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There was recently a thread on Lucid Dreaming, and I noticed a fair number of people who wanted to know how to learn to lucid dream, or who where unsure exactly what lucid dreaming is. Since there is a keen area of interest I thought I'd write a little guide as to what they are and how to learn to lucid dream.
Intro – What is Lucid Dreaming – A Lucid Dream is nothing more than a dream in which the dreamer knows he/she is dreaming. A dream doesn’t have to have high levels of control or vividness to be a lucid dream, though these are frequent attributes of lucid dreaming.
Why it is of interest/worth learning:
1) The first, and most obvious aspect, is for fun. Lucid dreams offer endless opportunities to fulfill your grandest dreams. Want to fly? You got it, however you can imagine it you can do it. Fantasy Adventures? Conjure your own, create an entire fantasy world if you want. Want to experience the ancient world? Let your mind take you there. In short, whatever you can imagine doing, you can do. There really isn’t any limit to what can be done in dreams. Any fantasy, adventure, or desire can be experienced in a lucid dream.
2) Practical Applications – Lucid Dreams actually have a myriad of real life useful applications. For instance if you have a big speech coming up and are worried about your performance in front of a big crowd. Well, in a lucid dream, just create a grand hall packed with guests and your ready to go. You could start small, with a classroom of just a few, and eventually work yourself up to a grand stage. Lucid Dreams are also powerful tools for sports practice. Those of you that play sports know that visualization is a powerful practice tool. Almost all successful athletes use some form of visualization , whether its imagining exactly how you want to shoot a free throw, the feeling you want in your next race, or the rehearsal of the release to hit a nice low draw. The imagery you can imagine in your mind is good, but the imagery in dreams is perfect; as vivid as real life. Moreover, in dreams your body actually sends the nerve impulses to perform a given action, only sleep paralysis prevents one from acting out there dreams. Consequently, dreams have imagery as vivid as real life AND you are actually sending the nerve impulses to perform the action when you do something in a dream. A compelling argument can be made that dream practice is nearly as useful as real life practice; after all you have real life imagery and the transmission of never impulses – this is little different than in real life.
3) Spirituality – Lucid dreams can also be powerful spiritual experiences, allowing you to experience your beliefs in ways you way never have imagined or given thought to you.
Lucid Dreams – The How To
Step 1) -The first thing you want to do when learning lucid dreaming is developing good base dream recall. One dream a night is a pretty good goal to shoot for. Recall is so critical because without good recall you won’t remember lucid dreams as vividly as you could, making them duller experiences than they could be, or even worse you could entirely forgot a lucid dream.
The best way to develop recall is just to tell yourself as you drift off to sleep that you will wake from your dreams and remember then. Keep repeating this to yourself as you go to sleep. Make sure your focusing on the meaning behind the words, and not mindlessly repeating the words themselves. It’s their meaning that is important. When you wake from a dream, write it down immediately in a dream journal (keeping one is VERY helpful for remembering dreams). Even if all you can remember is a thought, feeling, or sensation right it down. If it any point in the day more comes back, go write it down.
If you find yourself still struggling to remember dreams, it can help to set an alarm at 90 minutes intervals after you go to sleep (no shorter than 4.5 hrs). This helps because it will usually wake you up from a REM period, which occurs roughly every 90 minutes, interrupting a dream. Our minds seem to have built in “dream erasers” in that if we don’t immediately make an attempt to remember our dreams they are quickly forgotten.
Step 1b) This step can be done at the same time you are working on developing recall. This step is learning to do what is called reality checking, or state testing. State testing is just confirming to yourself whether or not you are dreaming. While your awake you inherently know that you’re not dreaming, but could you prove it; probably not. In a dream, however, because you are so used to assuming in real life that you are not dreaming, you do the same thing. When you see a person with 5 arms, 6 eyes, and green skin in a dream you’ll rationalize it saying something like “Oh, that man must have had a bad surgery”, or “he must have had experiments done on him”. Reality Checks are a method of proving to yourself that your not dreaming, and aim to break the habit of mindlessly assuming you’re awake. Reality Checks (or RC’s for short) rely on common inconsistencies within dreams. They work because when dreaming your brain is forced to model the world with no sensory input and as a result there are many inconsistencies in dreams.
The RC’s:
1) – Text/Digital RC – Look at a clock (digital) or some text, look away, then back and see if it has changed. In dreams because there is no concrete sensory input text often changes, scambles, or becomes incoherent. If this happens in your RC, your dreaming. 2) Nose Plug – Plug your nose and see if you can breathe through it still. If you can, you’re probably dreaming
3)Flying/Levitation – See if you can, if so, you’re dreaming
I would recommend using all three of these each time as a buffer system in case one fails, which happens occasionally. The key to good RC’s to make it habitual in some way. You can do them every 30 minutes, every time something seems odd or out of place, or everytime you do a certain common real life activities. When you choose to do them is up to you, as long as you work to make it a habit. One final CRITICAL note: Make certain your RC’s don’t become mindlessly. Even though you may know IRL that your awake, if you do them mindlessly with that conclusion in mind you’ll do the exact same thing in dreams.
Lucid Dreams – Step 2) Induction Techniques
There are two ways to become lucid, DILD or WILD. DILD is a dream induced lucid dream, in which something in the dream triggers you to realize your dreaming. WILD, wake initiated lucid dream, is any lucid dream induction in which you remain conscious into the dream state as your body falls asleep.
Basic DILD Induction Technique – MILD: My preferred method for DILD is the Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams, or MILD, technique. MILD basically involves repeating a mantra to yourself as you go to sleep such as "I will remember to recognize that I'm dreaming." Its much like practicing dream recall in that you need to focus on the meaning of the words and ensure your not mindlessly repeating them. If you find your attention wandering, refocus it and begin the mantra anew. You can enhance the effectiveness of MILD by setting an alarm later in the night in order to get more "chances" and, for the visually oriented person, it can be helpful to visualize yourself in a dream situation, such as flying, and recognizing the impossibility of the situation. This is a pretty darn effective technique, and the one I first used to learn to lucid dream at will.
Basic WILD Induction Technique – WILD: My favorite version involves focusing on hypnagogic imagery (imagery you see as you fall asleep, the little dots/patches of color/shapes, etc) as I fall asleep. After waking up later in the night I will begin to fall asleep again, and as I do focus on the imagery behind my eyelids. It needs to be a soft focus, like a distant and passive observer. Attempting to actively interact with the imagery or control its flow will wake you up, as will getting impatient. Never ever get aggressive or impatient when WILDing, it pretty much dooms you to failure. As you continue the hypnagogic imagery will begin to evolve, changing from random colors/shapes/dots etc, into more clear images, perhaps starting to form patterns or organized imagery. It is typically around this time that you’ll start to notice your body beginning to fall asleep and you will start experiencing what is known as SP or sleep paralysis. SP can be very frightening if your not used to it or prepared for it. People often hear all kinds of sounds, from humming, to scratching, to banging, and so forth, and it will often feel as if there are vibrations or sensations running through your body. It isn't dangerous and is actually a good sign: it means your close to being in a dream. Its tough to relax the first few times you encounter this and as is true of being in a dream as well if you get too excited/nervous/etc. you'll wake right back u so it’s imperative you remain calm. As you go through this your imagery will begin to become a moving scene, almost like watching a movie. At this point you need to allow yourself to be drawn in to the scene. NEVER attempt to force or project yourself into the scene, you will wake up. You must allow yourself to be drawn in. Once you are drawn and are in he dream, feel free to do have fun.
The attitude you need for good WILDing is that of a passive observer. You need to disinterestedly observe whatever is happening around you. It’s a delicate balance though. To little observing and you’ll just fall asleep. But if your too forceful or expectant you'll wake right back up.
Lucid Dreams – Final Notes: Neither technique is inherently better than the other. While there is a very general rule of thumb that says that WILD is easier for people who fall asleep fast and MILD can favor those who fall asleep more slowly, this is just a general trend. Experiment with both techniques before deciding what you feel suits you better. While both of these techniques benefit from WBTB (Wake-Back-to-Bed; i.e. waking up after 4.5+ hours of sleep and then attempting to LD), it is essential to WILD. It is extremely difficult, usually impossible to WILD at the beginning of the night since the body usually passes through the deeper stages 3 and 4 of sleep during the beginning of the night and it is next to impossible to remain conscious during these stages of deep sleep.
