Am I lucid dreaming!!!!

[oceanbreeze]

Hi everyone, After just discussing my dream last night with my boyfriend he said he has never heard of such vivid dreams that I have and has suggested I do a journal. Of which I will start tonight. But what kind of dreams am I having....... well last night I could sense that I was going to have a night terror, you know the sort that you feel someone is in the room with you and you can't move!!! Well i was ready for it and it didn't come but instead i woke up while still in my dream but as I opened my eyes everything that should have been in front of me, ie. my bedroom door, was not there instead it was the back of my bedroom, when i turned around the door was behind me, where ever I looked everything was backwards. I tried to make it to the living room but kept banging into things like walls and doors as it was all backwards. The only way to move about was to keep my eyes closed and feel from memory the right way to the living room. When I made it there I opened my eyes and it was my bedroom, the living room was behind me. In the end I made it back to bed and still dreaming decided if I go back to sleep when I wake everthing would be back to normal and I could try again. upon trying to wake up I actually did wake up and realised I had been dreaming. What kind of dreams am I having.... most of my dreams are this vivid and I seem to be able to move and think like I am awake. Thanks

[lotsofface]

Well firstly, what you describe as night terrors, is actually isolated sleep paralysis. There should be plenty of information on here or on the internet in general about both. By definition, lucid dreaming is when you are aware that you are dreaming while still dream. You can have extremely vivid, memorable, and moving non-lucid dreams. vividness =/= lucidity. If you can say to yourself "This is a dream", while you are dreaming and not wake up. That is a lucid dream. The dream journal is a good idea. Good luck and feel free to ask any other questions you have

[Dan62]

I never thought about it before, but, if you can say "This is a dream" in your dream, not wake up, but not have any kind of control, like your average non-lucid dream, would that count as a lucid dream? I wouldn't think so, but I could be wrong, otherwise I wouldn't say that just saying "this is a dream" in your dream counts as having a lucid dream.

[GuyCecil]

The definition is simply when you know that you're dreaming, within the dream. Becoming lucid often gives you more control, but you don't need to have a certain level of control for it to be considered a lucid dream.

[lotsofface]

The definition is simply when you know that you're dreaming, within the dream. Becoming lucid often gives you more control, but you don't need to have a certain level of control for it to be considered a lucid dream. GuyCecil has it right. Lucidity is the gateway to dream control, but it's not the definition. btw, if you learn to have lucid dreams, you will typically have some amount of control, if you know what you're doing. Just do you research. Good Luck!