Lights on for better dreams?

So last night I woke up to go to school. But I didn't feel quite awake enough to start my day. So I figured I lay for a bit before I started. I pointed my desk lamp in my face to make sure I wouldn't fall asleep during that time. So naturally within a minute I was sound asleep:chuckle:. What I got was some extremely vivid dreams! So incredibly vivid that I can now still see it as if it happened just now. They were pretty epic as well! So here's my question for you: Do you think sleeping with a lot of light can make you more aware of your dreams, since you are more awake?

I had been trying out a little with my blinds open or closed, but it never occered to me to just point a lamp right in my face:D

Either way, I'll be experimenting more with this!

Spoiler for The dream for those who are curious:

(this is only the interesting part) I was sailing with about 5 friends and/or people I used to know. The boat was sqaure and only just big enough for all of us. The game was who could be in the front. At some point the boat turned suddenly putting me in the front. I looked at the sea to find some floating balloons for the game when a friend behind me suddenly screamed: WHALE!! I turned around as an enourmous tail fin rose out from under the sea. It was a pretty close. The base of the fin alone was atleast 10 times our boat and the rest was several times that. The fin, despite being just it's tail, was almost big enough to completely block out the sun in the sky. When suddenly it came crashing down again, only this time our way! Only inches from us it landed in the water. Just the force of the impact knocked everyone off the boat. The tidal wave following threw everyone off with a blast toward land (which was actually quite far away) After a lot of confusion I remember feeling land just before I woke up. I sat up in my bed with my mouth wide open. Still a little impressed by the mighty enormous fin that came crashing at me. It was so real!

Yes, it seems like anything that makes you 'more awake' helps you become more lucid. Makes sense though, right? If you are closer to being awake, then by default you tend to be more conscious and aware. What I heard people do more commonly, is sleeping in uncomfortable positions, which gives you a similar result. You are not as comfortable, so are not sleeping as deeply and thus more aware within the dream.

The downside to these sort of things however, is that it is harder to fall asleep. Also you might wake up more easily as well. There is definitely something to it though.

I happened to go to sleep yesterday with my light on, which I never normally do, and ended up having a couple of FAs, which was interesting since I haven't had those in quite a while. I became lucid in both of them since I had developed the habit of RCing every time I wake up, especially when I'm about to note a dream. Downside was that they didn't last long enough for me to really do anything before I woke up. :(

Not sure if it was coincidental or not, but I'm tempted to try it again just to see what happens. :D

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Originally Posted by Alric

Yes, it seems like anything that makes you 'more awake' helps you become more lucid. Makes sense though, right? If you are closer to being awake, then by default you tend to be more conscious and aware. What I heard people do more commonly, is sleeping in uncomfortable positions, which gives you a similar result. You are not as comfortable, so are not sleeping as deeply and thus more aware within the dream.

The downside to these sort of things however, is that it is harder to fall asleep. Also you might wake up more easily as well. There is definitely something to it though.

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Hmm... some good tips here that I haven't heard before (although I am new to LD). I will sleep with the light on tonight and on my back which is uncomfortable for me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alric

Yes, it seems like anything that makes you 'more awake' helps you become more lucid. Makes sense though, right? If you are closer to being awake, then by default you tend to be more conscious and aware. What I heard people do more commonly, is sleeping in uncomfortable positions, which gives you a similar result. You are not as comfortable, so are not sleeping as deeply and thus more aware within the dream.

The downside to these sort of things however, is that it is harder to fall asleep. Also you might wake up more easily as well. There is definitely something to it though.

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This is exactly what I thought as well. I've never seen anyone make a method around it though. I understand that the relatively short dreams are a big turn-off for some, but it seems to me that it could be a very good technique for others. Like beginners, who can possibly use this to get some experience in getting lucid. Or when learning to DEILD. I would think this would let you have loads of DEILDS in one night. Then again it might make it harder since you have the lights on.

Either way, I'm gonna practice this some more and see where it leads me.

You need to experiment with lighting to see if you get consistent results. It definitely does help some people. I have had nights where increased lighting seem to make a difference, and nights where I noticed no difference in my dreams so It likely doesn't have much affect for me personally. I'm a light sleeper so it disrupts my sleep if anything.