MailOnline readers reveal their most bizarre lucid dreams – from turning bullets into flowers to Peter Andre making moussaka
People have done everything from splitting atoms to photographing a black hole, yet our understanding of why we dream is still a mystery.
Perhaps one of the most confusing dream habits is lucid dreaming: the ability to control exactly what happens.
Lucid dreaming, as depicted in films like ‘Inception’, could provide a useful connection between the real world and the dream world.
MailOnline readers shared their own experiences of lucid dreaming, with one saying it was like ‘being the director of your own 3D movie’.
From turning bullets into flowers to Peter Andre making moussaka, here are some of the weirdest and most wonderful lucid dreams.
Lucid dreaming causes people to experience more pleasurable ‘trips’ or psychedelic adventures when they go to sleep (depicted here by an AI)
Rachel Alexander, CEO and founder of AI company Omina Technologies in Antwerp, Belgium, says she taught herself to lucid dream as a teenager with the help of a psychologist.
‘When I was about 16 I started having nightmares where someone was chasing me and trying to kill me and I would wake up in a cold sweat,’ she told MailOnline.
‘The psychologist explained to me how to become lucid in my dreams, so I started doing it and it really worked.
‘If someone was chasing me in my dreams and trying to kill me, I would become lucid and turn the bullets into flowers, or turn on my attacker and give him or her a hug.
‘I was able to turn nightmares into pleasant dreams and I slept better. After a few years I didn’t need this trick anymore.’
According to Tore Nielsen, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Montreal, being chased is a common dream scenario, but it can prepare us for certain situations that will also occur in real life.
“By simulating a threatening situation, the dream of being chased provides a space to practice recognizing and escaping predators in one’s sleep,” says Professor Nielsen.
The idea of controlling your dreams may sound like the plot of the latest science fiction blockbuster. But this mysterious gift is a reality for about 20 percent of people, who are able to take thrilling journeys into impossible worlds (file photo)
Lucid dreaming, as depicted in films such as ‘Inception’ starring Leonardo DiCaprio (pictured), could provide a useful connection between the real world and the dream world.
Other sources suggest that being chased in a dream relates to fear in life, or avoiding acknowledging the cause of that fear.
But instead of fleeing, the legendary Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung suggested that we should “on no account resist when this element comes into contact with us.”
Ms. Alexander said her school psychologist had been unable to determine the source of her disturbing nightmares about being chased, although she had forgotten to tell her about a traumatic incident.
‘When I was 13, I got lost in Puerta Vallarta (Mexico) and was threatened by a man with a gun,’ she told MailOnline.
‘I’m GenX, born in 1972. It never occurred to me that this could be considered a traumatic experience!’ she told MailOnline.
Mrs. Alexander said she had not had a lucid dream in over 30 years and was no longer able to do so.
Lucid dreaming helps people banish nightmares or generally have more enjoyable ‘trips’ when they go to sleep (archive photo)
Meanwhile, Lisa Frankel, who lives in Henderson, Nevada, thought “anyone was able” to control their dreams when she read about lucid dreaming.
‘If they’re too scary, I can jump out and go back to bed. And sometimes I can fly in my dreams if I want to,’ she told MailOnline.
According to classical dream analysis, flying suggests that the sleeper desires more freedom in his waking life, or new opportunities.
It is estimated that 50 percent of people have had a lucid dream at some point, with 20 percent having one at least once a month and 1 percent enjoying one more than once a week.
Kiri Pryde, who lives in Wrexham, Wales, says she has lucid dreams almost every night and can control them ‘if I don’t like them’.
‘My dreams are a country I can travel to whenever I want and change the course of in an instant,’ she told MailOnline.
Lucid dreaming is in contrast to a normal dream, where the dreamer is an observer without control and has no idea that he is dreaming (artist’s illustration)
‘I know very well that I am dreaming and when I wake up and enjoy it, I actively go back to the dream.
‘A particularly memorable experience was when Peter Andre made a moussaka for me.’
Meanwhile, an anonymous lucid dreamer in Santa Clara, California, reported feeling “as if he were floating through space, surrounded by galaxies.”
“It was great until I decided to meet God,” they said. “There was a buzzing sound and it got louder and louder as I got closer to the Deity.
“When I realized this was ‘the end’ I had a hard time waking up.”
Another person in Glasgow called lucid dreaming “magical” because it allows you to fly, lift heavy objects like feathers and “jump over cities and planets into space”.
Other, more unusual lucid dreams included a walk with Salma Hayek on a tropical beach and car races at circuits in Europe.
Lucid dreaming is not common, as most people have a normal dream in which they sleep.
Research has shown that 50 percent of people have had a lucid dream at some point, while only 20 percent have one at least once a month and even fewer (about 1 percent) enjoy one more than once a week.
Research also shows that lucid dreamers have a larger prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain associated with logic and reasoning), suggesting they may be better at determining whether a scenario is false while they are asleep.