Skepticism

I think it would be great if I could learn to control my dreams and remember (and experience them) as vividly as you describe...

However, my dreams are NEVER clear and vivid. It seems as though every dream I have is a shadow of a memory rather than a clear experience. The only dreams I have that are vivid and seem real are night terrors. I don't know much about them other than that they are associated with sleep paralysis and are aptly named.


[edit] I will say that when I was a child, I had a time where I could barely distinguish between dreams and real memories...

hrm.

Well, is it your memory of your dreams that is hazy, or is it the dreams themselves? If it is the former then I would suggest working on your dream recall. If the latter is the case, I believe you could enhance the quality of your dreams by exerting your own will over them. Instead of just meandering through, try and focus on clearing everything up. You may be surprised...

Of couse adding clarity to your dreams will require practice on your part w/ dream control. This will mostly consist of you convincing yourself that it is very possible for you to dictate your dreams, but will also require patience on your part because you'll have to learn how to "request" changes at first rather than using brute force.

Good luck, and welcome to the board!

well, it's kinda hard to tell whether it's the dream or the memory...it's like I don't actually experience the dream, I just remember it later...it's confusing...anyway...

There was one dream I had that I realized I was dreaming and thought, "if this is a dream, then that means..." and I took off flying over my house...but then my mom woke me up for school :x

heh, anyhoo...I've been working on that whole Dream Recall thing and it seems to be working...but my subconscious is starting to worry me ....I have some really weird dreams.... :lol:

Keeping a notebook handy on your night stand is really helpful when yo wake up, don't worry about writing a novel, just write brief notes as quickly as you can.

While in your dreams, if they are hazy, and if you seem to lack control or real awareness, you may want to start to try and remember the flow of your dreams... like for instance, do your dreams seem to change plots or locations or characters often?

Well, I don't think writing would help much because any details I remember upon waking, I remember for the rest of my life...would you like to hear about a dream I had when I was ten? (I'm 23 now)

Also, I can't tell if the dream changed plots or if it was multiple dreams...there's a definite blank space between...scenes...for lack of a better term...

Quote:

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Originally posted by D8alus
Well, I don't think writing would help much because any details I remember upon waking, I remember for the rest of my life...would you like to hear about a dream I had when I was ten? *(I'm 23 now)

Also, I can't tell if the dream changed plots or if it was multiple dreams...there's a definite blank space between...scenes...for lack of a better term...

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It's possible writing them down after waking will make a difference. This should help get you in the proper frame of mind (i.e. "I need to remember my dreams, and I need them to be clear, because when I awake, I want to write down as many details as possible.") That may sound crazy but this whole exercise (lucid dreaming, dream control, remembering dreams, etc. etc.) is simply training your brain to do what you want it to.

When we wake up, by nature, we seem to be flooded w/ a rush of thoughts: "what day is it?" "what time do I have to leave for work?" "did I remember to cancel my doctor's appointment?" It's important to surpress everything external and really focus on one question: "what was I just dreaming about?"

BTW, those "blank spaces" between your dreams could simply be the various dream stages cycling (our most vivid dreaming occurs during REM sleep. We can also dream in other stages, but not at all as clearly). http://www.dreamviews.com/sleepstages.html

i know this might seem totally random, but sometimes i get confused if i really did something, or if it was just a deram. and i have had 7 dreams/realities like that. some of them i want to forget though, which is hard since they were like really bad dreams. i can understand why anyone would be skeptical though. u see, i am one of the only people amoung my friends that have experienced lucid dreams. thats why u tell everyone u meet to go to this site lol. im jk, tell your friends.

I've had experiences before ... well, quite a few times actually, where I don't know if a memory I had is a memory of a dream or a memory of something that happened in real life... it's kind of scary. It's gotten me in trouble sometimes with girlfriends, because sometimes I'm not sure if some of the things we talked about were actually talked about in my dream or in reality.

The solution, would be, if possible, if the dream were lucid enough and my dream recall was great upon wakening, and I kept a detailed journal taking not of conversations I had, then maybe I would know more. But I 'm a little too lazy for that.

Great Forum! I followed this link from howstuffworks. I have been able to control my actions in a dream before by forcing myself to fly (seems a popular one). However, didn't understand how to recreate it. I will have a go at some techniques you have mentioned and keep yo uposted on my progress. nice one!

Nice, an eight year old thread.

BAMP