My experience and some cues....

Hi all... I just found this site the other day and have found a lot of the information very useful and can't wait to try it. To this point in my life (I'm almost 30), I've had the occaisional lucid dream. Maybe once every 5-6 months if I'm lucky. It wasn't until the past year or so that I knew being able to control my dream actually had a name, but I've known I've had that control for at least the last 10-15 years as long as I realized I was indeed dreaming.

I don't remember what made me realize I was dreaming the first time I had a lucid dream, but I remember making myself fly. Other things have been shooting electricity out of my hands and various sex related things.

From that point going forward, I knew the key was to figure out I was dreaming... I just didn't know how. After reading about cues, I think this will help immensely going forward. It was crazy how some of the repeat things in my dreams have happened to other people. Something like being back in school or maybe an old boss that was fired but now coming back to work are easy tip offs that you are dreaming, but I read about someone who always runs slow in a dream and while I've always known that to happen in my dreams I've never really thought of it as a cue. I've also had dreams where I get into some physical altercation with another person and I am unable to defend myself with a punch....either I can't do it or my fist goes too slow. Alas, another cue....

One of the things I am curious about is working through issues in my life through LD. Either personal or work related... I would be awsome if I could somehow harness this ability somewhat regularly.

Anyhow... just wanted to say hello.

Hi there and welcome to the forum :) Glad to see another adult found us - lately it seems like we're being overrun by 15 year olds. :wink:

Anyway, sounds like you've already got some good LDing experience under your belt, so to speak. I wanted to clarify, though, that lucid dreaming simply means that you know you are dreaming. Having control over a dream is something completely separate. You can have control without actually being lucid, and you can be lucid without having any control. The two things are not dependent on each other.

And the "cues" you are describing are called dreamsigns. Common dreamsigns are so helpful to help you become lucid. Like every time you are unable to properly punch someone (going in slow motion), you may remember that this is a common dreamsign of yours and become lucid. By the way, the slow motion punching thing happens to me, too.

By recognizing things you commonly dream about, you can start to incorporate it into a reality check. For example, one of my common dreamsigns is not being able to dial a phone properly, or having connection problems. So any time I fumble the numbers or can't get through to someone, which also happens in real life occasionally, I do a reality check. My favorite reality check consists of comparing a wall clock to my wristwatch and seeing if the times match - which they never do if I'm dreaming. This has gotten me lucid very regularly.

Please feel free to post any questions or experiences you may have. Good luck and have fun! :)