Lucid Dreaming

[Anti]

If you're wondering what Lucid Dreaming means, it is being awake within your dream. You know you are asleep, but you don't wake up! You stay in the dream and because you know it is a dream, you can do anything you like -- literally anything you can imagine.

I know that among all the creative and interesting individuals on this forum, some of you have got to have some fun lucid dreaming anecdotes to share with the class.

I discovered lucid dreaming in my early childhood but I didn't know there was a name for it or that it was relatively uncommon.

Since then I have done a little studying and learned a few simple techniques to help cultivate this ability.

I'm interested in sharing and hearing of others thoughts, ideas and experiences with Lucid Dreams.

 

[MarquisBlack]

First! I know that I have consistently lucid dreams if I wake up in the morning and go back to sleep like an hour later.

Also, the more I smoke, the less I remember my dreams.

 

[exploziv]

I don't dream so often, usually once or twice a month and most of the time I have this type of dreams.

the interesting fact is when I have them they always go like this:

1 - I dream the phone alarm ringing, and then I wake up. Guess what: In no more than 5 minutes after I wake up the alarm really rings. (and I change the set hour every time, so I'm not just getting used to and wake-up before it.)

or

2 - I dream a scene where I hear a phone ringing ar a very close tone to my alarm sound or phone ringtone... and when I wake-up I find out I've had some missed call(s) or I've overslept.


It's like a feeling that tells me that I'm having a dream. During the dreams I really don't want to wake up.

 

[j6p]

Most of my lucid dreams occur in the very early morning, when I awaken before dawn, then slowly drift back into dreamlike imagery and fall into a light sleep. The lucid dream is usually triggered when something "odd" happens, and I notice it. Like maybe I'm back in the old hood, talking to someone who died years ago. Bingo! Or it could be something as simple as a signpost changing directions when I glance back at it. Bottom line, when I spot something which would not happen in waking life, I know it's a dream ... and the fun starts.

It seems that if I am sleeping lightly, the dream will become quite vivid, and I can do just about anything. I might decide to walk off and explore the dreamscape, or maybe to just float up into the sky. The possibilities are endless when the dreamer takes control. It is like an alternate life or reality.

Probably it would require a book to fully describe these LD experiences. They never fail to amaze me. And reminding yourself to look for those "reality fluctuations" which happen in dreams will enable you to trigger more lucid dreams. A bit of self training helps.

If you're wondering what Lucid Dreaming means, it is being awake within your dream. You know you are asleep, but you don't wake up! You stay in the dream and because you know it is a dream, you can do anything you like -- literally anything you can imagine.

 

[Anti]

Awesome! Thanks for the contributions! I too notice a correlation between smoking and lack of dream memory. I also notice that on the days that I go to bed sober I tend to have really weird dreams.

I read a book many years ago which suggested that we can increase the frequency of our lucid dreams by performing a series of "state" tests throughout our waking day.

This means to simply check (whenever the thought occurs to you) whether or not what you are currently experiencing is a dream or not. You can do this by looking at a clock or watch and noting the time, and then looking away from it and back and noticing if it's changed.

(Time seems to work funny in dreams. It may go from being 12:23 to being 08:35 or 98:33 or even FO:OD!)

Another thing you can do is go to a light switch and flip it on and off and see if the light responds 'normally.'

The point of doing this in your normal life is that if it becomes a habit, you are definitely giong to end up doing it in a dream. And this is a great way to purposefully trigger lucidity.

I find that if I keep a dream journal and make an effort to write as much as I can about my dreams when I wake up, that my recall improves and my lucid dreams come frequently and more naturally.

If anybody feels up to sharing the actual contents of their lucid dreams, I'd be very interested in hearing. I have some that I can share as well.

Most of the time, I realize it is a dream because I start telling someone that in my dreams I can fly.. and then I start to describe the method of flight, and this causes me to do a state check to confirm that it works.

Since I was a kid, I've had the ability to fly in my dreams by simply jumping into the air and then "holding" the jump.. I remain suspended in the air with the sensation of having 'extended' the jump. Sometimes it is only brief... like I can jump REALLY far. Other times, once I've jumped i can zoom around just above ground level as if I were playing a video game. Other times I can fly high above the ground (but not superman style. Almost always standing upright.)

 

[MarquisBlack]

Once recently I had a dream in which I was walking around the town I currently live in. Something changed which caused me to do the "State check" that you mentioned, and as soon as I realized I was dreaming, I felt as though something was lifting me by the head like a claw machine. I was flying straight up, and I could actually see the buildings and eventually the city below me. This caused me to get that sinking feeling in my stomach akin to riding a roller coaster and I "made myself" wake up.

It was euphoric yet terrifying. Weirdest dream I've ever had.

 

[j6p]

The Plunge

The Plunge

I used to have a recurring dream in which I would find myself standing high up on the edge of a tall cliff, bridge, 40 story building etc, looking straight down. Disturbing. But I kept writing this dream in my journal. Then, once again, I found myself standing on the cliff edge, staring down a 3500 foot drop. But - this time, I suddenly recalled the earlier dreams. I could even remember writing about them in my log. I knew that I was back in the same dream again. Nothing could hurt me.

So I jumped off the cliff. What a rush! I could see the red cliff walls blurring as I plummeted down. I watched the objects on the ground growing larger and closer. Everything seemed entirely real as I fell. Then I touched down abruptly and landed on my feet, no harm done. I looked around, and saw that the cliff was gone. In fact, I never had that dream again.

Soon after my happy landing, I sat down on a rock and started updating my dream journal, while I was still dreaming. I was determined not to forget any of that episode.

