Lucid Dreaming

[Crimson King]

I have been able to lucid dream since I was 8 or 9 without trying, and then, when I was 13 - 14, I started to induce lucid dreaming. I stopped for a while because I kept waking up into sleep paralysis and not enough material existed on what to do next for me. The past year I started to kick back up, and thanks to Inception, lucid dreaming has become a bit mainstream (comparatively). So, now there are a ton of resources. Currently, I am focusing on keeping a dream journal for 90 days. 90 days, for whatever reason, is the average duration to make something habitual. Since I started, a week ago, I went from 1 dream ever few days (mostly bits and pieces) to 4 - 5 dreams per night with great detail. Once my 90-Days are over, I plan to go into a bit more in-depth techniques.

So, any enthusiasts?

 

[Teran]

I went lucid last night and kicked down a wall.

That's kinda compressing it all and making it sound stupid, but that was the funniest part of the lucid segment of my dream so I thought I'd share.

Oh and, I forgot to spin my arms. ;_;

 

[Gatlin]

Lucid dreaming has always interested me ever since I realized it's possibility. Personally I have only witnessed lucid dreaming a few times in my life, but not near enough compared to how much I want to. I have heard the "dream journal" is a good way to practice lucid dreaming, but I seem to have quite a lacking in the ability to even remember my dreams, or to even recall if I did dream or not. I have considered starting a dream journal as well, which is funny this topic should pop up at this time. I am very interested in seeing what kind of results can come from keeping track of your dreams, to see if the method really works.

 

[Teran]

You always dream, several times a night.

You just have to learn to remember them. My dreams have always been naturally vivid and I achieved lucidity before I knew what it was, but everyone can do it once they just learn to recall dreams and learn the patterns.

 

[Grandeza]

I don't know, I kind of had a lucid dream last night. I was aware it was a dream but I wasn't able to do anything I can't do in real life. I was able to do stuff without fear of punishment but only within my abilities in real life. if that makes sense. I used to try for lucid dreams but stopped a long time ago.

 

[Crimson King]

That's a lucid dream. All the require is being aware you are dreaming. All the other stuff (tricks, power, etc.) are part of dream control.

Lucid dreaming has always interested me ever since I realized it's possibility. Personally I have only witnessed lucid dreaming a few times in my life, but not near enough compared to how much I want to. I have heard the "dream journal" is a good way to practice lucid dreaming, but I seem to have quite a lacking in the ability to even remember my dreams, or to even recall if I did dream or not. I have considered starting a dream journal as well, which is funny this topic should pop up at this time. I am very interested in seeing what kind of results can come from keeping track of your dreams, to see if the method really works.

As Teran said, you dream a lot. Everyone has something close to a 90-minute sleep cycle. At your lightest (about 30 or so minutes), you dream. Since we usually sleep 6 - 8 hours, that breaks down to several dream cycles. In many cases, you can dream more than once per cycle.

For me, my recall was erratic. I would have this LONG vivid dream one night, and then the next, nothing. I was trying to go lucid a lot, and while I managed to chain together 3 separate lucid dreams, it wasn't any real feat because I barely did it consciously. With the journal, I am going back to the fundamentals and getting my foundation in check. Start with a big notebook and three colored ink pens. I use black for notes, blue for non-lucid, and red for lucid. This color coding helps visualize your dreaming. The first night, you will have nothing, but lie in bed after you wake up, and focus on what you felt. Also, you MUST write your dreams the second you wake up otherwise you'll forget. If you wake up in the middle of the night, write them down. Do this for about two weeks before attempting to progress.

 

[TigerWoods]

I get dizzy while I do it. Not when I wake up... just the spinning associated with the dream shifts get me woozy.

 

[Zook]

I started keeping a dream journal last year, but only managed to jot down a couple dreams over the course of a month or two (one of which is completely illegible; my handwriting is atrocious). After seeing this thread, I think I'm gonna try to start it again.

Since I've started working night shift, it's become incredibly hard to get up in the morning, and I tend to lie in bed awake for 15 minutes before actually getting up. That's the reason I gave up the first time.

 

[Dre89]

That's a lucid dream. All the require is being aware you are dreaming. All the other stuff (tricks, power, etc.) are part of dream control.



As Teran said, you dream a lot. Everyone has something close to a 90-minute sleep cycle. At your lightest (about 30 or so minutes), you dream. Since we usually sleep 6 - 8 hours, that breaks down to several dream cycles. In many cases, you can dream more than once per cycle.

