lucid dreaming

I've had several dreams that somewhat fit the description of a lucid dream....and one that certainly was!

To describe it as quickly as possible...

At one point in the dream, I was walking down a street in the middle of the night, when a "friend" (in quotes because, although I knew this person was a friend in the "Dream World", I've never ever seen this dude in the real world)pulled up and offered a ride.

We went someplace where other "Dream World" pals were having a party. In the midst of all the fun I realized I was dreaming....and decided to be a bit bold.

I stood up and made an announcement to the effect of "You know, everyone here is merely a figment of my imagination.....I am having a lucid dream, and when I wake up.....you're basically DEAD!!!"

They all smiled...and said "We Know!....It's YOUR party."

The fun continued for a bit...and the dream faded into the pre-dawn reality of our physical plane.

I sat up at the edge of the bed, and had the same kind of smile and laugh that I get when some secret of the universe is revealed to me during a trip.

I will never forget it!

[sydlexic]

get em all the time. mostly in the few hours before i wake up, or if im waken up in the morning and go back to sleep, thats when i have the strangest dreams, where i can pretty much have complete control over what happens. its really wierd to me, kinda like trippin, i love em

sydlexic,

since you get them all the time i was wondering if you wanted to try a couple experiements... I have some theories about the nature of existance and i figure i can put them to the test.

and mycos, thats an awesome story I hope it happens again really soon.

I had heard somewhere that psychidelic chemicals often trigger vivid dreams etc.. any comments?

[sydlexic]

yeah sure, sounds interesting, what do you want me to do?

I had heard somewhere that psychidelic chemicals often trigger vivid dreams etc.. any comments?
that does seem to be true to a certain extent, like when i have a really heavy smoke before goin to bed i usually have lucid dreams, but i do that most days anyway. although i even have them most of the time if im not doing any drugs, usually a bit more vivid,the most vivid i had was when i went away for 3 weeks last year and couldnt get ANYTHING, i had the most tripped out dream since i was about 2-5years old.

oh yeah, what are these thoeries about the nature of existence?

[driftwood]

I've been a regular lucid dreamer for the past 2 years or so. It's getting to the point where I kind of wish they would stop. I get in these dream cycles where I dream about the same things over the course of several days and in the end I have a really hard time seperating my dream world from the waking world. The dreams are so real and I have so much control over them that they work their way into my daily reality. I'm always having to remind myself that certain "events didn't really happen."

Overall I'd say lucid dreaming is a lot of fun, especially once you learn some of the little tricks (like if you want to change scenes just turn around), and it is a good way to explore and experience things you otherwise wouldn't be able to.

Sleeping (from exhaustion) while still feeling the effects of LSD I think is one of the things that led to my becoming a lucid dreamer. But that is just a hunch. If I smoke marijuana before going to bed I do not have lucid dreams.

I had one, really cool one i might add, about 8 months ago and since then have been try to do it on purpose... You can do a websearch and find tons of stuff on it... i guess to get really good at it you have to practice it... although there are those that can just 'do it'... bastids. lol like training yourself every fifteen minutes to ask yourself if you are asleep or awake. thats pretty hardcore tho. hehe. I usually can do it juuuust before i fall asleep.. and it usually ends up with me walking around in my dreamworld feeling extremely heavy (probably from that chemical that your body gives to paralize you so you don't sleep walk) and trying not to wake up... dosen't usually last long either.. if it does im lucky.

fahtster

(Message edited by fahtphish on May 07, 2004)

If you are interested at all in the subject of Lucid Dreaming I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you read Spirit Walker: Messages from the Future by Hank Wesselman. Please let me know if you do and what you think.

I haven't read that one yet I_am, but ive read just about everything else. so ill have to check that out.

anyway syd and drift wood.. (i havent asked you yet but the same question earlyer stated goes for you too {or any other regular lucid dreamers}) anyway im going to put together some experiements tonight and post them tomarrow. I know many many tricks and all sorts of methods of navigating through dream space. I'm really excited about this.

so yeah ill post up the experiement tonight or tomarrow morning. its just going to take a bit and i didnt want anyone thinking i forgot.

I'm eager to see what they are and try them out!

"I had heard somewhere that psychidelic chemicals often trigger vivid dreams etc.. any comments?"

