Deja vu it is (FINAL DRAFT)

The Psychological and Scientific Perspective on Deja Vu

A Research Paper Presented to

The English Resource Center

School of Multimedia Arts

Asia Pacific College

Magallanes, Makati

In Partial Fulfilment

of the Requirements for the Course

ERESWRT – Research Writing

Tricia Marie R. Tuico

April 2014

Blog Post No. 7 Travel to Astral Projection

      Our minds has no limits. It tends to explore and discover such things and places existing in the world. It can be seen by our naked eyes, or even those things that we didn't know that exists. Do you know that too much Lucid dreaming can lead you to Astral Projection? Are you aware of what's Astral Projection?

       Astral projection, also known as astral travel is an interpretation of an out-of-the body experience (OBE.) It assumes that our  'astral body' separate from our physical body and is now capable to travel to the astral plane. In religious terms, it is known as the 'afterlife'.

       In the article "Astral Projection" by Erin Pavlina, it states there that the difference of astral projection in lucid dreaming is that you are awake then you project. Also, your experience here is real and it always begins where your body is. In addition, you can manipulate your environment in the astral plane but you cannot control the actions of what's happening there. And when the experience is over, you will have to return to your body and your consciousness back. While in lucid dreaming, you are asleep and your experience is just a dream. Your environment is where you want to be and your consciousness is still inside you body. And when the experience is over, you simply wake up. If you are not an accomplished lucid dreamer, you'll probably have some trouble with conscious astral projection.

       Pavlina says, "Sometimes I will be having a lucid dream followed by a false awakening." This just proves that in some cases, you will really have to know lucid dreaming before you can do astral projection. Unfortunately, you will have to master it which will probably take years.

       According to the article "The Art Of Astral Projection" by Steve G. Jones, there are few advisable tips you could practice to do Astral Projection. First is lying down to start the process of astral projection. You can also prefer to seat if you want to do a Zen meditation. But it is wiser to lie down and allow your mind to completely relax. Then you need to concentrate on the process of astral projection. Meaning, you have to visualize yourself exiting your body. 

       Next is the process of moving the soul from the body. Which is reaching a hypnotic state. This lets your mind and body to sleep but don't completely lose consciousness. To achieve this, keep your eyes closed and let your mind wander to a part of your body, such as your hand, foot or a toe. Focus until you can visualize it perfectly. Use your mind to flex your body part but do not physically move. Until you focus on visualizing your whole body.

                          

         

       The next thing is entering a state of vibration. You will feel some vibrations as your soul prepares to leave the body. Don't be afraid because your fear could cause to interfere your meditation.

       Then use your mind to move your soul from your body. Imagine in your ming the room in which you are lying. Try to move your body in your mind to stand up. After, get up and walk around.

        The last thing is returning to your body. Your soul will always remain connected to your body. Let the force guide your soul back to your body. Then try moving the parts of your body and let yourself regain full consciousness.

         Jones said that, "The ability to do so requires the right approach to the process." I agree with what he said because you could not successfully do the astral projection if you are doing it the wrong way. Doing this will take us years to practice.

          In conclusion, Astral projection can't be done by everyone. There are people who can naturally do it, there are some who practices it. Some are those who has mastered their lucid dreaming.

Blog Post No. 6 Let's Do Lucid Dreaming

       

       Have you ever tried to do lucid dreaming? Does it even shake your curiosity? Or you don't bother trying because of the fear you're feeling?

      Personally, I am really curious on what it feels like to lucid dream. So many questions bug me like, "can you really control your dream?" or "what does it feels like to lucid dream?" And also, it somehow interests me because I like to try doing things that I know I can do if I lucid dream. So this curiosity lead me to research on how to do lucid dreaming.

      According to the article "7 Steps To Start Lucid Dreaming" by Steven Aitchison, there are 7 basic steps to follow to achieve lucid dreaming. The first one is to remember your ordinary dreams. Lots and lots of people dream. But most of them say "I don't dream," only because they don't remember that they dream. Try this some time, say 'I will remember my dream as soon as I wake up', where there is a high possibility that you'll remember your dream.

       Second is to keep a dream journal. When you wake up, write a few short sentences about your dream. This will get you into the habit of remembering your ordinary dreams and to look for dream signs.

      Third is to pick out dream signs. This is where a lot of your dreams will have objects or people in it that could act as a cue to you waking up in your dreams. The fourth one is to notice your waking world. You will need to be conscious in your waking world. This is for you to be consciously focus on the things in the world around you so you will carry this over into the dream world. Fifth is to ask youself, 'Am I dreaming?' 

