All right. So you know how sometimes you wake up from a dream and you’re like, wait a second, that feels so real. Yeah. Did that actually happen? Was I flying? Was I talking to Abraham Lincoln? You know, it’s like. I’ve never had that. What is going on in my brain? And we’re diving into that world today. The world of lucid dreaming. Yes, we are. With Stephen LaBerge and Howard Reingold’s book, Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. Yes. Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. Yes, Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. And, you know, I’ve always been super fascinated by dreams because it’s like this whole other reality that exists that, you know, we spend so much time in. But like we don’t really have control over most of the time. Yeah. So the idea that you could be aware and conscious in that world is like, whoa. be aware and conscious in that world is like whoa well i think what labershin wrangle do really well in this book is they sort of take it out of the realm of like mystical woo-woo and they really try to ground it in like okay how does the brain work what are the actual kind of techniques and practices you can use yeah to increase the likelihood of having these experiences yeah and i think that’s what i love so much about this book, too, is that it’s it’s like practical lucid dreaming. Right. For the you know, the everyman, basically, like if you just want to, you know, step into this world and see what it’s all about. And it’s not just about like the the fun and games of it, like, you know, flying and doing all the things that you can’t do in waking life. Yeah. But there are actually like some really interesting potential applications in terms of personal growth. Yeah. Creativity, problem solving, even like healing and therapy that they touch on. Yeah. So that’s kind of our mission today in this deep dive is to distill like what are those key principles? What are those practices that they talk about? And how can we actually apply this to our lives? Yeah. So without further ado, let’s get lucid. Let’s do it. All right. So first and foremost, what is lucid dreaming? So lucid dreaming is essentially the experience of knowing you are dreaming while you are dreaming. It’s that moment of awareness within the dream itself where you suddenly recognize, oh, this is a dream. This isn’t real life. And is it like a light switch or is it like a gradual dawning? It can be both. Okay. For some people, it’s a very sudden kind of like a eureka moment where they’re like, oh, my gosh, I’m dreaming. Oh, wait. Other times it can be a bit more gradual, like things start to seem a little bit off. Okay. And then slowly the realization kind of creeps in. Got it. And they talk about this really cool anecdote in the book that I think illustrates this really well. Yeah. Where somebody is walking down the street in London. Okay. And they’re looking at the pavement and it’s just a normal summer morning and they’re seeing these kind of bluish gray pavement stones. Yeah. Okay. And then all of a sudden they notice something really strange. Right. That overnight all of the stones have flipped so that their long sides are now parallel to the curb instead of the short sides so basically it’s like somebody came in and like rotated everything like somebody played a giant game of dominoes or something yeah yeah and that’s when it hit them like wait a second that’s impossible this must be a dream okay so just that that little like shift in perception of like this is wrong yeah and that’s when yeah the light bulb goes off yeah and what’s really interesting is that they talk about how as soon as that realization happened the quality of the dream changed okay the dream became much more vivid the colors were more intense and the person felt this overwhelming sense of freedom like they could do anything wow because they weren’t bound by the laws of physics or the constraints of their normal life. So it’s like they broke free from the matrix in a sense. Yeah. In a way. Now that’s just from like a visual thing. Like, could it be other senses too? Like if you hear a sound that’s like, wait a second. Absolutely. Yeah. So it can be any kind of sensory anomaly or incongruity. It could be something you see, something you hear, something you feel, a weird smell or taste even. OK. And I think that speaks to this idea that our brains are constantly trying to make sense of the world. And when we’re dreaming, that process is still happening. OK. But it’s happening in a much less kind of constrained way. Got it. So when something really out of place pops up, that’s when the alarm bells start to go off and we’re more likely to become lucid. That makes sense. And, you know, the book also mentions that a lot of people actually experience their first lucid dreams spontaneously. Yeah. After learning about lucid dreaming. So it’s kind of like just by being exposed to this information. Right. It somehow increases the likelihood. Yeah. It’s almost as if just knowing that it’s possible plants a seed in the subconscious. Yeah. And that seed can then sprout into an actual lucid dream experience. That’s so cool. So, yeah, it’s definitely something that can happen spontaneously. But as LaBerge and Reingold emphasize in the book, it’s quite different from actually learning how to induce lucid dreams reliably. Okay. Yeah. So it’s one thing to have that happen by chance, but if we want to be able to do it on purpose, what are some of the things that we need to understand or some of the practices that we can engage in? Well, one