Never feels right

[RyanCol]

I've had a couple lucids now but it just doesn't feel right. I can control everything, and I usually shoot stuff out of my hands and do crazy stuff, but when I actually wake up it feels like I never did any of it. It doesn't feel like real life. It feels like any other dream, but in the dream I think I'm controlling myself. Yes I know lucid dreaming isn't only control, but why do I think I'm conscious in the dream and when I wake up it doesn't feel right. Is my recall not good enough, are they just not vivid? I rub my hands and stuff. Also all my lucid dreams are from me noticing something is strange, do a reality check, and they have a false awakening. That order everytime.

[melanieb]

**Thread moved to General Lucid Discussion**

[TranquilityTrip]

This sounds similar to what I experienced when I first started lucid dreaming. I believe it's a combination of doubt and what I'm going to call "memory shock". The first part is simple, as a newcomer you tend doubt whether or not you actually had a lucid dream because of your lack of experience with them (common among new lucid dreamers). That part is simple enough. However, the second factor is a little bit harder to define and possibly harder to understand. The "memory shock", as I put it, seems to occur just after you wake up from a dream. This is because you suddenly go from experiencing the dream in it's totality to being left with only a memory of it without any form of delay. You stop seeing the dream as an actual event that you took part of and instead see it as a vague and surreal memory that does not seem to match up with your actual experience. This can leave you with a very odd and unsatisfying feeling. (Note that this entire theory is based on my personal experience along with some observations that I have made on other people on this forum and is in no way proven or scientifically backed)

[RyanCol]

So I'm guessing it eventually might go away?

[TranquilityTrip]

So I'm guessing it eventually might go away? I believe it will and I believe it will all come down to your dream recall. I slowly stopped having these odd, doubtful and dissociated feelings with my lucid dreams as my dream recall got better. I would also recommend not to worry about it too much and to not doubt your abilities or your experiences. Some of these disconnected feelings may also stem from a sense of anxiety/fear that you are wasting your time or that you are doing something wrong even when you are not. The best advice is to continue recording your dreams, continue doing your reality checks, and make sure to have fun.

[Voldmer]

I've had a couple lucids now but it just doesn't feel right. I can control everything, and I usually shoot stuff out of my hands and do crazy stuff, but when I actually wake up it feels like I never did any of it. It doesn't feel like real life. It feels like any other dream, but in the dream I think I'm controlling myself. Yes I know lucid dreaming isn't only control, but why do I think I'm conscious in the dream and when I wake up it doesn't feel right. Is my recall not good enough, are they just not vivid? I rub my hands and stuff. Also all my lucid dreams are from me noticing something is strange, do a reality check, and they have a false awakening. That order everytime. A dream is by definition lucid if you become aware, while inside it, that it is a dream. But actually lucidity comes in degrees. At a very low level, you may realise that it is a dream, but you don't experience the dream very vividly, and your memory of it afterwards will likely be quite foggy. At a very high level, the dream may be as vivid as physical life, and your awareness as good as during your waking hours, and consequently you will remember it with considerable clarity. In ordinary physical reality, you experience the world using all your five senses, and thereby get a rather complete impression of whatever happens around you. This makes the memory of it also feel very "real". But if your lucid dream only involves one or maybe two of your dream senses, then the feel afterwards will most likely be less "real". Just keep practising; you're doing fine, and little by little, with every LD, your skills, and the quality of the experience, will improve.

[LogicInLife]

Along with what everyone else suggested maybe you need to push your LD's to more challenging heights. Not by what you can do in a dream, but learning more about yourself or maybe running experiments such as practicing something in a dream and comparing the results in the waking life. To me any experience can lose spark if you don't rekindle it. Maybe, next time you're lucid, completely focus on gaining more awareness and a deeper level of lucidity.