Training for Lucid
Awareness in Dreams,
Fantasy,
and Waking Life
Judith Malamud*
In this paper, I would like to focus on lucidity as a
concept, and on lucidity
training as a means of fostering
psychological growth.
What makes dreams seem so strange? My work with lucidity
grew out of my desire
to overcome, in myself, first of
all, that paradoxical split in consciousness
wherein I “know” that my dreaming
is uniquely self—expressive and reflects my
deepest personal concerns, yet I
frequently do not understand my own dreams.
Many of us who are mystified and fascinated by dreams like
to think of dreams
as precious gifts to be opened,
sacred texts to be faithfully recorded and
analyzed, or secret coded messages,
sent from one “part” of the self to another
“part” of the self, to be decoded
and translated, these metaphors, though
enchanting, are misleading, because
they make dreams seem like things we receive
from elsewhere, rather than
creative action1 that we undertake as unified beings.
My approach to lucidity training aims to overcome this kind
of alienation from
self by fostering awareness of
ourselves as active dream creators, of the
cognitive and emotional processes
by which we create dreams, and of the unique
safety of the imagination as space
for acquainting ourselves with all of our
human psychological potentials.
What would it mean to be able to dream
consciously? It would mean being at
one with oneself, fusing spontaneity with
purpose, and acting freely with
full awareness.
Just as I would rather learn to paint than study “art
appreciation,” so would
I rather learn to dream than study dream interpretation.
Interpretive approaches may
*Presented at the American Psychological Association Annual
Convention, Symposium on Lucid Dreaming,
increase the ability to understand
dreams, but by requiring that the dreamer take the stance of audience to the
dream, they reinforce the dreamer’s sense of alienation from his or her own
creation. I found that I would have to go beyond interpretive approaches to my
dreams in order to work toward my aim of being able to dream the way I can
paint or dance——freely and spontaneously, yet with creative purpose and full
awareness that I am the creator of my experience. In lucidity training, I use
active fantasy, which requires a participatory stance. By using fantasy as a
bridge between the waking and dreaming modes, lucidity training is hands—on
practice in conscious “dreaming” during the waking state, and tends to
facilitate a direct awareness of one’s own intended meanings.
I find lucidity in dreams so intriguing because it provides
a model for expanded awareness. However, minimal lucidity——realizing
you are dreaming during a dream——does not yet amount to much. In order to
explore the possibilities of lucid dreaming, you still need to clarify what
kind of reality the dream is, how dream reality differs from waking reality,
and what unique opportunities it offers. I differentiated three characteristics
of dream experience which the dreamer must keep in mind in order to be fully
lucid:
First, the creative source. You are the primary
creator of your dream world and dream experience.
Second, the connection between self and environment. The
apparent separation between yourself and your dream environment is an illusion.
In creating your dream images, you are expressing yourself and your unique perceptions
of reality.
Third, alternate realities.2 Your dream experience is but one
subjective reality contained within the larger reality of the waking world.
As an alternate reality, the dream offers different possibilities and
limitations from those of ordinary waking life. Within the dream, you can
choose among alternative ways of structuring and responding to your
experience.
While lucidity in dreams obviously offers exciting
possibilities for
experimentation and
self—confrontation, what excites me even more is the realization that the
concept of lucid awareness can be extended to apply to fantasy and waking
reality as we1l.3 The essence of lucidity, in any state of
consciousness, is awareness of the subjective aspects of a seemingly objective
reality. Fantasy, like dreaming, is an internal imaginary form of reality, and
therefore full lucidity during fantasy involves awareness of essentially the
same three characteristics as those I just stated for dreams. Although waking
reality is significantly different from the imaginary realities, in that it I
involves more objective and concrete elements, lucidity in waking life is
analogous to dream lucidity and involves awareness of three parallel
characteristics:
First, the creative source.
You are continuously contributing to the creation of your waking world and
waking experience.
Second, the connection between self and environment. The
apparent separation between yourself and your waking environment is an
illusion. As an interdependent co—creator of your waking experience, you are
continuously expressing yourself and your unique perceptions of reality.
Third, alternate realities.
Your waking experience is one, relatively subjective reality which offers
different possibilities limitations from those of the more encompassing reality
you might experience if “awakened” from your ordinary waking life. Within waking reality, you can choose
among a1ternative ways of structuring and responding to your experience.
