Lucid dreaming

[Oberon]

Yes, they do seem very real. But there are things you can look for to discern whether or not you're dreaming.

Great! Could you tell me what they are?

 

[clueless]

Great! Could you tell me what they are?

Events which are impossible in waking life are common while in the lucid dream state.

 

[htb]

I experience, infrequently, both lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis; in each situation I start myself awake.

 

[Mole]

I've only had a few substantial lucid dreams in my lifetime.

There are two ways to enter the lucid dream state. One is to fall asleep and dream and become conscious you are dreaming. The other is to start off awake or conscious and slowly and carefully turn off your cognitive faculties until you reach the dream state while still staying conscious.

What is important to remember though is, when you are fully awake, to process your lucid dream through your conscious mind. That is it is very important to evaluate your dream so you can integrate it into your values and your life.

Always remember your awake mind is in charge, and your dream mind is like a delightful child.

That is, your awake mind is the responsible adult and your dream mind is like your child who needs to be looked after and understood.

 

[Orangey]

I experience, infrequently, both lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis; in each situation I start myself awake.

Oh man, sleep paralysis is scary sometimes. On one occasion I hallucinated dark figures standing in front of me talking to me. I was conscious that I was dreaming and I could see the room I was in, but there were um...additions. It generally takes a huge effort for me to will myself into waking, and that particular time was no exception.

 

[Haphazard]

I had sleep paralysis when I'd fallen asleep during class.

That was scary.

 

[VanillaCat]

I had sleep paralysis when I'd fallen asleep during class.

That was scary.

Same here. I couldn't control what I was doing and as the teacher was talking, I imagined a tv with static, and the Muppets were coming out of it. But I could still hear and see the teacher. It was weird. Period.

 

[Mole]

I had sleep paralysis when I'd fallen asleep during class.

I find sleep paralysis OK as long as I don't try and do anything.

And sleep paralysis has its counterpoint in paralysis of the mind.

Sleep paralysis is easy to understand - for instance, a car is speeding towards you and you can't move. While mental paralysis is simply not knowing what to do.

Both can induce panic and both derive from the same source.

When you go to sleep, it is all or part of your cognitive faculties that go to sleep. It may be the ability to consciously move your muscles that goes to sleep. Or it may be your ability to judge that goes to sleep. Or is may be your sense of humour that goes to sleep - yes, your sense of humour is a cognitive faculty.

But I think the most interesting faculty to put to sleep is your sense of what is coming next.

Most of us take this faculty entirely for granted and so we aren't even aware it exists. So when it goes to sleep, it can induce a mild panic.

But once our sense of what is coming next is asleep and we have moved through our mild panic, everything comes as a surprise.

It is as though everything is fresh and new - it is as though the world is born again.

And it is important to remember, when we are fully awake, to process our surprises through our conscious mind, that is, simply think about them so that we can integrate them into our values and life. So we will be prepared and ready for our next adventure.

 

[Entity]

I've found the easiest way to wake from lucid dreaming is to find the nearest building and jump off (I've only ever hit the ground once before waking).

Side Note: I would advise against ever trying to read anything while lucid dreaming. I tried to dial a phone once in a dream and felt like I was going insane because I couldn't remember what numbers and letters looked like. I completely lost control of the dream and descended into a nightmare. All subsequent attempts to read anything have also failed.

 

[Mole]

I've found the easiest way to wake from lucid dreaming is to find the nearest building and jump off (I've only ever hit the ground once before waking).

Side Note: I would advise against ever trying to read anything while lucid dreaming. I tried to dial a phone once in a dream and felt like I was going insane because I couldn't remember what numbers and letters looked like. I completely lost control of the dream and descended into a nightmare. All subsequent attempts to read anything have also failed.

I suppose I think the most important thing is to learn how to go to sleep consciously and how to wake up consciously.

The second most important thing is to learn the different types of lucid dream you can have.

And the third thing to learn is the effects of particular dreams.

It is becoming plain that all this lucid dreaming is taking place almost by accident - whereas it is skill to be learnt.

 

[Entity]

Yeah for me it's just something that happens frequently. Lol the problem I've had trying to consciously wake up is that I'll sometimes "wake" into a dream. It's just faster and more reliable for me to jolt myself awake.

