How has your life changed since you started LDing?

For those who it applies to. Sorry if there has been a similar topic already, I looked and couldn't find one!

Just wondering... how do you think your life has changed since you learned about/to LD (if you have LDed before, not if you never have). Do you find your priorities have shifted to give you more time to sleep? Do you spend a lot of time each day thinking about dreaming (more than you did prior to LD)? Do you talk to people about dreaming when you typically wouldn't? Do you think your quality of life has increased? Etc.

For me dreaming has always been just a huge, awesome part of my existence and has increased exponentially because of LDs, and I'm curious as to how other people view it!

I'm a natural LDer, but once I found out how cool LDs can be I started working at having more and better lucid dreams.

Because LDs allow you such direct access to your subconscous mind it makes sense that they can be powerful tools, especially for dealing with stress and emotional issues. I've used LDs to access and make friends with my subconscous. This has allowed me to deal with some hard shit. And I just generally feel happier and better emotionally balanced.:D

I do think about dreams a lot more than I did before I began working at LDing. I religiously keep a DJ, and am horrified by the thought of letting even the most inane dream go unrecorded. :shock: I talk to my friends and family a lot more about dreams.

I look at going to bed as a chance to go on vacation! :banana: I have DCs who are friends that I see nearly every night. I no longer view the hours I spend sleeping as wasted time.

I use LDs to explore ideas for my art and writing, too.

LDing has made my life richer.

I've always been interested in dreams; it seems like a natural human thing to do. I mean, every day you hear some guy talk about a weird dream they had.

I technically began lucid dreaming at about 11 years old which is when I learned about it. Back then it didn't really affect me. I think I was too young to really figure out the potential. Then, ever since the end of last December I started to really try. I must say my life has changed for the better for a few reasons.

1) Recalling Dreams: Dream recall came up a heck of a lot ever since I tried remembering them which was all for lucid dreams. I used to be almost... afraid of sleeping. It was like I opened my eyes in the morning and never remembered when I fell asleep. Remembering dreams makes me feel like I'm making use of the 8 or so hours I'm in bed and I don't have to be so afraid of the feeling that life zipped right by without me.

2) Awareness: This one can go both ways. I am definitely more aware now simply because I have to be. As you can see by my lucid dream count my primary induction method is DILD. I can't say I'm always looking out for things that are odd, but when I see them I don't just cruise on by. I think about it for a moment and reality check to make sure I'm awake. You never know! I always had an analytical mind, and this is also put to good use throughout the day and night. The negative? The world seems almost too simple if you think about how easily your mind can replicate it!

3) Happiness: The best part of lucid dreaming. It's funny, I had $20 just given to me by my mom for no real reason. Just money to spend. And then I got to thinking; what do I even want? OK, I got the RC plane I always wanted, there's nothing else. I realized that by lucid dreaming I had basically everything I ever wanted.


I have found myself thinking more about dreaming and I do talk to lots of people about it, but not to the point of obsession. School's more important at the moment but it's so nice after a hard day to think that you could just get lucid that night.

It's made me a better person overall.

Dreaming in general has helped me alot!

Ever since I've joined DV and attempted LDing, I've become a better sleeper overall. I've slept longer, I can go to sleep much quicker than before, and I've been in better moods generally througout the day. I can even remember dreams now!:P

Also for some reason, I can wake myself up at any time without an alarm. It's strange, if I want to wake up for 8am, I can just tell myself I'll wake up and surely, I'll wake up lol. I usually beat my alarm too:D

Does anyone else have this?


So yeah. Improvements all round basically:)

I've learned that I really don't need any human interaction to survive.



And I like it that way.

Though I want to say LDing has made my life more positive, once I got consistent, I became more anti-social. Probably just a coincidence though, I was never really a social person anyway.


Man I got off on a tangent.


It helped me get over my irrational fear of electrical appliances (got shocked when I was 8 by a toaster, faulty wiring)

I think LDing has changed my life in a negative, yet positive way. The best of both worlds. (Does that make any sense? :D)

My sleeping patterns are pretty much screwed up now, and I'm afraid I have much more of a temper now.

However, LDing is a important part of my life now, for some strange reason. XD It's a very interesting thing to try, and I think all the struggle in the beginning is worth it. ^_^ It's the perfect way to escape from reality. I would totally say it's more positive than negative.
Pfff, who needs reality anyways? =P

Lucid dreaming has clearly and dramatically changed my life. Before I started, I didn't even think about sleeping or dreaming much, except for a few very weird dreams. Now, I see every night as a new opportunity, and I look forward to sleeping, because I love my dreams, lucid or not. They truly are windows to the soul. I think about it all the time, I'm obsessed with it (it's a healthy obsession ;)) LDing has enriched my life in many ways.

