Can you realize youre dreaming

An expert explains what lucid dreaming is, how to experience them for yourself and if there are health benefits to having lucid dreams. Learn more about vaccine availability. Advertising Policy. You have successfully subscribed to our newsletter. Related Articles. Why Do We Dream? A Sleep Expert Answers 5 Questions. Trending Topics.

What Parents Need to Know. Share this article via email with one or more people using the form below. Aspy explained. Therefore, some people who are interested in exploring their dreams with full awareness may find it useful to keep a dream journal in which they record the dreams they have each night in as much detail as possible. The lucid dreamer we interviewed corroborated this idea by explaining that, for a long time, she used to enjoy writing down her dreams upon waking up.

However, Dr. Another concern some people have is that engaging in lucid dreaming requires focus and effort, which might mean that the sleeper does not get enough rest. In fact, the authors of a article expressed concern that frequent lucid dreaming may lead to disrupted sleep. Aspy explained that the lucid dreamers with whom he has worked in the past have not reported more tiredness or poorer sleep quality as a result of lucid dreaming.

One example of this is schizophrenia. This condition may cause people to have difficulty distinguishing between hallucinations and real-life events.

In some cases, Dr. Aspy told us, lucid dreaming may actually exacerbate the condition. Other scientists ask whether or not encouraging lucid dreaming might blur the line between sleep-wake psychological boundaries. They call for more research into how it might affect certain vulnerable people, including those who experience dissociation.

Lucid dreaming may be a fascinating, helpful, or pleasant experience, but you should consider why you are interested in achieving it and what you expect to get from it before trying to experiment. Firm mattresses may suit people who want a supportive sleep surface. Learn about some of the best firm mattress options here. Using wrist accelerometers to generate data about sleep, researchers identified associations between sleep properties and mental health conditions.

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Writing down your dreams forces you to recall them. This is thought to help your brain become more aware of dreaming. To keep a dream journal, keep a notebook and pen beside your bed. Write down your dream as soon as you wake up. Read your journal regularly to familiarize your brain with your dreams. So, by increasing your awareness during your waking state, you can enhance your awareness during your dreaming state.

Reality testing is a popular way to do this. The method involves doing reality checks throughout the day. Choose one reality check and do it several times a day. You may have to experiment with different reality checks to determine which works best for you. To increase your chances of lucid dreaming, use these techniques with reality testing and dream journaling. While occasional nightmares are normal, recurring nightmares can be taxing.

They can interfere with consistent quality sleep. It also lets you control the dream, which allows you to turn a nightmare into a more neutral or pleasant scenario. By decreasing nightmares, lucid dreaming may ease nightmare-related anxiety. Visualizing physical movements can increase the actual ability to do them.

This may be done during a lucid dream, where the dreamer can mentally practice motor skills. This is the part of the brain that controls movement. Edit this Article.

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Related Articles. Article Summary. Part 1. Check whether you're dreaming when you're awake. Although this may seem counterintuitive, lucid dream advocates suggest that it is important to test during the day whether or not you're dreaming.

The reason for doing this is that if you get into a habit of checking in waking life, this checking habit will cross over into your dream life. By deliberately checking during waking hours, you can create a particular habit for your mind to try out one or more of the following reality checks: reading a piece of paper when wondering if you're dreaming, trying to move objects, or checking a clock.

When the habit is tried out in a dream, and fails to perform "normally", then its failure lets you know that you're dreaming. If you are really awake, then you might want to consider why you're worried about whether or not you're dreaming. For example, have you taken drugs or have you been poisoned? Are you an accident victim? Are you hallucinating? Might you be suffering from concussion or some other injury? If you are injured or out of your depth mentally or emotionally, either call for medical assistance or signal to somebody to help you as best you can.

Perform a series of what are known as "reality check tests". If you are dreaming, things won't be as they seem normally. Reality checks form a regular part of lucid dreaming and are a means by which you can be actively more involved in your lucid dreaming. Some lucid dreamers like to perform reality checks during the waking hours because it increases the opportunities for lucid dreaming.

Check your environment. Appearances can be very deceiving in the dream world, where distortions are common and even the norm. If the dream is set in your home or another place where you spend time, look at common objects. Does anything look different than how you last remember seeing it? For example, is there a window where a painting is supposed to be? These are clear signs of dreaming.

Consider the other people around you. If you're talking to people who have been dead for years, then that's a sure sign that you're dreaming. Why you're talking to them is a whole other area for dream interpretation, but the fact that they're there, casual as, means you're dreaming. Definitely you're dreaming! Does your grandfather suddenly have extraordinary superpowers or has your mean sibling started being nice to you? If you're in familiar surroundings, can you recognize the people around you or are they all complete strangers?

Are there people present that would be impossible in real life? For example, you have an eight-year-old sister named Fiona while in real life you're an only child? Or you're standing next to a copy of yourself, a talking animal, a fictional character or a mythical creature? Then, you're dreaming. Are people acting the way real people likely never would? For example finding everyday objects extremely fascinating, not being surprised when you start to levitate or being scared of something that really isn't scary and yet brushing off an erupting volcano.

Do people not know things that they really should? For example, is there an individual who claims to be a geography teacher but thinks America doesn't exist?

Does everybody know your name, even strangers? Related--do they know details that a stranger wouldn't for example, a random stranger on the street who knows that you've always wanted a dog despite you not indicating it?

Look at yourself. Notice your hands, feet, legs, etc. Are they the usual shape? Do you have the right amount of digits? Is any part of your body disfigured? Does your hair color and length appear like it should, or has it changed length, texture and color?