I'm driving down the highway, at what I would have to guess would be 120 miles an hour, headed around a bend on a highway into town. I can't seem to get a grip on the steering wheel, or the brake pedal for that matter. It feels as if I'm on one of those sit-and-spins from grade school, spinning around in the driver seat unable to gather what is happening to me. My glasses suddenly slip off my nose and now everything around me is flashing by in a blur. At this point I'm beginning to wonder if I want the car to crash because of the terrified feeling in the pit of my stomach. I can feel my mind willing myself awake just as I find the brake pedal.

That was all I could remember this morning as I woke up petrified and out of breath, wondering what my dream could possibly mean. Dreams are something truly unique and amazing. They'll leave you with a smile on your face all day or afraid to go to sleep the next night. We sit around for minutes or even hours wondering what our dreams could possibly mean. Why was that snake wearing sneakers? Did that baby have purple dreads?

Nothing is worse than the fact that a dream never seems to be remembered from start to finish. We might remember the brief appearance of Fabio, or the heart stopping fear as you're running down a dark alley landing in a dumpster of marshmallows, but it seems almost impossible to remember a dream from start to finish. I silently loathe those who brag about their magical, fabulous dreams while I suffer the immense fear of dreaming about giant clown heads and car crashes. From time to time I feel inclined to search in books and online for the answers to my dream queries. This almost always seems to be a bad decision. I've learned that I have fears of my life not being on track, that someone I love dearly is going to pass away, and that my dreams about losing all of my teeth shouldn't be taken literately.

One of the most challenging aspects of the dream world is lucid dreaming; an art form I have yet to master. Lucid dreaming is simply the awareness of the fact that you're dreaming. The concept of lucidity is about the simplest part of the whole process. Lucid dreaming occurs naturally on occasions but not on a regular basis. A few key things to remember about lucid dreaming are as follows: a dream doesn't count as lucid unless you are controlling it, lucid dreams have several levels, it advocates escapism, and that lucid dreaming is new age. Let's back up and break down these levels.

The actual level of awareness varies, which means that when the level of lucidity is high you are well aware that nothing you experience is real, and you realize that you have nothing to fear. In other words, you cannot be harmed by any situations that may seem precarious. With low-level lucidity, although you're partially aware you are dreaming, you are not aware enough to have a great impact on your dream. This means you may accept some aspects of your dream that you would not normally accept in the ordinary world. With low-level lucidity, your realization may also quickly fade and you may accept the whole dream as reality.

The most important thing to remember about lucid dreaming is that it is a completely natural and healthy experience. A friend once explained to me how he managed to successfully lucid dream and it has become a goal of mine ever since. The key is to keep your mind and body still. Resist the impulse to move or think about those 10,000 things that will never actually happen in real life. You might find that you have an urge to itch your leg or arm, as this is allegedly the body's way of asking if we're awake or not. Ignore it. Be sure not to fall asleep because then you lose the ability to control your dreams which means they are not considered lucid. There are a number of different herbs and teas and strategies that are said to be the best way to make lucid dreaming occur. Focus is a key element no matter what website or book you're searching through. There is a saying; "a dream does not become a reality without work." That quote could not hold more true in the case of lucid dreaming.