Lucid dreaming is when you dream and are aware that you're dreaming.

In a regular dream, the wildest things can happen, and you still don't recognize that it's a dream. You might meet dead relatives, fly through galaxies, or fight monsters—and none of it feels strange. It's only when you wake up that the realization comes that it was a dream. In a lucid dream, you have that realization while you're still inside the dream itself, which opens up new possibilities.

If you know you're dreaming, you can start to question what's happening, learn from it, or even change the content and events. Dreams have no limitations except your imagination, and this means that you can do anything when you're lucid. You can meet or become anyone, or anything you want. You can travel anywhere in time and space or visit any fantasy world of your choice. 

Lucid dreams also tend to be far more vivid and intense than non-lucid dreams, which makes them feel incredibly real. This is important to highlight because this aspect is often overlooked when lucid dreaming is discussed. Regular dreams are often diffuse and blurry experiences that are lost just moments after you wake up. Lucid dreams, on the other hand, are such intense and realistic experiences that they can give you memories so powerful that they stay with you for life. Lucid dreams involve a state of consciousness that feels even more real than waking life, which is why the experience is like no other.

What to do in lucid dreams

Many think of becoming lucid as the ability to control the dream, but the term lucid dream refers to the awareness itself—not dream control. However, the ability to influence the dream is a result of this awareness, and it's often the reason why people want to learn to lucid dream. The most common use of lucid dreaming is for entertainment and fulfilling fantasies—flying and having sex being the most popular activities. But many lucid dreamers also find that they can solve problems, overcome nightmares and fears, come up with creative ideas, and improve skills through lucid dreaming. 

Experiences like these affect not just their dreams but their waking life as well. Studies show that athletes can improve waking world performance by practicing techniques in lucid dreams. Lucid dreaming also appears to have a therapeutic effect on people suffering from depression and even helps with recovery from PTSD. And these are just a few examples of what's possible. Lucid dreaming opens up a whole new world that very few people know about, though more people are starting to discover it.