Well, it really turned out to be a wall of text, but I hope I have been able to give you guys some insight into lucid dreaming, particularly some of the how to's. If you have more questions, don't hesiate to ask.
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japanese rape pron comes to mind.
nah i keed... who on earth would think of such dirty dirty things right? 
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Yes we know all about the how tos . What's your successes ?
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Very nice L_Master. It's good to see long, well thought out and helpful blogs. 5 Stars :D
Anyone who wants more information, check out this expanded guide for some further reading. It covers most of the points that L_Master has, but is quite a bit longer.
http://www.dreamviews.com/section/introduction-5/
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man i just want a good nights sleep when i go to bed. im not sure if exploring Narnia is such a good idea for me.
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How long would it take to get this "perfected" if u will.
Also I heard somewhere that its also useful to keep a journal or something and record your dreams. Apparently helps again form a memory of the dreams. Know anything about this?
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On July 23 2010 13:14 metaphoR wrote:
man i just want a good nights sleep when i go to bed. im not sure if exploring Narnia is such a good idea for me.
The truth is, lucid dreams are just as restful as a regular nights sleep. Even when I was having 4 or more per night I was never any more tired than I would be after a "normal" night of the same lengths sleep.
How long would it take to get this "perfected" if u will.
Also I heard somewhere that its also useful to keep a journal or something and record your dreams. Apparently helps again form a memory of the dreams. Know anything about this?
Perfection is an achievable thing. It is possible to learn to have lucid dreams on command. As far as the length of time goes, its obviously going to vary by person. Stephen LaBerge, one of the main scientists to prove lucid dreaming, took about 4 years to learn to LD at will - but he had to develop the techniques himself. It took my about a year and a half of moderatly focused effort to reach the point where I could have a handful of them every night.
As far as the memory/DJ thing goes, I mentioned it in the OP but yes having a dream journal is a helpdul aid. The act of writing down dreams helps make recall a habit and often the simple act of trying to write down the dream really helps your recall by really forcing you to try and remember as much as possible.
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On July 23 2010 13:18 SubtleArt wrote:
How long would it take to get this "perfected" if u will.
Also I heard somewhere that its also useful to keep a journal or something and record your dreams. Apparently helps again form a memory of the dreams. Know anything about this?
Way to read the op there buddy.
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My dog wakes me up hours before I usually get up, so I end up having a lot of lucid dreams.
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On July 23 2010 13:14 metaphoR wrote:
man i just want a good nights sleep when i go to bed. im not sure if exploring Narnia is such a good idea for me.
Hahaha oh god this made me laugh.
Thanks for the guide I think I'll try this out, or at least try to remember my dreams more.
Ps. Good ol' Google Ads and their "Guide to Lucid Dreaming!"
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On July 23 2010 13:09 virgozero wrote:japanese rape pron comes to mind. nah i keed... who on earth would think of such dirty dirty things right?
whatever floats ur boat lol...personally i dream about crushin JD/Flash in epic Bo21s ^____^
because in my dreams man...OSL decided...HOLY SHIT WE WANT OUR FINALS TO LAST FOR HOURS!!! (longer than the already do...)....this just made me think of how scary a Canata vs Any Terran Bo21 would be so scary lol
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there was a study that said gamers could have an easier time making or having lucid dreams cause they know how to act in a "virtual" environment.. the only people I know that have lucid dreams once in a while are me and a friend.. we both are avid gamers.. so who knows?
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I'm a big fan of lucid dreaming, check the user name >
I used to do it a lot, usually with the "WILD" method. I started discovered it accidentally while maintaining my crazy college sleep habits.
Ah, good times. I want to get back into it, haven't had one in quite some time.
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I get lucid dreams once in a while. My problem is keeping it lucid. I either
1.) "Hey I'm Lucid!" 1 min later I'm back to dreaming unlucid as I 'forget' this fact.
2.) Try and control something, and everything just goes 'black', as there's no environment. After a while i either wake up or i go back to dreaming unlucid. I think its the fact that I'm trying too hard to control something before I go unlucid again.
3.) Think I'm awake when I'm actually dreaming. As in, i'm dreaming that I'm in bed trying to get back into a dream. Its annoying as hell.
But yea, sleep paralysis is scary as hell. You feel a 'presence' sometimes, and you cant move. Its pretty much the 'old hag syndrome' as I've heard it termed.
I seem to lucid dream really easily when I take naps.
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The mantra before sleeping is really good advice, I'll have to give that a try.
Almost every time I begin to lucid dream, the dream unravels and I wake up. Though, when I lucid dream it is usually on accident. For instance, someone will say or do something in my dream and I will realize that it can't be real, then I'll either wake up immediately, or in very rare cases, continue to lucid dream (which is always awesome.) Maybe repeating that mantra before I crash will help me stay in the dream world for longer, who knows.
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I had a psychology professor who said a good way to recognize you're dreaming is looking at the palm of your hand and seeing if you could see all the little lines. In a dream, apparently you can't. So if you make a habit of checking your hand when your awake, it's easier to do in a dream to check if your dreaming. I haven't tried it but maybe it will help someone else out.
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Meet Jack and Juno. Have lots of lucid dreams. Simple. And get a totem
I've actually only had one lucid dream ever before and since then I'd tried many things that you suggest, keeping journals, etc. but it hasn't been working at all. I am resigned till dreamsharers are a reality and then i will dream lucidly
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On July 23 2010 13:40 pokeyAA wrote:
I get lucid dreams once in a while. My problem is keeping it lucid. I either
1.) "Hey I'm Lucid!" 1 min later I'm back to dreaming unlucid as I 'forget' this fact.
2.) Try and control something, and everything just goes 'black', as there's no environment. After a while i either wake up or i go back to dreaming unlucid. I think its the fact that I'm trying too hard to control something before I go unlucid again.
3.) Think I'm awake when I'm actually dreaming. As in, i'm dreaming that I'm in bed trying to get back into a dream. Its annoying as hell.
But yea, sleep paralysis is scary as hell. You feel a 'presence' sometimes, and you cant move. Its pretty much the 'old hag syndrome' as I've heard it termed.
I seem to lucid dream really easily when I take naps.
1) Number one if tricky because it usually means you are at a very low "level of lucidity" meaning that your scarcely cognizant of the fact that your lucid. If you recognize that you're dreaming the best thing to do is shout something like "INCREASE LUCIDITY NOW". This helps ground you in the fatc that your dreaming and the authoritavite commanding style helps reinforce that
2) If everything goes black it sounds like your losing the dream. Use a stabilazation technqiue such as spinning or rubbing your hands together. In each case make sure your focus is on the sensations involved, i.e the feeling of your hands rubbing together, as this helps kepp your brain involved in the dream.
3) This is called a false awakening, and yeah they can be pretty frustrating. Not much you can dop in this case. The best preventive measure I have adopted is to make it habit to do a reality check immeidatlely upon awakening as FA isn't exceptionally rare.
Yeah, sleep paralysis can be scary, but it shouldn't be too bad once you know what it is and that the sensations either are not real or are not dangerous. I personally like SP very much because it is so close to the dream state that its easy to slip right into a dream. Once your used to it sleep paralysis is like defending a 4 pool with no probe losses, pretty much a free lucid dream.
And yes, napping is a very conductive state to Lucid Dreaming because you usually just go straight into REM sleep. thus slipping quickly and easily into a dream.
I had a psychology professor who said a good way to recognize you're dreaming is looking at the palm of your hand and seeing if you could see all the little lines. In a dream, apparently you can't. So if you make a habit of checking your hand when your awake, it's easier to do in a dream to check if your dreaming. I haven't tried it but maybe it will help someone else out.
This is another example of something that is inconsistent in dreams. Without the actual visual imagery to work with the brain either makes up, or forgets, the details. What your talking about is basically just another reality check. While reality checks or useful for having lucid dreams and shold be practiced, they aren't a consistent way to have LD's and not an inudction technqiue in and of themselves.
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Almost every time I begin to lucid dream, the dream unravels and I wake up. Though, when I lucid dream it is usually on accident. For instance, someone will say or do something in my dream and I will realize that it can't be real, then I'll either wake up immediately, or in very rare cases, continue to lucid dream (which is always awesome.) Maybe repeating that mantra before I crash will help me stay in the dream world for longer, who knows.
