When I realize that I am dreaming nothing feels different.

[guyfromthepast]

When I am sleep and realize I am in a dream it doesn't feel like I'm actually there as opposed to what it's like when I don't know I'm dreaming. Know what I mean? It's like I'm just laying down and trying to think of something to do, but it doesn't feel real. Is this was a lucid dream is supposed to feel like?

[gab]

All I can say, that I personally feel very different when I realize I'm dreaming. There is a huge rush of suddenly everything feeling more real than the reality itself. I feel more 'there' than I'm feeling here now. And in majority of my lucids, at least for first 80 of them, there was a huge rush of excitement. I still get it sometimes, even if not at the beginning. There are some dreams, some may call them "false lucids", when you think about being lucid, but you don't actually gain lucidity. It just doesn't click. You don't put 2 and 2 together. Do you practice RCs and do you do them in your lucids? Have you tried doing anything, like flying? Are you trying DILDs or WILDs?

[Buhl]

Well, speaking from personal experience it almost sounds like you woke up (possibly due to excitement) with your eyes still closed. I tried this in a false awakening, where i pushed my finger through my hand and realized i was dreaming, however, i had already woken up and suddenly switched to day dream mode. I couldn't feel the transition at all. After this experience, did you just open your eyes or did you feel yourself waking up? If you know what i mean.

[MasterMind]

Hey guyfromthepast (cute dog btw ) I am not sure if I understand your question correctly. Do you mean that your dreams doesn't feel real while you are lucid? Or do you mean that you wake up and realize that you were thinking it to feel more real than it actually was. All I can say is that lucid dreams can feel just as real as reality, and even more real (how weird that might sound). This is all I can say for now. You need to go into more detail if you want a more detailed answer.

[Dreamcatcher92]

Answering your questions: NO: Lucid dreams are supposed to feel real, but still, some of them "called semi-lucid dreams I guess" are hazy and fuzzy and don't feel as vivid as they should for lucid dreams.

[xXxArtistxXx]

I don't think anything is supposed to happen... You just realize..

[dutchraptor]

You seem to have the exact opposite effect to lucid dreaming then at least 98% of the population. It is known that most normal dreams feel blurry or uncontrolable almost as if you are drunk, while lucid dreams are clear and the knowledge that you can do anything you want usually excites almost anyone. So either you have phrased your question wrong or misinterpreted in which state you were or you happen to feel no excitement, reward or joy from spending worthyfull time doing RC's, spending nights repeating mantra's and finally finding yourself in the land of freedom (I highly doubt it) Like gab said earlier, lucid dreams are far beyond the scope of normal dreaming you would know when you are in one.

[CharlesD]

My dreams are vivid most of the time anyway, so even when I know I'm dreaming I don't notice a huge difference, but I guess everyone's different. The thing with me is the whole control thing. A lot of times I'll say, "Hey, I'm dreaming here!", then I'll just continue on with wherever the dream was going anyway instead of trying to control too much, except that my newfound knowledge might lead me to go about something different. A good example was last night. I was in a city staying in a downtown hotel and I was going to go out for lunch. I was walking down the sidewalk when I realized I didn't have my wallet and I was going to have to go back up to my room to get it. Then I saw a building that I knew was in a different city and I said to a guy on the street, "I'm dreaming here, that building doesn't belong here." So instead of just going off and doing whatever, I decided that I didn't need the elevator to get up to my room and get my wallet. I flew up to my room and entered through the window. Then I woke up. I read on here about the incredible freedom and all when you become lucid, but for me it's rarely like that. I will be thinking a little clearer and I'll realize I can do whatever I want, but I rarely just break out of the confines of the dream. I'll know it's a dream, but the plot rarely changes much.

[intheworldofnim]

My dreams are vivid most of the time anyway, so even when I know I'm dreaming I don't notice a huge difference, but I guess everyone's different. The thing with me is the whole control thing. A lot of times I'll say, "Hey, I'm dreaming here!", then I'll just continue on with wherever the dream was going anyway instead of trying to control too much, except that my newfound knowledge might lead me to go about something different. A good example was last night. I was in a city staying in a downtown hotel and I was going to go out for lunch. I was walking down the sidewalk when I realized I didn't have my wallet and I was going to have to go back up to my room to get it. Then I saw a building that I knew was in a different city and I said to a guy on the street, "I'm dreaming here, that building doesn't belong here." So instead of just going off and doing whatever, I decided that I didn't need the elevator to get up to my room and get my wallet. I flew up to my room and entered through the window. Then I woke up. I read on here about the incredible freedom and all when you become lucid, but for me it's rarely like that. I will be thinking a little clearer and I'll realize I can do whatever I want, but I rarely just break out of the confines of the dream. I'll know it's a dream, but the plot rarely changes much. thats common in DILDs, in DILDs the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex does not always awaken all the way so you often times find yourself in a semi-lucid or low lucid state where you know your dreaming but you do not understand the implications of that. the dream will still have influence over your thoughts and feelings. You realizing you could fly up to the window instead of taking an elevator was you remembering the abilities possible in dreams. Your awarness and reasoning state was still on the verge of awakening thus the dream plot never changed. In dreams, our memories is our food for thought so remembering things like RC in dreams is crucial to awakening the logical center of your brain. Thats the goal in DILDs, in DILDs just because you realize you are dreaming doesn't mean your dream mind is completely gone, thats merely the mental break through you get when the dorsolater prefrontal cortex is parcially awake. In DILDs you start out with a fully dream mind then you gradually work to awaken your wakeful state while in the dream, WILDS are the opposite where you go into the dream "yourself" and work to keep that state by constantly RCing so dont forget you are dreaming. in WILDS if you don't remind yourself that you are dreaming, you can often times forget you are dreaming or become stupid doing things you wouldn't do if fully lucid. if you ever had a long vivid dream, you might notice times where you become lucid near the last few seconds before you wake up. that partly due to your logic center naturally waking up at the end of your sleep cycle. You might also find yourself during those few seconds to be slightly confused at what is happening.

[Rothgar]

My first 'accidental' lucids were just dream-like...really not much different from other dreams. I didnt think 'Oh my God!' However, after reading EWLD and being intentional, it changed...instead of watching I was transported and there. I still (rarely) have a semi-lucids as some call them. The difference to me is out-of-body type experience or a dream. You'll know the difference!

[ixsetf]

It's very possible to not feel completely "there" in lucid dreams, but because you said It's like I'm just laying down I can't help but wonder if when you realized you were in a dream you at least partially woke up. If that's the case you should focus on remaining calm when you realize you're dreaming, and if you feel like you did wake up try to DEILD and get back to dreaming.