@DrWendyWalsh- ICYMI Michael Raduga REM Psychology

Welcome back to the Doctor Wendy Wall Show on KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. You know, I have always been a big dreamer. And when I say big dreamer, I don't just mean having goals in my life, because I've been a big dreamer that way too. But I'm the kind of person who remembers her dreams almost every morning, and before I go back to sleep the next night, I have to pick up that thread. I to like continue the story, and then I go

Traumatic stress disorder.

So I want to bring in an expert, Michael Riduga, who's CEO of a company called rem Space and author of rem M.

You know what that means, Rapid eye movement.

Psychology, and he has conducted research on something called lucid dreaming. Michael, Welcome to the show.

Hid I think for anyviceing me.

So first of all, can we talk a little bit about the theories out there of why people dream. I know Sigmund Freud said it was the royal road to the unconscious, and it was unconscious memories trying to find their way through using metaphors and symbols. What do you think our purpose of dreaming is.

I'm pretty sure that we need dreams on purpose and for our brain. It is a way how we can pause this information, how we can prepare ourselves subconsciously for events in physical life. So it's like, you know, there are many startups in Silicon Valley which are specialized on developing robots and they trace them in a virtual reality, and our dreams work in a similar way subconsciously betrain ourselves and prepare ourselves for challenges of real life.

So you think dreams are training our brain for it's almost our own version of virtual reality, so that it's preparing us for life stressors that might be coming ahead.

Yes, it's not to be meted by this application, but mostly I'm pretty sure that it's like an additional space for our brain to patray us stop, to polish different skills, to prepare us for different challenges and so on. I'm pretty sure it works.

This way, And some scientists say that it's sort of cleaning our brain out from the debris of the day. And when we dream about certain things that you know, feelings and leftover residue of thought and feelings from the day, we've just had another purpose.

I'm sure, yeah, yeah, absolutely yes, And our doings help us to refine information, to process it, living only what we really need for our life.

And I also want to be clear to our audience that there is no research that supports any idea that if you dream about a specific thing it means this. The truth is what we dream about, what our brains, our individual minds choose as metaphors and symbols are unique to us. So you can't say, well, if you dream about snakes, it means a bad days ahead, or if you dream about a hair brush, it means you know, because it's different for everybody, right.

Yeah, that's right, but sometimes it mean you really work. For example, if the theme that snakes are bad and your subconsciousness somehow knows that something is coming, but your consciousness is not aware about it, your dreams may somehow show it and me send signals to you. But of course there's no proofs that it is possible. But you know, when you talk to people, they tell stories like this all the time.

So you think dreams can be prophetic. They can predict the future a bit.

It's a little bit sometimes, and I don't say that you can control it and you can be like a psychic in the future from your dreams, but sometimes, definitely it works. And I'm pretty sure that maybe fifty percent of people have experienced it at least once in their life.

Well, you're talking to somebody who's experienced it a lot, and I was like, am I crazy? But I've actually dreamed things and then they happen. Then it's usually something not important, and it happens like the next day, like kind of a deja vub. Clearly I remember the dream too, so it's not like that, just that feeling of deja vus. But like, wait, I just dreamed this last night. I can't believe it's happening. All right, let us talk to the about the area of interest for you and your company,

Okay, we should do. Dreams are situations when we have consciousness during or ram sleep. Well, usually we see balbi dreams. We experience baby dreams during ram sleep, but sometimes we have consciousness and as a result, we experience of this phenomenon loci enjoyment.

I like to explain to my students, my health psychology students, that it's like you know when you're half asleep and half awake and you can still grab parts of the dream and think about it, but then you know you're waking up at the same time.

That's that's what lucid dreaming is.

Right, no disagree?

What would you say it is? How would someone get into a state of lucid dreaming?

Now? It is the biggest difference between common dreams and mus dreams is in your perception, because when you have consciousness durn remsally everything perceives as reality. Because when people talk about lucy dreams or think about them, they just imagine common dreams, which sometimes very beaury, senseless and not vivid, and they think, okay, what's what's the point of having a control over it? But in reality these experiences are so vivious that there often people don't see the difference

Because you think these people are actually experiencing a lucid dream.

