FieldGuideLucidDream

Amazing question Mr. Nefarious. First off, no one knows for sure why we dream. Of course there are a lot of theories, and you point at one of them: dreams are a way to chill out for a few hours and recoup. While this may be true, we personally haven't found that lucid dreaming gets in the way of that. When you're actively experiencing a world of your own creation, having amazing adventures and trying to solve the puzzles of your own subconscious, you generally wake up feeling pretty groovy. So generally, in a lucid dream, our dream world has an effect on our waking minds.

This isn't an answer to a question, it's simply our shameless plug. We're allowed one of those right? First off, check out our two new videos, short films that take place in the dream world and show the moment of lucidity... Overcoming Nightmares Fantasy

Also, today marks the official launch of our book “A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming”. Find it in Barnes & Noble, indie bookstores across the United States, and on Amazon, IndieBound and Audible. Hope you like it.

Time for us to step away from the computer for a little bit (Thomas has to go give a lucid dreaming talk), but we'll continue to answer questions over the next few days. Keep your quandaries coming! And thanks for checking out our IamA folks!

Yes and no. Unfortunately, there is no such device that puts you in someone else's dream. The accuracy seen in Inception is the conscious awareness that the characters have while in the dream. Their ability to explore and alter the dream is totally obtainable.

And yes! You can have a dream within a dream. A fun activity for expert lucid dreamers.

There are no psychological risks associated with lucid dreaming.

1.) Do you personally believe there is any significant meaning or reason behind dreams? This is an awesome question, and from a scientific standpoint, we don’t know fully what dreams are or if/why they’re important. There are a lot of good theories. They seem crazy and weird when we wake up, right? Well with lucid dreaming, you have a clear awareness… enough to interact with the dream, change the content, and inquire into its meaning in real time.

2.) What is one tip you would offer someone who is getting started? Know that YOU ARE A DREAMER! There’s no special gadgets your need to buy, no drugs you need to take, you don’t need to meditate in a cave for 30 years to begin dreaming. Every single night (for about 2 hours each night) each of us access this incredibly rich and sophisticated inner world. Begin looking for them and they will become clear to you.

3.) What do you personally like to do in your dreams? In the beginning it was all about the possibilities for fantasy fulfillment. Now we use lucid dreaming to dive deeper into ourselves: to find clarity, guidance, to heal nightmares, and overcome our deepest fears.

4.) Do you think lucid dreaming could have any therapeutic benefits? Totally! Think about facing a nightmare (the darker aspects of yourself) head-on with poise and confidence. With awareness in the dreamstate you can see that you’re not separate from these ugly foes. You can ask them questions, engage them in real time, and get to the bottom of what’s plaguing you. This offers tremendous applications for healing. 

5.) What is your take on the general notion of lucid dreaming (and dreams in general) being too subjective or "weird" to be given more serious scientific consideration and research? Dreams often seem weird, fragmented and foggy when we wake up, but it’s important to note that this is NOT the dream. This is just the MEMORY of the dream. The dream itself has a very real and vivid present moment. If you learn to become lucid, you can ask the dream in real-time what it means and of its significance. The subjective nature of dreams does make it difficult to perform scientific experiments, but not impossible. Figuring out a way to make dreams more quantifiable will help overcome this.

6.) Are you sure you are lucid dreaming, and not just dreaming that you have control over your dreams? Haha. Good question. Simply knowing that you're in a dream while the dream is happening makes it a lucid dream.

7.) MILD and WILD are our two favorites. MILDs paired up with a WBTB (Wake-Back-To-Bed) seem to be the easiest for beginners.

Yes you can! When you are lucid something very interesting happens. You realize that you are not separate from the dream and its environment. You’re intimately connected to everything around you, the nightmare included. So next time you’re running away from Freddy Kruger realize that you may be the one running, but you’re also the one chasing. You ARE that nightmare. Turn and face it with compassion and see it as yourself. Often times our nightmares don’t want to scare us, they want to tell us something important and to be accepted. Love thy nightmare.