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5 Traits of Natural...

5 Traits of Natural Lucid Dreamers

By Ryan Hurd

how to lucid dream 574x290 custom 5 Traits of Natural Lucid Dreamers

With lucid dreaming you can explore the crack between worlds, but first you have to break on through. Image by ATV Nut.


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Sleep Paralysis,...

Sleep Paralysis, Fear, and Spirituality

By Ryan Hurd

spiritual sleep paralysis

Image by nima (cc)

The following is an excerpt from my soon-to-be published ebook,  Sleep Paralysis: A Dreamer’s Guide.  This section illustrates how sleep paralysis is a complex set of experiences that includes body paralysis, waking hallucinations, and the fear that connects these two strands together, reinforcing the nightmarish aspects of the condition.

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Avatar: A...

Avatar: A Dreamer’s Review

By Ryan Hurd

avatar lucid dream 585x329 custom Avatar: A Dreamers Review

Avatar is the movie James Cameron has been dreaming about for over 20 years.  It took that long for the technology to catch up with his vision.  Worth it?  Yeah, worth it.  I usually only see movies in the theater if something is guaranteed to blow up.  Avatar met this requirement, and if you wear the 3D glasses, exceeded it.  Beyond the explosions and mind-numbing CG goodness, Avatar is a film I recommend for dreamers everywhere.

As lucid dream writer Rebecca Turner suggested, the movie actually feels like a lucid dream.  Let’s see: a man goes to sleep, wakes up in a new body, and cavorts around in a magical world full of waterfalls and long-legged sexy smurfs.  Except for that last detail, this is the proto-typical lucid dream.

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Sleep Paralysis...

Sleep Paralysis Treatment – Dreams of Being Held Down

By Ryan Hurd

fuseli nightmare big 566x449 custom Sleep Paralysis Treatment – Dreams of Being Held Down

Sleep Paralysis is a troubling sleep condition that is deeply misunderstood in our culture. Experienced by millions as an incubus attack or being “ridden by a witch,” sleep paralysis (SP) has biological causes that are related to sleep hygiene, stress, and insomnia.

In SP, the dreamer is aware of the body’s paralysis that normally comes with REM (dreaming) sleep.  This paralysis is what keeps us from acting out our dreams: a pretty important evolutionary skill that prevents us from injuring ourselves or our sleeping partners when we are dreaming about hunting tigers and bears.

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Dream & Sleep Research

The neuroscience of dreaming is a relatively new enterprise but has quickly become the major paradigm of experimental dream research today.  J. Allan Hobson, Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus at Harvard University, is the undisputed celebrity of this scientific outlook, and the author of several popular books on the topic.  Hobson, in his 30 years of [...]
Any survey of modern dream research must include Calvin Hall (1909-1985).  Hall was a behavioral psychologist who explored the cognitive dimensions of dreaming.  His work began before the discovery of REM sleep, so little was known about the biology of sleep and dreams.  Hall drew worldwide attention for his cognitive theory of dreaming, which was [...]
Except for Dr Freud, no one has influenced modern dream studies more than Carl Jung.

Dreams & Media

Avatar is the movie James Cameron has been dreaming about for over 20 years.  It took that long for the technology to catch up with his vision.  Worth it?  Yeah, worth it.  I usually only see movies in the theater if something is guaranteed to blow up.  Avatar met this requirement, and if you wear [...]
Waking Life is an animated feature film released in 2002, directed by Richard Linklater, the guy who brought us Dazed and Confused and Slacker.  This movie is a must-see for anyone interested in dreams, consciousness and how our visionary states play out in modern life.
The New York Times just ran a piece about the gaining popularity of “Dream Work” as a way for actors to move deeper into their characters. Apparently Harvey Keitel is all about it, as well as Kate Walsh from Grey’s Anatomy.

Working With Dreams

The following is an excerpt from my soon-to-be published ebook,  Sleep Paralysis: A Dreamer’s Guide.  This section illustrates how sleep paralysis is a complex set of experiences that includes body paralysis, waking hallucinations, and the fear that connects these two strands together, reinforcing the nightmarish aspects of the condition.
Sleep Paralysis is a troubling sleep condition that is deeply misunderstood in our culture. Experienced by millions as an incubus attack or being “ridden by a witch,” sleep paralysis (SP) has biological causes that are related to sleep hygiene, stress, and insomnia. In SP, the dreamer is aware of the body’s paralysis that normally comes with [...]

Consciousness & Health

A friend recently wrote in an email; “I’m coming to realize that this transformational path I’m on isn’t exactly productive. I don’t know what it is but productive it’s not.” Her comments, coupled with my own experiences of times when I am not accomplishing as much as I would like, caused me to reflect on [...]
Listening to Carrie Fisher’s encapsulated biography, “Wishful Drinking” on audiobook recently, I thought about how the Baby Boomers, and their Greatest Generation parents, had no choices when it came to depression, mental illness, homosexuality, or pain and grief.
I received this gracious email a few days ago: Hi Ryan, Here is a quote I read from your bio: “Principally, I am interested in pursuing a more radical materialism for both the sciences and the arts.” Would you say more about what you mean by this? I’ve studied material religion & theology, but [...]