Sometimes, you can control the lucid dream. You may be able to change the people, environment, or storyline. This type of dream of control could potentially reduce nightmares and anxiety. Keep reading to learn more about lucid dreaming — what it is, when it occurs, and what you can do to experience it. Non-REM sleep includes three separate stages. During non-REM, your brain waves, heartbeat, and eye movements gradually slow down. In REM sleep , your brain is extremely active. Your heart rate and eye movements also increase. About 55 percent of people have experienced one or more lucid dreams in their lifetime. However, frequent lucid dreaming is rare.

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Have you ever started dreaming and suddenly realized that you were in a dream? Have you ever managed to gain control over your dream narrative? Movies such as Inception have popularized lucid dreaming.
Hypothesis and Theory ARTICLE
This typically happens during rapid eye movement REM sleep, the dream-stage of sleep. An estimated 55 percent of people have had one or more lucid dreams in their lifetime. Often, lucid dreaming also lets you control what happens in your dream. In the last 20 years, psychophysiologist Dr. Stephen LaBerge has become the pioneer of lucid dreaming research. Not only did he invent one of the most popular lucid dreaming techniques, but he has led many scientific studies on the subject. It may be useful in treating conditions like PTSD, recurring nightmares, and anxiety. Lucid dreaming usually happens spontaneously. Lucid dreaming techniques train your mind to notice your own consciousness.
The first step for aspiring oneironauts is to let your mind know that your dreams do matter. So why bother with lucid dreaming? First and foremost, lucid dreaming is fun. Like, really fun. My first lucid dream occurred when I was a teenager. Suddenly, everything stopped and became more vivid. I can go anywhere! Soon I was in the clouds planning to see the world from the comfort of my bed.