Lucid Dreams

Part 2False awakening and lucidity

 

(...Continued From Lucid Dreams Part 1)

'10 tests for state-assessment':

1. Switch on an electric light in the dream scenery. If it does not work, or there is a malfunction of any kind, or light switches cannot be found where they should exist, suspect strongly that you are dreaming. The same applies for any other electrical appliance.

2. Attempt to 'float' in mid-air, or fly. Any success, of course is proof of dreaming.

3. Jump off an object, such as a chair. If you descend slowly, then you know you are dreaming.

4. Look carefully at your surroundings. Is there anything there which should not be present, or is missing?

5. Look at your body (eg hands, arms, feet) and your clothes. Is it your body and are the clothes yours in wakefulness?

6. Look out of a window. Is the environment accurate? Is the season correct, and is the light-level right for the time?

7. Attempt to alter a detail in the scenery, or make something happen by will-power.

8. Attempt to push your hand through solid-looking objects.

9. Pinch your skin. Is the texture and sensation as it should be?

10. Look in a mirror. Is there some alteration to your face?

It is advisable, however, if living with a partner, to issue a warning regarding one's intentions. It would be most disconcerting for a husband or wife to waken in the middle of the night and find a partner switching electrical gadgets on and off, jumping off chairs and so forth. Advance notice might well prevent a visit from the men in white coats.

Indeed, assistance would be invaluable in any endeavours of this kind. Arrangements could be made for a partner to prod or talk to the person experiencing REM sleep - shortly before waking in the morning. Following, we will see, (in the F.A.S.T. method), that anticipating an interruption to one's slumber can trigger a false awakening.

It is interesting to note that false awakenings not only precede, but often follow on

from a lucid dream. If this occurs, then there is nothing to stop one from running the tests and becoming lucid again. Some dream enthusiasts have experienced lucidity as many as four times in a single night.

On occasion, when the dreamer becomes lucid for the first time, this may last for a few seconds only, before drifting back into REM sleep. This, of course, can be very disappointing, but it has been discovered that the duration of lucidity can be extended. At this point, it is worth mentioning that the more one is able to induce lucidity, the greater the chances of the phenomenon lengthening as one becomes adept at controlling it.

It has been found that if lucidity seems to be slipping away, concentrating one's gaze on the back of one's (dream) hands may cause the duration of the experience to be extended. Nobody can say categorically why this should happen, but it appears reasonable to assume that the act of focusing one's thoughts might have something to do with it. Similarly, Continually reminding yourself that you are experiencing a lucid dream, can prove very successful.

A wish to change locations within a lucid dream can be realised by closing one's (dream) eyes and willing oneself somewhere else. On opening them again, the chances are that the wish will have been granted.

It is a pitiable waste of time and effort to use the lucid dream solely for self-gratification. So let us consider some constructive uses to which the experience can be put, and how it might be of benefit.

Jack Nicklaus, corrected his golf swing after having a lucid dream. Inventions, great musical compositions, well-known paintings, novels, and hit songs have been inspired through dreams.

There is, perhaps, amazing potential for healing, and nightmares can be banished. Probably most fascinating of all, is the ability to conjure up people in a lucid dream. In this context, there could be comfort and solace for the bereaved.

Accomplished lucid dreamers have reported evoking deceased relatives and having conversations with them as if they were still alive. And as lucidity appears real in every respect - indistinguishable from full waking consciousness - this could prove to be an efficient way of helping the bereaved to overcome their despair.

However, although these encounters appear real in every respect, the experience must be adjudged to be a dream. We will probably never know if the spirits of loved-ones are able to manifest themselves in dreams, or whether these happenings are the product of the dreaming mind.

Dr Hearne also devised a method of inducing lucidity, that reportedly is successful for some people, based on recognising false-awakenings, and you may like to try it yourself. It is termed the F.A.S.T. technique (an acronym for False Awakening

with State Testing).

In his sleep-lab research Dr Hearne observed the potency of expectation in subjects. This method sets up an expectation in the subject which hopefully results in a false-awakening - where state-testing can cause recognition of dreaming.

You will need an assistant. Every half hour or so after 6 am (when there is more REM sleep) the assistant needs to enter the bedroom, say a few words, potter around and then leave.

Religiously, whenever it happens, you should go through some of the state-tests listed above - no matter how utterly convinced that you are awake!

Occasionally, you will, because of the expectation effect, dream that the person has come into the bedroom. At that point the testing procedure will reveal that it has been an elaborate dream.

Then, you should get up, explore the artificial scenery of the building - as if in an out of the body experience, or relocate by covering your eyes and willing yourself to be somewhere else.

We have established that it is not unusual for people to experience this phenomenon without realising it and, for the purpose of dream interpretation, it is important that the analyst understands that fact. Here is a typical example of the kind of letter an analyst might receive:

'I have got a vague memory of getting up and going to the toilet, in the middle of the night. However, I noticed that the light switches weren't working properly. Yet when I got up this morning, they all worked perfectly. Now I'm not sure if it was a dream or not. What does it mean?'

Another example:

'I remember getting up during the night, only to discover that the street scenery outside my bedroom window was strangely different. I'm sure I wasn't dreaming, so can you tell me what happened?'

Bear in mind that there might be reports of the bedroom furniture being somehow different, or perhaps the curtains were not quite their usual colour. These are all clues that the client has undergone a false-awakening.

If any sort of interpretation is placed on this experience, it will be fruitless. As with a lucid dream, this extraordinary occurrence is open to contamination by conscious thoughts.

If the above descriptions sound familiar, It is likely that you have experienced this curious happening. It is probable that we all have them from time to time, without realising it. So convincing is this dream state that one is certain one was awake.

Some insomniacs complain of a restless night, and for some, that may be the case. But for others, it may have all been an elaborate dream, a fantastic illusion, whereby the bedroom looks the same, and you may even see your partner sleeping peacefully next to you.

Another aid to assist recognition is the contrast to a lucid dream, where the scene is likely to present itself in typically weird dream surroundings, the false-awakening usually occurs in a familiar environment, (not necessarily the bedroom), albeit a dream environment.

Shift workers can be vulnerable to false awakenings - especially if they go to work in a tired condition. Should they nod off during a shift, it has been reported that they may dream convincingly that they are at work, carrying on as usual.

If they then drift into natural REM sleep, the chances are that they will be unable to discriminate between true and false-awakenings. In fact, they will probably believe that their last waking memory is that of the false-awakening, when they saw themselves at work, performing their usual duties.

How often have you heard people say, 'You must have dreamt it,' or, 'In your dreams!' Little wonder then, at how baffling it could be - if you were a shift worker - to hear yourself accused of something you know you did not do, while your accuser is equally certain of your guilt. He may have actually witnessed you committing a transgression while he was experiencing a false-awakening. The following day, unable to discriminate between the false-awakening and reality, he could find himself stridently defending the contents of what was really a dream.

Imagine the implications, if somebody who was serving on a jury, dozed off undetected, for a few minutes, and like the shift worker, saw the accused - while experiencing a false-awakening - scoffing at the jury or laughing behind the judge's back.

Why should we take the trouble to find out whether we are dreaming or not? Apart from the advantage of being able to discern reality from fantasy, there is a much more important reason. Remember, identifying a false awakening when it occurs, provides us with a potent method of initiating a lucid dream. This would facilitate an increased potential for healing and eradicating nightmares, apart from the exhilaration of finding oneself able to fly or to enjoy a romantic encounter.

The person who doesn't know about false awakenings, usually doesn't register the previously mentioned subtle changes. But the dreamer reading this page, now has a golden opportunity to utilise the phenomenon to initiate a lucid dream.