Once we can reliably induce lucid dreaming, and maybe with the help of some neural prosthesis to capture the output, we can recover all that lost productivity time by having people do immersive vr spreadsheet work in their dreams.
back when I was writing XSL-T regularly I used to dream it, probably something about the verbosity of the language made it show up in my dreams, I would wake up pissed off I spent a night with XSL-T going through my head.
I used to be able to lucid dream quite regularly. I had a friend tell me that looking at your hands throughout the day would help as when you looked at them in your dreams you would realize it.
Now as I’ve grown older I don’t even dream anymore (I suspect due to THC use) but even on nights where I go to bed stone cold sober - nothing happens. I don’t dream. Does anybody else find themselves lacking the ability to dream at all?
I don’t mind it because while I do miss lucid dreaming and pleasant dreams, I completely miss out on the ability to have a nightmare.
It's more likely that you're not remembering your dreams. When I kept a dream journal, it became clear how easy it is to forget them. If I woke up in the middle of one, the longer I waited before I wrote it down, the harder it was to remember. It was also harder to remember further back into what dream I was recalling, as well as dreams preceding it. The next day, I would read them and have no recollection of much of the contents that I had written that night before. If I hadn't written them down, I'd be totally unaware they were even occuring.
I believe most of the dreams we remember are only because 1) we wake up midway within them and 2) their content happens to be somehow memorable. For part one, this can actually indicate poor quality sleep. Periodic nighttime alertness is a great way to remember more dreams. You may currently be experiencing better quality sleep than you used to.
Perhaps I should invest in some sleep tracking and investigate again. I don’t know how to describe it, but I’m not dreaming while asleep. Here’s an analogy - imagine dreaming is like putting your hand in a cup of water and remembering your dream is like your hand being wet until it evaporates (forgetting) the sensation I have when asleep would be akin to having a dry hand- I do not have the sensation of having a dream.
You need to be on THC break to resume sleeping. What you suspect is true as THC disrupts the sleep cycle and you don't get much of REM sleep while on it.
I had 2.5mg of thc every day for ~7 years. I couldn't remember the last dream I had when I quit thc in August. After not sleeping for 2-3 weeks I started having vivid nightmares every night for about a week. I'm still having extremely vivid dreams since, but they're no longer all terrifying. Sleeping better than ever and my anxiety is also better than ever.
Indeed, and IME, the dreams I have after taking a break from daily THC use are extremely vivid - to the point that I can remember them in detail for days afterwards. I enjoy that a lot.
I started CBD that had THC in it a couple years back. At first I noticed a great ability to get to sleep. It was fantastic. I've often had trouble getting to sleep (going back...decades). But I did notice over time I had far fewer dreams. If I did have any, I couldn't remember. It wasn't an immediate loss, but I noticed.
I stopped THC in January this year, and ... dreaming came back. Been dreaming for several months at least. Probably back as early as Feb/March, but I can't recall for certain.
Hello there. This reply is probably too late, but I have a recommendation.
Of course you should confirm the absence of contraindications first, but a good quality catnip supplement can induce vivid dreams. If you cannot find a reliable supplement, try a good quality catnip tea. Make it strong. Consume right before sleep.
Keep in mind that the effects rapidly reduce with consistency, so spread consumption sessions a week apart.
Look at your hands was a Casteneda trick. I find my quality of sleeps suffers so greatly when lucid dreaming that its not worth it because of health impacts.
I’m on the wrong end of my 30s and I haven’t dreamed consistently for years (or I can’t remember it at least). I have never used THC, so I suppose there are more reasons then THC to not dream. I’ll get the odd dream on a vacation every now and then- I suspect I’m too sleep deprived on a regular basis.
Looking at my Apple Watch data, I get regular amounts of REM sleep and Deep sleep.
I'm 41 and have vivid dreams most nights. I jealously guard my sleep hygiene though and getting enough sleep every single night is one of the major priorities in my life. For this reason I never smoke week and almost never drink, as both of those effect my ability to sleep well. Even a single beer will show up on my sleep tracker as messed up sleep cycles.
I am a n00b when it comes to this matter, but... does THC stand for cannabis? And it helps one sleep?
