Phase Today

August 14 – Happy Birthday to Victor Spoormaker! Today we celebrate the birthday of Victor Spoormaker, a Dutch researcher whose work has contributed to the scientific study of lucid dreaming. Among his best-known studies is research suggesting that lucid dreaming may help reduce recurring nightmares. It was among the earliest studies to explore the therapeutic potential of lucid dreaming. Using EEG, Spoormaker also showed that brain regions involved in self-awareness are more active during lucid than ordinary dreams. His research has also explored the relationship between lucid dreaming, metacognition, volition, and psychosis. Today, he continues his work at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, where his recent research focuses on sleep, cognition, and brain function. The scientist’s works are available on ResearchGate. More Phase Today news in the LucidMe app: App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id907469483 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phaser

A new study published in a neurology journal examined sleep paralysis in 499 medical students and found that 33.9% had experienced at least one episode while falling asleep or waking up. Episodes were often accompanied by sensations of flying, out-of-body experiences, chest pressure, suffocation, and vivid hallucinations. Nearly 44% reported seeing shadows, figures, or entities sitting on their chest, while 35% heard unusual sounds or footsteps. Most episodes were occasional, but 6.2% met the criteria for recurrent isolated sleep paralysis. The findings suggest that sleep paralysis is common among young adults and closely linked to altered states of consciousness and out-of-body experiences. Study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42268274/ More Phase Today news in the LucidMe app: App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id907469483 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phaser

A new study published in the journal Dreaming investigated whether lucid dreaming training could improve emotional processing. However, the strongest effects were linked to REM sleep itself rather than lucid dreaming. Researchers Jamie Tartar, Logan Bratter, Shiny Lal, and Jonathan Banks studied 80 participants who underwent EEG sleep monitoring and completed lucid dreaming training. The training did not increase the number of lucid dreams. However, participants who spent more time in REM sleep performed better on cognitive tasks despite negative emotional distractions. The findings suggest that REM sleep may help regulate emotions and protect cognitive function even without lucid dreaming. Source: https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000345 See more news from Phase Today in the LucidMe app. App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id907469483 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phaser

A new study published in J Sleep Res explored the relationship between sleep paralysis and interoception, the ability to notice and interpret internal bodily signals. Researchers Giuseppe Forte, Danilo Giaccari, Francesca Favieri, and Maria Casagrande surveyed 210 participants and found that about one in four had experienced at least one episode of sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis was not associated with poor sleep quality or chronic anxiety. Instead, it was linked to insomnia symptoms and greater sensitivity to internal bodily sensations. The findings suggest that sleep paralysis may occur when REM-related atonia overlaps with conscious awareness, blurring the boundaries between the body, sleep, and consciousness. Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42283104/ See more news from Phase Today in the LucidMe app. App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id907469483 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phaser

A recent study published in the International Journal of Dream Research found that many teenagers experience lucid dreams even if they do not know the term "lucid dreaming." Researchers Michael Schredl and Lillien Müller surveyed 226 adolescents aged 10–20. About 53% reported at least one lucid dream, meaning they realized they were dreaming while asleep. Only about one third knew what lucid dreaming was before the study. The researchers found no significant increase in lucid dream frequency with age, suggesting that lucid dreaming may begin relatively early and remain stable throughout adolescence. The authors suggest that future research should examine whether lucid dreaming could help adolescents cope with nightmares, anxiety, and emotional stress. Source: https://doi.org/10.11588/ijodr.2025.2.112175 See more news from Phase Today in the LucidMe app. App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id907469483 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phaser

We're returning to regular publishing. Our mission is to share the latest research and discoveries in lucid dreaming, sleep, and consciousness. Going forward, you can expect regular science news, reviews of new studies, and the most exciting discoveries in the field. From now on, all major Phase Today publications will be released first in the LucidMe app. Follow our page so you don't miss any updates. LucidMe on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lucidme-sleep-dream-journal/id907469483 LucidMe on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phaser&hl=en

