Thread: Can't quite tell if I was lucid or not?

If, even for a second, you knew you were dreaming, you lucid dreamed. Lucid dreaming is NOT controlling dreams, it is just knowing you are dreaming.

So, i think it was lucid.

Also, the second RC affirmation is fake. You need to do it mindfully and expecting it to prove you are dreaming.

It's kind of complicated, you can dream about being lucid without being lucid at all. For example, it can happen that you dream about being aware without being aware. You'll know it for sure when you achieve lucidity because then you are completely aware that you are in a dream and that your body is currently sleeping in bed.

Thanks for clearing that up =)
Sooo... Basically it doesn't really matter if you do the RC out of habit or not, as long as you do it with the right mindset?

You can usually tell that it's a lucid dream, when you tell yourself in a dream something like "wow, I'm dreaming". And you get excited. As it was said here, you can also dream about being lucid, but not really be lucid.

As to the RCs, please check out these links.

In this post you will find more links to informative threads about RCs

Lucidity comes in many forms. There are many different ways of assessing the lucid state in which you lie. My favorite is the system I think set up by deirdre barett which states that lucidity is composed primarily of four factors.
1) knowing that one dreams
2) that objects will disappear after waking
3) that physical laws need not apply
4) having clear memory of the waking world

A true fully lucid dream will have a high level of each of these factors. However a person can be said to be lucid dreaming when even one of these factors is shown in there dream since they are showing signs of a lucid mind.
I would say that your dream was lucid but obviously didn't show signs of each factor.

I had a dream last night that was somewhere in the borderland between lucid and not lucid - it's hard to tell exactly what to call it. I didn't do any RCs and never had the Aha! moment and excitement that usually comes with lucidity, but I was definitely aware that I was in a different state of consciousness from normal and that when things are like this I can do things I normally can't.

I think I have to call this one (my dream from last night) lucid with extremely low awareness. I wasn't able to think clearly enough (or just couldn't remember well enough) to do any RCs or to stabilize, but I did understand that it isn't supposed to be possible to move the way I was (gliding rapidly in a standing position over the landscape which looked very unrealistic), and that I sometimes find myself doing crazy impossible things like this and that it means I can do other things too if I want to.

At one point I had an FA in a bed that seemed to be a cot in a bare room and it was very dark - all I could see were a couple of small patches of light on a wall. But I was dimly aware that I could go anywhere I wanted using certain techniques, and I started to crawl on the floor and thought about a woman I used to like some time ago, intending to find her. I could sense that the room was different now, and I started faintly hearing a voice that could have been hers, and I thought I might be in a room with her. But then I instantly found myself back in my bed (still dreaming) and then I woke up.

So I'm not sure quite what to call it - non-lucid but with some control? Or more likely lucid with control and extremely low awareness. I think I'll just refer to these states in the future as borderline states.

Huh. That sounds like quite the experience! =P Mine was kinda more like... I was kind of aware, mostly conscious, and pretty much at least somewhat lucid in every way except consciously realizing I was dreaming until I had a FA. I think at some point, something must've clicked in the back of my mind that was like, "Hey. I'm in a Metroid game with weird 2D-ish, poorly drawn anime people. I bet I'm dreaming, especially considering I just fake woke up and fake fell back asleep twice in the past 5 minutes." I also think that I then just proceeded to ignore that thought. -_-

Yeah, it sounds like you had the same kind of difficult-to-classify experience I did.

After you've experienced clear lucidity a couple of times you'll be better prepared to understand it or classify it. But still there are those weird ones that just defy classification. I suspect mine was just because I was starting to wake up anyway and my conscious mind was beginning to go online - I have a lot of these weird semi-lucids or whatever you want to call them just before I wake up.

It might actually be a positive that both of us didn't have the Aha! moment and excitement - because that excitement can kill a lucid instantly and force you awake. At least in my case I was able to crawl around for a while and change my dreaming environment before that happened. Oh, and I want to thank CanisLucidus and Ophelia Blue and Xanous for the tips on how to transport to a new dream environment even if you're blind in the dream! Lol - next time I'll know - just crawl and expect to be somewhere else! Too bad I didn't remember to lick the floor or something while I was at it..