In an interesting piece on The Today Show, a psychologist discusses if dreams can be manipulated, as occurs in the movie Inception.
There are a few concepts presented, including lucid dreaming, influencing the dreams of others or even shared dreaming, as well as dream incubation. Lucid dreaming is the ability to recognize you are dreaming and then take control of the dream to accomplish what you want. This may involve problem solving or just exploring new experiences.
Our dreams can become influenced by external stimuli, but typically not to the extent that occurs in Inception. Rather, external cues (especially noises in the sleep environment) often become incorporated into our dream state. For example, a persistent alarm clock noise may become a fire alarm in a dream. This likely represents our mind's attempt to explain our experiences in a meaningful way. Often our brains try to incorporate information into a prior framework, and dreaming is no exception. A sudden jerk of a leg during sleep may become a kicked soccer ball in a dream.
Shared dreaming is sometimes reported by close people, especially spouses and even twins, but the evidence for this is not clear. It is possible that the people are merely sharing dreams because they are having the same experiences and dwelling on the same topics during the day.
Finally, dream incubation refers to using our dreams to help us problem solve. If we think of an issue as we are falling asleep we are likely to dream about it and explore creative solutions. Research consistently shows that dreaming helps us to perform better on tasks that we had learned prior to sleep. The trick becomes remembering the dream and any explored solutions upon awakening.
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I haven’t seen the movie “Inception” yet, but I heard it’s really good and want to see it soon. But, there’s something about dreams that I know can’t be proven, but for me I know it’s something that really does happen in my dreaming world.. Whenever I dream about my deceased parents (they both died young), I truly believe it is them “visiting” me in some way or form. The dream feels so real, like it almost happened!
Suzy, what an interesting comment. I know there are many people who would tell you that you are highly intuitive, psychic, or something similar and that you really are seeing your parents. This may be so although I have doubts. It seems to me that if our minds can create very realistic illusions such as seeing a threatening figure in a dark alley when in fact there is no one there and can control body/mind activities as in fire-walking and the body-piercing activities of some Hindi devotees, then it’s not surprising that our dream states can sometimes also take on a “reality” of their own. And of course this can be a very good and positive event in our life. The fact that you parents died young may be telling me that you were young when they died, is that so? If you keep a positive and open-minded attitude to these dreams they may prove to be a great comfort as well as an opportunity for learning some of the wisdom your higher mind wants you to know.
Best wishes. Dr Will in China
“It is possible that the people are merely sharing dreams because they are having the same experiences and dwelling on the same topics during the day.”
Hmm, not exactly. I’ve had shared dreams after meeting a new person irl or online and with people I knew that I didn’t often speak with or visit. It used to be awkward to ask what they remember, not as much now.
One example of a shared dream: A friend and I used to lucid/share dreams quite regularly some years ago. Sometimes we’d have a meeting point and other times we’d ‘wing it’ and see where we met up. She lived on the other side of the world so it was the only way we could ‘physically’ visit. Free + no jet lag either!
On the nights we would ‘wing it’ we’d either find ourselves in the same random place (eg, at the feet of the Sphinx) or we’d still see each other but remember two different places. Eg, one would have symbols related to where the other one was. (ie, a city street with Sphinx posters or pyramid pictures/posters in windows.)
It is my understanding that lucid dreaming/sharing is not new; it has been with us for a very long time and there are old writings, even poetry about it. It is very possible to change dreams, even nightmares, with a bit of practice/focus. The first step is believing it’s possible.
I’ve not yet seen that Inception movie but it seems like another way to introduce people to the idea that they too can change their dreams, if they dare to.
I just thinkk dreaming z just z a clue of what we have 2 change in life just like a warning for sumtin an dta gives a chance to think about whateva you have to do carefully and in a meanfull way….but from U now I can understand I rily liked it….kip dat spirit.thanx
For those who wish to know , yes it is possible to manipulate your dreams because I have done it many times and iv found ways to stop my dreams from becoming nightmares. Its not exactly something I can explain but the first step is knowing that you are in a dream because otherwise your dream will change depending on what you might be thinking about or what your mind automatically chooses to create. I have not really found a way to make myself realize that im in a dream It just happens and from then on I can change my dream to some extent, eg. iv made myself grow wings before a few times. Its kind of hard to think about controlling the whole thing (at least for me) since I usualy just let the dream happen because they are always very interesting but if you find yourself in a nightmare try thinking of a friend or something very funny or if you can think of a place where you have been that you remember smelling/feeling/seeing and you just might change your dream. I don’t often have nightmares exactly but I do dream of things that would be pretty scary to most in a dream like for some reason I have quite a few dreams about zombies but it doesn’t feel like a nightmare but this could be because I play alot of zombie games sometimes so my mind is used to a superior mindset about them haha but anyway… the nightmares almost come when I start thinking something bad is going to happen and from then I automatically starting thinking of really scary things (you dont want to know) but at that point i kinda just blank my mind and think of things that I like like cats or friends just to change what I am thinking about… im sure it takes practice but at this point I can dream of a dark scary ally and not have something bad happen or watch really scary things right before I sleep and wont even have a nightmare. Also sorry but i have no tips on waking up because I don’t usually have the need