New to DV, Long time dreamer.

Hello!

So I just joined this place. I think Ive been here before, but never really felt the urge to actually join up and participate.

At one point I was scowering the interwebs trying to find a way to -not- recall my dreams like i do.. Now before anyone goes all "What you should appreciate the gift you were given you weiner blah blah!" let me just say, Ive had incredibly vivid dream recall literally since before I can actually remember (my mom and i spoke about this, i was yabbering on about dreams before i could form full sentences, just took her a while to realize i was talking about dreams, not making things up on the fly). The part that I never liked though, was i generally have nightmares.. About 90% of my dreams are nightmares. Not, oh my gosh im not wearing pants and im back in highschool, kind of dreams. More like Oh my god my leg is being chewed off by my zombie mother, or, oh my word Ive been kidnapped and am being shot up with hard drugs for days on end (this was a bad night.. maybe i will discuss this one later) kind of dreams.

The only valid thing I found about how to get rid of nightmares was lucid dreaming. Ive had lucid dreams before. Theyre always triggered by things that are clearly illogical, such as seeing my dog that passed away in 2007. My issue, is my brain gets easily distracted, and thus the lucidity is quickly lost.


I dont really do dream journals. I do occasionally write things down from my dreams. But with my vivid dream recall there seems to be an inability to forget these dreams. Most of them feel more like memories than a hazy dream. When I wake up from sleep, I dont rush to write things down before theyre forgotten. I lay there overwhelmed with the memory of what was happening in the dream. I still recall the willy wonka recurring nightmare i had when i was about 6, with great detail.


So I guess I am here to just discuss my insane dreams and nightmares.. moreso the nightmares. many many nightmares.. and attempt to get lucid dreaming down pat, so that when my dreams get as bad as they do, i can have some sort of control and get myself out of the nightmares and into the fun dreams. :)

Welcome to DreamViews KatherineD :happy:

Sorry about the nightmares, 90% is alot. But the good news, like you discovered, is you can turn it around with lucidity. Probably the excitement of realizing you're lucid is what's waking you up too soon, that along with the distraction you mentioned. Something you can do to combat both, is to set a simple goal or two next time, then commit it to memory, and run through it at night before bed. For example, you could look at your hands and count your fingers, or simply touch nearby objects, or take a deep breath and smell the air. Focusing on a couple simple goals can help lock you in the lucid dream, especially goals which engage more than just one of the 5 senses.

Good luck!