Thread: Introducing myself

Hi I am new here. I've been dreaming for many decades and it's time to 'get lucid!' I need to get familiar with the site and up to speed on the topics and information but I must say, the overall feel of the site is very comfortable and easy to navigate.

Simetra

Welcome to DV Simetra! Yes, the site is easy to navigate...and even better...every one here is great! There are plenty of people here willing to answer any questions you may have. Definately check out the Tutorials section. Again, Welcome!

Originally posted by Simetra
Hi I am new here. I've been dreaming for many decades and it's time to 'get lucid!' I need to get familiar with the site and up to speed on the topics and information but I must say, the overall feel of the site is very comfortable and easy to navigate.

Simetra

Hey there, & welcome to the forum!!
You are on somewhat the right track....just try to look for Dream Signs in them!! A good way to do that is to keep a Dream Journal, & keep track of your progress. Eventually, it will hit you that you are dreaming!! Or you could try a different method!!

Hi Cocoastar, I like that quick response... I wasn't sure if this board would be 'active' like that. I've been to boards where you post and don't get a relpy for days. Thanks for welcoming me.

I haven't had much time to read a lot of posts but I get the impression there are a lot of young people here. I am a Crone so that's why I mentioned that. After 50 years of dreaming, it's time to get more aware of what's going on at night! I do have dream signs. Water is very common for me, from tidal waves to a quiet stream. I also dream about furniture in rooms or something related to setting up a house. I have dreams when I fly, which I really enjoy. I dream about my cousins, who I don't see much anymore but was close to when we were teens. I dream about the career I left about 6 years ago frequently. I rarely dream about my current career.

My dreams are fairly easy to recall and I will start a journal this week. I need to go look at the tutorials and visit more here...

S

Hi nesgirl, thanks for the warm welcome! How long have you been working on lucid dreaming?

S

Hey there Simetra, welcome!

Yes, there are a lot of younger people here, but don't worry, you're not the only "crone" ::cough me cough::

Good to hear that you're starting a journal. That is a very important first step in your quest for lucidity. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Thanks for welcoming me TygrHawk. It is active here! That's nice. I will ask questions, no worries. I have had at least one lucid dream that I recall, quite a while ago. It was when a dog was chasing me and I was scared and running away. All of the sudden, I thought.. wait! this is just a dream... I stopped running, turned to the dog and told him to go away, stop chasing me! And, he did!

S

Oh I forgot my most frequent dream sign, small animals. Small birds ( I have a cockatiel) and mice, chipmunks and the like are often in my dreams. Can't recall what they 'do' or what my relationship with them is but they're always there!

S

Originally posted by Simetra
It was when a dog was chasing me and I was scared and running away. All of the sudden, I thought.. wait! this is just a dream

Sound a lot like my first lucid, when I was very young. Some kind of monster was chasing me, and I thought "this can't be real", so I woke myself up to escape.

Originally posted by Simetra
Hi nesgirl, thanks for the warm welcome! How long have you been working on lucid dreaming?

S

To answer that, I haven't really had to work on it...it came naturally due to an insomnia spell I had when I was very young. Some people develop that naturally, but still, I can teach people about it.
So, if you have any other questions, go on ahead & ask!!

Nesgirl, that makes some sense, if your sleep patterns were disrupted easily by insomnia, you were more aware of the dreams.

As I read up on dream signs, I see that they are not the same as recurring symbols. From what I read here, dream signs usually include some aspect of being 'unreal' or apart from our waking reality. Is that what I'm to understand?

So, my water dreams are dream signs (standing right infront of a tidal wave and watching it come at me... or even swimming under water in a creek for extended periods of time) but the inclusion of my cousins (I have to journal to see if what we are doing is based on reality or non reality) may not be. Obviously flying is a dream sign. The furniture moving is too, because there's no way I could do that in real life!

I have to pay attention to those small animals... I really have no recall about my relationship to them.

S

Originally posted by Simetra
Nesgirl, that makes some sense, if your sleep patterns were disrupted easily by insomnia, you were more aware of the dreams.

Especially when you are very young, & require more sleep (except I got used to staying up until 1AM, b/c I had insomnia). This is true. Though it was mostly b/c I went directly from a waking state to a dreaming state (since I couldn't fall asleep otherwise back then), so it was very easy to tell if I was dreaming (WILD).
Any other questions?

Yes, more questions! Glad you asked...

I just got over a period of a couple of years of bad sleep, due to hormonal changes of perimenopause, and I am really enjoying my solid sleep now. I understand that to get the most from my sleep journal I will have to jot down the dreams throughout the night. I know I'll be able to get info from the last one, right before I wake up but, doesn't waking up throughout the night interfere with healthy sleep? I'm a bit unsure of the wisdom of waking up to write in the journal throughout the night. I know that the more I remember, the more I will learn. It seems like a double edged sword to me. I'm just curious how this works for others here.

Another thing along the same line is waking up my bed partner! My husband is a fairly solid sleeper and doesn't wake easily like I do. However, I would feel badly if I did disturb him. What do other people who sleep with a partner do to avoid disturbing them throughout the night?

Thanks!

S

Originally posted by Simetra
Yes, more questions! Glad you asked...

I just got over a period of a couple of years of bad sleep, due to hormonal changes of perimenopause, and I am really enjoying my solid sleep now. I understand that to get the most from my sleep journal I will have to jot down the dreams throughout the night. I know I'll be able to get info from the last one, right before I wake up but, doesn't waking up throughout the night interfere with healthy sleep? I'm a bit unsure of the wisdom of waking up to write in the journal throughout the night. I know that the more I remember, the more I will learn. It seems like a double edged sword to me. I'm just curious how this works for others here.

Another thing along the same line is waking up my bed partner! My husband is a fairly solid sleeper and doesn't wake easily like I do. However, I would feel badly if I did disturb him. What do other people who sleep with a partner do to avoid disturbing them throughout the night?

Thanks!

S

As long as you don't do it more than about 2x.
Well, it doesn't really matter to me, since my only partner is a 14 lb cat that sleeps on my neck. And he'll just leave if I disturb him. Don't worry about disturbing your husband....heck, I disturb more people when I have insomnia, or get up to use the bathroom. Just don't worry about that....he probably won't mind if you say that it'll help you sleep better if you write your dreams down!!

Welcome to Dream Views

Hi Barbizzle, your avatar is making me crazy!

I'm still exploring the site and thank you for welcoming me.

S

I've done some reading of the tutorials and just doing the 'reality checks' in waking consciousness is a trip! It really makes you detached from your personal anxieties and stresses. There is a split second thought of "maybe this is a dream" and things don't seem so important. It's been worth the price of admission already!

S

welcome you seem young at heart...that's all that matters!

As far as not wanting to disturb your husband, or disrupt your sleep by recording dreams, i have a couple suggestions

1. buy a pen with a small light built in to it. keep it stuck in your dream journal to an open page. this way you can jot down the main elements of the dream quickly, without having to get up, or fully wake up.

2. or, use a small recorder of some sort, and do roughly the same thing. softly speak the main points into it, and your husband shouldn't awaken.

then you can 'flesh in' the dreams come morning if you want, and you should still be able to remember them in detail if you use the rough structure from the night before.

good luck in your journeys

Thanks for the pen-light idea Asher. I suppose any business supply store would carry those?

I recorded 2 dreams last night. I was surprized at how much I wrote down but yet I know I didn't really recall much of the dreams. More came back to me after I started to write and then... poof! I couldn't recall anything else. I did not have anything lucid last night. Funny though, both dreams were about food. I had just attended a cooking class!

S