Everytime I shroom, I dose at about 10 PM or so, and go to sleep by 4 or 5...and when I had the PF Classic strain, I'd dream of looking out my bedroom window and seeing a spaceship every single time.

I have Cambodians now and nothing about the trip is as satisfying as it once was.

I've heard the same from other folks concerning the S.E. Asian strains, so I've got Texans and Blue Meanies at the ready to knock up some jars this week


(Message edited by exshroomer on May 07, 2004)

Experiment #1: The Dream Alchemist

Introduction:

It is my belief that the Human mind is infinite, and if that mind is infinite then infinite possibilities lie within its capabilities. simularly the universe is infinite with infinite posibilites. I'm sugesting here that we are all the sleeping gods of our own personal universes. The strict earth bound physical existance we find ourselfs in is like some huge organization created that we might comune with one another. universe of infinite capability to universe of infinite capability.
If imagination is one way of tapping our infinite resource then the full emersion of and full realization of this imaginal rhelm (the dream world) would be the best place to begin any sort of self exploration.
My hypothesis****is that the dream world is the world between worlds, and that we can, with the proper thinking go just about anywhere. in other words, our personal infinite space is where we begin our journey to other spaces. For example, when we wake up out of dream consciousness, we find ourselfs in this comunal physical world we call "the real world", or we find ourselfs in another dream (as im sure driftwood knows all about), another possibility is that we find ourselfs on the "astral plane" parallel to the physical world where we can actually see whats going on in other parts of the physical world while we "sleep". Another posible world would be the world of the mckennian machine elfs that normally come by a DMT trip. Even terence himself said that some day he'd find himself in a dream and someone would hand him a glass pipe...
Through my Lucid dream experiences i've discovered some fairly reliable methods of navigation through it. I dont consider it manipulation because im sure anyone who's ever flown in a dream before knows you can't just will yourself to fly. there seems to be some sort of "trick" to dream flight. It's not manipulation, its more of an understanding and a conscious effort. So here's the experiment.

The Experiment:

I'm assuming most of us are familiar with drug use and spacifically of smoking things. In the dream world there are many paths and gates and keys that we can use to get from one dream space to another, and perhaps places not limited to personal dream space. the point of this experiment is to see if we can go beyond our own space into other. weather it be a friends dream space, thus a yielding a shared dream experience, or astral space or any other space imaginable. What I would like to focus on for this experient is the dream enthogen. using the imagery and implications of enthogens(drugs), and what have you, as gates to our desired space. The reason for this is the emotional significance the use of these substance has. I'm willing to bet we've all taken drugs in our dreams. I'm willing to bet that there's a noticible change in our cognition in our dreams after partaking. I believe the enthogenic/drug dream imagery to potencially be a very powerful key or gate or what have you in the navigation through the other worlds. I'm sugesting that since we cant always just will things to happen the exact way we want them to in our dreams, that we can instead encourage the things we want to happen with the proper sugestions.
Once i was in a lucid dream and was completely alone. I feared that the first sign of life i would see would be the scary creature i saw the night before. so suddenly the idea to call a friendly name came to mind. I called out as loudly as possible the name "sarah". there was no reply. I called again and sure enough i heard a responce. eventually i found a safe person and the dream only got better. So instead of just willing people to apear (which i could not do) I called for someone.

Here's what i want you to try:

#1. before you go to bed think of a character. try to imagine the wisest person imaginable. someone capable of producing a smokable substance that is the key to the rhelm you intend to visit. Come up with a name for this character and asume that as you think of him your subconscious is underway creating this character with great detail or asume that he's being located somewhere in your infinite mind.

#2. Once you find yourself in a dream call his name. if you dont remember his name call the first name that comes to mind.

#3. Get to know this dream character. that is really all that can be asked in this installment of the experiment because if you dont know the Alchemist whos making your tincture you cant nessesarilly trust what he offers you. so just get to know who he is. what he's like. I'm serious really try this.

P.S. if you fear the image will fade at any point after lucidity simply hold something inbetween your fingers. a pebble or a button hole or anything and focus your intention on it, and know that if you wake up holding something between your fingers you're most certainly still dreaming. NO MATTER WHAT! if you're holding something in one dream and holding something else.. youre still dreaming. sleep paralasys prevents you from actually grabbing anything or even moving skelital muscles while dreaming.

If you have any questions just post them. from my experience I truly believe this experiment will be worth trying.

THANK YOU!

