Is It a Good Idea to Cultivate Lucid Dreaming?

Abstract

Lucid dreaming (LD) is the process of being aware that one is dreaming while dreaming. In some cases, the dreamer may even gain control over a part of the dream plot and scenery. The scientific investigation of LD (experience already mentioned in Antiquity) did not start before the nineteenth century (de Saint-Denys, 1867), and the use of objective methods to study LD only emerged a few decades ago (e.g., LaBerge, 1979, 1980, 1988; LaBerge and Rheingold, 1991; Levitan and LaBerge, 1994). Recently, LD gained visibility: surveys showed that 1/4 of all participants (N = 1,380) had heard of LD, that LD research is no longer seen as esoteric, and that the public has a generally positive view on LD (Luth et al., 2018; Neuhausler et al., 2018). With the emergence of a digital lifestyle in rich countries and hyper-realistic video games, it became obvious to an ever-increasing amount of people that LD is the ultimate form of immersive experience. Indeed, it offers a (free) unique and fantastic world in which everything may become possible or controllable and feels real without putting the dreamer at risk. These characteristics (fantastic sensory and emotional experience) make LD indubitably highly desirable (e.g., Stumbrys et al., 2014). There is however a problem preventing most of the population from enjoying LD: spontaneous LD is not frequent. About 50% of individuals have experienced at least one lucid dream in their lifetime, and only 11% report having two or more lucid dreams per month (Schredl and Erlacher, 2011; Saunders et al., 2016; Vallat et al., 2018). It is not surprising, in this context, that numerous training methods and devices aiming at increasing LD frequency and the level of control within the dream have been developed and commercialized in recent years. The various LD induction methods can be classified in three categories: (1) cognitive techniques, (2) external stimulation during sleep and, (3) intake of specific substances (Stumbrys et al., 2012; Dyck et al., 2017; Bazzari, 2018; LaBerge et al., 2018). Reviews highlighted that none of these induction techniques were verified to induce LD reliably and consistently. However, for lack of anything better, individuals who want to increase their LD frequency may use one of these methods.