Newbie with some questions. =)

Hello all! I first read about lucid dreams a while ago and have been having them for a year or so. I write down my dreams and do reality checks when I remember to. This looked like an interesting site so I decided to join. =) I have a couple of questions.

- How often do most people have lucid dreams? With me it seems to vary, sometimes I will have several within the same week, sometimes none for weeks.

- About a month ago I had a weird experience where I had a false awakening within a lucid dream, but I could tell I was still dreaming because I could see a sculpture that isn't in my bedroom. It was a red face with an open mouth. However, I then woke up and saw that what was in my room was a red bag in a similar shape, so that it almost looked like a face. I was definitely awake at this point, so could I have had my eyes open while I was asleep? Has anyone had anything like this happen?

Thanks for any help, I look forward to using the site. ^^

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- How often do most people have lucid dreams? With me it seems to vary, sometimes I will have several within the same week, sometimes none for weeks.

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I think that will depend much on what induction technique you use. The traditional DILD method (which seems to be the method you're using) is somewhat unreliable and can yield very different results for one person or another, or even with the same person depending on stress, amount of sleep, tiredness, etc. If you're interested in having more regular lucid dreams I suggest you consider using WILD or MILD.

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- About a month ago I had a weird experience where I had a false awakening within a lucid dream, but I could tell I was still dreaming because I could see a sculpture that isn't in my bedroom. It was a red face with an open mouth. However, I then woke up and saw that what was in my room was a red bag in a similar shape, so that it almost looked like a face. I was definitely awake at this point, so could I have had my eyes open while I was asleep? Has anyone had anything like this happen?

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I'm not sure, but it could have been that you saw the bag before going to bed and didn't give it any concious attention, but your subconcious remembered it and it manifested in the dream as a sculpture. However, it is also possible that you were already awake when you saw the bag; when you wake up from a dream, your brain will continue to work in REM waves for a few moments, so that could have messed up your perception of the bag.

Welcome to the site!

I have another question, Can you have an LD every night if you wanted to?

yeah, you can. Many people on this forum have mastered that.

Thanks for the help. ^^ Yes, I'm relying on DILD at the moment. Attempted WILD once and ended up keeping myself awake half the night, so I'd rather not try that again. xD MILD sounds interesting though.

Also thanks for the insight on the bag thing, it was definitely quite odd.

I remembered 12 different dreams last night which has got to be pretty good, seeing as I normally remember about 3. None lucid, but still. :P

Keep up with it, you're definitely building some great recall, which is always useful for lucid dreaming regardless of your preferred induction method. It just makes you more aware and familiar with your dream world.

If you're still interested in WILDing, try the CANWILD method which allows you to try WILD without major disruptions to your sleep patterns. Also, DEILD is worth exploring. I'm currently using a method that kind of combines principles from CANWILD and DEILD. Basically, I follow the CANWILD method but, instead of using an alarm, I use the times when I awake naturally during the night to try (I've gotten quite good at catching those brief awakenings that happen to all of us every night). Also, always make your WILD attempts after some 6 hours of sleep.

As to MILD, there are two approaches. One involves repeating mantras at different moments during the day. The other involves waking up after ~6 hours of sleep and going right back to bed and saying your mantras as you fall asleep, while visualizing yourself becoming lucid in a dream. That way, your purpose of becoming lucid is "fresher" in your mind when you enter your next dream, which, if you've already had about 6 hours of sleep, should happen in a matter of minutes after you fall asleep. So, I recommend you either combine both apporaches or use the second one, but not the first one alone.

Happy dreaming =)

Thanks so much for the advice. I'm often aware of waking up during the night then drifting off again, so I'll try your method, as well as MILD. Wish me luck!