Some of us remember vivid dreams, while some of us swear we cannot remember dreaming at all. Some of us dream in black and white while most of us dream in color. However, one thing for sure is that everyone dreams. What exactly are dreams and why do we have them? A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions and sensations that usually occurs involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep (American Heritage Dictionary, 2000). We spend around a third of our life sleeping and a sizeable chunk of that dreaming. While most experts believe we dream to assist the body with rest, repair and rejuvenation, others speculate that we dream for psychological reasons. The purpose of this report is to investigate on how dreams act as therapy and why this form of therapy is still not widely used.
Lucid dreaming is dreaming with the additional awareness that a dream is occurring while it is happening (LaBerge, 1980). This dream awareness is typically accompanied by opportunities to influence the content; however that is not a requirement for lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming is a phenomenon with several different applications. Its many potential benefits reach into the areas of consciousness studies, skill acquisition, creative problem solving, physical health recovery and nightmare treatment (Gackenbach & LaBerge, 1988). Despite these promising prospects, research into these matters remains at a slow pace. Lucid dreaming is relatively rare amongst those who do not try to actively seek it, with less than 20% of the population experiencing it once a month or more (Stumbrys & Schredl, 2011). It is very difficult to study a phenomenon that randomly occurs each month to a selective number of people under certain conditions. And, this is why numerous techniques have been invented to boost lucid dreaming.
In the field of psychotherapy, lucid dreaming is said to alleviate recurring nightmares (Zadra & Phil, 1997). Lucid dreaming was born from the Buddhist tradition over a thousand years ago. In their belief, tapping into your deepest unconscious – in effect, remaining completely self aware during the process could relieve fear and stress from our lives, instill a feeling of oneness with our surroundings, unlock our most progressive potential and promote greater harmony between our body, mind and spirit. Although lucid dreaming has its benefits, there are still some risks associated with this practice (Allan, 2017). The most common negative experience dreamers have is sleep paralysis, i.e., the inability to move when you are asleep. One of the best perks of lucid dreaming, realistic feelings, is also one of the worst pitfalls. Negative feelings are all possible to occur in a lucid dream too. There is also the possibility of dream claustrophobia, which is when people become lucid in a dream scenario they are unable to manipulate or awaken from. And lastly, some fear that using lucid dreams as a form escapism will force them out of touch with reality.
