Vivid dreams/lucid dreaming?

[TheScareCake!]

Hello

Today, i was told about lucid dreaming for the first time, and after searching a bit on the internet, i can't believe it.

I mean, why nobody talks about it normally? Is it a common thing? Am i.. sick that i haven't felt any vivid dreams in my entire life?

I will try it out tonight, though this whole thing sounds a little bit unrealistic to me.

Anyone here who has lucid dreams often, tell me how can i feel it for the first time?

Thank you.

[MartGonzo]

I've known about lucid dreaming for a long time but never could be bothered learning, and it does require learning unfortunately

you can train your brain to do it but you can't just do it on a whim, it starts by writing a comprehensive journal of your dreams every night right after you wake up.

then learning how to concentrate on specific objects in your dreams. eventually after years of practice you can start to control them.

also some people have a natural disposition to being able to do this, some don't so even with years of self training you may not be able to do it.

[Pluto100]

If you start a dream journal and just write down little bits and pieces of what you remember, you'll slowly build up more and more memory of what went on in your dream. It took me quite a bit of time before I was able to remember more than 2 sentences worth of stuff, so it takes a bit of time. Don't worry if you can't remember too much stuff really. It takes time.

Also, from the 3 times I've had a lucid dream, I can tell you that it's pretty amazing. Even if it lasts for a few seconds, the feeling is amazing. If you need any resources, just send me a private message! I know quite a few places you could get some information.

[Dartguy]

I have had that happen only one time in over 4 decades. I had to work all day and all night, then I had an 8:00 am meeting the next morning. After the meeting I finally went home and fell asleep. I was so tired that when things that would normally wake anyone up,(i.e. I always wake up the moment I realize that what is happening couldn't happen in reality) my body was so tired, it could not wake up. The strange part was knowing that I was dreaming and a little awake at the same time. So I just did whatever I wanted. Maybe one day I will try it again, but not sleeping at all is not fun.

[pxi]

I've managed one properly lucid dream in my life. Every other time I realized I was dreaming, I was fully awake within seconds. I have no idea how I managed that one success.

[r4pt0r]

I have only once succeeded, and in my excitement I woke right up

I always try, not like I have anything else better to do while Im sleeping

[Yukon0009]

I suceeded once and I still remember one dream today.

As for the others, not so much.

[Frozen_Heart]

Only done it once by accident. Never had the dedication to learn to do it properly though.

[Slam_Jones]

Learned about it a number of years ago, tried a few techniques, but it hasn't worked for me yet. Maybe one day.

[LordFerret]

This much I can tell you: In the elderly/aging, such situations, the inability to tell the difference between dream and reality, is a subtle indication of the onset of age-related dementia. Combine that with storytelling of life events, where the events told are bits and pieces combined from other multiple life events, is also a sure sign. Being the case, it would then be wise to go see a (geriatric) neurologist.

If you're intentionally looking to have lucid dreams, vitamin B (complex). And remember, any time you take a vitamin supplement (like B-complex), you need additional supplements as well so your body can process it.

[vger]

Scarecake, if you remember having dreams at all, you're still doing better than some. There are folks who NEVER have any dream recall.

Other people are able to dream lucidly whenever they feel like it. And some who have lucid dreams are able to consciously control what happens, like a film director. Others can't.

So there's MANY different variables involved.

I've had a FEW lucid dreams in my life, but they make up a tiny percentage of the ones that I have remembered.

[Loligoat]

Actually in most of my dreams I'm able to realize that I'm dreaming, but I've never managed to control the dream world around me. Instead I walk around these strange places and talk to people. From the dreams I can remember, I've had some pretty crazy experiences in there. One of my most common ones is being in a city I live near, but everything in industrialized and there are factories everywhere. The pollution is horrible, and the infrastructure is in bad shape. Whenever I manage to find someone to talk to, they talk to me about how terrible life is there, but they do so quietly, as if someone is listening. Creepy...

I don't "dream" that often, but almost every time I go to bed and start falling asleep, I start seeing things, and since I'm not asleep, I interpret theses things as real. Just last night as I was falling asleep I saw myself watching an episode of Kurtjmac's Far Lands or Bust and Wolfie died. I freaked out and got up to re-watch the latest episode. Sure enough, Wolfie was fine.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Loligoat

[GoSlash27]

I've only managed to have lucid dreams a handful of times, and of those I was only able to dictate them twice.

This was a result of being on medication that induced sleep paralysis as a side effect. Recognizing that you're not awake helps you in that situation, and it eventually leads to lucid dreaming. Pretty neat when it happens, but not worth the cost IMO.

Best,

-Slashy

[CG_Kerbin]

I've had lucid dreams for years it's sometimes good sometimes bad I started getting them when I was 4 to 5 years old so it's really normal to me but my freinds are freaked out so they've been trying to get them.

[mythbusters844]

I tried to do it once, but I woke up from trying so hard . I stopped wanting to do so after most of the dreams I had happened exactly in the future. It's hard to explain, but I just don't want to upset this natural mechanism and risk something.

