What do lucid dreaming, shamanism, Bengal tigers and the light switch effect have in common? In 1975, a young psychologist devised a pioneering experiment – one which provided the first scientific proof of lucid dreaming, where the dreamer ‘wakes up’ inside the dream while remaining physiologically asleep. This young pioneer was Dr Keith Hearne, and this year we are celebrating 40 years of lucid dreaming science.
It was great fun to spend the day with Dr Keith Hearne, talking about topics ranging from the lucid dream body to the healing potential of lucid dreaming and the ultimate nature of reality. This is the first of the videos from a day of lucid dream exploration at the Dream Research Institute in London, a short Q&A with Dr Keith Hearne and myself which jumps from his lucid dreaming ‘light switch effect’ and dreams of the future, to my meeting with a Bengal tiger in a shamanic drumming session.