Thread: Hullo!

(Introduction posts always have the most original subject titles. Ah, well!)

Hello! Normally I'm a very, very forum-shy person, but LD's are so fascinating that I couldn't resist joining to have a place to discuss them.

I'd never heard of lucid dreams til a few days ago, while I was researching sleep paralysis. About a year ago, I made a major move to Hawai'i, and ever since then, I've experienced SP about... 6 times, I'd say.

The first time was terrifying, complete with hallucinations of an evil presence in the room. The second time started out the same way, until I realized that my cat (who always sleeps with me) could never be so peaceful if there was anything else in the room. This allowed me to relax and fall back asleep, and all my experiences of SP afterwards have been very mild, and not scary at all. A little frustrating, yes, but also very interesting. I simply cannot move, and feel as if gravity is pulling me down into the bed.

Also... Almost every time, I repeatedly find myself getting out of bed, only to realize that in fact, I'm still lying paralyzed. These dreams (or OBE?) are always incredibly realistic and vivid, which indicates I'm not actually awake, since I'm just about blind without eyewear. The last time it happened (wednesday), I suddenly realized this, and became very excited. "I must be having an OBE!" ...Of course, I immediately woke up in bed and kicked myself for it. Shortly after, the paralysis wore off, and I was unable to try to repeat the experience.

I went online right away after I woke up properly and began to research SP. I'd read the term somewhere and wondered if that was what I was experiencing. Of course, it was, and after discussing it with my parents, I learned that quite alot of my family had experienced it as well.

Ah, I'm taking the long way around the story! Anyway, almost every article on SP I read mentioned LD, so I began to look into that, as well. A few days later, and here I am. :3

I realize now that I've had many lucid dreams. In most of my dreams, actually, I realize at some point that I'm not really awake, but this is usually in an offhand sort of manner-- "That's strange. Oh, I must be dreaming." ...and then I go back to doing whatever it was I was doing in the dream. I've even controlled a few, mostly flying dreams, but usually only briefly before falling back into the flow of the dream (or waking up). I don't think I've had any in which I was fully conscious, or lucid throughout the whole dream. But I think now that what I originally believed were OBE experiences during my SP were actually dreams that ended as soon as I became lucid and realized that I was still in bed.

(As for a question, during all my reading up on SP, I never read anything about these sort of false awakenings. Does anyone here who experiences SP have them too?)

Obviously, this is all a bit exciting for me! Which is making it a bit hard to experiment (plus the fact that it's only been two nights), since I'll get worked up thinking about it. The thought of being able to fly at will during my dreams? Hah, there goes my concentration. So for now I'm focusing mainly on breathing and relaxation exercises, as well as starting up my dream journal again. The 61 point technique works very well for me, so far.

Ahhhh...I can get so longwinded, I'm sorry! *laugh* In case anyone wonders, I'm 17 and studying art in preparation for college. I currently have the weekdays all to myself, so I should have plenty of time/relaxation to practice :3