New. Hello :) Am I lucid dreaming? Having OBEs?

For those who dislike long posts, I'm sorry...but I believe this is going to be one of those kind :) Not that I mean for it to be, I just get excited when it comes to the subject of dreams.

Hey everybody. My name is Brittany and I am 19 years old. I've always been interested in dreaming, but I've never dived into the subject too far. However, I have been keeping dream logs and dream books since I was 9 years old and I have a few hundred books filled by now. I always figured that going back to them some day would be interesting to read up on :)

I have recently (in the past few years) learned of lucid dreaming and OBEs. Though I think I've been having these sorts of dreams for years, I never knew what they were or how to control them. I've read up on them and how they happen and the signs of them, but I'm completely oblivious to whether I'm actually having strange dreams or if my regular dreams are just extremely vivid.

There are three types of dreams that seem to recur a lot. Not the same three dreams, but the same three types of dreams. I'm not sure if they're lucid dreams or OBEs, like I said, I'm still learning about all of this, but I've been having them for years. Also, I am pretty sure that type 3 is an extension of type 1, but that I don't always switch over into type 3 (sorry if this is getting confusing):

Dream type 1: These dreams are extremely vivid. So vivid that I can smell food, feel cold running water, hear sounds, or even sweat on a hot day. In these dreams, I do not usually see myself, but I do see other people. I do realize that I am dreaming, but I am not able to move from where I am. I don't feel like I've moved from my bed, I simply feel like I'm playing a movie in front of my eyes.

Dream type 2: This one used to freak me out, but over the years I've learned to have a little fun with it. In these, I feel like I can see right through my eyelids (sort of like I have mental eyes that are open, but my physical eyes are closed). I am physically asleep, but I do not know that I am asleep, I feel 100% awake.I am able to look around, walk around, but I can not talk. When I try to talk, I wake up. It is only AFTER I wake up that I realize I was dreaming. I can never see myself in these dreams, but I can see other people and I often walk around my house or "float" around places I know (such as my neighborhood or the mall or the park...) I should also note that I can not "feel" anything in these dreams. I mostly observe.

Dream type 3: This one feels like a combination of the first two, but I think it might just be an extension of the first one. They're usually very vivid, and I am able to use all five senses, as well as the "sixth sense" to see what other people are thinking, or see something happen before it does. I move freely, and sometimes I'll float. I can see myself, sometimes it's like I'm watching myself as if I were in a movie being played out. There are masny times in this type of dream where a black figure will come into my room, and everything becomes dark. This figure, which looks like a thousand black specks formed into a being, will try to kill me... sometimes by suffocation, sometimes by stabbing. I most always wake from these in sleep paralysis or extremely out of breath. Not all of these types are bad, but I would say about half deal with that scenario. The rest of the time, I find myself doing all sorts of strange things, like visiting places I've never seen before, or visiting people I haven't seen in a while.

My mother says I am an old soul, that I am close to the end of my spiritual life. One of those "wise beyond my years" situations. Actually, I've had many people, who I don't know, tell me the same thing. I once had a man randomly come up to me and said "You're an old soul, aren't you? I can tell. And don't let your visions bother you". Of course, I never really got into "that sort of thing" until recently, where I've been dabbling in and researching various paranormal and spiritual backgrounds.

Anyway, I guess in all of this yapping, what I wanted to get was your opinions. What you think it might be. How far along I am and how easy it would be for me to improve on these dreams. I would really appreciate any feedback and I really look forward to seeing what else is in store :)

Well, the only qualification for having a lucid dream is that you know that you are dreaming when you're dreaming. As for OBE's, I don't really have an opinion on those. I have not fully experienced one, though one time I might have inadvertently begun one somehow. At any rate, in having been faithful in recording your dreams, look over the more recent ones and see if you can find any similarities among them. You can use those to become lucid if you aren't already.

With sleep paralysis, many people also experience what is called the "Old Hag" syndrome, where one may feel something pressing down on their chest, or at least a presense in the room. It's not uncommon and there are some threads around here on the topic.

Anyway, we're glad that you joined us here at Dream Views! If there's anything we can do for you just let us know.

-Amé :dreaming:

first of all...welcome to DV!!! :D Since you have kept a DJ for about 10 years, i would imagine that you have excellent dream recall and probably have had some LDing experience even if you havent noticed. And if you havent had a LD yet, my guess would be that it wont take you to long to have one b/c of your Dream Recall. :shock:

Well now that I've done some reasearch, I realize that about half of my dreams are lucid, but since I never knew about lucid dreams before, I didn't know that was what they were. So all of them up to this point were naturally occuring. I can't wait to see what I can do now that I know what they are.

Before, when they happened, I would just go with the flow of the dream. Sometimes they were quite boring, like I'd be walking around my house, looking at things. Other times, they were completely wild. I'd be traveling on trains or playing hockey in the road or building castles for dragons inside a giant pool (yeah, sometimes they're a little out there). I guess it's just part of my crazy imagination.

After looking at what involves an OBE and what a person experiences, I would guess that a quarter of all my dreams are OBEs that naturally occured. And as for the "Old Hag" syndrome that comes with sleep paralysis, I'm going to have to look that up a little bit more. Sounds like I might be able to figure out what's going on there :)

I forgot to mention something about the dream recall, as you noted. I've noticed that I've had dreams for years where I'll have recurring dreams where each time, the dream gets a little further, until it's done. I've had a handful of these progressive dreams. Also, it's quite easy for me to snap into a dream I've had before, and change its course. Meaning... I'm able to bring up a dream I've had a previous night, but I'm able to change what happens in the dream, and the dream comes out differently.

welcome, you seem interesting..

i've never had anyone call me an 'old soul' specifically. sometimes people tell me i'm 'wise', which just makes me laugh :) glad to meet a fellow old-timer in a young person's body, hehe.

hope you can figure out your dreams. it sounds as if your darker ones may be connected to the old hag syndrome, although the fact you experience a dark figure beforehand is unusual (from what i've heard).

is it always moreorless the same dark figure? how long does the experience last before you wake up, in either sleep paralysis, or normally?

What happens in the darker dreams is that they always occur when I'm in a place where normally, I feel comfortable and secure. In my dream, I'll be sleeping in my room, or at my mom's house, or another place that I'm used to, and this figure, who looks like a thousand black specks, and just FEELS evil, comes in to the place where I'm lying down or sleeping, and either tries to straddle me and choke me, or will try to stab me. When I wake up, I feel like I'm totally paralysed, or like I'm completely out of breath, or that my body is sore, or that my chest is compressed. I would say that the dreams last a few minutes or more. I think they are so short because in the dreams i find myself fighting back against the figure, and usually fight myself awake.

They don't happen all the time, but when they do, they happen in a sucession until something happens where it stops, or they will come randomly and be very intense.

I had three dreams last night. They were pretty neat... good dreams. But I wasn't lucid in any of them.