September 2 – Stephen LaBerge’s Birthday Stephen LaBerge is an American psychophysiologist, the founder and head of the Lucidity Institute, and the author of books that are widely read by lucid dreamers around the world. In 1980, he received his doctorate, presenting a dissertation on lucid dreaming (LD) at Stanford University. Eight years later, the Los Angeles Times called him “Dr. Dreams” at a time when LD was a “little-understood subject.” “Once I know it’s a dream, I’m aware that the rules of the real world no longer apply, and I’m free to do all kinds of impossible things,” the researcher said. At that point, he was working in a small room full of computers and other electronic equipment, while in the next room were beds occupied by dreamers hooked up to devices. “Had I been able to get funding, I would have stayed solely a researcher,” LaBerge added. The lack of financial support forced him to write books, give lectures, and conduct seminars. The scientist also created the first devices for stimulating LD: DreamLight and NovaDreamer. Another method he developed to increase the frequency of LD was MILD (Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams), or, more simply, creating the intention to become conscious in a dream. In addition, LaBerge advises the following methods: – Reality checks – Keeping a dream journal (with an emphasis on recurring plots) – Sleep interruption technique (which requires getting up an hour earlier than usual and staying awake for 30–60 minutes, after which the subject can go back to sleep with the intention of becoming aware) Over the past year, LaBerge and his colleagues have actively studied what happens in the brains of lucid dreamers. It turns out that, in comparison to ordinary dreams, lucid dreams contain more visual sensations, greater cognitive control and metacognition, fewer emotions, and less immersion in oneself, resulting in more interest in the surrounding space. At the same time, beta activity decreases in the right parietal region, which is responsible for spatial orientation, and gamma rhythms increase in the temporo-occipital region. Furthermore, different parts of the brain begin to “communicate” better with each other. Who do you consider to be the most influential pioneer in research on lucid dreaming? A link to the Lucidity Institute’s Facebook page: https://facebook.com/lucidityinstitute/

August 31 – Patricia Garfield's birthday Patricia Garfield, PhD in clinical psychology, is a world authority in the field of dreams. She has written more than ten books on the topic, the most famous among them being Creative Dreaming. The bestseller was published in 1974, appeared in fifteen languages, and is considered a classic. Garfield was a frequent guest on television and radio, as well as a co-founder of the International Association for the Study of Dreams over which she presided in 1998–99. In her work Creative Dreaming, the author describes many well-known methods of developing self-awareness in dreams, ways of applying this skill, as well as cases of false awakenings. Let us take a minute to recall the ways to induce a lucid dream (LD) as described in one of the classics in the field: 1. Fright. According to Garfield, short episodes of LD often grow out of stressful situations in a dream. 2. The development of vigilance, paying attention to the surrounding inconsistencies and absurdities. 3. Transitioning to LD directly from the waking state (including immediately after waking up) through the observation of emerging images. 4. Keeping a dream journal. As the author adds, illness, fatigue and menstruation in women negatively affect the ability to remember dreams. Having achieved awareness in a dream, you should be vigilant and maintain a balance between the danger of falling into a normal dream (avoid getting distracted by the plot and constantly remind yourself that you are dreaming) and waking up (which can be provoked by excitement and excess of emotions). Garfield puts special emphasis on the creative potential of LD, since the lucid dreamer can literally pull a poem, a piece of music, a picture, a mathematical formula, and anything else at will out of the dream. Other listed LD activities include traveling, communicating with the dead, getting answers to your questions, sex, flying, psychotherapy, etc. The world of LD is limited only by the imagination of the sleeper. As the web-site Creative Dreaming, dedicated to Garfield’s work and named after her bestseller, adds, she is probably the creator of the longest extant dream journal, since she has been keeping it for more than 60 years.

How to Distinguish a Near-Death Experience from Delirium Near-death experiences aren’t all that rare. As many as 20% of people who survive cardiac arrest and 15% of those who’ve been in intensive care report having various “adventures.” Incidentally, the impact of these “journeys” can be either positive (e.g., increased empathy, reduced fear of death) or negative (e.g., misunderstanding from others, psychological issues). Researchers from the UK and Belgium, led by Pascal Michael, conducted a review of studies on this topic. The most important thing is to learn to distinguish near-death experiences from pathologies—in particular, delirium or hallucinations, which are common in critically ill patients. The authors note that medications can also influence the likelihood that these “adventures” will occur or that the person will have memories of them. People sometimes maintain a connection with their surroundings during near-death experiences and later recount what was happening around them during resuscitation. The authors suggest including questions on this topic in the standard protocol for interviewing patients after a coma or intensive care. Technology also inspires optimism. Scientists may soon be able to identify this state based on a person’s brain activity instead of relying on personal accounts. Incidentally, not only are the “full” near-death experiences, but there are also “threshold” ones, which involve individual elements, such as an out-of-body experience, a meeting with a deceased individual, or a sensation of light. Near-death experiences may be one of the phase states, as demonstrated by lucid dreamers in a well-known REMspace experiment involving flying through a tunnel in a lucid dream. Have you or your loved ones had a near-death experience? Share your story. The article was published in July 2025 in Frontiers in Psychology.

