Knowing You're Dreaming But Not Lucid?

[dreamingnow]

Has anyone else had the experience where you are aware in the dream that you are dreaming, yet you don't comprehend what this really means and "become lucid"? I know that the definition of a lucid dream is being aware that you are dreaming. But I've noticed that an odd situation is happening to me quite frequently, including just last night- I was in a dream, and I recall confidently thinking to myself that I know I am dreaming. However, I did not want to do anything like try to fly because there were people around and I was worried that they would remember this IWL and think that I was crazy or something. I don't understand how I could have known I was dreaming and wasted the opportunity! Any advice on what I may be doing wrong or what I can do to fix this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! PS: Sorry if this is in the wrong forum. This is my first time making a new thread, and I was unsure of where the proper place to put this would be.

[dolphin]

Your dream from last night was not a non-lucid dream but a partially lucid dream, also known as a stage 2 lucid dream. It's still possible to be still hesitant to do something crazy even though you're aware you're dreaming. It takes courage to do anything you feel uncomfortable doing and sometimes you lack that courage. You're not doing anything wrong. You just to be more confident in yourself when you know you're dreaming to summon the courage you need to do what you want to do. To do this, you should learn from this dream by imagining what you should have done during the dream and by telling yourself that next time you're in this situation you're going to do what you want to do.

[dreamingnow]

Your dream from last night was not a non-lucid dream but a partially lucid dream, also known as a stage 2 lucid dream. It's still possible to be still hesitant to do something crazy even though you're aware you're dreaming. It takes courage to do anything you feel uncomfortable doing and sometimes you lack that courage. You're not doing anything wrong. You just to be more confident in yourself when you know you're dreaming to summon the courage you need to do what you want to do. To do this, you should learn from this dream by imagining what you should have done during the dream and by telling yourself that next time you're in this situation you're going to do what you want to do. Thanks for the great advice Dolphin! Next time I'm going to become fully lucid!

[TravisE]

Lack of confidence is something I also suffered from at times early on. Over time and experience, I got better at lucidity and confidence. One thing that still helps a lot if I'm feeling unsure is to do a RC. Even though I already know I'm dreaming, the RC helps me prove to myself beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am indeed dreaming, and then I can be brave enough to do all sorts of crazy things I'd never do in waking life.

[dreamingnow]

Lack of confidence is something I also suffered from at times early on. Over time and experience, I got better at lucidity and confidence. One thing that still helps a lot if I'm feeling unsure is to do a RC. Even though I already know I'm dreaming, the RC helps me prove to myself beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am indeed dreaming, and then I can be brave enough to do all sorts of crazy things I'd never do in waking life. I think, because I don't have a lot of experience with LDs, it is hard for me to do something that I know I would never be able to do IWL, even when I have the "suspicion" that I am dreaming. I will try and remember to do an RC the next time I suspect I am dreaming. I practice RCs during the day, but I don't do that many- maybe 7-10 per day. I try to put a lot of critical reflection and mindfulness into each one, but I still feel like that may not be a high enough frequency to have a significant effect on my dreams. I just noticed your LD count, and that's amazing! I've had maybe a dozen semi-aware non-lucid dreams like the one I described above, and I have had several lucids where I recognized I was dreaming but then either woke up or had a FA immediately in which I forgot to do a RC and lost lucidity. If you don't mind me asking, do you practice any daytime or nighttime techniques that you feel are effective for improving your awareness or increasing your ability to become lucid/ increase lucidity in the dream?

[TravisE]

I think, because I don't have a lot of experience with LDs, it is hard for me to do something that I know I would never be able to do IWL, even when I have the "suspicion" that I am dreaming. I will try and remember to do an RC the next time I suspect I am dreaming. I practice RCs during the day, but I don't do that many- maybe 7-10 per day. I try to put a lot of critical reflection and mindfulness into each one, but I still feel like that may not be a high enough frequency to have a significant effect on my dreams. I think experience is a big factor, indeed. With time and practice, your lucidity will improve and boldness will become easier as you get more familiar and comfortable with and start to understand LDs on a deeper, more intuitive level. The quality of the RCs you do is the most important thing, I think. The frequency you have now is a good start. More could be beneficial, but only as long as they don't become so much of a chore that you sacrifice that reflection and mindfulness you're putting into them. I just noticed your LD count, and that's amazing! I've had maybe a dozen semi-aware non-lucid dreams like the one I described above, and I have had several lucids where I recognized I was dreaming but then either woke up or had a FA immediately in which I forgot to do a RC and lost lucidity. If you don't mind me asking, do you practice any daytime or nighttime techniques that you feel are effective for improving your awareness or increasing your ability to become lucid/ increase lucidity in the dream? It's a raw count, and I've had my fair share of “DOA” LDs too (probably more than I'd like to admit), so I try not to put much emphasis on numbers like that. I do experiment with various mindfulness/self-awareness practices during the day. My primary goal is to continually work toward keeping a constant, all-day awareness of who I am, what I'm doing and thinking, and how I'm impacting everything around me; and reducing how often I zone out and slip into “autopilot” mode and learning to catch myself more easily when I do start to slip out of self-awareness. In other words, I try to be lucid in waking life, not just in dreams. Also, thinking about LDing a lot and remembering to keep the same mindset not just all day, but also through as much of the night as possible (every time I wake up and as I go back to sleep, etc.). I'm heavily inspired by concepts discussed in threads like: http://www.dreamviews.com/wild/12557...mentals-q.html http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...day-night.html The entire WILD course (which IMO has a lot of excellent advice even for people not actually intending to practice WILD)