Thread: Do Lucid dreams effect sleep quality?

Ah. As far as I know, lucid dreaming does not really affect your sleep, since you are still fully engaged in a full sleep state. Sometimes, the things you do in a lucid dream will affect your "satisifaction" of sleep.

Like.. when you wake up from a nightmare, you are uneasy, and don't really enjoy your night. But, if you have a dream about your crush or your favorite hobby.. things are different.

Originally Posted by MadHatter17

When having a lucid dream, in the dream, I feel like I've been awake for a long time. Its something like the wired jittery feeling one gets from staying up late. Afterwards I sometimes feel that I didn't get a good nights sleep. Can Lucid dreams make sleep less restful?

I believe so as your brain isn't getting it's sleep.

Originally Posted by jmp

I believe so as your brain isn't getting it's sleep.

I disagree. I think your brain is still sleeping, that's why you're unconscious.

You're in REM sleep and your brain activity is the exact same as it would be if you weren't lucid. That is, short-wave, high-frequency activity. If you looked at an EEG of when you were awake and then when you were sleeping, it would look EXACTLY the same.

Remember, lucid dreaming just means being aware that you are dreaming, not like your mind is "awake," since really, your mind already is awake.

This study (http://www.spiritwatch.ca/eeg.htm) says that they studied an individual and compared normal REM to LD REM. They said, "no remarkable EEG changes take place within REM to accompany the entry into lucidity." The only difference was that during an LD, the individual experienced higher Theta levels of sleep.

I am a natural LDer and I LD almost every night. The only times I don't are the nights I wake up feeling exhausted and like I was smothered half to death all night. So, for me, to have an LD is pretty much synonomous with getting a good night's sleep.

Originally Posted by AmazeO XD

Ah. As far as I know, lucid dreaming does not really affect your sleep, since you are still fully engaged in a full sleep state. Sometimes, the things you do in a lucid dream will affect your "satisifaction" of sleep.

Like.. when you wake up from a nightmare, you are uneasy, and don't really enjoy your night. But, if you have a dream about your crush or your favorite hobby.. things are different.

i agree

So does that mean there's a way to get rid of that "up till 3 am" feeling I've had in some dreams?

Originally Posted by MadHatter17

So does that mean there's a way to get rid of that "up till 3 am" feeling I've had in some dreams?

Find a pot of coffee =P

A really good, long lucid dream leaves me feeling invincible the next morning. I wake up feeling as if I could kick the world's ass and backhand it a few times for good measure.

Originally Posted by Vex Kitten

A really good, long lucid dream leaves me feeling invincible the next morning. I wake up feeling as if I could kick the world's ass and backhand it a few times for good measure.

But then when you realize the shape your life's in, its a real bummer =(

But that may just be my pessimism.

Sometimes different techniques I try will cause me to lose sleep.

Also, sometimes after a lucid I get up and write it down and then don't go back to sleep for a while.

So being lucid sometimes makes me tired too.

Arby:
Yeah, there's that.
But over all a good strong lucid dream works wonders for the body and mind in my experience.

One of the things I had to over come in regards to lucid dreaming was my negativity. It took a lot of help from a couple of members here to keep me from falling back into the usual pile of pessimism I used to wallow in.

Key is to stay positive or at the very least surround yourself with people who can help you see the bright side.

Originally Posted by Moonbeam

Sometimes different techniques I try will cause me to lose sleep.

Also, sometimes after a lucid I get up and write it down and then don't go back to sleep for a while.

So being lucid sometimes makes me tired too.

But then again, that's not lucidity itself, that's the responsibilities a lucid dreamer imposes on himself/herself.

B12 has the answer I would type. No real effect, because REM is natural, and the length of REM isn't altered. Actually, because lucidity brings the brain to logical thinking, I think that you'd wake up less groggy and disoriented, and more aware of your surroundings.

Originally Posted by Vex Kitten

Arby:
Yeah, there's that.
But over all a good strong lucid dream works wonders for the body and mind in my experience.

One of the things I had to over come in regards to lucid dreaming was my negativity. It took a lot of help from a couple of members here to keep me from falling back into the usual pile of pessimism I used to wallow in.

Key is to stay positive or at the very least surround yourself with people who can help you see the bright side.

Yeah, normally my response to it is to think "YEAH, fuck you too life. I was off having fun while you were standing around getting nothing done. You suck, I rule."

Then I'm happy again. I'm always happier on mornings with really interesting dreams. You don't wanna know my pessimism on days without a good dream... =P

The absolute best feeling however is when you wake up, reflect for a couple minutes then go "HEY! THAT MAKES SENSE NOW!" Then your whole day is happy because things just make that more sense. A good dream is one thing, a good interpreted dream is on a whole new level.