The concept of Lucid Dream time

So, sometimes, you have very long dreams, and others, very short.

For instance, last night I had a dream that lasted years. I woke up, and was shocked a dream could "last that long." See it here.

There have been times when I've had dreams that lasted no more than 5 minutes. Yet, still, the same amount of sleep.

Does this happen to anyone else? Whether it be very long drawn out dreams, or short, minuscule dreams?

I would really like to conduct a case-study on this, if it hasn't already been done. I haven't done any prior research yet, this is just something I pulled out of my head.

For this, I think I would like to get a group of dreamers, from completely inexperienced, to very experienced, to keep a dream journal for a month. They would journal like they normally would. And try to get a grasp of "how long" their dream was, and write that in the journal as well. Of course, dream recall will have an effect on how "long" you perceive a dream to be. This is why the group would compose of dreamers with varying experience. They would also have to keep some things constant, which I state below. I tend to have a very constant sleep schedule, and I'd say I'm pretty experienced with dreaming, but my recall is an on and off thing. This is also why I'd like to gather a group of dreamers to accomplish this task.

Say you are running a normal sleep schedule. You get the same amount of sleep. You sleep at the same times. You don't take any substances or supplements to effect your dreams (or you keep them constant.) You are able to stabilize your dream for the whole night and you get the same amount of REM cycles, as well as similar length of REM cycles. Shouldn't the amount of "time" you have in your dreams remain the same?

Is the concept of "time" in dreams a changing variable? Or is it something that can be calculated? Is it something you can change yourself? Or is it purely something your unconscious uses to limit itself?

In the end of the study, hopefully, we will be able to determine what has an effect on the concept of time, in dreams.

I'd like to hear some thought on this. (*Glances at the more experienced dreamers*) :cheeky:

What all would I have to do? Keep a perfect sleep schedule? or would I just write down how much sleep I get every night and how long all my dreams seemed? It might be too much work for me to do at my current state, but if it is just writing down how long my dreams seem and how long they actually took, then I can join.

Ever since the experience of two dreams I had I've been fascinated about how time works in dreams.
I've been working on some ideas on my own already, but have yet to put them to the test as soon as my LDing takes of to the level I require.
The perception of time in dreams and how the brain tricks you into this illusion of being away for hours, days, months or even years is really something I want to explore one day.
But for now all I have is a work in progress and I can't be of much use to you yet.
I'll be interested in what you will find during your study though. :)

You have my attention. :) I really want to participate & I'm inexperienced. This would be a great motivation to keep a dreamjournal! :p
And what do you mean with: "Or is it purely something your unconscious uses to limit itself?"

Wow! Glad you all are interested! :D

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Originally Posted by BrandonBoss

What all would I have to do? Keep a perfect sleep schedule? or would I just write down how much sleep I get every night and how long all my dreams seemed? It might be too much work for me to do at my current state, but if it is just writing down how long my dreams seem and how long they actually took, then I can join.

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It would be helpful to keep a good schedule, as that would leave out a variable in the study. But whatever works for you. How long the dream is and how long it feels is what we're working on here.

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Originally Posted by Booney

Ever since the experience of two dreams I had I've been fascinated about how time works in dreams.
I've been working on some ideas on my own already, but have yet to put them to the test as soon as my LDing takes of to the level I require.
The perception of time in dreams and how the brain tricks you into this illusion of being away for hours, days, months or even years is really something I want to explore one day.
But for now all I have is a work in progress and I can't be of much use to you yet.
I'll be interested in what you will find during your study though. :)

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Thanks! Glad you're interested! Keep up the dreaming :shadewink:

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Originally Posted by UtopianCitizin

You have my attention. :) I really want to participate & I'm inexperienced. This would be a great motivation to keep a dreamjournal! :p
And what do you mean with: "Or is it purely something your unconscious uses to limit itself?"

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Assume you have a normal sleep schedule. Say one day you decide to take a nap, and the dream is only like 10 minutes long. This might be because you already got enough REM sleep from your normal sleeping. Maybe its your unconscious keeping you from oversleeping? Who knows. This is just something I came up with, because I haven't tested it yet. That may be my hypothesis though, that "time" in dreams is linear with your amount of REM sleep. But we still have to test it!