of the key things they talk about is this idea of learning how to learn. And this applies to lucid dreaming just as much as it does to any other skill. Right. And I think this is where it starts to get really interesting because they delve into like, okay, how does our brain actually work? What is awareness? How do we create models of the world? And how can we use that understanding to kind of hack our dream reality? So it’s almost like we need to understand the machinery of our minds a little bit better in order to kind of gain some control over this dream world. Yeah. And one of the key things they emphasize is this idea that awareness is fundamentally what our brains do. You know, all day long, our senses are bombarding our brains with information, sight, sound, smells, taste, you know, all of it. Right. And our brain is constantly processing and interpreting that information to create our experience of reality. Okay. So it’s like our brain is always building this like internal model of the world. Yeah. It’s like a simulation almost. That’s constantly being updated based on the input it’s receiving. And this is happening all the time. We don’t even think about it. Right. It’s happening on autopilot. Yeah. But what they’re suggesting is that if we can become more aware of that process itself. Okay. Then we can start to influence it. Both in waking life and in our dreams. So by understanding how that model is built, we can maybe like change the parameters. Exactly. Or adjust the settings a little bit. Yeah. And I think that’s where this idea of evolutionary advantage comes in. Okay. You know, the ability to be aware, to pay attention to our surroundings, to anticipate what might happen next. Right. Has been absolutely crucial for survival throughout, you know, the entire history of life on Earth. Yeah. Like if you’re a little critter and you don’t notice the bigger critter coming to eat, you’re probably not going to. You’re not going to last very long. You’re not going to make it. Exactly. So over millions of years, organisms that were better at creating accurate models of the world and responding appropriately to those models were more likely to survive and pass on their genes. Right. So it’s like natural selection favors the more aware creatures. Exactly. And that’s how we ended up with these incredibly sophisticated brains that we have. Okay. That are capable of doing all sorts of amazing things, including dreaming. Right. And so that same brain that’s like, you know, helping us navigate the jungle or whatever. Yeah. Is also the one that’s creating these dream worlds for us. Right. And that’s why it’s so fascinating to think about like, okay, if we can understand how that process works in waking life yeah can we then apply that understanding to our dreams and start to exert more conscious control over them yeah and the book delves into you know the sleep cycle yeah and REM sleep in particular right why is that stage of sleep so important for lucid dreaming so REM sleep which stands for rapid eye movement sleep is the stage of sleep where most of our vivid dreaming occurs. And it’s characterized by specific brainwave patterns that are actually quite similar to when we’re awake. And as the name implies, there’s a lot of rapid eye movement going on under the eyelids. And that’s where we tend to have these really crazy dreams. Exactly. The dreams that we tend to remember the most yeah those tend to happen during rem sleep and what’s really interesting is that lucid dreams almost exclusively happen during rem sleep as well and that’s been really important for research because lucid dreamers have been able to actually communicate with researchers while they’re dreaming. Like how do they do that? By using prearranged eye movement signals. Whoa, that’s wild. Yeah, so they’ll agree beforehand like, okay, if I’m dreaming and I want to signal to you that I’m lucid, I’m going to move my eyes left and right three times. Wow. And then the researcher can actually observe those eye movements. In real time? Yeah, in real time while the person is sleeping. So it’s almost like a little Morse code? Yeah, kind of. From the dream world. Exactly. That’s incredible. And that’s been one of the ways that they’ve been able to confirm that lucid dreaming is a real phenomenon and to start to understand what’s actually happening in the brain during these experiences. And speaking of what’s happening in the brain during dream experiences. Yeah. There was a really fascinating study that was mentioned in the book about lucid dream sex. Yes. What can you tell us about that? So this was a study that was done back in the 80s by Steven LaBerge and his colleagues. Okay. And they were looking at whether the subjective experience of something happening in a lucid dream was reflected in a dreamer’s physiology. So like if you’re having a dream that feels very real, are there actual changes happening in your body? Exactly. And so they had a woman who was a very experienced lucid dreamer and they monitored her respiration, her heart rate, and even her vaginal muscle tone while she was lucidly dreaming of having sex and having an orgasm. And what did they find? What they found was that during the subjectively experienced orgasm in the dream, her physiological responses were very similar to those that would be observed during a waking orgasm. Whoa. So it’s like her body was actually responding. Yeah. As if it was happening. As if it was really happening, even though she was asleep and her body was essentially paralyzed during rem sleep that’s wild