Wikipedia discusses Lucid Dreaming:
"A lucid dream is a dream in which the person is aware that they are dreaming while the dream is in progress, also known as a conscious dream. When the dreamer is lucid, they can actively participate in and often manipulate the imaginary experiences in the dream environment. Lucid dreams can be extremely real and vivid depending on a person's level of self-awareness during the lucid dream.[1]
A lucid dream can begin in one of two ways. A dream-initiated lucid dream (DILD) starts as a normal dream, and the dreamer eventually concludes that they are dreaming, while a wake-initiated lucid dream (WILD) occurs when the dreamer goes from a normal waking state directly into a dream state with no apparent lapse in consciousness. Lucid dreaming has been researched scientifically, and its existence is well established.[2][3] Scientists such as Allan Hobson, with his neurophysiological approach to dream research, have helped to push the understanding of lucid dreaming into a less speculative realm.
An early recorded lucid dreamer was the philosopher and physician Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682). Browne was fascinated by the world of dreams and stated of his own ability to lucid dream in his Religio Medici: "... yet in one dream I can compose a whole Comedy, behold the action, apprehend the jests and laugh my self awake at the conceits thereof;"[20]Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys was probably the first person to argue that it is possible for anyone to learn to dream consciously. In 1867, he published his book Les Reves et les Moyens de Les Diriger; Observations Pratiques (Dreams and How to Guide them; Practical Observations), in which he documented more than twenty years of his own research into dreams."(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dream)
The term lucid dreaming was coined by Dutch author and psychiatrist Frederik van Eeden in 1913.
The anthropologic studies in 1968 by Carlos Castaneda, for what later became the new age novel,
The Teachings of Don Juan, reveals that ancient mexican natives knew and encouraged lucid dreaming.
Another source states"OBE enthusiasts promote lucid dreaming as a "stepping stone" to the OBE. Conversely, many lucid dreamers have had the experience of feeling themselves "leave the body" at the onset of a lucid dream. From a laboratory study, we have concluded that OBEs can occur in the same physiological state as lucid dreams. Wake-initiated lucid dreams (WILDs) were three times more likely to be labeled "OBEs" than dream initiated lucid dreams. If you believe yourself to have been awake, then you are more likely to take the experience at face value and believe yourself to have literally left your physical body in some sort of mental or "astral" body floating around in the "real" physical world. If, on the other hand, you think of the experience as a dream, then you are likely to identify the OBE body as a dream body image and the environment of the experience as a dream world. The validity of the latter interpretation is supported by observations and research on these
http://www.lucidity.com/LucidDreamingFAQ2.html#LD One of the Etsy Artists shares her experience:
keepsakekatie
keepsakekatie says:
I get severe sleep paralysis, to the point where before I had a sleeping partner I had to set my alarm to go off every hour, to rouse me from sleep.
It's a horrible, frightening condition. Because you are not thinking clearly when you first wake up, sometimes I think I've been in an accident. I also suffer from negative lucid dreaming, which is a condtion where you can control your dreams, but in your dream state, negative thoughts over power your positive nes. This turns dreams into nightmares, and because of the constant state of paralysis, I often cannot rouse myself from the dreams, despite learning a number of techniques, including spinning and dreamweaving.
I have gained more control over the lucid dreaming recently, but the sleep paralysis still haunts me.
There are things that help you get out of it. Your brain is stimulated by patterns and touch, so if you concertrate on the feeling of the mattress under you, that is often enough to bring you out of it. Once, I was under paralysis for over an hour. I thought I was dead. I was also horribly late for work and ot the sack because of my 'crap' excuse.
I would warn ANYONE trying to encourage lucid dreaming that this is very serious and dangerous side effect of trying to control your conscience when you are alseep. My troubles started after I used a book called 'Lucid Dreaming - How to Control Your Dreams'
A wise word og caution.Thank you.Some of her work is in the video but you may like to see more at her shop:
http://keepsakekatie.etsy.com
