Chapter 3: The aspects of dreaming

[Kromoh]

This is the initial revision of the third chapter in the book: The aspects of dreaming. Feel free to discuss, propose or post changes to it. Do, however, put new/edited text in a different colour, so to make comparison easier. Finally, you could [[add notes to the piece by using brackets]]. Note that this thread is for discussion about the 3rd chapter only: for general discussion about the book, check this thread. You might also want to see the Project Sketch, for information on the plans for the project. Note to all writers: make sure you include the copyright at every book file you create. This is just to prevent material leaks. ----- Chapter 3: The aspects of dreaming Before we plunge into the vast study of lucid dreaming it is important to understand some principles of the sleeping cycle, and of dreaming itself. The use of this may not be readily apparent to you, but the knowledge will help in all aspects including dream recall and the timing of various techniques. Most dream and sleep research is conducted through the use of an electroencephalogram (EEG). This machine gives off distinctive rhythms, or waves, of resting neurons. From these waves, different stages of sleep were classified. The sleep cycle, as it is called, has been thoroughfully studied, and as of now many concepts are agreed between scientists. The following is the complete cycle the body goes through approximately every seventy to ninety minutes of sleep. In stage one, which means soon after falling asleep, you slip into a light unconsciousness, which lasts about ten minutes, during which brain activity follows a theta wave pattern. At this time, your brain activity will be akin to a calm and relaxed waking mind. In stage two the EEG shows a change from theta waves into the slower beta waves. The body’s functions will progressively slow, though a sleeper can easily be woken by sounds. Stage three is the beginning of deep sleep. This stage occurs after about thirty to forty-five minutes of sleep. Brain activity has slowed into a delta wave pattern. It can be somehow hard to wake someone up when he or she is sleeping at this stage; and when it is done, the sleeper might wake up confused and disorientated. Soon this will shift into stage four, the deepest sleep. Bodily functions decline in deep physical rest and delta waves are over fifty percent. During this stage, waking up the sleeper may prove extremely hard. After stage four ends you will gradually move up the stages, eventually entering stage one emergent, or more commonly known as REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Here the treasures of the subconscious are unearthed. You guessed it0- dreams. During REM your breathing is irregular, your eyes have bursts of movement and your pulse rate. At this point your body has come under a sleep paralysis that relaxes your muscles and ceases motor messages sent by your brain. This is thought to be for preventing involuntary movements that could get your sleeping-self hurt. Some of you may have experienced this phenomena, waking to find you are unable to move at all; while experiencing a tingling or electric sensation through your body. Sleep paralysis prevents all your major muscles from moving, thus allowing you to move your dreaming body, while having your physical body perfectly safe and still. This first dream period may last a short ten minutes, after which you will go through the sleep cycle over again from stage 2. Fortunately as the night goes on stage three and four vanish, leaving REM periods longer (eventually up to an hour) and the time between them shorter. Knowing how the sleep cycle works has many advantages when inducing lucid dreaming. Some techniques will rely on this information, as will be seen on the related chapters. The study of dreams is something that has always challenged the boundaries of human knowledge. It is not easy to study what happens during sleep, science most of it is unconscious. Dreaming itself was not scientifically proven until recently. Theses can be made, however, based on the psychological views of dreaming. Based on Stephen LaBerge, Ph.D.’s discoveries, it was possible to study the nature and reason behind dreaming. In our daily lives, our brain maintains a mental image of our body, an updated set of information, regarding the position we are in, what we see and hear, if we are hungry, and several other data important to our survival. This body image is what allows us to close our eyes, and still know where our arms are placed. During sleep, however, the situation changes: the sensorial input our brain retrieves from our body is so little, that our mind has trouble to work out where we are or what we are doing, correctly. In its struggle to depurate our current situation, based on the scarce information it has, our mind will often produce a whole mental conception of the scenario around us. But, since it is based on such ambiguous and limited information, it will often create a wrong scenario around us: a scenario we are not in at the moment. That’s when dreaming starts. Being under the effects of Sleep Paralysis, which will prevent any major movement from our muscles, our mind is able to displace the mental image of the body, while our real body is lying still, immobile. For our brain, it is as if we were moving, when in fact, we aren’t moving at all. This situation opens up a wide gamma of possibilities. When our mental body image does not correspond to our physical body situation, we start to dream: the world then seen is not the real one, but one designed by our minds. The laws of physics do not limit that world: it will be a world in which anything we believe is possible. Dreams often carry a sense of freedom: our dream selves are able to do the impossible, from flying without wings to seeing people who are no longer with us. Dreams do indeed offer the possibility to do whatever we want, but even though it will be affected by our beliefs, knowledge and experiences. For an example of that, read the following story: John walked down the street. On his way to school, he found a dog. He instantly remembered his own dog: a playful Yorkshire. When he finally got to his school, he met many of his friends. Assumptions, be them conscious or subconscious, ruled the way you interpreted the meaning of that small paragraph. You imagined, highly likely, that John walked with his legs, and not with his hands. You might have also assumed that the dog John found was walking on the street, and not driving a car. You probably also concluded that John wasn’t accompanied by his dog at the moment he walked to school. Finally, you might have imagined John’s friends as humans, rather than whales. This story was used to explain the assumptions you make throughout your existence. Your brain uses those to deduce meaning faster from situations, speech, and text. These assumptions can be conscious or unconscious. It is completely normal for a person to assume a lot from what he or she reads. When dealing with dreaming, however, assumptions play an even more important role. Most people would never expect to see a frog watching soap opera on a couch. For that reason, then, chances are they’ll never dream of that. That is explained by your assumptions. In a dream, only things that you believe can happen will happen. This can, though, be pushed by your experiences, such as seeing a talking dog on television, and subconsciously believing it is possible. In those cases, then, dreaming of a talking dog is rather likely. The schemas that rule our way of thinking in waking life are also present when dreaming. Everything that happens in a dream happens because your mind expects it to happen. If you believe, for example, that broccoli tastes awful, then it’s highly likely to taste the same in a dream. Our beliefs can also be bad, especially for lucid dreaming. In our daily lives, we don’t ever ask ourselves if we are dreaming. That is, of course, because in light of consciousness, we don’t expect to be dreaming. Not expecting to be dreaming will make you believe the same thing when you are indeed in a dream. Your subconscious will carry that belief, making you not question the world around you. For that reason, even the most absurd situations will sound completely usual to us, in a dream: we don’t expect to be dreaming, after all. For that matter, there is a type of lucid dream induction that bases exactly on that. Dreams, as made by our mind, will often contain inaccuracies, rather unlikely or even impossible situations. Even in the most vivid of the dreams, some things will accuse it as being a dream. One example would be a flying dog, or finding your bedroom is now pink (if it wasn’t already). These indicators are called dream signs, for, upon seeing one, one can question whether if he is facing reality, or just experiencing a dream. This kind of realization can make that person lucid, by becoming aware that what he sees is only inside his dreaming mind. It goes without mention that this realization is only possible if you expect you could be in a dream. Now that you know how dreams work, you can move on to the first concepts of lucid dreaming. On the next chapter, you will see exactly that: the aspects of a dream, its comparison to reality, and how you can use those to induce lucid dreams. Apart from that, it also includes the main concepts and characteristics of a lucid dream. © Copyright 2007 Dreamviews education team. All rights reserved.