Thread: Submit Your Questions for the Next Episode of the DreamViews Podcast!

Originally Posted by Tasca

Hi the podcasts are awesome and very helpful! I got a question
So when I'm beginning to fall asleep I get very quick flashes of visions of completely random things. Some of the things I have seen include:

Hi Tasca! Thanks so much, I'm glad to hear that you've enjoyed the podcasts and gotten some value from them!

In my opinion, yes, this sounds very much like hypnagogic imagery I've experienced in the past. Well I say "very much like" only in the sense that it's lots of interesting, random stuff that takes up my field of vision when my eyes are closed. We've no doubt each experienced our own amusing set of HI.

I especially like yours with the Hamburger Helper glove. That's awesome.

It's very normal for HI to hit when your eyes are closed. Hypnagogic imagery is any of that imagery that we experience toward the onset of sleep, and this definitely fits the bill IMO.

Just in case you haven't worked your way to the Q&A 2 episode, we discuss hypnagogic imagery there a bit in the context of some experiences BlairBros had:
http://www.dreamviews.com/dreamviews...eamworlds.html

Thanks for doing these podcasts! I find it very encouraging (not to mention informative) to listen to them. Don't worry about the length: as far as I'm concerned, longer is better. I understand that all of you have busy schedules, but I hope you can put more out soon.

Now, the question:
My dreams are full of "jump cuts." I'll be in one place, then I'll be in another. I know this is very common, but it seems to throw a wrench in the normal advice of making RC and dreamsign habits. Normal advice says to do things like "Remember to RC when you walk through a door," but in all the time I've been journalling I don't think I've ever walked through a door. I have a jump cut to already being through it, and as far as my dreaming self knows, I walked through the door a while ago, so it doesn't bear thinking about. Many of my dreamsigns are location-based (huge rooms and camping are both common), but since the dream always cuts into the middle of the scene, my dream self believes I've already been camping (or in a huge room) for a long time. Putting it another way, I never consciously transition into a new place in a way that would trigger "I wasn't in a huge room before, but I am now, so I should RC."

I already do mantras, auto-suggestion, etc, but I haven't had any luck recognizing my common dream signs. Do you have any other advice?

p.s. Both A's in my name are pronounced like the A in apple.

Nazrax - I can relate - there are so many places, which are recurring - or other dream-signs, about which I really do know - just I only once made something of it and got shortly lucid by a house being intact, which is not there any more irl.

Is there a certain way to best incubate these as something to recognize in the dream?
They are all things, places and people, I do not come across in normal life (any more).

I also don´t catch the transitions, when they occur in NLD.
Well - yeah - in general - how to recognize your dream-signs?
I have found out a whole bucket of them - but fail to make use of it..

Maybe do visualization with them - and connecting to it to auto-suggestion to recognise the darn things?
Any specific tips would be very much appreciated - there is not one night without at least 2 or 3 of them.

Oh - and I agree - too long is not applicable to these wonderful podcasts from the listening perspective.

Originally Posted by Nazrax

Thanks for doing these podcasts! I find it very encouraging (not to mention informative) to listen to them. Don't worry about the length: as far as I'm concerned, longer is better. I understand that all of you have busy schedules, but I hope you can put more out soon.

Originally Posted by Nazrax

Thanks for doing these podcasts! I find it very encouraging (not to mention informative) to listen to them. Don't worry about the length: as far as I'm concerned, longer is better. I understand that all of you have busy schedules, but I hope you can put more out soon.

Thank you, Nazrax, both for the kind words as well as your great question. We will get you an answer on this one soon! My apologies for the late reply -- I got caught up in the insanity of the holidays but life seems to be falling into some semblance of order now. We should be working up a new episode for you all very soon!

And ha ha, thanks, I appreciate the pronunciation pointers. If you've listened to past episodes, you know that my pronunciation can be something of an issue.

Ooh, ooh, pick me!!

If each of you could give one piece of advice to a newbie, what would it be? Since I've returned from my hiatus I've noticed an even larger flow of new members and people wanting to get into lucid dreaming. I think it could be great for everyone (beginners especially) to hear what you guys think is the best piece of advice for someone just starting out I'm also curious to hear what you guys would say

In the book "A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming", the book has an interesting way of approaching Dream Character. The book suggest that you don't disrespect these characters, as in sense you are disrespecting yourself. Once you realize that the entire dreamscape is really a reflection of yourself, your perspective changes a lot. What's your take on the treatment of dream characters?

Thanks.

-DezzyPooh

Originally Posted by SinisterDezz

In the book "A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming", the book has an interesting way of approaching Dream Character. The book suggest that you don't disrespect these characters, as in sense you are disrespecting yourself. Once you realize that the entire dreamscape is really a reflection of yourself, your perspective changes a lot. What's your take on the treatment of dream characters?

Thanks.

-DezzyPooh

^^ This.

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

^^ This.

Soooooo... you like it?

Originally Posted by Burke

Ooh, ooh, pick me!!

