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    Bubble

    Candy

    7 Comments
    by
    Bubble
    , 11-05-2013 at 07:02 AM (765 Views)
    I dreamed about abandoned, crumbling, overgrown overpasses and train tracks through the wilderness. I clung to the bottom of one, like monkey bars. Some friends and I went into the wilderness to explore, but we were afraid of getting lost. We ran across another group of people. In our explorations, we cut through a lot of grass and underbrush, and I was worried about the impact we were having on the landscape.

    I then dreamed that I got a job at a shop in a historic section of a city. It was a job at a candy shop, and it was partly commission-based. My mother didn't want me to take it. She said the area was "too dangerous".
    I was at the outside cafe section of a nearby restaurant when I went lucid. The restaurant was inside of a converted Victorian style house. When I realized I was dreaming, I immediately went inside to look for a specific DC I really wanted to see. I didn't see him. Instead, there was a waiter who was in his late 30s but mostly bald. I covered my eyes and tried to imagine that he was the DC. When I uncovered them, he had changed a little bit; his face had morphed, and was a little blurry, and tufts of hair were coming out of the side of his head, and he looked a little... melted. I got very frustrated.
    I recall that my surroundings were hazy. I recall the restaurant having a lot of dark wood in its decor, and being a fine dining/upscale sort of place.

    Review:
    I think I went lucid because I realized the area I was in was unfamiliar and I did not recall how I got there, and this was a cue that I was dreaming. I have also just randomly gone lucid a lot out of "habit" - I am used to habitually questioning reality, now, so I also do it while I am dreaming as well, which I suppose is the whole point of ADA. This has led to a gradual but measurable increase in lucid dreams. Three years of practice are finally paying off.

    For anybody who is just getting started, remember this: it took a year and a half of trying before I had my first lucid dream.

    I need to work on remembering to stabilize and observe before trying to do anything. I've been frustrated at the haziness of my lucids lately, but I also have not been observing and stabilizing as I ought to. I need to work on vividness and stabilization. I miss the beautiful landscapes of my first few lucids... I've stopped observing and gotten too impatient, and it's backfiring.

    I try too often to exert direct control. I think my attempt to change the waiter may have been a tad too direct. I still wouldn't call it a complete failure - I did succeed at partially changing his features.

    Things I could have done:
    - Asked the waiter to seat me, sat down at the table, and waited for the DC I was trying to find to show up at the time we'd agreed on.
    - Continued to look for the DC in the crowd.
    - Looked for the table that I knew the DC was waiting at.
    - Used the restaurant doorway to go somewhere that I knew the DC was at (scene change).
    - Reached behind myself and felt for the DC's hand.

    So, tonight will be another night - and hopefully, another lucid. I need to remember to use my environment to my advantage.

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    Updated 11-05-2013 at 07:16 AM by 32101

    Categories
    lucid , non-lucid , side notes

    Comments

    1. tP97's Avatar
      1 and half years o.O ? Well two months back , I tried to get into the habit of questioning if i am dreaming and on about the tenth day I had a lucid dream . I had a lucid dream on 3rd day too but I panicked and fell non-lucid
    2. Bubble's Avatar
      It's easier for some people than for others. I'm not ashamed to admit that it took me a long time, if it helps other people who are trying and feel like they'll never succeed. I suffer from sleep paralysis (I even participated in a study on it), so that was a huge incentive for me, and why I didn't give up after such a ridiculously long period of time.

      I know that there are people on the forums who have been trying for weeks without success, so I like to remind dreamers that it can take a very long time for some of us. I have a "real life" friend who got interested in lucid dreaming because of some of my exploits. He has been trying for weeks, and is getting frustrated. I just remind him that some people are naturals, but some of us have to learn.
    3. tP97's Avatar
      Have you tried out shared dreaming yet? Also , in the dream after one and half years , were you completely lucid?
    4. Bubble's Avatar
      Warning: This is a long response.

