General Questions

[Sniper991122]

Hey, im new to the forum... but I have a few general questions... I've been working at this off and on for a while, and im just now becoming more concentrated on it... last night recalled 3 dreams and wrote them down.. but first question is this... the way I see it there are 3 stages before lucidity? It seems at first I would wake up remembering my dreams but having never remembered actually being in it. Then last night, one of my dreams i remembered actually being in it and remembering earlier events in the dream... and i guess the last stage would be actual lucidity? (guess im asking if thats normal hehe) then my next question is... on a few occassions i've woken up extremely abruptly having sworn i felt something.. like if i dreamed I dipped my hands in water, i'd wake up very abruptly swearing my arms were wet.. (but i have never remembered my dream after having woken up like that) and also does having lucid dreams make you essentially lose sleep? Since it works your brain? hehe and last, whats the most often anyones achieved lucidity? I guess how many times a week? (im working at it, have gotten 0 so far ) - edit - few more questions, bear with me now Im not remembering a whole lot of my dreams... I think last night the most i remembered was maybe 5-10 minutes of the dream? Am I supposed to remember a start and a finish to the dream?

[Umbrasquall]

Hallo! Welcome to the forums Sniper! To answer your questions: 1. There are stages for reaching lucidity. I'm not sure to what you are referring to here. There are the stages of dream recall, awareness, and lucidity. Or the actual lucid stages of low, medium, and high-level lucidity. 2. Well to comment, you were probably dreaming about water, but just forgot about it. Another possibility is that you sweated a little and your subconscious exaggerated the moisture. Wait… your arms and NOT really wet when you wake up right? 3. It’s different for everyone. Some people are tired out after a LD, while others feel pumped with energy like after a goodnight’s sleep. 4. There are natural lucid dreamers who have been LDing every night from since they could remember. But anyone with determination can become a frequent LDer. 5. It’s usually good to have good dream recall (remember one full dream, per night, every night) before you attempt to become a lucid dreamer. There are several ways to improve dream recall but the most important and probably only thing you need is a dream journal. Record all of your dreams somewhere and soon you will find that you are remembering more and more dreams. Trust me, this works great.

[Sniper991122]

as for waking up.. its like.. I wake up and theres a very clear feeling of something.. maybe I was eating some sort of food and I taste it vidily.. or its water on the fingers.. just something like that, that I could swear I feel... also in the dream should you consciously be in the dream (maybe not realizing it) but going from one part to the next? and last, is there a clear beginning to all of your dreams? And do they just end suddenly when you wake up?

[ffx-dreamz]

Welcome to the forums sniper! Have a banana!

[Umbrasquall]

1. It seems like that you have a very vivid imagination when it comes to senses in your dreams. This is a good thing, as it will make any lucid dream you have extremely exhilarating. (Esp. flying ) 2. You can consciously shift the dream if you are lucid. 3. I usually cannot recall the very instance the dream begins. I can however recall from somewhere in the middle to the end when I wake up or hit the end of my REM period. I'm personally not talented enough yet to WILD at will or consciously enter into the dream state.

[Bedlam Subsistence]

"also in the dream should you consciously be in the dream (maybe not realizing it) but going from one part to the next?" I can't speak for anyone else and only from my limited experience with lucid dreams but when I have become lucid the dream no longer continues with a direct order like a normal dream where events happen. For me when I have become lucid my surrounding usually remains the same as whatever point in the dream I was dreaming was but there is no longer any continuing motion of events. It is like time stops. I've only had mild success in doing anything worth while with this however. Other times I have become not so much in control of the events of the dream but still aware that I am dreaming and have been able to make decisions in a "choose your own adventure" style, ie: options are presented and I get to choose which I want to take but I don't actually decide what the options are. -Bedlam