Thread: Pseudo-lucid dreams?

Hi all! New here. I could have posted in the "intro" forum, but this is more than just an intro.

I accidentally discovered lucid dreaming around age 4-5, by getting fed up with nightmares. Since then I've had probably on average one per week; during some stretches, much more frequently, and others, much less. In total it must be over a thousand lucid dreams. So I'm not quite a novice.

These days I don't even frequently remember my dreams, but when I do, they mostly have this funny quality: I'm almost lucid, but not quite. Examples from last night:

- "Boy, that guy looks big and strong and wants to fight. Good thing this is a dream so I can defeat him with magic!" (and then I do).
- "It would really hurt if I jumped down to that beach. But this is a dream, so it won't!"
- "Man, this dream is kind of boring. Oh, well."
etc.

Sometimes I even tell people in the dream that it's a dream, without really "getting" it myself. I'm sure others recognize this ironic experience

The thing that's hard to convey is why these aren't lucid dreams. I mean, I know I'm dreaming, right? Well, yes and know. It seems the knowledge is there, but it never blossoms into the visceral, active recognition that distinguishes true lucidity. Instead, I'm almost always caught in this limbo.

Does this happen to people a lot? Maybe it's more common than I realize. Maybe there are techniques for turning this into full lucidity that I haven't considered, or maybe I should stick with the usual methods.

Cheers, and nice to meet you all,
Fly