For me, my recall was erratic. I would have this LONG vivid dream one night, and then the next, nothing. I was trying to go lucid a lot, and while I managed to chain together 3 separate lucid dreams, it wasn't any real feat because I barely did it consciously. With the journal, I am going back to the fundamentals and getting my foundation in check. Start with a big notebook and three colored ink pens. I use black for notes, blue for non-lucid, and red for lucid. This color coding helps visualize your dreaming. The first night, you will have nothing, but lie in bed after you wake up, and focus on what you felt. Also, you MUST write your dreams the second you wake up otherwise you'll forget. If you wake up in the middle of the night, write them down. Do this for about two weeks before attempting to progress.

What are the notes you're writing in black?

 

[ETWIST51294]

I can't lucid dream.

I want to so bad.

My dreams are gay, they're about going to the supermarket or something lame like that.

 

[Crimson King]

What are the notes you're writing in black?

Mostly date and dream number (so if I have 4 dreams, each will have a number to give them SOME separation. When I go back and review the week's entries, I make notes on how I could have gone lucid within that dream, such as noticing that I walked for an impossible distance in a short amount of time or that my dad was being particularly cruel, when in real life he's never done anything of the sort. Normally, my dreams have subtle variations from reality.

I can't lucid dream.

I want to so bad.

My dreams are gay, they're about going to the supermarket or something lame like that.

Start the dream journal and get plenty of sleep. You cannot dream recall dreams when you are tired and sleep deprived. Also, if you have the time, wake up an hour before you have to be up, move around for about 15 minutes, and then go back to sleep. This is called Wake-Back-To-Bed (WBTB) in Lucid Dreaming. I do this to enhance my recall and get really vivid dreams. This also how I have gotten to sleep paralysis .

 

[Gatlin]

As Teran said, you dream a lot. Everyone has something close to a 90-minute sleep cycle. At your lightest (about 30 or so minutes), you dream. Since we usually sleep 6 - 8 hours, that breaks down to several dream cycles. In many cases, you can dream more than once per cycle.

For me, my recall was erratic. I would have this LONG vivid dream one night, and then the next, nothing. I was trying to go lucid a lot, and while I managed to chain together 3 separate lucid dreams, it wasn't any real feat because I barely did it consciously. With the journal, I am going back to the fundamentals and getting my foundation in check. Start with a big notebook and three colored ink pens. I use black for notes, blue for non-lucid, and red for lucid. This color coding helps visualize your dreaming. The first night, you will have nothing, but lie in bed after you wake up, and focus on what you felt. Also, you MUST write your dreams the second you wake up otherwise you'll forget. If you wake up in the middle of the night, write them down. Do this for about two weeks before attempting to progress.

That's interesting, I didn't know that you had so many dreams in a night. I remember I have had two dreams where I was fully aware, and one where I was semi-aware. Not too sure if that would still count as a lucid dream, though. I like your method that you are using however, I will definitely try that.

 

[Crimson King]

Keep us updated. Feel free to post your dreams.

Last night I had 4 dreams including a false awakening.

 

[Dre89]

When you say move around for 15 minutes an hour before you have to be up, do you mean actually get out of the bed and walk around?

 

[KrazyGlue]

Alright, I'm going to try to have lucid dreams. I've always been interested, but I've now decided I'm going to go for it. I'm going to make a dream journal, but the sleep-deprivation part might be a problem. I do a WBTB kind of thing naturally, so that shouldn't be a problem. I'll post updates if I get any interesting results.

I've had one lucid dream before and it was pretty trippy so hopefully I'll have similarly exciting results in the future.

Also I have a question about whether something counts as a lucid dream. Sometimes I'll be having a scary or disturbing dream and then I'll kind of realize that it's a dream and wake myself up. I'm not sure whether this counts as a lucid dream or just being able to wake up from a bad dream.

 

[theeboredone]

Having a dream journal helps. You write in it the moment you wake up, and if you get into that repetition, for me it affected my ability to control dreams.

Though personally? I've just decided to let my dreams be. Even if I do realize I'm in a dream, I try to retain myself from not forcing the situation, and letting things happen. Sometimes it results in some really boring dreams, but I feel like I should let my subconscious explore itself, so I can think about it later in the day.

Glue, that would be considered lucid dreaming, if you realize it is a dream. Even if it is at the last moment. Though personally, I'm a bit sick, but I enjoy nightmares. It kind of goes back to exploring my subconscious afterwards.

Being a Psych major, I find it a bit shameful that more research and psychoanalytic discussions on dreams have declined. But it's understandable given how hard it is to properly obtain data, and use it as a diagnostic tool.

