Lucid Dreaming

[mikeman7918]

For those of you who don't know, a lucid dream is a dream where you become aware that you are dreaming and you can control it.  Everything feels just as real as real life, and when lucid dreaming you can experience whatever you want.  Lately I have been experimenting with it and trying to induce it.  My only problem is not waking up right after I figure out that I am dreaming, which I know how to do and it's just a matter of time before I master it.

Considering what forum I'm on, I have to point out that you can play KSP in a lucid dream.  When flying the rockets you will be able to feel the acceleration, feel the weightlessness, see Kerbin (or Earth) from afar, feel the incredible power of the engines, eat all the snacks (which actually taste like sacks), and see what it's like to be on a rocket experiencing all sorts of failures.  You can even morph into a Kerbal!  I have been to space in a semi-lucid dream (where I know in the back of my mind that I am dreaming but don't take control), and let me tell you first hand, the weightlessness is awesome and Earth looks beautiful.

When dreaming, your creativity is actually on overdrive and you can solve problems much easier.  It's really interesting.  I remember recently I listened to music generated by my subconscious.  I don't remember the tune, I just remember that it sounded pretty sweet.  That is really saying something because I haven't touched a musical instrument in years.

I am very exited to have my first lucid dream over 15 seconds long.  Once I get dream stabilization mastered I will be able to have lucid dreams up to an hour long, possibly multiple times per night.  It might even happen tonight, in fact that's pretty likely.  At that point I will officially be an oneironaut (which is the epic Greek way of describing someone who explores dreams).

Are there any experienced oneironauts here?  Any oneironauts in training like me? Is there anyone here interested in learning lucid dreaming?  Are there any dreams (lucid or otherwise) that anyone wants to share?

[Bill Phil]

I think I had one a long time ago...

[mikeman7918]

3 minutes ago, Bill Phil said:

I think I had one a long time ago...

That's not uncommon.  Roughly 50% of people have had one spontaneously at some point, and about 10% of people spontaneously do it monthly.  Antone can do it with some time and effort though.

Edited February 12, 2016 by mikeman7918

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

I've heard of it, and it sounds like fun.  However, I've never seriously tried to get it to happen.

[mikeman7918]

31 minutes ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

I've heard of it, and it sounds like fun.  However, I've never seriously tried to get it to happen.

Well, I definitely recommend it.  Most people can reliably have stable lucid dreams within a month of practice.

[Hysterrics]

1 hour ago, mikeman7918 said:

When dreaming, your creativity is actually on overdrive and you can solve problems much easier.

The coolest part about this is that you can legitimately boost productivity doing this. The only issue is we all know what we would do during a lucid dream.

Be right back, I've got to, uh.., lucid dream.

[Evanitis]

Pretty cool stuff. Slightly addictive. I'm periodically in and out of this habit since I was a kid. I usually start to notice a minor change in how restful the sleep is after a few weeks of continuous lucid dreaming. I usually took a break at that point, but I didn't I experience any other side effects. Well, besides becoming a loony, but I can't really blame it on that.

[cubinator]

The problem when I become self-aware during dreams is I usually get a little too aware and wake up. I have done this a fair amount of times though. Recently, I've noticed that I've had the ability to force-wake myself when a dream is about to go bad. 

I've also never had any really good space dreams. I've had semi-weightless dreams, but they always quickly turn into something else. I'll have to wait for the real feeling...

Edited February 12, 2016 by cubinator

[viktor19]

I've read about this some time ago, but I haven't really gotten into it. Now you got me clearly interested. Where can I find instructions on how to do it? How hard is it?

[HebaruSan]

I was interested for a while in the early nineties and still have them once in a while, but I don't remember anything particularly exciting recently. What I tend to get more often nowadays is a dream where I can kind of feel the parts of my brain that are generating the dream in operation and sense what they're about to come up with; like, there's probably going to be a house now, and oh, there it is.

15 minutes ago, viktor19 said:

I've read about this some time ago, but I haven't really gotten into it. Now you got me clearly interested. Where can I find instructions on how to do it? How hard is it?

