I was bored the other day and decided to look up 'lucid dreaming' on Wikipedia, because I am a general knowledge-geek and have nothing better to do than read weird articles on the internet.
Back in high school, my mom would order books from Reader's Digest and one of them happened to be
'Making The Most of Your Brain' or something like that. One of the articles that caught my attention was obviously about lucid dreaming
(hell, I even used the article for my SPM english oral test) but until now I still can't achieve that lucidity in my dreams. I must suck at controlling my dreams =/
Do you know what is lucid dreaming?
LUCID DREAMING
It's a state where you are dreaming
while knowing that you are dreaming.
It usually happens when the person realizes that what he is doing right then is impossible or illogical, and he grasps the fact that he is still asleep in bed.
Lucidity is not dream control. Dream control means you can control the contents of the dream, whereas lucid dreaming is just a state where you are aware that you are dreaming, but is still possible to perform certain feats, like flying. Of course, you can influence the course of events to your liking, therefore in ways you can change the settings of your dream, yourselves, or even your dream characters.
In a way, lucid dreaming is an answer for those who suffer from nightmares and reoccuring dreams, as well as therapy for stressful people.
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One of the first thoughts you'd have when you 'realize' your lucid dreaming, is:
"Am I really dreaming or not??"Usually, this is a common occurance in
'false awakening', where you believe that you've woken up but in reality you are still trapped in the frame of your dream. Here are some reality checks to see if you're really awake:
REALITY CHECKS- Pinch your cheeks. If it feels weird or different, you are still asleep.
- Pinch your nose. If you can still breathe without your mouth, you are still asleep.
- Look at a digital watch, remember the number, look away and then look back at the watch. In a dream, the numbers will appear randomly everytime you look away and back at it. Sometimes it will contain weird symbols or characters.
- If your reflection in the mirror is blurry, distorted or frightening, it is a dream.
- If you flip a light switch and the level of light doesn't change, it is a dream.
- Pick up a book and look inside. If the pages are blank or change at the second look, it is a dream.
- Look at your clothes. If it too large/small, out of the ordinary or not there at all, you are still dreaming.
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There are methods of achieving lucid dreams, if you're interested you can check out
this site; it is a community for lucid dreamers which shares tips and experiences of their dreams.
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While we are on the topic of dreams, do you know that dreams can also be problem-solving as well?
History records a lot of famous dreams from scientists/musicians/physicists/designers that helped them invent something new or give them inspiration by interpreting their dreams.
FAMOUS DREAMS- Paul McCartney from the Beetles woke up with a beautiful tune playing in his head, and it became the song '
Yesterday'.
- Author Mary Shelley's work
'Frankenstein' was inspired from a dream.
- Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz was studying about the chemical structure of Benzene and was in a slump when he dreamt about a snake circling and biting its own tail, which led him to discover that the Benzene molecule, which unlike other known organic compounds, had a circular structure rather than a linear one.
- Elias Howe dreamt that cannibals were dancing around him with spears that have a hole at the tips. That led him to incorporate a hole into the edge of the sewing needle, thus creating the sewing machine.
- Albert Einstein's theory of relativity was inspired by a dream whereby he was going down a mountainside ever faster, watching the appearance of the stars change as he approached the speed of light.
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Dreams have always fascinated me. There are times when I can't separate dreams from reality, and even now I believe that it may have happened. Sometimes the dreams are prophetic, a small glimpse into the future. Sometimes the dream serves to remind you of something that is unconsciously bothering you.
I used to have nightmares when I was a child, but once I got into UITM I stopped having them altogether. My current dreams are boring, everyday life situations that are mostly conversations, and even if it is out-of-the-ordinary the dream is never unpleasant. Well, I guess I should be thankful for that.
How many of you guys have dreamt of
'The End of the World aka Kiamat?'I know I have. Mine was a world of a dying sun, the surroundings tinted a reddish colour, with chaos and destruction everywhere.
The World of Charn from Narnia?C'mon, 'fess up.
