Welcome to LifehackersLucid Dream Workshop.

What are dreams?

Experts cant agree on what dreamsare, precisely.

But perhaps the simplest possible definition is that dreams are your brains way of knowing that it exists.

We may not know why we have dreams, but we do knowwhenwe have them.

Your body temperature, heart rate, breathing rate, and energy use all decrease across the board.

Your muscles are still active and you could still produce reactions to environmental stimuli.

Essentially, you are falling asleep.

NREM 2 (N2):Drifting toward deep sleep.

Youre harder to awaken, and conscious awareness of your environment goes away.

This stage accounts for about half of your sleep time.

NREM 3 (N3):Deep sleep or slow-wave sleep.

Environmental stimuli are no longer likely to produce any reactions.

REM (rapid eye movement):Also known as the dream state.

Your muscles become paralyzed and your breathing and heart rate become unregulated.

This stage accounts for about a quarter of your sleep time as well.

What is a lucid dream?

Lucid dreams, on the other hand, are like exploring an amusement park that you built yourself.

Not only can you go wherever you want, you might do whatever you like.

In essence, a fully lucid dream is a dream you have complete control over.

Want to fly like a superhero?

Its possibleIve done it.

Want to confront a bully without fear?

Want to have romantic relations with a beautiful dream person?

You most certainly can.

Remember and imagine as many of them as you’ve got the option to.

Breathing:

Attend to your breathing.

Hold your breath for a few seconds.

Now take a deep breath.

Notice that being conscious of your breathing allows you to alter it deliberately.

Emotions:

Become aware of your feelings.

How real do emotions feel?

Thoughts:

Become aware of your thoughts.

What have you been thinking while doing this exercise?

What are you thinking right now?

How real do thoughts seem?

Pause and reflect on these things, or even write them down.

You are not what you see, hear, think, or feel; you

have

these experiences.

Perhaps most essentially, you are

who

is

aware

.

Awareness of awareness:

Finally, become aware of your awareness.

Normally, awareness focuses on objects outside ourselves, but it can itself be an object of awareness…

Here, experience cannot be adequately expressed by language.

Congratulations: you have taken your first step to becoming anoneironaut, or explorer of dreams.

Youll also get a brand-new assignment.

You spend a third of your life asleep.

Why not do something with it?

Okay, oneironauts: sleep tight and dream on.