Does dreaming less mean more deep sleep? Why would more deep sleep be a problem? I'm looking for a solution for my mother in law, who has only slept for 4-5h a night for the past 10 years and can't seem to fix it. This is wearing down her health.
THC is the primary compound in cannabis responsible for its “high”. Some plants are bred to be high in THC, but there are also those bred for CBD content, which doesn’t get you high. Both are useful in aiding sleep, though I’d say THC can be more stimulating, go for a strain labeled as indica for best results there. I’d recommend gummies (or mints/pills/etc.) as oral ingestion gives a much longer duration, otherwise it’s just a couple hours.
As you likely know, THC is illegal in many places, CBD is much more commonly available and socially accepted.
THC is the primary psychoactive chemical in marijuana. CBD is another compound that typically is sought after for pain reduction and as a sleep aid. THC is known to mess with REM sleep. If your are looking for information Erowid is a good resource, Reddit can be helpful too.
it makes you stoned - heavy and sleepy, but when you sleep it takes away REM phase - where you have dreams, some say, it's because it makes you micro-halucinating when you don't sleep
I'm at the opposite end. I dream every time I sleep, even if it's a 10-minute nap. Could be undiagnosed narcolepsy in my case, but it doesn't bother me enough to get it checked out.
When you say "nothing happens", I'm not even sure what you mean. Do you just fall asleep and wake up hours later with no sense of time passing?
I don’t really know how to describe it. I guess I have no sense of how long I was asleep until I see how dark it is (which is my immediate reaction when waking up) then I usually I have a decent guess. Although there are times I wake up and I have no idea if it’s 2 or 6 am.
Are you able to more accurately guess the time when you wake up based on the contents of your dreams? The rare occurrences when I dream if it’s over “10 minutes” there’s no difference in my perception if it’s that or hours.
I can answer this one, you are aware of time passing and if you've trained yourself with an alarm you can still wake on cue. But there's just nothing in between, higher order thought just turns off.
No I’ve dreamed before so I can tell when I don’t. I’ve discussed my dreams with my wife when I have them. They’re vivid on some occasions when I travel, most nights I don’t have any.
I wonder what are the benefits from lucid dreaming. I read some claims that it’s possible we could gain access to some ‘hidden registry’ figuratively speaking by using methods such as lucid dreaming. However, I had a few lucid dreams in my life, all without any deliberate effort, they just happened and it’s nice to have them and all, but I don’t see myself getting out of my way to have lucid dreams. Does anyone get any substantial benefit from lucid dreaming out there?
There is a significant recreational benefit. Flying feels amazing, and while I don't lucid dream anymore due to THC supplements for sleeping, I remember being fascinated and endlessly entertained by how _real_ it felt. I also remember quickly waking up upon the exciting realization that I'm dreaming. Rubbing hands together to stabilize the dream as you feel it slipping is a strategy I remember using.
Or skipping inadvertently back into that gullible state where you take the most outlandish stuff at face value and outright forget that you're dreaming.
In Robert Waggoner's book, Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self, the author, who was a very skilled lucid dreamer from childhood, describes how he had a moment of insight after waking from a lucid dream. He had been thinking of himself as the controller of his dreams, and treated them mostly as entertainment. But he realized that for everything he "decided" in his lucid dream, there was far more content that arrived, unplanned--scenery, characters, events, and so on.
This made him curious about using awareness within the dream not just for entertainment, but to conduct experiments and tests, to research what was and wasn't possible, what dream characters and dream consciousness knew or didn't know, all from within the dreams themselves. He's spent decades doing that, and comparing notes with other skilled lucid dreamers.
It's an incredibly fascinating book, a sort of natural history of the dream world by a seasoned traveler within it.
Also has a bunch of useful tips on cultivating lucid dreaming, which I remember working pretty well a few times when I had been disciplined enough to practice them.
As other commenters have pointed out, the question itself might be pointless. The article makes the same mistake, trying to frame lucid dreaming around some supposed benefits it provides. But this craving for benefits is just a product of the ego. There’s a deeper layer to it—simply experiencing reality is already profound enough on its own. And being more aware of this beautiful reality during your lifetime, instead of literally being asleep at the wheel, is pretty amazing.
