Waking dreams have been with humanity since the dawn of our time. While dreams occur during sleep, waking dreams are dream-like experiences that take place when a person is awake, encompassing visions and hallucinations (APA Dictionary of Psychology, n.d.) Both dreams and waking dreams can reflect mental, emotional, and spiritual challenges and often offer insights into resolving them (Bulkeley, 2016; Watkins, 1976). However, because waking dreams occur during a state of conscious awareness, they are often easier to remember, more interactive and thus can be more purposeful.
I first experienced waking dreams unexpectedly in 2020 during hypnotherapy to alleviate chronic shoulder pain caused by unprecedented pandemic stress. During a recorded virtual session, while sitting in front of my laptop with my eyes closed, I "dreamt" of being underwater, with a gentle octopus emerging from my shoulder and transforming into a giant healing bubble, where my dream body expanded and dissolved in the light. I could hear my hypnotherapist and the surrounding sounds and was able to talk, yet I was experiencing a dream-like reality unrelated to her scripted instructions.
Dreams vs. Waking Dreams: Differences and Similarities
Dreams are a universal human experience, occurring primarily during the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep. They often involve vivid imagery, emotions, and narratives that can feel real despite their illusory nature. Neuroscientific research has shown that dreams are crucial in memory consolidation, emotional processing, and problem-solving (Walker, 2017).
The primary difference between dreams and waking dreams lies in the depth of awareness. For sleeping dreams, the dreamer is typically unaware they are dreaming unless they achieve lucidity. Waking dreams, however, occur within a conscious framework, allowing individuals to actively engage with and sometimes interact with the experience. Despite this difference, both states share similarities in their ability to access the subconscious mind, reveal symbolic content, and facilitate personal growth or healing (Watkins, 1976).
Much like a sleeping dream, my Octopus waking dreams perfectly revealed my challenges and offered insightful solutions. With its many arms, the Octopus symbolized my overbusy, multitasking lifestyle as a homeschooling mom/business owner during the pandemic. Confronted with sudden widespread threats and changes—including sickness and death, lockdowns, social isolation, homeschooling, and racism—I felt anxious, stressed, and tense, which led to chronic pain. The key to resolving my challenge is to be flexible, relaxed, and open, just as the Octopus demonstrated when it shapeshifted and expanded into a sphere of light.
Waking Dream Practices Across Cultures and Time
Throughout different cultures and historical periods, various practices, such as hypnosis, meditation, or the use of psychedelics, have been used as ways to generate waking dreams for spiritual exploration, healing, and self-discovery.
My waking dreams during hypnotherapy showed me that such experiences can be generated deliberately. This insight prompted me to comb through many books and historical records to compile a non-exhaustive list of practices worldwide that can generate waking dreams. Some of them originate from particular cultures, spiritual lineages, or regions but have informed other more recent practices over time.
1. Hypnosis: Hypnosis is a well-documented waking dream practice that involves guided relaxation and focused attention to achieve a trance-like state to address issues like trauma, phobias, and addiction (Spiegel & Spiegel, 2004). As my Octopus waking dreams demonstrate, individuals may experience vivid imagery, memories, or emotions that resemble dream content during hypnosis.
2. Meditation: Meditation is a practice found in many spiritual traditions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism. It involves focused attention and mindfulness to achieve a state of inner stillness and heightened awareness. During deep meditation, practitioners may experience waking dreams or visions that provide insights into their subconscious mind or spiritual nature (Lindahl et al., 2014; Walsh, 2007). A well-known example is Siddhartha Gautama's final meditation before attaining nirvana, which involved visions of past lives and Mara's armies (Ñāṇamoli, 1992).
3. Dream Yoga: Originating in Tibetan Buddhism, dream yoga is a spiritual practice that blurs the line between waking and dreaming states. Practitioners train themselves to maintain awareness during sleep, achieve lucid dreaming, and extend this awareness into waking life. Dream yoga emphasizes the illusory nature of reality and seeks to transcend dualistic perceptions (Wangyal, 1998).
4. Yoga Nidra: Nidrâ yoga is an ancient guided meditation practice rooted in yogic traditions that facilitates deep relaxation, enhancing concentration and self-awareness. Typically performed lying down, it systematically guides practitioners through stages like body scanning, breath awareness, and visualization, accessing a state between wakefulness and sleep. Phenomenological and EEG studies have demonstrated its capabilities of inducing waking dreams (Zaccaro et al., 2021).
5. Dream Reentry: Dream reentry involves returning to a dream while awake to explore its meaning or resolve unfinished experiences, allowing individuals to engage with dream content consciously, gaining insights or healing (Moss, 2010). It can happen through contemplation or be facilitated by various dreamwork techniques, including drumming, chanting, or visualization.