Edited February 28, 2015 by mythbusters844

[TheScareCake!]

Hello again, guys.

Woah, i never knew this thread would get so popular, i'm very thankful for your replies.

As I am seriously new to this, I started to try some things.

First of all, i'm not exactly sure about my dream memory.

For example, last night, I was dreaming myself, piloting a some sort of space shuttle or an airplane, I remember it as i was flying over the earth, could see very tall and weird looking skyscrapers. Then, i was talking with my friend which was standing next to me. I think, I woke up as I was trying to land it in ksc runway.

So yeah, i should play less ksp

That's what I remembered this morning, just after i woke up. But i'm not sure if this is good, usually I don't take dreams so seriously, so I let myself forget them after the morning.

Again, thank you for replies, sorry for this wall of text

[Technical Ben]

Hello

Today, i was told about lucid dreaming for the first time, and after searching a bit on the internet, i can't believe it.

I mean, why nobody talks about it normally? Is it a common thing? Am i.. sick that i haven't felt any vivid dreams in my entire life?

I will try it out tonight, though this whole thing sounds a little bit unrealistic to me.

Anyone here who has lucid dreams often, tell me how can i feel it for the first time?

Thank you.

No one tends to talk about it, because it's both personal (as in a persons own inner thoughts) and also nonsensical (most dreams are just random memories or random neurons firing as far as I can tell).

But I could write a few libraries worth of stuff on my dreams and the lucid ones (for me both a blessing and a curse, and more a coping mechanism to deal with poor sleep).

[edit]

PS, reading others comments, to help them understand a little, I thought I'd add to the details I've experienced. It may vary for others, just my personal experience. I also may have posted most of this before when the question was asked.

Many mention waking up from shock or realisation that they are dreaming. They may realise and be able to effect things, or realise and not be able to effect things. I find this very interesting, as my experience is similar, but with one major difference. Quite a few times when I was young I would wake up instantly from a dream, but other times I would get the opposite, and be unable to wake up. I'd be "stuck" in what could only be a dream, as the situation was nonsensical or impossible. Often it was scary, but other times, as said, just strange. After being stuck in what seems like an endless loop so many nights, I just got really good at telling when I was dreaming.

I guess the emotion or vividness of the dreams made them stand out. As others say they find it difficult to remember, I remember far too many dreams. Some going back decades. Which is a worry, I'd have harder times keeping real memories! No need to ever have a dream diary for me. (I even have reoccurring dreams where I'll remember what I did the previous [dream] day... in the dream!)

As far as I can tell, I slept well when younger, but not so good as I grew up. So to help cope with the constant dreams, I decided to try and do something when in them. I was already trying most of the time anyway as a natural response to the situations. Eventually it became so common, I decided to have some fun, and set things to do on occasion in a dream. I don't have lucid dreams every night, or even dreams. Plus I cannot really control much in the dream very often, as it needs so much concentration (which you do not get when asleep!)... but when I do, it can be really interesting.

Part of the trigger for dreams, or part of the sleep rhythm I get stuck in is when I can feel, see, taste etc while asleep and dreaming. Which can be extremely confusing. So if I dream "my hand is on fire" I know not to panic, I've just leant on my hand and have pins and needles. I need to wait out the dream, or hope I wake up and move my arm to a better position. I suppose it's similar to dreaming your thirsty, because in real life you are!

As a bit of a warning, mainly for me, it's a coping mechanism as I just want to get away from "nightmares" (scary not because I'm scared, but because it's a dream and I'm stuck in it) and partly because my body/brain seems stuck most nights. I do say this with a really really heavy dose of a warning to anyone wanting to lucid dream, perhaps they are better off not dreaming!

But with that warning out of the way, it is cool to imagine a situation, say from a film, and it happen in the dream with a good realm of reality. It is perhaps like if you were wearing VR goggle sets. Not quite 100% "Real" but convincing enough. Times like eating all the cakes in a cake shop or calling down my personal flying car from it's orbital delivery station, are a couple of my favourite dreams. LOL!!!

I've only managed to have lucid dreams a handful of times, and of those I was only able to dictate them twice.

This was a result of being on medication that induced sleep paralysis as a side effect. Recognizing that you're not awake helps you in that situation, and it eventually leads to lucid dreaming. Pretty neat when it happens, but not worth the cost IMO.

Best,

-Slashy

I've often wondered if that was the trigger with me. Out of sync sleep paralysis (happening but at the wrong time in my sleep) or similar. Glad to hear it was infrequent for you.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Technical Ben

[JebNeedsHelp]

I have been able to lucid dream for at least the last several years, maybe even more. I don't keep a log so I don't know how often my lucid dreams occur, but I remember my dreams almost every night. They run the gamut from scary and/or disturbing to pleasant or downright joyful. For me, it seems that one of two things happens when I lucid dream. Either my dream is a "rerun," like Technical Ben mentioned, and I can remember that it's a rerun and that alerts me that I'm dreaming, or something about the situation is too out of place, and again, I realize that I have to be dreaming. (But sometimes I dream really oddball stuff and only realize it was a dream after I wake up.)

