A woman has shared a theory on how to induce lucid dreams that can lead to incredible nighttime experiences.
Before we get into it, let's first consider what lucid dreams are - you may have had one without even realising it.
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Essentially, they are dreams where the sleeper knows they are dreaming, with many who have them reporting the ability to control how things unfold.
They feel vivid and real, and usually happen during rapid eye movement (REM) - the stage of sleep when there is more brain activity.
According to the Sleep Foundation, surveys show that roughly 55 percent of adults have experienced at least one lucid dream during their lifetime, while 23 percent of people have them at least once a month. TikToker @mariamxsayed shared a video on the phenomenon, explaining that a lot of people can do things like 'fly' or 'go into space' and that 'it's just you who controls the dream'.
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Now, if you're not sure whether you've experienced a lucid dream before and you want to give it a go, Mariam shared a technique that may just help you to achieve it - but there are a few rules to follow.
She explained that the method is called 'wake back to bed', adding: "Step one is to go to sleep early."
So you'll want to be going to bed before or at around 11:00pm, but not before setting an alarm for 3:00am so that you'll be woken up after four hours.
"When you wake up, you will wake up at the REM stage of sleep when your brain will be more active and would make you have longer dreams," she said.
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Now this is where it gets tricky, as when that alarm goes off in the middle of the night you're supposed to walk around your room for around five to 10 minutes - so it's probably better not to do this on a night before work.
After that, it's time to hit the hay again, with Mariam stating: "Then you will wake up again, but this time you will wake up in your lucid dream.
"When you wake up, just do a reality check to make sure that you are dreaming.
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"You can do it by looking at your fingers and count them - if there are more than five fingers or less than five fingers it means that you are in a dream."
And since you're aware that you're dreaming, this means you're in a lucid dreaming - and now it's time to fly off into the sky or, well, do pretty much anything you like. At least in theory.
Thousands of people have shared their thoughts on the technique and their experiences with lucid dreaming.
For some lucky individuals, it worked, with one writing, "I just made my world's grass become rainbow."
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Another said: "Okay it happened last night I said omg I’m dreaming then I said I’m invisible and I’m not freaking lying when I started disappearing!"
Others, however, weren't so successful, especially this person who said: "Last time I tried lucid dreaming I got sleep paralysis."
And then there were plenty of commenters who knew they were destined to fail.
"Step one: failed," joked one, while another said: "I’m not moving of my bed again at 3am."
Yeah, it's safe to say I fall into the latter camp. But if you're willing to give it a try, sweet dreams!
Daisy Phillipson