Are my lucid dreaming abilities common?

I started having lucid dreams about 5 years ago. Why? I have no idea, they just started out of the blue. Since I began having them, they have become more frequent and more detailed. Lemme give you a bit of a rundown.

I slip into lucidity almost every night. Most of the time it's complete awareness, but sometimes I only have slight control of the situations with complete awareness coming on later in the dream. My "tell" for myself that I'm dreaming is biting my lip. Doing so will cause it to feel fuzzy, like how your leg feels when it falls asleep.

Two of the "abilities" I have made for myself while dreaming is becoming unnoticable by those around me and rewinding. To become invisible, I make some stupidly elaborate arm gesture. To rewind, I just say "okay okay, go back" or whatever. I use this to correct mistakes I make like accidently sending someone to their doom or whatnot. It's usually very effective.

Now, here comes what I think the weird part is. I say it's weird because I've never any documentation on it. Since a couple of years ago, I've had the ability to feel in my dreams. Not to feel pain perse, but to feel textures. I often pick things up in dreams just so I can remember doing it when I wake up. It started with rough textures (I remember laying down in a parking lot and feeling the asphalt along with holding a large piece of tree bark) but it has moved on to soft things as well. Liquids... not so much. Getting into water either feels like absolutely nothing or gives the impression of weightless-ness. I have recently been able to feel temperatures. Just two nights ago I remember lying down in a pile of snow and feeling the cold on my hands. It didn't feel like snow, though. It felt like holding large-grain sand, of all things.

Along with this, human contact also feels very real. A hug feels like a hug, a kiss like a kiss. Keep in mind I currently sleep alone, so I'm not doing this in my sleep. :lol:

Another odd thing. I remember reading a report on how reading in dreams was impossible, but I've started to be able to do it.. slightly. It started out with small, two or three letter words. Anything over that would just be gibberish. Just last week I remember being handed a flyer for something with a phrase on it I was able to read perfectly. Very weird. Numbers are still impossible, though. I have so many dreams of trying to call someone on the phone, only to fail to know what buttons to press because I can't read them.

Does anybody have any comments on this? I've asked other people about it and they've always been a bit dumbfounded. Sorry for it being so long winded, but I'm sitting at work with not much to do...:D

You have developed lucid dreaming at a subconcious level without your knowing. Most of us here do it at a concious level meaning doing reality checks and what not when awake which is harder. I am finding ways to do it subconciously which I think is more efficient definately.

IMJ

That's impressive. Well done!

I think those abilities are all really common when lucid, the most unique one imo is rewinding. I rewind during non-lds, but very rarely in lds.

I think anybody who starts having lucid dreams without trying has a rare ability. The amount of control you have in your dreams is also amazing. I wish I could do that. :bowdown:

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Originally Posted by Aza

I started having lucid dreams about 5 years ago. Why? I have no idea, they just started out of the blue.

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psh, you tell me! You'll most likely find that the majority of people here will be very jealous of you :P

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Originally Posted by Aza

my "tell" for myself that I'm dreaming is biting my lip.

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we call those "reality checks" just incase you may get confused when someone uses the term.

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Originally Posted by Aza

Two of the "abilities" I have made for myself while dreaming is becoming unnoticable by those around me and rewinding. To become invisible, I make some stupidly elaborate arm gesture. To rewind, I just say "okay okay, go back" or whatever. I use this to correct mistakes I make like accidently sending someone to their doom or whatnot. It's usually very effective.

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well... even if they're not the most common, pretty much anything like that that you can imagine yourself doing is possible in a lucid dream, so it's not weird or anything

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Originally Posted by Aza

I've had the ability to feel in my dreams. Not to feel pain perse, but to feel textures. I often pick things up in dreams just so I can remember doing it when I wake up.

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I feel things too. I had a lucid dream where I was flying over the ocean and could feel the wind and the spray coming off the water and everything. It's cool huh!