I do experience lucid dreaming ocasionally without any effort of my own and without paying for an application either. I’m trying to understand whether doing more of it benefits me in any way beyond the ocassional episodes that come naturally. Why is this pointless to you?
It is incredibly entertaining. It is the closest thing to full dive VR we can get right now and I doubt we would ever get the "realness" as close as lucid dreaming without some physical hijacking in the brain.
The world is your oyster when you are dreaming and in control. That alone is enough of a draw for many people.
I enjoy it a lot, but this is definitely a downside people should be aware of if they'd like to lucid dream. It's very easy to wake up immediately once you realize you're lucid, or take forever to slip out of lucidity.
My first thought when I saw this study is that now you can seek out lucidity on nights that you know you can afford disrupted sleep.
I first sought out lucid dreaming because it helped with my sleep paralysis. It's still difficult to keep calm, but if I do manage it during an episode, it can become a much less unpleasant experience. I also haven't had nightmares in a long time as a side effect.
> I wonder what are the benefits from lucid dreaming.
Becoming lucid whilst asleep is important within Buddhism.
To my knowledge the Tibetans have developed this further than other schools (non Vajrayana) with a big emphasis on 'dream yoga' [0]. The idea within the religion being that if on your death bead you have learned to become lucid in dream then as you are dying you can fix your mind on higher realms and achieve a more desirable rebirth.
It would seem compatible with Theravada outlooks at least in principle as mentioned in Mahasi Sayadaw's Manual of Insight [1]. As well as supported by discourses such as SN 55.54 Gilāna Sutta [2].
For a slightly more secular approach (but still also from a Buddhist practitioner) you can check out Dreaming Yourself Awake [3].
[1] > "Sleep is a prolonged period of the “life-continuum” or “functional” consciousness. This is the same kind of consciousness that arises during the first and last moments of our lives."
I would think the value of lucid dreams comes from having a better understanding of your unconscious self. Aligning the conscious decisions with the unconscious desires could lead to a more satisfactory life.
I believe feeling fulfilled on one's death bed is a positive experience and feeling unfilled could be hellish.
When I was little I had a reoccurring nightmare, but one night something seemed familiar and jarred me into lucidity. I made a conscious decision to go left instead of right and it ended uneventfully, never to return. A couple times since being somewhat lucid helped end a nightmare, though I had practiced a little using the 'Waking Life' technique of testing light switches
My mind eventually started becoming half lucid during nightmares by itself. Any time I have a nightmare where something is about to hurt me, a slight lucidity kicks in and whatever threat gets nullified. Most clear example was Jurassic Park-like and I was about to be attacked by a raptor when walking into a room. My mind anticipated what it was about to do and turned the threat into a cute dog.
Been hoping I can turn that into full lucidity at some point, but that type of nightmare where it happens is rare.
For me: I used to be a tiny bit good at lucid dreaming, just for fun. Now this skill has developed back, but it's still enough to be able to wake up from annoying dreams.
Those include: being with persons you no longer want to be with, writing exams at schools and failing terribly, repeating nonsense calculation/problem solving dreams...
I found it a great way to relax when life was hectic. Back when I was sober most days, I lucid dreamed a lot (~80% of nights) and I could remember the dreams well. I have/had numerous calm spaces in which I spent time and felt safe. Given I have PTSD, it was very helpful. It let me practice feeling safe.
The first grant was for $616,000 (over several years), and there are at least three more grants attached to this research.
Academia is sometimes a bit ridiculous. This feels like something an undergrad student could do in their spare time for a capstone or thesis project with no material cost.
Every lucid dream I have becomes a nightmare. When I suddenly gain consciousness in a dream I begin to panic and the atmosphere turns sinister.
The last time this happened it turned into some kind of sleep paralysis where I became aware of my physical body but was unable to move as I crossfaded between dream and reality.
Mine have never turned into nightmares, but once I become aware that I'm dreaming and try to take control, the dream seems to fall apart and I wake up.
I've had the sleep paralysis and crossfade that you describe. But it's never psychologically unpleasant.
I've also had lucid dreams where it seems like I get stuck in a time loop and keep dreaming that I'm waking up. It feels like hours have elapsed and I've even gotten bored.
