I am new, I have questions. Help!

I bet you have answered these questions a hundred times (if not more) already. I however prefer to really get in touch
with other Lucid Dreamers. (Sorry for that wrong written sentence. I am not a lucid dreamer yet!)

So I have been working on getting into Lucid Dreaming and there are many fears I have. The first thing I heard
about Lucid Dreaming was that I would be able to control what happends in my dream and that I would remember it,
as if it were reality. I was not told anything about demons/fear confronting you in these dreams. Because if I control
my dream none of that scary stuff would be in it. How does this work?

I am keeping a journal at the moment and doing reality checks but so far I have not yet been in a lucid dream. I do however
now dream every night, I never recalled dreaming so often before I got interested in the subject.

Are there more fast ways to get into a Lucid Dream and is it really 100% true that you will be able to do whatever you want
and be aware and awake in the dream as if it is reality?

I will have many more questions below, oh before I go. I am a 16 year old male from the Netherlands. And just because I am dutch,
that doesn't mean I do drugs. Thanks!

Hello,

First, if you mean literal demons, then you don't have to worry about those appearing. If they do, in just about every lucid dreaming book I've read, it's said you can confront these creatures, and ask what they represent so you can solve the problem for good.
Again, if you really believe in literal demons going into your dreams, you'll want to explore the topic of astral traveling for more information. Probably at websites that focus specifically on the subject itself.

Yes, you can do whatever you want and remember it. But like everything in life, it's based partly upon your skill and experience. As far as faster ways, it depends on your preference. Hypnosis, supplements, audio inductions, binaural beats, and more. Some work better than others so you'll have to experiment. But the absolute "fastest" way I've heard of to have a lucid dream, is through "lucid dreaming plants." If you don't mind spending some money, search around for them and they'll almost definitely give you a lucid dream. But remember that lucid doesn't mean control, which is something you learn through practice.

For most the ability to completely control your actions and environment within dreams is a skill that requires a lot of dedication and time. You won't suddenly be able to create some fantasy world to live in when you sleep. To begin with everything is hazy and happens so fast, the very fact you become aware you're dreaming is enough to wake you up in seconds from the excitement. Achieving lucidity is not the hardest thing to do, controlling the dreams once you gain awareness is the hardest part. Also forget about actual demons visiting your dreams while you control them, if these 'evil beings' could enter our dreams they would do it anytime they wanted through normal everyday dream activity. Lucid dreaming is very much the self realisation of your sub conscious in picture or ' video' form within your own mind thus it carries no real danger other than sometimes you might see something in the dream which frightens you, but it's very much something your imagination has invented rather than some external demonic force.

Welcome to DreamViews, damianrossum :)

1. Lucid dreaming doesn't always equal control, you can definitely have control but you can also have a lucid dream without having control. Sometimes it can take a little practice to build up a certain dream power, but that doesn't mean you can't fly or shoot fire in the first lucid dream you have. Don't worry about anything scary happening, nothing you encounter in a lucid dream can harm you. If you do come across any hostile dream characters just give them positive energy, be nice to them and ask if they need help with something, befriend them. A DC is just a creation of your own mind, so you can turn any hostile one into a best friend and go on fun lucid adventures with them.

2. Everyone has multiple dreams each night, it's just sometimes you don't remember them. That's why dream journaling is good, it helps with recall. How long have you been practicing? It takes everyone a different amount of time to have their first LD, so just keep practicing and it'll happen, the fact that you're remembering your dreams more now shows that you're making progress.

3. Lucid dreaming takes practice and patience, like any skill. There are things you can do to increase your chances of having a LD, like taking supplements. Just don't stress too much about having a lucid dream, like I said before, just keep at it and it will happen. Yep, it's only limited to your imagination, there's literally an endless amount of things you can do in lucid dreams. How much awareness you have in an LD can vary but yes a lucid dream with good awareness can be just as real as waking life.


Is there a stereotype that dutch people do drugs? I've never heard that before, don't worry though, I hate stereotypes :)

The Netherlands is a cool country, by the way.

Thanks for all the nice comments. I tried to get into a sleep paralysis last night. And when I heard a "buzz" sound playing in my ear I heard
someone say my name. So I opened up my eyes and I saw a a vague figure standing beside my bed, my body did not know how to respond
so I could not move. It was very frightning. And the way my name was said was as if the person was standing right next to me whispering it
into my ear.

Also, about the demons. I really worry and think about it to much as I attempt getting into a Lucid Dream. I am not the only person that is being held back from trying stuff out because they're scared of hallucinations. Some people said they saw a monster or deamon staring at them as they opened their eyes and as my own situation last night was similar I am scared to try LDreaming again.

