Teaching the elderly to LD

So I'm currently reading Exploring the World Of Lucid Dreaming. As you may know, it is loaded with quoted LD's from a variety of people, one of which is a prisoner. I had the idea that prisoner's would be a group who would greatly appreciate LDing, however noticed theres already a thread regarding this. So I wondered, is there another segment of the population that is somewhat restricted in their activity and would greatly appreciate it?

The elderly.

I'm thinking particularly of those who have little social contact, don't get out much, possibly in nursing homes, and find life is more just going through the motions and waiting to die. To me LDing seems perfect for them! These people would have the time to devote to achieving LD proficiency, as well as the motivation (assuming their life is currently unfulfilling).

A few obstacles for this idea:

1. They may not find it appealing. I'm presuming that everyone else also would think LDing is ideal for the elderly, however as we are all generally much younger and from a generation that is more open minded and more likely to try new things, etc, we could be suprised to find that none would care for the idea at all.

2. At their age they might lack the concentration/mental capacity that is needed to LD.

3. Reaching them. I'm assuming nobody would be willing to spend money on anything like this. There are those that do volunteer work for the elderly, so someone with the right dedication and knowledge could have a try.

Perhaps now is not the time, this could be more common in the future when people are more open minded and LDing is common. Can you see yourself in a nursing home 70 years from now (when we're all LD superstars) teaching others how to do it? I sure can.

I cannot, actually.

Because I intend to never set foot in a nursing home.

But yeah, no one needs LDing more than disabled, elderly or otherwise imprisoned people.

Good thought, good thought. LD's would be PERFECT for the elderly BUT, like you've already said, most wouldn't be up to it. Remember, a lot of our parents on DV think that LDing and dreaming is odd, just think about what THEIR parents could think! But, I do think that there are some totally capable elders that are open to new things. If they are honestly explained LDing, and are open minded, they may find it fascinating! Also, they shouldn't have any mental issues WHAT SO EVER, otherwise, it would be near impossible for them to LD. But, with those open minded elders, if they actually suceed, I'm sure that they'd love the freedom and ability to move that they can get in LD's!

Haha I got a kick out of this one. :)

I do agree that most wouldn't be open to tdealdea. Not all though, I find that my grandmother is one of the few people that I can speak openly about lucid dreaming with (she is much more open-minded than the average person her age).

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Originally Posted by Supernova

I do agree that most wouldn't be open to tdealdea. Not all though, I find that my grandmother is one of the few people that I can speak openly about lucid dreaming with (she is much more open-minded than the average person her age).

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Yeah my grandmother is also very interested in dreaming apparantly but I haven't really discussed it with her much probably because we don't live all that close. Maybe I should give her a phone call.

I guess someone could try teaching it to them, but I also feel that it should be introduced to little kids at school. I remember in 5th grade, we were taught how to play chess. They should be able to do the same with lucid dreaming since it would be like the perfect age to start. Especially since they have more nightmares than adults.

Another problem with the elderly is that as you get older and older, your REM periods get shorter. You have bursts of it as a little fat baby but older people tend to have much shorter REM periods. Not that this would prevent them from learning.

I think this could also go good with teaching people in wheel chairs. They can't do much, but in their dreams they can walk. But why walk when you can fly. Seriously I think I would put in a lot more effort into lucid dreaming if I was a paraplegic or something.

Instead of the elderly i prefer to teach handicapped people :)

I thought about this regarding my grandparents before because my grandfather is legally blind as of last year so im getting the feeling that he believes his only purpose to live is for the wellbeing of my grandmother

Fantastic idea to find such application of lucid dreaming. Good utilitarian thinking. Though it might be a bit presumptuous to discount thinking & imagination in waking life as nothing more than "waiting to die" regardless of age or activity since we are all, after all, just living in our own heads at all stages of life. So what is the difference between "going through the motions" at 15 or at 85? One is more valuable than the other? Know your intention. Beware patronizing arrogance for one does not enhance a life by diminishing it.

As others mentioned, open-mindedness regarding lucid dreaming is not so much a function of age. As I referenced in another post, it might just look that way since this is but a slice of time. Though my mother rarely remembered her dreams and was not a lucid dreamer, she used to enjoy my tales of lucid dreaming. Whereas there are still plenty of fundamentalistic youths of your own generation who would think you possessed. I do believe however that consciousness evolves on a world wide scale and that as my mother was ahead of her times in many ways which helped those who came into contact with her be more open-minded, your generation which benefited from previous generations will in turn foster & accelerate the process. The OP's thinking about how to use lucid dreaming is a good example of this.

With regard to challenges of such application, aside from issues of open-mindedness, abilities of concentration, illness and the like, there is also simply the burden of life which weighs more heavily upon the mind with the passing of the experiences of waking life. For instance, while I was losing my mom and then when she died, I stopped my lucid dreaming because I needed respite from so much sadness. I could not stop thinking about losing her during the day. And too in my sleep. My emotions got the better of me, during my dreaming I'd be crying. And my body would wake up in tears. It was very difficult. The greatest gift of youth is not yet having experienced so much death and loss so close to you. For no matter how easily happiness comes to you, now you also have this which you did not have before. Not to discourage the OP as I do see benefit in your idea and I would encourage you to expand upon it and put it into practice, but just to keep in mind, that as we get older, sometimes we just want to sleep.