yeah so to the brain dreaming of doing something can be almost as real as actually doing it it’s pretty amazing and it really highlights the power of the mind to create these incredibly vivid and realistic experiences yeah and it makes you think about the potential of lucid dreaming for all sorts of things. Right. Like if you could use it for training or for healing or for creative exploration. Exactly. That’s a whole other conversation we’ll get to later. Yeah. So we understand what lucid dreaming is. Right. We understand a little bit about the brain and how it creates these models of the world. Yeah. What are some practical things that we can do. OK. To actually start to increase our chances of having a lucid dream so one of the first things that laberge and wrangle talk about are dream signs oh what are those so dream signs are basically those little clues or inconsistencies that pop up in our dreams okay that can signal to us that we’re dreaming so it’s like those moments where you’re like wait a second something’s not right here exactly and if we’re paying attention yeah we can learn to recognize these dream signs and use them as a trigger to become lucid okay so give me an example of a dream sign sure so they categorize dream signs into three main types okay sensations actions and form right so sensations are unusual bodily feelings or altered sensory experiences okay like what so for example you might have the sensation of floating or flying in your dream okay or you might feel really heavy or like you’re moving in slow motion okay you might have heightened senses like super sharp vision or incredibly sensitive hearing okay or even the opposite like blurry vision or muffled sounds. Got it. So it’s like anything that’s out of the ordinary in terms of how you’re feeling. Exactly. What about actions? So actions are things that happen in the dream that would be impossible or highly unlikely in waking life. Okay. So like what are some examples of those? So classic examples are things like flying or breathing underwater. Okay. Or maybe you find yourself passing through solid objects or you try to use a piece of technology like your phone or a computer. Yeah. And it malfunctions in a really strange way. Right. Like the buttons don’t work. Yeah. Or the screen is all distorted or the numbers are all jumbled up, things like that. And that would be a sign like, whoa, this is probably not real life. And sometimes it can even be something as simple as like people acting out of character. Okay. Yeah. Like you see your boss doing cartwheels down the street. Right, right. Or your grandma suddenly starts rapping. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, things that just wouldn’t normally happen. Yeah. That’s a good one. And then what was the third one you said? Form. Form. So form refers to the shapes of things in the dream. OK. Like people, objects, places and how they can be distorted or deformed or transformed in really strange ways. OK. Like what are some examples of form dream signs? So you might look in the mirror and your reflection is all messed up. OK. Like your face is melting or you have extra limbs. Or maybe you see people with like animal heads or their bodies are all contorted in weird ways. Buildings might be like made of rubber or they might be constantly shifting and changing shape. Even your clothes could suddenly change color or style or just disappear altogether. Oh yeah, I’ve had dreams where I’m like, I’m naked in public. Yeah. That’s a classic dream sign. And that’s a good trigger to be like, wait a second. Right. I think I’m dreaming. So the key with all of these dream signs is to start paying attention to the details of our dreams. OK. And to look for those little inconsistencies or impossibilities. Yeah. Because those are the things that can tip us off that we’re not in waking reality. Right. So it’s like instead of just passively observing the dream. Yeah, you’re actively looking for these clues You’re engaging with the dream in a more critical way and they talk about state testing as well. Yes What is that? So state testing is the practice of performing reality checks throughout your day Okay to determine if you are awake or dreaming so it’s like you’re constantly questioning your reality yeah it’s like a little mental exercise that you can do to kind of train your mind to be more aware of its state okay and they say that the more you do this in waking life yeah the more likely you are to start doing it in your dreams as well so it’s almost like building a habit. Exactly. The thing carries over. Yeah. Interesting. And they give some specific examples of state tests that are more effective than others. Right. So one of the classic ones that a lot of people try is pinching themselves. Yeah. But they say that’s actually not very reliable. Really? Why not? Because you can actually feel pain in a dream. Oh, interesting. So you might pinch yourself and still not realize you’re dreaming. Okay, so what are some better state tests? So some of the ones that they recommend are trying to read some text, looking away, and then looking back at it. Okay. Because in a dream, often the text will change or become nonsensical. Right, because dreams aren’t very good at stable details. Exactly. Okay. Another one is looking at a digital watch twice. Okay. And seeing if the time changes in a logical way. Right. Because again, dreams are not very good at keeping track of time. Okay. Or displaying numbers accurately. Yeah, like if you look at your watch and it’s like 8732. Yeah, exactly. That’s a good