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Also, about the demons. I really worry and think about it to much as I attempt getting into a Lucid Dream. I am not the only person that is being held back from trying stuff out because they're scared of hallucinations. Some people said they saw a monster or deamon staring at them as they opened their eyes and as my own situation last night was similar I am scared to try LDreaming again.

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Make it your goal to face these scary things then. The worst that can happen is that they are very very scary looking. But a scary apperance wont kill you. So just look at what is scary, try to understand what it is with this demon for example, that is so scary. Is it its sharp teeth, or is it the red bleeding eyes? The texture of it's skin? Well it's not really that either, it's the pain/death that one thinks that this demon will cause one, that is scary. another question one could ask one self is what this demon is here to do. So it is doing anything to you? or is it just making scary noices? Let's see what the demons next move will be, beside trying to scare you to death. If it tries to bite you. Let it do it, to see if it really is so unbearable. I bet that the demon you might experience, doesn't have what it takes to scare you away at all in the end. So let's keep Lucid dreaming, and good luck to you;)

Sleep paralysis isn't needed for WILDing, it's just a rare disorder. Read these threads for a better explanation on what SP is:

http://www.dreamviews.com/wake-initi...mystified.html
http://www.dreamviews.com/wake-initi...explained.html

You said you opened your eyes and saw a figure by your bed, that was either a hypnagogic hallucination or you succeeded and you were in a dream! Either way, that's some good progress.

As for the demon thing, worrying about it too much might make it happen. Lucid dreaming has a lot to do with expectation, so if you're worrying and expecting demons to attack you then that raises the odds of that happening. You probably have regular nightmares from time to time, right? Well if you happen to have a nightmare-ish LD you can control it and stop it from being a nightmare, you can't do that with a non-lucid nightmare.

Some people actually learn to lucid dream so that they can stop having nightmares. The good of lucid dreaming definitely outweighs the bad. If you have 50 fun and amazing LDs and only have one where you run into a demon/hostile DC, isn't that worth it? That one bad experience will only last for a short time and then it'll just be a fun story you can share with others, and that's if you even have a bad experience.

Good luck on your lucid dreaming journey! :D

Thank you. The next demon that comes to my bed faces my imaginary axe.

There isn't really any reason to fear possible lucid nightmares, because when you think about it, lucid nightmares will by definition give you much better chances to change them into something better.
Think about "ordinary" nightmares - if you are not lucid then you have no choice but to endure them until you wake up, but in lucid nightmares you can make conscious decisions and change them into something better.

One important thing to remember during lucid nightmares is that you will learn much more from them if you try to "embrace" the nightmarish figures instead of running away from them.
Think about a waking life example - let's say you feel a great fear during public speeches, and therefore you try to avoid them at all costs, and this only convinces you that they are dangerous so they become even more scary for you; but if you challenge yourself and attempt a public speech, you will probably realize that it wasn't as bad as you thought it would be, and you will find yourself wondering what it really was that you feared so much in the first place - "hey, it wasn't that bad after all!".
Lucid nightmares work the exactly same way - if you run away from scary events and figures, then they will just keep reappearing because you fear them and constantly have them on your mind, but if you try to understand them, maybe even ask them what they want to tell you, then you will prove to yourself that you can stand up to them and you will realize that there was no reason to fear them.

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Originally Posted by Laurelindo

There isn't really any reason to fear possible lucid nightmares, because when you think about it, lucid nightmares will by definition give you much better chances to change them into something better.
Think about "ordinary" nightmares - if you are not lucid then you have no choice but to endure them until you wake up, but in lucid nightmares you can make conscious decisions and change them into something better.

One important thing to remember during lucid nightmares is that you will learn much more from them if you try to "embrace" the nightmarish figures instead of running away from them.
Think about a waking life example - let's say you feel a great fear during public speeches, and therefore you try to avoid them at all costs, and this only convinces you that they are dangerous so they become even more scary for you; but if you challenge yourself and attempt a public speech, you will probably realize that it wasn't as bad as you thought it would be, and you will find yourself wondering what it really was that you feared so much in the first place - "hey, it wasn't that bad after all!".
Lucid nightmares work the exactly same way - if you run away from scary events and figures, then they will just keep reappearing because you fear them and constantly have them on your mind, but if you try to understand them, maybe even ask them what they want to tell you, then you will prove to yourself that you can stand up to them and you will realize that there was no reason to fear them.

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Wow. That does make sense. I however still cannot believe this is actually something that works and is real. It all feels like a dream to me, this entire forum and the entire idea of Lucid Dreaming. I wonder what my first controlable LD will be.