I got all my info from my local public library, near the shelves on occult, hypnosis, conspiracies, optical illusions, etc. Presumably there are web sites today. It's been a while, but the main thing I remember is to make a habit of regularly checking whether you're dreaming. Some things don't work right in dreams (I think mirrors and digital clocks?), and if you frequently seek them out while awake, you'll increase the chance that you'll clue yourself in while dreaming. The next biggest hurdle is to avoid waking up shortly after becoming aware, and I think there were dream-body movements to deal with that, like looking downwards and spinning.

[Elthy]

 

Is it possible to use those to increase productivity? Doing stuff like mental experiments and simulations while sleeping could be very helpfull.                         (brake due to enter not working on mobile)             How resting is such a sleep?

 

[mikeman7918]

47 minutes ago, viktor19 said:

I've read about this some time ago, but I haven't really gotten into it. Now you got me clearly interested. Where can I find instructions on how to do it? How hard is it?

It's so easy you can do it in your sleep (Sorry, I just had to make that joke...)

In all seriousness though, it's more time consuming then hard, and all the work involved is mental stuff like repeating mantras.

A website called "world of lucid dreaming" is a great resource which I used a lot.  Link.

[mikeman7918]

6 minutes ago, Elthy said:

Is it possible to use those to increase productivity? Doing stuff like mental experiments and simulations while sleeping could be very helpfull.                         (brake due to enter not working on mobile)             How resting is such a sleep?

Yes, you can improve productivity.  You can talk to your subconcious as if it's a face-to-face conversation with another person which can be verry informative and interesting, and your creativity and probelem solving ability is drasticly improved.  Lucid dreaming can also reduce depression and increase morale for obvious reasons.

As for how restful it is, some say they feel slightly less rested when they di it and some say they feel more rested when doing it.  In theory it doesn't really effect quality of sleep because you are still dreaming.  In any case, I would say that it's worth it.

[Falco01]

I could say I do a lucid dream every night almost naturally since I'm born though I can't seem to control everything even though I'm at a point where I master space and time

the world itself is persistent and evolve from night to night, I'm wondering,if you ever heard of the latter concept

to make it short, I'll celebrate my 159th birthday in a ship somewhere in a new frame I just discovered...probably alone though...

[Matuchkin]

4 hours ago, mikeman7918 said:

Lately I have been experimenting with it and trying to induce it.  My only problem is not waking up right after I figure out that I am dreaming, which I know how to do and it's just a matter of time before I master it.

TELL ME YOUR SECRETS!!!

*prod, prod*

[Evanitis]

1 hour ago, Falco01 said:

the world itself is persistent and evolve from night to night, I'm wondering,if you ever heard of the latter concept

I'd say we discover more and more.

Though who am I to tell, I'm just dreaming stuff.

[mikeman7918]

3 hours ago, Falco01 said:

the world itself is persistent and evolve from night to night, I'm wondering,if you ever heard of the latter concept

Do you by chanse have aspergers syndrome or some other form of autism?  I looked up how (and if) it affects lucid dreaming because I have it, and I did find that it causes persistance like that in both lucid dreams and imagination among other things.  I am certainly happy about that because I am a big sucker for persistant sandbox games (like KSP).

2 hours ago, Matuchkin said:

TELL ME YOUR SECRETS!!!

*prod, prod*

There are many tactics to induce lucid dreaming, and which one works the best varries from person to person.  The one I have found success in is Mantra Induced Lucid Dreaming (MILD).  In that, you basically repeat an intention to yourself over and over to sort of drill it into your mind.  What I do is I go to bed normally, and then I wake up naturally in the night after 4-5 hours of sleep, after that I go to sleep again while repeating a mantra in my head like "I am dreaming", "the next thing I experience will be a dream", or "I am about to dream".  Sometimes it's hard to go to sleep while doing that, and it's OK to stop once you get tired as long as you think about lucid dreaming as you go to sleep the rest of the way.  It's also helpful to use mantras while awake like "I will become lucid in my dreams" and things of the sort.  The exact wording is unimportant, just as long as you have the right meaning.