      In the dream after one and a half years, it was ten seconds long. I was completely lucid. I was amazed by how realistic everything was.
      The entry is in my personal online dream journal, which has ~410 entries (I didn't transcribe them all here because I'd have ended up spamming entries). I will transcribe it for you, though. My very first lucid dream ever was on March 10, 2010:

      "I am walking down a road, I think it's the road my grandfather's house is on, kicking a can of some sort. Then, I notice that the can is floating rather than responding to gravity how it ought to, and then I realize I'm dreaming. I think "about damn time" and decide to fly, because I never get to have kickass flying dreams. I fly for a little bit (probably 10 seconds or so) and the dream promptly fades, and I sink down into wherever it is that I go when I'm not dreaming, and the next dream starts (I go back to being unaware that it is a dream).

      I guess this is my first success with lucid dreaming. Not very impressive, though.
      Interestingly, the entire time I was aware that I was dreaming, I was aware of my body lying in bed in a very vague fashion. I was still immersed in the dream, and it was quite real, and I was definitely still asleep, but it also felt like I was 2 places at once. I couldn't actually do anything with the body (example: moving my arms in the dream, the arms of my body lying in bed still remained quite still) but it was pretty distracting. I had enough of a sensation to know the position I was lying in: on my back, with my arms at either side, and my knees slightly bent. Then the sensation faded, about the same time that I went back down the dream rabbithole.

      I've been trying to lucid dream for a while. Probably a few years. I don't mean in any sort of systematic fashion, though, just hoping it would happen to me. I originally started the dream journal as a way to catalog dreams, thinking that maybe it would help me with this. Obviously, since it's one of the first steps in a lot of the guides, I was on the right track.
      What I've done so far: Written "L" and "D" on either hand, to remind myself to do a reality-check. I guess from now on, I'll be continually questioning reality (not that this is always a bad thing). Obviously, this worked, since I managed to hammer it into my skull enough to actually make the 'gravity-check' connection in a dream. I've only been doing this (gravity check) for about 2 days, so that's pretty damn fast. Blindingly fast, actually. I guess my brain must have already been poised for this after so much time. I don't know if I'll have similar successes for a while, though. Sometimes you get one small success, and then nothing for a while. That's no reason to stop.

      It seems like a good idea to have a goal - what I want to do when I manage to make that connection in a dream. I've actually already accomplished goal 1 (flying!). My next goal is probably equally simple: I want to look down and see what I'm wearing. I never look at my clothes in a dream, and I'm curious. Next, I'd like to go and look in a mirror. I want to keep these simple because it seems like it's a state I can only currently maintain for about 10 seconds or so, judging by the dream that I had. Hopefully, once I can do it regularly, I will be able to improve on that and maintain it longer, long enough to do more complicated things.      "

      I began keeping my dream journal in 2007, but the first year I kept it in earnest was 2008. I made 84 entries in 2008, and 107 in 2009. I knew keeping a journal was a component of lucid dreaming. I didn't start making specific notes about my efforts until 2010.
    5. tP97's Avatar
      Ok, according to your description , you had a 100% lucidity state for 10 seconds but before that had there being dreams in which in you were partially lucid? What you describe is a level 5 lucidity state (or it could have been a state where you enter astral plane) , I have had many level 3 Lucid dreams , they were when I was aware of it being a dream but I still did not take full control , I did do many things like passing my hand through a fan, glide and stuff but then It wasn't pure lucidity. The subconscious was more active than the conscious , I had mind blocks which disabled me to do many things . I have lucid dreamed many times without actually aiming to do it but that was random. I am yet to have a lucid dream like you described . I have flown in lesser lucid states but that flying wasn't perfect since I had mind blocks . When I tried to fly , it was sort of paddling through the air and it took a lot of effort . Did you have such dreams before that one? It has been pretty hard to gain 100% confidence that it isn't real , maybe that was because of the fact that I felt realistic in the dreams. So , i think when i restart my LDying , i'd change the mantra to "Is this reality?"

