How real does a lucid dream feel?

[Deaf Cow]

I haven't got one myself yet (I'm going to use some techniques tonight..). But I'd like to know how does it feel to have a lucid dream? Does it feel very real or what? Also do you really have the feeling of being yourself in such a dream? Like I'm not always myself in a normal dream, and I may do weird stuff.. (A.K.A. one of my worst nightmates ; breaking out of a mental care and riding from a cliff with one of the mental care vans...) Do you feel in controll of yourself? I can't imagine myself being aware of a dream.. It's such a weird idea!

[Jonathan]

It varies, but my dreams can super real. Like exactly like real life real. In my lucids, I often just look around, exploring how wonderfully real things are.

[Luminous]

Like jonathan said, it varies. Some don't seem very vivid or real at all, others can seem even hyper-real where your senses seem to have sharpened, and colors are more vibrant. That's often what WILDs are like for me.

[King K]

They don't feel like dreams, believe me, it feels exactly like you're in real life but can do anything.

[Iamerik]

It's not always the same. Sometimes it looks and feels just like real life, and sometimes the surfaces look like textures from a game from 1999. Still, what you see is not everything. The whole feeling of being aware that it is a dream, surfaces feeling like they should (wood feeling like wood, metal feeling cold), being able to feel the wind through your hair or feel the temperature rising when the sun appears, it's great! I once moved some clouds aside with my hands to reveal the sun and it made everything brighter and it felt warm. It's awesome when everything looks and feels realistic.

[mershwista]

It depends. Some dreams I'll realize I'm dreaming but still feel like there are certain aspects I can't control. Some dreams feel more realistic. I almost always end up flying at some point during every lucid dream...this doesn't generally happen in real life.

[Xibran123]

As real as it is right know. Shoot, we could be in one right one...DO A REALITY CHECK!!! hahaha.

[NightLife]

I've had around 50 lucid dreams and all of them have sucked and were unreal... I'm gonna have to try more with my lucid dreams... I think I need to take more time to stabilize my dreams because I only have the sense of sight, touch and hearing... The clarity is terrible in my dreams... I'm usually in unknown places with terrible lighting... I should make a dream journal...

[Deaf Cow]

I see, it seems to vary alot! Let's hope my first lucid is going to be clear...

[Bonsay]

It's very real most of the time for me. Of course everything is always different. Lighting, people, "things", structures etc. How is it like in a dream? I guess it's like being on drugs (lol). The important thing is that you're there. It's not just imagination, if that's what you're asking.

[annsie]

For me my lucid dreams are always very real, and they make sense too and follow a certain "story line". I would be fully aware that I was dreaming and would set out to change things around according to my liking. Sometimes I can change a lot and sometimes I can only change a little. It feels like you are directing a movie where you are also the main character. Its fun ! If I wake up during a lucid dream I can go straight back into it and continue the dream. Twice I dreamt I was making love and woke up with a full orgasm stronger than I had felt in real life ! I have dreamt lucidly naturally since a teenager so its all very natural to me. Actually before today I thought everyone has dreams like that !

[Deaf Cow]

Aaah, I got a friend which had the same. He thought it was normal, and told me about it.. I'm jealous on you and my friend.. I tried MILD last night.. I might try it tonight again.. I can't really do these WBTB techniques or standing up somewhere in the middle of the night, as my family will wake up then.. Is there something similiar to MILD?

[LucidDreamGod]

Depends on how much time you spend thinking about things, thinking about your current state, and who you are in real life and it'll be like "oh yeah thats who I am' and your yourself all of a sudden, the way it feels varies also, it can sometimes feel odd and distorted, sometimes it feels so normal you could sware that it couldn't possibly be a dream, everything in a dream can be distorted, for example pain and pleasure, as well as even emotions, and your psycology, and personality. But they can all be stabilized with skill.

[Sickscent]

Sometimes they are 'realer' than life. The vibrancy, touch, smell... All the five senses are enhanced to a great degree. Plus the added, "do anything" makes me wonder why more people do not try to fully perfect this state of altered consciousness.

[Sickscent]

Sorry, double post!

[AlexLou]

My lucid dreams are mostly like normal dreams. Although some are super realistic with all the detail of real life. But they still don't feel like reality. If they did I'd never know I was dreaming!

