Some say dreams are the playground of the mind. The mind is rested which allows memories, worries, upcoming events, etc. to crowd one's dream. Most dreams are controlled by the unconscious mind and are easily forgotten; they are hazy and commonly do not make sense. However, there is a type of dreaming method that is an exception to these descriptions: lucid dreaming. Lucid dreamers (or oneironauts) are able to control his or her dreams, and create an extraordinary dream land, where they are able to do whatever they imagine. These dreams can benefit one's strength and control of mind, health, and well-being. Through the journey of learning dream structure, manning the ropes, and finally becoming lucid during a dream, one can further improve the strength and health of his or her own unconscious mind.
Only recently has lucid dreaming been discovered, surprisingly. In “A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming: Mastering the Art of Oneironautics” it shows that on April 2, 1975, two researchers, Keith Hearne and Alan Worsley, attempted to prove people can be awake in their dreams. During dream state, the physical body is turned off, yet the diaphragm and eyes do not rest. Worsley had been sleeping while Hearne observed Worsley's eye movement. The two had agreed once Worsley became lucid, he would move his eyes side to side. Because Worsley was a frequent lucid dreamer, he easily became lucid and moved his eyes side to side, proving their theory of being awake in a dream (Peisel, Tuccillo, and Zeizel 4). This discovery sparked many more discoveries within lucid dreaming. For example, a research shows young children have more frequent lucid dreams than adults, which can be explained by the immense creativity children generally have. Also, accord...
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...to as employing 'reality checks'” (Wen 4) is a main component to this process. Jim should make a list of situations he observes on a daily basis and ask himself “Am I dreaming?” whenever he witnesses these events. These checks are involuntary reality checks. With this question drilled into Jim's mind, it will eventually come up as he is dreaming, and he will become lucid. Events like seeing a dog, spotting a red car, or hearing a phone ring could all be examples of these checks. If Jim does not undergo any involuntary reality checking in a dream, he can use a voluntary reality check. Voluntary reality checks include counting fingers, looking in the mirror, and checking the time then checking again. If these normal qualities of life are altered, Jim will know he is dreaming.
Now that Jim knows how to prepare for his lucid dream experience, he is ready to fall asleep.
A New Kind of Dreaming is a novel written by Anthony Eaton, about a teenage boy, Jamie Riley, being referred to rural Western Australia where, he meets new friends, enemies and also discovers a shocking secret about the towns head police officer. The pressure to find out the secret puts Jamie in a great deal of trouble, from being frightened by the police, blamed for a fire and vandalism offences and even going missing in the desert. The characters have authority or are defenceless.
The interpretation of dreams developed by Dr. Sigmund Freud is a theory that is still believed by many. Freud thought the function of dreaming was to allow the discharge of repressed instinctual impulses in such a way as to preserve sleep. He also believed the instigating force behind dreams was always an instinctual and unconscious wish. Dr. Freud considered these wishes to be predominantly sexual in nature. In "Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis," he wrote: "Though the number of symbols is large, the number of subjects symbolized is not large. In dreams those pertaining to sexual life are the overwhelming majority…They represent the most primitive ideas and interests imaginable." Every dream according to Freud, is created by an instigating force/ unconscious wish, that sexual or otherwise is a meaningful message in disguise. The fact that dreams so regularly contained sexual and other unacceptable wishes explained why dreams are so regularly and so easily forgotten. This is why many dreams that contain repressed and unacceptable wishes remain in the unconscious (according to Freud's theory).
How do we know whether or not we are dreaming or just being affected by a particular experience? Or if we are dreaming all our experiences in this world… When we dream, we fantasize imagines and occurrences happening, often, with the same sense of reality as we have when we are awake. Rene Descartes; a French Philosopher discovered the theory of the dream argument, affirming that there are no reliable signs distinguishing the liability of being asleep and wide awake. Quoting from Descartes, he states: For all we know right now, we might be dreaming at this very moment. (Rockney 102)
Dreams are series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep. Dreams occur during a certain stage of sleep known as REM. Several different psychologists, including Freud and Hobson, have studied dreams. Psychologists have provided many theories as to what dreams are and the meanings behind them.
All over the world different people, scientists, and civilizations have different dream theories. For instance, the Senoi tribe in Malaysia has a fascinating tradition of dream telling. Every morning the people of the tribe begin their day by discussing and interpreting their dreams with each other. The children, as they grow older, actually learn to control their dreams by simply wishing bad dreams into positive ones. It is observed that, by paying tribute their dreams, the people of the Senoi tribe learn to have faith in themselves. Also, they have very few, if any, mental problems “could working constructively with dreams be part of the answer” to mental issues? (Peirce)
Lucid dreams, or out of body experiences, are claimed to be real by some, even though scientists and doctors say that they are not real. Susan Blackmore explains in “Lucid Dreaming: Awake in Your Sleep?” that lucid dreams are considered different than normal dreams. Blackmore also goes on to say that a lucid dream requires concentration when someone falls asleep. In some cases people claim that they are able to control their dreams, or leave their body whole they dream. In Julio Cortazer’s story, “The Night Face Up,” the main character can arguably be said to have an out of body experience starting after he is involved in a horrible motorcycle accident. He dreams of traveling back into the past to a time where the Aztecs are attacking the Moteca tribe. There are two different scenarios when it comes to deciding what real life is for the man. Scenario one can be argued that the main character is living in present day, and dreaming of the past. Scenario two involves the main character is living in the past, and dreaming of modern day life. In using Blackmore’s article to explain the story, it makes the most sense when the main character is living in modern day, and dreaming of the past.