This might sound weird but what works for me is once I realize I’m lucid and the dream starts falling apart as you describe it - I quickly start spinning my (dream) body counter clockwise. In most cases this stops the awakening and I can continue lucid dreaming.
Waking up in the ”time loop” is also recurring to me, but a reality check often gets me back on track even when I’m pretty certain that I’m awake (I’m not). I usually just look at my hand. If my fingers look spooky, I’m still sleeping and can induce lucid again.
Personally every time I lucid dream I wake up a few seconds later. As soon as I realize I'm conscious, I directly remember the existence of my physical self, the feeling of my arms, my legs in my bed which directly wakes me up
Interestingly enough I've had the opposite experience. If I'm having a nightmare, usually at some point I realize it's a dream, and from there I can almost always force myself to wake up immediately. It rarely happens for me in a regular dream but when it does I can start to control the scenario to some degree.
While I believe this can just happen to some people, in my case it was a result of sleep apnea. Getting diagnosed for it and taking remedial steps has been a life changer for me.
Now that it's what you expect to happen, it probably makes it more likely to happen. I wonder if you could train yourself to expect a better outcome.
It can be difficult to control a lucid dream, so it may take some work. Most of my dreams have always lucid, but I didn't know people tried to control them until I was an adult. One of the first times I tried to control one, I tried to teleport to a beach, but instead a matte backdrop of a beach popped up, like I was in a 70's TV show.
I've had both lucid dreams (which was enjoyable) and sleep paralysis before. The paralysis was not a fun experience at all, and sounds a lot like what you describe.
I've only had the sleep paralysis a couple times thankfully, and anecdotally the last time I had woken up in the middle of the night beforehand, remembered something I needed to do on my computer, took care of it in a dark room real quick, then went back to sleep. I suspect the sudden bright light and a bit of stress probably contributed to it happening.
I we have our own folklore about it too. I believe a good percentage of alien abduction experiences are in fact attributable to sleep paralysis phenomena. Alien abductions are as real to us as night hags we're to our predecessors.
I have been pretty consistent with creating lucid dreams in the morning by using my TV. 1) Start playing a movie 2) Set the audio just below being able to understand dialogue and can hear the conversations 3) Wear a blindfold to prevent energizing ocular receptors through closed eye lids.
Readit News
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11398346/
Now as I’ve grown older I don’t even dream anymore (I suspect due to THC use) but even on nights where I go to bed stone cold sober - nothing happens. I don’t dream. Does anybody else find themselves lacking the ability to dream at all?
I don’t mind it because while I do miss lucid dreaming and pleasant dreams, I completely miss out on the ability to have a nightmare.
I believe most of the dreams we remember are only because 1) we wake up midway within them and 2) their content happens to be somehow memorable. For part one, this can actually indicate poor quality sleep. Periodic nighttime alertness is a great way to remember more dreams. You may currently be experiencing better quality sleep than you used to.
I stopped THC in January this year, and ... dreaming came back. Been dreaming for several months at least. Probably back as early as Feb/March, but I can't recall for certain.
Of course you should confirm the absence of contraindications first, but a good quality catnip supplement can induce vivid dreams. If you cannot find a reliable supplement, try a good quality catnip tea. Make it strong. Consume right before sleep.
Keep in mind that the effects rapidly reduce with consistency, so spread consumption sessions a week apart.
Sweet dreams!
Looking at my Apple Watch data, I get regular amounts of REM sleep and Deep sleep.
Does dreaming less mean more deep sleep? Why would more deep sleep be a problem? I'm looking for a solution for my mother in law, who has only slept for 4-5h a night for the past 10 years and can't seem to fix it. This is wearing down her health.
As you likely know, THC is illegal in many places, CBD is much more commonly available and socially accepted.
When you say "nothing happens", I'm not even sure what you mean. Do you just fall asleep and wake up hours later with no sense of time passing?
Are you able to more accurately guess the time when you wake up based on the contents of your dreams? The rare occurrences when I dream if it’s over “10 minutes” there’s no difference in my perception if it’s that or hours.
If a tree falls in a forest and nobody is around..
