Hello

[caven1976]

Hey everyone, First post! My brother-in-law was visiting last week and we talked quite a bit about lucid dreaming - I'd heard of it before, but never taken the time to try it. He's been working for a year, and has been Lucid 3 times, but only for a couple of seconds. His surprise at being lucid has woken him up every time, but he's getting close. I know it is something I would enjoy, so starting listening to Opheliablue's 2013 podcast which is how I found the site. Anyway - my history with Lucid dreaming. I'm reasonably sure that I've been Lucid and in control once in my life (at least that I can recall), but it certainly wasn't at the level of clarity that many on here describe... Anyway, I was probably 11 or 12, and I remember standing on a huge tower with my grandma... we jumped off of the tower and started falling to the ground. The momentum didn't slow as we approached the ground and I think as I was falling I started to become lucid because I remember thinking, "wait, they say if you fall in a dream and hit the ground, you die in real life" (the stupid things kids say)... well, grandma and I hit the ground and both looked at each other and laughed. I'm certain I became lucid at that time because I completely recognized that I must be in a dream or else I would be resembling a pancake with strawberry syrup right about then. Anyway, the dream must have lasted another 15 minutes or so because Grandma and I started climbing and jumping, climbing and jumping. I could feel the wind as I fell, and I swear the butterflies in the stomach... Anyway, I woke up so excited and realized I had the best dream ever.... No lucidity since then that was as dramatic, but several times that I've been aware i was dreaming and kept on going... I just didn't recognize it for what it was and never sought to impose my conscious will. I've willed myself back into dreams from an awake state, but no lucidity once in. Well anyway, after my brother-in-law and I talked for a couple of days, I had a pretty close experience that convinced me that I might not have too far to go to achieve lucidity. I went to sleep and tried a bit of what I now understand is WILD (although I'm sure I didn't do it quite right)... I just tried to relax my body and calm my mind... I opened my eyes and saw a huge nasty spider descending right towards my face (it was about 3 feet away)... I immediately awoke, jumped out of bed, shouted and flicked on the light. My wife screamed "what's wrong?". I immediately recognized that I had dreamed it (and was now awake) but the detail of the spider and realism was burned in my brain and I instantly recognized that it was more than a normal dream. Anyway, I'll check out the academy and let you guys know how it goes!

[Zoth]

Welcome to DV caven1976 It's always exciting when a close friend or family member is also into lucid dreaming, it makes for quite some interesting conversations, not to mention it's a noticeable boost when it comes to motivation It seems that you've already had some memorable moments in the past, and the dream you just described sounds like a good thing to keep in mind when you lay down to sleep....incubating past experiences to help you become lucid is quite helpful ^^

[AnotherDreamer]

Welcome to DV!

[cooleymd]

I don't really try WILD, but as I lay waiting to fall asleep I sometime have visions, they are not really dreams since I am not asleep. They can still look crystal clear, and I know they are not real, if I open my eyes or move at all they will vanish. Only once in a fascinating flip-book vision, did I will a dream like hand (I call it a hallucinatory hand to distinguish it from dream hands which are easy to control) modify the vision so that I could see more of the flip-book that I was seeing. So you might find that you can be still awake but experience visual stuff Of course the reverse is true and in the WILD equivalent of a false awakening you could be dreaming you are still trying to WILD, totally aware of what you think you're trying to do, and yet unaware you are already dreaming maybe give up on your WILD then walk out your door and then realized afterwards you forgot to open the door and walked right thru it, then shock awake in bed he he Dreams are weird and tricky, so you need to learn not to get excited and wake up, as much as you need to learn to trigger as for becoming more lucid just knowing isn't good enough to increase it, do something like a test then when you get the impossible result you'll be more aware. Remember you can lose lucidity so if you become lucid and the dream goes on for 15 minutes you might only have been lucid for one. The other day I became lucid in a dream realizing I was gathering up to much stuff (a dream sign, I don't want to leave any important things behind when I leave somewhere, but in a dream as I fear leaving things behind, I might discover an infinite amount of stuff) I didn't bother with stabilization, or a reality check, I decided to rush around the counter to the DCs location, I made it maybe 1/3 of the way and then I woke up on a bus, another passenger wanted off the Bus and I realized I was at the closest stop to were I was going so I got off too (walking partly thru the doors of the bus without noticing they hadn't fully opened) a few seconds later in an ultra realistic dreamscape, I realized I must still be dreaming and became instantly lucid, this time I chose to do a jump test (they always seem to confirm I'm dreaming, but rarely work out well), I jumped and became stuck in the air and then woke up for real. The point you can be fully lucid then totally lose lucidity only to gain it back, if I had chosen calmer actions I might have remained lucid for many seconds or even many minutes, so have a plan what you will calmly do next time you know your dreaming (of course once your in the dream even being lucid you may not remember your plan) I suggest you have a plan like I will count my fingers, I will say out loud "I am dreaming" maybe say your stable your in control etc. when you lie down to sleep remember some past crazy dream event and imagine it to the point of seeing the crazy thing, then imagine yourself in that place doing and saying the things in your plan, and choosing a goal like flying or summoning or whatever. Then when the moment comes you will likely be calmer and possibly follow the plan and achieve the goal

[mzungu]

Hi cave, welcome to DV! I'm new to but I just achieved my first lucid. It really is worth putting the effort in to wake up in your dreams. When you do, well, you open a magical world free for you to explore at your leisure.

[caven1976]

Very excited indeed - and thanks for the tips/advice! The key challenge for me will be getting my sleep schedule under control - work gets nuts and I often find myself waking up and actually going to work when it would be a good time to do a WBTB... (I think that's the right acronym!). One other weird thing I've experienced... which it sounds like others have too. Is on occasion when falling asleep (not trying to lucid dream or anything), I've suddenly been woken up sharply by a really loud Buzz in my ears.... it sounds like someone turned on an electric razor inside my brain. Wondering if that is similar to what others describe when talking about the advent of sleep paralysis.

[KayKay420]

Welcome. ..hope you find everything you need. .I'm new as well an this group has been very informative so far.

[cooleymd]

I chose to do a jump test (they always seem to confirm I'm dreaming, but rarely work out well), I jumped and became stuck in the air and then woke up for real. In my latest Lucid dream I remembered this happening, and so I decided to jump but before jumping I thought 'ok i'll jump but i'll also fall back slowly' then when I jumped I fell back just a little slowly so I did it again, again returning to the dreamscape just slightly slow Of course it might have been a little late for a dream test as I had first attempted to convince DC's it was a dream, by first slapping around a dream cop like I was Zsa Zsa GaBore, then drew his gun and pistol whipped him saying would I do this in a real life, finally I shot someone, next came the reality check you might want to do the reality check first