Lucid Dreams: What Do They Mean?

Medically Reviewed by Jabeen Begum, MD on June 24, 2024
Written by Kris Martins, Stephanie Booth
8 min read

Lucid dreams are when you know you’re dreaming while you’re asleep.

Studies suggest that about 50% of all people have had at least one lucid dream. About 20% of lucid dreamers have them monthly. And a small group of people have them every week or even every night.

Lucid dreaming has been part of various religions for thousands of years. But it's only been studied by scientists in the past century. In 1913, Dutch psychiatrist Frederik Van Eeden coined the phrase after documenting his own experience with dreams.

By the late 1970s and 1980s, researchers confirmed lucid dreaming was real. They did so by devising a way to tell when sleep study participants had these intense dreams. Before they fell asleep, the participants were asked to move their eyes in a certain pattern, such as twice to either side and then back to center, once they began having lucid dreams. When they made these eye movements, researchers finally had the proof that lucid dreaming is real.

How to know if you’re lucid dreaming

For reasons that experts still don't understand, we usually don't know when we're dreaming. And you probably won't remember any dreams you had unless you're woken up while you're having them. But if you're having a lucid dream:

  • You're aware that the events flashing through your brain aren’t really happening.
  • The dream feels vivid and real.
  • You may be able to control how the action unfolds, as if you’re directing a movie in your sleep.
  • You're probably doing something active inside your dream (such as flying).

These heightened dreams are most common during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, a period of very deep sleep marked by eye motion, faster breathing, and lots of brain activity. In fact, during REM, your brain is almost as active as when you're awake.

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.

But some sleep scientists believe that lucid dreams may also happen just outside of REM sleep.

Lucid dreaming appears to be a kind of "hybrid" state where you aren’t fully awake but are also not quite asleep. Neuroscientists don’t know exactly how and why it happens. But they have some ideas.

Studies have found physical differences in the brains of people who have lucid dreams. The very front part of their brain called the prefrontal cortex — the site of high-level tasks such as making decisions and recalling memories -- is bigger. That suggests that you may be more likely to have vivid dreams if you're self-reflective and often go over thoughts in your head.

A "glitch" in your natural sleep patterns, especially during REM sleep, could also make lucid dreaming more likely.

And this phenomenon might also have to do with another reason that experts haven't found yet.

Who's most likely to have lucid dreams?

Evidence is still sparse, but here are the findings so far:

  • One small study found that people with narcolepsy, a chronic sleep disorder, were more likely than other participants to have lucid dreams.
  • Another study linked video games that make you move around a lot when you play, such as Nintendo Wii games, with this type of dreaming.
  • Another research has shown that you're more prone to have these vivid dreams if you're creative, are open to new experiences, feel like you have a lot of self-control, and would describe yourself as not having vast personal boundaries.
  • Although anyone can have this type of dream, one large study found that you're most likely to have your first one as a teenager.

Several studies have shown that lucid dreaming can help with nightmares. You can learn to confront scary things you see in your dreams and control what happens next.

Vivid dreaming might also help your waking life with benefits such as:

Less anxiety. The sense of control you feel during a lucid dream may stay with you and make you feel empowered.

Help with depression. Early research shows that these types of dreams allow you to feel more creative and curious about yourself, which can ease feelings of depression.

Better motor skills. Limited data suggest that you may be able to improve simple skills, such as how quickly you can tap your fingers, when you "practice" during a lucid dream. This might be because the same part of your brain turns on whether you imagine the movements while you're awake or run through them during a lucid dream.

Improved problem-solving. These vivid dreams may be more helpful in solving creative problems (such as a conflict with another person) than in solving logical problems (such as a math problem).

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.

Reduced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. After a lucid dreaming workshop, one study found that people with PTSD improved both their PTSD symptoms and their well-being.

