I notice "odd" things happening while dreaming, but still neglect to do a reality check?

Hello, I am new to this community. I have heard of lucid dreams before and have had a few in my life (I am 20 years old), but I have begun studying lucid dreaming more extensively for about a week and a half now. I have always had rather good dream recall and like an instinct I wake briefly after dreaming and remember the dream, but of course forget if I don't write it down somewhere or at least repeat it in my head several times.

In the past week or so I have been able to remember at least 2-3 dreams each night and dream recall has been improving so that I remember more details. However the past couple nights with the exception of last night (not so successful, perhaps worrying too much about this) I was able to notice impossible things happening in my dreams. One was for example, that I was in an arcade and there was some money lying on a table, where people were taking from the money. But every time I looked back at the table, it appeared the same amount of money still was there, even though I knew this didn't make sense. Then the next night I dreamt I was in a giant underwater aquarium and I saw other people who had to go up and get air every so often, but I realized that I didn't have to do that and that didn't make sense. Yet neither time did I do a reality check. Why could this be? I have been using two marks on my hands as a reality check and just started with holding my nose today. My dream sign is unfortunately school. I would like to focus on dreaming about a specific place and/or person, but I have bad focus as I drift off and my thoughts begin to wonder, so I can't focus on trying to have a lucid dream. I have however always had tons of DEILD type dreams without being entirely lucid, but still able to control the dream in some form, if that makes any sense. That was before I began reading about lucid dreaming though. I was wondering if trying to listen to some music while initially falling asleep at night may be of any help, but setting it so the music won't play all night long of course. Also, I have been using a Mugwort oil which I inhale before going to bed the past two nights, but this seemed only to help with creating much more vivid dreams with more memorable details. I will note now that I cannot WILD because I just go out like a light. One second I feel awake and the next I'm gone, but I've been trying. I just fall asleep extremely fast for the most part. Any help/advice is much appreciated!

Sorry for not having the best english.

-Si

Welcome to DV, Norvii!

Noticing strange things in your dreams is a good sign. I think what you need to get you lucid is a little bit of awareness training to raise your awareness. Check out the SAT and http://www.dreamviews.com/f49/all-da...gyoshi-113253/ tutorials.
Try to add more RCs, like the looking at hands, thumb through palm are really good, also the nose pinch you already doing.
Try not to rely on reminders like writing on hands, because if you don't see them in your dream, you will loose the opportunity to become lucid. You see, you do the RC only after you become lucid. And you will become lucid because of the awareness training.
If you can't focus on a dream that you would like to have, no worries, you can change the scene after you become lucid.
Oh, and your English is perfect:) Please ask, if I didn't answer some of your question. Happy dreams:)

Getting into the habit of performing RC's in dreams can take a while, so don't give up! Make sure you do them correctly aswell. Know that learning how to lucid dream is just like learning any other sport, it takes alot of practice and time, and since we only have a few dreams per night at most it seems like it can take forever. Also, mugwort contains thujone which is toxic if you take too much of it. I'm not sure how much it affects your dreams if you inhale it and how dangerous it is, but as with any supplements you should only take them every once and a while. I usually don't take supplements more than once or twice a week. This is to make sure you don't get any side effects and get the most out of it. Our bodies build up a tolerance quite quickly and the supplements lose their effects.

Thank you for welcoming me. :)

The last two nights haven't been very successful, as I tried listening to music while falling asleep, but in return I only remembered one dream the night before last and last night I remembered two, but one was very jumbled and undetailed. So I guess I won't be trying that again anytime soon. I feel often like I remember my dreams after I had them, but not sure if I do while having them, if that makes sense. Perhaps that is because I am not aware of dreaming while dreaming?

I have begun trying thumb through palm today as well, so hopefully that will be helpful and I am going to try some of the other techniques mentioned as well. I've heard that mugwort should be taken in moderation, but this is especially true for oral supplements. As Matte87 mentioned, I don't know much about inhaling mugwort either, but I had already this mugwort oil, so I figured I could try it. It seems mostly to help with acheiving more vivid dreams.

I was also wondering if anyone had any tips on WILD because I always tend to fall asleep too fast before even getting close. If I close my eyes, I always just fall asleep. Is there anything I can about this?

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Originally Posted by Norvii

Thank you for welcoming me. :)

The last two nights haven't been very successful, as I tried listening to music while falling asleep, but in return I only remembered one dream the night before last and last night I remembered two, but one was very jumbled and undetailed....

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Rather then listening to music, visualize someone playing the music or ice skating to the music. We dream and we visualize in the same area of our big human brain.

I've actually been trying to visualise more, especially more vividly and with more detail. Sometimes I have trouble visualising, but I don't seem to have trouble having dreams. My visualisations are often too vague to be very useful, although I am oddly more visual than verbal in my nature. I can have a difficult time focusing when I am going to bed at night, so if I am trying to focus on something while falling asleep, like lucidity or just dream material, it can be difficult for me to avoid wandering mind. I am considering taking up meditation.

Often I feel "too tired" to RC in a dream, and just pass off weird happenings and subconsciously know im dreaming. but never do anything about it.

I simply don't even think to RC in dreams, but perhaps that is because I've only been trying this for a little under two weeks still?

