Sleep

by Jason Evans

Sleep performs vital functions for our mental and physical wellbeing. Find out what sleep does for us.

Fundamental principles:

1. Dreaming is nature’s way of de-stressing us.
2. A healthy sleep pattern does much to reduce stress and allow the mind to relax and look at problems from other points of view.
3. If the mechanism of dreaming is put under too much stress, our mental stability is affected.

There are two main types of sleep:

“Slow-Wave” Sleep (hardware maintenance, physical body)

In slow wave sleep, essential ‘housekeeping’ is done: clearing debris (eg. unused proteins), recharging glial cells with glucose (energy), immune system system rejuvenated.

Dream Sleep (software maintenance, emotional self)

In dream sleep, sensory input is shut down (taking the brain ‘offline’), body is paralysed (to keep from acting out dreams) and suppressed emotions from waking are retriggered by the brainstem, allowing the dreaming mind to process emotional arousal that was not acted on whilst awake.

These retriggered emotions are pattern-matched in the cortex and acted out, causing us to dream. Any emotions are not aroused in this way, are effectively trapped in the nervous system.

Dreams release these suppressed emotions safely, so that the dreamer wakes up emotionally rebalanced for the new day ahead.

Dream Interpretation

There are many different schools of thought regarding dream interpretation. Dream interpretation as a practice is at least as long as recorded history, appearing in many ancient civilizations and cultures. For example the Egyptians were known to be fascinated with sleep and dreams. Many spiritual traditions incorporate elements of dream interpretation.

Dream interpretation in the modern world received a huge surge of interest with the advent of psychoanalysis due to the work of people like Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, and many schools of psychotherapy have their own approach to how dreams are interpreted.

According to one way of thinking, the meaning behind dreams lies with the dreamer themselves. They are the only ones who know for sure what a dream means. Approaches which honour this principle might be better for some than explanations from an external source that can sometimes feel a little intrusive.

Jung's idea of a collective consciousness is a very appealing idea and may have led in part to the popular "dream dictionaries" that list common dreams and what they mean. However for some people these are not that helpful as their dreams might be personal to them and the meaning of a given element for one person can be completely different than for another.

You can even use techniques discussed elsewhere on this site to understand what a dream means. For example, a session of Focusing or meditation can open up the meaning behind a dream. And in a lucid dream you can actually ask the dreaming mind (aka "The Dreamer") to explain what a particular dream symbol means.

Lucid Dreaming

What is it? A lucid dream is simply a dream in which you are aware that you are dreaming, while you are dreaming. What is really interesting about lucid dreams is that once you have become aware that you are dreaming, your dreaming mind can actually control aspects of your dream imagery, such as calling up dream characters to talk to, or manifesting different environments. You can even fly and meditate in your dreams!

Some fun facts about lucid dreaming Here are some facts that you might like to know. Pay attention!

The term lucid dream was coined by Dutch psychiatrist and writer Frederik van Eeden in 1913.

Lucid dreaming was known for thousands of years prior to this in traditions such as Tibetan Buddhism and the Mayan civilization.

Lucid dreaming wasn't widely accepted as scientific fact until the work of Stephen LaBerge at Stanford University in 1980, which put lucid dreams on a firm scientific footing by successfully communicating with a lucid dreamer.

LaBerge built on previous work of Keith Hearne verifying that communication could be established in the laboratory with a person who was lucid dreaming. This was done using eye movement signals in the so-called REM-state (Rapid Eye Movements state, a common stage of night-time dreaming).

More recent work following LaBerge has established two-way communication with lucid dreamers.

Two-way communication opens up interesting possibilities for guided lucid dreams, which could be used as a powerful psychotherapeutic tool.

Like any other kind of dream, it is actually possible to forget a lucid dream, and only remember later that you were aware you were dreaming, while you were dreaming!

Can anyone do it?

Nobody really knows for sure if everyone can lucid dream, but some people definitely can, and there is some evidence that it can be learnt like any other skill. It does seem as if some people are particularly good at lucid dreaming, whilst others only do it rarely or not at all.

How do I do it?

The first step towards lucid dreaming is agreed on by pretty much everybody: you need to start recording your dreams. This can be done with an app, a digital sound recorder (into which you just narrate your dreams), or simply with a notebook by your bed. Pick what works for you!

When you wake up, record the dreams you have just had (using your chosen method). As time goes on you should find that your remember your dreams better, and this is the first step to cultivating better awareness of your dreams.

With better awareness of your dreams, you make becoming lucid in your dreams much more likely. But there are also specific techniques to help you become lucid. These are generally divided into WILD (Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming) and DILD (Dream Induced Ludid Dreaming) techiques. WILD techniques are done from the waking state, such as when you are falling asleep, whilst DILD techniques are done while you are already dreaming.

Here are some other popular techniques:

WBTB (Wake up, Back To Bed). This is a WILD technique where the dreamer purposely wakes up in REM sleep, then goes back to bed with a strong intention of becoming lucid.

SILD (Senses Induced Lucid Dream). This is a technique somewhat similar to self-hypnosis which involves focusing on the senses before falling asleep.

MILD (Mnemonic Induced Lucid Dream). This is a way to trigger a lucid dream based on prospective memory, eg. "Next time I am dreaming, I will be aware that I am dreaming."

Fall Asleep Consciously (FAC). This involves passing through the hypnagogic (falling asleep) phase and enter REM sleep without losing consciousness.

Multiple Wake-up Technique. This involves waking several times during the night in order to hit a sweet spot of REM sleep in order to lucid dream. This can be effective but also tiring if you do it all the time!

Reality Checks: these are actions you can do whilst dreaming to check whether you are dreaming or not. If your dreaming mind finds that you are dreaming, it is a powerful prompt to becoming lucid.

Daytime habits: by frequently carrying out reality checks in the waking state, some people believe that doing so can establish a habit of reality checking that can carry over into the dreamers dreams.

Do a reality check There are several ways to do a reality check:

Count your fingers. Try pushing your finger through the opposite palm. Try breathing through pinched closed nostrils. Reading something (eg. a clock, a sign, a watch). Looking there, and looking back. Looking at something you have written on your hand.

Critical thinking (eg. what am I doing here? how did I get here?)

Some of these may sound strange but if you regularly do a reality check whilst waking, the idea is that the habit will carry over to your dreams and act as a prompt to becoming lucid.

Here are some related hints for further study:

Charlie Morley is a lucid dreaming teacher and writer with an infectious enthusiasm for all things lucid.

Dr Clare Johnson is another lucid dreaming teacher who has written widely on the subject.

Jade Shaw teaches on the related topics of out of body experiences and astral projection.

Don't forget to look on YouTube for videos to help you learn more about lucid dreaming!