On Lucid Dreaming | A Bridge to Out-of-Body Experiences
Looking for the next step in your dreamwork practice? Lucid dreaming not only offers a deeper level of self-awareness and personal observation but can act as a bridge to out-of-body experiences—the ultimate exploration of consciousness.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to have control of a dream for it to be considered lucid, just the simple awareness that you are dreaming. This awareness has been observed and measured across the brain’s neocortex in studies of lucid dreamers as well as out-of-body experiencers, suggesting a link between the dreamtime phenomena of lucid dreams and out-of-body experiences (OBEs). Current neuroscience may also indicate how lucid dreams serve as a launching point for out-of-body experiences.
In this article we’ll explore lucid dreams and the techniques for engaging them, how to use lucid dreams as an access point for OBEs, and how lucid dreaming can better your life.
What Are Lucid Dreams?
Lucid dreaming is the conscious awareness of being in a dream. Most dreams are a passive experience pulling us along for the ride and only recalled upon waking. In contrast, some people become aware that they are dreaming in the moment, turning their dream into an active experience either by consciously observing the events in real time or by taking control of the dream itself.
The Research Behind Lucid Dreams
While no one knows exactly why lucid dreams occur, we can parse together current research and theories from the few studies that exist. Dream and sleep science are still in their relative infancy compared to the physical sciences, so studies remain limited.
It wasn’t until 2017 that dreams were conclusively observed as a brain activity during sleep. Some researchers previously suggested that dreams were only created by the mind upon the moment of waking, not something actually experienced in sleep.
Through that study of over 1,000 people, we learned that during the REM cycle dreaming consistently activates areas in the posterior cortex of the brain, a region in the neocortex responsible for processing sensory information (visuals, sound, touch, etc.) and spatial awareness (the understanding of where you are in relation to your environment).
This confirmed that the brain actively creates scenarios using the senses to experience dreams during sleep. Furthermore, when cross-referenced with the subject’s descriptions of their dreams, the researchers were able to match the specific sensory area of the dream to the dream content (i.e. if someone dreamt of other people, the part of the brain for facial recognition lit up).
Additionally, a limited lucid dreaming study of 4 participants in 2012 produced the only fMRI of a lucid dreaming brain currently in existence. In that study, researchers observed a strong activation in the precuneus, prefrontal cortex, and occipitotemporal cortices of the brain—regions responsible for decision-making, planning, personality expression, working memory, and consciousness.
They determined that, “This pattern of activity can explain the recovery of reflective cognitive capabilities that are the hallmark of lucid dreaming.” This suggests that the brains of lucid dreamers turn on additional elements of the neocortex related to conscious awareness while dreaming.
The Theories Behind Lucid Dreams
The introduction of awareness to dreams is what makes lucid dreaming so special and, potentially, provides a boost to lucid dreamers for navigating fulfilling lives.
A published survey of over 300 lucid dreamers from 2016 reported that 83% of those individuals used lucid dreaming for wish fulfillment. Upon waking from a wish fulfillment lucid dreaming experience, most participants reported that these dreams greatly affected their mood in a positive way. This suggests that lucid dreaming, on its own, could influence an overall more fulfilling and positive life experience.
Other lucid dreaming applications from that survey were also noted, including:
57% using them for problem solving in waking life
47% using them to heal fears or overcome nightmares
43% using them to engage in spiritual experiences
40% using them as a healing tool for physical or mental health conditions
31% using them to train motor function and skill such as playing an instrument
11% using them for meditative purposes
All of these applications have the potential to positively affect one’s life.
From my personal viewpoint, the ability to lucid dream is one of the next steps of human evolution, providing the humans of the future with access to self-healing, personal fulfillment, and spiritual exploration. What would happen if individuals used more of their prefrontal cortex in waking life? What would our society be like if more people lived with conscious awareness?
I believe the world would change for the better.
Techniques for Lucid Dreaming
While the activation of awareness during lucid dreams can occur spontaneously, it can also be practiced through certain techniques to increase the probability of experiencing a lucid dream. Some popular and accessible techniques include reality testing, mnemonic induction of lucid dreams (MILD), and wake back to bed (WBTB) methods, though simply strengthening your sense of conscious awareness in waking life can also trigger lucid dreaming.
Increasing Waking Awareness
Awareness begets awareness.
Several years after the 2012 lucid dreaming fMRI scan, another team of researchers studied the waking brains of 14 frequent lucid dreamers (mostly because it’s expensive and difficult to pinpoint exactly when someone will lucid dream). That study observed greater-than-average communication between the prefrontal cortex and the temporoparietal junction which is responsible for differentiating the self from others, the sense of embodiment, and maintaining attention.
This all suggests that, “frequent lucid dreamers have a relatively high capacity for things like metacognition and cognitive control, or the ability to regulate thoughts, attention, and emotions.” Metacognition is the ability to think about your thinking or, simply, the ability to understand your own mind.
By cultivating waking self-awareness, you can increase the probability of experiencing a lucid dream. This can be achieved simply by becoming more mindful of your inner self throughout the day or through specific practices like meditation, reflective journaling, or starting an intentional dreamwork practice.
Reality Testing
Reality testing is a technique that is applied both during the day while awake and while dreaming.
By testing the limits of your reality throughout the day and finding them still in place, you consciously confirm that you aren’t dreaming. This can include testing the rules of gravity, your perception of linear time, and interactions with others for alignment with what you know to be true.
