dreamed of awakening. I repeated the experiment many times and the effect was consistent--I would remain in the dream state by dreaming of waking up. However, my experiences suggested that the essential element was not the attempted relaxation but the sensation of movement. In subsequent lucid dreams, I tested a variety of dream movements and found both falling backward and spinning in the dream to be especially effective in producing lucid dreams of awakening (and, of course, thereby preventing premature awakening).

Out of the one hundred lucid dreams in the last six months of the record in my doctoral dissertation, I used the spinning technique in forty percent. New dream scenes resulted in eighty-five percent of these cases. Lucid consciousness persisted in ninety-seven percent of the new dreams. For comparison, during the six months before I developed the technique, in over a third of my lucid dreams I woke almost immediately after becoming lucid and certainly most ended before I was ready.

In the summer, 1989 issue of NightLight we first attempted to determine the general effectiveness of spinning in stabilizing lucid dreams. The results derived from this study were promising, but unfortunately, statistically inconclusive due to too few subjects completing the experiment. There was a trend for lucid dreams to last longer following spinning compared with a control condition.

As an aside, it is worth noting that while in my experience with the spinning technique, the new dream scene almost always closely resembled my bedroom, this was not the case for others. For instance, one lucid dreamer found herself arriving at a dream scene other than her bedroom in five out of the eleven times she used the spinning technique. These results suggest that spinning could be used to produce transitions to any dream scene the lucid dreamer expects. In my own case, it appears that my almost exclusive production of bedroom dreams may be an accident of the circumstances in which I discovered the technique.

How Does Spinning Work?

Why should dream spinning decrease the likelihood of awakening? Several factors are probably involved. One of these may be neurophysiological. Information about head and body movement, monitored by the vestibular system of the inner ear (which helps you to keep your balance), is closely integrated with visual information by the brain to produce an optimally stable picture of the world. Because of this integration of information, the world doesn't appear to move whenever you move your head, even though the image of the world on your retina moves.

Since the sensations of movement during dream spinning are as vivid as those during actual physical movements, it is likely that the same brain systems are activated to a similar degree in both cases. An intriguing possibility is that the spinning technique, by stimulating the system of the brain that integrates vestibular activity detected in the middle ear, facilitates the activity of the nearby components of the REM- sleep system. Neuroscientists have obtained evidence of the involvement of the vestibular system in the production of the rapid-eye-movement bursts in REM sleep. [5]

Another possible reason why spinning may help postpone awakening comes from the fact that when you imagine perceiving something with one sense, your sensitivity to external stimulation of that sense decreases. Moreover, and this is probably the most important factor, if the brain is fully engaged in producing the vivid, internally generated sensory experience of spinning, it will be more difficult for it to construct a contradictory sensation (i.e., lying motionless in bed) based on external sensory input. When presented with two contradictory interpretations of the state of our body or the world, our consciousness chooses one or the other, but not both models.

If this is the major reason why spinning helps to prevent awakening, one can readily think of other techniques that should work with similar effectiveness. For example, if you rub your dream hands together as the dream is fading, as long as you are experiencing the sensation of rubbing hands, you cannot experience the contradictory lack of sensation that you would need to feel to wake up and perceive the actual condition of your hands. The experiment in NightLight 7.1 was designed to test this idea and to collect additional evidence on the effectiveness of the spinning technique.

The Experiment

Lucidity Institute members were invited to compare each of the following three "techniques for prolonging lucid dreams." (In fact, one technique--"going with the flow"--was intended as a control.)

A. Spinning When in a lucid dream and the dream began to fade, while they still felt their dream body, they were to spin around like a top, as rapidly as possible. Beginning in a vertical or standing position, they were to turn around on a point with their arms outstretched. It was indicated that it is important to experience a vivid sense of movement. They were to continue to spin until they were in a vivid dream scene, or awake. They were instructed to repeat to themselves over and over while spinning, "The next scene will be a dream."

B. Going with the Flow When subjects were in a lucid dream and the dream began to fade, they were to persist in doing whatever they were doing in the dream before it started to fade, ignoring the fact that the dream was fading. Also, they were to repeat to themselves while carrying on with their dream activity, "The next scene will be a dream."

C. Rubbing Hands Together When subjects were in a lucid dream and the dream began to fade, while they still felt their dream body, they were to vigorously rub their (dream) hands together. They were informed it was important to experience a vivid sense of movement and friction. Participants were to continue to rub their hands until they found themselves in a vivid dream scene, or awaken completely. Also, they were to repeat to themselves over and over while rubbing their hands, "The next scene will be a dream."

Subjects were instructed to try the above three techniques once each, in an order determined by the first letter of their last name.

Several times each day, until their next lucid dream, subjects were to rehearse the technique they were to try next. While awake and pretending they were in a dream, they were to follow the instructions for the technique. Subjects were to repeat to themselves during the practice, as they would in the dream, "The next scene will be a dream." Next, they were to follow the instructions for the respective technique:

* SPINNING: Imagine you are in a lucid dream and it is fading. Then actually spin around, as you will in the dream.

* GOING WITH THE FLOW: Imagine you are in a lucid dream and it is fading. Then continue to do what you are already doing while remaining aware that you are dreaming.

