• Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views




    View RSS Feed

    lucid

    Lucid Dreams

    1. Lucid Dreaming Experiments

      by , 08-13-2015 at 05:27 PM
      Introduction

      I got up far too early this morning and decided to go back to sleep and lucid dream. It took me a while to fall asleep again after waking up. I used the usual MILD strategies - keep my body perfectly still until I experience sleep paralysis; focus on sleep; and maintain my lucid dreaming intentions. After an hour I so, I found myself in my first dream of several.

      The Dreams
      I was able to repeatedly induce a series of semi-lucid dreams, most of which I have already forgotten. I still remember a few of the dreams though. The first was a false awakening where I checked my hands. It was then that I realized that it was a false awakening - I had six fingers on each hand! Next, I squeezed my nose and realize that I could still breathe through it. That confirmed it - I was in a lucid dream! At this point, I was so excited that I was starting to wake up as I felt my hands on my bed (despite standing up in the dream). I tried to go back to sleep and lost consciousness. And so, I decided to "reboot" the dream.

      Take two. I held on to the previous dream in order to re-enter it. This time I found myself in the same dream bedroom I woke up in but instead of a false awakening, I was standing in the room. Just for fun, I did some experiments: I jumped and floated around. Then I waved my arms. Uh-oh...I was getting to excited again and my physical body was starting to wake again! I let go of lucidity and tried to "reboot" the dream again.

      Take three. Once again, I found myself in the same bedroom. I found my dad who was a dream character who behaved almost nothing like him in real life! I approached him with the intention of conversing with my subconscious. He seemed quite ... untalkative, providing with one word answers on everything I ask him. Nevertheless, the answers provided what I needed to move on. I was starting to wake up again from trying to be too lucid so I gave up lucidity again and rebooted into another dream.

      Final dream. I found myself at a lottery booth with lottery tickets scattered across a table. I tried to read the tickets for numbers and dates, hoping to see today's date and tonight's predicted winning numbers. But the numbers keep changing each time I glanced away. Instead of numbers, some of the tickets had words on them. For instance, one of them had "poop blossom" instead of lottery numbers. Hahaha...very funny, subconscious mind.

      Observations
      - Time/Duration: 7 AM - 9 AM / 2 hrs.
      - Dream control was poor in all of these dreams.
      - Dream vividness was also very poor - these felt more like daydreams than lucid dreams.
      - I was more "awake" in these lucid dreams than any I have had before (which were all DILD).
      - I was partly awake during the transitions between dreams.
      - Lucidity disappears if I become too "awake" in my dreams because then I can feel my physical body.
      - I was very "analytical" in these dreams, much like in waking life. I constantly tried to figure out what's "rational" and what's not in order to stay lucid. Maybe that's why I couldn't do many physics-defying tasks such as flying.
      - I was tired after waking up.

      Speculations
      - Having a series of lucid dreams reduces dream recall, analogous to having a series of regular dreams.
      - Vivid lucid dreams require me to be "less awake." DILD earlier in the morning may be best for that, based on prior experience.
      - Dream control requires less analytical thinking and more spontaneity. Stop thinking about physics!

      Planned Experiments
      - Try another MILD early in the morning but wake up after the first dream instead of "chaining" more dreams to it. Is dream recall improved? Am I less tired? How is dream vividness?
      - Dream control: Be more spontaneous in dreams. Stop being so analytical. (This is hard...)
    2. A nightmare turned into a lucid dream

      by , 08-07-2015 at 07:37 PM
      Finally! After two weeks of trying to lucid dream once again, I finally have another one. As usual, I woke up before sunrise and went back to sleep, reminding myself to do reality checks if I dream.

      The Dream

      The dream started off as a false awakening nightmare. I was lying on my bed in the dark and there were these figures in the shadow talking about how much they hate me because all my weaknesses and insecurities. They talked about how much they hated me and that my roommates are trying to kick me out because they are starting to dislike me. Then I tell myself to stay calm - this is just a dream.

