My first attempt....

Last night I watched Waking Life with some friends. I was stoned, so the concept that this movie presented completely blew my mind. So much, in fact, that halfway through the movie I did some research and found this site.

Now, before watching Waking Life, I had no idea what lucidity was, or that dream control was possible. However, I have found that I am more receptive to my dreams than others. I dream every night, and I remember the contents of the dream about 70% of the time. Another thing that I have been doing is I am able to make conscious decisions during a dream. In essence, its almost as if the dream I am in is real life, and I am living it. I don't know if this is something common to experience, as non of my friends experience this. A good example is if for instance I am a superhero in my dream, I can command myself to use superpowers. I can also make decisions, hold on conversations, and be immersed in a dream world as if it were my reality.

So upon going to bed I attempt to induce lucidity. I kept telling myself as I layed in bed "You will realize this is a dream. You will realize this is a dream. You will realize this is a dream." Eventually I started to drift asleep. However, the dream that I had was unlike any other. It wasn't a dream in the normal sense, but it was like I could feel myself slipping into a dream. I guess the best way to describe is to picture yourself floating in darkness, except your not really floating, you don't even have a body, you're just there. Then, the darkness started to distort and become wavy, as if I was entering a dream.

The next thing I knew was I was dreaming, I can't really recall much of anything that happened, all I remember was that I was standing in a room. I wasn't really doing anything, and I can't remember specifics about this room, I just knew I was in a familiar room. Then, I thought to myself that I should do a reality check to see if I was dreaming or not. I plugged my nose, and sure enough was able to breath right through it. A wave of excitement rushed through my body as I knew that I had just gained lucidity. I KNEW that I was in fact dreaming.

But, just as sudden as that feeling came upon me, everything started to change. The room dissappeared, and I was suddenly standing in nothing again. I still had a body, but I was back in the nothingness again. I attempted spinning to regain the dream, but it didn't work. The next thing I knew I was awake in my bed.

I guess what I'm wondering is if anybody else has experienced anything to this extent, and what they did to become more clear. Also, has anybody found that marijuana affects how lucid you become. I find that if I am stoned when I fall asleep, my draems will often be far more bizarre and unusual, yet at the same time are more vivid and last longer.

Any insight on this would be great. Even though I have briefly experienced lucidity, I have much to work on involving dream recall and dream control.

Hi geekydude18 WELCOME :!:

That is a pretty odd movie.
The sign than you have good dream recall is a plus since that is almost pertinent to having lucid dreams on a regular basis. A dream diary is good for enhancing dream recall too. It sometimes is nice to be able to look back at some of your dreams.

I am pretty sure at this point that marijuana is bad for dream recall and inducing lucid dreams.

You were defiantly at that stage of an altered conscious. The way you explain it some would claim you may have been flirting with an OBE.
But in regards to a lucid dream. This entire concept is new. Your mind will most likely begin to manifest dream scenes and characters, all sorts of cool stuff.
Good luck & have fun with it.

Sporadic marijuana use, in my experience, can make dreams more vivid and bizarre...but frequent use, also in my experience, all but robs you completely of any dream recall, and so I have no way of knowing how it affects dreams (in terms of clarity, subject matter, etc). My impression is marijuana + dreaming = bad idea.

I don't know if an out of body experience would be the right way to describe it. It wasn't as if I could or couldn't see my body, it was like it was there but my mind didn't really recognize it as important or something. Also, that's interesting about marijuana. I would have figured that it would heighten lucidity and dream control, I definately don't want to use it before sleep if it actually inhibits dream recall.

Yeah, I need to watch that movie high. Hehe :)

Nice to see another Oregonian on the board, Beaverton here.

That was a great movie. A LOT to take in while stoned. I had to watch it 3 times before I could absorb it. I keep getting lost in the artwork.

Anyway, everyone is giving good advice. Not sure if you are a habitual pot smoker or not, but if you are you should probably cut back if you want to focus on your dreaming. Dream journals will really increase your recall even more.

It sounds to me like you were too excited and just gradually woke up after becoming lucid. Just keep trying it and it should improve.