[psilly]

I should have checked the General forum in the last couple days! I've talked before on topia about lucid dreaming but nobody really seemed to be interested.
I got into lucid dreaming last year after watching Waking Life after eating mushrooms. Since then I get probably 2-3 lucid dreams a week, and remember at least a dream or two the other nights. For a while I'd take a nightly "mushroom vitamin," just a little 0.3g or so to promote dreaming, and it definitely works.
Joe, I'm glad there's someone else out there that's taken the same interest in this subject as I have. It's impossible to get a person interested who thinks they never dream anyway (like all of my friends), so meaningful discussion is hard to come by.
What are some of the neater things you've done in your dreams? I fly all the time, I used to have sex a lot (until I got flying down!), I've smoked up, eaten mushrooms, breathed underwater, and a lot more. It's funny I just found this thread, as last night I had the best flying experience of my dream life! It was probably the longest lucid dream I've had and I spent the whole thing half-flying and half getting blown around like a leaf in the wind a few thousand feet above my city. It was incredible. Usually I have to keep my focus on flight, or I just sink, but because I was getting blown around, I was able to spend all my time taking in the (surprisingly accurate) view of my city.
Anyways, because of this I felt this morning that it's time I move on from the exhilaration of dreaming (sex, flying) to more exploration. And sure enough, I ended up here. I am very interested in this experiment, as dream characters can tell you everything you could possibly ask, even though you might not remember it when you wake up!
We should also get a discussion going here on the tricks and techniques we've developed for navigating the dreamscape.

I have been really interested in learning how to have or induce lucid dreaming. A friend of mine says he is also able to fly. He explains one of the tricks is to teach your self to look at your hands while your are dreaming, at least that helped him get to a point where he could realize he was dreaming and could start to control them. I have had this strange occurence many times. It happens when right after I fall asleep. I feel a presence near my bed but I can't see anything and when I try to get up I realize that I am paralized like I am being hugged by a super strong force and then I will wake up and realize that it was a dream. When I do realize that I am in a dream, movement gets really hard like I am moving through liquid cement and then I wake up. Anyway thats my two cents.

smokeing a low does of Salvia then going to sleep withen the next 5-10min always gives me Great dreams, some to crazy to even type down here. I had one that was so real, it was more like the end times in my town, I saw big comets hit the hills around me like I was really living it then what we know now turned to this green tunnol that everything was warped into. very scary. for the next 2 day I was freaking out because of that.

LostandConfused: "I feel a presence near my bed....I realize that I am paralized."

This is a common occurance...just be lucky that you don't see an Old Hag sitting on you!....the legendary "Old Hag Syndrome" that a lot of folks have. Scary shit!

"...movement gets really hard like I am moving through liquid cement..."

Another common thing, like when you're either running away or trying to throw a punch at a bad guy trying to get you in your dream! I hate when that happens!

"Old Hag Syndrome"? now that would be some scary shit!

I did see someone warping near me(Looking down a street), first he was 100 yards then 50, then 20 then I took off because that stuff is crazy! This was in real life and tripping my Ass off.

on the flying thing, yah the only time I could fly in my dreams was when I looked at my hands like my two hands were jet packs and they took me all over.

I also was able to wake myself up 4 times in the same dream when I wanted to, then drift off 5 sec later and stay dreaming.

You guys ever get the "If i bite my cheek to see if I am dreaming thing"? sometime when I do that in a dream I can really feel it. very odd.

"on the flying thing, yah the only time I could fly in my dreams was when I looked at my hands like my two hands were jet packs and they took me all over."



The most vivid flying dream I've had was, while walking in one of my old neighborhoods, the actor Danny DeVito came out in a lab coat and handed me his new invention..some Cell Phone/PDA/Game Boy-looking thing that makes you hover a foot in the air and zoom all over the place when you hold it...but only when you're looking at it...zooming down the backstreets with Danny DeVito running alongside me, telling me to be careful with the thing or he'd kick my ass!

Where the hell did that come from?

You know what, why not start a Dreaming thread where everyone can share their dreams by posting them in their own Sub-Threads?

Let's do it!

thats a great dream.

Yea, if anyone has any ideas or questions about dreams id love to discuss them. Lucid dreaming has been about a five year passion for me. I've done alot research and have even tought private lessons for it with good sucsess. I'm really happy with all the posts here.