Actually the best way for most people to stay in a dream after realizing they are dreaming is to engage their senses in the dream. If you can remember to, grab something around you and focus on feeling it's properties. Rub your hands together or rub your ears. Listening to some kind of audio input in the dream can also help to stabalize it. Most importantly, remain as calm and relaxed as you can, and you will extend the time of those dreams substantially.
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I went lucid randomly last night after more than a year of not having done so. Once again, I went flying. Once again, it kicked ass!
For people having trouble keeping the lucid dream once achieving lucidity, try spinning around. It'll keep you in for a bit.
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Oh man sleep paralysis. I used to go through that all the time, it freaked the hell out of me and I always woke myself up. I guess I'll try to just get through it next time...
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Are you telling me I can have sex with whoever I want? ... In awareness? ... I must master this immediately.
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I read something like this before on a website, and while I was reading doing the shit seemed really freaky like. "if you're in a dream don't look at a mirror, or else you're going to see yourself very distorted and probably scare yourself" and that's when i stopped reading ahaha. for a while i didn't believe in lucid dreaming until i did more research and did heard more about it and i was like O_O!! i might end up trying sometime.
oh and have you guys ever had a dream that felt so real? that it was the same as how you are right now, and you couldn't tell at all? lol Inception!!
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sometimes i get lucid when it's nearing my time to wake up. don't ask me how i know cuz i don't know lol, but basically i notice that i'm dreaming and tell myself to wake up. a few seconds(??? not sure) i wake up, but i'm not a wake, i'm in another dream, so i try to wake up again, and it happens again, the cycle repeats a few times and eventually i wake up(i hope LOL) on time. it's a weird sensation and i don't really like it tbh. i still remember the first time i had a truly lucid moment, i entered a dream and instantly realized it(don't know how, don't remember?) was a dream, suddenly my heart started racing and my mind started throbbing and i jolted awake in a cold sweat. it was pretty freaky
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As long as I don't have to worry about anyone entering my dreams and stealing my secrets or implanting new ideas I think I might give this a try TBH I don't think I've ever had a truly lucid dream so I think I might give it a try tonight, nice OP
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United States3824 Posts
My astute skillz predict an upturn in lucid dreaming googles since inception came out
Nice writeup!
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Oh man, I love lucid dreaming. Must've taken so much time to write this up. But the real message you have to learn is just that practice makes perfect. Two years ago, I spent an entire summer just practicing lucid dreaming every night. I'd say 70% of my dreams to this day are completely controlled. They're beyond anything, really.
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On July 23 2010 14:30 prOxi.swAMi wrote:
Are you telling me I can have sex with whoever I want? ... In awareness? ... I must master this immediately.
Yes, I am. With decent recall its as vivid as real life. And you can have some truly crazy sex, an obvious example would be sex while flying but its pretty much whatever you can come up with to do can be done.
oh and have you guys ever had a dream that felt so real? that it was the same as how you are right now, and you couldn't tell at all? lol Inception!!
Most of my lucid dreams are this vivid, and occasionally I remember normal dreams at this level, but not super frequently.
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I've been lucid dreaming since I was a child. It's a lot of fun. Real-life is infinitely boring by comparison.
Edit: I've always had an expansive imagination. Maybe that has something to do with it?
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I taught myself how to do this in middle school, only in college did I realize that not everyone figured out how to do it at some point
Lucid dreaming is a lot of fun, controlling dreams can make pretty much any dream really cool in a few seconds. Just saying "Hey I feel like playing soccer now," diving through a wall and playing soccer is a pretty nice feeling even though you know it is a dream. Surprisingly enough the PG rated stuff is often a lot more fun for me, but if I have something specific/someone specific to do R rated things with I wont pretend thats not fun also...
Honestly, all the talk about how to do it seems like hitting someone over the head with a hammer... if I had to give a really simple suggestion, start by finding some way to know you're dreaming. When I taught myself it started by rolling my eyes. I never naturally rolled my eyes in dreams, so if I tried to do it and it was hard, then it was a dream. From there on, knowing you're dreaming, it's pretty easy to take it step by step to doing whatever you want.
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i remember regular dreams with pretty decent accuracy, sometimes i feel details slip, but it doesn't take too much for me to bring them back. It's due to me as a kid trying vigorously to focus on remembering dreams, because i thought it meant i was less intelligent if i couldn't lol.
I've never tried having a lucid dream, but I've only had 2.
so basically my question would be, for someone with very good regular dream recall what's the quickest method of inducing a lucid dream iyo.
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This is an extremely fascinating idea, and I wish that I could master it. Unfortunantly, my mind is preoccupied enough when I try to sleep so it already takes me an hour+ to fall asleep. Also, wouldn't you want to be constantly dreaming? Why work for something IRL if you can just have something 10 times better instantly in a dream?
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So... your telling me that one dream I had as an 11 year old where I could fly at will wasn't just me being insane?? I have tried to have that dream ever since and never succeeded... I definitely have to start trying this. I have always wanted to fly... I even considered joining the air force out of high school just to have that feeling again. This is seriously the coolest thing I have ever heard of.
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On July 23 2010 16:11 Etherone wrote:
i remember regular dreams with pretty decent accuracy, sometimes i feel details slip, but it doesn't take too much for me to bring them back. It's due to me as a kid trying vigorously to focus on remembering dreams, because i thought it meant i was less intelligent if i couldn't lol.
I've never tried having a lucid dream, but I've only had 2.
so basically my question would be, for someone with very good regular dream recall what's the quickest method of inducing a lucid dream iyo.
I woudln't say there is a quickest method. Probably you'll have one in the first week if your doing RC's and thinking about it some. That is just kinda relying on luck however. If you get consistent with reality checks you'll probably get one or two week from that after the RC's get super habitual. If you want more than that or just want to have them faster just start working with MILD or WILD, whichever sounds more appealing and suited to you.
So... your telling me that one dream I had as an 11 year old where I could fly at will wasn't just me being insane?? I have tried to have that dream ever since and never succeeded... I definitely have to start trying this. I have always wanted to fly... I even considered joining the air force out of high school just to have that feeling again. This is seriously the coolest thing I have ever heard of.
Nope, it definitly wasn't you being insane lol. You can learn to have lucid dreams, in fact with alot of time and dedication it is possible to be able to have them at will. And yeah, flying is hella fun, even though I have probably had thousands of lucid dreams flying never gets old, its cliche but its still one of the most fun thing to do in dreams.
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Hi,
Very interesting blog, and great introduction.
Have you tried some "substances" to help/increase the lucid dreams ? I used to drink mugwort tea before sleeping and it works great. The only problem is that if I'm a little tired, I always sleep over 12 hours. I think it might be because when you are lucid dreaming, you brain doesn't have as much rest ? But at the same time I heard dreams, as long as they can look, only take place during a few seconds in your brain. Is it the same with lucid dreams ? I mean, if you have a lucid dream with coherent thoughts that seems to last a few hours, does it really take a few hours of real time ?
I know that are a lot of more technical questions, but I love to have lucid dreams, but I basically know nothing about it. Thanks.
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On July 23 2010 16:50 endy wrote:
Hi,
Very interesting blog, and great introduction.
Have you tried some "substances" to help/increase the lucid dreams ? I used to drink mugwort tea before sleeping and it works great. The only problem is that if I'm a little tired, I always sleep over 12 hours. I think it might be because when you are lucid dreaming, you brain doesn't have as much rest ? But at the same time I heard dreams, as long as they can look, only take place during a few seconds in your brain. Is it the same with lucid dreams ? I mean, if you have a lucid dream with coherent thoughts that seems to last a few hours, does it really take a few hours of real time ?
I know that are a lot of more technical questions, but I love to have lucid dreams, but I basically know nothing about it. Thanks.
I haven't ever tried any substances to influence LDing but people seem to have varying degrees of success. I'm of the opinion is largely a condfidence/mental thing, but, thats just an opinion.
Dreams don't take a few seconds, rather anywhere between 5 minutes or so and an hour for an exceptionally long dream. If a dream seems to last longer than that it has to do with how we percieve things in dreams. What happens in a dream is much like a movie, you see a clock say 9:00 and then the alarm is going off and it says 6:00 and we just assume 9 hours have passed, even though we know it was just a few seconds. Same things happens frequently in dreams. You might be walking down a long road, and just jump to the end and then assume that you must have walked the whole thing since its the only explanation that "fits" your beleif that you are not dreaming.
