The Benefits Of Lucid Dreaming To Prevent Nightmares   by Jeremy Winters

in Health    (submitted 2011-09-03)

While a person sleeps, images and story lines surface inside the mind by way of dreams. In ordinary cases, a person does not have any control over the situations in the dream state, particularly when he is in deep sleep. In some intriguing cases, on the other hand, lucid dreaming happens. That is where an individual, who is fast asleep and currently dreaming, is conscious that he is in a dream. Hence, he is able to react to the dreamy situation with consciousness and to some degree capable of controlling the dream situation.

How A Lucid Dream Starts

As a result of the various reported cases accumulated over time, lucid dreaming has been classified in two ways based upon how it's initiated. Lucid dreams can be dream-initiated or wake-initiated.

The dream-initiated lucid dream begins like an ordinary dream. Sometime during the sleep state, the dreamer would at some point become conscious that he's actually dreaming at the moment. On becoming aware, he is then able to act in response to the imaginary environment he is in making the dream more real and vivid from his standpoint.

On the other hand, a wake-initiated lucid dream happens while the person who's awake at the moment directly goes into the dream state without losing consciousness. In this scenario, he's in a position to maintain awareness from being awake to falling asleep. Without any lapse in consciousness, he's able to react to the dream environment. Unlike the waking state where he has minimal control over the real environment, his sleep state during a lucid dream allows him to manipulate the dream experiences.

A Treatment For Nightmares

One particular advantage arising from having the ability to dream lucidly is the treatment of nightmares. Serious cases of nightmares can cause your mind to respond with strongly negative emotions. Thus, recurring nightmares, if not treated, can result in lack of sleep as well as trigger a feeling of great sadness or fear.

Scientific studies demonstrate that training the individual to enter lucid dreams reduced the amount of recurring nightmares. The treatment begins by introducing the person to the concept of being aware in the sleep state. Then, he is offered instructions on how to accomplish the process. Finally, the treatment process wraps up by in fact carrying out the lucidity exercises.

Improved Creativity And Problem Solving Skills

The mind is actually a very powerful part of the body, and unleashing its powers through lucid dreaming provides the dreamer with the creative potential he might require to deal with the real world. Scientific studies revealed that scenarios taking place in dreams are considerably more creative than those situations created inside the mind by daydreaming and also other consciously awake activities.

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