[Yosemine]

Spoiler for Response to some quotes that would otherwise clutter the screen and confuse the reader...: It's not always the same. Sometimes it looks and feels just like real life, and sometimes the surfaces look like textures from a game from 1999. Still, what you see is not everything. The whole feeling of being aware that it is a dream, surfaces feeling like they should (wood feeling like wood, metal feeling cold), being able to feel the wind through your hair or feel the temperature rising when the sun appears, it's great! I once moved some clouds aside with my hands to reveal the sun and it made everything brighter and it felt warm. It's awesome when everything looks and feels realistic. I agree that sight isn't everything. I had a dream with very good sight, but in the beginning I couldn't feel and it was horrible. Likewise, I felt the wind while flying even though I wasn't thinking about it and it was awesome. I've had around 50 lucid dreams and all of them have sucked and were unreal... I'm gonna have to try more with my lucid dreams... I think I need to take more time to stabilize my dreams because I only have the sense of sight, touch and hearing... The clarity is terrible in my dreams... I'm usually in unknown places with terrible lighting... I should make a dream journal... Aww, I can relate. I've had only about eight good lucids out of maybe thirty now. I'm not sure if stabilizing is fully the problem, but maybe you are thinking too much of it in the dream. I've found that thinking about what you should be experiencing makes the dreams unstable and blurry. You just can't consciously control everything. Depends on how much time you spend thinking about things, thinking about your current state, and who you are in real life and it'll be like "oh yeah thats who I am' and your yourself all of a sudden, the way it feels varies also, it can sometimes feel odd and distorted, sometimes it feels so normal you could sware that it couldn't possibly be a dream, everything in a dream can be distorted, for example pain and pleasure, as well as even emotions, and your psycology, and personality. But they can all be stabilized with skill. Interesting that you would put how "you" feel. I haven't had a lot of experience with this though. My lucid dreams are mostly like normal dreams. Although some are super realistic with all the detail of real life. But they still don't feel like reality. If they did I'd never know I was dreaming! That's a good point! I also have that feeling. It's hard to describe, but I'd compare it to being lightweight and airy. Like other people have said lucid experiences vary greatly. In all of my lucid dreams I've been "myself" as in I knew who I was and I typically wouldn't do anything violent. The worst I've done is take control of a car I was in with another lady, and even then I felt kind of bad that I forced her to take the passenger seat! However, I can't say my logic has all been there. In that same lucid dream, I drifted into a state of low lucidity where I was given two dollars and was happy because I was convinced I would wake up with two bucks in my hand. No, really. The basis of "self" stays, but you may make some illogical choices. However, some people like letting off their steam in lucid dreams and kill DC's and whatever. I don't really know why (no offense to you guys I just don't understand why someone would want to) so I suppose that the idea that the whole world is your playground can give you some insights about yourself you really don't want to know. As for the physical realness of lucid dreams, once again that varies. Unfortunately, I have had a high lucid dream count (well until recently), but my lucid dreams were often short and or hazy. I've solved the shortness problem, but the haziness persists. The problem here is trying too hard I think. In these dreams objects are unstable. Just like in a normal dream I may change locations, often leading to a loss of lucidity. In the lucid dream I told you about earlier (that one taught me a lot) the mountains were blinking in and out of existence all together. I also was driving a car, then a motorcycle, and at the end I dismounted off of an old, rusty bicycle. You can guess how hard I laughed in the dream when I realized that! On the other side, I have had a few dreams, that as some people often put it, were "more real than real life." That doesn't make any sense since real life is as real as it should get. I think the reason it is "more real" is because everything is as it "should" be in a perfect human being. I don't have imperfections in my vision, such as floaters. Colors are more vivid and the sun doesn't hurt my eyes or leave marks. I can focus on objects that are near and far at the same time and my sense of space remains the same. If you think about it, that is a more real representation of the world than what we may experience in waking life. One such dream was my all time favorite "Staring at the Universe" dream. I basically looked up at the sky and saw lots of galaxies all around. The sky had a neon red appearance as if we were in a nebula. I spent nearly the entire dream looking at the galaxies because they looked so wonderful. Lastly, for control of your actual dream body, don't worry about it. I'll admit, I've had problems with paralysis in my dreams during WILDs, namely my eyes, but DILDs don't do that to you. During life you usually don't think about how to move. (Do it occasionally though, it's so weird. You just can't figure out how you are doing it!) For me flying also came very naturally, as I hope it will for you too. Good luck.

[RunflaCruiser]

I haven't got one myself yet (I'm going to use some techniques tonight..). But I'd like to know how does it feel to have a lucid dream? Does it feel very real or what? Also do you really have the feeling of being yourself in such a dream? Like I'm not always myself in a normal dream, and I may do weird stuff.. (A.K.A. one of my worst nightmates ; breaking out of a mental care and riding from a cliff with one of the mental care vans...) Do you feel in controll of yourself? I can't imagine myself being aware of a dream.. It's such a weird idea! Sometimes while your flying high above the city your amazed at how your mind can create every single building, tree, person, etc that you fly over. You definitely cant do this in real life so I'd say it's like getting to be a baby again, and experiencing a new world all over again.

[AlexLou]

Oh, I forgot to answer your question about being other people . . . Sometimes I am other people in my lucids just like I am in my normal dreams. And I know that I'm not really that person but will act as if I am and do things that I wouldn't normally do . . . But if I really didn't want to do something I wouldn't do it.