In 1979, I completed a doctoral dissertation in which I
differentiated these three aspects of lucid awareness, extended the concept of
lucidity to apply to the fantasy and waking states, devised continua to define
levels of lucidity, and developed procedures for lucidity training. In the principal training procedure, subjects “re—dreamed” their
dreams lucidly, during waking fantasy, with the aim of increasing their
satisfaction in the dream. I hypothesized that practicing the lucid attitude and consciously striving for
satisfaction during these dream—inspired fantasies, or waking dreams, would
result in both increased lucidity, and a greater capacity to achieve
satisfaction when confronting problems and opportunities not only in waking
dreams, but also in sleep-dreams and in waking life.
I explored this hypothesis through an in-depth study of six
subjects, using a dialectical rather than classically experimental research
design. That is, I used feedback from the subjects to revise and improve the
lucidity training methods as the study progressed, giving particular attention
to the varied capacities of each subject.
The subjects were sent orientation materials and training
instructions for having lucid
waking dreams, including a lucidity training manual, an outline of the lucidity
continuum, and a lucidity checklist. The lucidity checklist covered five typical
dream situations in which a dreamer might benefit from lucidity: “problematic
relationships,” “threatening situations,” “frustrating situations,”
“improprieties” and “impossibilities.”
The subjects were instructed to mail me at least one dream
each week, with lucidity work, for eight to twelve weeks. I responded with
detailed feedback letters offering suggestions for heightening awareness of
dream feelings, becoming more fully lucid, and working toward more satisfying
resolutions of dream situations.
The criteria that I used to assess changes in the subjects
were self—report and my own observations of changes on 22 variables, including
lucidity, satisfaction, attitudes toward the imagination, and values concerning
personal growth. The raw data, which consisted of taped interviews and written
correspondence between me and the subjects, is extensively quoted in the
dissertation.
The most frequent result was that the subjects became more
lucid in their waking fantasies. That is, they became more aware of their
imaginative power and creativity, they behaved more freely, fearlessly, and
uninhibitedly during their fantasies, and they gained insight into themselves
by recognizing the self—reflecting nature of their own imagery. There were less
data available assess whether changes occurred in the subjects’ sleep—dreams,
waking lives, and other outcome categories, but there too, the results
encouraged me to believe that with further development and refinement of the
training methods, lucidity training could be very effective in increasing
awareness and satisfaction in living.
My thinking about lucidity has continuously been stimulated
by dialogue with subjects and colleagues who often raise questions and objections.
Here are some of the concerns that come up most frequently, and a brief summary
of my current views:
Question——Is it not possible
that if we give free play to our fantasies, we may be flooded by unacceptable
thoughts, wishes and feelings that may lead us to behave immorally or irrationally?
Ordinarily, no. Awareness of a wish
does not automatically lead to action; choice and decision intervene. We may be
more likely to act inappropriately on our irrational or immoral motives if we
are unaware of them. Becoming conscious of our wishes enables us to
choose consciously whether and how we will act on them. An exception: people
who have difficulty telling the difference between their fantasies and reality
probably will not want to attempt lucidity training unless others are available
to provide support and help with reality—testing.
Question——One of the most valuable and delightful
qualities of dreams is their spontaneity. If we learn to direct our dreams
consciously, won’t we lose the benefits of that spontaneity?
Unlikely. The development of the
capacity for conscious control does not necessitate indiscriminate use of that
capacity. Lucid dreamers can allow their dreams to proceed spontaneously, if
they prefer.
Question——Isn’t there a danger that lucidity
training, by teaching us to control the unconscious mind, may stifle its
wisdom and impose the one—sided attitudes and values of the conscious mind?
No. In the first place, it is a mistake to equate ordinary
dreaming with purely unconscious behavior. Most dreams involve both conscious
and unconscious processes. For example, one may be aware of deciding how to
respond to a dream situation, without being aware that one is also creating
that situation at that very moment.
Secondly, as a dreamer, one acts as
a unity and dreams what one predominately wants to dream, whether consciously or
not, within the limits of what one believes is possible, given one’s perception
of reality. Conscious intentions will not prevent the expression, in some form,
of stronger, opposing unconscious wishes.