      Also , do you believe in dream sharing? I think I have had 2 shared dreams without knowing that I was shared dreaming. One was which in me and my friend were running when a disaster was occurring , in that I died and woke up. The description of the dream as I saw it matched of what my friend saw , but then we mistook it for a precognitive dream. It was few days back when I read about SD and realized that that dream was a SD . I'd post my second SD experience below , I am not completely sure if it was real.
      What do you think about it?
      I realize that I am dreaming(you can skip this paragraph), I am in my class. I wish to turn the class to a funny place , so I warp a maid into a chicken and then I do the same to my teacher. Suddenly I notice that I am sitting with my friend and ahead of my crush. Her behavior changes (as if because I am wasting my lucidity on foolish things) . Despite that I start believing myself to be the god of this realm , though I am not able to become fully lucid. I do somethings like passing my hand through the ceiling fan ( I make a ceiling fan appear above me), gliding through the air , shooting projectiles etc. Then I try to pass through the sealed window , I am unable to do it , even projectiles are unable to pass through that wall , though I can pass through stuff and other walls . The next period begins , I think of changing the plot but then .. due to some reason I don't want to leave my crush. ( It makes me feel lonely, she feels like a real entity the the LD and I am even unable to change the plot) , so I attend the class and attempt few random lucid stuff , then I finally decide to change the plot.

      Now, I am in a carnival of some sort. My crush is there with me , she doesn't feel that real anymore . Even more weirdly , she retires to a tree when I am going in the carnival(she suggests me of a bird somehow). I try to fly , I am able to succeed partially . I have this weird power in which if I constantly pedal upwards , I am able to fly while doing it (I can only jump really high or mostly pedal) , it is a really tiresome thing. I feel weird because of people making comments on me. I decide to retire back to my crush. She is standing beside a tree.
      This is when the Main Thing Starts up.

      Now , we chat for a while (she feels real again) and walk away from the carnival.She tried to speak but couldn't A chat box appears and she types " Hey I can't speak, add this ID- (something I don't recall)@aol.com on the inner world". I ask if the inner world refers to the surface? she says"Yes and btw I am a male player.'' I ask"Male player? Is it a sort of multiplayer dream? He says "Yes". I get astonished. The moment I had got out the carnival , it was feeling a bit different. Somehow I get a sense that this dream is really multiplayer! The incident was totally unexpected. He then says"Now I have to go , lets quit the dream". The Dream Ends...


      So ,now I wonder was it real multiplayer dream or just another dream? I have no clue what that ID was :/ It was an aol email Id though. I even made a conscious note to memorize it ... but then the dream ended when he wanted it to.
    6. Bubble's Avatar
      I believe that shared dreaming can be an interesting psychological exercise. It's not something I've explored in depth. I'm not really a big believer in the paranormal. Interacting with friends and telling them what happened can be fun, though.

      Serious dream control takes time. A lot of it is simply understanding the nuts and bolts of your own dreaming mind, something that comes with exploration and practice. The confidence comes over time, as you find what does and does not work for you. Some of making a lucid do what you want is knowing when, where, and how to exert control - and doing it in a clever manner. It can be a lot like solving a puzzle.

      My own personal difficulties are scene changes and summoning DCs. Years later, I still have a lot of trouble with those. It can be frustrating, but I keep at it, because I know that one of these days, I'm going to "get" it. I still have trouble with basic things that a lot of other LDers can do without any problem during their first few dreams. I guess that when it comes to this, I'm sort of a slow learner, and my dreaming mind is extremely stubborn (much like me).

      Have you read any of the dream control guides, particularly about direct vs. indirect control? Those help A LOT. I still read them to refresh my memory, and constantly swap notes about dream control techniques with other LDers. Even if you've been doing it for years, someone might mention a method of control that you never thought about that results in a breakthrough for you.
    7. tP97's Avatar
      Well, I had started exploring LD a while back but I stopped as I couldn't spare much time to sleep. I'd be back to it in July, I have my college entrance exams comming up :p