Thread: Lucid Dreaming has improved the overall quality of my life

how long have you worked on becoming lucid?
I have been trying for a long time now!
and no I don't feel that way sorry anyways have fun lucid dreaming! Keep up the good work

I've been working at it for 2 1/2 months. I really think I've.. woken up in the waking life. Its strange.

You're not alone, bro. I feel the same way now. I notice things a lot more. I feel good.

I think it is just the positive feelings of having something wonderful like Lucid Dreaming to focus on. Like, no matter how busy you are, you can still find time to try and lucid dream, and it is fun to talk about and read about.

i feel the exact same way man. learning to lucid dream has really gotten me off auto pilot. one could say, Im lucid in waking life.

interesting that you say it makes things more 'real' to you.

in one of carlos castaneda's books, don juan said that waking life and dreams are like layers of skin on an onion - both part of the same thing and sharing the same illusory nature. my experiences in lucid dreams have formed an opinion of the world similar to this.

but yes, my life is actually pretty great thanks in part to lucid dreaming

Life is better when you lucid dream because in order to be good at it, you have to practice being AWARE in the real world, questioning your surroundings, thinking outside the box, therefore forcing you to be completely in the present. Life not feeling real stems from not being in the present.

It's funny, people think that if you lucid dream you just sleep away your life and the real world becomes uninteresting to you, but in fact it's just the opposite. If only more people, especially Americans, would wake up in the fully present moment.

Originally Posted by DeeryTheDeer

Life is better when you lucid dream because in order to be good at it, you have to practice being AWARE in the real world, questioning your surroundings, thinking outside the box, therefore forcing you to be completely in the present. Life not feeling real stems from not being in the present.

It's funny, people think that if you lucid dream you just sleep away your life and the real world becomes uninteresting to you, but in fact it's just the opposite. If only more people, especially Americans, would wake up in the fully present moment.

The better part of America won't be getting into lucid dreaming any time soon. There are so many bible bashing folks here, most would call it unchristian like and before you know it losers like Charles Stanley would be on the radio spewing more horse shit, asking you to buy his buy book on the evils and dangers of lucid dreaming.

Some people it can make go loopy loop do.

As others have said, attempting lucid dreaming is giving me the ability to take in more in my waking life, to switch off auto-pilot and to enjoy life that much more (and my dreams).

And lucid dreams themselves are of course are amazing.

i know what you are talking about. I think that this is because you have something to compare it to. It is like if you have only seen colored TV all you life, then you see black and white tv and realize how colorful normal TV is. Of course to me, LDs can be more real than real life.

Yup, all of the above. Becoming lucid in dreams makes you more lucid in life. It is a form of mental discipline that requires reining in the conscious mind quite a bit and blending it with the subconscious. It stands to reason that if you can take a piece of daily consciousness down into a dream, that a bit of the subconscious can surface into the daily world as well. That blending effect makes both states more real and vital.

The unfortunate truth is that most folks are asleep all the time looking to social systems to define literally what they see. How should I feel? How should I dress? and so on. It takes courage and discipline to move through the world free, feeling and seeing what is best for our own beings.

SO, ENJOY IT!

Originally Posted by BeenThere

Yup, all of the above. Becoming lucid in dreams makes you more lucid in life. It is a form of mental discipline that requires reining in the conscious mind quite a bit and blending it with the subconscious. It stands to reason that if you can take a piece of daily consciousness down into a dream, that a bit of the subconscious can surface into the daily world as well. That blending effect makes both states more real and vital.

The unfortunate truth is that most folks are asleep all the time looking to social systems to define literally what they see. How should I feel? How should I dress? and so on. It takes courage and discipline to move through the world free, feeling and seeing what is best for our own beings.

SO, ENJOY IT!

Very good (and inspiring) post.

Well that's definitely a good thing. Some people believe that lucid dreaming promotes escapism. As in people aren't too happy with the real world and lucid dream to get away. You are proof that it can also be the complete opposite.

lucid dreaming isnt escapism unless people are sleeping throughout the the day and arent doing anything else, because they cant deal with reality.(i dont know how many people actually do this, if so they must be really skilled at lucid dreaming)

i dont think it should be considered it escapism if you lucid dream as you sleep at night, to me thats just taking advantage of a time that we are normally not doing anything and dreaming about random things.

I recently started recording my dreams. One of the reasons they start coming to me in much more abundance than usual is because I've also taken the time to start recording the events that happen during the day as well. I think that recording what happend to you during the day in a journal will generally exercize your memory so that you're predisposed to remember much more about your dreams.

I feel that recording my daily life clears out my memory for newer things to be remembered. That being said, I think that becoming aware that you're dreaming does indeed make you a bit more perceptive and sharper to what goes on in any state of mind.

It seems easy to just go with the flow and assume that you know what you're talking about. It's easy to assume that you can take the facts for granted and not have to constantly observe the environment around you.
The real fact is that if you don't directly observe more than you assume, then you're predisposing yourself to miss something important (and you can take that statement in any context that you see fit - What if you're so prone to one routine that you never noticed that your spouce started cheating on you, and has been for over 10 years?!)

Originally Posted by MakoEyes

I recently started recording my dreams. One of the reasons they start coming to me in much more abundance than usual is because I've also taken the time to start recording the events that happen during the day as well. I think that recording what happend to you during the day in a journal will generally exercize your memory so that you're predisposed to remember much more about your dreams.

Ah! Very good point. I wholeheartedly agree with this. Plus, you could also use it as a way to correlate things that happen during the day and if/how they affect the dreams you had at night.

I should take up my waking journalling again. Maybe it'll help end my recall draught I've been having.

Lucid dreaming has done so much good for me.
I also pay attention to reality a lot more. I was at the swimming pool and I was just looking at the water and was amazed by the very thought of what liquid was. I then wondered how my mind would generate water or liquid.

I love lucid dreaming. Its filled the gap in my life. I have a very comfortable life, but I always felt something was missing until I found this place. I hope that doesn't sound corny.

Originally Posted by Loaf

I love lucid dreaming. Its filled the gap in my life. I have a very comfortable life, but I always felt something was missing until I found this place. I hope that doesn't sound corny.

I know exactly what your saying. lucid dreaming has added so much meaning to my life

I know how you feel, it's felt to me as though all of my senses (like touch, smell, sight) have all increased. We never did take the time before to slow down and examine what was around us.

Originally Posted by Falsename

I know how you feel, it's felt to me as though all of my senses (like touch, smell, sight) have all increased. We never did take the time before to slow down and examine what was around us.

Exactly.
And all the mystery, wonder, fantasy, and role playing that happens in my lucid dreams is just awesome. It feels as if I've been given a whole new universe to explore.

Perhaps it's a sub-benefit, or it's the main, I'm not sure... but since I'm going down the route of Awareness-DILD, I started reading this online book that was linked in another thread...

http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma4/mpe.html

Just the benefits I've been receiving from beginning my practice of Vipassana meditation has been nothing short of... well, calming! I just feel better, inwardly.

And eventually, this should help spawn some more lucids, too

yeah, it makes sense - it could also explain why lucid dreaming is so natural for children

anyway, it has definitely improved my quality of life. just a little

There is generally more awareness in waking life. Particularly noticing how things translates into dreams.
But I defiantly felt a change in my waking life for the better at least.