Well, mine is pretty much the same, except now I have lucid dreams from time to time. :smartie:

My dream recall has increased tenfold, and I get a moderate amount of enjoyment (and sometimes confusion) from reflecting back on my nightly dreams.

Oh and I have one more place to waste my time when I should be doing homework (like right now).

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Originally Posted by Shift

For those who it applies to. Sorry if there has been a similar topic already, I looked and couldn't find one!

Just wondering... how do you think your life has changed since you learned about/to LD (if you have LDed before, not if you never have). Do you find your priorities have shifted to give you more time to sleep? Do you spend a lot of time each day thinking about dreaming (more than you did prior to LD)? Do you talk to people about dreaming when you typically wouldn't? Do you think your quality of life has increased? Etc.

For me dreaming has always been just a huge, awesome part of my existence and has increased exponentially because of LDs, and I'm curious as to how other people view it!

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What I have to say will sound more negative than positive but I'll say it anyway...:P. The positive side of LDing for me is that I am able to 'cope' with myself better, I have issues with that..low self-esteem etc. The negative side of it is that I have been more 'obsessed' with it, not that I have them alot but I tend to cling to it like super glue and it affects the way I percieve my reality...not being in the here and now, zoned out. But it affects different people differently depending on their original thought patterns. I'm sure those of you with no problems like me will definately benefit from it both in reality and your dreamlife....:roll:.

IMJ

Well, let's see...

I definitely think a lot more about dreams, and I do reality checks whenever the thought occurs to me. Each night is a chance to explore a new realm of my mind...

Though I have to say the most radical change occurred after my first lucid sex dream, which occurred very recently. I am a virgin, but it seemed strangely realistic, and now I think about sex a lot more than before... I feel like a teenager! Another side effect is that I can't keep a straight face around the person around whom the dream was centered.

LDing has added a whole new dimension to my life. I have a friend (in real life) who does it too and we love sharing our dream stories and experiences. I particularly love the satisfaction of achieving a new goal within my dream. I think about LDing a lot during the day and I love planning what I'll try next - it gets me quite excited with anticipation. It has been emotionally comforting to me for the fact that I can spend time with loved ones who have passed on whom I deeply miss :)

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Originally Posted by DreamQueen

It has been emotionally comforting to me for the fact that I can spend time with loved ones who have passed on whom I deeply miss :)

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Only one person truly close to me, my godfather, has passed away (Just in October). I have never dreamt about him, but I think it will be nice to because I never really said goodbye and it does bother me sometimes. My dog, who I had had since my childhood, appears in my nonLD every so often and I know what you mean about just feeling so comforted :) At first it upset me, but now I value being able to spend time with her even though she is gone. I can't imagine how it would be with a person, infinitely greater I bet

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Originally Posted by imj

The positive side of LDing for me is that I am able to 'cope' with myself better, I have issues with that..low self-esteem etc. The negative side of it is that I have been more 'obsessed' with it, not that I have them alot but I tend to cling to it like super glue and it affects the way I percieve my reality...not being in the here and now, zoned out.

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I feel pretty similarly to what you described, which was partly why I started the topic in the first place. I often find that just dreaming (no lucidity) is a better way to spend the day than getting up and going out, and I will spend the entire day dreaming instead of getting out of bed. I'm not sure how being able to LD more often is going to change that, but probably not for the better! :P I guess I just have to focus on maintaining a healthy balance between the two realities haha

Lucid dreaming has let me experience and thoroughly take the Matrix philosophy to heart. My awareness and perception of existence has shifted.

I'm glad I lucid dream and have good dream recall, because it takes the mundane out of life. At the same time, it lets me become aware of the finer details of mundane, for instance the rhythmic clicking of the keys as I speedily type this message. Becoming aware of the chaotic rhythm of detail lets one appreciate life to a more permeable extent...

Other than that, lucid dreaming allows me to live adventure.

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Originally Posted by Shift

Only one person truly close to me, my godfather, has passed away (Just in October). I have never dreamt about him, but I think it will be nice to because I never really said goodbye and it does bother me sometimes. My dog, who I had had since my childhood, appears in my nonLD every so often and I know what you mean about just feeling so comforted :) At first it upset me, but now I value being able to spend time with her even though she is gone. I can't imagine how it would be with a person, infinitely greater I bet

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I'm not sure how to quote part of a message but I'm trying it with this post. This is such a good thread topic, shift. Yes it is incredibly devastating to lose someone you love. I have been able to hug this person and talk to this person in my LDs and it brings me great comfort. I can't wait to get better at controlling my dreams so that I'll be able to see this person whenever I am missing them badly.

i have something to always look forward to even when im having a bad day

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Originally Posted by I H8 Reality

i have something to always look forward to even when im having a bad day

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my thoughts exactly

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Originally Posted by I H8 Reality

i have something to always look forward to even when im having a bad day

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I feel this way too. but it is kind of weird looking forward to dreaming.

