Opening Up

[The Scrybe]

I mentioned lucid dreaming to my mother the other day and she looked at me as if I was practising voodoo or something. How would you best explain to someone what LDing is without going into too much depth?

[SleepyCookieDough]

My mom is thinking about telling my doctor. She thinks it can stop me from getting the energy I'm suppose to get. If your mom is like me, I don't think there's anyway she'll ever understand it unless your doctor tells her that it is good. Maybe get her to read about Lucid Dreaming. I think those two links will be helpful: http://www.dreamviews.com/whatislucid.php http://www.dreamviews.com/whylucid.php they both bring you to a DreamViews page.

[The Scrybe]

Thanks, hopefully she'll actually read them! Telling people about lucid dreaming can be hard.

[Paradox-db3]

I really think it's all about terminology. The word lucid is not often used by many, and certainly not with dreaming. Try using the word conscious instead.

[Hukif]

I agree with paradox, Lucid Dreaming may sound weird to most, so I generally use "Controling Dreams" and that way, nobody gets hurt, unless I get angry, but thats another story <.<

[[user-name]]

I typically dont tell people about lucid dreaming. (or any other weird stuff I'm into) There are only a few people I know who I can talk to about it.

[The Scrybe]

The terminology idea sounds great, but now that she knows it is called lucid dreaming I'm not sure it will make much difference. It's a shame to keep something as special as lucid dreaming a secret though.

[Shift]

Usually, if I'm going to bring it up I just say "a dream where I knew I was dreaming". If you don't even use terminology, then tend not to think you're a nutjob. I'd let things boil over a little, then bring it up again. Somewhere along the lines of, "Man, I had another dream last night where I knew I was dreaming, it was so weird! Have you ever had that?" Maybe even appeal to "Have you ever realized you were dreaming and woken yourself up during a nightmare?" For people who are slightly more open minded, briefing them on LaBerge + etc's work can be helpful. For others, I find that if you can point out to them that what you are doing is what they did once to wake up from a nightmare, it builds a little bridge of familiarity. Also, if you avoid the "I Practice Lucid Dreaming" and just present it is "How weird, I experienced a lucid dream" they don't react as strangely. Some people are just not going to embrace or accept it, and after a while you'll learn to deal with that. It sucks not being able to share it with people you want to. But it almost makes those who do even more valuable

[SleepyCookieDough]

I have to agree with Shift

[patrick45]

yea, I have to agree with everyone, terminology is very important when talking about lucid dreaming, people tend to associate words like " lucid " with the arcane and witchcraft and things like that, instead of saying " I practice lucid dreaming " you should probably ask them if they have ever had a dream where they realized that they were dreaming, then explain to them that that is what lucid dreaming is.

[DreamingDragon]

It's very hard to tell some of my friends, they think it's a giant joke. But hey, There missing some fucking amazing great times, who dosent want to fly with dragons? or Fly though space heading to a space battle like star wars? why not get to smell the laser flying past your face! 100th post ftw!

[redisreddish]

I would just explain little simple bits at a time, and not really get too deep into everyting. Start out by explaining the main idea of what lucid dreaming is, use the term 'conscious dreaming' or just say 'being able to control your dreams.' It seems to work with me. my grandmother thinks the whole idea of lucid dreaming is crazy (SHUN THE NON-BELIEVER!) and my mother doesn't really comment on it. Mostly all of my friends get extremely annoyed if I bring the subject up too much, so... yeah. I would just take it slow.

[SleepyCookieDough]

Mostly all of my friends get extremely annoyed if I bring the subject up too much, so... yeah. I would just take it slow. Same here.... Why do people get 'extremely annoyed'? I mean, were not being rude or anything!

[paragon]

Rule no. 1: Don't tell anyone. Rule no. 2: If you're silly enough to try, I agree with the recommendation of referring to it as a 'dream where you knew you were dreaming'. Most people will probably have had a dream in which they were to some degree aware, even if they weren't lucid. If you really have to, you can then tell them that there are some odd people who can actually wake themselves up completely and experience their dreams like reality. If they're interested, tell them you've done it. If they're not, nothing lost!