Goose is right its really hard to find people to get into this with. it boggles my mind how people can igore the implications of Lucid dream life. and even dreaming in general. how can you not be infinitely curious about the nature of the phenominon. my lucid dream experiences have been so incredible. Dream landscapes solidfy as soon as i become lucid and everything looks more real than real. emotions are even more profound... wow. yea i cant believe its not taught in schools...

Anyway, let me know how the experiement is going. once there's some sucsess finding a dream character ill post the next steps.

[driftwood]

I'll try it. I'm not a regular poster or lurker here by any means, but your experiement sounds like fun

Really though, my dreams have been getting way to real and are starting to interfere with my daily waking life. I think I need to watch that movie.

I've never flown in a dream. They are usually based more in my present reality. I tend to explore all the things I don't do in real life and that is why I have a hard time differentiating between what I did and what I didn't do.

It is too confusing.

I tried it last night and it sort of worked.

Here's what happened.

First...i{"try to imagine the wisest person imaginable."} Easy! When I first read that a few minutes after Joe posted that, he came to mind instantly. A cartoon character, an old Chinese sage that I called "Ho Chi Zen"...i have no idea why that name, of all others popped into my head! I'll draw him and post him in a little bit.

With him in mind, I focused on the "smokable substance". Instead of imagining the "realm" it would take me to, i imagined it having an effect on the dream and the look of the scenery, the way my "body" would feel in the dream (how many of you feel physical sensations in dreams..aside from butterflies in your stomach when falling?)....I'm searching for the exact words to describe it....like a sudden sharpening of the mind and senses within the dream without the effect of feeling like you're waking up...you know what I mean?.

Anyhow, I sorta remember calling his name, and having some sort of contact with him...but I don't remember it being face-to-face for some reason....it felt like having some degree of control over the events, but still not exactly..a very distant, fuzzy kind of dream.

I'm definitely trying again tonight, and I'm going to start a sub-thread to this one momentarily...check it out!

Last summer, someone on this very board (forgot who) posted this picture here.....


Here's why...

As you can see, it's an Optical Illusion meant to look like it's moving and rotating....one member here said it looked like a big animated GIF.

With 3 coils vertically and 4 across, I want you to line this up so that the 6 in the middle are centered....the centers of the coils are 3 across the top and bottom, 2 in the middle(that's the way they should appear when you use it as your desktop), so you can center your eyes on those middle 2.....but not really.

If you lock your gaze on those points, the coils don't look like they're moving anymore.

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED.....

I used it as my Desktop background for about 2 weeks. It would give me very vivid dreams....and something else really strange. I would be stuck in the in-between state of sleeping and waking up...doing something I've never heard about before.

I think it was because I was in front of the computer constantly, all the while this image was being burned into my visual cortex.

Eventually I would get into this state, and it was like operating a Computer-like interface, pointing, clicking, and navigating through files...

And when I would open them up, I would be starting another lucid dream/mind-movie.....when I'd go into the "folders" of my mind, I had the view set to "thumbnails"!..seeing a still shot of the first scene of it.

It was really amazing...BUT....

After a while, it was as if I was stuck in this state. It was very hard to wake up automatically, and I often felt sleep paralysis during these episodes....it got to be unpleasant.

So, if any of you feel brave enough after reading that...or if you don't mind trying it for shits and giggles...why not try it and see what it does for you?

(Message edited by exshroomer on May 09, 2004)

(Message edited by exshroomer on May 09, 2004)

Driftwood, I think i could definitley give you some helpful ideas for #1 the blurred line between dreaming and waking life and #2 how to get the most out of it.

What you have is a gift. i think the reason why many artists have problems with depression is because the weight of their talent can be alot to bear for a mere mortal. Their sensitivity, their perception all these things force an artist to see the world in a different way. thus they have to be different. being different isnt always easy.

The fact that this is difficult and confusing for you absolutley dose not mean you should try and make it stop. You have a talent. what is very difficult for so many people is something you cant help but do. now all you have to do is hone your navigation skills and really get the most out of it you can. the dream world is LIMITLESS. I know this. One might say shamanism is going to that other world and bringing back some energy.. some idea, back to the waking world where people need it so badly. What you have is a gift. with a little practice it wont be a burden at all. there's no limit to what it can do for you and God knows who else. I'm actually very excited for you.

try the experiement. it will give you an idea of what's possible. dont worry if you cant get anything to happen the first night. its like anything you have to get a feel for it.