An Experimental Drug for Lucid Dreams In the Netflix series Maniac, reality cracks at the seams, as if the characters are in a dream where familiar faces try on other people's masks and logic gives way to absurdity. Owen (Jonah Hill), a guy with a mental disorder, and Annie (Emma Stone), a young woman trying to drown out the pain of loss, participate in an experiment to "cure" their trauma with pills. These pills plunge them into a world of shared hallucinations, where the characters live different lives connected by a single thread—their search for each other. The series offers the viewer a kaleidoscope of genres and situations—from a parody of The Lord of the Rings to neo-noir in the spirit of the Coen brothers. The characters become elves, gangsters, and participants in spy games. By the way, the title, Maniac, is not about a serial killer. It is an abbreviation of a computer that generates artificial realities. But, as in any good dream, there is meaning hidden behind the chaos. The characters find themselves in altered states of consciousness, not of their own free will, but rather under the influence of experimental drugs. However, within the shared hallucinations, they begin to gain some control, but not always complete control. They learn to interact with this crazy world, changing it and adapting to it. But, as in a lucid nightmare, the main question is how to wake up and return to reality without losing oneself in the intricacies of the subconscious. Have you watched the show? Does it seem like a series of lucid dreams?

August 16 – Sergio Arthuro Mota-Rolim’s Birthday Sergio Arthuro Mota-Rolim is a research collaborator at the Brain Institute and the Sleep Laboratory of the Onofre Lopes Hospital at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil). The researcher is engaged in the study of dreams, lucid dreams, and altered states of consciousness. In his 2012 doctoral dissertation, Mota-Rolim conducted a study on 3,427 volunteers in which he showed that lucid dreaming is a relatively common experience, albeit often elusive and difficult to manage. While there are some differences among Europeans, Asians, North Americans, and Latin Americans, the author concluded that lucid dreaming is a universal phenomenon. It is quite difficult to provoke lucid dreams, but it is possible using the suggestion technique, as shown in the case of one participant. The EEG signals of this person showed bursts of alpha brain rhythms, and these were not observed in any other participants. In recent studies, Mota-Rolim has emphasized that lucid dreaming can aid the treatment of nightmares and other psychological disorders. He also touched on religious and philosophical issues, noting that Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) consider dreams to be a way of communicating with God. Moreover, traditional Indian religions (Buddhism and Hinduism) have even developed special methods to stimulate lucidity. Over the past year, Mota-Rolim and his colleagues have discovered that during lucid dreams, beta-band activity decreases in the right parietal region, which is responsible for spatial orientation and self-perception, while gamma-band activity increases in the temporo-occipital region. Most interestingly, the “communication” between different brain regions intensifies at the alpha frequency, as if they are beginning to communicate better with each other. What direction for new lucid dreaming research would you suggest? The scientist’s works are available on Google Scholar.

Generating a Double as a Bodyguard Ilia.Semenov WBTB. I became lucid in the apartment. My vision was immediate, but slightly blurry. I deepened the experience and normalized my astral vision. I go to the hallway; there's a mirror there. I see my reflection. Just in case, I put my left hand against the wall: to have support if the pulling force is high, to hold on. I slowly put the finger of my right hand to the mirror. Circles appear. I pierce the glass, and my hand is on the other side in the reflection. I grab the wrist of the person in the reflection. I analyze the strength and actions of the sprite in the reflection a little. There's no activity; it repeats my actions. If I freeze, so does it. It's passive, not aggressive. Then I sharply pull the sprite out into the hallway. And there it is, standing in front of me. I don't check how smart it is; I understand it's just a dummy. My goal is to try to program it. I give it the target designation of protection, to be my bodyguard. I told it, "Protect me." The sprite was calm. We went outside. While we were walking, it apparently passed the point of bifurcation of calmness and started behaving inadequately. At that moment, I started seeing the picture from above. Instead of me, Porechenkov was walking down the street, my bodyguard behind him. And he was trying to hit him with a stick. At first, Porechenkov dodged, but then he took out a two-meter sword and stuck it into the bodyguard. That's where the bodyguard's story ends. I, accordingly, moved from the observer above back into myself and continued working from the first-person perspective. Read about other lucid dreams tonight in the LucidMe app—available for download on Apple and Google.