Most of us fall asleep each night and completely lose sight or awareness into the fact that we are dreaming. One moment we are lying in bed, feeling tired while our eyes are closed, the next moment we are waking up and recounting the dream that we just had.
When we were dreaming, we didn't realize that everything that we saw around us was a dream. We went through the actions in the dream as if it was real life and only later realized it was a dream upon waking up.
Lucid Dreaming is just as the term suggests, it is being lucid, awake...aware...while you are dreaming. When you are in a lucid dream, you know that the events, images, and situations that surround you are a dream and not real. In a lucid dream, you have the knowledge that while you are seeing everything in front of you, none of it is real. You know that you are, in fact, lying in bed with your eyes closed.
The amazing thing about lucid dreams is that it allows you complete control over everything that you are experiencing. For example, if you want to fly, you can simply jump in the air and fly. If you want to meet the president, you can just wish for it and the president will appear.
You are basically the "owner" of the dream world where you have unlimited power and can do anything you want.
Some trivial, but fun things that people have done in their lucid dreams:
1. Flying.
2. Moving objects with your mind (telekenisis).
3. Meeting celebrities or famous people.
4. Passionate encounters with someone you desire or are attracted to.
Of course, none of these things are really happening. They are only occurring in your mind, in the dream world. You are not really flying or moving things with your mind. The celebrities you meet are just created by your own subconscious mind and are not the "actual" celebrities. However, this doesn't mean it's not "fun" to pretend to have a conversation with Albert Einstein or Leonardo Da Vinci.
Now, as mentioned, the possibilities mentioned above are really quite trivial and are really for one's own personal entertainment. The true benefit of lucid dreaming is the ability to explore your own mind and learn about your true self.
One such benefit is being able to confront your fears. For example, if you are having a nightmare and you become lucid, you can confront the "monster" or "fear" in your dream. You know that since it is a dream, you are not in danger. You can conquer your fears and issues at the root level. This is actually the best therapy you can get, because you are confronting your issues at the source...your subconscious mind.
