Research examines how you can control your dreams
Lucid dreams are fun, but inducing has largely been a matter of trial and error.
You might have an easier experience next time you hit the hay, off the back of new research by Australia's University of Adelaide that looked into more effective lucid dream induction techniques. The results have been published in the journal Dreaming.
For those yet to experience it, lucid dreaming is where the person is aware they're dreaming while it's still happening, and they're able control the experience.
Behind the study was Denholm Aspy from the university's School of Psychology. He looked at the three different lucid dream induction techniques: Reality testing, wake back to bed, and MILD (mnemonic induction of lucid dreams).
Reality testing involves checking your environment several times a day to see whether you're not dreaming or not.
MILD requires one to wake up after five hours of sleep, then instilling the thought that you are dreaming before returning to sleep. This is done by repeating the phrase: "The next time I'm dreaming, I will remember that I'm dreaming," and imagining oneself in a dream.
The "wake back to bed" technique is similar to MILD, where one wakes up after five hours, except they return back to sleep without completing any exercises. MILD and reality testing are the most studied of lucid dreaming techniques.
The most successful, out of 169 participants who completed the full study, were the group which completed the MILD technique.
Those who fell asleep within the first five minutes after completing MILD were able to lucid dream in 46 per cent of attempts, whereas the group who tried a mix of the three techniques were successful in 17 per cent of attempts.
While it isn't certain why MILD is more successful, the likely explanation is down to the period of time between thinking about dreaming and actually sleeping.
"Reality testing is practiced throughout the day, and even though you're forming that intention, when you go to sleep there's still a gap between when you last do a reality test," Aspy explained.
"Lucid dreaming tends to happen in the last couple of hours of sleep. Hence waking up after five hours to do the MILD technique, you'll have a very strong intention directly before your most intense dreaming period."
Having high dream recall can also benefit lucid dreaming, and Aspy has conducted another experiment to see if B vitamins can help with remembering them. Other studies have examined how certain drugs, such as Donepezil, and light stimulation can aid lucid dreaming.
Aspy is currently seeking participants for future experiments on lucid dreaming, and has also launched a GoFundMe page to support his research.
