how do you know you're lucid?

[Ton777]

i had my first lucid dream the other night. But after telling my friends about it a bit of doubt came into my mind....."what if we are just dreaming that we are lucid?" for example. Say in real life i plan what im going to do in my next lucid dream. lets say...fly. So i keep thinking about how im going to fly in my next dream. I have a lucid dream, so i fly. then when i wake up, how do i know i was lucid??? how do i know i wasnt just dreaming of being lucid and flying because its been on my mind so much? thats pretty confusing, but any comments would be greatly appreciated.

[Hate]

Welcome to Dream Views, Ton! You're right that being able to fly or do other cool things in your dreams doesn't mean that you would be lucid dreaming. However, when trying to solve out whether you had a lucid dream or not, there's only one thing that matters: whether you was aware of the dream or not. Lucid dreaming is simply dreaming and knowing that you're dreaming. The conclusion: If you don't know you're dreaming, you're just having a normal dream even though you would do all cool things such as flying. On the other hand if you're aware of the fact that you're dreaming, it's a lucid dream even though you wouldn't have any control over your dream.

[pytis]

ya but the same could apply to: what if im dreaming right now from a biger being of councience and my dreams are like mini dreams? what if your dreaming right now? that one of my thoughts of afterlife that we are just dreaming right now and when we wake up we will go throught the day and dream again or be reborned? i dont beleive in afterlife so i thought i made up my own beleif!

[jay dawg]

yeah like imagine how awake you are now, but in a dream and knowing your dreaming at the same time. even if you are in complete control and conscious, that will not justify a true lucid unless you know in your mind you are in bed dreaming.

[pytis]

Ohh i just linked something! http://www.dreamviews.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18234 thats a topic i started and read it to understand what im saying next! What if that day i reilised I am dreaming! in "real life" becouse this might be just a dream!

[Ton777]

yea, okay. Good. It WAS a lucid dream. And sooooooooooooo much fun. hehe i shot my teacher

[Oneironaut Zero]

The most important thing, as was stated before, is that you have to Know You're Dreaming for it to be a Lucid dream. So even if you were to figure out that you were dreaming right now, it wouldn't be lucid until the exact moment you realised that to be true, it doesn't matter if you're flying around before you realise it, or just sitting in a chair. If you incubate the desire to fly into your next dream, and your next dream is about flying, you aren't dreaming unless you realise it. If you're flying around in your dream, and you're just flying around, you're not lucid. If you're flying around and you're saying to yourself "Cool, I said I was going to do this in my next dream and it worked, because I'm dreaming and flying right now" then you're lucid.

[Dagaz]

I believe it makes no difference if you dream you were dreaming and became lucid, i mean its all in the dream right? I once had this lucid dream and i woke up because my brothers were watching southpark on the TV and I told them all about my LD, this was a false awakening.. I think its all related.. :mandel:

[Oneironaut Zero]

Blasphemy wrote: I believe it makes no difference if you dream you were dreaming and became lucid, i mean its all in the dream right?[/b] I'm not quite sure what you mean by that. But with your false awakening, that wasn't lucid, if thats what you were saying. I'm not saying you meant that, but thats what I gathered, so if I'm wrong please correct me.

[spiritofthewolf]

BOTTOM LINE! You must realize you are DREAMING to be LUCID...Just because you maybe DREAMING about being LUCID..doesn't mean you are LUCID..you must realize or tell yourself "HEY I AM DREAMING" to be Lucid...just cuz you fly in your dream and you told yourself before you were sleeping you wanted to fly, doesn't mean you are Lucid... you have to tell yourself that you are dreaming to be able to be LUCID, that's the bottom line

[FoolofJoy]

To become lucid in a dream Is to awaken within the dream And Grasp the Fact that You are Dreaming. It is not important whether you VERBALIZE your lucid state to yourself ,or whether you simply AWAKEN to the fact that you are dreaming IN That Very Moment. In Buddhist practice, it is a primary goal to be in the present moment as often as possible. By working on being mindful of our inbreath (observe your inbreath and the short pause)and being mindful of our outbreath (now observe the breath flowing out after the pause), this brings our mind (often dwelling in the future or the past) back to our body. You see our bodies are always in the present moment, and by focusing our minds on our bodies (by watching over the breath) this will naturally bring our minds into the present moment, which is the only one that counts. Once we have the foundation of living mindfully in the present moment while awake, we will naturally become more aware of all states of our mind (is "mind-state" a word?). This includes the mind-states of dreaming, waking, death of our corporeal bodies etc. I feel it is of high importance to be aware of the mind-state of body-mind separation that occurs when our minds enter that last dream...that dream where our minds separate from the old sack of flesh and bones, fluids and gases which we call our bodies, and our mind is set free for good (perhaps, or it could re-manifest in a new body?) Yeah, so that's one way to know it's a lucid. Or you can just begin to observe your mind next time you know you're dreaming and if you do this, I think you will know. Hope that helps dude.

[Awhislyle]

Ive had dreams where Ive done things similiar to what i do in lucid dreams, but I wastn actually lucid. Its a complete different feel when you realize you are dreamiing and you control what you want to do.

[Leo Volont]

Originally posted by Ton777 i had my first lucid dream the other night. But after telling my friends about it a bit of doubt came into my mind.....\"what if we are just dreaming that we are lucid?\" for example. Say in real life i plan what im going to do in my next lucid dream. lets say...fly. So i keep thinking about how im going to fly in my next dream. I have a lucid dream, so i fly. then when i wake up, how do i know i was lucid??? how do i know i wasnt just dreaming of being lucid and flying because its been on my mind so much? thats pretty confusing, but any comments would be greatly appreciated. If you are constantly going to doubt your own subjective experience, then I don't see how there can be any value in trying to reassure you.

[Zoggy]

... You just know. Think of it as forwarding a movie and then hitting "Play".

[kimpossible]

Originally posted by Leo Volont If you are constantly going to doubt your own subjective experience, then I don't see how there can be any value in trying to reassure you. Reasonable Doubt is the only way that I know towards advancing ones self in any endeavor. Ask the tough questions. Reason them through. Then you find confidence in success. That success and its related confidence leads to further success.