sign. That’s a good sign you’re dreaming. Okay, so these are things that you can do throughout the day. Yeah, exactly. That’s a good sign. That’s a good sign you’re dreaming. Okay. So these are things that you can do throughout the day. Yeah. Just to kind of get in the habit of checking in with yourself and questioning your reality. And is there a certain mindset that’s helpful for state testing? They talk about cultivating what they call a systematically critical attitude, which basically means just being a little bit more skeptical of your perceptions and not taking everything at face value. Because if you’re always questioning things and looking for evidence, then you’re more likely to notice those little inconsistencies that can indicate a dream. Okay. So it’s like being a little bit of a detective in your own life. In a way, yeah. Looking for clues. Yeah. That’s cool. All right. So we’ve talked about dream signs. We’ve talked about state testing. Yeah. What about actual techniques for inducing lucid dreams? So one of the techniques that they describe in detail is called MILD. MILD. Okay. Which stands for mnemonic induction of lucid dreams. All right. And what is that all about? So mildly is a technique that was developed by Steven LaBerge. OK. And it’s based on the principle of setting a strong intention to remember that you will be dreaming. OK. And then using a specific set of steps to kind of reinforce that intention. All right. So how do you actually do it? So the first step is to clearly state your intention to yourself. OK. Either out loud or in your mind. Okay. I will remember that I am dreaming, and you want to do this with as much conviction and focus as you can muster. Okay, so you got to really mean it. You’re not just like, oh, yeah, I’ll try to remember I’m dreaming. Right, you’re setting a firm intention. Got it. The next step is to bring to mind a recent dream that you’ve had. Okay. And try to remember as many details as you can. Okay, so not just like any many details as you can. Okay. So not just like any random dream, but a specific one. A specific recent dream. Okay. Once you have that dream in mind, you’re going to look for a dream sign within that dream. Okay. So those things we were talking about earlier. Exactly. The inconsistencies, the impossibilities. Yeah. Okay. So try to find something in that dream that was a clue that you were dreaming okay the next step is to then mentally rehearse becoming lucid the next time you encounter that same dream sign okay so you imagine yourself back in that dream you see the dream sign yeah and at that moment you realize oh i’m dreaming right and then you decide what you’re gonna do once you become lucid okay so it’s like you’re creating a little plan. Yeah. It’s like a mental script that you’re rehearsing in your mind. And then do you just like keep replaying that over and over? Yeah. So you repeat those last two steps. Yeah. Identifying the dream sign and rehearsing your lucid response over and over again. Until you fall asleep. Yeah. Until you fall asleep. Got it. And the last thoughts that you have as you’re drifting off should be focused on your goal of recognizing the next time you are dreaming. Okay, so it’s almost like programming your subconscious. Yeah, in a way. To be on the lookout for this dream sign and then to have this response. Exactly. Now, the book also mentions that if you’re practicing mildly and it takes you a long time to fall asleep, that might actually be a good sign. That’s right. Why is that? So they found that prolonged wakefulness during mild practice can sometimes paradoxically increase the chances of having a lucid dream once you do finally fall asleep. So the more time you spend awake and intentionally thinking about lucid dreaming, the more likely it is to happen. It seems counterintuitive. Yeah. But that’s what they observed in their research. And they speculate that it might have something to do with the fact that you’re just spending more time reinforcing that intention. Right. In your mind. And also that the state of heightened awareness that you’re cultivating while you’re trying to fall asleep. Right. cultivating while you’re trying to fall asleep right might somehow make your brain more receptive to lucidity when you do eventually enter REM sleep. Interesting. So even if you don’t fall asleep right away it’s not wasted effort. We’re still kind of priming the pump. Yeah. Okay so let’s say we we do all this stuff and we actually have a lucid dream. Okay. Now what? Well, one of the things that a lot of people experience, especially when they’re first starting out, is that they lose lucidity very quickly. Okay. Once they realize they’re dreaming. Right, so like you have that moment of, oh my gosh, I’m dreaming, this is amazing. Yeah. And then poof. And then suddenly you’re back in the dream and you’ve forgotten that you’re dreaming. Right, or you wake up. Or you wake up, yeah. Okay, so what can we do to try to stay lucid longer so there are a few techniques that they talk about in the book okay one of the primary ones is called the spinning technique spinning spinning okay so if you feel your lucidity starting to fade okay what you do is you spin your dream body around really yeah you just start spinning like a top. In the dream? In the dream. Okay. And the key here is to actively remind yourself that you are dreaming while you’re spinning. So as you’re spinning, you’re like, I’m dreaming. I’m dreaming. Yeah. Or you could say, this is a dream. This is all a dream. Okay. Just to kind of reinforce that