If you did this right then before you know it you will find yourself in a dream, and the mantras you repeated before will still be bouncing around your mind subconciously.  This will cause you to question weather you are dreaming.  At this point, you need to do a reality check.  My favorite reality check is to plug my nose and try to breathe, and in a dream you can still breathe just fine (and it feels incredibly weird).  This is where things get tricky, and where I am still struggling.  At this point, this tends to happen:

 

dream.exe has stopped working.

[End Now]

 

Joking aside, the realizatoin that you are dreaming wakes you up unless you do something about it.  There are multiple ways to go about stabilizing it, but they all involve immersing yourself in the dream world and forgetting all about your real body lying in your bed (which you may or may not be at least somewhat aware of at that point).  You have to interact with the dream world or stare at your hands as you rub them together.  Pay attention to every sensation in the dream down to the direction of the wind.  You must also come to grips with the fact that this is all in your head, and therefore that you are in complete control of everything.  In a dream, believing something makes it real.  If you think that you will wake up, you will, but if you believe that you can make the dream last as long as you want.  The dream also responds to commands, and it really helps to vocalize them.  Vocally demand that the dream become clear by saying something like "CLARITY NOW!" if things become unclear (which is almost guerenteed as you first become lucid).  Expect some trial and error when doing this, because it takes a while to get the hang of.

If you can get past this step, you are in a lucid dream!  Things may become unclear and unstable after a while, so you will need to stabilize the dream again.  It's also possible that you may forget that you are dreaming (which happens to newbies sometimes because your brain works a bit differently when you dream), and that can be prevented by regularly doing reality checks and remembering that you are dreaming at the back of your mind.  To control the dream, just believe something and it will become real.  It is recommended that if you want, say, a portal gun (or any other object) you should not make it apear in front of you, you should just believe that it's behind you or around a corner and when you look it will be there.  You can also make anything (even yourself) morph into anything (or anyone).  Dream control can be a bit tricky, and one of the easiest ways to do it is to vocalize your intention like "When I open this door, the surface of the Moon WILL be on the other side!".  I highly suggest you look up things to do in a lucid dream, because there is a lot of cool stuff you might never think of on your own like telling your dream that your worst fear is behind a door and then confronting said fear with a lightsaber and superpowers.  You can even ask dream characters what they represent and they will give you a strait answer, and I hear that convincing a dream character that they are not real can be quite entertaining.

Edited February 13, 2016 by mikeman7918

[Matuchkin]

I'm going to get some more knowledge of the subject, before actually dreaming. Otherwise, I'm probably going to end up seeing a bloodied, possessed corpse tearing my guts out or something.

Unsafe...

[mikeman7918]

10 minutes ago, Matuchkin said:

I'm going to get some more knowledge of the subject, before actually dreaming. Otherwise, I'm probably going to end up seeing a bloodied, possessed corpse tearing my guts out or something.

Unsafe...

Ending dreams if something goes wrong is actually quite easy (and good to know because you can feel pain in dreams), just blink over and over very quickly, close your eyes and force them open as hard as you can, or just verbally tell your dream that you want it to end.  Looking into it more is definitely a good idea, but when it comes to that kind of thing lucid dreaming doesn't pose a greater threat then normal dreaming.

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

Has anyone done any experiments about how realistic physics are while lucid dreaming?  I imagine that it would be only what you know from experience, so, most KSP players would dream realistic orbital mechanics, but not, say, n-body physics and orbit degedration.

[mikeman7918]

14 hours ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

Has anyone done any experiments about how realistic physics are while lucid dreaming?  I imagine that it would be only what you know from experience, so, most KSP players would dream realistic orbital mechanics, but not, say, n-body physics and orbit degedration.

You are right, physics in dreams are as good as your knowmage of them.  For example: people who have never played the portal games often have a hard time getting portal guns to work right in dreams, especially if they don't know Newtonian laws like the back of their hand.  If you play Kerbal Space Program then I can almost guerentee that orbital mechanics in your dreams will be realistic.

