Breaking Convention 2025 Review – Susan Blackmore, Psychedelic Science & Lucid Dreaming Crossover
- The Lucid Guide
- 57 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Breaking Convention 2025 Review – Meeting Susan Blackmore and the UK's Best Psychedelic Conference
Lucid dreaming teacher Daniel Love reflects on his first Breaking Convention – a whirlwind of psychedelic science, surreal experiences, and meeting Dr Susan Blackmore. From hard-science to mind-bending VR, this is consciousness exploration at its best.
I just got back from Breaking Convention 2025, and frankly I'm still processing it all. As someone who teaches/researches lucid dreaming professionally, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from my first psychedelic conference.
Ok, so there's crossover between altered states and dreams, but I was concerned I'd be the outsider at an event like this.
Fortunately, I was wrong...
From the moment I walked into University of Exeter (in beautiful Devon, my neck of the woods), something felt different.
The first impressions alone gave it away – I was handed a festival pass designed to look like LSD blotter art (which I later found out was part of an actual exhibition – very meta).
You know you’re not in Kansas anymore when your name badge looks like it might be a portal into uncharted realms of the mind...
This wasn't just another consciousness conference - it was genuinely mind-expanding in the best possible way. And surprisingly welcoming.
Almost instantly my worries about being an outsider slipped away. It was clear everyone was here with one goal in mind... consciousness exploration.
The Atmosphere: Academic Meets Festival
There's this incredible intellectual playfulness throughout the venue. One minute you're deep in conversation about neuroplasticity, the next you're listening to someone discuss the philosophical implications of DMT.
It's like academia decided to let its hair down and have a good old think about just how strange reality really is.
What struck me most was finding my tribe - people equally obsessed with consciousness, just approaching it from different angles.
As a lucid dreaming teacher, I'm used to questioning the nature of perception, consciousness and reality - but seeing things through a different lens, a different angle is the definition of mind expanding.
I found myself thinking "I need to be part of this properly next time."
And if I'm brutally honest, the intellectual rigour, genuine open-mindedness (while still fully embracing the science), puts virtually every lucid dreaming convention I've attended to shame.
(take note lucid dream conventions... mixing open-mindedness with hard science is the way forward)
Meeting Dr Susan Blackmore: A Dream Come True (Literally)
Let's be honest, every good trip (or dream, in my case) has a peak moment - and for me, it wasn't even close.
The absolute highlight of Breaking Convention 2025 was seeing Dr Susan Blackmore speak live - and better yet, getting to meet her in person.
If you know anything about consciousness studies or skeptical psychology, you'll already know she's a legend.
But for me personally, she's been a kind of guiding light. Her work on out-of-body experiences, memes, and the science of consciousness was one of the earliest things that showed me it's possible to explore the weird and wonderful without descending into pure woo.
Her approach is grounded, rational, but still open to mystery - which is basically the tightrope I try to walk with lucid dreaming.
Her talk? Brilliant.
Just the right mix of humour, hard science, personal reflection, and a subtle dose of existential unease (the good kind). She spoke about consciousness as an illusion, about the self as a construction, and about how her own experiences have evolved over the years.
The little details, like wearing the very same jacket she wore back as a young student - when she had a deep revelation, that culminated in this talk – absolute chef’s kiss. And I don't say this lightly - the room was buzzing. You could feel people leaning in, not wanting to miss a single word.
There was no fluff, no ego, just decades of thought compressed into one perfectly delivered talk.
And yes - I had the wonderful luck to bump into her and strike up a conversation (I couldn't miss the chance).
And she was lovely. Warm, generous, and somehow both deeply curious and deeply grounded. I think I babbled something about dreams, performed a reality check, and gushed how much her work influenced me (which hopefully made some kind of sense). But it meant a lot to me to have the chance.
It was genuinely one of those rare moments where you meet a hero and they don't let you down.
It was also one of those strange full-circle moments - here I am, a lucid dreaming chap who's spent years navigating the dreamscape, meeting someone who helped map the science of altered states before it was even cool. Absolutely wild!