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 i lovee keeping a dream diary
wake up in the morning and the first thing i do is right down as much as i can remember about my previous night's dreams.
i find this helps
a) lucid dreaming
b) wake up my mind (i find i am more .. educationally alert throughout the schoolday)
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Hmm sometimes ill have the nicest dreams and then I would notice it as a dream so I
Start thinking up shit and then I can only hold on for a minute. One of the very many examples
Is when ill be fighting and then realize its a dream so ill turn around a fuck a girl and then ill wake up.
Sucks 
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FLYING 5/5!
thanks for writing this :3
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I figured out that I lucid dream a lot when I sleep back after just waking up. Is this another way of having lucid dreams?
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Belgium8305 Posts
yeah, that's wake-back-to-bed (WBTB), which the OP briefly touched upon near the end of his post
getting out of bed after about 5-6 hours of sleep, spending about half an hour thinking/reading about lucid dreaming and then going back to bed greatly improves the chances of you having a lucid dream
just being woken up after about 5-6 hours, being awake for a few minutes and falling back asleep already improves your chances, especially when you spend those few minutes thinking about lucid dreaming
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I've studied LD a decent amount, everytime I get pysched up to try and train myself how to do it...I get lazy with the realization that it'll take forrrrevverrrrz to properly train myself to do it.
I hate to 'stick' to the sex aspect of the dreams, but that has an inherent question, as well as, begs another:
1.) If you're having sex in a LD - and it is very vivid - what happens when you reach climax in the dream? I suppose I'm asking for explanation from those who have accomplished this in a LD...Sorry to be graphic, but does sex in LD...heh...come with IRL consequences basically?
--I have certainly heard that for some guys, whom have not cleaned out the ole' pipes for several days/weeks a wet dream in and of itself can cause climax release while sleeping, i have never experienced this myself, but i am very curious how it correlates with LD, as a pretty much un-talked about topic is how LD will most certainly be used to exploit sex.
2.) In the event that one can reach a IRL climax through dream imagrey, what other type of IRL consequences can be experienced?
If for example I am dreaming about fighting and I am hit very hard in the stomach and side, I can feel that pain in the dream, i assume, but when I wake up...will any sensation of the fake pain still be with me?
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I really, really want to learn how to LD...This blog i think has inspired me to re-start my dream log.
Any additional advice on how to remember my dreams? I've tried telling myself to remember my dreams as I fall asleep, but that didn't really work...
Seems like most of the work of learning to LD is getting over these initial hurdles.
Last question:
I've also heard that LDing ALLLL the time is bad for you, and that a requirement for healthy sleep is to at least once or twice a week to allow your dreams to roam free.
Which seems odd, as if one is so experienced at LDing, how would you then go back to having a free-form dream? You know what I mean?
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What would you suggest to someone like myself with poor dream recall (I can barely remember 1 dream per week or so and it's usually pretty hazy) to start training themselves to either remember their dreams better or to even start having lucid dreams?
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In the event that one can reach a IRL climax through dream imagrey, what other type of IRL consequences can be experienced?
If for example I am dreaming about fighting and I am hit very hard in the stomach and side, I can feel that pain in the dream, i assume, but when I wake up...will any sensation of the fake pain still be with me?
Definitely not once you are fully awake. You can still feel the pain or whatever right as the dream fades and you start to wake up but it will always stop after a few seconds.
What would you suggest to someone like myself with poor dream recall (I can barely remember 1 dream per week or so and it's usually pretty hazy) to start training themselves to either remember their dreams better or to even start having lucid dreams?
I would say dont worry about it. Just try to remember to record anything you do remember directly when you wake up. Also mantras like "I will remember my dreams" would probably help you out if you feel like you dont remember anything at all. As a general rule, the more time you put into focusing on your dreams the better off you will be.
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Ten four on the pain, however I am more interested in the...lol...first question.
I doubt it, but hell...if i could...obtain release that way...DIVORCE AND LIVE ALONE!!!! lol
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Yay, thanks for a guide like this. I actually dled a very good guide the other day but never got around to watching it. I'll do it after reading your guide.
I heard lucid dreaming can be really useful and it's awesome, but, that nightmares are ten times worse.
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Is it true that flicking a light switch on or off to see if it works is another RC?
I saw this in Waking Life (a movie that everyone should go and watch).
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On July 24 2010 01:39 FuRong wrote:
Is it true that flicking a light switch on or off to see if it works is another RC?
I saw this in Waking Life (a movie that everyone should go and watch).
Yes. If you turn on a light in a LC there's usually some lag between your action and the light turning on. And the light is really weak too.
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2.) In the event that one can reach a IRL climax through dream imagrey, what other type of IRL consequences can be experienced?
If for example I am dreaming about fighting and I am hit very hard in the stomach and side, I can feel that pain in the dream, i assume, but when I wake up...will any sensation of the fake pain still be with me?
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I really, really want to learn how to LD...This blog i think has inspired me to re-start my dream log.
Any additional advice on how to remember my dreams? I've tried telling myself to remember my dreams as I fall asleep, but that didn't really work...
Seems like most of the work of learning to LD is getting over these initial hurdles.
Last question:
I've also heard that LDing ALLLL the time is bad for you, and that a requirement for healthy sleep is to at least once or twice a week to allow your dreams to roam free.
Which seems odd, as if one is so experienced at LDing, how would you then go back to having a free-form dream? You know what I mean?
No, you won't feel dream pain when you wake up. Getting hurt in a dream does not cause any damage to you IRL. The same is true of dying, you could kill yourself in a dream and be completly fine in real life.
The simple answer to number 1 is that it various. Sometimes people will climax IRL just as they do in a dream, sometimes they won't. From what I have rad and heard it seems to vary from person to person and really from night to night.
As far as having LD's all the time, like 6+ a night, I don't know if I would say its bad for you, but it can get a little exhausting because its so much time you spend fully aware that it can wear you down. And going to back to regular dreaming is pretty easy, once you stop trying to have LD's it stops pretty quickly, within a few days for me. LD's are something that on the whole must be intentionally induced, if you stop using induction technqiues and doing so many reality checks your LD frequency will drop right off.
What would you suggest to someone like myself with poor dream recall (I can barely remember 1 dream per week or so and it's usually pretty hazy) to start training themselves to either remember their dreams better or to even start having lucid dreams?
I touched on this some in the OP, but basically as you go to sleep yell yourself that you want to wake from your dreams and remember them. Really focus on the meaning of the words; don't just mindlessly say them. Its important to keep your mind focus and not let it drift and if you feel it drifting be sure to regroup and return your attention to wanting to rememebr dreams. Also, keep a dream journal and everytime you wake up stay right where you are, try to remember as much as you can of the dream, and then write it down. It usually helps if you stay in bed. If you're really stuggling set an alarm at 1.5 hour intervals from the time you fall asleep in order to help you wake directly from a REM period, the sleep stage in which you dream.
I heard lucid dreaming can be really useful and it's awesome, but, that nightmares are ten times worse.
Trying to lucid dream won't affect your nightmares. The won't get better or worse because you'e trying to achieve lucidity. A Lucid nightmae isn't scary at all because you know its a dream, and thus can easily stop whatever unpleasentries are occuring and go have an enjoyable LD.
Is it true that flicking a light switch on or off to see if it works is another RC?
I saw this in Waking Life (a movie that everyone should go and watch).
I could see this working, but being inconsistent. I have never tried it myself but my guess is that because we are so conditioned to seeing lights turn on when we flip a switch, the same will happen often in a dream. Yes, the light may be different or strange, but if you're non lucid thats a subtle thing to notice and there is a good chance you'll just rationalize the problem with some crazy excuse. Feel free to try it though, different RC's work better for different people.
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Thanks for the response!
Right, I - hehe - don't like the Matrix all that much, so i for sure understand that you can't get HURT or DIE IRL from a dream...More-so i was referencing the ghost pain. I sometimes have ghost pain, you know?
And, the next question you can surely tell me is none of my business - if it is too personal.
+ Show Spoiler +But seeing as you are certainly establishing yourself as an expert on the topic.
Have you reached climax, IRL, through LD intercourse (and i mean LD climax)?