I have been looking through the How to Lucid Dream article by Billybob many times and I'm attempting the techniques in the week schedule. Day 1 was last night for me, and I awoke slightly before my alarm when doing a WBTB in which I slept for 5 hours prior to, but there were still about 20 minutes left. So I slept for about 18 more minutes until I woke again and decided that was sufficient and shut off the alarm. This was probably a mistake as I couldn't recall any dreams when I got up, but then again I can usually remember if I actually had a dream even if I cannot recall it, but last night I didn't remember anything before the WBTB. I stayed up for about an hour before going back to sleep, although the guide mentioned trying 15 minutes, but I can induce sleep whenever I desire, so staying up longer wasn't an issue I don't believe. Within the hour I didn't feel 100% awake yet, but I assumed it should be this way and I used the time to go to the bathroom, read, and I ate an apple because I was too hungry to go without eating anything at all. I had been having stomach issues the evening and night before. When I returned to sleep, I had two dreams and one of them was very vivid in comparison to the other, but I cannot remember for certain the order in which I had them now, although they are written in my DJ. I believe the vivid dream was the second one however. Unfortunately I was not lucid in either of these dreams, although both dreams had some unusual things happening. In the first one, someone I knew died, but then later in the dream she reappeared. I found it odd, but didn't question it at all. When I realized she returned, the dream just ended very shortly after. In the second dream I realized that, while in a train, there were unusual bumps and hills at one point of the trip that almost felt like those from a rollercoaster, which didn't make sense. I believe the sensation of going up and down, while enjoyable, managed to wake me. It seems that there is a pattern around me realizing something odd in a dream and very often the dream either ends or I wake up very shortly after. I have never gotten far enough to perform an actual RC in a dream.

Tonight I am considering attempting a FILD, as mentioned in the weekly plan, because I am very good at waking myself up during the night. I believe this was the same reason that I was able to sleep until 2 minutes before my alarm was going to go off. When I know I need to wake up at a certain time, I am usually good at doing it without an alarm. My sleep cycle has been abnormal since I went on a study break before exams in the middle of last week, so I think I should work on getting it back to normal as well.

I would like to know, if anyone has any advice they could give me in my attempts at LDing, since I haven't been successful quite yet. Sometimes I feel discouraged, which I know I shouldn't; I should believe that I can and will LD. Also, since it is best to RC when something seems out of the ordinary I was wondering what out of the ordinary would constitute? I have not been doing much out of the ordinary, other than the usual day to day things lately, so what could some examples of out of the ordinary or unusual in an everyday situation be? When I do RC during the day, everything around me seems normal, so I don't pay as much attention to details other than looking at the room around me and then using the thumb through palm and/or pinching nose RC.

No need to be worried about not getting lucid by these things, just a few days ago I had a dild becuase I saw my brother make a sandwhich :P

Why would seeing your brother make a sandwhich make you have a DILD? That sounds funny. I have a lot of bizarre dreams too, but my DJ is entirely in danish, and I'm not sure how much of that anyone would understand. :P My dreams are probably not that interesting though, especially in comparison with many of the people on here.

Off topc: I love your cactuar, but Final Fantasy 7 is the best! :)

HAHAHA thats exactly what i mean, nearly everything related to Lucid Dreaming is relative so what may trigger a dild for one will not for the other. Normal sleep is majorly governed by the illogical side of our brain so I wouldn't be surprised if your brain doesnt realise that something is illogical while its completely obvious.

Off topic: LOL thanks, For me ther're both winners ;)

A lot of my dreams consist of events that could physically happen in the real world, but include small elements that are normally impossible, such as where my friend dies and then returns. In the meanwhile, somebody shoved her supposed body, which actually looked like a package of meat into a refridgerator until she reappeared. I know that sounds so wrong, but it also seemed very "off" in the dream. In fact when she reappeared, I questioned whether she ever was dead at all or if it was all a lie. Perhaps that is why I didn't question whether it was a dream, although like almost always, my surroundings were not familiar. I dream often about places where I never have been, but I do dream about places where I have been, like where I live. I often dream with the clothes that I had on that day, interestingly. Speaking of Final Fantasy, I had very recently a dream in where I was trying to enter the Northern Crater from FF7. :P

Interesting note: I had a vague dream about my dad's wife holding an infant girl in her arms. Obviously when I awoke the dream made no sense. A few days later, I receive the news from my dad that they're having another baby. That happened yesterday.

Talking about it, what better place to replay "final fantasy" then in your dreams. I seem to have dreams about ff8 all the time, ther're a good source of imagination.

Very true, although I have had several periods throughout the years where Sephiroth has plagued my dreams. I still deal with that sometimes, actually. :O Perhaps LDing will help me take better control over my dreams so I can do what I want too. I haven't had a lucid dream since I was about 14, when I had one. It was simply a dream in which I realized I was dreaming and I conjured a very much older version of myself in order to gain wisdom and insight into my own conscious. I remember being in a city scenery in the beginning, with the ability to change many things. I could make clocks run backwards, but I never even thought of trying to fly or anything of that sort. I could change my surroundings, however, which I did in order to talk with the older version of myself.

That's cool, it seems when we're younger we have much more control over our dreams, I certainly dont have those wacky dreams anymore :(.
Thats funny, Ive never found sephiroth a character to be feared ( ive encoutered ultima many times, although it was always on my side :P)

I haven't actually noticed much change in my dreams over the years. I have always dreamed a lot about both school or some sort of festitivity, event or party of some sort, even though I don't attend special events all the time, but I do go to school. Also, I don't feel that I fear Sephiroth at all in my dreams, but I do feel like it is him, not me, controlling me and the dream, if that makes any sense. In a way it feels more invasive than extremely threatening. I just find Ultima a bit creepy. :P But dreams are interesting to attempt to analyse, whether they make sense or not. :)