Where of course you will say no, you are not dreaming. But how sure are you? Try to think of a way to think about why you are not dreaming. This again will carry over into your dreaming world and will make you start asking the same questions in your dreams which can turn into a lucid dream.

      Sixth is to have your first lucid dream. This is by simply reading about it. However, your first lucid dream will be remembered for years to come. You probably become over-excited and lose the lucid dream. Lastly, is to stay lucid. There are different kinds of technique to stay within a dream like calming yourself down with meditation and dream spinning. Dream spinning is when you feel you are losing control of your dream. You mentally spin in the dream to focus the mind on staying lucid.

       Aitchison said, "Lucid dreaming can help with recurring nightmares, solving creative problems, speaking with loved ones who have passed on, anxiety and problem solving." With the 7 basic steps he has given, and if we successfully learn to lucid dream, I believe we could do those by controlling our dreams.

      In the article, "Lucid dreaming: Awake in your sleep?" by Susan Blackmore, she mentioned that 50% of the people have had at least one lucid dreaming experience in their lives. It is said that what interests many about lucid dreaming is the idea that it is fun that's why they want to learn more how to induce it. It also has the newest version of a chip incorporated with goggles. The idea to put on goggles on at night, and the lights will flash only when you are asleep and dreaming. The user can even control the level of eye movements at which the lights begin to flash. This does not only control the lights but will store data on eye-movement density during the night and when and for how long the lights were flashing, making fine tuning possible. The said method conducted has 55% that had at least one or two of their first lucid dream.

        Blackmore says, "Lucidity has also become something of a New Age fad." I agree with this because as time goes by, there are many different gadgets invented on how to induce lucid dreams. Also, different methods are being practiced on how to do lucid dreaming.

         In conclusion, lucid dreaming is really interesting. Knowing that you can control your dreams. There are several ways that can be practiced if you want to try it. However, you should be aware on what may happen if you push yourself too much. Though it really is nice to experience, we should still think of its consequences.

Blog Post No. 5 Lucid dreaming could happen

      Do you believe that there are different kinds of dream? Have you ever asked how this and that happen? Or are you even aware that you are dreaming? According to different studies, it is said that when you are always experiencing deja vu, there is a high tendency that you'll experience precognitive dreaming, too. One of the types of precognitive dreaming is lucid dreaming. It is said that this is the most interesting to study among the other types.

     Lucid dreaming is a dream where in a person is aware that he/she is dreaming. This is typically happening when the dreamer experiences something strange, and when they stop to question their reality, they realize that they are in a dream. This dream is where you can control the things happening in your dream. Which I really find cool. But as I continue my research, I found out that there are possible dangers could happen.

       

      In the article "Is Lucid Dreaming Dangerous?" by Ryan Hurd, it is said that Lucid Dreaming is not considered as mental illness since there's no found evidence of it. In fact, he said that there are psychologists who use it clinically to help those people to cope with there nightmares. However, he has listed these dangers that are based on fears of lucid dreamers.

      The first danger is the logical fallacy of having mental illness called hypnanogic hallucinations. This occurs when images are seen at the threshold between walking and sleeping. This happens when dreamers try the techniques that encourage wake-initiated lucid dreams. This also causes arousal disorders that increase the likelihood of awareness at sleep onset which is considered as an early symptom of schizophrenia.

       Next is dreaming as delirium. This is where psychiatrists have compared paranoid delusional patients as existing in "a world between waking and sleeping." Which is strengthened by the word of Patrick McNamara, a Harvard sleep doctor that dreaming is "an at of aggression," because of the high levels of negative dream content. Which proves that dreaming, waking hallucination and disorders of social aggression involves brain mechanisms.

       And lastly, the terror of false awakening. This fears the dreamers that they're losing touch with reality. This is where they think that they're already awake but in reality, they're still stuck in the dream. Lucid dream tends to not wake you up. It creates a scene that seems real whenever you tend to wake up as a dream scene fades. This worries the dreamers because they don't know if they're awake or asleep.

       "I say with confidence that there’s nothing to fear. Not even fear itself." as Hurd says. I agree with what he said. Because it is said that there are no evidences yet that Lucid dreaming causes mental illness. Also, it is stated that Lucid dreaming can help psychologically to those having nightmares and needing psychological growth.

      On the other hand, there are still good things that Lucid Dreaming can do to us which I've read in the article "Benefits of Lucid Dreaming" by Rebecca Turner. This just shows that lucid dreaming still has a positive impact on our lives.