I am generally happier and it is a great outlet.

One negative is that i get like an hour less sleep with WBTB and stuff. also many mornings i think over my dreams and it makes me too excited to go back to sleep.

It is defineatly nice to talk about LDing here because i now am really enthusiastic about it and my friends dont care...awww:(

I am curious to know, does lucid dreaming have any effect on your life? As in do you find that you are tired during the day? Less refreshed? More refreshed? How is everyone's health in general? I am just curious if there is a correlation between people who are able to lucid dream, and have high occurrence of vivid dreams/nightmares, and overall well being. Do we come from all walks of life, or is there some other common tie that binds us?

Just curious.

Please feel free to include anything you might think is relevant.

Whenever I have a generally good dream, I tend to wake up in a much better mood and the elation tends to carry through the day.

That said, my recent attempts at early morning lucid dreaming caused me to oversleep -a lot-. :P Other than that, no real negative effects on my lifestyle. It's just good fortune that I happen to not have any obligations in the morning during the summer.

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Originally Posted by Ellipsis

It's just good fortune that I happen to not have any obligations in the morning during the summer.

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Same here however I'm interested to see how it will affect by mornings when I go back to school, I tend to have trouble getting up when schools on:P

I'm also interested in using LDs to affect your everday life such as overcoming fears, I haven't read much on it but it seems an interesting concept.

Yeah I'm afraid my efforts will be destroyed when I get to college this fall! Oh well. I'll just have to plan around the schedule.

I wake in a good mood. It makes me question life a lot more. Sometimes it makes me feel more spiritual and in control of my waking life as well as my dream life.

i personally have noticed that since picking up LDing again that I have felt more rested and awake at work in the mornings, I think it is because I am focusing on getting sleep because I am excited to try to have an LD, so I would say no negative effects unless you are just sleeping all hours of the day and missing school/work to sleep

In the mornings after, I definitely feel happier and in a better mood.

Well it takes up my time sometimes, so I guess that already is affecting my life. Since first getting serious with this whole subject (pretty much when I joined) I definitely feel more aware of myself and the world around me, perhaps even slightly more paranoid:-P

I feel much more refreshed when I have a lucid dream the night before- which leads me toward being happy for the rest of the day and such..

When I wake up after an LD, I'm very giddy and enthusiastic for the rest of the day. I probably get a better quality of sleep when I have an LD than when I don't.

i havent had an LD yet, but since ive learned about it, ive been really excited and happy...and im always excited to go to sleep. im usually going to sleep about 2 hours earlier than usual, maybe thats why i feel so good

Sure Can!!! Well...maybe. I almost slept my life away the first two weeks just to LD! But you have to realize that reality is more important, but it's kinda hard when you know that LDing is much better. lol...

I feel confident after having a lucid dream. Confident about life. If I can control my dreams, I am pretty much in control of all aspects of waking life, too. But that's not why I feel so good after a lucid dream. It feels refreshing, as if that virtual world rewards me for enduring the ordinariness of the day.

Now that I have a consistent sleep schedule, I find it easy to concentrate in the mornings and to fall asleep at night. <3

After a lucid, my whole day, or even week is much better :D

After having a lucid I feel better because it's kind of like an accomplishment. The only lack of sleep from lucid dreaming is from waking myself up (nightmares, unstable dreams, etc) and even then its only around 30 minutes of sleep loss before I fall asleep.

After a lucid or after a good night of dreams, I always have a lot more energy and focus. I like it.

In my experience I have awoken in a very good mood, and refreshed. The thing is, you're dreaming anyway which is itself a natural part of sleep that uses complex parts of the brain, and the previous deeper levels of sleep tend to give most of the rest you need. REM is just a bonus!

Like everyone else, I do not feel more or less refreshed. I do not think lucid dreaming has any effect on this.

However I do wake up in a pretty good mood most of the time from my lucids. In general my quality of sleep is a hell of alot better than what it was before I started lucid dreaming. For example, I now have a reason to have a proper sleep schedule and go to sleep at night looking forward to what could be ahead.

I usually only have LDs if I get a refresing, good nights sleep. So for me LDs=good sleep.