Thread: Was this the beginning of a lucid dream?

Originally Posted by gherkin

Hello everyone!
I am new to this website and I haven't mastered lucid dreaming yet so I am quite an amateur, I apologize.
I have been interested in dreaming for a very long time but it is not until recently that I have been trying to lucid dream.
One night I meditated before I went to bed and as I drifted off to sleep I listened to binaural beats at the same time to induce lucidity.
I was drifting off to sleep and at one point I felt my arms propel in a circular motion which brought me into an upright position (although in the physical body I remained lying still the whole time) I remember I could feel gravitational pull in my stomach.
Before anything else happened I come back to conciousness, i was breathing very fast and my temperature had soared a lot higher.
Was this strange experience the start of a lucid dream?
Thanks in advance and once again I apologize for being such an amateur!

Hi! I'm a beginner too so there's no need to apologize about being one!

I'm not 100% correct, but this sound's a lot like sleep paralysis. So i'll let a more experienced dreamer answer!

First of all welcome to the forums! This could have been sleep paralysis but it also could've been a rather vivid hypnagogic hallucination (HH). These are common when falling asleep, especially when preforming a WILD. It's simply a hallucination which can be visual, auditory and can also effect the nervous system, causing you to feel as if you moved even though you are completely still. The fast breathing was likely due to you never experiencing something like this before (or at least not consciously) and it startling you. The temperature could've been a result of this too though I'm not entirely sure.

This also could have been the start of a WILD, but dreams are very rare in N-REM sleep (non rapid eye movement (the first phase of sleep a.k.a. deep sleep)), let alone preforming a WILD when you first go to sleep. If you had remained calm and just gone with the flow then you may have been able to preform a WILD but they are often found to be more difficult than other methods such as DILDs and MILDs.

Just as a few extra tips be sure to start a dream journal to increase recall (what good are LDs if you don't remember them?), read up on various tutorials, and start doing reality checks throughout the day. Lucid dreaming is a hard ability to really get good at and it often takes several weeks to get your first. For some it takes longer and others have them very quickly. Just remember not to give up and try not to get frustrated if you don't get one right away.

Good luck and happy dreaming!

Woah, kinda awesome! Maybe not an LD but definately something, ive still yet to have one. I think i lost my chance at one the other night

Thank you very much for the replies everyone!
And thank you Burke, for you advice

No problem! Keep trying to getlucid!