Ancient Tibetan lucid-dreaming practices meet immersive VR research
Can virtual reality make the insights of Tibetan dream yoga more accessible—and potentially help people living with severe anxiety? Host Katherine Bell speaks with Dr. Michael R. Sheehy of the University of Virginia’s Contemplative Sciences Center about lucid dreaming, ancient Buddhist dream-yoga practices, and a modern immersive program designed to simulate a dreamlike world while participants are awake.
Dr. Sheehy explains how dream yoga trains recognition, agency, and flexibility within dreams. He describes practices involving the dream body, conjuring and multiplying objects, transforming appearances, and integrating dream insights into waking life. The conversation then turns to the Dream Yoga Virtual Reality Program, its nonrepresentational and multisensory design, and the research hypothesis that psychological flexibility, imaginal simulation, and somatic awareness may help reduce clinical anxiety.
They also discuss early feasibility findings, the larger randomized controlled trial still awaiting analysis, shared virtual dreamscapes, and ways lucid dreamers may respond to frightening dream figures by recognizing their agency over their response.
In This Episode:
- What dream yoga is and how it relates to lucid dreaming
- The history of Indian and Tibetan dream-yoga manuals
- Recognition, dream-body training, conjuring, multiplying, and transforming
- How dream practices may influence waking perception and behavior
- Why VR may offer a repeatable way to rehearse dreamlike lucidity
- The Dream Yoga Virtual Reality Program and its immersive, abstract design
- Early feasibility results: 17 lucid dreams reported by 10 of 15 participants
- The larger randomized controlled trial remains preliminary until its data are analyzed
- Psychological flexibility, imaginal simulation, and somatic awareness
- The research hypothesis connecting those capacities with reduced clinical anxiety
- Working skillfully with fear and frightening figures in lucid dreams
BIO: Dr. Michael R. Sheehy is Director of Research at the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia and a scholar of Tibetan Buddhist contemplative traditions.
Research note: The feasibility findings discussed in this episode are preliminary. The larger randomized controlled trial was still underway, and its data had not yet been analyzed at the time of the interview. This conversation is educational and is not medical advice.
Keywords:
dream yoga, lucid dreaming, virtual reality therapy, anxiety research, Tibetan Buddhism, contemplative science, psychological flexibility, imaginal simulation, somatic awareness, dream research, Michael R. Sheehy, The Dream Journal
#DreamYoga #LucidDreaming #VirtualReality #AnxietyResearch #TibetanBuddhism #DreamResearch #TheDreamJournal
This show, episode number 385, was recorded during a live broadcast on October 19, 2026 at KSQD.org, community radio of Santa Cruz.
Upcoming Workshop with Katherine:
Dreams and Visions: Cultivating Joyful Effort with Katherine Bell and Henry Kandel. Six monthly Wednesdays on Zoom, 7:00–8:30pm ET (4:00–5:30pm PT), starting November 11. The first session is free.
Details and register here: https://www.psychedelicyogaresearchcollective.org/dreams
SHARE A DREAM FOR THE SHOW or a question or enquire about being a guest on the podcast by emailing Katherine Bell at katherine@ksqd.org. Follow on LI, IG, YT, FB, & LT @ExperientialDreamwork #thedreamjournal.
To learn more or to inquire about exploring your own dreams go to ExperientialDreamwork.com. Learn more about dreaming by joining the International Association for the Study of Dreams at ASDreams.org
Video podcast available at youtube.com/@experientialdreamwork. Popular playlists: “Dream Journal shorts” and “FULL LENGTH VIDEOS”.
Here are links to some other Dream Journal episodes you might be interested in:
Inside the Sleeping Mind: Memory, Dream Yoga, & the Neuroscience of Sleep with Ken Paller, PhD
Anesthesia Dreams, Psychedelics, and Lasting Personal Change with Dr. Pilleriin Sikka
Intro and outro music by Mood Science. Ambient music new every week by Rick Kleffel. Archived music can be found at Pandemiad.com. Many thanks to Rick for also engineering the show and to Erik Nelson for answering the phones.
The Dream Journal aims to:
Increase awareness of and appreciation for nightly dreams.
Inspire dream sharing and other kinds of dream exploration as a way of adding depth and meaningfulness to lives and relationships.
Improve society by the increased empathy, emotional balance, and sense of wonder which dream exploration invites.
A dream can be meaningful even if you don’t know what it means.
The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM. Catch it streaming LIVE at KSQD.org 10-11am Pacific Time on Saturdays. Call or text with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773 or email at onair@ksqd.org. Podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms the Monday following the live show. The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page can be found at ksqd.org/the-dream-journal/.
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