lucid dream
Strange Happenings In Other Dimensions
I can vividly recall various unusual experiences during my childhood, including leaving my body several times and then being pulled back with a dramatic jolt. The return to my body would be so jarring that it would always wake me up.
There appears to be a variety of explanations for this odd occurrence, with the main one being that it is a purely psychological sleep phenomenon related to unusual stress and trauma. But while I do not necessarily dispute this possibility, I am not readily convinced this may be the explanation in my case.
The reason I question this theory is this experience has been happening to me again lately, with a steady regularity, but with some subtle differences.
My favorite version is when I am conscious of it happening, to the extent that I am even seeing myself re-entering my body. I am also no longer ‘slamming back’ as I used to before, but rather gently easing back into my physical form…like a baseball sliding into home base. I even recall smiling because it seemed so deliciously absurd.
The next aspect that has caused me to really think again about this recurring experience, is that I can clearly see myself in two separate dimensions all at the same time. At first it took me a minute to realize what was happening, as I did not look exactly the same as my earthly self. I stared at my ‘other self’ for a few minutes, recognizing our similarities and feeling like I have met my other self before.
Well, let me tell you, I was flabbergasted and very pleased, once I realized this was indeed me, a doppelganger, one of my other selves, operating completely independently in an alternate universe. The most joyous part is that I do not have to explain myself to the myself!
Banish Fear With The Power Of The Heart
I woke up from a powerful dream this morning. I was on the top floor of a high-rise building that had been struck by lightning. The building slowly started to move, to quake. I could see from the window neighboring structures being destroyed, and I sensed my own building’s collapse was imminent…with me inside it!
Could I make it down the stairs in time? I was about to try, but my exit was delayed by a pair of sparkling opal earrings that I simply had to take with me! But I could not manage to hold onto them for long. They kept slipping out of my hand, while the apocalypse was happening all around me.
I just had to bring the blingy earbobs – I am a Taurus, after all.
Then, as I gazed at the two little treasures, a stark truth hit me. I suddenly realized these material things do not matter in life and it shouldn’t delay me further. I also understood for some reason that the earrings now belonged to someone else and would bring them much joy in future. So, I returned the jewelry to the table where I found it…just before my building finally came crashing down.
Certainly, a lot to unpack. Temptation, ownership, materialism, impermanence, spiritual values, mortality, life goals.
But let’s get back to the dream.
Somehow, incredulously, like in a Marvel Comics adventure, I landed outside, unharmed. Then I found myself on a raft, with my immediate family all suddenly with me. We were rapidly floating together down a river.
Then it was time for us to get off, before we got hurt, but we were reluctant to do so. Suddenly, there was a friendly tribe of indigenous people on the bank of the river, expectantly waiting for us by a wall. So, we felt safe to dive off the raft, and we did so. The tribe members showed us the way through a hidden opening in the wall, and we all made it out safely to someplace new!
When You Hear Things…
My grandson, his wife and their two-year-old boy, as well as their cat and dog, recently all came to live with me for a couple of months, while waiting to move into their new home. Normally my house is exceptionally quiet, so I absolutely enjoyed the noisy hustle and bustle of having a young family under my roof.
Because both parents work, their son goes to day care twice a week. They leave just after 6am in the morning and he is picked up again at 3pm at the end of his mom’s workday. The entire time they stayed with me this schedule never wavered.
Late one morning, just before noon, I was sitting quietly in my chair catching up on some knitting. I was home alone and there was little going on in the house, aside from the regular activity of the cat and dog. It therefore took me by surprise when I suddenly heard a child crying?
The wailing sound briefly came from the kitchen area, where the back door is located. I thought I was imagining things, so went back to knitting. All was quiet for a few minutes, but then the crying started again! Subconsciously, I assumed it must be my granddaughter who was home early with her son, so I expected them to come into the living room soon. But nothing further happened.
Then I heard the crying again. This time it was loud and clear enough that I had to get up and investigate. But there was no one to be found in the kitchen. I looked out the window thinking maybe they might have gone back to the car, except there was nothing in the driveway. I then opened the back door, but there was no one there. I then decided I was either imagining things, or maybe it was the cat or dog I heard.
Lucid Dreaming
When we experience a lucid dream we are aware that we are dreaming. Dreamers also report that when they are having a lucid dream, they seem to be able to control the dream to some extent and they also tend to remember them better. In my experience it is like being half asleep and half awake. One time, I actually got up for a drink of water in the middle of a lucid dream, went back to bed, and continued my dream right where I left off!
For me lucid dreaming feels like being in the state of hypnosis – a ‘light’ state of hypnosis in which you have some control over how the session goes. You are in the dream state, but still aware of things around you. You are in a have heightened state of awareness.
Everyone I have discussed the subject of lucid dreaming with usually say they enjoy the experience. Some even say they wish they could stay is that frame of mind longer. When you lucid dream, write down your experience. Enjoy the movie of your mind.
The term ‘lucid dream’ was coined in 1913 by Dutch psychiatrist Frederik van Eeden in his article A Study of Dreams. It usually happens during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. When we sleep cycle through phases of non-REM and REM. REM sleep happens about an hour to 90 minutes after we fall asleep and this is when we tend to have vivid dreams.
It is estimated that at last 50 percent of adults have experienced at least one lucid dream in their lifetime. I have them all the time. The first lucid dream I can remember was when I was about thirteen years old. I was having a lucid dream of talking to my dad. But unlike our normal waking interactions, this conversation went exactly as I wanted it to go. I asked if he would let me go to New York for three weeks, and he said yes!
Since that time, it became increasingly common for me to slip into the lucid dream state. For me it usually happens in the morning, as I am waking up, but then going halfway back to sleep.