A few questions I hope you could answer?

I have searched but couldnt find any answers so forgive me if these questions have already been asked and answered...

Ok so for a year now (although not consistently) I've been trying to lucid dream but have still not had success...

Firstly, is it possible that I may have already had a lucid dream but poor dream recall has left me unable to remember? Because I assume it would be such a new experience that I would not easily forget it...

The next questions is about hypnagogic hallucinations; are the visual hallucinations actually visible in the real world, as in your eyes are physically open and you can see things in the room with you, because when people have scary hallucinations I don't understand why they don't just close their eyes and block these images out?

Also, when I think about myself having a lucid dream, I always imagine myself in an environment from a game I used to play on the computer, and it's always the same exact place. Sould I refrain from limiting my expectations to this place, or does it have no real importance in my chances of having a lucid dream?

I was also wondering, it's said that your own appearance is often distorted in lucid dreams, long arms, odd amounts of fingers etc, is this only relevant of your own appearance, or do other characters in these dreams also have funny anatomy?

Thanks!

1) "Firstly, is it possible that I may have already had a lucid dream but poor dream recall has left me unable to remember? Because I assume it would be such a new experience that I would not easily forget it..."

Possible, but often you'll wake up after a lucid dream from excitement and it will be firmly burned into your memory.

2) "are the visual hallucinations actually visible in the real world, as in your eyes are physically open and you can see things in the room with you, because when people have scary hallucinations I don't understand why they don't just close their eyes and block these images out?"

The images are actually in your brain, not your eyes. HH happens on the verge of dreaming, generally when you're already asleep or most of the way asleep - in my case I already have my eyes closed. In certain situations though it is possible to have your eyes open and see reality with dream elements overlaid onto it- sometimes when you first wake up for instance a lot of people will see things like spiders that aren't really there, on the bed that actually is. They usually either scuttle off fast or fade pretty quick though.

3) "Also, when I think about myself having a lucid dream, I always imagine myself in an environment from a game I used to play on the computer, and it's always the same exact place. Sould I refrain from limiting my expectations to this place, or does it have no real importance in my chances of having a lucid dream?"

I'd say don't limit yourself like that. Include some other things - and in particular some dreams you've experienced before.

4) "I was also wondering, it's said that your own appearance is often distorted in lucid dreams, long arms, odd amounts of fingers etc, is this only relevant of your own appearance, or do other characters in these dreams also have funny anatomy?"

That's not just in lucid dreams but dreams in general. Yes, people and things can look very strange. I once saw a woman wearing a thick fur coat who somehow looked like an owl and when she'd turn her head her eyes were really big and her head was somehow separated on a line running horizontally right through the middle of her eyes, and the bottom half would turn faster, then the top half would sort of follow a moment later - it had a weird kind of rubbery appearance like her head was made of jello or something. Really bizarre! Trust me, you've seen a lot of really weird things in your dreams too - places as well as people and animals. They just seem normal when you're dreaming a lot of the time. You should look for weird stuff like this and be ready for it - if you notice it it can make you lucid.

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Originally Posted by Slothy

I was also wondering, it's said that your own appearance is often distorted in lucid dreams, long arms, odd amounts of fingers etc, is this only relevant of your own appearance, or do other characters in these dreams also have funny anatomy?

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To add to what Darkmatters said, dreaming experiences vary from person to person, in my lucid dreams usual DCs look mostly normal or sometimes i encounter midgets, but also much weirder non-human characters do pop up sometimes. ;)