The theory is to build a habit of randomly checking your reality during the day because the stronger your habit becomes, the more likely you’ll be to carry it out in the dream space. If you reality check during a dream and discover something that doesn’t actual work in the waking world (like a difference in gravity), the dissonance between what you know to be true and what you are experiencing in the dream can trigger you to become lucid.
The movie Inception is a great example of this where Leonardo DiCaprio’s character uses a spinning top to indicate if he is dreaming or awake. When awake, the top would eventually stop spinning due to the forces of gravity but while dreaming the top continues to spin because the dream space does not have to follow the rules of gravity.
Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD)
MILD is quite similar to the idea of intention setting. Before first falling asleep or after waking in the middle of the night, set the intention to have a lucid dream.
With this method it is key to verbally state your intention to lucid dream, create a mantra, or engage a repeating phrase aloud before falling asleep. Vocalizing your intention helps externalize and reinforce it, moving it from abstract thought into something more concrete.
Though this technique might not work the first time you try it, persistence over time can have a greater effect.
If you wake up in the middle of the night, this is a great time to briefly meditate on lucid dreaming or verbally reassert your intention to have a lucid dream.
Wake Back to Bed Method (WBTB)
WBTB is exactly what it sounds like: waking up in the middle of the night for a period of time before heading back to sleep. The theory here is that the brief mid-night wake window engages your consciousness enough to bring it back with you into sleep and, subsequently, your dreams.
Start by setting an alarm to intentionally wake in the middle of the night (I like to shoot for the approximate time after three full sleep cycles). After waking, stay up for at least 20 minutes before heading back to bed. As you fall back asleep you can incorporate other methods like MILD, reality testing, or meditation to further engage your conscious mind and encourage it to help you gain lucidity in your dreams.
This method personally works best for me so I’d really suggest giving it a try!
Crossing the Lucid Bridge to OBEs
As we discussed earlier, lucid dreams have the potential to better your life by positively affecting your mood, helping you to more effectively problem solve, explore yourself spiritually, heal your fears, etc.
But lucid dreaming is only a stepping stone on the road to awareness and consciousness exploration. If you’re curious about experiencing your center of consciousness (and potentially your very soul) first-hand, then you’ll want to set yourself up for an out-of-body experience.
OBEs are a dreamtime phenomenon in which an individual perceives that they are conscious but located somewhere outside of their physical body.
In my personal experience, OBEs are the ultimate exploration of awareness and are seated from the perspective of the soul. If you are able to achieve an OBE, you are able to access all of the information you have for yourself about how you wish to live your own life. You are your own guide.
Notably, lucid dreams are one of the most accessible avenues for achieving an out-of-body experience.
How to Access OBEs from a Dream
Remember those studies we previously talked about from 2012 and 2017? Through them, we learned that dreaming, itself, regularly activates areas of the posterior cortex in the neocortex and that lucid dreaming further activates the prefrontal cortex, precuneus, and occipitotemporal cortices of the brain.
Adding to this, a research article from 2005 reviewed the data from 142 sources for information on OBEs and proposed that they are a product of lessened activity in multi-sensory processing areas combined with abnormal activity in the temporoparetial junction (TPJ) of the neocortex (the self-awareness center of the brain).
Beyond the data, there's a broader implication worth considering: I personally suggest that a bridge of consciousness activation from regular dreaming to lucid dreaming to OBEs could be observed through brain activity. The more areas of the neocortex that are activated during sleep and dreams, the greater awareness a dream accumulates and, subsequently, the more your consciousness can be accessed.
How fascinating would it be to one day observe an fMRI of a sleeping individual who starts to dream, activates their awareness to trigger a lucid dream, and then engages their full consciousness in an out-of-body experience?!
To translate this into actionable steps for achieving an OBE I suggest a simple process to put into practice:
Begin by increasing your probability for experiencing dreams in general. This can be achieved through beginning a dreamwork practice or simply by paying attention to your dreams. The more attention you focus on your dreams, the more your brain will understand that you value the information within them which will encourage your mind to engage in dreams more often.
Work on becoming lucid in your dreams through the techniques described in this article. As your experience with lucid dreaming solidifies and becomes more frequent, your sense of awareness may expand both in the dream space and in your waking life, building a foundation within your consciousness to support OBEs.
From within a lucid dream, begin to set the intention to OBE. Think about the research we reviewed above, lessen your perception of sensory information, and increase thinking about your sense of self (subsequently activating the TPJ). As you begin to focus on your sense of self (instead of controlling the dream imagery and narrative), your perception of consciousness may begin to detach from your body. Allow yourself to step into the OBE.
For more on achieving OBEs, check out my beginner’s guide.
Greater Awareness for a Better Life
Self-knowledge is one of the most powerful tools available to the human experience. While there are many doorways that open to the inner self, one of the most accessible is through dreams. A simple moment of dreamtime awareness can carry you across the bridge of lucidity toward deeper self-understanding, personal healing, and ultimately, the direct experience of your own consciousness.
Whether you're just beginning to explore lucid dreaming or you're ready to step into the extraordinary world of out-of-body experiences, the path forward is the same: cultivate awareness, practice with intention, and trust where the journey takes you. The most profound explorations of self don't always happen in the waking world.