One thing I've done on more than one occasion when I realize I'm dreaming is to make my dream-self start flying, just because I know I can. Sometimes I drift along slowly like an astronaut in zero-g, and other times I've been able to really get moving. In one dream I think I went supersonic, as I watched my home town, then the farm fields below me, flash by in an instant. If I don't like where a dream has been going, flying away from the situation gives me a "reset," most of the time, anyway.

There's a lot that you can do in your dream when you know it's just a dream. Myself, I wish I could "unstick" myself from my dreams every night.

[Technical Ben]

Thanks JebNeedsHelp. Having a "reset" option is really helpful for being stuck in a dream or a nightmare. Options include (but are not limited to), flying (as mentioned above), waking through walls (do not attempt in real life!), flying out windows (again, not advisable in real life!), time travel (good luck attempting that in real life!) or turning into Ironman.

It tends to have to be something you can imagine and/or have experienced in real life. So if I've never flown in an aircraft, imagining the tops of houses and the distant landscapes is a bit too hard to do. Something like becoming a giant robot, or shrinking to a tiny size, or even teleportation would require imagining totally new situations while dreaming, which tends to be too diff

[Mr Tegu]

Lucid dreaming takes practice, I found that if I had a clear plan in my mind before I went to sleep I would often be able to control what my dream was about. The more I tried it the better I got at it. I also noticed that I was becoming more aware of the fact that I was dreaming and once I had realised this I was able to directly control the dream. I'd use it to give myself super hero abilities or decide what I would find in the next room etc (like jeb's dream flying and Ben's various techniques mentioned above).

Curiously the hard part is realising you're dreaming in the first place, taking control once you know you're dreaming came naturally (for me at least).*

This then developed into being able to turn any dream into a lucid dream, by testing your dream against reality you become aware that it is dream. I like to flap my arms to see if I take off (If you meet me IRL and I'm flapping my arms, you know whats going on...).

*My most recent Lucid dream involved me getting airlocked into space, I then swam back to the ship and stood on the hull. At this point I realised I was still breathing and the dream became lucid (the fact that I could swim in space, stand on the hull and wasn't freezing cold didn't trigger the lucid dream, makes no sense to me either).

Edited March 2, 2015 by Mr Tegu

[KerikBalm]

Lucid dreaming is awesome... I used to have them a lot more than I do now... I don't even remember most of my dreams now. Its probably because right now, I'm a bit sleep deprived.

Basically, it just takes a bit of training your mind to be able to realize it is dreaming.

At some point you may ask yourself, "Am I dreaming now?" Here's a hint: if you don't immediately know the answer to that question, you are dreaming (assuming oyu are still sane)

Weird stuff happening can also be a big sign.... No, you didn't suddenly get the ability to levitate, its a dream.

Some more subtle dreams I've had involve me being in a place that I couldn't be without remembering the trip.

I live in Switzerland, but I come from California.

Sometimes I dream I'm back in California (often on a tight time schedule, or only for a weekend - and going only for a weekend is insane given then flight cost and length)... and pretty much the moment I remember that I should still be in switzerland, I realize it is a dream.

What also happens to me sometimes, is that I realize its a dream, start to do fun stuff, and then at some point forget its a dream...

Or I realize it, and wake up soon after

[karmageddon]

I have lucid dreams all the time, trying to gain more control over them.  They are vivid and you really feel like you're there.  I've always enjoyed my dreams as for the most part they are great adventures.  I Fly in my dreams, ride horses sometimes, but sometimes they are my brain playing games with me.  Like times where I go into a kitchen in a dream and have to clean it and there are tons of dishes.  Once time I fell asleep while 'Walking with Dinosaurs' was on TV.  In a city setting near a river I was running from dinos.  This one huge T-Rex spotted me and I ran into a building.  Ran up to the second floor and hid behind a couch while the T-Rex was looking in the windows.  Then I escaped out of the building and while being chased by a bunch of smaller dinos I ran to the river, jumped in and started swimming across, Somewhere in there I recall riding on one dino, but it's been so long since that dream the sequence may be a little off.  I started swimming across the river at the end of the dream, but woke up right about there.

 

[kerbiloid]

A lifehack:

When you slept three hours per day, or didn't sleep for two days, the lucid dreams start coming once you close the eyes or start concentrating.

[karmageddon]

My dream earlier today when I napped was I went back in time to a mountainside/ with forest homestead, and me and my two sisters were going to go to the next homestead over where there were sons, and I am engaged to one of them, my sisters and I wore old style long dresses but still rode horses over to see them.  one of my sisters decided to smooze up to my fiance, a very tall long haired muscular guy, but he repulsed her and asked me to come with him to see where our homestead was going to be.  We rode there and in a nice clearing the foundation was already laid, we were very proper tho, even tho alone because we weren't married yet.  So we decided to ride thru the area and check it out, it was a very pleasant dream and I got to horseback ride again.  but shortly after that I woke up.  Dreams of going to the past are interesting, to say the least.  I've had dreams of the future too, and will never forget those.