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Originally Posted by damianrossum

Wow. That does make sense. I however still cannot believe this is actually something that works and is real. It all feels like a dream to me, this entire forum and the entire idea of Lucid Dreaming. I wonder what my first controlable LD will be.

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I came here a skeptic and stayed a lucid dreamer. Even though I've only had 3.
After my first one I still had a hard time believing it. But only you can take away the doubt.

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Originally Posted by damianrossum

Wow. That does make sense. I however still cannot believe this is actually something that works and is real. It all feels like a dream to me, this entire forum and the entire idea of Lucid Dreaming. I wonder what my first controlable LD will be.

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It might sound weird if you are still new to lucid dreaming, but it's actually a quite natural state when you think about it.
Your brain is developed to use sensory input to create an accurate model of the world, and it actually keeps doing that even when you sleep, since that is its purpose, and this means that you will be creating mental models even during sleep that are to a large degree based on expectations and assumptions.
For example, you might more or less consciously think about a certain person while you are falling asleep, and since you have a person on your mind you will of course expect that person to stand on something - so your brain creates the ground, and probably other ordinary objects like houses and trees.
Now, you are also used to experiencing gravity, so your mental model will make you feel like you are standing on the ground, since this is much easier for you to comprehend than the feeling of floating in midair.
All of these natural assumptions from waking life can often make dreams feel relatively stable and physical - you see a dream house, you push your dream hand at it, and you expect resistance, so your hand cannot push through the wall; you jump up in the air, you expect to fall, so you fall towards the ground; you fall into water, you expect to float, so you float.
So you can see here that the physical laws can actually be more or less present even in dreams, simply because you expect things to work certain ways.
This means that if you realize that you are dreaming, the dream can appear extremely realistic and convincing, so it actually takes some practice to be able to do supernatural things in dreams, since you need to convince your brain that those things are possible in the dreamworld.

The reason why most of us don't experience lucid dreams that often is probably because we aren't aware enough in waking life - we often tend to rush from point A to point B without caring much about things around us, and therefore most lucid dreamers practice awareness a lot during waking life.
Common ways to practice this are for example to frequently ask yourself what you have been doing the last few hours, test your surroundings to see if you might be dreaming without realizing it, and simply be more observant in general.
Lucid dreamers are often taught to never assume that they are awake without actually double-checking it, because sometimes you do indeed assume that you are awake only to wake up for real a few seconds later!

When I started learning lucid dreaming I made it a habit to always double-check if I had woken up for real in the mornings, because there was a possibility that I only dreamed about waking up since I was so focused on lucid dreaming, dream journaling and stuff at that time.
And indeed, I did often catch False Awakenings (dreams where you dream about waking up) and became lucid, and it was always an incredible realization to notice that I was actually dreaming at that point.

If you are still in doubt about the existence of lucid dreaming, then I should tell you that it is a scientifically proven phenomenon, and there even exist laboratory scans of pre-agreed upon eye signals that lucid dreamers have performed in lucid dreams to show that they knew they were in a dream;
here are some of them.

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Originally Posted by Mismagius

Sleep paralysis isn't needed for WILDing, it's just a rare disorder. Read these threads for a better explanation on what SP is:

http://www.dreamviews.com/wake-initi...mystified.html
http://www.dreamviews.com/wake-initi...explained.html

You said you opened your eyes and saw a figure by your bed, that was either a hypnagogic hallucination or you succeeded and you were in a dream! Either way, that's some good progress.

As for the demon thing, worrying about it too much might make it happen. Lucid dreaming has a lot to do with expectation, so if you're worrying and expecting demons to attack you then that raises the odds of that happening. You probably have regular nightmares from time to time, right? Well if you happen to have a nightmare-ish LD you can control it and stop it from being a nightmare, you can't do that with a non-lucid nightmare.

Some people actually learn to lucid dream so that they can stop having nightmares. The good of lucid dreaming definitely outweighs the bad. If you have 50 fun and amazing LDs and only have one where you run into a demon/hostile DC, isn't that worth it? That one bad experience will only last for a short time and then it'll just be a fun story you can share with others, and that's if you even have a bad experience.

Good luck on your lucid dreaming journey! :D

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*cough*cough*

Uh SP happens to everyone when you are sleeping, and everyone has it atleast a couple times in their life when waking up haha.

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Originally Posted by Mismagius

Sleep paralysis isn't needed for WILDing, it's just a rare disorder.

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It's not a disorder, in fact it's a vital safety mechanism that prevents you from acting out dream in waking life.
If you didn't become paralyzed during REM sleep then you would run around doing random dream stuff in the waking world, mirroring your dream body, which would obviously be extremely dangerous.
So you should be thankful that everyone, including yourself, become paralyzed when we sleep.

