Beginner's Luck/Masturbatory Hypnagogia

**Unsubstantial** · 01-07-2013 10:39 PM

I've been lurking for a few days, but I thought I'd make an appearance now.
It's been a while since I've ever tried Lucid Dreaming. I saw Stephen Laberge's Lucid Dreaming at my parents' friend's house, and I was so intrigued that she actually got me a copy of the book for my 13th birthday a few months later. I tried working through it on-and-off, following the guided meditations, with no results. I didn't really apply myself that much, though, and I kind of forgot about it afterwards.
I actually learned recently my younger brother picked up the book and tried some of the techniques, with much better success than me. He told me he likes to fly around the world every now and then in his dreams. He's now the age I was when I first tried; I think I heard somewhere that many people find it easier to start lucid dreaming before puberty.
In my early teens I also discovered that if I masturbated in the morning and then fell asleep, I would get strange sensations like vibrating, ringing, falling, or being pulled or thrown great distances, and I'd hear ringing, chiming, or whooshing sounds. I'd usually see really bright colours or vivid images; one of the most vivid ones I remember is when I was being pulled downward from a castle in the sky. I knew when they were about to happen because I would get head rushes. I never considered them nightmares, but they usually disturbed or overwhelmed me, so I avoided them by getting up right after the head rushes. Then, they stopped happening to me. I learned only a few days ago this was called hypnagogia.

I was doing some reading last week about lucid dreaming, about different techniques and such, and I decided to start keeping a dream journal after meaning to for years. I usually remember the really vivid dreams, but most nights it's just fragments of dreams. My recall is too sporadic for an entry every day. I was also looking at the different techniques and thinking about the one I wanted to try first. I was also reading about the reality checks, different ones than the checks Laberge talks about. I started doing them during the day whenever anything strange happened. So, this morning I woke up as usual, then fell asleep and had the following dream:

I'm following my landlord down the hall to my room; he's carrying a parcel. I see his wife standing on my bed, changing my light bulb. She says something to my grandmother behind me, in another language. I realize that she actually doesn't speak that language. Then I try pushing my finger through my palm, and it works. I realize I'm dreaming, but I wake up.

* * *

I wake up in my bed and I notice the lighting is a bit off; nothing is ever this blue. I check the time on my phone. I notice the display is pretty dim. I decide to do the finger-pushing reality check again, and not only does it work, but my hand is also a bit misshapen. I realize I'm dreaming and I whirl around. I see my arm move across the bed too. I get up, turn on the lights in my room, and notice that the room is a bit brighter but still a lot dimmer than the actual light bulb. I'm definitely dreaming. I look around for a second or two; my bedroom looks a lot bigger than I remember. I start floating up, up to a mirror high on the wall beside my bed (this mirror does not exist in real life). I take a look at my face, and my skin is grey and withering, and the reflection is watery.

The latter half was a very quick process for me; it didn't feel like it could have lasted any longer than a minute. I was aware that I was dreaming, but I actually only exerted control over my dreaming during the 1-2 seconds I was looking around the room.
I did the masturbate-then-fall-asleep thing again today, and I didn't experience any hypnagogia (I haven't in years) but I got this instead. Is this beginner's luck or am I on to something? I was thinking of looking into the WILD technique first, since I sleep all the way through the night, but can lie in bed for hours on end. I also wonder if there are any of you who find it more likely to experience hypnagogia after falling asleep in the morning right after an orgasm, or if I was just a rare example.
Pleased to make your acquaintance.

**Highlander** · 01-08-2013 04:19 AM

Hi and welcome to DV.

I guess after orgasm then you are quite relaxed in body and mind, due to the physical activity and the chemistry in the brain, hence that is why they always say men fall asleep easily!
I too have noticed after sex that I often 'see' things immediately (hypnagogia) when I close my eyes in bed.
It sounds like you may find a LD technique coupled with WBTB (Wake Back To Bed) in the morning useful as well.

Congratulations on the LD's BTW. :smiley:

**Sivason** · 01-23-2013 08:58 PM

Welcome to Dream Views! This is the place to be for anyone wanting to learn how to lucid dream. The Dream Guide team is here to help you navigate the forum and answer questions. We all have 3 green stars above our avatar. Click on our user name and you can then select private message if you have a question, or you can start new threads. Don't worry about starting threads that have been started before, just try it out, if it ends up in the wrong place one of us can move it for you.

One thing you can do in a post is place a link to another thread. I have done this below. You can click on the colored words to see the new thread. Start with this extra basic one, it will help you read the acronyms in other posts, Help With Acronyms For Complete Beginners

After that one the very first thing you should do is check out basic tutorials. This one covers most of the terms you will see members using in much more depth, so start here, The Beginner's Guide to Lucid Dreaming

Also be sure to check out the DVA Dream Views Acadamy, click on this link to get there, DV Academy.