 

[KrazyGlue]

I do like exploring myself psychologically (I'm a huge horror / psychological thriller movie fan) but there's some situations that I just don't want to be in inside my head.

I think if I could lucid dream at will, I would do it about half the time and the other half of the time let my mind just wander. It would almost be interesting to half-control your dream, guiding it in some ways but in other instances letting it just wander freely. I'm getting excited! I'd better get to sleep and start my dream journal tomorrow. does anyone know how long it typically takes someone to be able to adapt to controlled lucid dreaming?

 

[deepseadiva]

Also, if you have the time, wake up an hour before you have to be up, move around for about 15 minutes, and then go back to sleep. This is called Wake-Back-To-Bed (WBTB) in Lucid Dreaming. I do this to enhance my recall and get really vivid dreams. This also how I have gotten to sleep paralysis .

Interesting. I always get up early for breakfast and drop again for another hour or two, since all my classes are in the afternoon. I always seem to remember the dreams I have then the best.

Like today, my crazy art professor stealing my blooper avatar and plastering it all over his bathroom wall! Man, he's probably never even played Mario.

...I have this little extra notebook stored away. Maybe I'll use that as a journal. I just need to get one of those clicky pens with multiple inks. Those are so cool.

 

[theeboredone]

Crimson, I noticed you suffered or still do suffer from sleep paralysis. It's a very scary feeling waking up in the middle of the night, unable to move your body for a few moments. The first time it happened, I thought something had gone wrong with my body. I tried to convince myself it was a nightmare, but it was definitely reality. For some reason, it happened twice a week two semesters go. I don't know if it was the bed I was sleeping in or college stress. Overall, just a scary feeling =/.

 

[Crimson King]

When you say move around for 15 minutes an hour before you have to be up, do you mean actually get out of the bed and walk around?

Well, it depends per person. Some people can wake up for a minute, get their bearings, then head to sleep, and go straight into a Wake-Induced Lucid Dream (WILD) or Mnemonic-Induced Lucid Dream(MILD). The former is a dream that is as vivid as real life. Sadly, there is no "do this to get this" method because everyone is different. In fact, there are many variables: how much sleep before waking up, how long to be up, what to do while up. The entire point of WBTB is to reactive the logic center of your brain, so when you go into a dream cycle you are completely conscious. WILDs take a lot of practice.

Alright, I'm going to try to have lucid dreams. I've always been interested, but I've now decided I'm going to go for it. I'm going to make a dream journal, but the sleep-deprivation part might be a problem. I do a WBTB kind of thing naturally, so that shouldn't be a problem. I'll post updates if I get any interesting results.

I've had one lucid dream before and it was pretty trippy so hopefully I'll have similarly exciting results in the future.

Also I have a question about whether something counts as a lucid dream. Sometimes I'll be having a scary or disturbing dream and then I'll kind of realize that it's a dream and wake myself up. I'm not sure whether this counts as a lucid dream or just being able to wake up from a bad dream.

As answered, a lucid dream is simply a dream with consciousness. Whether or not it is a dream where you are changing every aspect of it or just simply appreciating the world around you is not part of the criteria.

Having a dream journal helps. You write in it the moment you wake up, and if you get into that repetition, for me it affected my ability to control dreams.

Though personally? I've just decided to let my dreams be. Even if I do realize I'm in a dream, I try to retain myself from not forcing the situation, and letting things happen. Sometimes it results in some really boring dreams, but I feel like I should let my subconscious explore itself, so I can think about it later in the day.

Glue, that would be considered lucid dreaming, if you realize it is a dream. Even if it is at the last moment. Though personally, I'm a bit sick, but I enjoy nightmares. It kind of goes back to exploring my subconscious afterwards.

Being a Psych major, I find it a bit shameful that more research and psychoanalytic discussions on dreams have declined. But it's understandable given how hard it is to properly obtain data, and use it as a diagnostic tool.

I recommend Lucid Dreaming: The Gateway to the Inner Self by Robert Waggoner. It is a great book that explores why lucid dreaming is important. Instead of just doing the playful stuff, he questions his dream, and the results are interesting. You have to go in with a pretty open mind, as he speaks on topics that are very much outside the norm, but his ideas for lucid dreaming alone are worth exploring.

Crimson, I noticed you suffered or still do suffer from sleep paralysis. It's a very scary feeling waking up in the middle of the night, unable to move your body for a few moments. The first time it happened, I thought something had gone wrong with my body. I tried to convince myself it was a nightmare, but it was definitely reality. For some reason, it happened twice a week two semesters go. I don't know if it was the bed I was sleeping in or college stress. Overall, just a scary feeling =/.

