Thread: Effects of Lucid Dreaming on Sleep Quality

Ahhh. I was expcting a thread discussing whether or not lucid dreaming hinders sleep in general, but this is a little different.

While being lucid and staying so throughout the dream doesn't ever seem to affect my restedness, waking up mid-dream does. Its still not too bad, I'd think, unless you're having several lucids a night where you're waking up mid-dream.

Either way, stabalization is a great skill to practice. I usually try to remember to just stay calm and walk around the dream, and just take in as much detail as I can, look at trees, wood grain in doors, feel the breeze/rain/sun, run my hands along a railing. Once I grabbed a DC and just started feeling all over his face cause-- it was hilarious. Anything you do to just absorb detail, to immerse yourself in the dream (while still maintaing awareness!) is great for stabalization.
[Edit] Also, practicing this sort of technique will give you a great appreciation for the beauty and detail that your mind can put into dream environments.

But to answer your question about the middle ground-- yes, I think so. I still use my dream-control/powers in my dreams, but only sparingly, and only in response to something thats already happening in the dream. Like if something big runs at me, I'll open a portal and send him across the horizon some where to get rid of it. I dont just run around ripping holes in space just for fun.....well, not all the time anyway. As well, instead of trying to magically summon things directly in front of you, just assume its around a corner, or through a door, It seems to be much less imposing on the dreams for me.

Hi Solipsis. I don't know if this is textbook, like its normal for most people, but I discovered that during a time in the past 6 weeks when I literally could not get a good nights sleep (due to no bed), I was forced by my surroundings into a WBTB state, I kept waking up and drifting off....over and over. I had LD a lot during that time, much more than normal (could also have been because it was time to have them more than normal, my biorhythm was due for a high intense intuitive cycle). Anyways, what little I did sleep during the LDing - was the best sleep I have had in a while.

I don't think lucid dreaming could affect quality of sleep negatively, we dream when sleep normally and being lucid means that we are aware of it, if anything, lucid dreaming will only improve quality of sleep by heightening the mood and such.

Thanks, very interesting on both accounts.

I am actually also very curious about what Allucinor initially though: what impact does lucid dreaming have on your sleep quality? Say you limit stepping in and controlling the dreams so that you don't wake up in the middle of the night.
Is sleep quality worse, the same or better? Is that known?

I think lucid dreaming is a practice that encourages good sleeping habits. Before I took an interest in lucid dreaming, I was a terrible insomniac. I had a lot of bad associations and assumptions about sleep. Lucid dreaming helped me to develop a positive, goal-oriented view of sleep. So I become proactive about improving my sleep and developed some better habits. I found it rewarding and it greatly improved my sleep patterns. So lucid dreaming was an indirect cause.

On the other hand, there have been times when frequent waking and also false awakenings was disturbing my morning attitude and daily schedule, so I had to dial back the effort on lucid dreaming. Again, more of an indirect correlation than causality.

This is speculation, but I think that over time, the practice of attempting to have lucid dreams increases the percentage of time that you spend in REM sleep. And like so many things, it's about balance. I observed this in myself back when I used my Zeo diligently. I'm not up-to-date on the latest neuroscience but I think the general hypothesis about REM is that too little REM leads to poor mental function (concentration, alertness, problem-solving, etc). Your body will use REM rebound to "catch-up" on REM sleep over short intervals but it can still be a chronic problem. But on the other extreme, too much REM is associated with depression.

So I think it's like physical exercise. Typical life in the modern world has skewed some of our natural balancing mechanisms (too many excess calories, too little REM). A little bit of exercise can you put back into a sustainable balance (maintain weight, adequate REM). And more dedicated exercise can lead to more desirable results (athletic physique, strength and speed; more restful and satisfying sleep, sharper mental function and awareness). But too much will lead to negative results (injury, disturbed sleep and attitude). The negative can usually be righted by returning to a healthier balance. But again, it's not lucidity itself that drives this, it's the related positive habits and practices that we use to induce lucidity.

EDIT: added a consideration for REM rebound

I agree with Sisyphus. I used to get 4 hours of sleep at night and now I get 8. LDing has improved my quality of sleep immensely. It has only had positive effects on me thus far.