Research on lucid dreaming is still limited. So far, there's no data that proves that it's harmful. But it could raise your risk for:

Poorer sleep quality. Lucid dreaming could prevent your brain from sinking into deep REM sleep. Vivid dreams can also wake you and make it hard to get back to sleep. For some people, either of those scenarios can lead to sleep deprivation, which can greatly affect how you feel during your waking hours. For instance, if you're sleep-deprived, you'll probably feel groggy and have a hard time remembering things. And you'll likely feel more stressed than you would after a good night's sleep.

Confusion, delirium, and hallucinations. In people who have certain ongoing mental health issues, lucid dreams may blur the line between what’s real and what’s imagined.

Sleep paralysis. This is a condition that's been linked to lucid dreaming. It happens when you wake up from REM sleep too quickly. You're conscious, but you can't move your body, which can be a scary sensation. Although sleep paralysis isn't harmful to your health, it can cause anxiety of fear. Some people avoid sleeping because they don't want it to happen again.

One easy way to try to dream more is to get plenty of rest. Ideally, you'll sleep 8 or more hours a night. That's important because you cycle through REM sleep every 90 minutes. More REM sleep can mean more dreaming in general.

Sleep hygiene can also help you get a good night's sleep. Keep your bedroom "cave-like" -- cool, quiet, and dark.

Small studies have found that you may be able to raise your chances of dreaming lucidly. One way to do it is to prime your mind to notice weird details in your dream so you can alert yourself that it’s not real.

More research is needed to know if any method can actually trigger a lucid dream. Some things researchers have tried include:

Reality testing. This is when you pause at different times of the day to ask yourself, "Am I dreaming?" You can try to do something impossible, such as push your finger through your palm. Or you can do something that's usually hard to do in a dream, such as read a page in a book. If you get used to testing your reality while you're awake, you may remember to do it while you're dreaming.

Dream diary. Keeping a journal may help you dream more lucidly, maybe because writing about your dreams helps you focus on them. Other research found that dream journals didn’t help on their own but might be useful when combined with other methods.

Wake back to bed. In this method, you wake yourself up after 5 hours of sleep, stay awake briefly, and then go back to bed to try to enter an REM sleep period.

Mnemonic induction of lucid dreams (MILD). You wake up after sleeping for 5 hours and tell yourself several times that the next time you dream, you'll remember you’re dreaming. This strategy uses something called prospective memory — the act of remembering to do something in the future — to trigger a lucid dream.

Wake-initiated lucid dreaming (WILD). This is a way to go from being awake to immediately having a vivid dream. It taps into something called hypnagogia, a very early stage of sleep that is often linked to creativity. Surprisingly, your brain activity during this time may be as active as it is during deep REM sleep.

Drugs. Studies have focused on the effects of several drugs, such as supplements and medicinal plants, on sleep and dreams. But it’s not clear how safe they are or how well they work.

Technology. Some specially designed masks and headbands have sounds or lights that might bring on a lucid state. Other devices can record and play messages used in the MILD technique while you’re asleep.

To awaken yourself, you can try to close your eyes in the dream. You can also try clenching your fists.

Experts are trying to learn more about this type of dreaming in a few different ways. For instance, they may see if they can train people to have lucid dreams or monitor the brain activity of people as they dream this way. Researchers are also curious to explore what dreaming like this can teach us about consciousness and our waking lives.

Here are some important tools researchers rely on:

Electrooculogram (EOG). If you're part of a lucid dream study, you'll probably be asked to signal with your eyes once you realize that you're dreaming. This test measures eye movement and electrical activity at the back of your eyes. Small electrodes (tiny metal devices) are gently stuck on the skin around your eyes for this test.

Electroencephalogram (EEG). Your brain never stops working, even when you're asleep. Its activity can be measured with this test. It records electrical impulses through electrodes that are placed around the outside of your head.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). This is a special device that's placed over your head. It delivers a very mild electrical current to your brain to change its regular pattern. Researchers use tDCS to try to pinpoint which parts of your brain you use when you dream.

If you have a lucid dream, you're asleep but aware that you're dreaming. Researchers don't understand the cause of these vivid dreams but are trying to learn more. So far, lucid dreams appear to have some benefits, such as helping you deal with nightmares, reducing anxiety, and boosting creativity in your waking life.