It's a bird.. It's a plane.. No, it's Supernewbie!!

[Nicola]

Hehehe!! Okay, anyways, I have been a constant lurker for a while, and I had some questions that I haven't found answered yet. So, this is my first post! Hurrah! Here are my newbie questions: 1) In a lucid dream, when you first start, how is it started? I mean, in my non-lucid dreams, I just go with the flow, y`know? My non-lucid dream could automatically have me watching T.V. or whatever. But in a lucid, do you first start out in a random place, and THEN do what you want? Or are you standing in darkness until you start to imagine things? 2) How long is your dream? See, you know how you get these really short dreams that seem very, very short, but when you wake up you've actually slept for, like, eight hours? I mean, do lucid dreams seem like those really short dreams, or are they so that they actually feel like eight, real-life hours? Is it possible to 'fast forward' dreams? 3) When you dream a lucid dream, do you feel like it is real? For example, as I sit here in my chair, is this how a lucid dream is: realistic? Or does it feel like a non-lucid dream, only that you can tell you are dreaming? 4) Can you dream yourself as a cartoon, instead of real life? It would be fun to have an anvil land on you, I think. 5) How is it possible NOT to get excited? I'm the type of person who, if they just had a lucid dream, would start screaming and jumping up and down? I mean, is it possible to not get excited after you start flying? 6) When you fly, do you actually feel like you are flying? Like, when you fly, do you get that rollercoaster feeling, when your stomach feels like it is jumping up and down? Or do you simply feel normal, aside from the fact that your feet aren't on the ground? I once had a dream where I was riding the Loch Ness Monster, and I jumped off. I swear, that feeling of jumping off was so scary. I felt like I actually had jumped off, with my stomach jumping, the breeze in my air, and I had that rollercoaster feeling. 7) If you cannot get hurt, do you still feel things? Like, if a train hit you, I guess you wouldn't feel the pain, but would you still feel fear like you would if it was in real life? 8 ) Say you do get hit by a train. Wouldn't that fear of getting hit and just the scary thought of it excite you and wake you up? 9) If I dream, say, I'm in school, would my classmates do what I want, or would they act as if I was really in school? Like, if I passed a note to one of my friends, and they respond, would they respond something that I imagined, or a realistic respond that the real-life person would write? Thank you in advance. I am one of those people who just have a bazillion questions!

[TygrHawk]

Hi Nicola! I'll take a shot at answering your questions... 1 ) It can start in lots of different ways. You could be having a normal dream, and suddenly realize that you're dreaming right in the middle of whatever it is you were doing in the dream. Or, in the case of a WILD, you would likely "start" from your bed (or wherever you are sleeping), and "get up" from there. 2 ) Length is another thing that varies. I think it's safe to say that most of us wish that our lucid dreams would last longer -- I think my longest one has only been 10-15 minutes. But some people report having lucid dreams that appear to last months or even years. 3 ) Again, this can vary. If you are at a high level of lucidity, in can feel just as real as if you were awake (some people say even more so). But there are varying levels of lucidity, and sometimes they aren't quite that clear. 4 ) I've never dreamt myself as a cartoon, but other DV members have reported doing this, I believe. 5 ) Self-control, baby! 6 ) Well, since none of us can actually fly in real life (I think!), it's hard to say if it feels "real" or not. But I think it feels real enough when I do it. 7 ) This is another "sometimes" thing. I think it mostly has to do with whether you expect to feel pain or not. 8 ) Most likely it would wake you up the first time, but if you can get used to the idea and know in your heart that it's going to pass right through you, you could probably stay in the dream. I know that those answers weren't very exact, but then dreams can widely vary from one person to the next, and even from one night to the next. One of the main keys to lucid dreaming is confidence and expectations. If you believe something will happen and expect it to happen, then it probably will. Good luck, and don't be afraid to ask those questions.

[Nicola]

Whee hyper hyper hyper. -pause- Okay, I've learned my lesson. No more MnM's. I think when I first have a lucid dream, it'll ony last, maybe, two seconds, because the second I realize I'm dreaming I'll get so excited I'll wake up. Then spend the rest of my day sulking.

[NiGHTS]

Then just convince yourself to calm down. Maybe when you find out you're lucid dreaming, you could say, "Man, this really sucks, it's all fake", and you won't be so excited. I don't know. I thought I'd be way too excited to stay asleep when I had my first LD, but I used the excitement to build energy in the dream. Like, I was so happy I was having a LD that I made myself stay in it. I've also heard that looking at your hands will keep the dream real enough and calm you down enough so you don't wake up, but I'm not sure...

[nina]

DEEP BREATH.... Welcome to the forum Nicola. It just takes practice but you will be able to learn how to remain calm and stay in a lucid. There is a whole FORUM here with answers to all your questions you should look around. Also, after you've been here for 2 weeks you can PM someone that you would like to be adopted by if you want some more one on one help. Feel free to PM me also if you have any questions! -nina

[Nicola]

Thank you people! Now my only problem is falling asleep. Oh, here's a question: Don't you HATE it when someone wakes you up from the best lucid dream ever? I would get so ticked off if that happened to me, lol.

[sephiroth clock]

lol nice thread name, thats the attitude

[Seeker]

Originally posted by Nicola Don't you HATE it when someone wakes you up from the best lucid dream ever? I would get so ticked off if that happened to me, lol. That is how at least half of my lucid dreams end, by my wife stirring or making a noise of some kind! I cannot add to the wisdom those above me have posted, but I can say: Welcome on Board!