 

[Mole]

Yeah for me it's just something that happens frequently. Lol the problem I've had trying to consciously wake up is that I'll sometimes "wake" into a dream. It's just faster and more reliable for me to jolt myself awake.

But why must your lucid dreaming remain naive? Why must your lucid dreaming remain uncultured?

If you were a painter with no education, you would be called a naive painter. And if you are a lucid dreamer with no education, you are called a naive lucid dreamer.

There is no need to remain naive. There is no need to remain uneducated for the rest of your life.

 

[Entity]

What is important to remember though is, when you are fully awake, to process your lucid dream through your conscious mind. That is it is very important to evaluate your dream so you can integrate it into your values and your life.

Always remember your awake mind is in charge, and your dream mind is like a delightful child.

That is, your awake mind is the responsible adult and your dream mind is like your child who needs to be looked after and understood.

This sounds more like how I daydream. But it's still very different then actually being in a deep sleep and lucid dreaming

 

[Mole]

This sounds more like how I daydream. But it's still very different then actually being in a deep sleep and lucid dreaming

Sure, daydreaming is different from lucid dreaming but it is plain you have never been trained how to do it.

But you act like an authority when your only authority is your own experience.

It's as though you don't know the limits of your own experience.

Or is it that daydreaming or lucid dreaming are merely escapes from your unpleasant life.

It seems like an awful trap to be in.

But it is comfortable to be in such a trap particularly when you have millions in the same trap with you.

Gosh, you all belong together. And you would rather belong than be free.

 

[Entity]

Well I can really only relay my own experiences and would never claim to be an authority on it. And as for my life it's actually pretty good. Dreams only provide me with scenarios that would be impossible in the real world.

 

[htb]

Oh man, sleep paralysis is scary sometimes. On one occasion I hallucinated dark figures standing in front of me talking to me. I was conscious that I was dreaming and I could see the room I was in, but there were um...additions. It generally takes a huge effort for me to will myself into waking, and that particular time was no exception.

Oddly enough, it happened to me this morning for the first time in months. The wind must have picked up some rain and brought it through the window far enough to sprinkle me. It's certainly an interesting experience, if one of extreme constriction -- having no physical control, including that over your slowed respiratory system. Luckily, I snapped myself out quickly.

 

[Gabe]

Advice: Make yourself do something that will startle you into waking up, basically convert your lucid dream to a nightmare at will lol, sounds bad but i'm sure it will work.

hehe. I had a lucid dream that was too boring, so I got out of it by ramming my head into the wall (in the dream, of course).

 

[Nocapszy]

Why didn't you just make it more exciting?

 

[Little Linguist]

Although I have not read the entire thread, I would like to post because I have had quite a bit of experience with strange dreams.

For example, I have dreamed in a dream in a dream in a dream, then wake up out of the respective dreams like layers. Freaks me out. Wonder if anyone else has had that? After a while, I realize the pattern, and will myself awake out of one dream, just to notice, CRAP, I must be dreaming again.

Strangely enough, I usually use logic to tell myself I am dreaming. For instance, if someone has just stabbed me, or if I have fallen from a cliff and somehow I get up and nothing hurts, I say, "Now, wait one damn minute...if this were real life, I would be DEAD, in the hospital, or in some serious PAIN!!!" Then I wake up.

Vivid dreams are nasty. I often remember them years later, like the time I dreamt I was being lead to my death by a bunch of political radicals, one of whom was my mother. Then, I arrived at a place (in my real, waking life that is) that had the same kind of tunnel that was in my dream, although I had never seen one like that before. GAHHHH!!!

One tip: Don't eat a big dinner before you go to bed, especially not one with a lot of acid or spices. You will dream weird things every time.

Another tip: IF you cannot feel anything, you are dreaming. You can never feel in dreams.

 

[prplchknz]

I always have dreams with in dreams.

I have a question and no I haven't read the whole thread. But anyways what is it called when you don't know your dreaming and you have control over your actions, but you think you're awake the whole time because you don't remember falling asleep and then you realize later that their is no way that could have happened, and I wasn't drunk or on drugs either.

and I can sometimes feel things in my dreams and also taste things as well. Ooh and sometimes smells, so I don't think not being able to feel is true. Pain is less intense but it's still their, though I have woken with scratches and bruises on me from when I dream of being attacked even bite marks. So maybe I beat myself up in my sleep.