I have been doing research for over two years about dreams and the role that they play in the brain, and I've come to the difficult idea that lucid dreaming is not a healthy practice for the brain to undergo. I will persist in my efforts regardless, because I see it as a small price to pay to use the world in my head as my own personal sandbox and playpen. At least, until my theory is proven correct.

My theory is as follows:

Dreams in their non-lucid state serve as a way for the brain to 'dump' its memories from short-term to long-term storage and sift through the unnecessary things we need to forget. Messing around with this process by bending the workings of a dream to our beck and whim may degrade our ability to remember and recall. My personal experience with this arose when I started practicing meditation exercises and lucid dreaming. I began to forget assignments in school (not lack the motivation and simply neglect to do it as I normally do, but actually FORGET.). Then I began to forget where I put things in my manically-organized room. (I can usually find anything in a heartbeat, but lately, I've been misplacing things badly enough that it has become a concern of mine.)

However, there is conclusive evidence to suggest otherwise (This did not appear in my personal experience, however.) and that dreaming lucidly helps us to clear our heads and actually boosts the functioning of our memory (our capacity, recall speed and clarity and our attentiveness).

Whatever the case may be, I will continue studying the habits of my memory as I get deeper into the practice of lucid dreaming. I would just like to suggest that we all (noobies and veterans alike) proceed with caution.

Even though the website does not give me enough space to use it, please remember my name as Wildfire the Tiger. (wildfirethetiger.devianart.com)

Happy dreaming to you all!