[Just Jim]

All the time.... all the time.....  I've been dreamquesting most of my life...

On ‎2‎/‎13‎/‎2016 at 2:16 AM, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

Has anyone done any experiments about how realistic physics are while lucid dreaming?  I imagine that it would be only what you know from experience, so, most KSP players would dream realistic orbital mechanics, but not, say, n-body physics and orbit degedration.

In mine, physics gets... bent... Mostly gravity.  I've had countless dreams of floating and flying without a ship.  Or bouncing... if that makes any sense.  Bouncing a mile high, and staying up there...  it's hard to put into words.

In my dream worlds... I can bend physics any way I desire.

[Randox]

I've had lucid dreams a few times. Two were very good, in terms of control and duration, while the others have been short and lackluster. It seems to come down to how I became aware I am dreaming. In the two best lucid dreams, I became aware of myself in a dream world entirely from a first person perspective, and I found that the dream became extremely malleable to my will, but I couldn't actually control it. I wasn't creating the scenario, or deciding what would come next, but basically whatever I wanted to happen would happen. Conversations would happen as I wanted them too, I could fly, that sort of thing.

More commonly, I become I am aware when I change something in the dream, from a third person, dream controller, awareness. I think it happens because I am already starting to wake up, and part of my conscious mind that I don't yet have an awareness of is starting to exert the desires of my waking mind on the dream state, if that makes any sense. Like, I'll become aware that I want the dream to go a certain way, and the dream world will change to accommodate that thought, but I'll wake up within a couple minutes tops. This normally happens when dreams attempt to morph into nightmares. At the point where I would come to harm, some part of my mind will change the dream, and if I don't immediately wake up once that happens, I sometimes become aware that I am dreaming, but the control is never as good as when I spontaneously realize I am dreaming. It's more like a directed daydream than a proper lucid dream.

 

I used to keep a dream diary, which is supposed to help you recognise when you are dreaming. I'm not sure that was ever going to work for me, but it was interesting all the same. I'm not sure how it is for other people, but for me, I've noticed that I dream about things that I suspect my unconscious mind is dwelling on, giving me a window into where stress is coming from that I might not otherwise be aware of. However, after a couple run ins with Hypnagogic Hallucinations, I've been somewhat reluctant to pursue making lucid dreams more common (since it also tends to make the hallucinations more common). I very vividly remember lying on my side, knowing with 100% certainty that something was behind me, and that if I moved, it would see me, and I would die. I've had at least one other (why is my bed sliding into the closet?), but the terror of that second one is still etched in my memory, and I am reluctant to do anything that might cause that particular scenario to repeat itself. I never want to feel that way again.

[Falco01]

On 13 février 2016 at 3:42 AM, mikeman7918 said:

 

Do you by chanse have aspergers syndrome or some other form of autism?  I looked up how (and if) it affects lucid dreaming because I have it, and I did find that it causes persistance like that in both lucid dreams and imagination among other things.  I am certainly happy about that because I am a big sucker for persistant sandbox games (like KSP).

I don't know the first and don't have the latter as far as I know though I have other things such as dysinchronia induced by a high IQ but since I don't know a lot about those 3 diseases (I consider having an abnormal IQ may it be high or low as a mental disease) or at least not enough to answer with precision.

an other funny phenomenon about that dream's worl is that I can have little interactions with it during the day as if I had a phone and thus can ask things to other people of the dream which at first was translated by me talking to "something" in a corner of the school, I had nobody else to talk to anyway, I guess this is why this dream is born or what induced it to it's current state, also something to note is that the time don' flow the same way, a bit like in inception but during the day, the times are syncornised between the two world though when I'm dreaming, I spend from 10 days to a few month in the world at once which make me be 158 years old there, also the world is a fractal multiverse with precise orbital mechanics but that's since the beginning though I was not understanding at first how it work

If you are interested on knowing more, send me a pm so we can exchange more data through Skype or something

[ToukieToucan]

Ive discovered lucid dreaming about a year ago but never had a LD but Ive had some close ones.

 

 

Do a reality check...