Lucid Dreaming
Have you ever wondered how some perfectly healthy people mysteriously pass on in their sleep? Such occurrences date back to the 1860s, since Marie-Jean-Léon, Marquis d’Hervey de Saint Denys first recorded it. Despite it’s rather long history, most people are unaware of its existence. Do you know that 10% of deaths occur during sleep? Do you also know that this could happen to anyone suddenly and unexpectedly? The sudden and unexpected death while one is asleep is a phenomenon known as “Lucid Dreaming”. Some may have had experiences rather similar to the symptoms - a symptom highly suspected to be one of the most possible cause of those who have died in their sleep with no known cause or medical history. While you know that you can somewhat control your dreams, lucid dreaming is a phenomena that is beyond comprehension and beyond our control. Therefore, if one strays into lucid dreaming, that is where things can go terribly wrong and resulting in death. Besides the possibility of death, lucid dreaming bears another physical side effect. Formally known as Sleep Paralysis, it is a phenomenon in which people experience temporal immobility. Regardless of whether one is asleep or awake, this transitional state occurs between wakefulness and rest, characterized by complete weakening of one’s muscles. It may occur at the onset of sleep or the twinkling moment prior to waking up. It is also often associated with terrifying visions, such as an intruder appearing in the room or being attacked by fearful creatures. During these vivid illusions, the individual is entirely incapable of reacting as they lay in a state of paralysis. Personally, I have experienced the different stages of lucid dreaming. The people that I have spoken with also had similar encounters of hyper-realistic near death situations. As such, these images that I have created are interpretations of their dreams. They had been portrayed as realistically as possible, according to their narrations. The portrayals may just be visuals or they could be a sign – how relatable are these? Are you the next one? Do not forget, it can happen suddenly and unexpectedly with no signs or warnings for you to foretell. Nicole Quek
Featuring Christopher Lee Shawn Goh Rebecca Tan Darren Low Ruben Fernandez Jonathan Lim Evelyn Quek
Christopher Lee, 28 Fitness Instructor Christopher first experienced lucid dreaming at the age of 16 and then came sleep paralysis, a few years later. During the latter, he would see multiple faces staring back at him on his wall. These later led to slight symptoms of hallucination where despite being awake, he would often subconsciously conceive similar visions, alike those in his lucid dreams.
Shawn Goh, 18 Student, Graphic Designer Shawn fell victim to lucid dreaming at a very tender age; where he was in a forest and had to find his way out through a portal of trees. If he does not find the right one, he cannot escape. As such, he became very afraid of falling asleep which resulted in severe deprivation of sleep.
Rebecca Tan, 22 Make Up Artist Rebecca bears fond memories of her childhood at her neighbourhood playground. These were destroyed when she began lucid dreaming where she would be riding the seesaw horses. During that playtime, the playground would grow further and further apart – the longer her dream, the further apart it grew. She became overly anxious in reality, which led to a huge decline in both work and social performance. Eventually, she had to seek medical help as she fell into depression, relying heavily on pills.
Darren Low, 19 Student, Basketball player To practice for the finals, Darren stays up late into the night. Due to extreme exhaustion, he began to have lucid dreams. Darren performed extremely well during the first few matches, where he won and improved tremendously. 2 months later, he kept seeing illusions where he was attacked while dreaming. The hyper reality of those occurrences led him to lose concentration and he became very prone to injuries, greatly affecting his performance.
Ruben Fernandez, 45 Lecturer, Professional Photographer Ruben would go for his morning run every day, without fail, at the reservoir near his home. The day he decided to take a break at a shelter, he began lucid dreaming. He would be in the exact same location, except he now had a companion – a smoky figure. Upon waking up from the dream, he would experience sleep paralysis and a stuffy chest. Once, he was unable to respire properly and had to be admitted into the hospital.
Jonathan Lim, 20 NS Recruit Into his few weeks of National Service, Jonathan began lucid dreaming. He would run never-ending trails and as he approached an abandoned railway track, the ground would be cloudy and at the end of the trail he would see the shadowy figure of a faceless soldier. Jonathan fell ill rather frequently ever since the occurrence of this very dream.
Evelyn Teo, 20 Student, Photographer Ever since she matriculated as a student in design school, Evelyn barely slept as much as she did previously. Since then, she began to experience sleep paralysis and her visions haunted her, as they were very terrifying. This led to lucid dreaming where the scene remained the same – a rope hanging under a blood-stained bridge. There have been cases where she slept for 2 whole days (48 Hours) without waking up. This narration was the last we heard from her before we received news that she went into a coma.
Special Thanks to: Chow Chee Yong Christian Candelario as Christopher Lee Sean Thian as Shawn Goh Danica Marie Tan as Rebecca Tan Daryl Quek as Darren Low Isidro Ramirez as Ruben Fernandez Jonan Liang as Jonathan Lim Nicole Quek Photography http://www.nicolequek.com/ Images Š 2014 by Nicole Quek. All rights reserved.