Practicing things in a dream so that one can do them better after waking up. This is called lucid dreaming. What this phenomenon is all about is shown in a highly exciting crime thriller.
Munich – masterfully playing the violin or gliding virtuously over the piano keys – it can work in a dream. It’s just a shame that when you wake up there is usually nothing left of these skills.
But if you believe the Munich TV crime thriller “Dreams” from the ARD series “Tatort”, lucid dreams or lucid dreams could definitely improve athletic or musical skills, which can be seen on Sunday (November 7th) at 8:15 pm on Das Erste. Two musicians want to optimize themselves while they sleep, spurred on by immense pressure to perform. But can that really work?
In “Dreams” lucid dreaming has dramatic consequences. The violinist Marina shows up excitedly at the police station. She believes that she may have killed her best friend, with whom she is competing in the orchestra for the post of deputy concertmaster. But she is not certain that she actually committed the deed. And there is no corpse at the alleged crime scene. Is it all just a dream? Marina is confused and cannot distinguish between dream and reality.
The highly exciting case confronts TV commissioners Franz Leitmayr (Udo Wachtveitl) and Ivo Batic (Miroslav Nemec) with the highly complex human psyche and the phenomenon of lucid dreaming. Unlike in normal dreams, people are aware of their condition and can even make decisions.
One can learn lucid dreams, says Michael Schredl from the Mannheim Central Institute for Mental Health. However, he does not consider it a common means of increasing performance or virtuosity. It took a lot of practice and perseverance for most people to have lucid dreams enough that they could be put to good use.
Five musicians, about whose lucid dreams Melanie Schädlich from the University of Heidelberg and Daniel Erlacher from the University of Bern reported in 2018, prove that it can work. One woman, for example, played the guitar on the beach in a lucid dream, another stood on stage with famous musicians and, to his own surprise, performed medieval chamber music. A singer loved her dream voice and was able to sing much more freely even when she was awake. And a musician got along better with concerts. Apparently, lucid dreams are important for creativity and inspiration, the researchers concluded.
But lucid dreams do not work miracles, says the psychologist Brigitte Holzinger, who offers courses in lucid dreaming. “If I have inhibitions when learning the piano because I think I can’t, and then play with virtuosity in my dreams, that can solve something,” says the head of the Institute for Consciousness and Dream Research in Vienna. “But that doesn’t save learning, practicing and dealing with it during the day.”
Holzinger warns against exaggerated hopes, and the phenomenon has not yet been researched enough. “My impression is that you read too much into lucid dreaming in a very romantic way, because it is an extremely wonderful state,” explains the somnologist. One is often very happy in lucid dreams. “Violent fear, which turns the dream into a nightmare, or strong sadness can be transformed into pure happiness.”
In the film “Dreams” by director Boris Kunz (“Hindafing”) a lot corresponds to the findings. Some things have been adjusted for dramaturgical reasons, but that doesn’t hurt. The drama of striving for achievement, envy and nightly self-optimization unfolds in a coherent and highly exciting way, also because of the excellent actors, above all Jara Bihler as Marina, who no longer trusts her dreams. Lisa Marie Janke is the violin teacher and Katrin Röver plays the owner of the institute, where the girls dream lucidly under supervision.
Learning while you sleep – a beautiful but also frightening thought. “It wouldn’t be respectful if I squeezed the dream to the bone so that I could do the violin solo even faster,” says Holzinger. Inner growth is worth striving for, not excessive performance thinking. “We are always trimmed for performance and for self-optimization. That can make you sick. ”Dpa