If not, what sensations did you experience in the dream state when the event occurred?
edit: I am sorry for 'sticking' to this single attribute, but I don't have fantasy's of flying...But i certainly have other fantasy's i'd enjoy experiencing! :D
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Have you reached climax, IRL, through LD intercourse (and i mean LD climax)?
If not, what sensations did you experience in the dream state when the event occurred?
Yes, but that occurs infrequently for me. Obviously you don't know you ejaculated IRL until you awake from the dream. As far as experiencing it in the dream state if feels pretty much...like sex. It is a little odd though, in that you can't get too excited or emotional in the dream or else you'll wake up. Which of course can be tough when you're having sex. It makes sex a little restrained, but it is still pretty darn close to the real life event.
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Again thanks - what an interesting topic.
Alas, surely the real thing is still better *Lah, Sigh*
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I'm still trying to get lucid dreams...
Got it once by pure luck, but since I have no idea how to do reality checks, I usually end up waking myself up with RC's D:
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Another thing to note is that smoking marajuana is a dream supressent. So it can be alot harder to have lucid dreams if you smoke regularly. Also if you are a heavy smoker taking a break will cause many people to dream very vividly for the next week or more after you stop smoking.
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I've had a couple near-lucid experiences (mostly in terms of acknowledging sleep paralysis), but I have two questions.
1) Every time I remember a dream I see myself as a kind of floating spectator. If you are lucid dreaming, does it actually feel like you're awake? Do you actually inhabit your own body and control it?
2) Are your senses active when you are lucid dreaming? Do you fully feel, smell, taste, hear, and see things as you would think you would in real life? Are your senses toned up/down? If so, by how much?
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On July 24 2010 09:41 Stratos_speAr wrote:
I've had a couple near-lucid experiences (mostly in terms of acknowledging sleep paralysis), but I have two questions.
1) Every time I remember a dream I see myself as a kind of floating spectator. If you are lucid dreaming, does it actually feel like you're awake? Do you actually inhabit your own body and control it?
2) Are your senses active when you are lucid dreaming? Do you fully feel, smell, taste, hear, and see things as you would think you would in real life? Are your senses toned up/down? If so, by how much?
1)Yes, it feels almost exactly like being awake. The perception is the same, as is, in general, the vividness. How real if will feel when you wake up depends on your recall. If your recall is good and crisp it will feel like a 2 minute old memory, but it its not as good it can feel like something that happened 5 years ago.
2) Yes, they are. You definitly sense things the way you "think" you would in real life. Of course without actual sensory input to rely on your mind is making up many of the senses based on expectation or memory. Generally my senses are pretty similar to real life, but it is certainly possible to tone up or tone down your senses if you so desire.
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Every morning, I wake up after 8 hours of sleep, then I go back to sleep for 4 more hours (it's just how my body work I guess). For these 4 hours hours I have an insanely long dream, that last 2-3 hours, very rich in content and stuff that makes sense. I can't control it, but I'll wake up every 10 minutes or so and I can "fix" (or not if I'm happy with it, like most of the time) something I dislike in the super dream then fall back asleep easily. It's actually an amazing experience and I often stay in bed just so that this dream can go on.
Most of the time I know that I am dreaming but I don't try to control anything (without waking up and "fixing" it, I mean). Is it lucid dreaming of some sort?
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Most of the time I know that I am dreaming
That is 100% a lucid dream. The only requesite needed for it to be a lucid dream is for you to realize that your dreaming. You probably have a low level of lucidity since you don't excerise much control, but if you recognize on some level that its a dream, then you are by definition lucid.
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I actually manage to get a lucid dream on a regular basis right before/as I wake up. In the last 30 minutes before I wake up or in the time between when I wake up early and when I actually get out of bed I usually have a decent lucid dream.
Barely remember them within 10 minutes of waking up though. T_T I remember the bits of action, but not much of why I did/ was doing something.
Nice post.
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What are the big lucid dreaming forums, websites?
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I never really thought I would want to lucid dream. I have impeccable recall and enjoy the unforeseen ideas and revelations I get from dreaming. For some reason I had the impression that lucid dreaming was like an on off switch; if you know how to do it, you do it. I really didn't know what was involved until I read this, so thanks. I'll give it a go.
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What are the big lucid dreaming forums, websites?
Dreamviews, which has already been mentioned, is a great one for tutorials or personal help. LD4all is big too.
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LD4all is another one of the really good forums out there, in many ways as good as TL, especially in terms of general quality. Its a fairly small but generally close knit community and almost everyone friendly and helpful. I haven't been to Dreamviews much, but I get the impressions its a larger community, and it had a lot more of the tutorials/general info stuff.
If anyone is ever on LD4All im Lucidty_Master over there. Feel free to shoot me a PM and say hi.
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Thanks for your guide, I'm totally going to try to use it :D
As a child, I always had HORRENDOUS (and I mean horrible TnT) nightmares, and I've flown multiple times lucidly, but they always were in response to some giant evil that was pursuing me... I don't dream too much, but when I do, it's always totally unclear/unrecoverable, or is so graphic that I wake up in cold sweat or something...
Occasionally I get a warm and fuzzy, happy dream, but then, most of the time I'm not lucid. Go figure.
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I'm curious to know whether anyone has studied in their lucid dreams？And of course, I'm interested to know the result of it
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I've thought of that too, but the main problem would most likely be the fact that it would be VERY easy to study completely wrong. After all, your study materials could be whatever you want them to, and whatever answer you think of would be arbitrarily right/wrong
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Cool. I've sometimes tried to be aware, but never really looked into specifics techniques. It's kind of funny when you have a partial one. Where you dont explicitly think you're dreaming, but you make decisions that assume so. Like, hm I should just go teleport over there.
Man I wonder if those savants or something can create ultra realistic dreams. Where clocks and shit work in real time with high response haha.
I'm curious on the ramifications though. Maybe the brain keeps you unaware for a reason? I mean if you say there's built in dream erasing mechanics hehe. Anyone know if they've studied the benefits/consequences of having really high lucid dream rates?
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Wouldn't it be worse considering you know you're in a dream and that you'll wake up soon and the dream will be over? My dreams are already pretty awesome as is.
Does knowing that you are dreaming worsen the effects of the dreams?
edit: I'm gonna try out lucid dreaming today. Wish me luck on it working!
Also to the guys having sleep paralysis, try to sleep more. Wikipedia says an easy cure is to just get enough sleep. My paralysis only lasts for a few seconds, I don't know if it's because I'm trying to move my body which forces me to wake up. I try very hard but it barely budges, like my entire body is hopelessly numb except my eyes. Then my body eventually just breaks free of that numbness and I can groggily wake up. I think this is the best option since I'm never able to just calm myself down when paralyzed to just go back to sleep.
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Whoa, I thought I was the only person who had sleep paralysis (serves me right for not reading through). It only happens to me when I sleep in a car when it's really hot; when I wake up, I get this horrible feeling like I can't breathe or move...
(also @Hidden Motives: )It probably won't work on your first try, unless you're just suited for lucid dreaming or you can very quickly learn, etc., so don't count on it working.
I, for one, still can't manage to get a "good" lucid dream ARGH! :[
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On July 27 2010 15:29 Z3kk wrote:Whoa, I thought I was the only person who had sleep paralysis (serves me right for not reading through). It only happens to me when I sleep in a car when it's really hot; when I wake up, I get this horrible feeling like I can't breathe or move... (also @Hidden Motives It probably won't work on your first try, unless you're just suited for lucid dreaming or you can very quickly learn, etc., so don't count on it working. I, for one, still can't manage to get a "good" lucid dream ARGH! :'[
Wow, that's weird. Today I had sleep paralysis for the first time EVER... in a car... that was really hot. Must be something that causes it in those conditions. Pretty crazy.
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Wow, does 'lucid dreaming' actually works? I am a bit skeptical about it.
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On July 27 2010 23:39 Xiphos wrote:
Wow, does 'lucid dreaming' actually works? I am a bit skeptical about it.
Do you mean is it actually possible to realize your dreaming? If so, then the answer is definitly yes. It's a scientifically proven event. If you mean controlling dreams and such then yes, that is also possible because if you're aware of the fact that you're dreaming you can do whatever you want since it is a dream and no rules of reality apply.
