What Does Lucid Dreaming Feel Like?

What does lucid dreaming feel like? Dreams are often fuzzy, puzzling, or cryptic events. When we wake up, 99% of dreams are lost like sand in the hourglass, leaving only vague, hazy memories.

What about dreams in which you are aware of what is happening and can control the narrative? About half of people experience these lucid dreams during their lifetime. Lucid dreams are when you know you are dreaming while you sleep.

The awareness that you are dreaming is known as lucid dreaming. This awareness can range from a poor awareness of reality to a serious broadening of perspective.  When a person is in the middle of a typical dream and suddenly understands that they are dreaming, they have lucid dreams. This is called dream-initiated lucid dreaming. When one transitions directly from a normal waking state to a dream state, awakening-initiated lucid dreaming occurs with no apparent gap in consciousness. Either way, dreams can be more bizarre and emotional than normal dreams.

According to studies, roughly half of the population has experienced at least one lucid dream. But they probably don’t happen often, usually just a few times a year (1). 

About 90 minutes after falling asleep, you normally enter REM sleep. It takes about 10 minutes. While sleeping, each REM period is longer than the previous one, eventually lasting up to an hour. Lucid dreams are most common during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, a very deep period of sleep marked by eye movement, faster breathing, and more brain activity.

What Does it feel like to lucid dream?

Well, what does it feel like to lucid dream? A lucid dream is a feeling like manipulating real life. You can instantly travel anywhere, defy the laws of physics, change your identity, want something, and make it happen. The world is essentially yours to do as you please. Lucid dreams are dreams that feel real. This means you can remember details, sounds, topics of conversation, and even smells instead of vague dreams.

It can be scary at first. You may be quite surprised to realize that you are in a dream. After all, the dream is a different simulation of your reality. In a lucid dream, your senses are heightened. Sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch are far more extreme than what you would experience in real life.

Emotional feelings can also intensify. You will feel greater happiness and pleasure from participating in enjoyable activities. Likewise, negative emotions such as fear and pain become stronger. But as you get better at controlling your dreams, you can avoid such feelings. If you want to get better at lucid dreaming, you can try dream journaling with the Dreambook App. This way, you will get better at lucid dreaming and recalling your dreams.

 

References:

1: https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/lucid-dreams-overview

 

Dreambook: