Hello all I would love to know if anybody has managed to heal themselves of a physical ailment through using lucid dreams? I haven't, although I have often received excellent and useful advice on problems and issues through dreams. I know the Greeks used to incubate dreams to get advice relating to physical ailments and personal problems. But is an actual cure through lucid dreams possible? I'd love to know. Thanks for your feedback! Carmen

Hi, Carmen

There are good hints, that the power of visualisation enforces the immune system. Lucid dreaming seems to be THE possibility to have most powerful images of being healthy. But if you ask for lucid dreams as a stand alone cure for physical diseases, I reckon there are more powerful methods. If you want to have further advice, you may use my private mail. Maybe I can give you some hints regarding orthodox or alternative healing methods. I have not heard of anyone curing physical diseases by dreams. Anyway, no disease is only physical, it always the entire being, who is ill.

Ralf

I once dreamt (non LD)that I had the ability to chose exactly what I dreamt about and that I decided to encourage my stem cells to duplicate and multiply. In the dream that followed this was achieved by visualising one cell that appeared grossly magnified and multi coloured, and singing to it. After a while it started to morph, jiggle and dance and seperate into two then four then eight and so on until they filled my entire span of vision. Then my dream self sang a song that was aimed at persuading the new stem cells to create fresh white blood cells. Which they appeared to do. I then woke up (within the dream, non LD) in a lab, wearing the compulsery white coat, examining a test tube and nodding my head as someone who appeared to be a collegue turned to me and said: "yes its worked your hairs grown back"

And then I woke up (still bald). But on reflection it seems worth consideration as an experiment, (for the experts amongst us) that could be used to gauge how influential, or inefectual dreaming for health can be. Using the measurement of white blood cells that is. Although if anyone does manage to regrow hair, or an extra limb, please let the rest of us know.

Dream on

There's a book by Jeanne Achterberg titled "Imagery in Healing: Shamanism and Modern Medicine" that you may find interesting. Dr. Achterberg is a professor of psychology at the Saybrook Graduate School in San Francisco, California. The book discusses how "the systematic use of mental imagery can help patients through painful events such as childbirth and burn treatment, as well as act as a positive influence on disease states such as cancer."

I was sick lately and in a LD I had I asked what I should do to get well. Some people told me to see a doctor, some to eat medicine. I tried to explain that I wished to get well right here and now. Then this guy in a big black van stopped and told me that the only way to get well was to eat huge amounts of meat, preferably hot dogs with a lot of mustard. Then he served me two three hot dogs from the grill he had in the back of his car. They taste really good. When I woke up I felt a little better and a few days later I was totally recovered. If the hot dogs really had anything to do with it I don't know, but it's a fun idea...

Hi, all

Andrew, thanks for the tip.

Linus, don't know with what you were sick, but mustard is used to treat influenza and other diseases in naturopathy.

My funny thought to that:

I think it was a homeopath named von Boenninghausen, who recommended only to sniff the "odour" of homeopathic medication, which anyway (high potentised) doesn't contain "scientific reasonable" amounts of substance. Boenninghausen's advice makes clear, that he refers to the "information" of the medicament, not to the substantial pharmacological effect. Now, to dream of a substance may from this point of view mean an even higher "potentising" of mustard (and of the other substances making up the hot dog). Wonder what would be the homeopathic "picture" of hotdog LM potentised (that is very high).

Keep getting higher

Yours Ralf

I never say never, usually.

If I say never, I make it self-fulfilling, though, and in this area of study it's all about schemas, isn't it? I'll try to taste something in a dream next time I become lucid. I also need to fly up to some clouds per another suggestion.

I'm a reluctant smoker who has quit off and on for the past few years. In a given year, I think I do not smoke more days than I do smoke.

But as for realism in dreams: I did smoke once. Yes, I inhaled. And no, there was no flavor! (Like cigarrettes have flavor)

Here's what I find fascinating...

Anyway, the next day I woke up, I didn't smoke until that evening. Usually, I'm anxious for one within the first hour of awakening.

It's mind boggling to think about this because nicotene is a physical addiction, but my mind created such a convincing experience that it seemed to override the physical "need" for nicotene early in the morning.

When I wake up it's usually right in front of my mind which, btw, isn't helping my dream recall. But that morning it was something that I thought about with a little bit of apathy; I didn't care about getting my smokey-treat.

Yes, as I become more experienced, I do want to do all of the experiments and enjoy all of the possibilities of lucid dreaming. A transcendent experience, etc. That's why I'm here, really.

However, I'm also wondering if lucid dreaming isn't a great laboratory for trying to deal with addiction and/or behavior modification. After all, since it's such a real experience, why not take advantage of it.

I'm convinced in the power that it can have on my waking life, so...how much influence can I wield from the dream state?

YES; the lucid dreaming state as laboratory is one of my very favorite subtopics. You're right-- there is certainly a lot more that can be done with the state.

You may have found yourself a good short-term use for it. Yet I'm wondering if some different and more long-term strategy wouldn't be an even better use of the LD state in this particular case, since it doesn't really solve the core issue. But interesting, yes, that the mind is so powerful it can be stronger than the undisputed physical power of nicotine addiction.

I can envision people employing some pretty effective behavior modification strategies using lucid dreaming. Now if we could just get more people excited to explore LD, the big VR machine between our ears!

reverie

I hadn't even thought of long-term possibilities.

I'm just so new to the subject that I'm not sure what is and is not theoretically possible. As a result, I have a lot of questions. Some might be good, plenty are probably a little goofy. I'm willing to accept that I know very little right now. Anyone who says otherwise gets a quote from Socrates.

It's exciting to be able to be a part of such exploration. Something neat about going where no one has but not needing a rocket, shirkas, or equipment.

Just pure exploration...

Hi, lucid folks!

Right, Brenda, we have that behaviour changing machine and we can use it. We can set ourselves free from the need to behave automatically, if we follow the path of lucid dreaming, lucid living, lucid being. I'm sure of that, I live that.

Kerry, I once had a similar lucid smoking dream:

Lucid smoke November, 1st, 2001

I'm just lying with my head on something, then get the smell of a cigarette. I take it in my hand automatically, take it between my lips and suck. It isn't lit. Then it dawns on me that I quit smoking and throw that thing away. (It exactly looks like the lung - dart, that a colleague of mine made by himself yesterday) Then I stand and wonder, if it is necessary to act that dismissive. I take the fag, light it and do some deep tokes, enjoy the taste and the feeling of the smoke floating through my airways into my lungs and out again through nose and mouth. I'm even feeling how the nicotine enters my vessels and finally reaches my calves, which are getting somewhat weak. I very well remember that feelings, I quit smoking in the beginning of June. It is good to feel that and to know, that it doesn't matter. I walk around, there are among the crowd that is here (seems to be a party going on) some people, who know me and are astonished to see me smoking. I say, it doesn't matter, because I'm dreaming. Everybody is sitting on long tables, talking. It is a hall. I join some people I don't exactly know. I sit down. A woman I don't know is crawling under the table, coming up now. I help her and let her sit next to me, kind of flirting with her. As I look around, I see my beloved Astrid sitting some feet away on the same table. OK. I say very loud, so that all people may hear me: "This is a dream!" Most people get quiet and turn around. I want to prove it (to them), stand up and am going to fly. There is a brief moment of doubt. Am I really dreaming? And if I do: Am I really able to fly now? I try it and succeed through high jumps, until I reach the ceiling, that is ca. five meters high.

Comment (back in 2001): The onset of the dream may be that I smelled a cigarette, that someone in my house below me smoked. (I sometimes smell it in waking life. We sleep with open window). And the special cigarette recalls a meeting with colleagues yesterday. The smoking thing is a good application of LD, at least for me: I can enjoy the taste without sliding back into smoking.

Comment 2003:

I hope that helps. It was especially funny for me to PLAY with smoking in this LD. That sets free some of the huge amount of energy it needed to stay "clean". After the LD it was easier for me. I was even able to enjoy the flavour of tobacco, when someone else smoked. That is still the case for me now. I still don't smoke.

Tons of lucids for everyone

Ralf

P.S.

Find the entire report in "post your lucid dreams - miscellaneous", archive through November 11, 2001.

P.P.S

Thanks for the friendly hint, Keelin

Ralf

How interesting! It's ironic that in recovery rooms like AA and NA all over the world newly clean addicts regularly panic about their "drunk dreams or "using dreams", thinking they may have slipped, or just not being quite sure what to make of them. These dreams are well known in the addiction experience, so it's not surprising you had one. But the added element of lucidity really gave you an edge. What a help this would be for recovering addicts, I think! Thanks for the report!

Paul

Nice to know I'm not the only one who has had such a dream. Statistically speaking I suppose it's impossible that someone wouldn't but I guess what I'm saying is that I never thought I'd run into someone who had one...lucid no less!

Hi, Ralf! That wonderful organic machine between our ears has many undocumented features, that's for sure!

Great post, reverie

So, Healing addictions through lucid dreaming. What an exciting concept! Addicts facing dream scenarios of temptation, instead of succumbing, could instead practice the tools of their recovery programs, like calling another recovering addict, going to a dream meeting, walking away, etc. What a confidence builder that would be!