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Originally Posted by Aza

Another odd thing. I remember reading a report on how reading in dreams was impossible, but I've started to be able to do it.. slightly.

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A lot of the reason why this is hard for people is because they read stuff like that and then actually believe that it's impossible. But it's not. I've read in a dream before. They also say that anything that uses electricty doesn't work either, but i've been able to turn on lights. So it's really just whatever you believe, your subconcious will make it so.

anyway, hope that helped. :)

I for one don't feel jelous, I use it as a possibility to master LDing by other unconcious ways.

IMJ

i never thought about rewinding... cool trick... is that copyrighted or can i steal that?

just aebout what you said about not being able to use things that use electricity in dreams, thats not true. I did read an interesting article i found at the lucidity institute website about why light switches often did not work in dreams. they said it was because the part of the brain which recognizes and registers light is relatively inactive during REM periods. I'd post the link but I read it about 4 years ago. they actually did studies where they would have groups of lucid dreamers attempt to turn lights on by a switch, and by -DREAMPOWER- (Just turning the lights on because you are god). Both were relatively ineffective, i dont remember the figures but it was something like 20 percent success... and most of the dreamers who succeeded reported tat even though they turned the light on, the overall light in the dreamscape did not increase, or barely increased. Try it yourself though... even the most weathered oneironaut can always enjoy a challenge. Next time you find yourself in a real dark dreamscape, Just say "Let there be light!" and fill the scene up with bright, thick, white, flowing LIGHT. That challenge I would say would be harder than moving a mountain. Bet you can't.

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Originally Posted by Metronome

i never thought about rewinding... cool trick... is that copyrighted or can i steal that?

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Hah, go right ahead. :lol:

Thank you all for your input. It's always nice to see others having the same fun as yourself.

I find I dream a lot better after a long night at work. I do 12-hour shifts at a hospital three times a week. Coming home and just flopping down, especially when I don't have to go back to work again that night, is wonderful and usually leads to some great adventures. Last night, I was on some weird spy mission and was hopelessly lost in a giant airport. Quite entertaining! :D

Interesting, tough its not that hard to do after 5 years lol you should try teleporting, its full of win <.<

I'm a lot like you. They call us "naturals" on DV, meaning that we started having regular lucids without trying. It seems to be fairly rare and if you LD every night, that's more frequent that most naturals. I don't rewind exactly, but I will go back to a previous point in a dream to do it over. I also feel things in my dreams but not as frequently as I'd feel them in reality. I also can sometimes read in my dreams, although not very well. And if I try to use a phone the numbers are usually all in the wrong places. Although I can read the individual numbers just fine.

Welcome to DV:okbyenow:

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Originally Posted by Metronome

just aebout what you said about not being able to use things that use electricity in dreams, thats not true. I did read an interesting article i found at the lucidity institute website about why light switches often did not work in dreams. they said it was because the part of the brain which recognizes and registers light is relatively inactive during REM periods. I'd post the link but I read it about 4 years ago. they actually did studies where they would have groups of lucid dreamers attempt to turn lights on by a switch, and by -DREAMPOWER- (Just turning the lights on because you are god). Both were relatively ineffective, i dont remember the figures but it was something like 20 percent success... and most of the dreamers who succeeded reported tat even though they turned the light on, the overall light in the dreamscape did not increase, or barely increased. Try it yourself though... even the most weathered oneironaut can always enjoy a challenge. Next time you find yourself in a real dark dreamscape, Just say "Let there be light!" and fill the scene up with bright, thick, white, flowing LIGHT. That challenge I would say would be harder than moving a mountain. Bet you can't.

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Yeah I did a RC in my first LD with a lightswitch, and the light level did change, just not to the degree it usually does - the RC still worked though. Also, the other night I had a ND where a sheriff tased me, and believe me, the electicity felt very real and very painfull. Also, I had ND where I was fighting Nick Nolte, and he had a stun gun that was shooting out short lightning bolts. That also hurt.