      I floated on up and out of my bed to use the bathroom. I did another reality check by looking at my hands. My fingers were deformed; it must be a dream then because my fingers aren't broken in real life. I looked into the bathroom mirror and saw that my hair was gray and my skin was wrinkly; this must be a dream since I'm much younger in real life. I jumped and try to fly, but could not - it felt too real. Next, I decided to open the closet. I tried to imagine something magical. But there wasn't: There was a teddy bear on the top rack and a glass of red wine in the lower one.

      I was apprehensive about drinking the wine since I don't know what will happen after. Why did my subconscious offer me a teddy bear and a glass of red wine? Why did I turn into an old man with deformed hands? I don't know what possessed me about I held the large wine glass with two hands, bowed to the closet, and gulped it down as though it were an antidote. I blanked out.

      Dream Signs: Looking into the mirror. Hand/finger check. Nightmare.

      Interpretation: A very literal reflection of my fears and insecurities.

      Updated 08-07-2015 at 07:47 PM by 88406

      Categories
      memorable , lucid , nightmare , false awakening
    3. My First Lucid Dream

      by , 07-25-2015 at 07:34 PM
      After trying to lucid dream for the past two weeks, I finally had a lucid dream where I was able to maintain lucidity. I woke up at sunrise this morning (as I normally do), checked the clock, and went back to sleep because it was Saturday and I could sleep in .

      I went back to sleep with the intention of lucid dreaming. I lied down, completely relaxed, imagining myself literally "falling" into my dream world. Gradually, I noticed that my body could no longer feel itself. And then I lost consciousness; this was the beginning of my first lucid dream.

      The Dream

      I found myself walking with my classmates outside on a warm rainy day. A friend of mine (a dream character who exists only in that dream) was shielding me from the downpours with his large umbrella as we walked outside on a school field trip. We walked leisurely in the rainy park for a bit before it stopped raining. As my friend closed his umbrella, I looked at his wristwatch and saw that it said 4:00 PM. It was then that I realized that I was dreaming. No. This can't be real. I went to sleep at 12:00 AM this morning and there was no way that I could have slept this many hours.

      Normally, when I find myself to be dreaming, I would instantly wake up, but this time was different. I noticed that my consciousness and awareness increased but I did not let myself become fully conscious. I find myself in a state of consciousness between wakefulness and REM sleep. It was then when I felt the sensation of lucid dreaming for the first time.

      In the dream, this sensation translated to a drunken dizziness that I had to struggle against. The colors and the sensations of the dreamscape were slowly dissolving into an unconscious sleep as I fought to keep my eyelids open. I mentally held on to the colors, sounds, and the sensations of the dreamscape around me. And, in a "Eureka" moment, it just clicked: I was completely lucid! I was able to see the colorful dreamscape clearly with perfect vision. I was able see my reflection and the reflections of the surrounding Romanesque architecture, the clouds, and the blue sky in the puddles on brick roadway. I was even able to smell my synthetic jacket against the backdrop of the petrichor of the summer rain. I was finally able to hold on to and experience lucidity in a dream.

      The dream continued for another hour or so. It was a fairly mundane dream in very peaceful settings but it was exciting nonetheless. I drifted in and out of lucidity throughout the rest of the dream. I focused on my body and my environment whenever I started to drift out of lucidity. I recall walking around a lake in a beautiful park where humans and animals were enjoying the scenery together. I walked around the town in my dreamscape and visited a bakery. I took out my phone and decided to prank-call the cops but decided against it (because it was starting to feel almost too real to be a dream at this point). Instead, I prank-called my brother and left a silly message. Then I found myself at home, sitting at a desk next to my brother. Just to be ridiculous, I asked him, "Am I dreaming?" He rolled his eyes and sarcastically replied, "What have you been smoking?" At this point, not only did I completely lose lucidity, but I lost awareness of the dream.

      Reflections

      Dream signs: clocks, watches, imaginary animals, anachronisms
      Do's: Focus on the body and sensations in the dream, colors, smells, tastes, food, surroundings
      Don'ts: Ask someone whether I'm in a dream; Try too hard to conjure up of places and things that don't exist

      Updated 07-26-2015 at 12:27 AM by 88406

      Categories
      lucid