Self-awareness of dreaming and the ability to control dreams are two central features of the lucid dreaming experience.
The research on lucid dreaming has identified a new way that helps people to take control of their night dreams. This new technique may help people in their daily lives, the study author points out. Lucid dreaming is an event in which an individual is aware that they are dreaming. The dreamer may gain some degree of control over the character, narrative, and environment. Those who are more adept at lucid dreaming can control their dream content and action to varying degrees. The research was published in the Frontiers in Psychology journal. However, the question is whether people can control their dreams, and the answer is yes.
The researchers set out the largest known lucid dreaming study to date to better understand the phenomenon. Self-awareness of dreaming and the ability to control dreams are two central features of the lucid dreaming experience. According to previous research, some individuals experience spontaneous dreaming which appears to be associated with them having a special cognitive power in the awake life. Moreover, previous studies showed that lucid dreamers are better at extracting information from the context.
The researchers examined hundreds of individuals before the start of the study. In the final analysis, the team examined around 355 individuals aged 18 to 84 years. Of these, around 54.9% of participants reported that they were previously engaged with lucid dreaming techniques. During this research, the research team from the University of Adelaide have tested the efficacy of five different techniques or combinations such as Reality testing, Wake back to bed, Mnemonic induction of lucid dreams (MILD), Senses initiated lucid dream (SSILD), and a combination of MILD and SSILD. The team found that all five techniques or combinations, especially SSILD and MILD were equally the most effective in inducing lucid dreaming states.