"Verifying" lucidity

Hey there,

Last night I had a dream, and I would like to ask a few questions related to it.

Now, I spent a few hours last night before bed, reading about Dream Guides - and the whole topic excited me a lot and made me want to meet mine.
When I first started, I put down a few dream-goals, and I put down "Find my Dream Guide" without really thinking, but after reading about it last night, I was really motivated and excited about it all.


Last night I also had a dream (Just a short recap), I was in a classroom-like setting, and there was nothing really out of the ordinary (compared to many of my other dreams at least), yet I did a nose-plug RC, and I could still breathe - I sort of thought "whoa, that can't be right", and did it a few more times, with the same result.
I immediately turned to the nearest DC and started asking questions about my DG.
When I felt the dream fade, I did the rubbing hands thing, but it didn't really help.

All in all, there were a lot of indications that this might be a lucid dream (my first, since learning of LD'ing), but I didn't feel excited or very in control at all.
I'm not sure whether this was because I had a clear goal, which I wanted to fulfill.
The dream wasn't overwhelmingly vivid as opposed to other dreams I've had, where I sort of felt like I was "watching" events unfold, without any real control.

My question is this; Is it possible to verify your own lucidity?
I read about false lucids, where the mind supposedly tricks you into thinking it's a lucid dream - but how would one tell the difference?

Sorry for the rather long post, but it's been nagging me ever since I got up.
~Ronni

I actually had a similar dream last night where I did the nose plug RC (it's not one I actually use and didn't work too well). It was also a fake LD though. It was so annoying when I woke up and realised how obvious it had been! That hadn't happened it awhile. It's very normal in the beginning though. If you are really lucid, you'll know. It's like suddenly everything is happening in the here and now. Realising you are dreaming is essentially becoming aware of yourself and what is happening in the present moment. 100% lucidity (it does come in levels) is perfect clarity.

Also, I wouldn't worry about goals at this point. Just get used to how it feels to navigate the dream world while being aware. Sounds like you're almost there :)

Thank you for the reply, I hope I'm getting closer - but not having had a "real" lucid dream yet, it's quite difficult to tell the difference.
I'm sure I'll just "know" when I truly have one, but until then, all these fake lucids are quite confusing :)

It struck me as a little weird though, since I haven't really focused on RC'ing when awake - as I have mostly been working with DEILD'ing so far.

It's funny the little things our subconcious pick up on. Often it seems to be bad things that we'd rather not think about and have forced out of our minds during the day but pop up at night to annoy us. At least RCing is a good thing to get incorperated into our dreams, even when it doesn't have to desired effect :)

I'd like to point out that control and vividness play no part in whether you're lucid or not. I've had LDs that I can barely control/see in and normal dreams where it's even more real than waking-reality. All lucidity is, is awareness; knowledge that you're dreaming and that nothing you're experiencing is real.

I don't see how one can have a ''false-lucid''. You're either aware of the fact you're dreaming, or you're not. Even if you're only very slightly aware, you're still lucid. As FancyRat stated, there are different levels to lucidity. It sounds to me like you caught on to the fact you were asleep but didn't properly verify your state of reality and announce that you were dreaming - instead you made the classic mistake and rushed on with your dream goals. By doing this you make the likelihood of yourself waking up and not completing your goal more probable than if you take 5 minutes to really ground yourself into your surroundings.

Stabilising yourself is fairly simple when you have the right frame of mind and understand why and how you're doing it. Dreams are purely internal senses. How does one stay in the dream longer? By focusing on those internal senses. I've found methods which utilise pain are very beneficial for getting in touch with the physical sense, as you're forced to concentrate on how it feels - the perfect gateway into solidifying your presence in the dream. With the whole ''rubbing hands together'' thing, my guess is you were just doing it because you were told to. Next time you try it, really focus on what you're doing. Notice how your hands look and feel - truly notice this. The more in-touch you are with the dream, the more likely you are to stay in it, as you forget about the physical world.

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Originally Posted by Graves;1775763 With the whole ''rubbing hands together'' thing, my guess is you were just doing it because you were told to. Next time you try it, [I

really[/I] focus on what you're doing. Notice how your hands look and feel - truly notice this. The more in-touch you are with the dream, the more likely you are to stay in it, as you forget about the physical world.

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i agree with Graves. Another way to stabilize dreams that i like to do is actually yelling as loud as i can "increase lucidity" or "clarity now" the more involved you dream senses are the more likely the dream will feel more real and the more vivid it becomes.

and again like Graves said, lucidity has nothing to do with vividness. if you thought to yourself "this is a dream" you are lucid.

i hope this helped.

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Originally Posted by voxAETHER

i agree with Graves. Another way to stabilize dreams that i like to do is actually yelling as loud as i can "increase lucidity" or "clarity now" the more involved you dream senses are the more likely the dream will feel more real and the more vivid it becomes.

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I can testify of screaming/shouting to be a good way of keeping you grounded. In a lucid of mine, every time I felt I was going to fade out I would shout something at the top of my voice until things became clear again. The DCs I was with thought I was mental, but it resulted in a rather long LD. :P

EDIT: While doing such I didn't just yell random things, I focused on the sound and the feel of it. It's that kind of awareness which will keep you stable.

I had a dream last night seeing ufo's outside my house it felt vivid but close to the end I started realizing I was dreaming and when I spoke after realizing this, I could hear myself talking in bed waking myself up feeling fully rested. Can anyone answer me this: is SP a gateway to becoming lucid? If so I can tell ya'll how to achieve it without even thinking about having to do WILD, DILD, or any other ILD you can find out there. Any help? Message me anyone. I'm new to this.

Some lucid dreams are more vivid than others. As long as you knew it was a dream, it was a lucid dream. Normally, becoming lucid will shift your awareness to the first person point of view that is common to waking life. This doesn't always happen. You can lucid dream in the third person, or be lucid without a physical presence in the dream. Anything is possible.

I think what Graves said is probably right - I was aware of the fact that I was dreaming, so I guess it was a low-level lucid.
Also, I think I'm getting the hang of this, I had another 2 dreams last night (#1 chained into #2 with DEILD) in which I realized I was deaming. Somehow I was more aware, and remembered to focus more on the whole stabilizing part, touching things, looking around etc.

I think the first one was a DILD, sort of, I was in a Japanese street market (I had visualized a bit, about a trip to Japan, prior to going to sleep), and I realized that I hadn't bought any tickets to go there, so I figured I must be dreaming.
The dream faded after a rather short while, but I managed to chain it into an FA with DEILD and go from there.

I think I need to practice awareness and increasing my lucidity a bit though - I guess vividness follows those two as well? (Although the first dream last night was quite vivid the moment I realized it was a dream)
I guess really focusing on the feeling of touching things etc would help a lot - I see how simply rubbing your hands probably wouldn't help much if it's just an automatic action - I'll try out your advice! ^^

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Originally Posted by aerilith

I think I need to practice awareness and increasing my lucidity a bit though

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All Day Awareness, A DILD Tutorial by KingYoshi
SAT - Sporadic Awareness Technique

All you need to know when it comes to awareness.

Yea, I had a look at both of those tutorials, and tried doing SAT with the aim of switching to ADA when I got better.
It's quite difficult at first, though I'm improving in the "awareness" part, the "questioning reality" still feels somewhat strange, but I'll work on it! :)

Thanks!

I agree. I feel drained when I attempt it and I have college, etc to attend to, so it's not something I do often. It's certainly the best way to go about things, however.