Are lucid dreams actually as rich and detailed as life?

**Arra** · 02-18-2011 11:05 AM

I've heard frequent lucid dreamers say that their LDs are just as detailed as real life. So far, I haven't been able to stay in a LD for longer than a few seconds. But I have memories of, during those few seconds, being astounded at how detailed everything is. When I think about it though, in real life, I look around me and see details that it seems I couldn't come up with in a dream. It seems that maybe, I was so excited at how realistic it seemed, I exaggerated and convinced myself it was just as realistic as real life, while really it wasn't that realistic.

Do you think lucid dreams are just as realistic as real life, or that people exaggerate even slightly when they claim that?

**~~fhgshfdg~~** · 02-18-2011 11:36 AM

In my experience, I never really experience a dream in "real time." Of course, when I awake from a lucid dream, I recall of the feelings of it being in real time, but it always feels like a memory and never an actual occurrence. It just always seems distant, so to speak, even in my most vivid of dreams. Sometimes I feel as though, things are real or "realer than real" at the moment, and more specifically, at the moment of reminiscence, but my dreams never compare to the constance and resonance I feel during my waking life.

I hope that made sense. I'm pretty drunk right now

**Shadow27** · 02-18-2011 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by fhgshfdg

In my experience, I never really experience a dream in "real time." Of course, when I awake from a lucid dream, I recall of the feelings of it being in real time, but it always feels like a memory and never an actual occurrence. It just always seems distant, so to speak, even in my most vivid of dreams. Sometimes I feel as though, things are real or "realer than real" at the moment, and more specifically, at the moment of reminiscence, but my dreams never compare to the constance and resonance I feel during my waking life.

I hope that made sense. I'm pretty drunk right now

This is because your brain erases you memory of your dreams shortly after you wake up and when
you remember your dreams, you're really remembering the memory... if that makes any sense lol

**Arra** · 02-18-2011 11:10 PM

I know that we don't experience (or maybe just don't remember) the detail in normal dreams, but I'm asking about lucid dreams.

**Oneironaut Zero** · 02-18-2011 11:23 PM

Actually, I'm going to have to disagree with the idea that both the detail in lucid and non-lucid dreams aren't as as detailed as real life.

I have been in lucid dreams for periods that seemed to be half and hour or more. (Whether or not they were is not in question. It's hard to tell time if you don't have a credible reference.) And I can tell you, personally, that the detail can be very, very realistic. I can't even begin to say how many times I have stopped what I'm doing, while lucid, to simply take a look around. I am constantly in awe at how real some lucid dreams are. I analyze things visually. I touch things - not passively - but intensely. The banisters of staircases; the pictures on walls; the tile floors of a shopping mall. They can all be extremely detailed. I am an artist, so I really don't know whether or not my attention to detail might have something to do with it. It might. I can't see from other peoples' perspectives, to compare. But, from my personal experience, I have been in many lucid dreams where I just catch myself looking around and saying "My God...I can't believe that this is all a dream."

**insideout** · 02-18-2011 11:49 PM

Many times in lucid dreams I have stopped to notice how detailed and realistic things look and feel.

**Shadow27** · 02-19-2011 12:51 AM

To add to this, my first lucid dream I did just that. I looked around and was like, wow... this is so vivid and realistic.
I actually do this occasionally in waking life. I just stop, and take in my surroundings. I feel like most of us go through
waking life with our minds a little bit asleep. When you do this, your mind is awake as ever

. Honestly I feel like
examining your surroundings like this could enhance lucidity and stabilize the dream. I'm just speculating though as I
have only had two lucids.

**carwashguy** · 02-19-2011 01:52 AM

Like Shadow27 was saying, I believe recall has a lot to do with this. Try remembering what you ate for lunch three days ago. Got it? Okay, now remember what it looked like, what your surroundings looked like, what it tasted like, what the people who around you looked like, etc. Does what you remember seem any more real than what you remember in your dreams? At least for me, my memories of dreams and memories of real events seem about the same realness as I play them out again in my mind.

