Lucid dreamer since age 14...

[sleepwalker]

yes, i've been having lucid dreams for the last 11 years (i am 25 now)... right now i can pretty much control anything in my dream but i rarely do things that are impossible to do in the real world because i often end up waking myself. last night, i had the best lucid dream in my life and i felt a certain level of accomplishment when i woke up, and so i googled "controlling your dreams" to find out if other people have been successfull in controlling their dreams. i ended up in finding this great forum. let me start by telling you the story behind my 11 years of dream control... when i was 14 years old, i suffered an overdose of unexplainable nightmares. i get them everynight and even when i am having a catnap during my lunch break. basically, it was the same thing over and over again... i hear a very strong wind and suddenly i can't move and this mysterious faceless "thing" approaches me in my most vulnerable state. trust me, there is nothing more frustrating than not being able to move or run in your dreams when the "monster" is coming for you. this string of nightmares continued for 2-3 months, and suddenly one day it wasn't scary anymore. it's just like watching a really scary horror film over and over again until you have memorized all the scenes and all the thrill has dried up. this was the point when i realized that i was already "conscious in my sub-conscious" (lucid dream). i was no longer scared about this nightmare because i already knew what would happen, how it would start and how it would end, and most importantly is that i knew i was only dreaming. soon, the nightmares disappeared, but my ability to remain "conscious" still lingered in some of my dreams. almost always, i wake myself up immediately after i realize that i was having a dream. i think the reason being is that my mind starts to rationalize and thus raising the level of brain activity and eventually leading to full consciousness. i was very unsuccessful in controlling events in my dream and it just ended up with me waking up 3-5 times in the middle of my sleep. but because i was very much interested in controlling my dreams, i practiced whenever i can and through the years i was able to master my technique. to cut the long story short, here is the first step i practised to achieve "consciousness" in my dreams: 1. try to read something in your dream, start with license plates on cars... at first you will might find it difficult to read in your dreams, but with practice it will be easy. You can also try to check your watch and see if you can tell time in your dreams. why read in dreams? for me it helps you in becoming conscious in your dreams. when you read something in your dreams, it raises your brain activity and thus raising your awareness and rationalization as well. i will discuss my other techniques if people are interested. sadly, the more conscious i had become in my dreams, the fewer feats i can do when i am in them. for example, i can never force myself to fly because i know it is trully impossible in real life. what i usually can control are the persons involved in my dreams and the situations that we are in. i try not to be conscious 100% of the time in my dreams as would just end up waking up again. i try to balance the conscious and the unconscious, for example: i just choose the persons i want in my dream, but i do not control their actions or the turn of events. it sometimes feels like i am in a movie with actors and actresses wherein everyone already memorized the lines that they would say... everyone but me dream on! B.R. Linus F. Hernandez

[TygrHawk]

Hi again, sleepy! Originally posted by sleepwalker+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sleepwalker)</div> right now i can pretty much control anything in my dream but i rarely do things that are impossible to do in the real world because i often end up waking myself. [/b] <!--QuoteBegin-sleepwalker sadly, the more conscious i had become in my dreams, the fewer feats i can do when i am in them. for example, i can never force myself to fly because i know it is trully impossible in real life. I'm a little confused. Are you saying that if you attempt things like this, it just makes you wake up? Or are you saying that you can't do them at all? Or am I missing something (like usual )? If you are fully aware that you are dreaming, it shouldn't make any difference whether or not something is possible in real life. Once you are lucid, you just need to convince yourself that the rules of reality can be bent or broken (a la "The Matrix"), and you'll find you can do anything!

[sleepwalker]

I am fully aware that i am dreaming, but in my experience, i always end up waking myself when i try to do impossible things (which are actually possible in dreams). i don't know why this happens, but as much as possible i try to limit my actions to a certain degree of reality to make my dreams longer. i almost always cut my dreams short whenever i attempt to do something impossible. my goal in lucid dreaming is not achieve impossible feats, but to make it as real as possible. i want my senses to be fully funtional in my dreams so i could taste, touch, smell, hear, and see things like it was real.

[zzzzz:)]

I just found this site! I too have been lucid dreaming from a very young age. The first time I did it was in 3rd grade. I was dreaming and I told my friend who was in my dream that this was only a dream and that I could wake up at any moment. She did not believe me so I tried to wake my self up and I did. Then, I went back into the dream. And continued the conversation. I had nightmares too and I would tell the bad guy/monster "I'm not afraid of you. I can wake up whenever I want to" This went on for years. I would often to have to bring my hands up to my eyes and force them open. It was like they were heavy clamps. So strange. I would try to stay awake but eventually I would fall back into the dream. I remember telling my parents each morning that I made myself wake up again. It seems like I do it less. I think I'm not getting enough sleep. I'm going to try to do it tonight. I love this sight. It's good to hear other's stories.

[nesgirl119]

Welcome to the forum, both zzzzz & sleepwalker!