 

[Anti]

I think the first time I was actually lucid in a dream was a dream I had that I was in a hotel on one side of a giant canyon. There was another hotel on the other side and the inhabitants of that hotel were at war with the one I was in.

About the time that Ninjas burst in and started chucking stars at me, I noticed that things like this didn't generally happen to me in my waking life.

At this point, the battle evaporated and i woke up a few moments/minutes later.

 

[Croissant]

these days I hardly dream at all, which sucks. A few years ago I was having vivid dreams often and would have lucid dreams now and then. most often when I become lucid while dreaming ill do something like fly or make the dream go in a fun direction. On rare occasions will I be lucid enough to fully interact with the dream environment but some cool things to try are.... look at the sky, walking through a mirror, and interviewing dream characters. The latter is particularly interesting I noticed that often the other character is a sort of reincarnation of a reocurring character that takes on different appearences. Sometimes though the characters are foreign and seem to become nervous when I become lucid and seem like they are keeping a secret and hoping I wake up. I have gotten some of these foreign characters to admit so far that they know about the reoccuring character and they are seperate entities, they maintain their individuality from some other characters as well. Some of them I have met before but they had a different appearance and some of them it is our first meeting.

One of them once told me that he was not part of my psyche but was a seperate entity whos appearance is subjective to the dreamer, it was the first time we met, and that he was surprised that i became lucid. He told me that often i will meet the same set of characters in my dreams. he was not sure if we would ever meet again and when I begen probing further with questions began suggesting I wake up.

 

[DutchMaster$]

I've heard you can tech yourself to lucid dream. Anyone know of any basic knowledge to get me started?

 

[diamondmine]

I've heard you can tech yourself to lucid dream. Anyone know of any basic knowledge to get me started?

Quit smokin for a few days, you'll dream.
It'll be Techno Vision Multi-Colored Surround Sound 3d Dolby Digital Blue Ray kind of dream.

 

[Anti]

Quit smokin for a few days, you'll dream.
It'll be Techno Vision Multi-Colored Surround Sound 3d Dolby Digital Blue Ray kind of dream.

Lucid dreaming is not vivid dreams.

Lucid dreaming is being aware, while asleep, that you are asleep and that the things that are happening are only happening in your mind.

Lucid dreaming is understanding and reacting consciously to the situations in your dreams.

 

[Anti]

I've heard you can tech yourself to lucid dream. Anyone know of any basic knowledge to get me started?

Easy steps for the uninitiated:

Step 1 : Put a notebook and a pen next to your bed.

Step 2: Before going to bed, tell yourself, "tonight or one night very soon, I will have and remember having a lucid dream."

Step 3: Write down anything you can remember about your dreams the moment you wake up. If you have trouble remembering your dreams, write down any feelings or ideas you have the moment you wake up.

Step 4: Throughout your waking day, do "state" checks (try to verify whether or not you are awake) on a daily basis. This increases the probability that you will do this sort of thing in dreams, because it will be a regular habit of yours.

There are also exercises that are supposed to aid in your ability to do this, but I find that if I do the stuff above for a few days, I will have at least one lucid dream that I remember within a few days time.

 

[Anti]

Once you are accustomed to looking for "Dreamsign" (stuff that is out of the ordinary compared to your normal waking life) you can become lucid much more easily.

If I notice that people I haven't seen since high school are hanging around, I do a state-check. If I'm at a mall that happens to also be a church that happens to also be a spaceship, I do a state-check. If I notice a clock, I do a state check. If I'm in a room and nobody else is around, I flip the lights on and off.

 

[diamondmine]

Wow thanx, I guess because you don't agree with me that you would shoot my comment down. Well whatever. You will have Lucid, Vivid, and very interactive dreams if you quit smoking bud

 

[MarquisBlack]

He wasn't shooting your comment down, he was making a distinction for the sake of the discussion. Don't take things so personally.

 

[Anti]

Wow thanx, I guess because you don't agree with me that you would shoot my comment down. Well whatever. You will have Lucid, Vivid, and very interactive dreams if you quit smoking bud

Homie. Two other people besides you commented before you about exactly that! What's more, I was one of the two! So why do you think that I don't agree with you?

I was merely clarifying (since you were answering a guy who wanted to learn how to do it) the difference between vivid, strange, weird, exciting normal dreaming and lucid dreaming.

(There is a chip up there on your shoulder, if you took it off you might be more comfortable.)

[edit: Thanks Marq.]

 

[Neuromancer]

It was a long time ago so I had to check to see if I still had that book. Lucid Dreaming .. The Power of being Awake and Aware in Your Dreams. Stephen LaBerge Ph.D. Stanford University Sleep Research Center. You can find the Lucidity Institute at http://www.lucidity.com/. It seems the author is still active in this area and it might be a good starting point for someone interested in trying it for themselves. After reading the book I was occasionally able to enter a lucid dreaming state and found it to be a unique and very interesting experience.

 

[Anti]

The book of his that I have (in a box somewhere with almost all of my old books) was called "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming".

 

[j6p]

I was flying straight up, and I could actually see the buildings and eventually the city below me.

I float around a variety of places: above forests and along trails, around houses in the suburbs, into cities full of buildings, passing over roofs. Floating through buildings. When I lucid dream, my body density can vary from completely solid (knock on wood, jump off cliffs) to nearly insubstantial (floating through walls).

One peculiarity about this variable density phenomenon is that when I am solid, other people can see me and I can interact with them. But when I'm floating, they very seldom notice me, unless I reach out to touch them. Then my hand or arm passes through them with no resistance. I don't feel anything, but this usually causes them to wince or look uncomfortable. They stop walking and stand looking around, while I am floating horizontally a couple of feet away. Then they move on. (To Be Continued ...)