awareness. And why does spinning work? So there are a couple of possible explanations. Okay. One is that it has to do with how our brains process sensory information. Okay. So our vestibular system, which is located in our inner ear, Okay. is responsible for our sense of balance. Right. And it’s very closely linked with our visual system in creating a stable perception of the world. Got it. So by intentionally engaging your vestibular system in the dream. Right. By spinning. Yeah. It might help to kind of ground you more firmly in the dream experience. It’s almost like you’re creating a strong sensory input. Exactly. That’s anchoring you to the dream. Yeah. Okay. Another possibility is that when you focus your attention really intently on an internal sensory experience like spinning, it can actually decrease your sensitivity to subtle external stimuli from your physical body or the real world. So it’s like you’re tuning out the noise of the physical world and really focusing in on the dream. Exactly. And that can help to prevent those external cues from pulling you out of the dream prematurely. That’s interesting. So what if you do wake up from a lucid dream? Like, is there anything you can do to try to get back into it? So one of the tips that they share in the book is from a guy named Alan Worsley, who is a very experienced lucid dreamer. And he says that if you wake up from a lucid dream, the best thing to do is to remain perfectly still. And just try to relax your body without moving a muscle. And there’s a good chance that you’ll actually reenter REM sleep fairly quickly. And you might be able to consciously slip back into another lucid dream. So don’t move a muscle. Yeah, just lie there and relax and see what happens. That’s interesting. And they also talk about using inner speech to maintain lucidity. Yes. What is that all about? So inner speech is basically the little voice in our heads. Okay. That we use for self-talk. Right. And they say that we can actually use inner speech in our dreams. Okay. To remind ourselves that we’re dreaming. So it’s like a little mantra that you’re repeating to yourself. Right. I’m dreaming, I’m dreaming. Yeah, or this is a dream. This is all a dream. Okay. And they say that by doing this, it can help to prevent us from getting too caught up in the dream and forgetting that it’s not real. So it’s like a little reality check that you’re giving yourself. And they also suggest practicing these affirmations in waking life as well. Right. Why is that? Because the more we do it in waking life, the more likely it is to become a habit. Right. And then that habit will carry over into the dream. Exactly. Cool. So we’ve got some techniques now for inducing lucid dreams and for maintaining lucidity. Right. What about, like, what are some of the things that you can actually do with lucid dreaming? So they talk about a whole range of potential applications. And it’s really quite fascinating. Yeah. One of the most obvious ones is just wish fulfillment and exploration. Right. You know, you can do anything you want in a lucid dream. Yeah. It’s like a giant playground. Exactly. You can fly. You can talk to animals want in a lucid dream. Yeah. It’s like a giant playground. Exactly. You can fly. You can talk to animals. You can visit other planets. Yeah. Like whatever your imagination can come up with. The sky’s the limit. Yeah. And you can even like, you know, face your fears or try things that you would never do in real life. Exactly. Because there are no consequences in the dream world. Right. You can experiment and explore without any risk. Yeah. So it’s like a safe space. Yeah. To and explore without any risk. Yeah. So it’s like a safe space. Yeah. To kind of push your boundaries. Yeah. That’s really cool. What else can you do with lucid dreaming? Well, another interesting application that they talk about is rehearsal for living. Okay. So the idea here is that because our brains seem to treat dream experiences as being quite real, we can actually use lucid dreaming as a kind of mental simulator to practice skills or to prepare for upcoming events. So like if I have a big presentation coming up, I could practice giving that presentation in a lucid dream. Exactly. And that would help me to be more prepared in real life. Right, because you’re actually going through the motions and feeling the emotions. Yeah. And that can really help to solidify the learning. That’s so cool. And they talk about how people have used lucid dreaming to practice all sorts of things. I see. Like musical performances, athletic skills, public speaking, even just difficult conversations. So it’s like a training ground for your brain. Exactly. That’s awesome. What about like creativity and problem solving? Even just difficult conversations. So it’s like a training ground for your brain. That’s awesome. What about like creativity and problem solving? Can you use lucid dreaming for that? Yeah. So lucid dreaming can also be a really powerful tool for tapping into our creativity and for solving problems. Because in the dream world, we’re not bound by the same rules of logic and reason that we are in waking life. So we can allow our imaginations to run wild and we can come up with new ideas and solutions that we might never have thought of otherwise. So it’s like brainstorming in hyperspace. Yeah, kind of. That’s awesome. And what about nightmares? A lot of people suffer from nightmares. Yeah. Can lucid dreaming help with that? So lucid dreaming can actually be incredible.

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