Van Eeden first reported in 1913 that some people are able to remember the circumstances of waking life rather freely, to think clearly, and to act deliberately upon reflection, while at the same time experiencing a dream world that also is vividly real (Bootzin, Kihlstrom, & Schacter, 1990, p. 109). His viewpoint contrasted with the conventional opinion that dreams usually reflect a state during which the dreamer has no awareness or true volition. It is the purpose of this paper to define lucid dreams, ages of likely occurrence, the stages of sleep of lucid dreams, the manipulation of lucid dreams, what research shows about lucid dreams, and the therapeutic value of lucid dreams. This discussion will be followed by a summary and conclusion.
Lucid dreaming is the unique state of dreaming during which one is conscious of dreaming while still dreaming (Bootzin, Kihlstrom & Schacter, 1990, p. 36). Lucid dreaming has some features of the waking state and some features of the rapid eye movement (commonly termed REM) stage of sleep, and therefore is a hybrid state.
The paradox of lucid dreaming is normally a rare experience. Most people can recall having a lucid dream at least once during their lives, but some people, about 20 percent of the population, report having a lucid dream once a month or more often (Bootzin, Kihlstrom & Schacter, 1990, p. 109). Due to the existence of contradictory research evidence, some believe that what is called lucid dreaming is actually an incident of a slight arousal from the state of sleep, a "microawakening." This opinion was prevalent until recent years.
Empirical evidence began to appear in the late 1970s suggesting that lucid dreaming was, in fact, a phenomenon that occurred during sleep, during the REM stage of sleeping. Laboratory experiments have found that lucid dreamers know that they are dreaming and they also know that they are asleep. Upon awakening, lucid dreamers report t...