       First is improving your problem solving skills. It is used to enhance their problem solving skills in extraordinarily creative ways. Second is improving your creativity, it reveals our most creative side because of the free-flow of ideas arising from the subconscious mind. Third is facing your fears which pushes you to your logical limits. You can work it with dealing a worst case scenario in a positive way. Fourth is improving your confidence that releases your inhibitions and be totally free in a realistic dream world. Lucid dreams serves as your playground for experimentation where you can improve your confidence in any number of waking scenarios. Fifth if practicing new skills which proves that the benefits of lucid dreaming is limitless. Like let's say, you can't do martial arts. You can practice doing it in your dream. And lastly, exploring alternate realities that when you wake up in a new dream scene, you tend to explore and discover new things.

       Turner says, "The benefits of lucid dreaming are far-reaching." This just shows that lucid dreaming can do something good in our lives. That it can free us from our fears and gives us confidence in everything we do. So yes, I agree with what she said.

      To sum it all up, lucid dreaming is not like any other dream. It can cause us good and bad things. But in the end, it's still your choice if you'll lucid dream or not. It's just this, are you willing to take all the risks?

Blog Post No. 4 Types of Deja Vu

            Everyone knows what Deja vu is. But did you know that there's still something more than you know? Since I was so curious about my topic, I did more researches and found out that there are also different types of Deja vu.

            In the article "Never Heard About" by Anna Lemind, it is stated in the article that according to psychologist Arthur Funkhouser, there are three types of Deja vu experiences. They are Deja vecu, Deja senti and Deja viste. 

1. Deja vecu is when a person is almost always speaks of deja vu when he really means deja vecu. It can be translated as "I have already experienced this." Deja vecu experience involves much more than simple visual stimuli. This is the reason why it is said that the term deja vu is always misused because it means "I have already seen this" which is wrong. This should contain much more detail and information, and the person experiencing it feels that everything is exactly as it was in the past. Deja vecu is the most common and interesting case of Deja vu. This is suppported by the number of studies, experiments and surveys that explains the phenomenon.

2. Deja senti are experiences that has something to do with human emotions. It can be translated as "I have allready felt this." This type is unlike the other two types of deja vu, deja senti does not include any paranormal and is something completely natural. And many epileptic patients often experience deja senti, something that can help in the research of the other two types of deja vu experiences.

3. Deja visite is the paradoxical feeling that we know a place we have never visited before. Also, this is a more specific feeling. It is for example, you visit a city for the first time then you know the exact way to get to his destination knowing that it is impossible.

           Lemind says, "What is called 'deja vu' is not in reality deja vu, but only a type of it." It clearly states that deja vu is just the overall of it. It is differentiate into three types based on its focus.

           According to the article "Types of Deja vu" by Lee Ann Obringer, Alan Brown, a professor of psychology at South Methodist University believes that there are three reasons that causes deja vu. The biological dysfunction, implicit familiarity and divided perception. On the other hand, Dr. Vernon Neppe, proposed some subcategories for deja vu.

The said subcategories are Associative deja vu and Biological deja vu:

           Associative deja vu is the said category which is the most common type experienced by normal and healthy people. This is where you  see, hear, smell or otherwise experience something that makes you feel like it is something you've seen, heard, smelled or experienced before.

          While in Biological deja vu, those who are with temporal lobe epilepsy are most likely the people who has high occurences of deja vu. They have high possibilities to experience deja vu just before having seizures. Some researchers said that they've already studied and identify the areas of the brain where these types of deja vu signals originate so it is now more reliable. However, some said that this type is different from typical deja vu.
                                       

            Obringer said that, "Defining types of déjà vu is a very slippery area," which I think I have to agree. There are so many studies conducted for this. If the research is opinionated, then it is not reliable enough. So we should really dig deeper to find the right answers.

            I also found out that psychiatric disorders, anxiety, depression and dissociative disorders also causes deja vu. Wherein people tend to imagine and picture out things they want to happen.

Blog Post No. 3 Science speaks for Deja vu

            Do you think that experiencing Deja Vu is an abnormality? Or a disease? Have you ever had this conscious feeling that you might be the only one experiencing such things? 

            We all know that Deja vu is a feeling wherein we picture out something from the past. Or something that has happened in our dreams. But there were studies I've researched that Deja vu has something to do with what's happening inside our brains. Here, I will be presenting some studies conducted by some scientists.