6. Shamanic Journeying: Shamanic journeying is used by indigenous cultures to communicate with spirits, seek guidance, or heal. Practitioners enter an altered state of consciousness, often induced by drumming or plant medicines, and travel to non-ordinary realities. These journeys are akin to waking dreams, filled with symbolic imagery and encounters with spiritual beings (Harner, 1980).
7. Vision Quest: A vision quest is a rite of passage in many Native American traditions, where individuals seek spiritual guidance through solitude, fasting, and prayer. During a vision quest, participants may experience waking dreams or visions that provide direction or insight. This practice underscores the connection between waking dreams and spiritual awakening (Foster & Little, 1980).
8. Active Imagination: Developed by Carl Jung, active imagination is a therapeutic technique that involves engaging with the unconscious mind through visualization and dialogue. Practitioners enter a meditative state and interact with dream-like images or figures, often uncovering hidden aspects of the psyche. Active imagination is used for personal growth and integrating unconscious material (Jung, 2009).
9. Active Dreaming: Developed by Robert Moss, active dreaming is a modern practice that combines elements of shamanism, Jungian psychology, and lucid dreaming. It involves techniques like dream reentry, shamanic journeying, and group dream sharing to explore the deeper meanings of dreams and waking visions (Moss, 2009).
10. Guided Imagery: Guided imagery is a therapeutic technique that uses visualization to induce waking dream states. Practitioners are guided through a series of mental images to achieve relaxation, healing, or personal insight. This practice is often used in psychotherapy to address issues like stress, chronic pain, and trauma (Naparstek, 1994).
11. Psychedelic Consumption: Psychedelics, such as ayahuasca, psilocybin, and LSD, have been used for centuries in various cultures to induce waking dream states. These substances alter perception, cognition, and emotion, often leading to profound visionary experiences. Psychedelic-assisted therapy is gaining recognition for its potential to treat mental health conditions like depression, PTSD, and addiction (Carhart-Harris et al., 2018).
Based on my Octopus waking dream, I created Guided Dreaming, a unique approach that utilizes breathwork and visualization to generate personalized waking dreams in an underwater setting for stress reduction and problem-solving. Over the past three years, I have worked with hundreds of individuals with encouraging results and twice presented my workshop at the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD) annual conferences in the United States in 2022 and the Netherlands in 2024.
I was curious if only a small percentage of the population can experience waking dreams or if they are more widely accessible to everyone. In 2024, for my Health Psychology master's thesis, I conducted mixed-method research on the efficacy of Guided Dreaming in stress reduction and problem-solving, using an online survey that collected qualitative and quantitative data from eleven adult volunteer participants after one Guided Dreaming session. Despite their diverse backgrounds, all of the participants, even those who were inexperienced with meditation and other mindfulness practices, reported experiencing unique waking dreams relevant to their chosen problems.
Furthermore, a remarkable 91% found Guided Dreaming effective in reducing stress and generating problem-solving insights. On average, the participants' mental outlook improved by 36%. In October 2024, I had the privilege of presenting this research at the Catholic University of Freighburg and International Association of Analytical Psychology (IAAP) joint conference in Germany.
Importance of Researching Waking Dream Practices
Waking dream research offers valuable insights into the nature of consciousness and the subconscious mind. Studies on hypnosis, meditation, and psychedelics have demonstrated the therapeutic potential of waking dreams for addressing psychological and emotional issues (Krippner, 2000).
The study of waking dreams also complements traditional dream research by providing a framework for understanding the continuity between waking and dreaming states. Both states involve altered perceptions, symbolic content, and access to the unconscious mind, suggesting a shared neural basis (Hobson & Stickgold, 2000). Research on lucid dreaming, for instance, has revealed parallels between the brain activity of lucid dreamers and individuals in meditative or hypnotic states (Voss et al., 2009).
Moreover, waking dream practices offer practical applications for enhancing creativity, problem-solving, and self-awareness. Techniques like active imagination and dream reentry allow individuals to explore their inner worlds consciously, fostering personal growth and psychological integration (Jung, 2009). These practices also highlight the cultural and historical significance of waking dreams, emphasizing their role in spiritual and psychological well-being.
Conclusion
Dreams and waking dreams represent two aspects of the human experience, each offering unique insights into the unconscious. While dreams occur during sleep and are often beyond conscious control, waking dreams occur in a state of conscious awareness, allowing for active engagement and exploration. Practices like meditation, hypnosis, dream yoga, shamanic journeying, psychedelic consumption, and Guided Dreaming can help us access the transformative potential of waking dreams.
Waking dream research not only enhances our understanding of altered states of consciousness but also bridges the gap between traditional dream studies and modern psychological practices. By exploring the similarities and differences between dreams and waking dreams, we gain a deeper appreciation for the richness of the human mind and its capacity for growth, healing, and transcendence.
References
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