Thread: How does it feel?

Originally Posted by acnarm

Hi, just wanted to know how it feels to be lucid. Is it true that it actually feels as though it is reality? Does it feel like everyday life, the only difference being the fact that you are able to do absolutely anything?

I have had lucid dreams before although i wouldn't call them proper lucid dreams. The dreams i tend to have involve me knowing its a dream, yet not having control of what i do. At times i can change what is happening although i have as yet to come to a realization that i am indeed dreaming, and that i can do as i please in this state. I nearly always have these type of dreams however lack the ability to confirm that i am dreaming. Any advice will be appreciated.

Nobody is going to be able to sum it up for you satisfactorily, man. It's like trying to describe a color that doesn't share anything with any other color you've ever seen. I asked this question all the time when I first joined and I had my first LD last night and it just shows how hard it is to explain.

For me it felt a little less substantial than real life. I knew I was dreaming but it felt more airy and a little bit less concrete. But that's probably because it was my first LD.

It depends on how vivid it is. As jasonresno said, it can often be blurry or vague, but sometimes it can feel incredibly real. Sometimes to the point where you can't even believe it. The mind truly is a magnificent thing.

Originally Posted by Peetee36

It depends on how vivid it is. As jasonresno said, it can often be blurry or vague, but sometimes it can feel incredibly real. Sometimes to the point where you can't even believe it. The mind truly is a magnificent thing.

I actualy had a really real one last night, I freaked out and was like "holly god this can't be a dream!!

Well the one thing you learn pretty quickly, is that being lucid can mean almost anything. There is a wide gap between complete control and a normal dream. Along with that, there is also a wide gap in how vivid a dream can be. On one end it really can look and feel like real life, and on the other it might very unclear.

yea, ive had some pretty crappy lucids, but last night every detail was perfect, and i could even see the individual veins of the leaves and a whole bunch of other details, in fact, the only thing that gave the dream away was my 14 fingers.

Mine felt like I was floating not walking, and everything seemed blurry but I didn't exactly notice this. In realistic terms you feel "there" but you know you aren't there in reality.

As you have no doubt gathered from these other posts, it can vary a vast amount. I have had a lucid dream where I couldn't my sight on anything, it felt wobbly, and the fade crumbled from there. I have also had a lucid dream where I could feel the grass beneath my feet, feel the breeze, smell the sap from a nearby pine, and taste the warm air with everything being as crystal clear as real life.

Though it is possible to have lucid dreams that are as real as real life, it does take practice (or lots of good luck. ) and there is always "something" that makes it still feel like a dream. That "something" doesn't make it feel any less real, but it is almost like a sixth sense that says that the world you are viewing is a bit off. Hard to explain, you just have to experience it.

But to answer the question, yes and no.

I've had a few dreams, lucid or not, where I can only create or exist in places from memory and that's absolutely it. Pretty much nothing else. It seemed like I was walking around in real, waking life.

But in most of my dreams, again lucid or not, it feels more "light", like you have less weight, and the laws of science don't apply in these dreams. Sometimes your senses are dulled in these dreams too.

Really, it's all in what you want in the dream or how you think the dream should be like.

I've had a few dreams, lucid or not, where I can only create or exist in places from memory and that's absolutely it. Pretty much nothing else. It seemed like I was walking around in real, waking life.

But in most of my dreams, again lucid or not, it feels more "light", like you have less weight, and the laws of science don't apply in these dreams. Sometimes your senses are dulled in these dreams too.

Really, it's all in what you want in the dream or how you think the dream should be like.

Mastering lucidity, like any new art or skill, takes practice and patience. For me, it was a recurring dream of a particular event that happened about 4 or 5 times in a month that I noted in my dream journal. So, i started telling myself during waking hours that whenever i have that particular dream I would stop and ask myself if I was in a dream. It worked! I have been using that yardstick and others that I noted as recurring dreams or scenarios to tell me when I am dreaming. Dreams of a sexual nature are also a yardstick for me. You just have to figure out which yardstick can "wake you up".

The experience is REALLY exhilirating once you master it. Flying became a passionof indescibable delight for me as I can careen like an eagle from great heights with a 360 degrees viewpoint of outlying majestic and breathtaking scenery spread out as far as my vision could take me. The sound of the rushing wind, the dives, the reality of the experience is beyond description. You just have to experience it with such clarity to apreciate it.

Now the second part to this is that once you become adept at lucid dreaming, you come to another realization - you exist FULLY outside of your physical body. Your existence (the real you) is now consiously exploring some other reality/dimensions/heavens etc. This "existence" or "reality" is actually what continues at the demise or death of the physical body in one way or another by accidents, sickness or any other ways associated with actually dying. It has discarded of it and has moved on.

