Fuzzy lucid dreams

Hey guys!

I've been lurking here for a while and thought I should get around to posting.

I've been very interested in dreaming for years, and have kept journals and analysed them and, very infrequently because I'm terrible at sticking to things, practiced methods to induce lucid dreaming. When I practice properly I am able to induce lucid dreams (though less commonly than I would like).

Anyhow, the first time I did this was absolutely hilarious. I used the reading method. I was on a bus and looked at the sign warning fare evaders that they could be fined, and it changed to "You are dreaming. This is a dream. You are in a dream."

I was completely shocked, a bit frightened but mostly exhilarated. I felt extremely aware and had perfect recall of my real life and the missions I had written in the back of my dream diary for when I became lucid (the first was to talk to a DC). However, the world I was in began dissolving just as quickly, and I had the overwhelming feeling of flying upwards (as if to awakening). I remembered reading the day before that spinning can stop you waking up, so I did, but I only flipped out more because everything disappeared, so I stopped immediately. The result was that I was in the same place but everything was faded. I only managed to cross the bus and sit at a table and chairs before I woke up (it was a false awakening but I didn't know it).

Ok! So here's where it gets irritating! Since then, my fear of waking up has caused me to rebel against lucidity in some bizarre way. Though I've become lucid many times, and immediately been able to affect every aspect of my environment - from flying, walking through walls/mirrors, creating buildings and calling in characters (so far), I have never felt fully aware as in that first LD. I'm still affected by dream logic - I became lucid when I was busting to go to the toilet once, so I created a toilet block instead of realising I didn't actually need to go. Additionally, I always seem to fall back into the dream quite quickly, or wake being unable to recall many details. In effect, I feel more like I'm dreaming that I'm LDing, rather than actually being lucid.

Any thoughts?

Once you have become lucid, have you been stabilising ? I.E activating your senses, such as feeling textures, smelling things, eating things, tasting things etc etc.... What this essentially does is allow you to "ground" yourself within the dream, therefore allowing you stay in the dream for longer.

As to the last part,

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I always seem to fall back into the dream quite quickly, or wake being unable to recall many details. In effect, I feel more like I'm dreaming that I'm LDing, rather than actually being lucid

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Once lucid you should continue to do RC's to help you remember that its a dream, otherwise sometimes you may get distracted by something and lose lucidity. Other than that, im not massively experienced so other members may be able to help you more than i can =].

But good luck with your lucid adventures =P.

Also i just posted on your other thread too, lol.

An idea as to why this is happening:

Your body is programmed to fall asleep and wake up. However, you don't want to wake up do to subconscious fear.

This inter-fears with the program that is set-up to protect your mind.

Therefore, your subconscious tries to ignore the fear of waking up by not letting you realize your dreaming because your subconsciousness knows that if you realize you are dreaming you will want to stay asleep which is against your programing.

To stop this effect I suggest saying to yourself " I am not afraid to not wake -up. I just want to wake up (set time ex amount of hours) after realizing that I'm dreaming". This must be repeated several times until your subconscious realizes that you are not afraid and plan to wake up but just at a later time.

I think that:

The only thing that might effect the program to sleep and wake-up is if the person gets in a serious accident.Then the subconscious over rides the program because it is too afraid to wake up.

You've both got excellent points. I'm definitely falling back into the dream because I'm reacting against the belief that I will wake up immediately - I don't know how to find that balance between waking and sleeping, I suppose. I don't actually believe properly that it exists yet. In the dream, I've started throwing myself to the floor and having the feeling of closing my eyes as soon as I become lucid, in a direct attempt to not be lucid I suppose - but only because I think I'm going to wake straight up.

I'll try RCing and just trying to calm the hell down and chill out I suppose. Everything tends to feel crazy and frenetic, which I suppose is due to my tendency to rush through everything because I believe waking is imminent.

In a stable LD, what does wake you?

