Lucid dreaming
+ lucid dreaming has been known for centuries, but is very badly understood
+ lucid dreaming is an unusual state of consciousness
+ awareness is a function of the brain; it gathers information from the senses and builds a general picture of what is around. How does dream awareness differ from waking awareness?
(Kromoh intends to write an appendix for this)
+ the difference between passive sleep (NREM) and active sleep (REM)
+ dreaming is easily observable in small children and puppies, when they start twitching as if trying to move the body, or when the dog growls or barks silently
+ is LDing real? Is it scientifically observable? It's the question LaBerge had to face. He needed some sort of evidence that lucid dreams really occurred - reports or stories didn't serve for various reasons
+ LaBerge knew of many intriguing report of people reporting have looked in specific directions in their dreams and their REM behaving accordingly
+ he tried moving his eyes in a specific manner in a lucid dream, having his eye movements monitored through his sleep. He was able to locate the specific signal (left-right-left-right) in the middle of a REM period. He then realised it was a way lucid dreamers could signal researchers from inside their dreams, and used it for scientific research
+ dreamed action affects the sleeping body (excitement in a dream produces physiological excitement, for example), external sensorial experiences affect the dream (sounds or songs can be incorporated into the dream content, for example)
=> leads us to conclude that the real world and the dream world aren't so distant
+ dreamed experiences are as real to the brain as waking-life ones
Dream Recall
+ dream recall is a fundamental skill for having and exploring lucid dreams - it would be useless if you had one and couldn't remember
+ dream recall is a practicable skill
+ for lucid dreaming, it is advised to build a dream recall of at least 1 dream per night
+ some researches believe that you will not remembers a dream if you don't wake up directly from it (even if for a few seconds)
+ women statistically have better dream recall and also have lighter sleep, which supports the theory
for recalling dreams:
+ forcing yourself to write your dreams down gives your mind the need to remember them
+ dreams are easily forgettable as you just wake up - make quick notes at first and avoid disturbances
+ set an alarm to wake you up around your REM periods if you are a heavy sleeper
+ motivate yourself to remember your dreams
+ self-suggestion and self-hypnosis work
(Kromoh intends to write a small appendix on self-hypnosis for the book)
+ building passive memory: the ability to recall things you didn't take time to memorize (what you ate yesterday, in what order you dressed yourself this morning, how was your way to work/school, etc)
+ the advantages of having a dream journal: better memory in general, knowing your subconscious thoughts better, being able to analyse what troubles you in your dreams; and for lucid dreaming, increase of dream awareness and ability to find indicators of dreams
+ dream signs: they are indicators that you are dreaming, which your mind usually skips completely
(I think examples from people's dream journals could be very well placed for illustrating dream signs)
+ when awake, we are completely sure we are awake. When dreaming, we are completely sure we are
awake - so sure that our mind rarely questions if we could be dreaming!
+ natural lucid dreamers have the difference of a better awareness of reality, which also applies when they are dreaming
+ reality testing: a way to tell apart dreams from reality, by doing or finding things which could only happen in a dream
+ the great epiphany: I am dreaming!
+ dreams use the same parts of the waking brain to simulate a different reality - dreams can be not only as but much more vivid than waking experience, because they aren't limited by the bodily senses
+ how we usually miss dream signs due to rationalization
(example fits well)
Quote:
Some examples I made about the amount of awareness in a dream:
+ The streets are different than they should be in reality, but you skip this fact completely and only realize they were different when you recall the dream later on. (you don't notice the dream sign)
+ The streets are different and you notice it, but nothing else happens. (you notice the dream sign, but nothing else happens)
+ The streets are different than in reality, you notice it, and get lost because of it. (the dream was influenced by the dream sign, but you don't become lucid)
+ The streets are different than in reality, you notice it, and ask yourself why on Earth they would be different. You realize they wouldn't, and that you're actually dreaming.
(dream sign observed and lucidity achieved)
Summary:
+ dream journalling, finding dream signs, and reality-testing