WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: How Does Lucid Dreaming Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and I've got a classic episode of

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff for you today. How does lucid dreaming work?

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<v Speaker 1>Come explore with our former host, Christian Sagar. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>it's Christian Sager here. Have you ever heard of lucid

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<v Speaker 1>dreaming before? Well, lucid dreaming is simply being aware that

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<v Speaker 1>you are dreaming while you're in a dream, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>not a new thing. Aristotle wrote about it, and Tibetan

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<v Speaker 1>Buddhists have been practicing dream yoga called malam for centuries.

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<v Speaker 1>A Dutch psychiatrist named Frederick van Eden actually came up

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<v Speaker 1>with the term lucid dreams in nineteen thirteen, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>become popular in some scientific circles since the early eighties,

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<v Speaker 1>largely because of the work of psychophysiologist Dr Deven Leberts,

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<v Speaker 1>a Stanford grad who founded the Lucidity Institute in Researchers

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<v Speaker 1>have confirmed that lucid dreaming is possible. The way they

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<v Speaker 1>do it is by having sleepers give you a distinctive,

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<v Speaker 1>predetermined eye movement signal when they become aware that they're dreaming. So,

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<v Speaker 1>how does that work well. Generally, people are dreaming when

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<v Speaker 1>they're in the fifth stage of sleep r e M

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<v Speaker 1>sleep or REM REM is marked by rapid eye movements,

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<v Speaker 1>paralysis through the rest of our muscles, rises in heart rate,

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<v Speaker 1>breath rate and blood pressure, changes in body temperature, and

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<v Speaker 1>acceleration of brain wave oscillation to the type we have

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<v Speaker 1>while we're awake, which are alpha waves. These are all

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<v Speaker 1>part of REM. Note that some of these can happen

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<v Speaker 1>during other stages of sleep and transitions between those stages,

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<v Speaker 1>signaling what's known as covert REM dreaming. So you can

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<v Speaker 1>monitor for these signs and your predetermined signal with machines

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<v Speaker 1>like a polygraphed or an e G or an e MG.

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<v Speaker 1>But what about the whole thing about controlling your dreams? Right?

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<v Speaker 1>That sounds cool, Let's get back to that. Some researchers

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<v Speaker 1>are skeptical that it's possible. That's because there's no empirical

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<v Speaker 1>way to test for it. We don't know enough about

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<v Speaker 1>how memories work or how dreams work to see and

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<v Speaker 1>experience what people are thinking or dreaming, so we've only

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<v Speaker 1>got their reports to go on. Sure, some subject report

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<v Speaker 1>being able to control their dreams, but even when people

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<v Speaker 1>are trying to be honest about their memories, they can't

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<v Speaker 1>always succeed. That's because memories are electrochemical patterns in the brain,

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<v Speaker 1>and every time we call one up, we change it,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe a little, maybe a lot. Some research indicates that

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<v Speaker 1>the harder we're trying for perfect recall, the more we

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<v Speaker 1>mess our own memories up. Okay, but you are year

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<v Speaker 1>because you want to learn how to control your dreams. Right.

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<v Speaker 1>There are lots of books and workshops that are totally

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<v Speaker 1>willing to help you at varying expenses. Of course, this

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<v Speaker 1>is another reason why we're skeptical about lucid dreaming. Here

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<v Speaker 1>at how stuff works. But here are some tips for

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<v Speaker 1>lucid dreaming no dream control promised. First, you could practice

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<v Speaker 1>mindfulness while you're awake. This is what they call reality testing.

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<v Speaker 1>Throughout your day, pay attention to how it feels to

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<v Speaker 1>be awake and the cause and effect nature of reality.

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<v Speaker 1>Like when you flip a light switch, a light turns on,

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<v Speaker 1>and if it doesn't, there are steps you can take

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<v Speaker 1>to figure out why. Well. The idea here is that

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<v Speaker 1>by being more aware of what it's like to be awake,

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<v Speaker 1>you'll be able to notice differences while you're dreaming. Secondly,

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<v Speaker 1>keep a dream journal. When you wake up, immediately write

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<v Speaker 1>down what you remember of your dreams. The immediacy is

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<v Speaker 1>important because we tend to forget dreams much more quickly

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<v Speaker 1>than waking events. One Freudian era dream researcher by the

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<v Speaker 1>name of L. Strumple hypothesized that that is because the

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<v Speaker 1>strength of our memories is based in association and repetition,

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<v Speaker 1>which we don't get in dreams the way we do

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<v Speaker 1>in waking activity. The idea here is that by paying closer,

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<v Speaker 1>wakeful attention to your dreams, you'll be able to recognize

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<v Speaker 1>them while you're asleep. Third, disrupt your dream cycles. Set

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<v Speaker 1>an alarm to wake yourself up after ninety minutes after bedtime.

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<v Speaker 1>That should give your brain enough time to cycle through

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<v Speaker 1>the sleep stages and reach rem Or set an alarm

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<v Speaker 1>to wake yourself up a couple hours early, stay awake

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<v Speaker 1>for about half an hour, then go to sleep again.

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<v Speaker 1>The idea here is that by waking yourself up in

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<v Speaker 1>the middle of rem sleep, you should be able to

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<v Speaker 1>remember your recent dreams more clearly than usual. And finally,

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<v Speaker 1>there's Laberge's mild technique, and that's mild in all caps

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<v Speaker 1>because it stands for new monic induction of lucid dreaming.

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<v Speaker 1>This is one of Leberge's most famous techniques. When you

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<v Speaker 1>wake up from a dream, try your best to remember

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<v Speaker 1>it fully, and when you go back to sleep, keep

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<v Speaker 1>telling yourself that you're going to remember that you're dreaming

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<v Speaker 1>during your next dream. The next step is to picture

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<v Speaker 1>yourself back in the dream that you just had and

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<v Speaker 1>look for a sign that the dream is a dream

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<v Speaker 1>and not reality, like the fact that you're flying through

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<v Speaker 1>the air with wings. Leberts calls these dream signs. At

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<v Speaker 1>this point, remind yourself that you're dreaming and continue the visualization.

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<v Speaker 1>Keep doing this until you fall asleep. If you liked

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<v Speaker 1>that and you want to learn more about lucid dreaming,

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<v Speaker 1>my other show Stuff to Blow Your Mind has a

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<v Speaker 1>real deep dive into the topic where my co host

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<v Speaker 1>Robert and I talk all about lucid dreaming, it's history

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<v Speaker 1>and all of the dream types that Frederick vany Eden

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<v Speaker 1>came up with ye Today's episode was produced by Tyler

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<v Speaker 1>Clang and written by me for brain Stuffs Erstwhile YouTube series.

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<v Speaker 1>If you enjoy our show and want to support us

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<v Speaker 1>in return for some brainy housewears or people wears. Visit

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<v Speaker 1>our online shop at t public dot com slash brain stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>and of course, for more on this and lots of

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<v Speaker 1>other dreamy topics, visit our home planet, how stuff Works

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<v Speaker 1>dot com