Breaking Convention Speakers: The Good, The Great, and The Unexpected
The speaker line-up was diverse and impressive (and sadly too many to see them all... if I have one complaint, it's that you had to PICK between far too many fascinating events occurring at the same time). Rick Doblin from MAPS brought his usual big-picture optimism that makes you think the future might actually work out.
Julie Holland added human warmth to the science, while Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes has evolved into something of a rock star philosopher (with the hair to match).
Celia Morgan delivered insights into the neuroscience of altered states with her characteristic precision. But it wasn't just the established names - plenty of newcomers offered fresh perspectives that had us all furiously taking notes.
Beyond the talks, there was art, cinema, music, and yes, some deliciously odd performance pieces. You couldn't walk ten feet without stumbling into something fascinating you didn't quite understand but definitely wanted to explore.
The Vibe: Beautifully Bizarre
How to describe the atmosphere?
It's like the Royal Society had a wild weekend away and decided to embrace its weird side. There's rigorous science alongside genuine eccentricity, and somehow it all works brilliantly.
The conference manages this delicate balance - welcoming academics, artists, skeptics, and seekers alike. Everyone's united by genuine curiosity about consciousness.
It creates this rare space where you can be silly and playful while still being intellectually serious (which is, in my opinion, exactly how life should be lived).
You'll find yourself in deep conversations about the nature of reality one moment, then appreciating some rather unusual (or otherworldly-familiar) art the next.
I ended up inside a “cyberdelic” VR installation at one point – basically a guided psychedelic experience without any substances, just visuals and sound.
The exhibit guides all looked absurdly cool with a very cyberpunk vibe - straight out of a scene from the Matrix or a side quest in Cyberpunk 2077.
It was all genuinely disorienting in the best possible way - think digital hypnagogic hallucinations -and made me dust off my own VR headset the moment I got home.
And yes, a lovely chap handed me some mushroom-infused chocolate (not the mind-altering kind – the conference is very clear and responsible on those fronts – but rather a health-boosting, legal adaptogen) during a talk on plant intelligence. It was delicious, in case you're wondering.
It's also wonderfully unpretentious - you can quote Kant or Terence McKenna, wear a lab coat or festival gear, and nobody bats an eyelid. It all felt very real.
Why I'm Already Planning My Return
Breaking Convention 2025 was genuinely one of the most inspiring events I've attended (and absolutely puts lucid dreaming conventions to shame).
Huge credit to the organisers for pulling off something this complex while maintaining that perfect balance of structure and creative chaos.
For me personally, I left wanting more. Not just the talks or the science, but the community - the atmosphere.
That shared desire to explore consciousness without falling into either dogma or cynicism is rare and precious.
I’ll definitely be back. And I’d love to speak at a future Breaking Convention. Lucid dreaming and psychedelic science share more in common than most realise – both offer unique windows into altered states. Lucidity is one of the few methods that doesn’t require substances, yet still provides profound insights into perception, identity, and the nature of reality itself.
It’s one of those beautifully rare events where you can learn about synaptic pathways in the morning, do breathwork next to a bloke in a unicorn onesie by lunchtime, and be deep in a VR dream simulation before dinner.
If you're interested in consciousness research, psychedelic science, philosophy, or just enjoy watching brilliant minds have fascinating conversations in unusual settings, Breaking Convention needs to be on your radar.
See you at the next one. Hopefully from the stage.
I’m Daniel Love, a lucid dreaming educator and author, sharing tools for conscious exploration. If you’re into dreams, altered states, or just the weird and wonderful, you're in the right place, take a look around!
Breaking Convention 2025: Key Information
Location: University of Exeter, UK
Date: April 2025
Focus: Psychedelic science, consciousness research, and interdisciplinary exploration
Notable Speakers: Dr Susan Blackmore, Rick Doblin (MAPS), Julie Holland, Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes, Celia Morgan
Atmosphere: Academic meets festival, intellectually rigorous yet creatively open
For more information about future Breaking Convention events, visit breakingconvention.co.uk