Thread: So what is it really like then?

Ive been trying for a LD for about 2 weeks now and cant seems to grasp it.

I suffer from sleep paralysis which really scares me as im very claustrophobic and general when i really set my mind to having a LD i tend to find i get more sleep paralysis, but i have manged to deal with it and its not so scary now...

So.... what is LD dreaming really like? Is it completly different to a 'normal' dream or can it be so real that you just dont know if you are dreaming or not? Hence doing reality checks?

I have found that with my dreams they tend to be quite muffled and sometimes fuzzy while i am dreaming, i know everyone is different but will LD make them more clearer does anybody know?

Any information would be great THANKS! Vicky....xx

I know what you mean about the fuzzy, muffled thing... however, I think this is more to do with the way you remember dreams than the experience you have whilst you're actually dreaming. I would hazard the guess that your dreams are actually very sharp, but that you have a hard time remembering all the details. So, if you become lucid during a dream, you can fully appreciate all the detail and take it in and remember it. That's what I think anyway.

I had a dream a month or so ago where I was standing alone in a place I know, in a different country, on a wide plain between a group of mountains, and I became lucid during it (woke up quite quickly afterwards, though, sadly). My memory of that dream is interesting. It seems as though it was quite fuzzy and blurred, and then when I became lucid, everything sort of suddenly snapped into focus and took on an amazing amount of detail and atmosphere. Not only was it realistic, it was almost beyond reality, because I knew that the whole huge landscape was somehow inside my mind. The colours were weirdly sharp and intense and I bent down to touch some twigs and could feel them in my hands. It was an incredible sensation...

Anyway, keep trying and good luck : )

Wow that sounds amazing!

I cant wait to actually have a LD.

I have read thru the tutorials and even printed some to read before i go to sleep lol

but i seem to just fall asleep too quickly! need to work on that!

Vicky......xx

Originally posted by sk1pp3r
I have read thru the tutorials and even printed some to read before i go to sleep lol

but i seem to just fall asleep too quickly! need to work on that!

Reading through the tutorials before falling asleep is a great place to start. It help to get you in the right frame of mind, if you will, for LDing. I find it very helpful as well.

As far as the blurry dreams go, LDs tend to be more vivid, depending on the person and the dream, and also depending on the level of lucidity. LDs can been experienced just like any other dream, except for the fact that you are aware you're dreaming. Most of my dreams aren't exceptionally vivid, and I don't mind as long as I'm lucid!

Anyway, welcome to the forum and Good Luck!

the degree of realism can vary (the same as in waking life). although i find that when i become lucid the dream usually nears waking life in realism, though not usually stability.

for instance, i might look at a house, and it looks incredibly real and vivid, then look away, and when i look back its a different colour or shape, or even gone completely.

though i've had one lucid in particular that was amazingly realistic, which i can remember like it was yesterday. there are various methods you can use to stabilize the dream if its vague or fuzzy (if you're lucid).

keep on trying, and you'll succeed soon. especially if you're aware enough in bed to experience sleep paralysis.

do you keep a dream journal?

if i can quote leo V then i would say ludic dreams r internal not external...in the physical world things r external but lucids u just think of sumthing and it happens whereas in waking life u actually have to do it not just think it

Lucid dreams can be as real as you want them to be. I wouldn't say they were exactly like real life, but in some ways can actually exceed it. The experience is not like anything you might remember from regular dreams. The fuzziness you are talking about is a product of your dream memories fading. When you are lucid dreaming it is crystal clear, though it may not be totally stable. It is really just one of those things you have to experience for yourself.

It may take a bit to have the first lucid dream, but it gets easier as you practice. Most people will have one within the first month, but it all depends on how dedicated you are. You might want to read Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Steven LaBerge, which is basically the bible on the topic. Also, get a nice dream journal and make sure to keep it by the bed. This helps build dream recall which is very important to doing any kind of dream work. Once you become more familiar with your dreams it is easier to recognize them. As long as you practice every day, its not really that difficult.

// cybereality

hmm...the lucid dream is an incredibly strange sensation...at least it was for me.

That moment when I gained conciousness in my dream... it was just a great feeling, like a I just made a tremendous accomplishment. At that point I started to feel very strange....I looked at my hand, it was twisted, morphing...

My lucid dream was like the feeling that I was awake and asleep at the same time....like physically I was asleep, but mentally I was awake and not recieving the benefits of a good nights sleep.

I would also fall in and out of the lucid dream, and when I felt myself slowly slipping away for good, I immediately woke up and just laid in my bed for a good 10 minutes, just staring at my wall and thinking how cool that was, and how I would recount the experience to my friends....haha.

The majority of lucid dreams are so realistic, you can learn a lot about yourself and how you would act upon different circumstances. The potential is limitless once you gain stronger lucidity. When you have one you'll understand precisely what they are about.

It depends on vividness and amout of lucidity, and even then it's hard to explain. It's like being in a dream, but all of a sudden things will make sense, it's all a dream. You kind of just need to experience it. Good luck.

I have extremely good memory, if I do remember any dreams, they are crystal clear, almost like a real day (or night for that matter) Anyways, Lucid Dreaming isn't really the same as a dream. It's similar, but in this you can control. You do one reality check, and you know your dreaming, so your logical mind has power, witch is why you can mess around, along with your dreaming mind.

lucid dreams for me seem to be more shocking, and there are more details that you notice. I haven't had that many yet but so far in my experience they're very vivid, because you're conscious enough to absorb what's happening in your surroundings. For me, dreams are hazy because you don't pay that much attention to everything around you; most people have a tendency to do that in real life too. Just about everything carries over into dreams. One dream I had involved wind brushing against my face; I remember distinctly feeling that, and generally I can only remember images and maaaybe some dialogue. It's the surprising amount of realism and your ability to "look around" a little bit that make them more memorable, to me anyway.