On the back of Grobdas reply to Gatinhos "Walking on water dream" post I was wondering if any of you are Lucid Dreamers?
I got into it a few months ago after discovering (rather stupidly I now feel) that I've been doing it since I was a child without realising what I was doing. I had a bit of a "Duh" moment when I described my experiences on a forum and people stated telling me I was "natural" lucid dreamer.
Basically for some reason on occasion I realise I'm dreaming and can control my dreams and dont have to bother with the techniques most people have to learn in order to have a lucid dream.
However, the techniques do improve my chances of having a lucid dream. I now always use reality checks in my dreams to confirm I'm dreaming, similar to the spinning top check in Inception but I just use a technique where you pinch your nose and try to breathe in. When you are dreaming you can still breathe, its pretty freaky the first time you do it but it works every time unlike some techniques where your mind can trick you.
So any other Lucid Dreamers out there? If not I'd highly recommend it to anyone who wants to do something more constructive while they are asleep.
I used to keep a Dream Diary pretty regularly, but I haven't for a long time. I've found (for keeping a dream diary) it's best to get to bed when you're not dead tired, and try not to awaken from an alarm clock (if you awaken too suddenly you might forget what you were just dreaming). So it does take some discipline (committing to keeping a dream diary), and dedication (getting to bed early enough so you have time to wake up and not have to rush around).
When I was doing it it seemed like I was more aware of things and had a sharper concentration.
I still have them from time to time. Sometimes I notice things (events and objects) aren't right or they don't make sense... And there are times I just really notice things (regardless if anything weird seems to be going on), looking really closely at the details. It feels like my eyes are opening wide. Then things get super sharp and there is so much depth... Well, that's what it was like the last few times I went lucid. These are dreams where I'm taking in how vivid they are, not so much as manipulating things at will.
> I used to keep a Dream Diary pretty regularly, but I haven't for a long time. I've > found (for keeping a dream diary) it's best to get to bed when you're not dead tired, > and try not to awaken from an alarm clock (if you awaken too suddenly you might > forget what you were just dreaming). So it does take some discipline (committing to > keeping a dream diary), and dedication (getting to bed early enough so you have time > to wake up and not have to rush around).
Dream diaries definitely help with dream recall which I'm told is the first step to becoming lucid. I did it for a bit and it improved my recall and number of lucid dreams but I'm lazy and lucky enough to have natural lucid dreams so I dont bother any more.
> When I was doing it it seemed like I was more aware of things and had a sharper > concentration. > > I still have them from time to time. Sometimes I notice things (events and objects) > aren't right or they don't make sense... And there are times I just really notice > things (regardless if anything weird seems to be going on), looking really closely at > the details. It feels like my eyes are opening wide. Then things get super sharp and > there is so much depth... Well, that's what it was like the last few times I went > lucid. These are dreams where I'm taking in how vivid they are, not so much as > manipulating things at will.
If you sometimes notice things are not as they should be you are on your way to becoming lucid. The trick is to train yourself to do a reality check in your dream to kick you into becoming lucid.
Regularly pinching your nose and trying to breathe when you are awake gets you into the habit so that you end up doing it in your dreams. You have to do it for quite some time but eventually you start doing it in your dreams and hey presto you can breathe!
Then its a matter of staying lucid which is very difficult, I run around shouting stupid stuff like "I am the lucid master!" (in my dreams not in the real world!) you get some funny looks but it works. Dream characters are funny things as well they tend to look at you like you are mentally retarded when you try to explain to them that you are dreaming. The subconscious is a strange place to visit!
Another time to do the nose pinch is when you wake up, until you do you don't realise that many of the times you think you wake up are in fact false awakenings. Its strange the first time you realise you are dreaming as your surrounding will feel very real.
I guess I lucid dream too, then. Never heard the term before. When I was little I used to have a recurring nightmare, and my older brother (who shared my room with me)asked me why I don't just take control of my dream and change the way it ends. And it worked. It's like his suggestion gave me the power to control my dreams, and that recurring nightmare ended.
Oddly enough I still have regular nightmares, but more often than not I can control them. Ever since then, I often find myself in dreams where I'm in control, I can fly, breath under water, walk on water, and do all kinds of things. Flying dreams are my favorite, I can swoop over the neighborhood, and buzz the ground and whatnot.