Myco, I'm totally thrilled you gave it a shot. as far as other sensations are concerned I get all kinds of bizzare sensations. some textures in dreams actually trigger dream nausia... and I do know exactly what you mean. see.. there's lucid dreams and then there's LUCID dreams. sometimes ill find myself on a beach where something totally absurd is happening.. suddenly i'll realize that im dreaming and my surroundings completely solidify.. things become more real then real, i dont need my glasses to see great detail at great distances. Colors are incredible, i feel that there's no cieling to what one can feel in that state. while youre lucid you can, with a little practice, do this at will. it can be hard. but you can literally see things with infinite clarity and the action is somewhat like taking a deep breath of fresh air... i could go on and on and on..

Thanks everyone, keep posting.

nice

Hey ive had some experiance with these types of dreams before. Repeated ones when i was smaller where every night for about a week i was transported to a flying pirate ship and fought other pirates. It was awsome Then the captain would say i had to go now, open a hatch on the floor and id drop out of it could see me falling through the clouds then boom im on my back and bouncing on my bed? this happend i think 5 times in a row. i was amazed how i actually was in the air then bounced off the bed i think it was just hardcore muscle spasms ive had them when people try to wake me up i freak out yell and kick and thrash hitting my head and everything else into the wall. Another crazy one i had was this one at a crazy carnival (kind of like the on on space jam) i flew off a roller coaster landed talked to a skeleton was thrown on a bed for bad descision making and bit on the arm by a sleeping werewolf (this portion of the dream repeated 7 times!!!!) i woke up in the morning and had teeth marks bleeding on my arm i would have been seriously scared if the teeth marks hadn't matched mine but i just laughed it off. Unfortunatly the last on i had i was being chased with a group of people by a knife throwing and weilding dude from house to house. Shortly after he killed my dad i had a great idea that i could control my dreams i laid on the coffee table and closed my eyes. He broke into the room tapped me on the shoulder i opened them looked at him pushed him away and started to close my eyes like i was sleeping. he looked at me confused then just chased everyone else around.


Sadly i have not had any of these in close to 3 years i want to have one again and i think ill try your tips thanks for inspiring me. I have always thought drugs and the mind unlock all the secrets of the world this just convinces me.

i have to get a running start and jump to fly... but its still not flying just like a loss of gravity... still fun

matt, it sounds like the teeth marks are some result of a parasomnia. it might be a good idea to become more aware of your dreams and become lucid more often just so you can be sure to have peaceful dreams.. whenever you find yourself lucid be sure to do peaceful things.. i only say this as a caution because it seems like you may have a slightly inhibited sleep paralysis thing going on.. its rare. most lucid dreams happen in REM sleep while most parasomnias take place in non-REM sleep or "delta" sleep. so just to be safe dont go fighting wild cats in your lucid dreams. but if you need any help getting lucid let me know i've learned lots of good tricks.

This thread has convinced me to become a lucid dreamer. I know I have the potential to have very powerful lucid dreams, but it is something I haven't ever really concentrated on. Wish me luck. Tonights the beginning.

(Message edited by omnibot on May 10, 2004)

GOOD LUCK!! GOOD LUCK!! GOOD LUCK!! GOOD LUCK!! GOOD LUCK!! GOOD LUCK!! GOOD LUCK!! GOOD LUCK!! GOOD LUCK!! GOOD LUCK!! GOOD LUCK!! GOOD LUCK!! GOOD LUCK!! GOOD LUCK!! GOOD LUCK!! GOOD LUCK!!

and I damn well mean it Omni. this stuff is amazing. you'l be blown away by what you'l experience. thats the whole thing. in a body there's no limit to what you can feel.

again good luck.

all i have to say is thank you! ive never quite experienced anything like that.. that mushroom picture' comming off my desktop and thats going up. no question. that was amazing. wow. didnt think i was going to be impressed by an optical illusion without enthogens ever again.

You guys that are interested in lucid dreaming, or just looking for a good trip flick, should watch the movie Waking Life by Richard Linklater, starring Wiley Wiggins(Dazed & Confused). It's all about lucid dreaming, with a bunch of philosophies and views about a wide range of subjects that all come together to make an awesome movie. It's animated and they use a program designed just for this movie, as well as a number of different animators. It is my favorite movie of all time. Watch it and tell me what you think!
PB

I own it. as a matter of fact i started reading philip k dick as a result of seeing that movie. i was already hard core into lucid dreaming but a friend of mine said he had his first lucid dream after watching it. I watched it. it was the first intelectually stimluating anything i had seen in years. so i agree thats a really good idea.