There's no "suffering" from sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis is the natural process your body does every single night as you head to sleep. I've been conscious during three or four full processes recently, and the experience is odd for sure, but now that I know what to expect (and it is required to consciously enter a dream), it's not as terrifying.

If interested, Dr. Stephen LaBerge has posted his book Exploring Lucid Dreaming and a course that he used to give that used the book as source material. I'd be willing to link to that material.

 

[Pikaville]

It's kind of annoying for me.

I can recall a huge amount of my dreams, with good detail I might add.

But I almost never have lucid ones.

I've had 4 in my whole lifetime, 2 of which allowed me to do whatever I felt like doing.

I would love to have lucid dreams often.

 

[Crimson King]

Practice.

I'll post that course and book that LaBerge wrote tonight. He discovered lucid dreaming as a natural and real phenomenon. His research is well worth reading.

 

[#HBC | ѕoup]

Lucid dreaming can also be obtained by signifying something that tells your mind that you are dreaming, right?

i.e a red ball

i've tried doing that but i get wrapped up in what i'd like to call 'thought dreaming.'

it's where i think about something while i'm laying down in my bed and that is what i dream about, i don't have any control over it, though.

also i only dream about what i'm thinking at the instance, and sometimes i cannot tell if i'm sleeping, or i'm awake just thinking about it..

 

[Crimson King]

That's a MILD, without the LD. Basically, will is what drives a dream.

The ball thing is called Dream-Induced Lucid Dreaming, or DILD, where something in a dream makes you lucid. You can train yourself to have lots of cues. Reality checks come into to play when you are lucid to check if you are dreaming. My RCs are finger counting, pushing a finger through my palm, and holding my nose and breathing. These work for me, and if you practice them daily, they will appear in dreams and can work as cues to dreaming.

 

[Jonkku]

Some people can wake up for a minute, get their bearings, then head to sleep, and go straight into a Wake-Induced Lucid Dream (WILD)

I get these almost every morning around 6-9 AM. Haven't done any "practicing" for it either.

I start seeing a dream while still staying half-concsious about being in my bed.. Atleast for the start of the dream, but have forgotten it more than once.

I've also noticed in my dreams nearly nothing has clear colouring, scenery is usually completely grayscale.
Fully realizing I'm sleeping just tends to wake me up, from what I remember about my dreams.

 

[Crimson King]

If you are doing it, every morning, you are practicing, just without realizing.

The greyscale means you lack consciousness.

 

[Jonkku]

If you are doing it, every morning, you are practicing, just without realizing.

Myeah, true.
What I meant was that I haven't done stuff like reading up guides and trying to do what they say to get lucid dreams.

The greyscale means you lack consciousness.

Hmm? Care to elaborate?

 

[Crimson King]

A lot of people dream in black and white, so your grayscale may be your brain forcing you to stay nonlucid.

 

[Crimson King]

Here are the files I mentioned earlier. They were made free by the author:

LaBerge, Stephen--Exploring The World Of Lucid Dreaming (.DOC file)

Stephen Laberge - A Course In Lucid Dreaming (searchable) (.PDF file)

 

[Lore]

Wasn't this a thread about a year ago? Lol.

I love lucid dreaming. It used to happen all the time, but it has slacked off recently.

I might try keeping a journal, but I remember a lot of my dreams anyway. Besides, a lot of my "good" dreams have deep, private things happen to me that I would quite literally consider killing myself over if someone read my journal and found out about them.

Edit: So if we dream in color, that's a good sign? I also do the same thing with daydreams, if that means anything.

And thanks for posting those two files! I'll check them out soon.

 

[Crimson King]

Wasn't this a thread about a year ago? Lol.

I love lucid dreaming. It used to happen all the time, but it has slacked off recently.

I might try keeping a journal, but I remember a lot of my dreams anyway. Besides, a lot of my "good" dreams have deep, private things happen to me that I would quite literally consider killing myself over if someone read my journal and found out about them.

Edit: So if we dream in color, that's a good sign? I also do the same thing with daydreams, if that means anything.

And thanks for posting those two files! I'll check them out soon.

They usually have these once a year, but I figured it was time for a new one.

Color isn't necessarily a requirement for LDing. I've always dreamed in color, but when I learned that most people dream in black and white, I started to really question if my dreams were always color, or just the lucid dreams were in color. In short, I can't say for certain that the color matters 100%, but I can see this being the dream working to conceal itself a bit.