Breathing under water is a pretty cool dream too, though. It usually starts the same way, I find myself trapped under water, and then I wonder to myself if I'm just in a nightmare again, so I take a small test inhale, and sure enough, I'm dreaming, so I inhale away and breath naturally under water as I swim my way to safety.
> I guess I lucid dream too, then. Never heard the term before. When I was little I > used to have a recurring nightmare, and my older brother (who shared my room with > me)asked me why I don't just take control of my dream and change the way it ends. And > it worked. It's like his suggestion gave me the power to control my dreams, and that > recurring nightmare ended. > > Oddly enough I still have regular nightmares, but more often than not I can control > them. Ever since then, I often find myself in dreams where I'm in control, I can fly, > breath under water, walk on water, and do all kinds of things. Flying dreams are my > favorite, I can swoop over the neighborhood, and buzz the ground and whatnot. > > Breathing under water is a pretty cool dream too, though. It usually starts the same > way, I find myself trapped under water, and then I wonder to myself if I'm just in a > nightmare again, so I take a small test inhale, and sure enough, I'm dreaming, so I > inhale away and breath naturally under water as I swim my way to safety.
Sounds like you are a natural lucid dreamer too. What I found odd is I assumed for years everyone could do it!
Reality checking is a great way of increasing the number of lucid dreams you have, give it a go.
> Regularly pinching your nose and trying to breathe when you are awake gets you into > the habit so that you end up doing it in your dreams. You have to do it for quite > some time but eventually you start doing it in your dreams and hey presto you can > breathe!
When awake I sometimes do double takes at clocks, but it could be anything you're able to read -such as text. You look at it once, make sure you know what it reads, look away, then look at it again to see if it's still the same.
Also, when dreaming, words can change in signs or books as you're looking at them, or letters will look strange.
One time I was lucid I was looking at something and I could see it changing... The best way I can describe it is - it's like it was fluttering/flickering.
> When awake I sometimes do double takes at clocks, but it could be anything you're > able to read -such as text. You look at it once, make sure you know what it reads, > look away, then look at it again to see if it's still the same. > > Also, when dreaming, words can change in signs or books as you're looking at them, or > letters will look strange. > > One time I was lucid I was looking at something and I could see it changing... The > best way I can describe it is - it's like it was fluttering/flickering.
Text and numbers are a dead giveaway, they are never the same from one moment to the next in a dream.
Apparently not all people "feel" in their dreams. I can feel a burning sensation in my dreams, so any "feeling" always feels like this same burning, rather its being shot, stabbed, bit, stung, burned, cold, or crushed, pain always has the exact same burning feel to it.
> So here's a few questions for you then: > > 1. Do you dream in color?
Yes
> @. Do you "feel" in your dreams.
Yes
> Apparently not all people "feel" in their dreams. I can feel a burning sensation in > my dreams, so any "feeling" always feels like this same burning, rather its being > shot, stabbed, bit, stung, burned, cold, or crushed, pain always has the exact same > burning feel to it.
I know what you mean about pain, for other sensations I pretty much feel things as I would in the real world. In my dreams I can do crazy stuff that would kill me but instead it just hurts. Oh and I never ever wake up when I jump off buildings etc. I just hit the ground and walk away, always have in my dreams, it just hurts.
> I know what you mean about pain, for other sensations I pretty much feel things as I > would in the real world. In my dreams I can do crazy stuff that would kill me but instead > it just hurts. Oh and I never ever wake up when I jump off buildings etc. I just hit the > ground and walk away, always have in my dreams, it just hurts.
I do that in my dreams too.. I've often noticed when I'm in a dream... I've climbed buildings and jumped from rooftop to rooftop, jumped off and just floated to the ground... never thought about lucid dreaming really though... I'll have to try the nose/breathing thing...
> Text and numbers are a dead giveaway, they are never the same from one moment to the > next in a dream.
They remain the same in my dreams. I can still do maths including amortisation, differentiation and integration while I'm dreaming (yes, I dream about situations where this is necessary).
I always dream in color and great detail. I don't have vague dreams.
I can walk thru a house in a dream and wake up and tell you every detail from the color and designs of the wall paper to the small cobweb in the corner of the closet. It's most annoying as I dream each and every nite. the only time I don't dream is when I get totally drunk to the point I pass out.
Been that way since I was a kid. exacting details and always way in vivid color complete with all sense's. just be nice to fall asleep and not dream....
