My State of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming | Habiba Awada | TEDxPhoeniciaU

I once saw siding with a guy I randomly met at a coffee shop and I don't recall much of the conversation to be honest but it revolved around dreams and I can clearly remember something he said about switching the lights off in dreams and how it was impossible for us to do that like if the lights are on and you cannot switch them off then most probably you're dreaming anyways as I was about to leave he said excellent Meraki on the verge of your day confused as I was I asked what that meant and he admitted that he never truly figured it out it was something that a dream character of his would usually whisper in his ear so I smiled heading to the door I noticed the light switch and out of absolutely nowhere I had the sudden desire to switch it off as I tried to it wouldn't I looked right back at the guy I was conversing with and he had vanished I then realized I was in a dream as I got out of the coffee shop I noticed that all of my senses had fully enhanced the universal scale I stared at the sky which was picturesque and I could feel my whole body being lifted off the ground I was finally flying when I worked that day I was left to the feeling of bubbling joy they lasted for a week have you ever wanted to fly travel through time go to space interact with people you've only dreamed of meeting what if I told you is keeping reality while being in control of yourself is possible and it's something you're missing out on if you've never had it occur going to Mars feeling the wind through your clothes while flying being able to control landscapes basically feeling heavenly and being aware of it is how I would fine lucid dreams every single one of your fantasies is achievable not only freedom but sheer happiness are its greatest outcomes I'm not here to talk about science fiction nor to refer to Christopher Nolan's movie Inception with all its representations or misrepresentations of lucid dreaming I am here to connect my own experience with lucid dreaming to what science says similar to meta cognition where one thinks about his or her own thinking I want you to dream my own dreams and maybe then you'd want to thank or rethink your own pay attention to tiny details and enjoy higher levels of self-awareness or actualization the fact that people can lose the dream is not under dispute literally speaking lucid means clear but it's not only about clarity but more about control so the question is whether or not we can control our dreams to an extent that they become clear enough for us to start enjoying the adjective lucid some scientists such as Daniel are like her answers this question with a definite yes before talking about how to get into that parallel universe knowing about the sleep cycle that we go through every night is somewhat important light sleep stage one and two one might feel drowsy like they're floating over their bed or falling from it during the second stage the brain starts releasing massive amounts of energy which indicates that one is now moving towards stage three and four which consists in deep sleep and is during those two life stages that the brain produces brain waves also known as delta waves eventually it reaches the REM or rapid eye movement sleep which is when we dream and this the age in which were entrusted now to get into the lucid dream realm you need to learn to distinguish between reality and fantasy in other terms between being awake and dreaming when you recognize dreams as what they are you can become lucid first off it's extremely helpful to start a dream journal so every morning as soon as you wake up you write down your dreams in as much details as you can and after a while you're going to notice that you're remembering them better you can then look for recurring themes or situations to help you realize that you're dreaming those are known as dream signs the second step is to execute reality checks to test whether or not you're dreaming so those are actions that you'll do during the day in order to condition your mind to become more aware of itself for example if you start constantly asking yourself whether you're asleep or awake during daytime you'll be developing a habit and like all habits you start doing that unconsciously as well by that I mean that you'll do it in your dreams only done the answer won't be I'm awake and through this you'll realize the train fat dreaming also counting your fingers checking the time looking at yourself in a mirror would provide you with a better understanding of your current state since everything is distorted and will act naturally in dreams now learning to become a lucid dreamer can have a considerable impact on your everyday waking life in more than one way not only you become happier you also start paying attention to the details of what used to seem ordinary you gain a greater sense of self confidence awareness control because the lucid dream is like a playground or a funfair for experimentation the only limit is your imagination so whatever you can imagine you can pretty much do anything as far as your fantasy reaches and trust me you have more fantasy and creativity in you than you think you start using the canvas or the platform of the lucid dream to gain insights and access to levels of mind which in a waking state are often inaccessible lucid dreams expose our most innovative side because of the free flow of concepts or ideas arising from our subconscious many artists like Salvador Dali inventors like Einstein composers like Beethoven and even Lewis Carroll the author of Alice in Wonderland give credits to lucid dreaming as being the birthplace of their brainchild or creativity also since you'd be manipulating the dream you can overcome any nightmare if you don't like the scary creature tell it to go and it will disappear or might be transformed into a friendly one some people have used it to confront their fears and become desensitized of their phobias now let me share with you my own personal experience in this regard growing up in Africa it was pretty usual for me to have daily encounters with reptiles and to say the least I was so not a big fan of them one day I was just arriving to school getting out of the car that I felt that something was climbing on top of me and holding grip to my shirt as I looked down to see what it was I had the most traumatizing experience in my life that scarred me for a long while it was a lizard and since then I would have recurring nightmares in which I'd be lying quietly in bed then see a whole army of lizards trying to invade it some them even making their way through I would wake up terrified and stayed up for nights on end to avoid that invasion till one day it was happening again and as I had gotten used to it I realized this must be a dream because in real life if they saw me moved they would flee and like in the dreams where I didn't have much control so this time I decided I would scare them for a change I got up and I shouted at them it's my dream and I do not want you in it they suddenly stopped in time as if they had been frozen looking at me with fear and their human-like eyes I then asked why are you here and they answered in some obscure lizardy language not making any sense to me of course but anyways just to say that I ended up having closure with that irrational fear because I somehow expressed what I felt towards them in that dream and waking up I felt relieved I held on to the belief that I have more power over lizards than I previously thought I had conquered her Peter phobia my numero uno fear by I guess 90% and on days where I feel like I'm weighed down by stress I decided before falling asleep to become lucid and go to space I travel upwards going beyond the atmosphere and look down on earth from up there I feel pretty small done like nothing else really matters not even me it really is fascinating how small we are compared to the vastness of the universe in lucid dreams none of the laws of physics apply so the best thing to do is taken advantage of that situation for instance in my next lucid dream I'm looking forward to experience no gravity at all by that I mean going underwater being able to breathe and explore the infinities of the ocean I've had several debates by now with my close friends about what they deemed as a waste of my time and effort in advocating for a lucid dreaming when I've exhausted all avenues in convincing them I often refer to the renowned expert of lucid dreaming dr. stefan lubbers arguments if you must sleep through a third of your life why should you sleep through your dreams to lucid means clear a light clarity and we'll say it in a crystal clear manner I want to be in charge of my life but as we all know life always managed to surprise us one way or another the good news is I can at least be in charge of that third of my life thank you [Applause]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 302,866

Rating: 4.9197283 out of 5

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Social Science, Dreams, Psychology

Id: WpYsl6DlM28

Length: 12min 12sec (732 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 28 2017