We spend almost a third of our life just sleeping. So why not make the most out of your sleep and make it more beneficial for your life? Sleep is more than a way to get back lost energy. With the help of lucid dreaming, one can experience things in their sleep as you would in real life. You can tap into your inner conscience and rehearse experiences such as fighting in a realistic situation. In Lucid dreams, people reimagine scenarios we have battled with throughout human evolution as a means of simulation. This is why people dream of fighting. Lucid dreaming has also been shown to help with fighting ability in real life because how realistic these experiences are. Our minds are capable of great things. From all of our experiences and other people’s experiences our minds collect a vast amount of information. When you lucid dream, your mind really shows what its capable of.
Dreams are very complex. They offer a understanding of what we are as a species. Many dreams of fighting are our brains rehearsing for a common threat humans have faced through time. There is much support in the theory that our ancestors passed down memories to us so we can prepare for trauma. In a study done by Emory University School of Medicine, mice were induced with the fear of cherry blossom. The sperm of the mice showed that not only was the DNA of the offspring altered but so was the brain structure so that they were also scared of cherry blossom. In another study done by the MEMOTV project, “They were able to conclude that violence experienced during pregnancy leads to different DNA activity in children, known as methylations, whereby the genome reacts to the environment by activating or deactivating genes.” According to the study, “Methylation is considered an epigenetic mechanism as it is not the genetic sequence itself which is altered but rather the legibility or activity of the coded information. Methylation patterns are an evolutionary device which make it easier for an organism to adapt to its environment. In this instance the researchers hypothesise that the methylation patterns might result in children more fearful or alternatively more aggressive as an adaptive behavioural response.” These are two examples of how the trauma we face alters our anxieties of what is dangerous to us as a species. It’s the same reason a baby sea turtle instantly knows to go towards the ocean when it’s born. In this way, we understand instinctively what dangers to prepare for in our dreams. we can lucid dream an experience that is a crucial part of survival in a realistic fashion due to our inner understanding of danger. Many people report having lucid dreams of survival situations they never even been in where they must fight for there life. According to cognitive researcher Jim Davies, “the things we dream about tend to be biased in the direction of ancient dangers rather than more modern ones. We dream about being chased by animals and monsters more than having our credit card defrauded, even though most of us have very little real-life experience of being chased by animals (or monsters).” We have a better understanding of how to imagine ourselves in a fight because of evolution.
It is a fact that many athletes and fighters have improved there ability in a skill by rehearsing it through lucid dreams. This is a reflection of how lucid dreaming allows us to imagine fighting scenarios. Many studies have shown this to be true. According to sciencedirect.com, “Early mental practice research has demonstrated that it has a powerful effect on performance outcomes and affects both experienced and inexperienced subjects [12], [13]. The effect was observed with various motor skills, like reaction time, landing an airplane, hockey, and skiing [2]. Several more recent studies have confirmed this and showed that, indeed, mental practice could be used for motor skill improvement.” And After decades of research, it’s been established that lucid dreaming improves motor skills in the same way mental imagery does. The same parts of the brain are stimulated when dreaming of doing the action as they are when performing the action in waking life. It is also well documented how practicing in lucid dreams can contribute to improvements in the cardiovascular system. In this way fighters can not only improve there fighting ability but also work on endurance in there sleep.
Another reason you can trust in lucid dreams to give you a realistic experience that can be compared to real life is how capable our brains really are. Our brains are capable of storing mass amounts of information that is comparable to the number of stars in our galaxy. According to NorthWesternMedicine.org, “Your brain’s storage capacity is considered virtually unlimited. Research suggests the human brain consists of about 86 billion neurons. Each neuron forms connections to other neurons, which could add up to 1 quadrillion (1,000 trillion) connections. Over time, these neurons can combine, increasing storage capacity.” It’s no wonder we can imagine a massive world along with various sensations it brings us when we lucid dream. It is also a fact that the imagination is great enough to make imagining yourself in any situation simple. Even in waking life, our imaginations can simulate hallucinations that seem very real. According to how stuffworks.com, “Before your eyes actually sense an object, your brain takes its own picture of that object for comparison purposes. It knows where your eyes are going to move next, and it forms an image of the object that precedes our conscious, visual perception of it.” our minds create most of what we perceive anyway whether we are awake or asleep. So why couldn’t our minds replicate reality the way it does when we are awake to create a realistic fighting experience?
People make jokes about how doing something in your dreams does not mean you can do the same thing in real life. On the contrary, there isn’t a better way to practice doing something because when you dream, you are able to really visualize yourself in a situation. Better than you can when you are awake. Visualization is a very important tool for people to prepare for something especially when it’s a physical activity like fighting. If someone understands the use of lucid dreaming, it can be a tool. For fighters, time is of the essence. The fighter that trains hardest and puts more time into preparation is usually rewarded with a win. Lucid dreaming is definitely a short cut to improving a skill like fighting.
- Dreaming for a Fight - November 23, 2023
- How emotions effect fighters - October 9, 2023
- The Pre Fight - August 31, 2023
Leave a Reply