Yeah, yeah, because but everything looks so real that they cannot believe that it is a dream. They think that salesthing happens for you. So it proves how bigious sensations during lucy dreaming. It is just you don't see the difference between physical world and these lusage worlds during REM sleep.

Okay, when we come back, we have to go for a break.

I want to talk about how people can learn to practice lucid dreaming and its applications for mental health. So stay with us. My guest is Michael Riduga, CEO of REM Space and author of REM Psychology. He's conducted research on lucid dreaming that has actually helped people lower fears and anxiety and relief symptoms of depression. We'll talk more about this when we come back. My guest is Michael Raduga, CEO of REM Space and author of REM Psychology. Our

Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I'm positive. And you know, it seems that you could be a very lucid dreamer because you see a lot of dreams and it's a fust sign of good chances to learn this phenomenon.

So people like me who remember their dreams easily have a much easier time. Okay, so what do I do? Tell me how to get into a lucid dream.

So, first of all, you should understand that your intention is the key factor here. It means that when you fall asleep, you should think about some impressive, some exciting goals which you would like to achieve in a lucid dream, for example, travel somewhere or seeing somebody for example your relative, friend, partner, or diseased relatives, or some fantasies, and you think about it, you think about desire to achieve it, and you follow asleep with this intention, and there's a high chance that

So you're using the word induce a lucid dream. So let's say, you know, I put this intention as I'm falling asleep, I tell myself over and over, this is the thing I want to feel or experience or see. And then as I'm waking up, I do something with my thoughts.

What do I do?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. Once again, when you wake up, it's highly possible that your brain is still in this ram sleep and it means that any any of your actions upon waken and they leads to reinducing of sleep, but with consciousness. So you wake up and during the first seconds, the first seconds, try to live itate. Let's literally I know that.

You levitate, like literally rise out of my body.

Literally, let's literally try to live itate or try to roll out of try try to roll out from your body, or try to get talked without using muscles. It sounds ridiculous, I know. But once again, when you wake up during the first seconds, it's highly possible that your brain is still asleep despite your consciousness.

Okay, so let's assume I've been able to roll out of bed without moving a muscle and there was levitate, and now do I look down at myself? What do I try to do with this intention that I implanted the night before?

Then, for example, you try it five times, and out of those five attempts, one or two times you will actually libtate or roll out of your body, and you will find yourself in a dream. It will look like out of body experience, but in reality it's your dream world. And starting from this position, this moment, you can realize any of your goals. So just make as many attempts as possible, and few of them will be effective.

Now, according to your research, this using this lucid dreaming technique has been used to treat post traumatic stress disorder and depression. How how does it work to treat fears and sadness?

Once again, it is all about vividness of this experience, because your brain, in your subconsciousness, perceives these dreams as reality, meaning that for example, if you have some psychological issues, instead of thinking about them, instead of imagining some solutions, you can relieve different situations. And when we talk about application of recent dreaming, the highest number of scientific research

You know, it's so interesting when I hear you explaining this. So I have to tell you a story. Right when I was like about twelve years old, we moved to a neighborhood where there was a community swimming.

Pool with a lifeguard.

You were not allowed to be there without a parent unless you could in front of the lifeguard swim two lengths of the pool back and forth. I was terrified. I was so afraid of drowning. I'd had a couple near drowning experiences as a child. I was terrified. It wasn't about my ability to be strong enough for the stroke. I was just so afraid to swim sinse a length. And one night I went to sleep and I told myself, I'm going to swim. I am going to swim. I

Know what you're talking about. It works.

It's a very good example. So it could be not only a daring advanced to each dreamer, but also a swimmer.

I'm not a great swimmer now, but I got to go to the pool without my parents and that's what mattered. How do people, Michael Raduga, how do people find out more about remspace and your book REM Psychology.

You just can find it's on Amazon or in Psychology and it's a it's a the only book about using each Durius for solving different psychological issues.

Well, I can't wait to read it. The book is REM Psychology. CEO of Remspace, Michael Riduga, thank you so much for.

Joining us today.

Thank you great, and that brings.

The Doctor Wendy Wall Show to a close. It's always my pleasure to be with you every Sunday from seven to nine pm. If you missed any part of the show, you can always find it later on the iHeartRadio app. You were listening to The Doctor Wendy Wall Show on KFI AM six forty