There is a hypothesis that the frequency of one’s nightmares affects the number of lucid dreams (LD) they experience. Awareness caused by anxiety allows one to resist the threat in the dream scenario. Researchers from Hong Kong—Siu-Sing Wong and Calvin Kai-Ching Yu—have studied the relationship between nightmares and lucid dreams, considering a lucid nightmare to be a transitional state between the two.
The authors maintain that the ability to regulate emotions can paradoxically improve the dreamer’s experience. A nightmare and a lucid dream are characterized by different emotions: fear prevails in a nightmare, elation and euphoria prevail in a lucid dream. Strong negative emotions, however, can awaken the sleeper and they will not have time to become conscious.
Wong and Yu suggest that the ability to regulate positive emotions and reduce negative ones enhances the relationship between ordinary nightmares, lucid nightmares, and LD. The authors conducted a study involving 238 participants from Hong Kong. The results of the experiments confirmed that people who exhibited greater control over their emotion were more successful when it came to LD practice.
According to the researchers, in waking life it is necessary to avoid suppressing negative emotions and train oneself to control positive ones. This ability plays an important role in the process of transitioning from a nightmare to lucidity in a dream.
Have you noticed that a change in your emotional state in a nightmare can lead to lucidity?
The article was published in the April 2022 issue of the International Journal of Dream Research.