I love that movie as well. It's right up there with Donnie Darko.

another good movie.. i dont own that but i kinda pilfered it from an ex-girlfriend. how's everyone doing?

[sydlexic]

tried the experiment 2 nights in a row, no luck last nite, just as i found myself lucid my alarm went off and i realised i was late for work, had to get straight up. but on sunday (when i tried it for the first time) i found myself lucid, trying to remember something, (like when you go on holiday and you know you've forgotten something, but you dont know what) i knew i was supposed to try and do something, i just figure out what, woke up and thought SHIT, so close. anyway i'll try again 2nite, i think i should be able to get the hang of this

I admire your determination. sometimes if you write down your intention and even draw a picture of something that represents it you'l find it easier to remember.

[sydlexic]

ok i'll try that 2nite, going 2 go 2 bed in bout 2 hours, let you know how it goes 2morrow

What about those of us like me who have never had [ or maybe never remembering ] having a lucid dream? What could I do to help induce and experience these? I'll check out waking life, but do you have any tips to help me start out?
Someone on here posted about taking a small amount of mushies before going to bed, which I think would be pretty neat to try.. I've heard of the constantly looking at your hand trick throughout the day and try to do it in your dream but it simply didn't work for me.. Any advice or help is greatly appreciated :]

Start asking yourself if your are dreaming while you are awake. Get into a pattern of asking yourself that and concentrate on remembering that while lying down to go to sleep. Also, if you aren't sure, then try to turn the lights on or off and if they don't work, then your dreaming. Look up lucid dreaming on google and there are plenty of tips and info about it. For me, everytime I start flying, I realize I'm dreaming and then I usually wake up.
PB

[hunter]

i used to have dreams like that all the time. One time i had a dream where i was in hell and my 3rd grade teacher was satan's apprentice and i realized i was dreaming and then i couldnt wake up so i thought it was reality, but that was when i was a young'n. now i keep getting dreams where i wake up but am still dreaming.

[hunter]

i have problems remembering my dreams because i have countless dreams in one night. some dreams seem like hours but only seconds have elapsed in reality. has anyone here ever taken control of their subconscious and remembered everything they discovered?

chris,

I've tried everything thats out there over the past 5 years. everyone learns differently and some people are just naturals. I am not a natural by any means. I had to work like hell to get where i am. for most people its not that hard. all i know is its been worth all of it.

Out of all the technics out there the number 1 most important thing is a dream journal. you've probobly heard that before. its true. there's a whole lot of other benifits to keeping a journal like this but as far as imconcerned (and im very concerned) the journal is the most important thing. everything else is fringe because getting familiar with how your particular dreams work is crutial. I might say that anyone who has any desire to become lucid could do so by simply keeping a journal. honestly getting lucid isn't really the hard part.. its staying lucid thats hard. its navigating thats tricky.

the way i had my first lucid dream is i kept a very good journal recording up to five dreams every night for about two weeks. I accompanied that with checking a digital watch that i bought for that purpose. It beeped once an hour. each time i looked at my watch and asked if i was dreaming. I could prove to myself that i wasnt dreaming because digital watches dont display proper time in dreams.

see, all things are the substance of dreams. when you make looking at a digital watch part of your daily routine its very likley that checking your watch will become part of your dream. so ANY time your watch looks funny dont just ignore it. really try and prove to yourself weather or not you're dreaming. read some text, look away, then look back. if the text changed at all you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're dreaming.

as far as staying lucid, you're really only going to get a feel for the way it feels when you accidentally wake youself up by getting too excited or just forgetting that you're dreaming. What i do is have rehersals. anytime i find myself on a train platform i think to myself 'if i were dreaming what would it feel like' 'what would i do' then i actually start to get that axious feeling of possibility. what the rehersal does is it gets you used to the idea of lucidity. what most people do as soon as they realize theyre dreaming is have sex with the nearest atractive person they see. this causes excitement and inevitably awakening or dream change.

you cant always escape scenary change and you will get better at keeping this stable as you get better but the best way to maintain continuity for consciousness that ive found is holding a button hole on my dream clothes. if i feel the scenary changing i just hold onto somthing. something small. if you findyourself in bed holding something inbetween your fingers you must know that you're still dreaming because during REM sleep your body is paralized.

so.. anyway i hope this info was helpful...

oh, yea, hunter. ive come pretty damn close to remembering everything. sometimes you can remember things in dreams from other dreams that you forgot. you can even find your way to past dream spaces and recall things that way.