> > Text and numbers are a dead giveaway, they are never the same from one moment to > the > > next in a dream. > > They remain the same in my dreams. I can still do maths including amortisation, > differentiation and integration while I'm dreaming (yes, I dream about situations > where this is necessary).
> They remain the same in my dreams. I can still do maths including amortisation, > differentiation and integration while I'm dreaming (yes, I dream about situations > where this is necessary).
That's the downside of being a paid programmer too. You can't even rest without working at the same time. My dreams consisted of Pascal (Delphi) code and SQL queries. Glad those times ended for good.
There was also that time I made a Puzzle Quest marathon for a week. Every time I closed my eyes all I saw was red skulls. And I really though the Tetris effect was a fake.
> There was also that time I made a Puzzle Quest marathon for a week. Every time I > closed my eyes all I saw was red skulls. And I really though the Tetris effect was a > fake.
OMG! One day I was playing Columns on a hand-held... I can't recall what level I got up to but it was pretty far. I did this after drinking some sweet tea, and before I needed to go to sleep.
The thing that happened after that!.....
I did NOT get enough sleep... I just laid there with my eyes closed, and ALL I could see were these blocks coming down and making layer upon layer upon layer going back and forth over and over again! It would... NOT! STOP!
I hope that never happens again. Because when I had to get up and get ready for work... To say I was "antsy" would be like saying there's a light cool breeze on pluto.
> When awake I sometimes do double takes at clocks, but it could be anything you're > able to read -such as text. You look at it once, make sure you know what it reads, > look away, then look at it again to see if it's still the same.
I've become lucid on a few occasions using the clock technique.
I should start keeping a dream diary. I've probably had more lucid dreams than I can remember (since I don't often remember my dreams period).
> I did NOT get enough sleep... I just laid there with my eyes closed, and ALL I could > see were these blocks coming down and making layer upon layer upon layer going back > and forth over and over again! It would... NOT! STOP!
The sweet tea was like the connoisseur wine (and teh pillz), and the lines/blocks repeatedly falling down back and forth was like the list of sins being read to you, throughout eternity.
> > They remain the same in my dreams. I can still do maths including amortisation, > > differentiation and integration while I'm dreaming (yes, I dream about situations > > where this is necessary). > > Wow, party in Vas's subconscious tonight...
I can give a recent example needing amortisation in a dream. Just a few nights ago, I dreamed that I'd bought a balancing syphon (coffee-making device). I had friends over and was making coffee while they gave me shit about buying an expensive device with limited usefulness. So I explained to them how it would become cost-effective within 25 weeks if I estimated the value of each cup of coffee at $3, and I made 4 cups a week.
I'll wake up. I'm talking WIDE FRIKKIN' AWAKE AND AWARE but... I'm asleep.
Have you ever been lying still, listening to yourself snore? It's amazingly unsettling. Kind of neat for a while, but lately it just creeps me out. Like I've got some bad wiring that's getting ready to short out or something.
> I'll wake up. I'm talking WIDE FRIKKIN' AWAKE AND AWARE but... I'm asleep.
Weird, I'm pretty sure that's never happened to me. It almost sounds similar to the phenomenon known as night terrors.
I've also never been able to lucid dream. I think a lot of time I'm at least partly aware that the dream is not real, but I don't have the presence of mind to take control of the situation. In fact, most of my dreams involve struggling with the situation: If I have to drive a car, my feet get tangled in the pedals. If I have to go somewhere, a million things will prevent me from getting out the door on time. The worst is when I have to tell someone something important and my mouth just refuses to form the words. Pretty annoying, really.
> I did NOT get enough sleep... I just laid there with my eyes closed, and ALL I could > see were these blocks coming down and making layer upon layer upon layer going back > and forth over and over again! It would... NOT! STOP!
I've had this trouble after serious gaming periods. Robotron, for example.
You're awake, but slip into something like an hallucination.*
Anyways, I've always to some degree known I was dreaming. It's not something I'm that concerned with, just that I minorly or somewhat notice, and I never try to 'control' my dreams. I let 'big mind' take me places. Of course, I don't have 'nightmares', either.
* A lucid dream can begin in one of two ways. A dream-initiated lucid dream (DILD) starts as a normal dream, and the dreamer eventually concludes it is a dream, while a wake-initiated lucid dream (WILD) occurs when the dreamer goes from a normal waking state directly into a dream state, with no apparent lapse in consciousness.
