Age?

[BNW]

Hello, I was wondering if age is a factor at all when trying to attain lucidity? Is it easier if you are younger or older? Does it make a difference? Does it get harder with age? Is it easier to learn at a certain age? or is age totaly irrelivent?

[VividNightStalker]

well as a child from my research and my own exp, being lucid and havin control as a child was much more easy for me tho i did not know wtf lucid dreaming was, i did have them and controled them, children tent to be alot more creative and watch cartoons and other types of imagination. I say teens and young adult when u learn about the meaning of lucid dreams its hard at first but once you get the hang of it, should be a bit easy. I would think the older you get the harder it would be since ur mind starts to go.... i mean at ages 60-80 years of age with things like alztimers and such (sorry for spellin in a rush) Thats just what i think though.

[Specialis Sapientia]

Depends, but in short: Young: More open towards new experiences. Old: More experience They are both good, but on the other hand it's always better (easier) to learn when young, and then again an adult might be more patient with achieving lucidity, and not being patient is not good with lucid dreaming. So, depends.

[BNW]

Thanks. I am a teen and i have been having lucid dreams for a while but i didnt know what they were until just recently. (because of google) I didnt have much control over any other part of the dream ecxept for control over what i said and did.

[Shift]

It is frequently said that many children lucid dream, but I'm not sure if this is just some myth made up and propagated. I highly doubt it's ever been studied in the more broad spectrum of toddlers to nursing homes, and if so I'd love to read that paper. I personally never had lucid dreams as a child, even though I was always really really into dreaming. Some people say LDing gets harder as you get older, because you get less REM sleep as you're older. Since you dream in NREM, I'm not exactly sure how relevant that is.

[spockman]

Here's my experience... I had lucids without knowing what an LD was as a child. Not all the time, but I had them nonetheless. I would often make up my own techniques to induce them, (many of them were similar to those that LDers actually use,) but it rarely if ever worked. They would happen randomly, but I had very little discipline over my mind and thus couldn't cause myself to have them. As I got older, I stopped randomly attaining lucidity- but I had also stopped trying. When I learned about lucid dreaming from a star trek episode, I thought it was cool but also something that I probably wouldn't be able to do. Months later, I suddenly became interested in LDing and google lucid dreams, vwallah. I'm at DV. I started trying techniques, thinking about LDing, and soon enough I was able to induce my lucids in a way that I never could as a kid! So, for me, attaining lucidity was easier as a kid. But inducing lucidity was harder when I was young. Maybe it's because I didn't know the techiques as a child, or maybe it's because I worked harder at becoming lucid after I came to DV, but either way I've personally found that dedication and practice is more important than age when it comes to lucid dreaming.

[Busher94]

I know that REM periods change as you get older, so that would have a factor. I think that REM is longest in young adults and shorter in youth and the elderly.

[Shift]

When I learned about lucid dreaming from a star trek episode... Whoa, suddenly your username makes sense

[Brianna]

It's eaiser for a child, I think. Plus, adults tend to not remember their dreams as well as children so that's a bonus.

[ninja9578]

I think as long as you accept the possibilities of your imagination, age shouldn't matter. Children just seem to have more wild imaginations. There are members here who are 15 and members who are 50.

[Banana]

i have about 1-5 lucids a week now but as a child i used to have lucids without even trying at all id have at least 1 a month Then from age 12-14 i didnt even have a single dream lucid or not. then i had a dream i looked up dream stuff found this site and i am improving greatly

[Integral]

I often had lucid dreams as a kid. I would say from the age of five onward but was always frightened by the experience and my fear translated the LD into a nightmare. I always felt that there was a nameless horror waiting behind the door or in the wardrobe. I would shout for someone to wake me up and would often climb to the highest available rooftop or staircase and throw myself off. I knew that when I was about to hit the ground I would wake up! Sometimes I would just drift away from the window and have to fight my way out of SP to get to 'the surface' I am 50 now and only discovered Lucid dreams around a year ago. I am just sorry I wasted so much great LDing opportunity. I have told my wife not to wake me up anymore when I start shouting as last time I was saying "hey this is a dream, I'm dreaming" as a reality check and she started shaking me and I felt myself being physicaly dragged backwards out through a window in the dream!

[Bucketheadjamz]

I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet and maybe I'm totally wrong but I have read that stress can affect the chance of having a LD. In general, older people probably tend to be more stressed than children.

[Tweek]

my dad claims he regularly has lucid dreams without trying. he's about 57. so I hope not!