I sleep really close to exactly 8 hours a night on weekdays, and I can make sure I don't oversleep on weekends. I wake up after almost every dream, so i should be able to give you some good data! When are we starting?

This should get me back to enjoying DJing.

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Originally Posted by BrandonBoss

I sleep really close to exactly 8 hours a night on weekdays, and I can make sure I don't oversleep on weekends. I wake up after almost every dream, so i should be able to give you some good data! When are we starting?

This should get me back to enjoying DJing.

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I haven't quite figured that out yet, as there are only a few volunteers and the only real form of communication we have so far is the forum. But before we actually start, it would be cool to observe the concept on your own in the mean time. We'll probably start in the next week or two. I'll keep you updated :)

I have been thinking about how weird dream time is for ages. It seems to be almost random. If we can figure out what times you are likelier to give you longer dreams. I can continue any dreams from where I left off previously, so it won't help me overly much with normal dreams, but with LDs it would help a lot.

The most effective way I can think of measuring this is by WILD. While I am by no means accomplished at WILDs, I will attempt one per day so I can let you know

SILD will also work. ;)

Didnt you miss your family over the years?

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Originally Posted by Suck4Luck

Didnt you miss your family over the years?

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Remember that everything makes perfect sense to you. You don't remember things like that. Unless yar lucid.

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Originally Posted by Suck4Luck

Didnt you miss your family over the years?

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It's a dream, part of which I was lucid in. I don't think about things like that in a dream regardless of whether I am lucid or not. The last time I honestly had a dream with my family in a majority of it was years ago.

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Originally Posted by h1nchm4n

It's a dream, part of which I was lucid in. I don't think about things like that in a dream regardless of whether I am lucid or not. The last time I honestly had a dream with my family in a majority of it was years ago.

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Weird. My DCs are always family.

I first heard about people being able to span the amount of time that they dream over in this website's thread--the one with one-thousand different things to do in a lucid dream. Ever since then, I have become interested in the way time works in lucid dreams. From what I remember, though, the longest I have ever spent in the dream world has been a few days, perhaps even a week. However, once I become more familiar with conscious dreaming, I do plan on learning how to expand my lucid dream by going over to the Dream Views Academy--but I don't plan on doing that in these next couple of weeks.

While I do think that your experimentation is very interesting, I don't think that I want to join. Not this time, though if you ever conduct another experiment like this in the future and let DV members know through the forums, I may consider joining in on the fun.

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Originally Posted by CNGB

I first heard about people being able to span the amount of time that they dream over in this website's thread--the one with one-thousand different things to do in a lucid dream. Ever since then, I have become interested in the way time works in lucid dreams. From what I remember, though, the longest I have ever spent in the dream world has been a few days, perhaps even a week. However, once I become more familiar with conscious dreaming, I do plan on learning how to expand my lucid dream by going over to the Dream Views Academy--but I don't plan on doing that in these next couple of weeks.

While I do think that your experimentation is very interesting, I don't think that I want to join. Not this time, though if you ever conduct another experiment like this in the future and let DV members know through the forums, I may consider joining in on the fun.

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Well I'm glad you're interested! :D Keep up the practice. I'm sure you'll progress!

I think this is another one of those "time is an illusion" things.

I have a friend back home that has had lengthy dreams like you have said. I'll ask her about them (again) over Christmas break, but she might have lost them to a recent bout of amnesia. (No joke. It sucked when she walked up and asked "okay, who are you?")

I believe Dr. LaBerge proved that dream time is equivalent to non-dream time. So "time" is not a changing variable, but ones perception is. This certainly sounds like an interesting study though :)


~Good Luck

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Originally Posted by DreamerX2122

I believe Dr. LaBerge proved that dream time is equivalent to non-dream time. So "time" is not a changing variable, but ones perception is. This certainly sounds like an interesting study though :)


~Good Luck

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He proved that it is at least sometimes equivalent to non-dream time. There is not really a way to know for sure if it is always equivalent. Most of my dreams seem to take about the amount of REM time they are allotted, some seem to take hours or even weeks.

You can watch a movie that lasts two hours but covers a longer period of time by skipping over irrelevant details. Dreams could work like that.