{"id":3098,"date":"2023-06-28T05:55:04","date_gmt":"2023-06-28T09:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/new-2023-study-highlights-lucid-dreamings-role-in-ptsd-recovery\/"},"modified":"2023-06-28T05:55:04","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T09:55:04","slug":"new-2023-study-highlights-lucid-dreamings-role-in-ptsd-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/new-2023-study-highlights-lucid-dreamings-role-in-ptsd-recovery\/","title":{"rendered":"New 2023 Study Highlights Lucid Dreaming\u2019s Role in PTSD Recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Days filled with anxiety. Triggers by seemingly innocuous sights, sounds, and smells. Relentless loops of heart racing, palms sweating, and a constant sense of impending danger.<\/p>\n

Then there are nights haunted by restless sleep. Relentless nightmares that relive the harrowing moments.<\/p>\n

These are all too familiar for someone with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The struggle to find healing and peace from a traumatic past is a journey laden with emotional landmines.<\/p>\n

But imagine a world where dreams become a portal to healing. That\u2019s the basis of a groundbreaking study, \u201c<\/strong>Decreased Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Following Lucid Dream Healing Workshop<\/strong><\/a>,\u201d<\/strong> released in June 2023\u2014it converges lucid dreaming and PTSD.<\/p>\n

At the forefront of it all is Charlie Morley<\/strong>, a lucid dreaming expert and trainer of Mindvalley\u2019s Experience Lucid Dreaming<\/em> Quest. And with these new findings comes the reality that lucid dreaming is a catalyst for profound healing and inner transformation.<\/p>\n

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Charlie Morley, the lucid dreaming expert, facilitator of the study, and trainer of Mindvalley\u2019s Experience Lucid Dreaming<\/em> Quest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The Neuroscience of Lucid Dreaming<\/h2>\n

Before diving straight into the benefits of lucid dreaming<\/a> for PTSD, it\u2019s important to grasp the inner workings of the brain during a regular, non-lucid dream. Equally important is understanding the brain\u2019s unique processes that occur during a lucid state.<\/p>\n

The brain during a non-lucid dream<\/h3>\n

In a non-lucid dream, the back part of the brain is highly active. The visual cortex, the brainstem, and the occipital lobe are all firing away, but the front part of the brain (in particular the prefrontal cortex) has relatively little going on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The prefrontal cortex is where our sense of self, our sense of agency, and our sense of \u201cI am having an experience\u201d like to hang out. And when it\u2019s active, we would normally expect to be conscious, i.e., awake. When we\u2019re unconscious (a.k.a. asleep), the prefrontal cortex also likes to take a rest.<\/p>\n

This is why, in a normal dream, you can dream that you\u2019re other people\u2014because your sense of self is essentially in the \u201coff\u201d position. Then, when you wake up, the prefrontal cortex comes back online, and your sense of self returns.<\/p>\n

The brain during a lucid dream<\/h3>\n

In a lucid dream, that same process of reactivating the prefrontal cortex occurs while you\u2019re still sleeping. So the front part of the brain lights up, and you go, \u201cAha! I\u2019m having a dream<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

And once you\u2019re lucid, the brain doesn\u2019t think you\u2019re imagining or dreaming it; it thinks you\u2019re actually doing it. Because once the prefrontal cortex activates, the brain thinks you\u2019re awake.<\/p>\n

This is where things can get really interesting. It opens up one of the most fascinating potential aspects of lucid dreaming\u2014neuroplasticity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNeuroplasticity describes the brain\u2019s potential to rewire itself in favor of a newly learned skill<\/em>,\u201d says Charlie in his Quest on Mindvalley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In layman\u2019s terms, the more you engage a specific brain network, the more blood flow it gets and the deeper the grooves become within that network. These deepened grooves make the brain more efficient at firing those specific neurons.<\/p>\n

In non-lucid dreaming, neuroplasticity is not engaged. However, once you become lucid and the prefrontal cortex is reactivated, neuroplasticity is engaged.<\/p>\n

This means that in this type of vivid dream<\/a>, you can, as Charlie explains, <\/em>\u201cliterally rewire your brain while you sleep<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucid Dreaming and PTSD<\/h2>\n

With an understanding of how the brain functions during lucid dreaming, what does that mean for individuals grappling with mental health conditions like PTSD?<\/p>\n

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PTSD and trauma nightmares are disempowering experiences, but to become fully aware within a nightmare and know that it is just a dream is a deeply empowering experience, which leads to intense feelings of relief and allows the underlying psychological trauma to be released and integrated.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Charlie Morley, trainer of Mindvalley\u2019s Experience Lucid Dreaming<\/em> Quest<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There has been prior research that touched on PTSD and lucid dreaming. One such stuy<\/a> looked at military veterans with the disorder and repeated nightmares. (A high number of them reported having lucidity in their nightmares.)<\/p>\n

However, the 2023 study published in Traumatology<\/em> with Charlie at its helm explores the potential of using lucid dreaming as therapy for those with PTSD.<\/p>\n

A closer look at the study: Decreased Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Following Lucid Dream Healing Workshop<\/h3>\n

Throughout a six-day online program focused on cultivating conscious awareness in dreams, participants were guided through a range of techniques and practices. Astonishingly, by the end of the sixth day, over 85% of the participants were \u201cno longer classified as having post-traumatic stress disorder<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are a few more notable highlights of the results of the lucid dreaming-PTSD study:\u00a0<\/p>\n