Two nights ago I had a lucid dream, and I flew through my window into a jungle. The colors were more vibrant than I've ever seen in waking life. The deep green leaves were so richly colored that I remembered they almost looked neon--as were the brown tree trunks and dark blue sky. I could see a dark gray cloud hovering above, drizzling down raindrops. I could feel the cold raindrops hitting me all over my body as I flew by (very refreshing), and I could even see these drops bounce off the leaves and refract light. So to answer your question, yes: dreams are actually as rich and detailed as in waking life.

**changed** · 02-19-2011 02:05 AM

While your in a lucid dream, it seems very realistic. Sense your mind naturally doesn't store dream memories, they don't seem as vivid when remembering them. I know when I realize I am dreaming I am awed, but when I wake the vividity of the memory starts to fade. It is just the way it is, that is why we keep dream journals.

**astralpixels** · 02-19-2011 03:06 AM

Dreams, lucid or not, can be as realistic as waking life, imo. I've had many experiences where my non-lucids were more vivid and detailed than my lucid ones, but I do think there is a special sense of "reality" with lucid ones, simply because you're fully conscious and aware of what is happening. There are so many factors that can change your dream recall or vividness, based on your diet, hours of sleep, daily routines, meditative or other practices; so no, I don't think people over exaggerate, i just think some people may be more in tune with their dreams.

**cedward1** · 02-19-2011 04:22 AM

My non-lucid dreams can be quite vivid indeed, especially if I take an herbal supplement or vitamin before bed. However, my lucid dreams are usually much less vivid. It seems that the very act of realizing I am dreaming makes the dream less real, and soon it seems more like a daydream than anything I am directly experiencing. Or it fades into blackness. I was surprised when I read that most people's lucid dreams are amazingly vivid. What am I doing wrong?

**astralpixels** · 02-19-2011 06:47 AM

I think stabilization has a huge part on how vivid a lucid dream can be although sometimes the vividness and realistic quality is sometimes spontaneous. If I rush into a LD or get too excited and fly off, the LD usually fades and loses its quality. If you can overcome that initial urge to just fly or whatever it is you had in mind, it can be very rewarding if you take a moment to really feel all your senses as this usually enhances the vividness to an incredible detail. There's a great thread about how to work on stabilization, I'll see if I can find it, it really deserves a sticky.

Edit: Here you go, http://www.dreamviews.com/f14/my-tut...ours-ld-94752/ by Atkins513. It's very informative and I think this might help anyone to achieve maximum "realistic" quality and should improve LD length as well.

**NrElAx** · 02-19-2011 07:53 AM

I've had three lucids that were just vivid as my waking life and the rest were kind of blurry and one was crayon hahah. But I've heard some people say lucids can be more vivid than waking life. Like really enhanced HD shit hahah.

**Omnilucid** · 02-19-2011 08:32 AM

you can make it clear/vivid/detailed/etc if you wished for it to happen, from my experienced
I remember i did it in my lucid dream but i dont remember which one was it or when and how.
I tried it out because i notice i dont remember people's faces, and it were blurs, and it worked.

**DayDreamer315** · 02-19-2011 09:00 AM

i think dreams get more vivid and life like the more experienced you get with them. In some cases at least. for me ive had some moments in a lucid where it felt so real i questioned wether it was really a dream or not, even after doing a failed RC.

**Bmahon26** · 02-19-2011 09:10 AM

the better I get, the more realistic and vivid my dreams become

**Senak** · 01-24-2014 05:12 AM

mine are exactly like real life until something that defies scienc e happens... like the balrog... that was a great task any who havent done it i suggest trying it out.

**SinisterDezz** · 01-24-2014 05:50 AM

A lot of people suggest that their dreams are more real than reality. I sometimes agree, but then realize that I don't normally pay enough attention to the details of reality. I push it off as background noise, something that I am used to.

ADA helped me study this theory, but I have actually decided to go another route.

Back to basics.