You can read a book - the art of spiritual dreaming by Harold Klemp. It sheds a lot of light into becoming an advanced dreamer. You may also want to check out a favorite website of mine - dreamtwits.com where forum members appear to be proficient in tackling any aspect of dream puzzle you throw their way.
Happy adventures and goodluck!

yeah it definitely depends on how lucid you are... I guess there are definitely layers or levels... Sometimes when I finally am lucid I am very close to waking up, and any real excitement will just wake me up. Most of the best lucid dreams I used to get were if I took a 2 hour nap after work, one time I became lucid in a dream, and it was so real. I couldn't wake myself up either, essentially was locked in a lucid realistic dream I almost thought I could possibly be dead, but I decided to take advantage of it and practiced flying. Definitely an amazing feeling. Woke up and was like I was just awake for the past 2 hours.

I've been distracted countless times in LDs by the vividness of my surroundings. Because of this, I would wind up spending all my time exploring.

as far as not being able to take advantage of your LD, keep at it, im a beginner and it seems with every one I get more and more power, I was just recently able to completely step away from a dream for the 1st time, it feels great lol

If you are looking to experience a vivid lucid dream, I would suggest looking for each of the 5 senses. What do you see, smell, feel, hear and taste while in the dream. In lucid dreams, often things do not exist until you focus on them. This doesn't make the sensations less real per-se, but they may not manifest if you are not looking for them.

Thanks for the comments guys, I guess is something i need to work on and experience for myself! Really hope to have one soon.

omg. My first lucid dream was so realistic that I had to keep doing reality checks!

I only had one very short one but it seemed incredibly real. I looked at my hands and they looked like real life.

I think it's depending on the person you are. In waking life, I normally concentrate on thinking, instead of feeling or perceiving. So my lucid dreams are mostly the same, everything is fuzzy, but my thoughts are clear.

But once I concentrated on the scene, and it was more than real...
I guess if you train it, you could do feeling, thinking and perceiving on 100% in a dream, since the brain activity is high and won't be disturbed by outside factors.

Have had a few VERY real LD's, and they always come with low control. Most of my LD's are realistic, but doesn't feel as real as real life. That has gotten better though, and I'm getting more vivid lucids for every month. The thing that fails, is the memory. The experience itself whilst in the dream may be super real, only to wake up and having a hard time recalling it.

I thought of something to find out for sure (even though we know). Tell yourself in the dream how real it all feels. You know exactly how real it is while you're experiencing it, and the memory of telling yourself how real it is should be enough to trust in yourself.

I have only had a few lucid dreams and from what other people have told you they very greatly. I had one that was probally 10 seconds long and everything was very blury and I feel like the only sense that I was using was sight. On the other hand, a few nights ago I had one that was my best yet. I could think fairly clearly and i felt the temperature of the room and the wind on my skin as I was flying ( it was an aboslutly amazing feeling) but im clearly still a noob and have a lot of work ahead of me. Keep trying and doing reality checks and youll get it eventually and it will be great. goodluck!

When my lucids are less real feeling, it's like the air is thicker, there's a dreamy atmosphere to it. Everything feels stranger. Whereas when they are more real, it's the opposite. It's like the air is lighter, thinner somehow. It's like when you go to a different country that's similar to your own (e.g. when I go to England and Wales). It's pretty much the same, yet it feels different. It tends to be the smell and the air for me, and it's the same when lucid dreaming.

Most of my lucids are from false awakenings (although I don't actually wake up, which is wierd). I can feel the difference and then go from there. Sometimes it's easy to believe it is a dream and I just get straight to the action. Other times i have to do several rounds of reality checks to really make sure I'm dreaming before I go jumping out my window

What I really love though, is the sense of sudden clarity you get when you realise you're dreaming. It's like a smack in the face

That's pretty deep

Almost all of my dreams (lucid or not) are extremely vivid. Everything is so detailed...beautifull...my vision is perfect (I am near-sighted)... I could say it's even more realistic than real life, haha.
Rarely my dreams are unrealistic...but when they are they are pretty weird. Sometimes it fells like I'm just watching a picture and controlling it. There are even times when my dreams suddenly change to a cartoon. Once I punched a wall and broke it, then the dream turned into what seemed to be a doodle made by a 5 years old kid and I woke up. I really hate when this happens.

Other people have said this,

sometimes it can be as blurry as normal dreams

But a lot of times, it is so real and vivid, you wake up in disbelief.

The brain is a POWERFUL thing.