What Makes You Lucid?

[Jimmie Lynne]

Okay. . . so I was thinking today. . . I have bizarre dreams all the time and yet I almost never recognize that they are dreams. I have seen dead friends come back to life and not realized I was dreaming but once I found myself on the way to church and suddenly realized HEY I WOULDN'T GO TO CHURCH! This must be a dream! So, I was hoping people would share experiences. It's not so much a list of dream signs. . . more a list of things that actually caused lucidity. Here's one from me. . . I was standing in front of a bathroom mirror getting ready for a dentist's appointment. When I put my hands up to my head to touch my hair, my reflection in the mirror didn't change. I was very startled for a second and then I realized. I MUST BE DREAMING! and wham. . . lucidity. . . Okay, now you go.

[Keeper]

Well, though I've not had a Lucid yet, I would say that it is similarities in dreams. For example, In many of my dreams, there is a strange colour tinting everything I see (and I think I know why ... ) So, if I see "Green" in a dream again (most commen), then I'll go lucid like that ... and no lip from my sub con!

[Jimmie Lynne]

That's what I'm confused about. . . I have dreams with my dreamsigns in them all the time and I never remember to do an RC BUT the other night I had that dream with the mirror and that caused me to realize I'm dreaming even though it's never happened in a dream before. So, I want to know how it happens for others . . . do you see a dream sign? Does it just suddenly ocurr for no explicible reason? Does some odd event trigger it? For me. . . my dream was very realistic before the mirror episode. I was just getting up and getting ready to go to the dentists. . . there was nothing strange about it. Then the mirror went all wonky and when my mind tried to explain it away. . . the first thing it fell on was, "I must be dreaming" instead of "oh this must be a window not a mirror and that must be my evil twin." You know what I mean?

[FrankyT49]

I'm still researching on my possible dreamsigns however its really hard to pick up since sometimes its the same thing just in a different place for example a tornado was one of my possible dreamsigns, one time it was in a city and another time, was in a backyard garden but the garden tornado at the bottom of it had the feet of a gigantic spider! I however, just only realised this morning the key dreamsign thats happend in ALL my dreams ever heard the phrase "See No Evil, Hear No Evil?" I've seemed to have noticed that in all my dreams are like an calming ocean when I touch things I do not feel them the sound is quite like a constant echoe like how dolphins communicate underwater so I guess in my opinon dreamsigns are usually right infront of you, you just cant see beyond... I guess that also could be in relation of your mirror dream you had

[Man of Shred]

my lucidity is almost instant. in my last major LD i just siddenly realised i was lucid. in one dream i became lucid when i figured out i hadn't been to school in a few years. in the dream i was at a school!

[Oneironaut Zero]

#1 lucid inducer for me: Danger. Other than that, every now and then, I'll just notice something isn't right, try to figure out why and end up realizing I'm dreaming.

[NeAvO]

Most of the time, I just randomly say "I'm dreaming!" Some times I will notice some thing isn't right and then realise I'm dreaming or do a RC.

[Ne-yo]

For me it's mostly just the dream setting. I think it's more instinctive than anything, some sort of auto-recognition. You just know you're dreaming. That's outside of WILD of course.

[tai]

This is such a good question, Jimmie. I went through my dream journal and found a pattern which I didn't know about at all. For 95% of my LD's, like some other people have mentioned, I just... become Lucid. It doesn't really have anything to do with dream signs or reality checks. So I always thought it was just random. Turns out, its not. For almost every DILD I can remember, I become Lucid when I look to the left. I know that might sound bizarre, but I thought about it, and I have a theory on why. I think in a lot of dreams, I never become lucid because I'm too caught up in the dream story - the anxiety, the fear, the anticipation, whatever - all the emotions of the scenario I'm in. Everything that's happening in front of me. But, if I happen to look to the side for a moment, I usually see something arbitrary: a wall, a tree, the pavement. For a moment the intense scenario is gone, I'm just looking at the dream environment and bingo, I know I'm dreaming. But why its always to the left I have no idea.

[Pyrox]

Like tai and everyone else, I spontanously become lucid. But I noticed I became lucid 2 times when I was about to chase someone. Like my 3rd LD - A guy threw a grenade in a car. I started chasing him and I became lucid. And my 5th LD - A guy on a bike got beat up by 2 gangsters. I jumped in my car to go help the guy and I became lucid. Both times I was in a situation where I would have chased someone, becuase of what they did.

[Climhazzard]

My first lucid was caused by me being in an odd room, part of a sky scraper I think, I look outside, and think "I don't live in a city" (I really don't highest building in town is 3 stories) Second time came up when my friend was talking about dreams, that night he came into my dream and said "you're dreaming" The third and most recent time happened when I looked at my hands, and my fingers were terribly deformed. Freaky

[Frosty Chaotix]

When I don't became lucid spontaneously, I usually start to do various reality checks inside the dream. Then right after I try impossible things like telekinesis, levitating, etc. My brain is a little stubborn and tough to convince, though

[Pyrofan1]

One time i went lucid, because i was taking my socks off and when i took one off there was another under it.

[DarthDallas]

For me, nightmares. Whenever it will get really scarey in a dream I say outloud usually, "Good thing this is a dream and I can just wake up soon." and thats how I become lucid.

[cachero]

WBTB or Wild always works for me

[Kyhaar]

How I become lucid is that I do the Nose Plug reality check. ALways works (whenever I remember to do it&#33

[King and God]

Mostly I'm simply more aware of my surroundings in the dream world than usual, making me able to notice if something looks weird. But when I have done reality checks I will usually look at text from something twice; when I've looking at the text twice, it will be different the second time I look it. I have also used the look in the mirror technique successfully like you, but for me, my face was constantly changing shapes and colors.

[Jr_Worley]

so far its a mix of become instantly outta nowhere lucid or flipping the light switch off and on trick. last time i did the light switch it was when i false awakened and the light came on just a lil or something and i didn't become lucid... what a ripoff lol

[Nightmare]

Reality checks are usually the way i become lucid. Reading something twice, noticing something impossible, looking at hands etc. One time in my dream, i aws taking a shower, i noticed a human head in the bottom of the shower and found it to belong to my brother. I was like "woah, this has to be a dream" and of course it was.

[Likenight]

When I got a while to think freely, I realize it's a dream. It's simple.

[Vespertine]

If I'm having difficulty standing or keeping my eyes open I know. Another one is if I wanna know if I'm dreaming I'll try to change something. I'll make the sky purple or something. I try to change something that won't change the dream much, I like to see where I'm going with dreams with as little interference as possible. No one notices the sky changing colors, only I seem to notice. Other times I'll look for a hidden room or door I know doesn't exist in the real world. I don't even have to go into the room, I just need to know it's there.

[funkstrman]

in my first LD I caught myself doing CPR and realized that I had never done CPR before. in my second and third LDs a dream character told me that I was dreaming and helped me figure it out.

[STi2009]

#1 lucid inducer for me: Danger. Other than that, every now and then, I'll just notice something isn't right, try to figure out why and end up realizing I'm dreaming. [/b] same here when im in a nightmare, lucid..although i havent yet had a full lucid dream yet i know im close

[bellatrix]

Nightmares also make me lucid. Its always because I'm panicking so I think its my brains way of getting out of the situation (only done it twice tho.)