Quote: In fact, most of my dreams involve struggling with the situation: If I have to drive a car, my feet get tangled in the pedals. If I have to go somewhere, a million things will prevent me from getting out the door on time. The worst is when I have to tell someone something important and my mouth just refuses to form the words.
I guess I had nightmares when I was a kid. tornado,storm, or earthquake aftermath scenes, explosions, volcanoes... guess really young I simply *turned off* my dreams. Or at least I never remember ever dreaming if I ineed do. So
1) For me, I close my eayes, hear the alarm, and open them. That's it.
>I'll wake up. I'm talking WIDE FRIKKIN' AWAKE AND AWARE but... I'm asleep.
When this happens to you, are you sleep deprived?
Hypnogogle hallucinations. Comes from being sleep deprived, saw that in the military when we would go days on end in combat (yeah, I ain't sleepin' so long as they're trying to kill me). You're mind is awake, but not your body. Freaky as hell.
> When this happens to you, are you sleep deprived?
Lame answer; I have no idea. Like many people I'm always at least a little sleep deprived. (Except for some Saturday mornings. Oh Saturdays, I do love you so...)
I'll keep an eye on my sleep-dep level the next time it happens though, thanks. I looked up the type of hallucinations you mentioned, I don't think it's that. I'm never "see" things. My brain just wakes up while my body is still out.
To say that I'm not experiencing the same kind of stress that you guys were would be a wee bit of an understatement. I've got basically a boring-assed life, my subconscious shouldn't have THAT much to chew on when I finally do get to sleep.
> > When this happens to you, are you sleep deprived? > > Lame answer, I have no idea. Like many people I'm always at least a little sleep > deprived. (Except for some Saturday mornings. Oh Saturdays, I do love you so...) > > I'll keep an eye on my sleep-dep level the next time it happens though, thanks. I > looked up the type of hallucinations you mentioned, I don't think it's that. I'm > never "see" things. My brain just wakes up while my body is still out. > > To say that I'm not experiencing the same kind of stress that you guys were would be > a wee bit of an understatement. I've got basically a boring-assed life, my > subconscious shouldn't have THAT much to chew on when I finally do get to sleep.
One possibility could be something called sleep paralysis.
> > When this happens to you, are you sleep deprived? > > Lame answer; I have no idea. Like many people I'm always at least a little sleep > deprived. (Except for some Saturday mornings. Oh Saturdays, I do love you so...) > > I'll keep an eye on my sleep-dep level the next time it happens though, thanks. I > looked up the type of hallucinations you mentioned, I don't think it's that. I'm > never "see" things. My brain just wakes up while my body is still out. > > To say that I'm not experiencing the same kind of stress that you guys were would be > a wee bit of an understatement. I've got basically a boring-assed life, my > subconscious shouldn't have THAT much to chew on when I finally do get to sleep.
I know what happens when I'm sleep-deprived. I don't see or hear things, I just have a string of nonsense run through my mind, which I imagine, if words, is being said by someone, though as I say, I'm not hearing it. It comes as a memory of something being said or done just then, usually followed by a "what was that supposed to be?"
> I know what happens when I'm sleep-deprived. I don't see or hear things, I just have > a string of nonsense run through my mind, which I imagine, if words, is being said by > someone, though as I say, I'm not hearing it. It comes as a memory of something being > said or done just then, usually followed by a "what was that supposed to be?"
Ah yes! I've had that happen. But if my mind isn't occupied it's seems to happen when I nearly doze off. I equate it to getting a sense or essences of a dream. Like your conscious mind is picking up some lower/deeper random brain activity from your sub-conscious, or whatever is going on in there.
Then there are times I seem to be voicing those random/weird thoughts. They surface as some usually funny and/or incoherent ramblings.
The way I've gotten it to work is try to remember to look at your hand when you are going to bed and eventually in a dream you'll remember to look at it. Then you notice it's not how it should be and you realize you are dreaming and can take control. Then you'll do a bunch of stupid crap. As for a dream diary, good luck with that, I usually forget it in like 30 seconds, memory fading from second 1.
When I was in junior high, we got cable TV. I started staying up all night on Fridays, mostly watching TV, but sometimes just turning it off and sitting there, not quite falling asleep. One time, I heard these little whispers and stuff. Nothing really coherent. I 'woke', and smiled. I knew they were me.
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