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I'm sorry to say that I have decided to temporarily hold of on any attempts to lucid dream, because I tried really hard last night and ended up sleeping till NOON today T____T
Maybe I'll try on weekends, but I can't afford to lose precious time (whenever I attempt to lucid dream, I end up waking up and falling asleep very quickly without my noticing after about the first 7 hour period of sleep, and then I sleep waaaay too long lol). Obviously, I shouldn't expect some magical lucid dreaming action to happen right off the bad, but I realized that I definitely can't try on weekdays *sigh*
Thanks a ton for the thread though, Lucidity Master! I bet I'll eventually be able to dream lucidly sometime. My main problem besides directly not being able to dream lucidly is that oftentimes my dreams have extremely limited tunnel vision with nothing much happening, so I don't even get an urge to lucid dream, and the boring "dream" is over really quickly :/
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On July 27 2010 15:29 Z3kk wrote:
(also @Hidden Motives: )It probably won't work on your first try, unless you're just suited for lucid dreaming or you can very quickly learn, etc., so don't count on it working.
I, for one, still can't manage to get a "good" lucid dream ARGH! :[
Well the last two dreams that I woke up from these two mornings were rather boring and more daydream or thought dreams than action. I think I just don't have anything interesting to think about.
Today I had an excellent opportunity to lucidly dream. After class, I took a one hour nap, and had a dream that I woke up from my nap, and used the school computers. I really wanted to use the ones there but in real life I couldn't, but in the dream the computer had extra features. Like I said dull. Then I dreamed about my mom yelling at me . But I could easily have realized the dream were not real had I tried any techniques/had an eye on my hand. I didn't because I thought people would think I was weird if I drew an eye on my hand. Pretty dull dreams. When I woke up, I wasn't sure if I really was up or in another dream so I tried to lucidly dream but I couldn't visualize anything. Then I heard people talking in the other room and realized I was definitely awake.
I know it's strange that I had a dream in one hour when sleep cycles are 90-100 mins, but I did and it was a relaxing nap :D
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No need watch porn anymore
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Ok, so I don't remember any dreams from yesterday, but today during my nap, I dreamt again. I was a professional cycler and competed very often against other people in this kind of cycling race on this plateau reminiscent of a parking lot I'd once been to for a printing place. I end up driving at night and then I wake up from this dream. This time I wake up with my little brother and he tells me that he had a dream similar to mine. I check my hand for an eye, but it isn't there because I didn't want people to think I was weird. Then my little brother tells me that his dream had zombies so I realize that they were only similar. Then later i woke up for real.
SO Close to lucidly dreaming again. I'm going to make it one of these days.
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o_____o lucky...
My biggest problem is that my dreams just aren't very clear to start with, so I can't even do reality checks or anything of the sort since the entire dream is so unfocused, and I often dream with tunnel vision.
I also can't figure out whether I should use the WILD or MILD thing.
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Man did I have a crazy night last night. I've been reading about something directly linked to lucid dreaming, which is called "The Phase."
http://obe4u.com/
According to this website they call it an out of body experience, or astral projection. It's probably best to skip the text on this site until below the guy with the huge arms. I don't think it has anything to do with either of those, but something actually happend last night.
I was practicing a technique called straining the body, where you essentially try to strain your entire body without moving any muscles. This was late at night when I went to bed, btw. All of the sudden I felt a few indiscribable feelings, and then my eyes started to shift from side to side uncontrollably. At that point I didn't quite know it, but right now I am convinced that it was actually my body going into REM state while I was concious. My eyes were closed, but my field of vision increased, and the view from behind my eyelids changed into this strange hazyness. I'm not sure how I can describe this without buying in to their bs but it did sort of feeling like I was floating away in some manner. At that point my heart started to race very very fast and I woke out of it. It was a bit strange because I felt a bit paralyzed, but I could still move. That was pretty much it for the event. Then I jumped on msn to tell my bro.
I was going to make a blog about this, but this seems like a good place to put my story that happend last night. For anyone else interested in this phenomena please always keep a skeptical eye when reading material on it. As I said before people will give it mystical names and attribute it to spiritualism and religion, but believe me I am the opposite end of those spectrums, and what I experienced last night was very real. Study the techniques carefully but don't expect miracles to happen.
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Muscle relaxation ^ the post above, is mostly just used to tire your body and warm it up to help cure insomnia. I haven't had it work well.
I recently had another dream, it's always when I take a nap in an unusual place. The dream started to break down though as I asked harder questions for my dream to trick me into believing that it was real. I asked how so many people could fit in one car, and the dream just dodged the question. Then I asked why we were going, and that it had been fun before, the dream answered New York. The shrubbery outside the car got more repetitive. Then I remembered feeling something heavy on my side like a log, I was asleep on the car though I didn't remember falling asleep. But then the log didn't make sense, so the image changed in the peripheral of my eye, and turned into a rolled up carpet. These things are long. Longer than cars.
It was then that I woke up for real, asleep on a sofa in the position one would be in when sleeping on a car. Fuck my dreams. They never give me a chance to go lucid . I woke up in a light sleep paralysis, then after I could move, I really didn't want to because my leg was really numb.
I won't give up on lucid dreaming, but I won't be chasing it actively in the future.
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On August 08 2010 02:35 rad301 wrote:Man did I have a crazy night last night. I've been reading about something directly linked to lucid dreaming, which is called "The Phase." http://obe4u.com/According to this website they call it an out of body experience, or astral projection. It's probably best to skip the text on this site until below the guy with the huge arms. I don't think it has anything to do with either of those, but something actually happend last night. I was practicing a technique called straining the body, where you essentially try to strain your entire body without moving any muscles. This was late at night when I went to bed, btw. All of the sudden I felt a few indiscribable feelings, and then my eyes started to shift from side to side uncontrollably. At that point I didn't quite know it, but right now I am convinced that it was actually my body going into REM state while I was concious. My eyes were closed, but my field of vision increased, and the view from behind my eyelids changed into this strange hazyness. I'm not sure how I can describe this without buying in to their bs but it did sort of feeling like I was floating away in some manner. At that point my heart started to race very very fast and I woke out of it. It was a bit strange because I felt a bit paralyzed, but I could still move. That was pretty much it for the event. Then I jumped on msn to tell my bro. I was going to make a blog about this, but this seems like a good place to put my story that happend last night. For anyone else interested in this phenomena please always keep a skeptical eye when reading material on it. As I said before people will give it mystical names and attribute it to spiritualism and religion, but believe me I am the opposite end of those spectrums, and what I experienced last night was very real. Study the techniques carefully but don't expect miracles to happen.
While there are varying opinions on this I believe OBE/AP is just a lucid dream, and every possible test I have done has shown them to be one and the same for me
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I had my first lucid dream this morning. It was pretty amazing how much control I had over the dream.
I won't go too much into the details of the dream, but the dream itself was rather vivid.
So I woke up @ 8:30 and I ate breakfast before realizing I didn't have class until 1pm for this day. (My schedule is still busy). I went back to bed with my clothes and light on.
I slowly started to realize that one dream was a dream, things just didn't make sense in it. But the first thing I thought, was to will myself to wake up so I could write about the dream. I woke up to a dream within a dream (my body's natural response against lucid dreaming). I tried to push myself up and put my teeth on my wooden bedframe, I could taste and smell it so vividly, so I convinced myself that I was outside the dream. Then I wrote two words down on a sticky note about my dream.
Then my dream turned into a girl dream. I had a lot of girl dreams the week before, so while I was awake, I decided to use them as a trigger for lucid dreaming. Something similar happened in one of my dreams the week before, so the trigger activated and instantly convinced me that I was in a dream.
The dream was very vivid from that point on. I won't go into too much details, but lucid dreaming allows you to control a lot more than you think you can. Levitating isn't very difficult. You can change what would be a bad dream (none of my previous girl dreams turned out too well) into a good one.
Right now I'm very worried that I will figure out a way to set more triggers for lucid dreaming and become addicted to it. I spend more time in this reality than in my dream one, so I would rather minimize displeasures in this one, and not focus too much on my dream reality. I don't want my dream reality affecting my real reality decision either.
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On July 23 2010 13:31 Bub wrote:
Drugs. Lots of them.
I've had some pretty crazy dreams after getting high. Would it assist lucid dreaming?
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Before reading this I didn't feel like going to sleep even though I'm tired. Now I can't wait!
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Ever tried having a lucid dream in your lucid dream? You need to go deeper.
