Dreams happen too fast?

[Daviid]

I just bought a book on lucid dreaming. Last night was the first time I recorded my dreams (as soon as I woke up). I know it usually takes a lot of time to start getting lucid dreams, so I haven't tried everything yet. Just wanted to ask you all something: Most of the time my dreams, like the ones I had last night, fly by so fast. Not only that, but recently I've been having boring dreams; nothing magical or unreal which makes it hard to believe I'm dreaming. If I don't have time to think, or I just don't see anything unreal, how can I induce a lucid dream? Maybe I just need some more time? I'm going to try the "counting" method tonight where you keep counting and saying "I'm dreaming" after each number. Thanks.

[TygrHawk]

Heya Daviid, and welcome! Actually, I find that I'm more likely to become lucid in my more mundane dreams. I think it's because when there's weird stuff happening, my mind doesn't stop long enough to analyze things. But when the dream is more normal, I'm more likely to think about things and it suddenly hits me that something just doesn't "feel" right.

[Daviid]

Thanks for replying! Well the "regular" dream part isn't what I'm worried about really. It's how my dreams just happen, and then I wake up. Last night I kept telling myself to look out for anything unnatural before going to sleep, and nothing really happened. My boring dreams just flew by and before I knew it, I was awake and writing them down. Recently I've been having a lot of stress and anxiety if that has anything to do with it (although I doubt it).

[mongreloctopus]

i think dreams only seem to "fly by" in retrospect. it's the same as if you were to think about something that happened within the last few days. even if you remember every single detail of yesterday's events, you can recap in a matter of seconds what actually took hours.

[Daviid]

I don't know how to describe it. It just feels like my dreams don't last long enough for me to think about anything that's going on. Each mini dream moves on to the next one. Maybe if I keep recording my dreams something will change? I dunno

[tylervh]

Originally posted by Daviid I don't know how to describe it. It just feels like my dreams don't last long enough for me to think about anything that's going on. Each mini dream moves on to the next one. Maybe if I keep recording my dreams something will change? I dunno * Your dream probably lasted a long time and I'm sure you thought within it. You most likely just can't remember enough of it.... most people only remember the mundane stuff. My dreams are always complex but 10 minutes after waking up I can only remember the simple stuff making them mundane.

[Daviid]

Then there's nothing else to do but to just wait and record more?

[kafine]

Originally posted by Daviid Recently I've been having a lot of stress and anxiety if that has anything to do with it (although I doubt it). Stress and anxiety definatley influences my dreams. I get quite fast moving, hard to remember random imagery when I feel stressed. You might be the same way.

[Nikki]

Originally posted by Daviid Then there's nothing else to do but to just wait and record more? I know recording dreams can be tiresome especially if they are boring but it pays off. you probably have some interesting dreams but u can`t remember them cause u still haven`t jogged your memory good enough. keep writing them down it will pay off

[Daviid]

I got so close to a lucid dream last night! I first woke up and wrote down what I could remember from the small dreams I had just had. I then laid on my back and counted myself to sleep. Next thing I remember I'm dreaming that I just woke up and I'm walking around in my room. The clues were right in front of me, but I still ignored them. I looked at the clock a few times but could never figure out the correct time. I even held the lucid dreaming book I have but nothing came to mind! I then walked downstairs and played with my cats, who eventually turned into mice. Better luck next time...

[PenguinLord13]

Are you doing RC's in real life because the clock thing was a classic reality check. Maybe if you tell yourself, "I'm dreaming" every time you do an RC, you can get lucid, since the clues were really just before your eyes. Keep practicing, and using whatever method you like best, as I think your brain just needs a bit more training, so it can make the leap from, "this is kind of weird. Whatever," to, "This is kind of wierd. I must be dreaming ". I'm not sure, I've only been doing this for 3 weeks, but this is my best guess. Originally posted by kafine Stress and anxiety definatley influences my dreams. I get quite fast moving, hard to remember random imagery when I feel stressed. You might be the same way. I tend to agree with this. I have read in multiple places that stress really kills dream recall, and therefore makes your chance of remembering an LD much lower, even if you do have one. Maybe trying meditation or relaxation techniques will help you, there are some good ones in the Tutorials section.

[Umbrella]

About your dreams not being "weird" enough to make you realize you're dreaming: a dream is never exactly similar to waking life, because dreams are built by guesses of your mind as opposed to waking life which is perceived with the help if information from your senses. This means that even if you don't see eight-legged miniature toasters drink beer on top of your fingertips in your dreams, there are still ways to realize you're dreaming. Firstly, you can see if any of your dreams contain more subtle kind of dreamsigns, like context or emotion based ones. Maybe you were talking to people you wouldn't normally talk to in the situation you were in, or maybe you were experiencing strong emotions for apparent reason. Also, your dreams will show you what you are expecting. If something happens (especially something strange) exactly as you had thought it would, there's a good reason to check whether or not you're dreaming. Train yourself to ask yourself whether or not your dreaming whenever one of the things I just mentioned (or something similar) is happening, even if there's a perfectly good explanation for it (never rationalize, this is what we do in dreams and it keeps us from lucidity). If you do this, you'll be training your mind to question reality even when nothing impossible is happening.