Thread: A bunch of questions from a noob

1) How long do your lucid dreams seem to last?

2) How does time passage generally work? Does 1 minute in your lucid dream translate to 1 minute in the real world?

3) Are all 5 senses fully immersed and indistinguishable from real life? In other words, if you ate a pizza in a lucid dream, would it look, taste, smell, and feel like a pizza in the real world? or does something seem off?

4) Is the level of detail of the environment the same as in reality?

5) Can you get to the point where you can control ANYTHING?

6) Can you get to the point where you can lucid dream everyday?

1) seems like a long time but in reality, only a few minutes
2) a)that depends on deep you go b) NO
3) all 5 and then some, it could feel even more real than if you were awake
4) Doesn't have to be, because you could be flying, teleporting, levitating objects, and appear as something else
5) Yes, you only have to ask yourself why you want to, and when you get the answer, you can.
6) I wouldn't recommend it but yes. I've done it for stretches of time when it was daily/nightly, and then gone stretches when I had good (unlucid) sleep for months. Doing it daily/nightly would be like never getting rest and that takes its toll on your physical/mental health. Unless your naturally "wired" like an acid dropping superhero that sleeps annually.

Originally Posted by blackbirdrising

2) a)that depends on deep you go b) NO

So how long can a lucid dream seem to last? Has anyone had a lucid dream that seemed to last extremely long (like a day or more)?

Originally Posted by blackbirdrising

3) all 5 and then some, it could feel even more real than if you were awake

Could you elaborate or is it one of those things you can't explain? I always viewed real life as the pinnacle of reality, if only by definition.

Originally Posted by blackbirdrising

6) I wouldn't recommend it but yes. I've done it for stretches of time when it was daily/nightly, and then gone stretches when I had good (unlucid) sleep for months. Doing it daily/nightly would be like never getting rest and that takes its toll on your physical/mental health. Unless your naturally "wired" like an acid dropping superhero that sleeps annually.

Wait, lucid dreaming is actually physically exhausting?

So how long can a lucid dream seem to last? Has anyone had a lucid dream that seemed to last extremely long (like a day or more)?

That depends on how "aware" you are during the dream, how many levels your dreaming in (not trying to sound like Inception, but they did have some idea of the reality of lucid dreaming when they made that movie),and your ability to visualize/symbolize/accept whats going on. There is no standard formula to calculate how long it can seem to last. Sorry for the frustration.

Could you elaborate or is it one of those things you can't explain? I always viewed real life as the pinnacle of reality, if only by definition.

Not to sound weird but, have you ever done any mind enhancing drug? If so, you know how for a few minutes (or a few seconds, or hours, depending on what you decided to free your mind with) - everything seems more real, a graze against your skin feels like something very powerful, every sound has color, every breath feels cold and rippling, and lord help if you eat or drink something. The sensations are mind blowing. Is it just me, or have other people had dreams where the senses (6, not "the 5") were definitely more sensitive than in real life? Its like your mind holds no boundaries. When you realize it and your not afraid of it, you realize you can visualize yourself doing anything.

Wait, lucid dreaming is actually physically exhausting?

Ok, why have two people said, with conviction, that constant LDing is restful? On the contrary, its like being on one very long road trip, you will be down with something close to jet lag in a matter of days if you don't make it stop.

I can only speak for myself I guess. I'm a natural lucid dreamer, been doing all my life without effort - I've worked at not doing it. Worked at closing that part of my brain so I can function a normal life. Since I know the triggers now, I'm not afraid of it anymore and I can prepare for whats coming. But it still comes. I'm happy to have "breathing room" between cycles, my biorhythms are every 3 months like clockwork. I expect to ride the next wave in February 2013, and I'm very happy to know about this site. At least when I'm in the heat of it, I can talk about it here and people won't look at me like I am the three headed Chimera, sent to rain frogs upon the land.