             According to the article "Explaining Deja vu" by Michael D. Lemonick, a team of neuroscientists at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory has solved the mystery behind Deja vu. Thomas McHugh, one of the researcher have uncovered a specific memory circuit in the brains of mice that probably cause the weird sensation which probably turns out to be a sort of memory-based analogue of optical illusion. They've also realized that memory is made up of different components which are the long and short term, memories of events and fact based that takes place in different parts of the brain.

             Another researcher, McHugh who tried to untangle the neurological circuity of the hippocampus, a part of the brain where new memories are formed. Where they believe that it is actually the groups of brain cells linked by strong chemical connections that causes to have memories. Also, it is said that scientists are convinced in a mechanism they call pattern completion. Wherein a new experience that's merely similar to an older one seems identical.

            Lemonick says, "Despite of those phenomenon's universal study, no one has still offered a convincing explanation for why it happens." I somehow agree with Lemonick because until now there's still no definite reason why Deja vu is happening. There are lots of scientists who study about this but still, they found no specific answer in our  questions.

           Another article that I've read is "Deja vu and Epilepsy" by Marc Lallanilla. It is said here that Deja vu probably comes from studies of epilepsy. The strong and consistent link between Deja vu and the seizures occur in people with medial temporal lobe epilepsy, a type of epilepsy that affects the brain's hippocampus. Also, he said that Deja vu is like an epileptic seizure, may be the result of a neural misfiring when the tneurons in brain transmits signals which causes people to experience a false sense of remembered familiarity.

               Lallanilla said, "Recent research, however, has yielded some clues into what causes Deja vu." This is probably true because the article was able to come up with some studies that could satisfy the readers. They were able to come up with realiable studies.

               With what I have researched, I can say that experiencing Deja vu is way too far from abnormality. It is also not considered as a disease. It definitely has something to do with what's happening inside our brains. Again, it's all in the mind.

Blog Post No.2 Precognitive Experiences

Are you feeling weird and uneasy whenever you feel like you know what will happen next in a certain situation?

Or do you feel great because it seems like you're having this power to predict the future?

If yes, then you're probably experiencing precognitive experiences. 

There are lots of psychological studies about dreams. One of these is "precognitive dreaming."
Precognition is a latin word 'pre' meaning, "before" and 'cognitio' meaning, "acquiring knowledge." It is a called a future sight or second sight that involves acquisition or normally acquires sense-based information.
But it is said that the existence of precognition is not accepted by the mainstream scientific community.
  

What is precognitive dreaming?

In the article "Precognitive dreams" by Rebecca Turner, are dreams that are predicted in the fure through a sixth sense.  In short, to consider a truly precognitive dream with paranormal roots, we need to have unpredictable information about the future. This is why it is said that precognition is hard to prove.

Another study of it says that it is all about numbers. According to Todd Carroll, author of 'The Skeptic's Dictionary, having dreams that predicts the future is all a numbers game. We have 6.5 billion of people on this planet and each has an average of five dreams per night. Which caused to support these dreams a multiple dream themes. Like when Titanic sunk in 1912, hundreds of people came forward with reports of psychic dreams about the demise of the great ship. The Titanic was the world's largest ship on its maiden voyage and was in the headlines even before the tragedy happened. And ironically, the media had even called it unsinkable.

Turner says, "We all have intuitive dreams. They express our innermost hopes and fears based on subconscious information that we may or may not be repressing." This being said, I conclude that precognitive dreaming are just instincts. Most likely, predictions that you know that might happen.

What are the types of Precognitive Dreaming?

As I was researching, I've seen this article "The Anatomy of a Precognitive Dream" by Ian Wilson wherein I discovered that there are four types of precognitive dreams.

First is the Symbolic Precoagnitive Dream that abstacts the precognitive information and generally is not realized up until the actual event.






Second is the Literal Precognitive Dream is a dream from a first-person view. This type is a dream in literal detail. Like what you see and feel in the dream will also be felt in the actual situation.






Third is the 3rd Person Precognitive Dream.
This is a dream from a third-person. This can
also take on both symbolic and literal similarities but
it does not suggest that the information being observed will occur from a first-person point of view.

Lastly, the Lucid Precognitive Dream wherein a person is awake and realizes that they are dreaming. In an active lucid precognitive dream, the dreamer actively tries to engage the precognitive dream where in an ambient lucid precognitive dream, the dreamer passively observes the dream remaining within the usual dream flow.


Wilson says, "Dreaming for the most part is a passive experience where we project our thoughts, ideas and emotions into a virtual 3D world based on the principles of organized thought." I agree with what he said because he has shown the facts that supports his word. It is clearly stated that dreams are our projected thoughts and emotions.