If each of you could give one piece of advice to a newbie, what would it be? Since I've returned from my hiatus I've noticed an even larger flow of new members and people wanting to get into lucid dreaming. I think it could be great for everyone (beginners especially) to hear what you guys think is the best piece of advice for someone just starting out I'm also curious to hear what you guys would say

That's a great question, Burke! I'd love for us to cover this one.

Originally Posted by SinisterDezz

In the book "A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming", the book has an interesting way of approaching Dream Character. The book suggest that you don't disrespect these characters, as in sense you are disrespecting yourself. Once you realize that the entire dreamscape is really a reflection of yourself, your perspective changes a lot. What's your take on the treatment of dream characters?

Ooh, love this question! From a high level, I'd say I very much agree with the "Field Guide" on this one. (Haven't read this book, but this excerpt/general philosophy seems exactly right to me.) It can be especially hard to apply this to "hostiles" in the heat of the moment, but it's great advice.

This would be a great one to cover on the podcast, thank you!

Originally Posted by SinisterDezz

In the book "A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming", the book has an interesting way of approaching Dream Character. The book suggest that you don't disrespect these characters, as in sense you are disrespecting yourself. Once you realize that the entire dreamscape is really a reflection of yourself, your perspective changes a lot. What's your take on the treatment of dream characters?

I'm inclined to completely disagree. It comes across as overly Freudian and makes it seem like you are being limited by some internal hidden version of you.
It's been proven that the 19th century model (largely Freudian) of the brain is pretty much fundamentally wrong.
An important factor here is that the dream-scape isn't a reflection of yourself. It's the result of the part of the brain that produces dream-scapes, which as we all know produces meaningless junk 99% of the time, not exactly similar to your personality. Also there is no basis to say that disrespecting a dream character would be disrespecting yourself.

I think why people come up with this kind of junk is because they misunderstand the relationship between the conscious and subconscious. Dreams are largely subconscious expression, but this does not imply that they are reflections of ourselves. As the most intelligent race on the planet, our defining characteristic is that we can override unconscious decisions through conscious reasoning. What makes us who we are is that relationship. Compare that to a dream state where our consciousness is essentially being subdued. The entire dream scape can exist without a conscious thought, so in a lucid dream your added conscious should give you the benefit of not having to bow down to anything the subconscious is spewing out.

Here's some actual advice that will help you.
1) Dream Characters react differently depending upon the amount of conscious effort you put in to them. A dream character who you are not paying attention too will seem to do his own thing, wander, chat have emotions. The moment you focus solely on him, he becomes your puppet. The moment you aren't focused on something the brain amazingly takes over and simulates actions in such a way that you aren't forced to pay attention.
2) This is not a black and white circumstance. You can place any amount of conscious awareness on a DC. A DC may be doing his own thing, doing things that your brain knows people would do in such situation. Another level might be where you can witness the DC doing these things but you are not interfering. And the highest level would of course be where you fully control the DC.
3) Most importantly the key to utilizing dream characters is by understanding these mechanics. A dream character who is mildly in the background of your mind can be easily coerced by playing along, or just as easily coerced by making him do it through a mantra or dream manipulation.

The moment you understand these concepts and embrace them, everything in a lucid dream becomes easier. People restrict themselves with limits thinking that we ourselves aren't
the ones creating them. A dream character can be easliy disrespected and still follow your command as long as you have confidence in your own power, your own consciousness.

Could anyone here give me a reasonable situation in which you could not change the outcome in dream, is there anything you can't do (or at least imagine you are doing). If not, then why would you have respect dream characters if you don't want to?.

Here's a quick idea:
Dream supplemants and aids(like Novadreamer)

Edit: I'd have to agree with dutchraptor on this one.

Originally Posted by LouaiB

Here's a quick idea:
Dream supplemants and aids(like Novadreamer)

You know, we've had a plan for an episode like this in the works for some time but it just hasn't gotten off the ground yet! It's a bit research-heavy and we'd really want to be careful and crystal-clear on how important caution is in the exploration of supplements. There's lots of cool material out there.

The Novadreamer interests me quite a bit but I wish I knew anything at all about it. I keep hearing about the Novadreamer 2 coming out... if anyone from the Lucidity Institute is reading this, dreamviews.com would love to test-drive one of these babies!

I dont know if you have thougth of this before but it would be interesting if you could talk about binural beats!

I havent used them myself because they give my hedaces

Hasn't the Novadreamer 2 been coming out "real soon like" for years?
If it came out and it turned out to have a high success rate, I might sell one of my kids so I could afford it. Wouldn't it be cool to be able to LD on demand, without putting a lot of work into it?

To do any kind of podcast on supplements or lucid aids of any kind, it would be nice to have some help from a more qualified member. Either for compiling research, or even as a guest. Because I'm like CL and pretty ??? about those subjects.

Originally Posted by NinjaBtch

I dont know if you have thougth of this before but it would be interesting if you could talk about binural beats!

