Greetings!

First off I'd like to express my gratitude that this place exists! I only discovered the forum a few days ago, but can see already that it will become a very important place for me, as I'm sure it already is for many others. It seems like you have a wonderful community filled with many friendly and helpful people. So thank you for that!

I first encountered the idea of lucid dreaming about 6 years ago I think. I thought 'that sounds really cool!' and read some stuff on the internet. I spent a few days doing hand reality checks and promptly had my first lucid dream. Although this was a fun experience, I never got enthusiastic enough to take it any further, and soon turned my mind towards other things.

Then, about a month ago after talking with some friends, I decided I wanted to try and remember more of my dreams to help me connect more with 'the depths' of my mind. I was going to have an operation soon, and consequently would be spending lots of time lying around recovering, so being more aware of my dreams seemed like a good idea. After doing some internet browsing, I then stumbled onto Charlie Morley's book 'Dreams of Awakening'. I am a practising Buddhist, and this book presented to me a vision of being able to make sleeping and dreaming a means to psychological and spiritual growth. The idea of this blew me away! There were times reading that book that I couldn't help but laugh out loud in response to the potential I was starting to uncover! Not only was lucid dreaming presented as an incredibly enjoyable and powerful means for growth, but it also seemed to fit harmoniously with my Buddhist practice of meditation and mindfulness. I couldn't resist!

Since then I have kept on reading into the subject, have recorded many dreams and have had a few (very short) lucid dreams! I have a strong intuition that lucid dreaming will be an important part of my life from now on, and I look forward very much to being a part of this wonderful community!