Imagine having the ability to fly, time travel to the late ’60s and witness a Beatles concert or create entire worlds using nothing but the imagination. Lucid dreaming makes these things, and much more, possible.

When a person has a lucid dream they are in the deepest part of sleep, or REM sleep. A lucid dream is when the dreamer realizes he or she is dreaming, allowing them to direct the events of the dream. With enough practice, some are even able to control their dreamscape (the dream environment) entirely, giving them the ability to alter themselves or materialize anything they want on command.

“I have been lucid dreaming for years now,” sophomore Jaselyn Compos said. “It started in my early childhood.”

Lucid dreaming is by no means a new discovery. A psychiatrist named Frederik van Eeden coined the phrase for lucid dreaming in 1913, but the first record of a lucid dream was written by Aristotle. Stephen Laberge, a Stanford graduate and psychophysiologist, runs the Lucidity Institute. The institute is dedicated to the science behind lucid dreaming.

“It would be awesome if there were things that I could do to practice lucid dreaming,” English teacher Brianna Argueta said. “I believe dreams can be therapeutic and I would love to be able to delve deeper into that concept.”

There are many different methods to learning how to lucid dream. Recalling the dream from the night before continues to prove to be the most important part of becoming more familiar with personal dreamscape.

“I think it sounds interesting enough, but I don’t think I dream every night,” sophomore Justin Parsons said. “If I do, I don’t remember what happened in them.”

Many people claim that they do not dream every night, but if they were to make it part of their daily routine to attempt to recall their dreams as soon as they wake up they would realize that they have around three to seven dreams every single night.

“I think lucid dreaming shows what we are really capable of,” sophomore Johanna Gallicia said.

For more information on lucid dreaming, visit Psychology Today