Tadas Stumbrys, PhD
Assistant Director for Research
Email: tadas.stumbrys@aleftrust.org
Personal website: stumbrys.com
Biography
Tadas Stumbrys is a lecturer and a researcher in the fields of dreams, consciousness, mindfulness, and transpersonal psychology, with a particular interest on the phenomenon of lucid dreaming. He holds an MSc in Consciousness and Transpersonal Psychology from Liverpool John Moores University (UK) and a PhD in Sports Science from Heidelberg University (Germany) where he conducted doctoral research on applications of lucid dreams in sports. Tadas contributed over two dozen articles to the field of lucid dream research. His work on lucid dreams has been published in such journals as Consciousness and Cognition, Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, American Journal of Psychology, Frontiers in Psychology, Journal of Sports Sciences and others. Tadas lives in Vilnius, Lithuania, where he also works as Associate Professor at Vilnius University, Institute of Psychology. He served on the Board of Directors for the International Association for the Study of Dreams and is currently a Board Member of Lithuanian Association for Mindfulness-Based Psychology. Tadas is the Editor of Alef Trust’s scholarly journal Consciousness, Spirituality & Transpersonal Psychology and is on the Editorial Board for the International Journal of Dream Research. He is Assistant Director for Research at Alef Trust and a core faculty member, teaching on several modules, supervising research projects and serving as a personal tutor for students.
Research interests
One of primary Tadas’ research interests is the phenomenon of lucid dreaming – a unique state of consciousness in which the dreamer is aware of dreaming while dreaming. He is interested in understanding the experience of lucid dreaming, the nature and laws of the dream world, psychology of dream characters, as well as the potentials of lucid dreaming for self-development and growth, including creative problem solving, skills training, mental and physical healing, meditation and development of mindful awareness, self-transcendence and spiritual experiences. Tadas is also interested in ways how lucid dreams can be facilitated to make this unique and enriching experience more available. His other research interests encompass meditation and mindfulness, non-ordinary states of consciousness (e.g., out of body experiences, near-death experiences, mystical experiences, psychedelic experiences), contemporary secular spirituality (‘spiritual but not religious’) and spiritual intelligence, transpersonal research methods, and the entire domain of transpersonal psychology.
Key publications
Stumbrys, T. (2021). The luminous night of the soul: The relationship between lucid dreaming and spirituality. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 40(2), 64-74. https://doi.org/10.24972/ijts.2021.40.2.64
Stumbrys, T. (2018). Bridging lucid dreaming research and transpersonal psychology: Toward transpersonal studies of lucid dreams. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 50(2), 176-193.
Stumbrys, T., Erlacher, D., & Malinowski, P. (2015). Meta-awareness during day and night: The relationship between mindfulness and lucid dreaming. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 34(4), 415-433. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276236615572594
Stumbrys, T., Erlacher, D., Schädlich, M., & Schredl, M. (2012). Induction of lucid dreams: A systematic review of evidence. Consciousness and Cognition, 21(3), 1456-1475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2012.07.003
