Have you ever had a feeling that you are in a dream but in control? Ever felt like you are directing your own dream like a movie and you are able to control yourself and the characters around you?
Well, you are not alone!
What you are going through is called “Lucid dreaming”. You’re aware that the events flashing through your brain aren’t really happening. But the dream feels vivid and real.
To get a little technical → Lucid dreams are most common during REM(Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, a period of very deep sleep marked by eye motion, faster breathing, and more brain activity. You usually enter REM sleep about 90 minutes after falling asleep. It lasts about 10 minutes. As you sleep, each REM period is longer than the one before, finally lasting up to an hour.
According to research done by Neuroscientists, Lucid dreaming is not something that every individual goes through. Studies have found that the brain sizes of these people are significantly bigger. The very front part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex -- the site of high-level tasks like making decisions and recalling memories -- is bigger in people who have lucid dreams. Studies also suggest that people who are very self-reflective tend to have more Lucid dreams.
According to some studies, we also know that there are a lot of benefits to Lucid dreams:
Better motor skills. Limited studies suggest that it may be possible to improve simple things like tapping your fingers more quickly by “practicing” during your lucid dream. The same part of your brain turns active whether you imagine the movements while awake or run through them during a lucid dream.
Improved problem-solving. Researchers found some evidence that lucid dreams can help people solve problems that deal with creativity (like a conflict with another person) more than with logic.
More creativity. Some people taking part in lucid dream studies were able to come up with new ideas or insights, sometimes with the help of characters in their dreams.
Even some findings show that Einstein was a lucid dreamer. We can’t claim for definite that Einstein was a lucid dreamer, as it wasn’t a recognized term or practice back then, but he certainly used his dreams to his advantage and made the most of his sleeping life.
So next time you are in control of your dream.. keep dreaming. Create a new story altogether and be the protagonist of your own story. You never know you might invent a "Theory Of Everything”