Lucid dream

A dream in which the dreamer knows they are dreaming and may be able to act deliberately.

Also known as: conscious dream

What it means in practice

Lucid dreams and astral projection can share vividness, control and sleep-stage transitions. Some practitioners regard them as different interpretations of the same state; others report consistent experiential differences.

The overlap makes lucid dreaming useful as both a comparison and a possible route into an out-of-body experience.