[psilly]

Joe, me and you are like this (making sign with hand). I, too, began reading Dick after watching Waking Life. I, too, have had dreams where I remembered past dreams I never recalled during my waking life. I, too, have revisited past dreams spaces and been flooded with memories from that time. And, yeah, I used to have sex with the nearest hot girl every time I realized I was dreaming...that's probably been the hardest thing to stop doing! Especially once you're able to conjure up any dream character imaginable, it takes a lot of motivation to choose otherwise.

[sydlexic]

well no dreams that i can remember at all last nite, but i did only get about 3 1/2 hours sleep (possibly not long enough to go into REM?) do you think it might help to keep a dream journal? if yes should i note down times as well as what i was dreaming?
i cant wait to get the hang of this

[psilly]

Ya, usually I don't dream during the first 3 or 4 hours of sleep either, unless it's during a daytime nap. Definitely keep a dream journal, and if you can, write down the time, too. I found the most powerful thing for me to do when I first started was to record as much as I could about my dreams when I woke up, then read my journal from start to finish before going to sleep at night. Oh, yeah, and if you wake up in the middle of the night from a dream, right it down in your journal right away, or at least jot down what you were doing and who was there to trigger your memory in the morning. And if you ever remember any dialogue, write that down first, as that part of memory seems to fade the fastest.

Yeah, a dream journal is a must. totally worth while no matter what your goals are. and yes putting down the times is important too. i totally agree with what goose said.
sometimes writing events backard chronologically can help too.

[sydlexic]

well i got really pissed last nite and woke up this morning feeling like shit, but remembering a dream, not lucid, all i clearly remember is my car windscreen was broken, and i keep on nearly remembering things, 'its-on-the-tip-of-the-tongue' style

well thats good. the best thing to do is to not get discouraged. getting little sleep and waking up angry and just plain not remembering any dreams are all things that happen alot and its not your fault. if you dont get discouraged about dreaming it wont really set you back at all. its pure psychology which is what makes it tricky. there really isnt any 2+2=4 math involved. Lucid dreaming is a rather esoteric art. so as long as you dont get discouraged these sleep issues really wont hold you back at all. just stay confident.

as long as you set out each night to remember your dreams (and write them down) as best you can and set out to recognize the dream state you're basically getting closser and closser to lucidity at will every day. I dont know what your day is like but sometimes getting less sleep is helpful. in some cases extremely helpful. anyday that i go to bed around 3am and have to wake up at 6:30 or 7:30 to do something all it takes is an hour nap around noon to have what seems like hours and hours and hours of lucid dreaming. its as if a sleep deprived body given an early afternoon nap has nothing but vivid REM sleep. if my work schedule didnt suck I would sleep on 3-4 hours a night with an hour nap at noon. Its kindof amazing. ofcourse if you dont fall asleep easily during your nap its not going to work. and if you nap for more than an hour chances are you'l have amazing lucid adventures and then not remember a thing because you let youself get into nRem.

Remember the next good sleep will be the next good sleep. it doesnt matter when because you're becomming more and more determined everyday. so when the right conditions are there you'l take off.

[manjotar]

i have been trying to get (and STAY) lucid for about a year and a half,
but i just can't seem to get the hang of it.
i kept a dream journal for a few months but i haven't been writing in it lately... my bad i guess.
you guys got my interest level on the subject up again, thanks!
i too will keep you updated on my progress...

if staying lucid is where you seem to have the most trouble there's the typical looking at your hands method.. or rubbing your hands together method and all that. there's many other but i find the most valuable one to be holding onto something in the dream world. you'l likley find yourself "waking up in bed" holding something competely different.. but you have to remember if you're holding anything at all apon waking up you're most certainly still dreaming.

[sydlexic]

its weird, i havent had a decent vivid lucid dream for about a week now, i dont usually go for more tham 2 or 3 days. oh well, maybe its building up for sumthin amazing