Has it ever happened to you that you are dreaming in your sleep and suddenly the knowledge dawns on you that you are dreaming? That is, you understand that it’s a dream. May be you have felt it for some fleeting moments before waking up or it may also be that you have never experienced anything like this before. Whatever the case may be, this is what is known as lucid dreaming, where you know that you are dreaming and are fully conscious about it.
The most basic type of lucid dreaming which is comparatively common is when you sleep and start dreaming and then suddenly at one point of time realize that you are dreaming. There is no aspect of dream control and in this case, the intensity of the lucidity is said to be less.
On the other hand there are also cases wherein the individual in his compete consciousness and wakeful state of mind crosses over to the realm of dreams. In this extreme case the individual in question also has the ability to control what he sees as a dream.
In this highest form of lucid dreaming the best thing that is experienced is that you can do whatever you want in your dreams with the knowledge that it is only a dream and hence whatever you do can never harm you in reality.
A concept such as Lucid Dreaming draws a lot of criticism from various quarters. In one instance a common view is that it promotes escapism. That is, it is sometimes seen as a way to escape from life. As an answer to this argument, it can be said that lucid dreaming happens during the time a person sleeps. The person would anyways have dreamt in that time, be it lucid or not. Thus, it is not true that this time period cuts out someone’s life. Hence, it is not a way to escape.
The second misconception is one which sometimes thinks of lucid dreaming as an occult practice. This thought is even fuelled by the belief that dreams convey some message to people and hence activities such as lucid dreaming results in the loss of that. But since lucid dreaming is not something that happens to people everyday or every time they sleep, it is a misconception that is not much justified.
Moreover, if a person is an expert at lucid dreaming, it can be safely concluded that he has also mastered the art of dream recall at first. So, he may be better equipped than the usual man in recalling his dreams and analyzing valuable insights present if any.
Irrespective of all the above skepticism, it may be said that lucid dreaming has advantages too. It is a great treatment in case of people suffering from nightmares since the best thing for a nightmare sufferer would be to realize that the nightmare is only a dream. Thus, lucid dreaming ability is a gift that lets the individual enjoy one of the most addictive out of the body experience where he is the sole captain of the ship in his dream world.
Hilary Porter is a writer for the popular http://www.luciddreaminginfo.com site. You can enjoy the incredible experience of lucid dreaming for yourself and get 29 Free dreaming lucid Audios when you visit here.