A lucid dream is any dream in which one is aware that one is dreaming. In relation to this phenomenon, Greek philosopher Aristotle observed: "often when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream". One of the earliest references to personal experiences with lucid dreaming was by Marie-Jean-Léon, Marquis d''Hervey de Saint Denys.
[...]... of ability to manipulate themselves within the dreaming At this point, the lucid dreamer acknowledges that their “control” seems limited to directing their focus They don't “control” the color of the various items, the new vista when they fly over a hill, the items in the rooms they just entered, or necessarily the length of the lucid dream itself Rather, they direct their focus within the larger dreaming... it's because they bring the expectation or mindset of physical space into the psychological space of the lucid dream When they want to move in a lucid dream, they walk, they flap their arms, they swim through the air, using physical-type effort They grow frustrated, not realizing that their belief and expectation in the need for physical action is causing their experience The solution to this dilemma... preceding their experience; they seem to accept and not change their environment; they seem to recall easily the details of their experience; and OBE reports contain more reference to “returning to the body.” Lucid dreamers, by contrast, report that lucid dreams normally occur late at night and within a dream; lucid dreamers note a distinct change in awareness from non -lucid awareness to lucid awareness; they... distinct types of inner experience As coeditor of The Lucid Dream Exchange, I see this same confusion in a small subset of lucid dream submissions The person doesn't indicate or recall how they became lucid; however they fly around the mental landscape much like in a lucid dream, yet fail to alter the environment, as lucid dreamers normally do Tomato, tomat-obe? Maybe so But as we investigate the varieties... As I took in the dream surroundings, my feelings of joy rose to such levels that the lucid dream would begin to feel unstable and then come to an end I would awaken, full of joy but mystified by the sudden collapse of the lucid dream This brought me to one of my first lessons of lucid dreaming: To maintain the lucid dream state, you must modulate your emotions Too much emotional energy causes the lucid. .. “happened” to contain elements of a normal daily event Could I, on some deep level, have heard the paper land in the grass on the opposite side of the house and simply concocted a dream about this subauditory event? I know the experience happened—yet how to explain it? I decided to ask one of my brothers He listened to my story, then said, matter-of-factly, “You're having out-of-bodies.” “I have them sometimes,”... into non -lucid dreaming So too, lucid dreamers who become inattentive to the fact of their conscious awareness risk becoming lost to the dreaming To maintain lucidity, we must develop a proper balance of mindful, aware interacting to engage the dream consciously In an environment that appears real, our awareness has to adopt a neutral stance: be in the environment but not of the environment Engage the. .. predisposed to invest some symbols with power? Or does it follow the outline of our own belief and expectation? THE POWER OF EMOTION While flying, many beginning lucid dreamers will realize they're gaining altitude—they see the rooftops or trees below them and can barely believe they're flying!—and suddenly, their focus shifts They become fearful of the distance to the ground, and they begin to fall At the. .. going further Lucid in the unconscious, the considerable pleasures are as enticing as any waking-world pleasure In the epic voyage of the Odyssey, lucid dreamers recognize a cautionary tale Blown off course for many days, the crew finally lands on the island of the lotus eaters There, they find water to continue their journey Ulysses sends three men to find out about the local inhabitants, and they discover... as your sole focus, then intending yourself there, moves your awareness effortlessly What if the place you want to be is far away? How do you “intend” yourself to that mountaintop? In general terms, you focus exclusively on the mountaintop and place your perception there, by either imagining yourself on the mountaintop or, say, by imagining yourself touching the highest rock; in any case, your focus . activities. Lucid dreamers who become overly focused on the dreaming activities get swept back into non -lucid dreaming. So too, lucid dreamers who become inattentive to the fact of their conscious. deeper into this mystery, I and others began to lucidly challenge the boundaries of dreaming as we sought out the unexpected, the unknown, the abstract. Increasingly, we let go of manipulating the. of sorts—explaining the lucid dream terrain, the local customs, the rituals, and something of the inhabitants, the dream figures, as lucid dreamers consciously interact with them in the psychological