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Originally Posted by TwitchLucidity

*cough*cough*

Uh SP happens to everyone when you are sleeping, and everyone has it atleast a couple times in their life when waking up haha.

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Originally Posted by Laurelindo

It's not a disorder, in fact it's a vital safety mechanism that prevents you from acting out dream in waking life.
If you didn't become paralyzed during REM sleep then you would run around doing random dream stuff in the waking world, mirroring your dream body, which would obviously be extremely dangerous.
So you should be thankful that everyone, including yourself, become paralyzed when we sleep.

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I think you guys are talking about REM Atonia, which is what stops you from acting out your dreams. SP is actually a rare disorder, but we all call REM Atonia that anyway (dunno why, though).

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Originally Posted by AstralMango

I think you guys are talking about REM Atonia, which is what stops you from acting out your dreams. SP is actually a rare disorder, but we all call REM Atonia that anyway (dunno why, though).

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Hm yeah, you're right about that.
I know about the term REM Atonia, but I guess I have unfortunately been thinking of Sleep Paralysis as a synonym.

As far as I'm aware, REM Atonia is the paralysis state during REM, and Sleep Paralysis is the common term for a paralysis that temporarily persists after waking up.
So it's probably best to always use the term Rem Atonia when we mean the defense mechanism that occurs while we are asleep.

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Originally Posted by damianrossum

Wow. That does make sense. I however still cannot believe this is actually something that works and is real. It all feels like a dream to me, this entire forum and the entire idea of Lucid Dreaming. I wonder what my first controlable LD will be.

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That's actually how I describe it. It seems like some awesome thing you'd dream about and then wake up and be like "Man, why isn't that possible?!"

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Originally Posted by TwitchLucidity

*cough*cough*

Uh SP happens to everyone when you are sleeping, and everyone has it atleast a couple times in their life when waking up haha.

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Originally Posted by Laurelindo

It's not a disorder, in fact it's a vital safety mechanism that prevents you from acting out dream in waking life.
If you didn't become paralyzed during REM sleep then you would run around doing random dream stuff in the waking world, mirroring your dream body, which would obviously be extremely dangerous.
So you should be thankful that everyone, including yourself, become paralyzed when we sleep.

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Yeah, SP often gets confused with REM Atonia. I think it's because sleep paralysis has the perfect name for it while REM Atonia has a more scientificy less literal name. I mean REM Atonia is when you're paralyzed while you sleep, you think that would equal Sleep Paralysis :P

Also, everybody is giving some good advice, high five ( ^o^)/\(^_^ )

Do I have to go through this hallucination shit to get into a Lucid Dream, or are there other ways. I do not want to see that again ever in my life.

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Originally Posted by damianrossum

Do I have to go through this hallucination shit to get into a Lucid Dream, or are there other ways. I do not want to see that again ever in my life.

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You only get the hallucinations when WILDing, there are other methods and techniques you can use. Check out this list of induction methods and techniques: Induction Methods and Techniques

You'll probably want to do DILD and MILD. DEILD is also good, it's like WILD but since you enter the dream a lot faster there aren't many hallucinations.

The hallucinations aren't really anything to be afraid of, It happens a lot of the time when you're just normally falling asleep.

SO am I about to go to sleep. What should I do? I am scared.

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Originally Posted by damianrossum

Do I have to go through this hallucination shit to get into a Lucid Dream, or are there other ways. I do not want to see that again ever in my life.

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The reason why those hallucinations are scary for you is most likely because you expect them to be scary.
It's much better to change your attitude towards the hallucinations instead of fearing and avoiding them, and realize that the hallucinations are in fact completely natural (they are kind of like building blocks for dreams) and that they can actually be quite beautiful and fantastic if you are fascinated by them instead of thinking of them as a threat.
Besides, that method of entering lucid dreams is just one of many, many others, and one of the most natural ways to get lucid dreams is to simply firmly decide before you go to bed that you are going to recognize that you are dreaming later that night.

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Originally Posted by Laurelindo

The reason why those hallucinations are scary for you is most likely because you expect them to be scary.
It's much better to change your attitude towards the hallucinations instead of fearing and avoiding them, and realize that the hallucinations are in fact completely natural (they are kind of like building blocks for dreams) and that they can actually be quite beautiful and fantastic if you are fascinated by them instead of thinking of them as a threat.

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Trust me, I think it is fascinating and I dont WANT to be frightend, I just am. PS. I have been experiencing waking up at exactly 3AM without a alarmclock or anything, does this have anything to do with this at all?

