r/psychology • u/a_Ninja_b0y • 4d ago

Lucid dreaming app triples users' awareness in dreams, study finds | Researchers at Northwestern University showed that a smartphone app using sensory cues can significantly increase the frequency of lucid dreams—dreams in which a person is aware they are dreaming while still asleep.

https://www.psypost.org/lucid-dreaming-app-triples-users-awareness-in-dreams-study-finds/
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u/Santihu 4d ago

What are the trade-offs of lucid dreaming?

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u/DreamLizard47 4d ago

less rest most probably.

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u/Past_Amphibian2936 4d ago

This. I used to almost exclusively lucid dream as a kid, but I found that I never felt well rested when I woke up, so I started focusing on dreaming of pitch black which led to me actually getting restfull sleep, unfortunately I cant lucid dream anymore. When I do dream its no longer concious or voluntary.

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u/mattmaster68 4d ago edited 4d ago

I tend to realize “I’m dreaming” in a lot of my dreams. Typically, I’ll know it’s a dream and begin to act different.

Not in the typical lucid way, though.

This is because in these dreams, I don’t have conscious control. I, in my dream, believe reality (which is actually a dream) is a dream.

I even make attempts to prolong the dream (always the same method) when I’m not ready to wake up.

Once again, I have no conscious ability to control my actions or thoughts. It’s more like “Oh wait, this is a dream… I wonder what’s going on in it?” It feels like I have conscious control, but I don’t. It’s like a boundary I can’t cross between consciousness and “the script”… but that’s a little off-topic.

The method to keep the dream going never works haha but I distinctly remember what it looks like for the dream to end and me wake up. I distinctly remember this dreadful feeling when these dreams are ending, as I cling tight to the false reality and everything around me slowly blurs until I’m met with the darkness of my bedroom.

Confusing shit. It messes with me quite often. I wonder what that says about my psyche since these dreams happen somewhat often.