The use of lucid dreams (LD) for enhancing or studying creativity is, of course, not new. But the reports on this topic among scientists, at the 37th Annual Conference of the International Association for the Study of Dreams, can be considered another step towards the transition of this practice to the level of scientific research.
Tzivia Gover, for example, discussed LD as a tool for improving writing skills. One of the practices she considers most important to her writing is keeping a dream journal. Quoting famous writers and poets, the speaker advised creative people to start working first thing when they wake up, while the brain is in a state of being half asleep. Many authors, Gover added, describe the flow-state in moments of creative insight, which resembles lucid day-dreaming.
Another researcher, Angel Morgan — founder and director of the Dreambridge — spoke of combining lucid dreams, creativity and psychology in her work. Morgan offers workshops on dream psychodrama, where participants become actors in their dream scenes, rewriting and redirecting the dream plot for positive purposes.
An interesting example of the application of the LD experience based on modern technologies was presented by the artist Sheila Asato. In 2016, Google created the “Tilt Brush” tool, which allows users to draw 3D paintings in virtual reality. Sheila experimented with this technology and eventually began to practice lucid dreaming, which responded to the new art form. In the REM5 Virtual Reality Lab, the artist was even called a “Dream Artist-in-Residence.”
Have you tried using the LD practice for creative purposes?
The abstracts of the conference reports were included in the supplement to Vol. 14 of the International Journal of Dream Research.