I had a couple of dreams this night. First one took place in Minecraft where I was a King of a Kingdom. Why minecraft? I have no idea. Then suddenly I fell through the floor and everything turned black, the black wall collapsed and lava came at me with a skeleton demon figure coming towards me. I just stood there for some time and allowed it to come to me, then suddenly I could fly. I flew all around the castles and I saw the demon searching for me when eventually he lost me. I fell through a hole again where I was then suddenly able to do whatever I wanted. Stupid enough I only have vague memory of what I did afterwards. And I do not think it was a Lucid Dream.

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Originally Posted by damianrossum

I have been experiencing waking up at exactly 3AM without a alarmclock or anything, does this have anything to do with this at all?

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Its a good sign! That means you are more aware of your sleep. We all very briefly wake up between sleep cycles, just usually we don't notice it. :)

*Moved to General Lucid Discussion*

Hi damianrossum,

First of all, welcome the forum. It seems like you already have gotten a lot of good advice about your problem. For what it's worth, I understand why you put in that you don't do drugs even if you're Dutch, since your country has a liberal view in regards to that. As for going lucid, I wouldn't take any drugs to achieve it. I find it absolutely unnecessary, since there are good ways to do it without such.

Back to topic now, I, personally have experienced similar things as you describe with the feeling of there is someone present and so on, and I do know it may be really scary sometimes. It certainly isn't at all easy to "just not be scared". You may very well have the intention of not to be, but when you're actually in the moment, it sure don't help at all. However, I think mismagius had some good advice in that you should try some other techniques to induce lucid dreams. In my experience, I've had my scary moments, when experimenting with OBEs which happens to have a similar approach to begin with. With LDs I've had success with DILDs, realizing I'm dreaming and then go on from there. Doing it that way, I haven't had any problem with scary situations, which has been related to my going lucid. Furthermore, even when induced from waking state, WILD, I've only had that issue a few times.

If you still feel scared of inducing lucid dreams, try to mentally bring up some wards, or a shield or something like that...yes, it may sound esoteric/magical or whatever, but it may help you to feel safer in the transition from waking state to dream. Yet another way is to force yourself to wake up again, and get to know that you are indeed in control. Nothing can hurt you, as if it gets to scary, you just get out of there through waking up again/going fully conscious again. This takes some training, to be able to do this, since you kind of get stuck in that fearful state you find yourself in, but it is possible.

Hope this may be of help to you. Good luck with your dreaming. :)

If only there was a drink we could have to get a lucid dream instantly..... Thanks for the advice tho, will be used.

Your welcome, damian. :) It seems to me that you are well on yor way to have lucid dreams. From there on, it's more a matter of training, in order to learn how to control them. As for myself, I'm working on this, with various results. Haven't bothered with LDs for a while, and as with everything, the skills are not the same after not having done it after a while.

Ah, modern-day society and wanting a quick-fix for everything. (I hasten to say immediately, that this is no critique of you, so please don't take it personally.) The only way I can think of to achieve lucidity with a drink or something similar, sounds awefully similar to take some mind-altering drug of some kind... Something akin to what Castaneda talks about in his books. You may very well achieve lucidity this way, but as far as I know, when doing it this way, you will not have very good control over your actions, that is, if any at all. Of course, I haven't tried this myself, since I'm one who don't want to fool around with stuff that potentially can be harmful, and which also you don't really have control over, in particular when it is about my mind. I prefer to explore it in a more natural, more or less controllable way. I do see your frustration with having no clear results so far, and therefore your desire of an LD drink is perfectly understandable. Hang in there though, you will make it. I'm sure of it. :)

In order to make faster progress though, you may try taking up meditation. In my experience you get better and better to reach specific levels of your mind, and after a while keeping it up, you will be able to instantaneously, or nearly so, reach the desired level which in this case is the proper one for LDs.

Granted, this is just one way of doing it, and Mismagius mentioned some others, including links to where to learn more about them. There is no way of cutting corners and skip steps when learning these kind of skills, especially if you want to be in control all the way too. I believe that's why so many may not go further with it than thinking they once in a while have cool dreams, but think nothing more of it.

In your case, I'd continue to do reality checks and keep up the dream recalls. I would then go on to working on the DILD technique, that way you wouldn't have to stay longer than necessary in the hypnagogic state which is most likely where you get all these scary experiences.

Good luck. :)

I wasn't planning on using anything. I am not that much of an idiot. Thanks for the advice once again. Tonight is going to be THE night.

Never thought you were an idiot, damian. You seem to be pretty bright. :) Good to know anyway. No problem. If you wonder about anything else, just let me/us know. Just fun to be able to help. Good luck tonight, and do tell if you succeed. :)