Matte , our Dream Guide team leader runs a general lucid dreaming class, and you can join in contests where you gain points for dreams you have. General Lucid Dreaming (Matte87)

Gab , another Dream Guide runs a class that is very valuable to beginners on MILD/DILD, which is by far the best method to start with. DILD (Hukif and gab)

Finally as far as the DVA stuff goes, there is a class on introduction to lucid dreaming. This is a great place if you are just starting out and need a little personal help. Intro Class (OpheliaBlue, RareCola, CanisLucidus, Chimpertainment, Xanous)

I hope to save you some time by giving you a link to a thread we all put together on the topic Sleep Paralysis. There has been so much misinformation and confusion on this topic, that after a few days on the sight, you would surely run into confusing statements refering to SP. Save yourself some frustration and read this post if you want to know about SP, Sleep Paralysis Explained

Now, on the lighter side, you may be excited to learn to fly! Here is a thread where people explain how they went about learning to fly, Can U Fly/ How Did You Learn?

Then just for a laugh here is a thread where people list all the things they want to do in an LD. It is mostly light hearted and supposed to be funny, 1000 things to do in a lucid dream!!!

Have fun and good luck with your dreaming!

**Unsubstantial** · 01-25-2013 04:28 AM

Thanks, sivason and Highlander.

So, for the first time in years, I tried my technique again for inducing hypnagogia. It didn't really matter to me whether I could, because right now I'm just trying to get my recall up before I try any actual techniques. To my pleasant surprise, it actually worked! (It used to freak me out; it's the first time I've actually been excited to get it.) I had the most vivid visual hypnagogia ever today; I still heard and felt vibration and pulsing, but this time I didn't have any sensations of falling, being thrown, or being dragged.

So during this dream, I found myself unable to move at various points. Even more so than my first two LDs, this really looked and felt like my house. But what got me to doubt that it was reality was actually the same stuff from my first two LDs:

I wake up to an overheard conversation in another language, followed by laughter (no one in my house speaks that language). I hear my mother among the voices (She doesn't live in this house). I check the time on my phone, and I notice that not only are the display background and font different, but it's also a wider, flatter phone.

I actually did two RCs this time: the pushing the finger through the hand (which didn't work) and the plugging nose and breathing (which did). Actually, a few nights ago, when I was not even planning to LD at all, I could have had a spontaneous DILD, but when I did the finger thing, I could feel the skin on my hands touching, but nothing was coming through; I was convinced I was awake. I don't even overdo the finger check during waking.
In my dream, I felt immobilized in my bed and couldn't move my legs. I had to wiggle my toes before I stumbled face-down onto the floor. I actually RCed again because I wasn't sure if I was just having a really, really sluggish morning. I waited a while and eventually, I was able to get up.

I go to the kitchen and grab a glass of water, glancing at the clock on the microwave. 2:42? I look out the window. It's a twilight or early morning blue. In this part of the world, no matter what time of the year it is, the sky will never look like that at 2:42, a.m. or p.m. I look at the clock again. 25:47! Then my alarm clock rang.

So, what I'd like to know is:
1) I found myself unable to move a couple times, but there was no panic involved, just sluggishness. I've never stayed past the hypnagogia long enough until today (when I was younger, I'd freak out and make myself wake up). Is this just what happens to be on the other side of the cool hypnagogic imagery? or is it not even REM atonia at all (since the vibrations/distortions were gone) but just natural lags in LDing?
2) Do I have to keep changing what kind of RCs I do? The finger thing only worked the first couple of times, but stopped working after that. Does anyone else find that they have to change it up every now and then?
3) How would anyone classify what kind of induction technique this is? I woke up a few hours before I usually wake up. I tried mantra and visualization for less than a minute each but then gave up and just decided to fall asleep normally and enjoy the fact that this was my first hypnagogia in over six years. I've also noticed that my LDs so far have required a false awakening; are there any techniques that really capitalize on this, or should I look for a different technique to use when I try again? I've noticed my dream scenery closely resembles my house and I can't really control anything but myself; I couldn't even change my outfit with the snap of my finger. By contrast, the DILD I almost had took place in a huge mall.
Is there even such a thing as OILD (Orgasm Induced Lucid Dreaming)?

**Sivason** · 01-26-2013 07:25 AM

1) When you do it righ,t you fall asleep, but stay aware. REM atonia is one phase, but in that phase your body is usually not very preasant, because your mind is dreaming, or getting ready to. Just the fact that you are in early phases of sleep will make moving difficult. You set yourself back, kind of a mini awakening each time you make yourself move.

2) Stick with a few favorite RCs. You want it to be strongly imprinted on your mind, so find good ones and stick to them. Make sure some of them are mental, such as trying to read signs. In a dream writing may shift, or have major typos, such as backward letters. This allows you to RC in dreams that are 3rd person (no dream body).

3) Sounds like MILD. Control takes lots of practice. You need to start very small. Try finding something (basic summoning), try making a door open or close without touching it. Just try picturing a breeze has moved the door (TK). Pick a place and go there, such as, " I want to go to the school field and see what it looks like" then start walking, planning on seeing the school any second. When you can do those things you will be ready to start developing a power, such as flight. You need to learn each basic type of power, and a little practice will be required.