Thread: Hey Guys!

Hi Smoo,

welcome to Dreamviews! I too had a lucid dream without knowing exactly what it was, and if you could actually induce one. Well, I looked it up and found this site, and I've been glued to it for the past two years. When you had your first lucid dream, were you already in the dream and then became lucid, or were you conscious all the way through, from waking to dreaming? Depending on which one, you might've had either a DILD (becoming lucid when the dream's already started) or a WILD (staying conscious as you fall asleep and enter a dream).

Meditation is definitely good for falling asleep; I also noticed that thinking illogical thoughts causes me to fall asleep rapidly. Sometimes there's that point, when you're close to falling asleep, that your thoughts sort of "run away" from you, and you realize that what you're thinking about makes no sense - all the thoughts are unrelated and don't blend. If you create these thoughts yourself, you can be out within minutes.

Sometimes people become something called "semi-lucid", in which they realize they're dreaming but they're rather lethargic about it, and don't make a big effort to use lucid dream control or do anything substantial. In a semi-lucid dream, you aren't as conscious as a regular lucid. Anyone who's into lucid dreaming will probably experience them. If you're going from more-conscious lucids to less-conscious ones, perhaps you just need to work on your awareness. Since lucidity is caused by awareness (which can be achieved through meditation and observation of the world around you), it's important to be aware in waking life. The thing is, if you stop being aware, your lucid dreams can become less frequent, etc.

And, what you're describing as an inception-style dream is called a false awakening - you're in a dream, then you wake up! Or, so you think - you've actually just woken up into another dream! They can be tricky to catch sometimes, because you usually wake up in your own bed and things can seem pretty normal. These FAs can happen in both regular, non-lucid dreams, and lucids. Sometimes if you become lucid and get too excited, you may enter one; some people have even chained four or five of them in a row! The bad thing about FAs is that they can be hard to catch unless you get into the habit of doing a reality check and being aware as soon as you wake up. But, the good thing is that they're often very stable, and the perfect grounds for starting a new lucid.

If you have any questions about the forum or LDing in general, feel free to ask! I'll be on for the next few hours, as will many other members who can help.