In the novel, Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M Coetzee, the magistrate’s progressive, non-linear dreams are a parallel to his growing involvement with the barbarians and his growing distaste for the empire. The great psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud said, “The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious.” In every dream there is a hidden meaning and when the reader starts analyzing the magistrate’s dreams he reveals that he is oddly attracted to the barbarians and knows he should not get involved and it will be a trial to get close to them.
The Psychodynamic view of dreaming suggests that the content in our dream is symbolic of something. Also, that the content in our dreams are based on unconscious desires as well as internal conflict.
In 2004–2005, the Penn Humanities Forum will focus on the topic of “Sleep and Dreams.” Proposals are invited from researchers in all humanistic fields concerned with representations of sleep, metaphors used to describe sleep, and sleep as a metaphor in itself. In addition, we solicit applications from those who study dreams, visions, and nightmares in art or in life, and the approaches taken to their interpretation.
First, let examined the definition of dream according to Sigmund Freud “dream is the disguised fulfilment of a repressed wish. Dreams are constructed like a neurotic symptom: they are compromises between the demands of a repressed impulse and the resistance of a censoring force in the ego” (Freud, 28). This simple means that all dreams represent the fulfilment of a wish by the dreamer. Dreams are the mind way of keeping an individual asleep and to digest and work out all that we have going on inside our brains, the negative, positive, fear and unclear thoughts and actions. This set the framework for dream work. Freud also stresses that even anxiety dreams and nightmares are expressions of unconscious desire. Freud further went on to say that, “the general function of dreaming is to fending off, by a kind of soothing action, external or internal stimuli which would tend to arose the sleeper, and thus of securing sleep against interpretation” (Freud, 28). With this, it shows that a dreamer can take apart his dream and analysis it, if he or she remembers, once conscious.
To sum up, lucid dreaming happens when the brain switches into waking mode inside the dream. In comparison to normal dreams, where one’s self awareness is shut down, the conscious brain in lucid dreaming wakes up during sleep. Based on scientific research, this is a safe and natural state and it is not a literal out of the body experience as the dreamer always remains asleep in bed. Furthermore, when one becomes lucid in a dream state, their senses become more alive and are free to explore the inner workings of their subconscious mind. Lucid dreaming has also proved to be a powerful mental tool. To conclude, lucid dreaming exists and in no way should equate to belittle the subject at hand.
We spend one third of our lives sleeping and 15-20% of that time is spent dreaming. (1) Dreams are a sequence of images that appear involuntary to the mind of somebody who is sleeping, often a mixture of real and imaginary characters, places, and events, according to the Encarta dictionary. There are many types of dreams. Lucid dreams can be the most fascinating if one can master them. In lucid dreams you realize that you are dreaming and instead of automatically waking up you stay asleep and control every aspect of your dream. Your thoughts can effortlessly paint any dreamscape and you have full mental faculties as you would if you were awake.(4) Your imagination is the limit! Another more mysterious type of dream is precognitive dreams. This is where time and space no longer seem to fit any rational logical meaning. Precognition is an ability to know and experience a future event before it ever occurs (4) Many experience this type of dream and slowly forget it over time, until it happens in real life. When it occurs in real life you automatically feel a sense of déjà vu and you notice something familiar about the s...
Dreaming is very different than everyday life, yet somehow still relates to it in some way. In everyday life we have stress and happiness along with many other emotions. Yet in someway when we drift off into a deep sleep this emotions come right back. Dalai Lama once said that “sleep is the best meditation.” Sleep may be the one thing that people turn to, a place where your mind is totally set free to do what it wants and think what it wants. An idea or vision that is created in your imagination that when suddenly when you awake, feels so real.Dream reflect reality because most peoples dreams are in fact related to past, and recent experiences, or events that have happened in a person’s life. Dreams are more than just a method of entertainment, They should be taken more seriously because of the fact that with dreams imitating own reality, you can then learn more about yourself.
All of us dream, several times at night. It is believed by some that we sleep in order that we may dream. Dreams can come true if somebody makes them true, as the saying goes, “A dream is just a dream, unless you make it come true”. Dreams provide us the actual picture of our thoughts. Dreams may tell us about any physical event which took place with us or which is going to happen with us. The dream is trying to inform the dreamer about his condition in any walk of life. Basically, we can dream about anything logical or illogical, fictious or non-fictious and reasonable or unreasonable.
As the body sleeps, reality becomes replaced with the dream world, a fanciful place where the innermost being is found cowering like a creature vying to be freed. Some people have vivid dreams that are life-like; others cannot recall having dreamed. One concept is for sure, the dream world is one where the mind runs a free course. Images buried deep inside, thoughts avoided throughout the day, and unrealistic situations take hold. These images may turn into a peaceful dream of amazement and wonder, or they may take a frightening turn, dragging the mind into a state of horror and dread. The situations can become all too real, grasping at the outer edges of the mind, pushing the dream over the boundaries the body normally allows.