* RUBBING YOUR HANDS: Imagine you are in a lucid dream and it is fading. Then vigorously rub your hands together, as you will in the dream.

In their next lucid dream, subjects were to do whatever they wanted to do, but as soon as they noticed the dream fading, attempt the technique they were scheduled to test. They were cautioned not to wait until they were already awake, and to be sure to persist with the technique until either they were in a vivid dream or completely awake. When they believed they had awakened, they were not to move, and to continue doing the technique in their mind for about 60 seconds. This step was recommended because some people have reported returning to the dream state after having fully awakened if they persisted with practicing the technique in their imaginations. If at this point, subjects felt as though actually awake, they were to be sure to use a reality test to check carefully to make sure they were not still dreaming, to prevent false awakenings.

When subjects actually awoke, they were to estimate how much time passed (in seconds) from when they started the dream-prolonging technique until they awakened or lost lucidity. Then, they were to immediately answer the questions on the Report Form about their experience and to write out complete reports of the lucid dreams.

Subjects also filled out a short questionnaire on their dream recall and lucid dreaming ability which they sent in with the rest of their reports after they completed all three conditions of the experiment.

Results

Thirty-four subjects turned in data. However, not all subjects were able to try all three conditions. Eighty percent tried rubbing, 68% spinning, and 65% going with the flow. Some subjects failed to turn in lucid dream reports or otherwise failed to follow instructions. Only eighteen subjects (53%) tried all three conditions of the experiment correctly.

The lucid dream reports were scored by two independent judges. For each report, judges evaluated whether or not the dream appeared to be prolonged following the spin, flow, or rub technique. If a subject had done more than one technique, the two or three reports were ranked according to the judge's estimate of the relative effectiveness of the different techniques for each subject. Reports which the two judges scored differently were scored by a third judge, using a majority rule to resolve discrepancies.

Both the spinning and rubbing techniques were significantly more likely to be judged as successful in prolonging the dream compared with the going with the flow (control) technique. The same was true of the rank ordering analysis. Only 33% of the flow technique lucid dreams were prolonged, compared with 90% of the rubbing and 96% of the spinning lucid dreams.

The following report illustrates a dream judged to have been successfully prolonged by spinning:

... at that point, the oddness of this super-calculator prompted me to say aloud, "I think this is a dream!" And so it was. However the calculator started to fade and de-materialize, and as it did, so did the dream environment. Immediately I remembered to do the spinning-top experiment.

As everything around me turned to blackness--no visual content whatsoever--I started to spin round and say, "The next scene will be a dream" ... I was astonished to find a hole of brightness opening up... the bright hole literally appeared as a break in the black clouds around me, as if the sun were breaking through. I could see the branches of a tree through the hole. As I continued spinning (and it's strange that even though I was spinning round, my sight of the hole was unbroken), I seemed to pull myself towards and through the hole into the countryside of the next lucid dream scene...

The following is an example of a dream judged to have been successfully prolonged by hand rubbing:

I am walking through a beautiful forest. Suddenly I realize I am dreaming. I guess the excitement begins to wake me, so I remember its time for the rubbing hands experiment. I drop a towel I hadn't realized I was carrying, and began to vigorously rub my hands together. I feel my hands rubbing together, experiencing warmth from the friction... My dream stabilizes! I am so happy, I decide to keep walking and explore my beautiful dream forest...

Overall, the odds in favor of continuing the lucid dream were about 22 to 1 after spinning, 13 to 1 after rubbing, and 1 to 2 after going with the flow. That makes the relative odds favoring spinning over going with the flow 48 to 1, and for rubbing over going with the flow, 27 to 1.

Discussion

The results of this experiment seem very clear: both the spinning and rubbing techniques are effective means of prolonging lucid dreams. The fact that the rubbing technique worked as well as it was predicted to supports the theory behind the prediction: that interaction and sensory experience in the dream inconsistent with perception of the state of the body in bed will suppress awakening.

Although the spinning technique was somewhat more effective (relative odds 1.8 to 1 favoring spinning over rubbing) than the rubbing technique, the difference in effectiveness was not statistically significant with this relatively small sample size. Matters for future research to decide are whether spinning has any of the special effectiveness beyond what is explained by the sensory inconsistency theory and if so, whether it is explained by the vestibular stimulation theory.

If there is in fact no difference in effectiveness between spinning and rubbing, rubbing does possess a practical advantage: spinning itself tends to destabilize the visual components of the dream, while rubbing does not. On the other hand, if one is using the technique to change dream scenes, that "disadvantage" becomes an advantage.

Notes
[1] H. von Moers-Messmer, "Traume mit der gleichzeitigen Erkenntnis des Traumzustandes," Archiv Fuer Psychologie 102 (1938): 291-318.
[2] G. S. Sparrow, Lucid Dreaming, Dawning of the Clear Light (Virginia Beach: A.R.E. Press, 1976).
[3] C. Castaneda, Journey To Ixtlan (New York: Simon & Schuster,1972).
[4] Sparrow, op. cit., 43.
[5] A. Hobson, The Dreaming Brain (New York: Basic Books, 1988).

 THIS COMES FROM STEPHEN LABERGE'S BOOK

EXPLORING THE WORLD 
OF LUCID DREAMING

COPYRIGHT 

EXPLORING THE WORLD 
OF LUCID DREAMING