Seems like Inception ripped of your whole section on Reality Checks...
Nice read though. In the beginning I thought you were yanking our chain and this whole thing was a hoax. Going though the scientific papers now.
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Very nice guide.
I've had dreams before that I recall and used to force myself to sleep longer on weekends as a kid to have vivid ones that I could at least create the scene for.
Until reading this thread I thought I hadn't really dreamed in a long time. Then I started remembering a few I had just last week lol.
Anyway last night I tried doing that mantra as I fell asleep to remember them. To my surprise I woke up exactly 4.5hrs later. Thats fairly unusual for me, and I couldnt recall if I had been dreaming. I managed though to induce sleep paralysis instead of just falling asleep again. It took a while but eventually I started to dream. I waited for images to form and take shape. It was like watching the scenery through a window on a train. Then I started to control it, completely changing the scene. It was going well until I focused too hard on a particular object and suddenly my body jolted and I was awake.
Was pretty stoked I managed to do this first go at will. I suspect i've done so before though. I definitely remember having the flying dream as a kid and wondering why i couldnt just will myself to IRL.
So thanks for the guide, look forward to trying again tonight Hopefully i'll become more lucid over time, as I only saw/recall imagery of the dream.
Btw im a big Matrix fan. I certainly believe as gamers we have an easier time manipulating non-reality :p
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wow really interesting post.
the teamliquid blog is full of jewels....
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Hmm... I've seen threads about lucid dreaming on TL, but I've never really checked them out.
Since I've read this over a couple of times; might as well give it a whirl. 
Very informative blog. :D
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After reading this thread and a lot of the info on Dreamviewers, I think I really want to get into this. Im going to start keeping a dream journal, and try to practice ADA (all day awareness) and RC's a little bit every day. My goal is to try and have my first recallable Lucid Dream by the end of April. I know I've had them before but I cannot remember them. I also would be able to like to remember my dreams in general to help me in my daily life.
Just wondering if anyone else on here has tried ADA? Dreamviewers makes it sound like its an almost guaranteed practice of getting Lucid Dreams once mastered.
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On March 31 2011 03:21 Artemis wrote:
After reading this thread and a lot of the info on Dreamviewers, I think I really want to get into this. Im going to start keeping a dream journal, and try to practice ADA (all day awareness) and RC's a little bit every day. My goal is to try and have my first recallable Lucid Dream by the end of April. I know I've had them before but I cannot remember them. I also would be able to like to remember my dreams in general to help me in my daily life.
Just wondering if anyone else on here has tried ADA? Dreamviewers makes it sound like its an almost guaranteed practice of getting Lucid Dreams once mastered.
Yes, you can get it to a guaranteed level. I can LD at will when I am in shape, and can still easily have 1 or more a night even if I am not trying to LD as actively as possible. It just comes down to picking a technique that suits you and getting familiarity with it. After that confidence plays a huge role. If you start telling yourself its tough to have LD's you will make it that way for yourself, especially since LD is such an incredibly mental thing.
ADA is often called Lucid Living, and it is essentially trying to always question your state (dream or reality). You could think of it as trying to be constantly doing RC's, its a very similar concept. I think ADA is fine, and probably with extended practice you could reach the point of having several LD's a night, maybe even more. The drawback here is that it doesn't give you a choice, if your practicing this mindset, your going to start having LD's whether you want to or not because it is such a habit. On at "at will" level this would mean you would almost never have a normal dream, something I sure wouldn't want.
Also, even if your doing ADA I see no reason you wouldn't also want to use a solid induction technique like MILD or WILD as you go to bed; like reality checks, ADA complements the use of induction techniques, and using both just increases your chances of having a lucid dream. I personally would focus on actual induction techniques, and use ADA/Heavy RC stuff to better your chances and awareness.
A note about dream recall. It is essential for Lucid Dreaming. Don't even bother with Lucid Dreaming if you don't at least remember one dream per night at a minimum. Any recall less than that and you'll forget most of your lucid dreams, and the ones you do remember will probably be pretty hazy, weak recall; both of which serve to discourage and hurt motivation, not to mention ruining proper feedback about whether your current approach is working well.
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^Can you tell your dreams apart though (if you remember more then 1 a night)? Sometimes ill remember a dream or two, but it will just feel like a single dream. Also I dont think I want to try WILD since it seems to require too much waking up and going back to sleep (or am I thinking of WBTB?), and it would hurt my overall rest. I'd rather stick to DILD and MILD. Which seems to be the most effective for you? Also the few times I have remembered my LD's they're usually false awakenings, which I cant control. In the past whenever I've had any type of LD its just sheer luck. Im looking to be able to will myself into a LD, and be able to recall it to the point where it feels like a memory. My main concern though is not spending too much time doing this. Im currently a college student and value my sleep(rest) greatly (lol).
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I get terrified when I have a lucid dream, because I realize I'm inside my own mind and pretty much anything could happen in there. So the fear pulls me out before I can try to control it.
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Started my dream Journal last night. I woke up in the middle of the night and wrote down 1 dream. It was a dream I could control but I didn't realize I was lucid while I was in it. After I went back to sleep I woke up in the morning without being able to remember any more then that 1 dream. How does WBTB work?
Im also trying to practice ADA and RC's regularly. Although I find it hard to concentrate on it and dont always remember to stay fully aware.
How come I could only remember one dream, even though I definitely had more after that? And how did I not realize I was dreaming even though I had a loose control over my dream. The dream felt perfectly natural like normal life, but now that I look back on it, it seems ridiculous.
The dream:
I was going snowboarding with a bunch of people from work, and we had to catch a bus to the mountain. I cant recall how I got there but I was standing outside of my office waiting with them when the bus pulled up. When the bus got there I realized I didnt have any of my gear with me, and I had to run home to get it while I asked the bus to wait. Suddenly I appeared at what felt like home, but after I remember it being a strange apartment that I've never seen before. I looked out the window to check that the bus didn't leave (it was still there, co-workers getting anxious), which was weird because my house is a good 20min drive from my office. I felt like I had to use the bathroom so I spawned a toilet in the middle of the room, and a group of people walked in while I was going, I freaked out and woke up. From there I wrote it down and went back to bed.
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I can't believe this has gone all the way to page five at the time of me writing this. Your post has got me to start a dream journal and I'm really looking forward to when I can finally lucid dream.
Before I started a dream journal, it was a very rare occasion for me to remember my dreams. To my surprise, on nights I have gone to sleep repeating a mantra to myself, I have woken up multiple times and have been able to remember my dreams, so that's looking great.
However, I have been reading about sleep paralysis and I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that the idea of it terrifies me really badly. I know and understand that it is all in my head, but I know that if I ever went through the experience of it then I would start panicking and I would forget it's not real and totally freak out. I'm mostly afraid of the stories people tell of seeing dark figures or hooded men trying to kill them or something during SP.
So my questions are, do you still experience SP if you are DILDing? Do you hallucinate horrific things most times you get SP? And what are the best ways to get out of SP if you are in it? Lastly, how would you go about getting into a lucid dream if you are in SP?
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I tried having lucid dreams at once point but I never had the patience and dedication for it.
Then I tried polyphasic sleeping patterns at one point and I naturally had a lucid dream (they're much more common when you're polyphasic). The length of my sleep was 20 minutes yet the dream felt like hours. It was wonderful.
@above: SP wasn't explained properly in this thread. Let me explain it a little.
Sleep Paralysis is something that happens every single time you sleep. When you go to sleep, your body goes into a near perfect paralysis, this is the sole reason that your body doesn't move the same way you move in your dreams. Now, the 'dark figures/hooded men' you're referring to is part of a mythical folk tale which is now known to be when your mind partially wakes up from sleep but your body hasn't actually been released from the paralysis. Essentially you still 'dream' even though you're awake, and sometimes you end up seeing scary figures (this tends to happen in the middle of the night and night is naturally scary). Since your body is still in paralysis, you can't move and this adds to the scary dreamlike state, making it worse.
The entire concept of DILD is that you're already sleeping/dreaming when you induce (activate) the lucid dream. The sleep paralysis stuff is more to the WILD side of lucid dreaming, since you're staying conscious while your body goes into paralysis.