Originally Posted by blackbirdrising

1) seems like a long time but in reality, only a few minutes
2) a)that depends on deep you go b) NO
3) all 5 and then some, it could feel even more real than if you were awake
4) Doesn't have to be, because you could be flying, teleporting, levitating objects, and appear as something else
5) Yes, you only have to ask yourself why you want to, and when you get the answer, you can.
6) I wouldn't recommend it but yes. I've done it for stretches of time when it was daily/nightly, and then gone stretches when I had good (unlucid) sleep for months. Doing it daily/nightly would be like never getting rest and that takes its toll on your physical/mental health. Unless your naturally "wired" like an acid dropping superhero that sleeps annually.

Wait... what??? Wasn't lucid dreaming an excellent way to prolong REM sleep and thus sleep better?

Third paragraph ("dream extension"):
polyphasicsociety.com/polyphasic-sleep/adaptation/advanced/

Originally Posted by Generic

1) How long do your lucid dreams seem to last?

2) How does time passage generally work? Does 1 minute in your lucid dream translate to 1 minute in the real world?

3) Are all 5 senses fully immersed and indistinguishable from real life? In other words, if you ate a pizza in a lucid dream, would it look, taste, smell, and feel like a pizza in the real world? or does something seem off?

4) Is the level of detail of the environment the same as in reality?

5) Can you get to the point where you can control ANYTHING?

6) Can you get to the point where you can lucid dream everyday?

1) mine average out at like 5-10 minutes, but I had one that seemed to last a looong time.

2) Stephen Laberge says that at least most of the time, yes. But I have gone to sleep in a DEILD and it was a 5 minute dream work up an hour later. Had about the exact opposite happen as well.

3) when you are dreaming you can have 10 senses at once, your 5 in the dream body and 5 in actual body. That lies a weird feeling. but no, it normally feels pretty close if not spot on. This is why people do things like eat electricity and stuff.

4) it can be less detailed, but it can be more detailed than real life ( can't be more real than reality ) but it is kind of like avatar. A very lucid dreaming movie. You go to sleep here and wake up in Pandora or CGI jungle with beastophilia.

5) yes. But it normally takes time and practice. Lots of people don't think you can be in 100% control in each LD, but my teacher is. This is a goal for me.

6) yes. Hukif does. When most people get to that point, they will not do it one or two nights a week so they don't have to keep up whatever it is that keeps them lucid. Some people feel tired after lucid dreams. But I do not. I however for now have to get a lot of sleep in order to LD, so I miss those nights. If I was able to sleep 8 hours a night I could be lucid every day. hoping to keep a better schedule after the holiday.

Good luck with getting lucid. If you have any questions PM me.

1: Pretty short apparently, i need to work on stabilization my max was 10-15 min of dream time i think.
2: Different each time, sometimes during very short WILD i apparently sleep for 1 hour, i think it was 1:1 once but i am not sure.
3: Yes if dream is stabilized fully, sometimes even what people say 'more real that real' and it's awesome!
4: Considering i constantly have FA's, yes.
5: Was not that successful yet, but i am planning to.
6: Quite possible, if i can figure out how to fall asleep during the WILD naps since i apparently tend to be too awake more often that not.

I heard that it is just as much rest as normal dreams. If you have a normal dream that is stressfull or you are fighting the whole time you will feel tired. If you are just walking around or just flying around you should feel as rested as normal sleep.

*Disappointed* I wanted to live in an action movie

P.S: Just kidding! I'll be fine walking, and talking, and feeling and all that, I'll try not to become too excited!

Wether lucid dreaming ruins or aid rest has never been proven since the function of dreams as never been proven, it is however known that waking up in a dream takes little energy more than not waking up. The brain is meant to be active during dreams and the only type of effect lucid dreaming could have is mental and not physical since barely any extra energy is being used.

Originally Posted by dutchraptor

Wether lucid dreaming ruins or aid rest has never been proven since the function of dreams as never been proven, it is however known that waking up in a dream takes little energy more than not waking up. The brain is meant to be active during dreams and the only type of effect lucid dreaming could have is mental and not physical since barely any extra energy is being used.

Thanks for the info! Though I'll have to see for myself if I get tired or don't!