Pretty amazing when is works, though
This made him curious about using awareness within the dream not just for entertainment, but to conduct experiments and tests, to research what was and wasn't possible, what dream characters and dream consciousness knew or didn't know, all from within the dreams themselves. He's spent decades doing that, and comparing notes with other skilled lucid dreamers.
It's an incredibly fascinating book, a sort of natural history of the dream world by a seasoned traveler within it.
Also has a bunch of useful tips on cultivating lucid dreaming, which I remember working pretty well a few times when I had been disciplined enough to practice them.
The world is your oyster when you are dreaming and in control. That alone is enough of a draw for many people.
https://qualiacomputing.com/2019/01/06/free-wheeling-halluci...
Seriously though, I wish I could turn it off. Almost every single night. No thanks.
Edit: When it gets to be that common, it really starts to mess with your memory of things.
My first thought when I saw this study is that now you can seek out lucidity on nights that you know you can afford disrupted sleep.
I first sought out lucid dreaming because it helped with my sleep paralysis. It's still difficult to keep calm, but if I do manage it during an episode, it can become a much less unpleasant experience. I also haven't had nightmares in a long time as a side effect.
Becoming lucid whilst asleep is important within Buddhism.
To my knowledge the Tibetans have developed this further than other schools (non Vajrayana) with a big emphasis on 'dream yoga' [0]. The idea within the religion being that if on your death bead you have learned to become lucid in dream then as you are dying you can fix your mind on higher realms and achieve a more desirable rebirth.
It would seem compatible with Theravada outlooks at least in principle as mentioned in Mahasi Sayadaw's Manual of Insight [1]. As well as supported by discourses such as SN 55.54 Gilāna Sutta [2].
For a slightly more secular approach (but still also from a Buddhist practitioner) you can check out Dreaming Yourself Awake [3].
[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62191734-the-tibetan-yog...
[1] > "Sleep is a prolonged period of the “life-continuum” or “functional” consciousness. This is the same kind of consciousness that arises during the first and last moments of our lives."
[2] https://suttacentral.net/sn55.54/en/sujato?lang=en
[3] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13151218-dreaming-yourse...
I believe feeling fulfilled on one's death bed is a positive experience and feeling unfilled could be hellish.
Been hoping I can turn that into full lucidity at some point, but that type of nightmare where it happens is rare.
Those include: being with persons you no longer want to be with, writing exams at schools and failing terribly, repeating nonsense calculation/problem solving dreams...
It looks like this was well-funded research:
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1921678&His...
The first grant was for $616,000 (over several years), and there are at least three more grants attached to this research.
Academia is sometimes a bit ridiculous. This feels like something an undergrad student could do in their spare time for a capstone or thesis project with no material cost.
YC would do a better job of this.
The last time this happened it turned into some kind of sleep paralysis where I became aware of my physical body but was unable to move as I crossfaded between dream and reality.
I've had the sleep paralysis and crossfade that you describe. But it's never psychologically unpleasant.
I've also had lucid dreams where it seems like I get stuck in a time loop and keep dreaming that I'm waking up. It feels like hours have elapsed and I've even gotten bored.
This might sound weird but what works for me is once I realize I’m lucid and the dream starts falling apart as you describe it - I quickly start spinning my (dream) body counter clockwise. In most cases this stops the awakening and I can continue lucid dreaming.
Waking up in the ”time loop” is also recurring to me, but a reality check often gets me back on track even when I’m pretty certain that I’m awake (I’m not). I usually just look at my hand. If my fingers look spooky, I’m still sleeping and can induce lucid again.
While I believe this can just happen to some people, in my case it was a result of sleep apnea. Getting diagnosed for it and taking remedial steps has been a life changer for me.
It can be difficult to control a lucid dream, so it may take some work. Most of my dreams have always lucid, but I didn't know people tried to control them until I was an adult. One of the first times I tried to control one, I tried to teleport to a beach, but instead a matte backdrop of a beach popped up, like I was in a 70's TV show.
It's apparently common enough that there's folklore around it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_hag
I've only had the sleep paralysis a couple times thankfully, and anecdotally the last time I had woken up in the middle of the night beforehand, remembered something I needed to do on my computer, took care of it in a dark room real quick, then went back to sleep. I suspect the sudden bright light and a bit of stress probably contributed to it happening.