For instance, it might be more helpful for anyone quitting smoking to chose not to smoke that dream cigarette, rather than to tell themselves that it's ok because it's only a dream. That is only a step away from saying, it's ok, it's only one; or it's ok, no one else is watching. Is that really what we want to teach our subconscious?

Paul

Paul and all!

I'm not sure if we can conclude something general from the few experiences given here. Looking at Terry's report, he writes:

"But as for realism in dreams: I did smoke once. Yes, I inhaled. And no, there was no flavor! (Like cigarrettes have flavor) Here's what I find fascinating...

Anyway, the next day I woke up, I didn't smoke until that evening. Usually, I'm anxious for one within the first hour of awakening."

For me it was, too, that the need to smoke lessened after the dream. Don't ask me for a scientific explanation. I commented on that before.

My personal opinion is, that it was good for me to enjoy smoking in the LD. It is hard to think all day (and night): "I don't want to smoke, I don't..." It is good to let go of smoking and to let go of thinking about it. For me my LD helped me to let go of thinking about smoking. This is what I mean with: It set me free. Free to use my time and energy for other things.

Other people might improve by different behaviour in LD. Like you suggested. Give it a try.

Free, free, set them free...

Ralf

Ralf, spoken like a true cigarette addict. (lol) Must justify the behavior one is ostensibly trying to avoid.

Paul

What if instead of taking a healing potion (for whatever ailment you might have) in a lucid dream, you were to inject yourself with the cure? For those who can summon needles in their lucid dreams, injection might work better than oral administration of the drug. If you have a skin problem, on the other hand, a topical gel might work best. You could even do this in a dream bathroom where you have access to a mirror.

There's an excellent book on the practice of dream healing. It's called "The Practice of Dream Healing" by Edward Tick, Ph.D.

There seems to be at least two approaches to dream healing. One is to keep a dream journal and use it as a tool to explore issues with a clinical psychotherapist. "The Practice of Dream Healing" covers this approach. Another is to incubate a lucid dream and manipulate the imagery somehow. In this way, the dreaming part of the mind (perhaps the right hemisphere?) is capable of communicating through symbolic imagery to the part that controls the immune system (perhaps the hypothalamus?). I'm extremely curious to know what images are useful for activating this mind-body connection. I've read that some people visualize white knights or Angels to represent white blood cells and imagine that these helpers battle victoriously against cancer cells, for instance. However, I'm not sure what the best method is to visualize cancer, foreign invaders, and other diseases. Can anyone expand upon this idea and/or clarify the brain structures responsible?

http://www.sawka.com/spiritwatch/tableof.htm

There are a bunch of fascinating articles on this web site. Near the end is an article by Stephen LaBerge on lucid dream healing.

Our brains contain a pharmacopoeia of chemical substances. The "placebo effect" is evidence that expectation can alter the flow and production of these chemicals. Endorphins, for example, are peptides that are associated with bliss and pain relief. They are the body's natural morphine molecules, hence the name "endorphin". We may be able to access them in lucid dreams through sexual encounters and/or transcendental experiences. What I want to know is the techniques that enable a lucid dreamer to access the medicine in his or her bodymind. Specifically, if a dream is akin to a theatrical performance, what should the play be about and what do the various characters represent?

I just thought of a new twist to overcoming nightmares through lucid dreams. Instead of pacifying your dream foes, perhaps you can enlist them as allies to combat physical diseases! For example, if you are having recurring nightmares about alligators or sharks (especially sharks), swim underwater and direct these creatures to attack your target disease. The sharks, in this case, would represent your own lymphocytes, and the body of water that you are swimming through would represent your own vital fluids. In this way, your negative dream characters do not necessarily transform into non-aggressive entities to be integrated into the self. Rather, they are redirected to combat your "real" foes: the viruses, bacteria, or cancer cells that you need to destroy for optimal health.

Update: Smoke free for six months. Virtually caffeine free for seven days. One cup of green tea and tons of water. (as opposed to six to ten pepsi's per day and no water)

I have had several non-lucid dreams where I've smoked but they've since gone away.

Since I seem to be getting my act together, I'm anxious to restart my attempts at lucidity. For the past few years, I was sleeping 30-60 minutes at a time with 10-15 minutes in between cycles. Now that I'm getting anywhere from 1 to 3 hours of sleep in a cycle I'm feeling much more like lucidity is a real possibility.

Kerry:

Good for you for kicking the smoke and caffeine habit. Water is so good for us and many of us don't drink enough of it, so keep slurping it up

I'm sure your desire to restart your attempts at lucidity will produce lucid dreams. I have them sometimes when I nap between 1 to 3 hours so I think you're on the right track.

Hang in there!

Blue Topaz