Thread: COLLEGE and lucid dreaming?!

I am in college full time (last semester finally!). I have actually had more LD's while I'm in school than when I'm out of school on breaks. I wake up at 5 a.m. and go to bed at 8 or 9 p.m. I just recently started successfully doing awareness meditations just before bed and while I'm falling asleep, along with some subtle suggestion and intention setting. I wake up at least once per night naturally to go to the bathroom and use that as a WBTB. I jot down my dreams as quickly as I can in the morning in rough detail, focusing on main points or important details. I think that it's very easy to balance lucid dreaming with a college schedule. I actually find it the perfect place to practice awareness. Many times while the teacher is lecturing I do a sort of awareness meditation (with my eyes open, of course), just observe my environment, the transient noise, ask myself where I am and why I'm here, attempt to maintain awareness while talking with others, etc. But with difficult, hands-on classes you really get to test yourself. I set a goal to do a reality check and/or have a moment of awareness at least once every hour. This is very challenging when I'm busy, focused, or stressed in tough courses but I find those situations to be the most beneficial because I'm always busy, focused, and/or stressed in my dreams. All in all, I think lucid dreaming mostly requires just an aware state of mind, and you can take awareness with you wherever you go! Good luck!

^sounds like good advice. I think I may need to first get in the correct mind-set when practicing awareness meditation. But wouldn't doing this during a lecture be somewhat hard as you also have to listen to the professor and not miss important details? Anyways, I'll definitely try awareness. Interestingly enough, my school actually has a meditation room for anyone wishing for some quite. So I can use my free time for those purposes

I study engineering physics at a university, and this is definitely a demanding program.
However, this doesn't necessarily have to take up too much time if you study the right way.
I don't believe in studying for several hours on end, you will just burn yourself out if you do that.
My current math and physics courses expect me and my classmates to study about one chapter per weekday (in other words, a total of five chapters per week, possibly three math chapters and two physics chapters in one week or something similar), and this is actually very manageable, and shouldn't need to take much longer than 2-3 hours a day, at least not as long as you have paid attention during seminars and have a general understanding for what the chapters are all about.
It's only when we do physics laborations that it becomes kind of intense - I really hate physics laborations, they always take forever.
Oh well, my point is that if you have good study habits then it shouldn't take too dramatically much time, and you can spend the rest of the time practicing lucid dreaming all you want. ♫

Wow. I wish my school had something like that. Like I said, it depends on the class but I find that lectures take forever to get to the point and waste a lot of time on irrelevant info. Plus, I have access to all the materials to review the topics on my own which I prefer to do anyways. If it's not possible though, I revert to hourly moments of awareness like I mentioned.

Stuff like this make me wish that college had a course in lucid dreaming. I would gladly pay extra for that

Originally Posted by DreamBeard

Stuff like this make me wish that college had a course in lucid dreaming. I would gladly pay extra for that

Lucid dreaming is extremely underrated, in fact I think it's one of the most underrated things in existence.
It offers tons of fantastic joy and opportunities to develop in so many ways, and literally live out your wildest dreams (pun intended, obviously, lol), and yet it seems surprisingly unknown.
I sometimes try to discreetly show people that I am a lucid dreamer by bringing the lucid dreaming books I feel like reading with me to my school library and reading them there, at least this way people can see that I am interested in lucid dreaming.
Maybe some day someone will even show some kind of sign of interest.

Originally Posted by Yuusha

Lucid dreaming is extremely underrated, in fact I think it's one of the most underrated things in existence.
It offers tons of fantastic joy and opportunities to develop in so many ways, and literally live out your wildest dreams (pun intended, obviously, lol), and yet it seems surprisingly unknown.
I sometimes try to discreetly show people that I am a lucid dreamer by bringing the lucid dreaming books I feel like reading with me to my school library and reading them there, at least this way people can see that I am interested in lucid dreaming.
Maybe some day someone will even show some kind of sign of interest.

Yeah man, I feel you. My main problem is that every time I try interesting my friends in this subject, they always seem to turn away. Being able to lucid dream is a treasure in itself. That's why I find it really good if they can at least offer some courses in lucid dreaming to get more people involved (and in the process, teach people of how their own sleeping patterns work). On a positive note, I do like to think of this as a way of differentiating ourselves from the norm at least.

I'm at MTSU for audio production (3 semesters left) and have been taking afternoon classes these past few semesters. But I'm also a night owl and definitely not a morning person. But even if I stay up till 4 AM I can WBTB at 9 and get up for class at 11 or so. I try to make lucid dreaming a lifestyle rather than going at it in spurts (like I did my first year of college) to be consistent. 5-10 reality checks a day, MILD with WBTB, and the occasional WILD attempt for about 6 months now

Originally Posted by DreamBeard

Stuff like this make me wish that college had a course in lucid dreaming. I would gladly pay extra for that

It's great to hear this! But it's not at all easy to figure out how to work lucid dreaming into the curriculum.

Originally Posted by Verre

It's great to hear this! But it's not at all easy to figure out how to work lucid dreaming into the curriculum.

It's ambitious, that's for sure. But I think there could be a way to fit it in the curriculum. But rather than actual lucid dreaming courses (which can be troublesome), we can try creating clubs and groups on it since colleges are normally big on social clubs. For example, you got the goth group, the DJ group, etc. So by creating a club like this, I think this can gain lucid dreaming a little more recognition. But then again, for someone to start a group like this, we would quite some support and maybe even financial aid of some sort. I just need the proper "will power" to start one.

Actually, practicing lucid dreaming shouldn't even need to take up any time once you have made it a natural part of your lifestyle.
For example, Lucid Living - the continuous state of higher awareness in waking life - can be practiced to the point that you "just are" lucid and extra aware without even thinking about it anymore.
I have been able to reach a state somewhere close to that a few times - personally I like to roleplay and pretend that waking life is a vivid lucid dream - and this becomes easier and easier to maintain without too much effort.
When I practice Lucid Living I tend to feel excited and curious about everything, just because I view the world with "lucid eyes".
For example, one time when I was studying for a physics test I suddenly started thinking of the physics book as "a fascinating dream book on a fascinating dream table, in a really exciting dreamscape" (it was a library), and that's when I knew that I had succeeded.

I was going to college full time and working full time (stopped going to college for now). Life works a lot better if you sleep 8 hours a day, you will do better at college and work. So I don't understand the problem with LDing?

Originally Posted by Sensei

I was going to college full time and working full time (stopped going to college for now). Life works a lot better if you sleep 8 hours a day, you will do better at college and work. So I don't understand the problem with LDing?

Just out of curiosity, how was a typical day of college for you with LDing involved? (just so I can get a general idea of how I might want to shape my schedule).

@Yuusha, that sounds like great advise. Plus, lucid living could potentially mean paying more attention in class too

I was working m-f 7-3 (walking 8-10 miles a day). M-T I had school from 3-10 at night. Friday I did school all day. I had 10 hours of tutoring a week at the school that also gave me 10 hours of almost straight up homework. So 1030-630 I slept Monday through Friday. Saturday I could sleep in until 930 and Sunday 730. Some nights I would stay up a little later, but I kept a pretty strict schedule then.