Are we still dreaming?

Chuang Tzu dreamed he was a butterfly.

What joy, floating on the breeze
Without a thought of who he was.
When Chuang Tzu awoke, he found himself
confused.

Am I a man who dreamed I was a butterfly?
Or am I a butterfly, dreaming that I am a man?
Perhaps my whole life is but a moment in a
butterflys dream!
Overview
Lucid Dreaming is the ability to become aware while
you're dreaming... to consciously "wake up" inside
the dream world and control your dreams.

Lucid Dreams take you to a fantasy realm where
everything you see, feel, taste, hear and smell can be
as authentic as your waking reality.

What is Lucid Dreaming
If in a dream, you realize that you are dreaming then
it is Lucid Dreaming

In other words; it is an alternative state of
consciousness.

A fully lucid dream is rich and detailed - and can
create more awareness than you have right now, like
360-degree vision or existing in two places at the
same time.

History
415 AD written in a letter by St. Augustin.

The scientific community did not recognize lucid dreaming
until 1978.

Practiced by Tibetan Buddhists for a thousand years through
a form of dream yoga

1913 Term coined by Frederick Van Eeden

Modern research- Stephen LaBerge and Lynn Nagel of
Stanford University in 1978 and 1985 respectively.

Characteristics of Lucid Dreams
Full awareness of dream state (consciously and
perceptually)

Ability to make free decisions in the dream

Memory functions as if in waking life

Awareness of the meaning of symbols
More about lucid dreams
When you are lucid dreaming, you can pause,
rewind and modify your dream.

You can even introduce new characters of
your choice and modify the whole script of
the dream

All this happens during the dream. This is the
most exciting feature of lucid dreaming



Scientific Evidences
This is not a "paranormal
phenomenon" of any kind;
the scientific community
has provided 2 evidences
for lucid dreaming.
Communication via In
-Dream Eye Movements
(1975)
Brainwave Recordings
During REM Sleep (2009)

The Sleep cycle
Each and every night, your brain passes through five stages of
sleep.

Passing through all these stages takes about 90-110 minutes
and marks one full sleep cycle.

The 5 stages are categorized in two types:
1-REM Sleep
2- Non-REM Sleep
Non-REM is further Divided into 4 stages.
Stages of sleep
A full sleep cycle consists of 5 stages:
Stage 1 is a light sleep and you are easily woken.
Stage 2 is a light dreamless sleep when brain signals stop
reaching body parts.
Stage 3 is the beginning of a deep sleep, a person waking up
from this stage remains confused for few moments
Stage 4 is the stage of most deep slow wave sleep
REM sleep the brainwave frequency again becomes almost
equal to stage 1 and this is the time when a person starts
dreaming


Some Lucid Dreamers
Albert Einstein Reality is merely an illusion

The Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix)
"How do I know that my reality is not an
illusion?"
This is the key to unlocking a dream and
becoming consciously lucid.


Thomas Edison
Richard Linklater (Walking Life)
"Are we sleep-walking through our waking state or wake-
walking through our dreams?
Nikola Tesla (Electromagnetism)
Chris Nolan (Inception)
Salvador Dali
artwork Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a
Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening


Out of Body Experience
"Out of body" experiences (OBEs) are personal
experiences during which people feel as if
they are perceiving the physical world from a
location outside of their physical bodies.
At least 5 and perhaps as many as 35 of every
100 people have had an OBE at least once in
their lives (Blackmore, 1982).
If you wake up and realize that you cant move
your body; even cant open your eyelids, then
you are suffering through sleep paralysis.

Ways to reduce this problem:
getting enough sleep
reduce stress
exercise regularly (but not too close to bedtime)
keep a regular sleep schedule

A false awakening is a phenomenon in which
the scene of the dream changes into that of
the dreamer waking up, usually in his or her
own bed.

This can be very misleading to the dreamer,
who thinks he or she has woken up, but is still
actually dreaming.

A dreamer can have several False Awakenings
in a row.
Conclusion
A lucid dream is not merely a fantasy
playground; it's a chance to interact with your
own subconscious mind via dream
characters and the fabric of the dream itself.

Some people learn to lucid dream naturally.

You can train your mind to lucid dream.
Conclusion Continued
We use about 8% of our brain during
consciousness.
But our subconscious mind is active during our
dreams.
The brain is much more busier in our REM
sleep as compared to waking life and blood
flow through it is almost doubles.
This awareness can lead to many new
possibilities.
References
http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/paralysis.html
http://www.worldofluciddreaming.com/lucid-dream-
ideas/famous-lucid-dreamers
http://www.dreamstudies.com/history-of-lucid-
dreaming
http://www.worldofluciddreaming.com/drea
m-control/how-to-control-your-dream
http://www.dreamstudies.com/the-art-of-
dream-control