Three Years of Dream Experiences – Exploring Lucid Dreams and OBEs
Dreams have always fascinated the human mind – their mystique, symbolism, and depth spark endless questions. But how many of us actually analyze our dreams systematically? In this article, I share observations and trends from three years of documenting both my lucid dreams (LD) and out-of-body experiences (OBEs). This personal data offers a unique window into exploring the dream world and provides insights into factors that might influence the frequency of these extraordinary experiences.
It's important to note that the data is entirely subjective. It’s based on my own experiences, without the application of complex statistical methods. One person's dreams, of course, don’t represent the whole truth, but they can serve as an intriguing starting point for a deeper dive into the boundaries of consciousness.
The documentation of lucid dreams and out-of-body experiences began three years ago as part of my consciousness practice. Each experience was recorded immediately upon waking, and every lucid dream or out-of-body experience during the day was documented as an individual event.
It’s worth noting that multiple experiences may occur in one night. For instance, I might have several lucid dreams in a row or chain out-of-body experiences, where I left my body multiple times during the same night. This increased the overall count but also provided a deeper perspective on the multidimensionality of the dream world.
Lucid Dreams
The number of lucid dreams varied significantly over the three years, but overall, their frequency was higher in 2023 compared to 2022. The year 2024 showed a declining trend.
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Year 2022:
I experienced a total of 50 lucid dreams. The biggest peaks occurred in June (9) and November (9), while March and August were the least active months, with no documented lucid dreams.
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Year 2023:
Lucid dreams slightly increased to 54. They were evenly distributed throughout the year, with the highest numbers in May (9) and March (8).
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Year 2024:
The total dropped to 34. Although peaks were observed in April and October (7 each), the beginning and end of the year showed significant declines.
Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs)
The frequency of OBEs grew dramatically between 2022 and 2023 and remained at a similar high level in 2024.
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Year 2022:
OBEs played a significant role, with 109 experiences in total. November and December were particularly active (15 each), while February and May saw significantly lower numbers.
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Year 2023:
The number skyrocketed to 186. The peak months were November (25) and December (22), while April (7) was relatively quiet.
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Year 2024:
While the total remained close to the previous year (180), the most active months were November (23), January (21), and July (21).
Monthly Averages of Lucid Dreams and OBEs
The table presents the monthly averages of lucid dreams and OBEs over a span of three years.
| Month | LD Average | OBE Average |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 5.67 | 15.67 |
| Feb | 3.33 | 10.00 |
| Mar | 3.67 | 14.00 |
| Apr | 4.67 | 5.67 |
| May | 5.00 | 14.33 |
| Jun | 4.67 | 13.33 |
| Jul | 2.00 | 13.33 |
| Aug | 2.67 | 11.33 |
| Sep | 3.33 | 12.00 |
| Oct | 4.67 | 12.33 |
| Nov | 3.67 | 21.00 |
| Dec | 2.67 | 16.67 |
Three years of data provide an interesting overview of the average occurrences of lucid dreams and out-of-body experiences across different months. For lucid dreams, the months from January to June appear slightly more active, particularly May and April, where the average remains close to five experiences per month. July and August, on the other hand, seem to be calmer periods for lucid dreams, with averages dropping to around two or three.
OBE experiences, on the other hand, reach their peak in November, with an average of 21 experiences. January and December are also active OBE periods, which may relate to changes in routines at the beginning and end of the year or potentially increased internal reflection. Meanwhile, April seems to be the quietest month for OBE experiences, with an average of only 5.67.
These averages reveal noticeable variations between months. Such variations could be related to seasons, changes in daily routines, or specific personal or external factors affecting sleep quality and activity in the dream world. Alternatively, the differences could simply result from chance, as a single out-of-body experience often leads to several distinct experiences, significantly increasing monthly experience counts. Further analysis would require data on how many OBE experiences occurred on average per day within each month.
Summary and Final Thoughts
Examining these experiences from 2022 to 2024 shows that phenomena related to the exploration of consciousness can vary greatly depending on the season and the intensity of practice. The downward trend of lucid dreams during 2024 and the steady growth of OBE phenomena raise questions about the connection between these phenomena, training methods, and my own experiential focus.
Exploring lucid dreams and out-of-body experiences has given me a deeper understanding of both my own consciousness and the possibilities of the dream world. Although the data is subjective and limited to my own experiences, it raises important questions: How much can we consciously influence the content and structure of our dreams? And what explains the significant increase in OBE experiences compared to lucid dreams?
Analyzing the dream world offers each of us an opportunity to delve into the boundaries of our consciousness. Whether you’re an experienced dream explorer or just starting out, dreams and documenting them can open new doors to understanding—not just about yourself but also about the world around you.
If you decide to start recording your lucid dreams (LD) or out-of-body experiences (OBE), I strongly recommend expanding your documentation to include the factors influencing these experiences. For example, the number of active practice sessions, meditation exercises, sleep quality, and daily stress levels can be valuable additional information to help understand why certain nights are more active than others.
As for my own documentation, the data is still somewhat one-dimensional, so at this stage, I couldn’t perform a deeper analysis of the factors influencing the experiences. A more in-depth analysis that examines the significance of stress, sleep quality, and practice would require more detailed record-keeping and statistical comparisons.
However, in the future, I plan to write more qualitative analyses on my blog, where I’ll dive into the OBE and lucid dream experiences accumulated over the years. In these analyses, I will explore recurring themes and elements in the experiences, as well as what these events in the dream world might reveal about our consciousness and the deeper meaning of dreams.
If you’re interested in exploring the dream world, it’s worth starting with small steps. Record all your experiences, but keep an open mind about how various factors from daily life and practice might influence your dream experiences. Not only will this help you understand your own dream world, but it may also reveal intriguing connections between the mind, body, and consciousness.