Finally, I think it is a mistake to assume that ordinary, non—lucid dreams necessarily offer a wiser or deeper
picture of personal reality than do lucid, consciously created dreams or one’s
conscious waking thoughts. While the spontaneity of ordinary dreaming may break
through the inhibitions and self— censorship of waking life, it frequently does
not. Why? Because the non—lucid dreamer falsely
assumes she or he is awake, and therefore subject to all the limitations
and moral taboos of waking life. On the other hand, when we dream with maximum
lucidity, we are aware that we do not have to be bound by such limitations, and
we therefore have the maximum opportunity to give free play to our imaginations
for self—discovery without inhibition or self—deception. As an example,
consider the non—lucid dreamer who shies away from
acting on, or even admitting, sexual feelings during a dream because the
situation would seem improper——for waking life. The same dreamer, if
lucid, would feel free to explore and enjoy his or her own sensual feelings
during the dream, without fear of waking—life consequences.
Question——Is it not
unrealistic to believe that one can ever have total conscious control in
dreams?
Yes. Since the development of awareness is a gradual process
with no end—point, and since dreaming, like any other activity, is mediated by
many situational factors, the concept of total lucidity is offered here as a
theoretical ideal.
Question——Is one really
totally safe in dreams?
Dream imagery often expresses fears that are valid responses
to real threats. However, threatening dream images are not the real
dangers they represent. This lucid perspective enables one to ‘take the
threatening life situation as seriously as is warranted, while using one’s
dream imagery about the situation to experiment fearlessly with creative
responses.
Question——Doesn’t the
practice of lucid fantasy, like ordinary daydreaming, encourage retreat into a
world of imaginary gratifications?
On the contrary, lucid fantasy, unlike ordinary
day—dreaming, inherently leads to facing oneself more realistically as one
consciously confronts one’s own projections in one’s imagery. Like
ordinary daydreaming, lucid imagining can be used to rehearse positive
behaviors and to develop life—shaping aspirations.
Applications for Lucidity Training
The ultimate value of lucidity is its potential to increase
satisfaction in living Because lucidity and the pursuit of satisfaction enhance
each other synergistically, lucidity training incorporates satisfaction as a
goal and as a continuously monitored felt sense.5 Some of my
subjects could not at first, achieve clarity about their actual feelings,
values and desires because they were irrationally afraid of having any thoughts
or feelings which they considered “bad,” and were too busy censoring their spontaneous
reactions. Maximal lucidity which involves the thoroughgoing knowledge that
imagining and acting—in—the world are not the same, leads to the realization
that it is both useful and safe to use dreams and fantasies to strip away
conventional restraints and to use one’s spontaneous reactions of satisfaction
and dissatisfaction as a source of inner guidance. Because lucidity involves
recognition of one’s creative powers, of alternative possibilities, and
previously unrecognized inner potentials, also increases the likelihood of obtaining
satisfaction. Conversely, a satisfaction seeking orientation, by continually
posing the question, “how can I make the best of this situation?” acts as a
stimulus to creativity and provides motivation to apply lucid awareness.
Lucidity training could be integrated in psychotherapy,
where specific applications might include the treatment of nightmares and
phobias. I have been particularly interested in developing group exercises to
foster sharing, mutual helpfulness and intimacy among friends, couples, family
members, and workshop participants. I would predict that many students of
lucidity training will find
once they have consolidated all the
basic principles and techniques, that they can continue to use the method on their
own. Lucidity training can also be used as a path for spiritual growth. The
clearing away, through lucidity, of cobwebs of projection, can lead to a newly
vivid and profound perception of oneself and others, while the lucid awareness
of the interconnectedness of self and others, whether in dreams, fantasies, or
waking life, may ultimately foster a cherishing of the precious qualities of
each individual being.
References
1. Schafer, R. A new language for psychoanalysis.
Press, 1976.
2. LeShan, L. Alternate realities: the search for the full human being. New
3. Malamud, J.R. Lucidity in waking life. Dream Network
Bulletin, 1982, 1(5).
4. Malamud, J. R. The development of a
training method for
the cultivation
of
‘lucid” awareness in fantasy, dreams, and waking life (doctoral
dissertation).
No. 8010380.
5. Cendlin, E.T. Focusing (2nd ed.).
Lucidity Letter Back
Issues, Vol. 1, No. 4, October, 1982, page 27.