Have you ever had a dream so real, you mistook it for reality? This is a state called lucid dreaming. Truth be told, little is known about sleep, a condition we’re in for about a third of our lifetime.
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A German study found that those who are naturally prone to lucid dreams have a larger pre-frontal cortex, and may outpace others in certain cognitive abilities, such as self-reflection and meta-cognition or pondering one’s own thinking processes. A few studies have found that focusing on problems within a lucid dream can offer results in the real world. Creative types may also be more prone to lucid dreams.
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You can also make a conscious effort to better recognize when you’re dreaming and when you’re conscious. To do so, be extra cognizant of your surroundings when awake.
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If you have someone on the outside that’s willing to help in your sleep bound quest, you could set up a situation where while you’re in a deep sleep, they whisper certain important words to you, or spray a little water on you, shine light is shone in your eyes, or play a recorded message, or even exert pressure to one of your limbs. Any of these may induce the lucid state. Or piss you off.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Can You Learn How to Control Your Dreams?