You know, I'd be interested in this too. I've only tried them once, though (without much discernible effect), so I'm afraid I'm underqualified.

Originally Posted by Sibyline

Hasn't the Novadreamer 2 been coming out "real soon like" for years?
If it came out and it turned out to have a high success rate, I might sell one of my kids so I could afford it. Wouldn't it be cool to be able to LD on demand, without putting a lot of work into it?

Ha ha, touché... I recalled hearing something recently, but you're quite right about this. I definitely agree that it'd be cool to be able to LD without making a big effort at it, but my guess is that no matter how good it is, the Novadreamer 2 won't be able to do something like that. There's no lucid aid that I know of that even comes close to replacing core practices, at least not today. Maybe someday!

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

To do any kind of podcast on supplements or lucid aids of any kind, it would be nice to have some help from a more qualified member. Either for compiling research, or even as a guest. Because I'm like CL and pretty ??? about those subjects.

I'm actually pretty well studied on dream-enhancing substances (even having ingested a fair number of them myself) and the neuroscience behind them, but I am much weaker on external aids like the Novadreamer, binaural beats, etc. I've just never spent much time going that route.

I am really sorry if this has ben mentioned before.

I dont know if this is real or if you can talk about it but i have heard about people
saying they have had dreams more vivid that real life.
Whats your take on this?

I suppose I want to follow up on the "100%" question: What do you guys think of the fact that, while many lucid dreamers struggle to attain lucidity, pioneers such as Frederik van Eeden and Marquis d'Hervey de Saint Denys each clocked LD counts in the 1000s, without the help of modern techniques or technology, using only a dream journal and auto-suggestion? Do we over-complicate LDing, are LDers their own worst enemies?

Originally Posted by NinjaBtch

I dont know if this is real or if you can talk about it but i have heard about people
saying they have had dreams more vivid that real life.
Whats your take on this?

This is a good one! I'd love to take a crack at answering this one, particularly since this one can be a little controversial. I've mentioned a few thoughts on this in earlier podcasts but it's not something we've explored in detail yet. It's also not something Ophelia and I have discussed IIRC, so I'm looking forward to hearing about her experiences.

Originally Posted by Ctharlhie

I suppose I want to follow up on the "100%" question: What do you guys think of the fact that, while many lucid dreamers struggle to attain lucidity, pioneers such as Frederik van Eeden and Marquis d'Hervey de Saint Denys each clocked LD counts in the 1000s, without the help of modern techniques or technology, using only a dream journal and auto-suggestion? Do we over-complicate LDing, are LDers their own worst enemies?

Great question, especially with the historical angle. I recall reading about both of these lucidity pioneers in Daniel Love's book but I can no longer remember the details about the techniques they practiced. If you have any sources about these two you found particularly illuminating, let me know. I'd love to know more about their approaches.

Anyway, I'll be sure not to geek out so much on the history part as to miss the point -- do we sometimes overcomplicate lucid dreaming? Very important question.

I'd say no, you don't. In fact, you cover the topics very nicely! But I haven't heard all the episodes yet, so I'm not sure.

Originally Posted by LouaiB

I'd say no, you don't. In fact, you cover the topics very nicely! But I haven't heard all the episodes yet, so I'm not sure.

Heh, I was actually going back to Ctharlhie's question of "Do we as lucid dreamers sometimes overcomplicate things?" But thank you, kind sir!

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

This is a good one! I'd love to take a crack at answering this one, particularly since this one can be a little controversial. I've mentioned a few thoughts on this in earlier podcasts but it's not something we've explored in detail yet. It's also not something Ophelia and I have discussed IIRC, so I'm looking forward to hearing about her experiences.

Is it controversial? Having had a few hi-def lucids, I can say I was surprised when it happened, but it did sort of make sense to me that the brain can produce better images without dealing with the limitations of the eye.

Man I would love for y'all to talk about dream vividness in general.Like how some have non-lucid dreams extremely vivid,and others don't.Is it just a matter of awareness in waking life?Is it that the more you pay attention while awake equates to more vivid dreams?I do see how lucid dreams could be more vivid than waking life though.Like getting a new pair of glasses when your eyesights been bad your whole life.You see a whole new world..

Originally Posted by TheMmaker7

I do see how lucid dreams could be more vivid than waking life though.Like getting a new pair of glasses when your eyesights been bad your whole life.You see a whole new world..

This fits with thoughts I have had rumbling around my head since I saw the original question. Some lucid dreams are quite vivid and since my recent work towards lucid dreaming, certain aspects of daily life also seem more vivid perhaps like "getting a new pair of glasses." This could be why some people feel lucid dreams are more vivid than everyday life. Early on I was amazed by some of the visuals thinking it was unlike anything I had seen before, but then I get a good sunset or light hitting a certain way or any number of things in waking life and it also feels like I am seeing things in a "whole new light" and I find myself smiling big and feeling a sort of exhilaration. I am not constantly walking around like everything is paradise, but I do find paradise in my own back yard more often.