Defiantly use as many senses as you can once you become lucid. Start by tasting and smelling things around you and at the same time, feel the things your tasting or other things around you. One time i became lucid near a tree and ate a piece of the bark. I then woke up in my bed and found bark i n my mouth, i didnt think much of it, so i just put the bark on the floor and went back to sleep. I then woke up for real and felt so dumb for not realizing i had just had a false awakening of me having bark in my mouth that i was chewing on. My point is, you can literally find anything to taste, and most of the time it will help you stabilize.

Woo! Update time!

I had my lucid dream since I joined the forum last night. In some ways, advice has really made a difference, and in others, I'm still struggling. I'm going overseas for the first time ever in a few weeks and I'm incredibly nervous that something will go wrong and I won't be able to go (this has happened multiple times to me before). With increasing frequency, I'm having dreams where I arrive at the airport and I've missed my flight or forgotten something important and it's all my fault. So last night I read my itinerary while I was at the airport having forgotten my passport, and I realised I was dreaming.

On NrElAx's advice I started using all of my senses (which nearly blew my mind in a good way, thanks). Having talked out my fears with you guys about waking up, I found that I didn't have the problem all of a sudden because I could identify that it was a groundless fear. I experienced no feeling of drifting upwards which had previously been present in all of my LDs. For the first time, I felt very relaxed, in control and like I had time to think and play around.

However, I can barely remember anything that went on, and I still feel like I was dreaming that I was LDing. I have two possible explanations for this. The first is a question: How much does dream recall in general affect your recall of LDs? Mine is very low since I have only just got back on the dream horse ... for a fun analogy :) I haven't been keeping a journal of late and, though I have good recall in general, I can tell mine is in tatters compared to how it's been in the past. I'm not sure I have the time to be writing everything down at the moment, though.

The second possible explanation is that I simply fell back into the dream very quickly, because after a certain point I can't remember anything. I'm pretty sure I forgot to keep RCing because I was so chilled out. I imagine this could cause a feeling of fuzziness about the whole thing as well.

I'm pretty sure I'm the only one still paying any attention to this thread, but I'm going to keep talking anyway ...

So, another LD last night (yay!), and after having trouble with awareness, I'd made the resolution to, once having stabilised, think about my life outside the dream and where I was and the day I'd had. Has anyone tried this? I thought that it would help heighten awareness and remove me from that fuzzy dream overhang I've been struggling with.

I again had no problem staying in the dream ... I felt myself rising off the floor (as though waking) but slammed down again. I was able to recall clearly my mission to think about real life, but as soon as I tried to do it, I couldn't remember anything about myself or my life at all. I got pretty freaked out, actually!

I reminded myself to continue RCing, but I kept not doing it because (or so I told myself) I was continually reminding myself it was a dream. However, I'm pretty sure I couldn't remember how to RC either.

What the heck? :P

Wait, so your memory of your waking life was like impossible to recall. I tend to forget everything im suppose to do when I become lucid, and I just rush stuff and always try to fly away, thus Waking myself up. Just continue what your doing, and keep using your senses. You only need to reality check to make sure ur dreaming. But you might want to do it every now and then to remind you your dreaming so you dont loose lucidity.

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Wait, so your memory of your waking life was like impossible to recall.

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Yes, that's the weird part. I had absolutely no problem remembering my 'mission' (and never have). I think I could vaguely recall, perhaps, having written down that I was supposed to do it somewhere. However, I couldn't remember anything beyond that of reality, which was probably made worse by how freaky it is to forget everything, making it even more impossible to remember.

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Just continue what your doing, and keep using your senses.

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I will admit I forgot to use my senses, but this method (though mind blowing) has had little effect on my awareness in the past - ie, I need a new trick!

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You only need to reality check to make sure ur dreaming.

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A hypothesis I had as to why my dreams felt fuzzy was that I was losing awareness too quickly, so I employed this method to ensure I wouldn't lose it (I intended to use it in superfluous amounts). However, since I can now state confidently that I was lucid from the time of the first RC to being awoken, I know that this is not the case. I can almost certainly link it to the fact that I couldn't remember anything though; seems I have blocks up against becoming too aware.

I would appreciate any other thoughts on this dream amnesia.