 

[Lore]

Well, I daydream VERY easily, so that would probably help account for my high lucid dream rate, etc.

In fact, I spend most of my
time at school daydreaming without even meaning to. The other day, I even questioned whether the hallway was real while I walked down it (felt detached, hard to explain) and had a long conversation with myself. Is this normal?

 

[Crimson King]

Well, I'd look up signs of delusions because I believe those are closely related to hallucinations. If you can daydream that vividly, look up "Visualization-Induced Lucid Dreaming."

 

[ballin4life]

I really want to get into lucid dreaming because I've had a few before (usually I feel like I can wake up any time I want and like I have some measure of control over dreams). It hasn't happened in a while though. I've also had problems with sleep paralysis in the past, both waking up into it and lapsing into it while trying to fall asleep.

Anyway I want to do it but I am a bit too busy to study up on it right now.


Also I've heard that taking the supplement ZMA makes your dreams really vivid. It's apparently a good weight lifting supplement too.

 

[Crimson King]

I really want to get into lucid dreaming because I've had a few before (usually I feel like I can wake up any time I want and like I have some measure of control over dreams). It hasn't happened in a while though. I've also had problems with sleep paralysis in the past, both waking up into it and lapsing into it while trying to fall asleep.

Once again, there is no problem with sleep paralysis. You go into SP because if you did not, you'd thrash in your sleep while you dream, like dogs and cats do. This is simply a preventative method. In fact, for WILDing, the most conscious form of Lucid Dreaming, you need to be conscious throughout all of SP.

That all said, SP is a terrifying thing if you don't know what to expect. First, you will feel like your body is shaking. Secondly, you'll hear audio hallucinations. Third, you will feel like you are being sat on (all these actually explain away stories of possession).

- The shaking is part of the bodies method of shutting down your system. Right before experiencing that, you will have the insatiable urge to move. If you ignore this, you will enter SP.
- Hypnogogia is a mental state where you are between consciousness and sleep. During this, you will see images that are really cool. I once soft dolphins being poured out of a coffee pot, which looked neat. There are also audio hallucinations. These will scare you, but they are your body's final check to make sure you are sleeping. My last experience had the phone ringing. I ignored this figuring that since my wife didn't move, it was a hallucination. Then, as I am falling into the sleep phase, I hear a voice whisper my name. The voice wasn't my wife's. Fighting every urge to scream and wake up, I kept going until I got into a very vivid lucid dream, but I was unable to move (more on this late). Some people have reported a terrific roaring sound, and others have heard unearthly screaming. Just mentally prepare yourself for it.
- The melting into the bed/pressure is something I haven't felt lucidly. I can remember kind of feeling it, but it may have been my losing consciousness. This is supposed to feel quite strange.

Also I've heard that taking the supplement ZMA makes your dreams really vivid. It's apparently a good weight lifting supplement too.

There are PLENTY supplements that work towards increasing dream vividness, including but not limited to, B6, GABA, and 5HTP. I tend to only stick to natural supplements if I do take them, but I try not to make it a regularly thing so my lucid dreaming isn't reliant on supplements. They do help in a dry spot, and most are completely legal and safe.

 

[Zajice]

I've tried to lucid dream so many times, but I can never get myself to. I just have to leave it up to chance.

 

[Shy Guy 86]

I have tried Lucid Dreaming but with no real success, I might have been in one before but I never managed to induce it myself.

 

[Crimson King]

Interesting, and probably coincidental, but Robert Waggoner (from the book on Amazon I posted) gave a dream telepathy task, so my wife and I tried it. I told her to think of something while going to sleep, and I would figure it out in a dream. I recalled no dreams, but I woke up thinking moon. She focused on a picture of a Ferris Wheel in Pripyat, which is in black and white. In Waggoner's book, when someone tried to send him a hot air balloon with a triangular patch, he saw a bald head with a triangular eye. The moon in muly mind was the same shape and color.

Like I said, probably a coincidence, but we want to test this more.

 

[theeboredone]

Now that I think about it, I probably do have a sense of lucid dreaming. I'm sure everyone has had this feeling, where they think they've been "asleep" for too long and need to wake up. Usually that's how I feel in regards to making sure I didn't sleep past my alarm.

 

[EpixAura]

I myself have never experienced a lucid dream. However, I did learn about it briefly in my Psychology class.
I remember reading about several ways to induce it as well as a documented recollection of one and my mind was blown.
It's fine that I haven't been able to have a lucid dream, though. I don't fully trust myself in one, anyway.