A presentation on my chosen

‘State of Consciousness’ , Dreaming.

By Jennifer M. Smith

The term lucid dreaming was developed by a Dutch psychiatrist, Frederick Willem van Eeden.

A Lucid Dream is when the person is aware that they are dreaming. It is common during Lucid Dreaming to have the ability to alter your actions or the dream environment. They can be extremely vivid and

realistic. Many people can use all five senses and sometimes read and remember (after waking) things in the dream. These dreams are most often in color and very intense regardless of subject matter.

The popular 2010 movie, Inception, is based on Lucid Dreaming.

False awakenings occur for both lucid and non-lucid dreamers, but, it is much more common among Lucid dreamers. False awakenings are also referred to as “ A Dream within a

Dream”. Often the dreamer will believe they have woken up only to find they are still dreaming. Sometimes individuals will experience

many multiple levels while in REM sleep. It can be an interesting experience but can easily turn confusing or very frightening for

the dreamer.

Sleep paralysis occurs sometimes when you are either just beginning to fall asleep or waking temporarily. It often feels like someone is holding you down against your will. People also describe visual and auditory hallucinations. Some people have even began referring to a “Sleep paralysis Demon” due to some of the things they experience during sleep paralysis. Sometimes if feels as though you cannot

breathe or might die and it can be terrifying.

Another phenomenon associated with Lucid dreaming is the out-of-body experience, referred to as OOBE. This will usually present with a sensation

of floating and in some cases people have seen their own bodies as if looking down on themselves, or seeing themselves from a different place.

About 1 in 10 people believe they have had an out-of-body experience.

Many believe that you can teach yourself to have lucid dreams. To do so there are three things you first need or need to be able to do: accurate recall of

dream events, motivation, and techniques to guide you to lucid dreaming. There is also a method represented by the acronym WILD, wake initiated lucid

dreaming, where you purposely fall asleep and try to target and modify what you will dream about. If you are able to accomplish or naturally experience

lucid dreams it can be a very entertaining way to spend your REM sleep. Lucid „nightmares‟ however, can induce panic and a feeling of not having slept at all.

Sources as used in presentation are as follows:

www.lucidity.com/luciddreamingImage © Christopher Nolan, Warner Bros.

www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com Image © quidnunsmusings @ wordpress

Sleepdisorders.about.com Image © Blogspot/kebm2

www.oberf.org Image © howtoluciddream.com 2012

www.lucidity.com Image © tonchee.deviantart.com