How do you sleep?

[Arachanox]

I have been reading many tutorials, dream topics, and other assorted things of interest, and it has come to me that a lot people seem to fall asleep through some process of the world "slowly becoming more surreal", as if reality slowly crumbled around you until were suddenly in a dream. This isn't the case for me, as I lie in bed thinking about whatever and the next thing I know I am awake and all of my dreaming is done. If I was counting numbers, I can't remember at what point I stopped counting because I seem to just lose consciousness at some point and bam, I lose reality and am asleep. Another interesting thing I've found is that people "experience" their dreams. In my case, my dreams are almost always in a third-person perspective or are abstract, not involving me much (though my family members appear from time to time). The only time I'm "in a dream" is during a nightmare. With regular dreams, I fall asleep and then wake up feeling rested but having no first-hand account of my dreams. I then have to sit up in bed and IMMEDIATELY start concentrating on the last traces of the last dream fragment I had (since I don't have good dream recall yet), and I have to "trace" my way back through my dreams from the last one up to the first one. Sometimes when I'm writing about them or thinking about them I discover "hidden" dreams that were in between others, which is always very fun. I'm writing this because it seems a lot of methods aren't compatible with how I sleep. I don't see how I can recognize dream signs or do reality checks in the middle of dreams simply because I don't experience them until after they are done. This may be because I have bad sleep patterns or my dream recall is simply horrendous. I would greatly appreciate any comments, because without first-hand experience I won't be able to control any lucid dreams I get in the future! Oh, and for the record, I haven't had any proper lucid dreams yet.

[drewmandan]

You're like most people from the sounds of it. Remember, you're hanging around a crowd here that actually practices advanced dreaming techniques on a regular basis. Most people who don't do this do just fall asleep and wake up. Some people even dream in black and white. Now, I think your best way to get more vivid dreams is to train your subconscious to give you more vivid dreams, and this can be done with a combination of autosuggestion and a dream journal.

[Arachanox]

Well I dream in color, and I have been using affirmation and willpower techniques (I don't know the technical name, just "I will remember my dream" type things), and my dream journal was recently revived. I guess I'm on the right track towards lucid dreaming then, thanks!

[mel_noah]

Consider yourself fortunate that you are awake one minute and asleep the next. I always fall asleep the way you so accurately described, where reality crumbs away until I am in a dream. Most nights I'll be in between conscious and unconscious - in a dream where a.) I know I am dreaming and b.) I am still perfectly aware of the waking world around me (I can even open my eyes and see the outside world and still view my dream at the same time) - and then I'll resurface back into full consciousness, recalling the entire dream. Now I am wide awake. I try to drift back asleep and again I am in-between - dreaming - and again I resurface. Over and over and over and over. Next thing I know it's 1 a.m. and I haven't slept yet BUT I've been dreaming on and off for hours. Sounds like fun? Not really lol. Not really. Kudos to you, I bet you're refreshed when you wake up. Teach me how to do that!

[Arachanox]

Well it isn't that I fall asleep quickly or anything; I usually lie in bed for about 15 minutes, but when I do fall asleep I immediately leave reality behind and head to the morning, with most of my dreams intact. Since you fade between the two, it seems like you would be very good at WILD-ing, but unfortunately for me I can't concentrate like that.

[Hargrove1315]

I don't see how I can recognize dream signs or do reality checks in the middle of dreams simply because I don't experience them until after they are done. It might not seem like you are actualy experiencing the dreams as you have them but you are. I felt the same way for a while, but once you get better dream recall or you have a lucid dream you will realize that you do have control over your dreams and you are experiencing them rather then just remembering the events

[Awhislyle]

Don't worry, I have that happen too. One night I'll have 2 lucids and a couple other dreams and other days I go to sleep and wake up and don't remember anything. Just work on your dream recall, a dream journal is an invaluable tool to help dream recall and lucid dreaming.

[Arachanox]

It might not seem like you are actualy experiencing the dreams as you have them but you are. I felt the same way for a while, but once you get better dream recall or you have a lucid dream you will realize that you do have control over your dreams and you are experiencing them rather then just remembering the events It's interesting you've said this, because last night I had a dream in first-person and "in the moment" for the first time in years. Hopefully this is because my dream recall is improving