TL;DR no
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On March 31 2011 07:27 Artemis wrote:
^Can you tell your dreams apart though (if you remember more then 1 a night)? Sometimes ill remember a dream or two, but it will just feel like a single dream. Also I dont think I want to try WILD since it seems to require too much waking up and going back to sleep (or am I thinking of WBTB?), and it would hurt my overall rest. I'd rather stick to DILD and MILD. Which seems to be the most effective for you? Also the few times I have remembered my LD's they're usually false awakenings, which I cant control. In the past whenever I've had any type of LD its just sheer luck. Im looking to be able to will myself into a LD, and be able to recall it to the point where it feels like a memory. My main concern though is not spending too much time doing this. Im currently a college student and value my sleep(rest) greatly (lol).
From an effectiveness standpoint I can LD at will when I am in practice with either of the techniques. WILD does require waking up, because it relies on WBTB. Trying to WILD at the beginning of the night is suicide because your body goes into deep sleep at the beginning of the night, and it is near impossible to remain conscious in stage 3 or 4 sleep. As a very general guideline I tend to find MILD better for those that take longer to fall asleep (more time to affirm your intention) and WILD better for those who fall quickly asleep (less time to be "awake").
It should be noted that DILD is not a technique. Its just a dream where you become lucid during the dream as opposed to a WILD type experience where you maintain consciousness into the dream state. Dreams initied with techniques such as MILD, autosuggestion, or Lucid Living will always be DILDs.
On March 31 2011 22:55 Artemis wrote:
Started my dream Journal last night. I woke up in the middle of the night and wrote down 1 dream. It was a dream I could control but I didn't realize I was lucid while I was in it. After I went back to sleep I woke up in the morning without being able to remember any more then that 1 dream. How does WBTB work?
Im also trying to practice ADA and RC's regularly. Although I find it hard to concentrate on it and dont always remember to stay fully aware.
How come I could only remember one dream, even though I definitely had more after that? And how did I not realize I was dreaming even though I had a loose control over my dream. The dream felt perfectly natural like normal life, but now that I look back on it, it seems ridiculous.
The dream:
I was going snowboarding with a bunch of people from work, and we had to catch a bus to the mountain. I cant recall how I got there but I was standing outside of my office waiting with them when the bus pulled up. When the bus got there I realized I didnt have any of my gear with me, and I had to run home to get it while I asked the bus to wait. Suddenly I appeared at what felt like home, but after I remember it being a strange apartment that I've never seen before. I looked out the window to check that the bus didn't leave (it was still there, co-workers getting anxious), which was weird because my house is a good 20min drive from my office. I felt like I had to use the bathroom so I spawned a toilet in the middle of the room, and a group of people walked in while I was going, I freaked out and woke up. From there I wrote it down and went back to bed.
Your dream is what is often called a false lucid dream. The dreamer acts as if he is aware and lucid but never actually realizes he is dreaming. Just because you control things in a dream doesn't mean you will get lucid. Its like someone flying in a dream and not recognizing it as one, or seeing some monster. You rationalize it as oh it must be some unique wind pattern letting me fly, or that must be the new creature that got out of the zoo. If you even recognized your control you almost certainly rationalized it as normal.
WBTB works by allowing you to wake up later in the night where you fall into longer periods of REM sleep faster. This gives you a chance to re-apply your technique a second time, and not only that, but at a time in which it is much easier to enter REM sleep.
As far as dream recall goes its a matter of training. Most people don't naturally remember their dreams. They develop a habit of not trying to remember them, and our mind essentially has a built in dream eraser that makes us forget dreams after we return to sleep if we don't make a conscious effort to remember them. This is why even though everyone dreams at least 3-4+ times in a normal nights sleep, they usually remember less than one dream.
On April 03 2011 01:45 HeidstroM wrote:
I can't believe this has gone all the way to page five at the time of me writing this. Your post has got me to start a dream journal and I'm really looking forward to when I can finally lucid dream.
Before I started a dream journal, it was a very rare occasion for me to remember my dreams. To my surprise, on nights I have gone to sleep repeating a mantra to myself, I have woken up multiple times and have been able to remember my dreams, so that's looking great.
However, I have been reading about sleep paralysis and I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that the idea of it terrifies me really badly. I know and understand that it is all in my head, but I know that if I ever went through the experience of it then I would start panicking and I would forget it's not real and totally freak out. I'm mostly afraid of the stories people tell of seeing dark figures or hooded men trying to kill them or something during SP.
So my questions are, do you still experience SP if you are DILDing? Do you hallucinate horrific things most times you get SP? And what are the best ways to get out of SP if you are in it? Lastly, how would you go about getting into a lucid dream if you are in SP?
Its not real, there is nothing to be afraid of. You cannot be hurt, injured, touched, or in any way harmed with SP. Sleep paralysis itself is natural as youngminji explained well. The "Old Hag" that you talk about usually occurs hypnopompically (waking up) and happens when you only partially wake from sleep, your still very much in a state of partial REM. Your mind then is still modeling worlds like crazy and starts making shit up. Since your paralyzed it usually adds a fear element and next thing you know you see/hear stuff coming from you or other alarming occurances.
That said, SP is a good thing. It means your SUPER close to a lucid dream. Just relax, close your eyes, and return to sleep keeping your mind a little active. Next thing you know you'll be right back into a dream. SP is pretty much a "free lucid dream card".
I almost never hallucinate scary things when I have SP since I know what is and why it happens. There is no element of fear so I don't experience anything scary. No you don't experience SP while "DILDing" since DILDing isn't a technique, though you could experience it upon awakening from an LD as with awakening anything although I would say its less likely since your more aware of what is going on.
On March 31 2011 09:25 Breavman wrote:
I get terrified when I have a lucid dream, because I realize I'm inside my own mind and pretty much anything could happen in there. So the fear pulls me out before I can try to control it.
Uhh, What? Nothing could happen in there......
There is nothing that can happen to you in a dream to hurt you. You can kill yourself, torture yourself, be raped, etc and there will be zero effects upon awakening. About the only thing that could happen is you could scare yourself as in the case of a nightmare. I can't think of an activity thats much more safe than Lucid Dreaming.
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Wow I think I had WILD once.
I remember when in elementary school i used to be sick a lot and stay home from school.
one time i had a hard hard time going to sleep but I eventually did, but it did not feel like I was sleeping. Rather, it felt like I had control of what I was thinking about. I didn't remember that vivid imagery, but I could picture the things I was thinking about. I didn't feel like i had 100% conscious control, but I felt that I was choosing things to think about. Once I woke up, I was like, wait, was I sleeping or not? I remember before I feel asleep (or during that) i was thinking about robbers or something stealing or running around. Then as I was dreaming I remember picturing them in cars driving around and shit. It was weird xD Like I said though, maybe I just didn't recall it well but I don't remember much imagery; the backgrounds seemed to be just black to me. Maybe it was at night? idk
Anyways thanks for this! I think people should check out this stuff more often, it would make movies like Inception more believable :D
haha
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Going to bump this because I've been keeping the lessons learnt from this and practising it casually, seeing the clock and keeping a dram diary and I've been starting to see results more and more often!
I haven't had COMPLETE control before but I've been conquring many scary dreams of monsters coming to kill me by being the weapon wielding hero instead hahaha, Though I admit that it's usually kinda gory after I become the vengeful "hero" with the weapon haha
There are mant other situations where I've managed to turn bad dreams into funner ones by realising that I'm the wizard when I'm dreaming and I've been happier with all the flying ^^
I've had some ability to control this at times prior to reading this but this guide has really changed my life for the funner :D
Thanks!
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On December 05 2013 00:47 JieXian wrote:
Going to bump this because I've been keeping the lessons learnt from this and practising it casually, seeing the clock and keeping a dram diary and I've been starting to see results more and more often!
I haven't had COMPLETE control before but I've been conquring many scary dreams of monsters coming to kill me by being the weapon wielding hero instead hahaha, Though I admit that it's usually kinda gory after I become the vengeful "hero" with the weapon haha
There are mant other situations where I've managed to turn bad dreams into funner ones by realising that I'm the wizard when I'm dreaming and I've been happier with all the flying ^^
I've had some ability to control this at times prior to reading this but this guide has really changed my life for the funner :D
Thanks!
You can have alot of fun with this. Or just change the game and be nice to the monsters and see what happens.
Nice to see you're having some success, just keep that mentality that having LDs isn't some insanely difficult thing and you'll be good to go.
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EPT
