Hello Everyone

[buckie]

Hi Everyone, First off, as this is my first post I guess I should introduce myself, right? My name is buckie () and I came across this site using stumble upon. I'd never heard of lucid dreaming but I am a competent self-hypnotist and I also have a degree in psychology. I am very interested in tangible expressions of the subconscious so when I read your introduction to LD I was curious and when I also read people saying it could be wrangled using SH I became very curious . I'm what I guess is a bog-standard dreamer, I don't interact with my dreams, they're more like TV, I suspend disbelief when I'm in them, I only remember one about once a fortnight (usually the one before morning unless I have to get up for obvious reasons) and I only rarely have "oddities" like a nightmare or a dream where I wake up and I'm still in a dream. Anyhoo, around a week ago I decided that before sleep I would suggest to myself that I would begin to recall my dreams with greater clarity (I also suggested that I would be able to control my dreams, there's nothing like confidence, eh?). That night I did get a greater dream recall both in amount of information and from a greater number of dreams. I continued the suggestions throughout the week and, alcohol permitting, I did seem to consistently recall more dream information but with no other noticable changes to my dreaming - no awareness and certainly no control. Last night however something happened (let me say, I have read the tips on initiating LD on this site). In my dream there was a clock and it was at 3:30pm and I turned away from it and when I looked back (and I don't feel I consciously looked back) it was 3:00pm and I remember dreaming "That can't be right... so... this must be a dream... so I should be able to do this..." and I jumped up in the air and swallow dived at the floor and I did indeed start flying! I couldn't get very high, if I got up too far I'd swoop back down again or stall, a bit like a badly made paper plane After this stopped I dreamt "Maybe I could do something else, like make an owl"() and sure enough a big owl landed on my arm and I was feeding it. After this it drifted back off into a less aware, more obviously narrative dream. What I am confused about is that the looking at the clock and all the thinking and the flying and conjuring didn't seem real conscious direction, more like I was *dreaming* that I was conscious and that I was *dreaming* that I was in control, although I am more certain that I was aware. So - deep breath - what I guess I'm asking is: Is this it? Have I done it or have I just dreamt I've done it because I've been thinking about it all week? I hope this makes sense. Sorry it's such a long first post, but I find all this very interesting and am interested in what happened last night. buckie.

[Bonsay]

HI, first I'd like to welcome you to Dreamviews so, . Basically a lucid dream is whenever you're aware that you are dreaming. If you were dreaming about lucid dreaming, in my opinion, it doesn't make a difference. Because you usually believe everything that you see, feel or think in a dream, in your case you probably "believed yourself" (when you said "I must be dreaming") that you were dreaming. So yes it looks like you had a LD. Sorry for complicating it so much, I hope you understand what I typed up there. See you around!

[Unicorn]

I think this was a very promising experience for a first LD! You were able to 1) know that you are dreaming, and 2) have control -albeit briefly- of your dream. Usually first LDers get very excited and wake up as soon as they realize they're dreaming. What I am confused about is that the looking at the clock and all the thinking and the flying and conjuring didn't seem real conscious direction, more like I was *dreaming* that I was conscious and that I was *dreaming* that I was in control, although I am more certain that I was aware. [/b] I don't think there is a difference between consciousness in a dream and waking life. The more LDs you'll have, the more it would be easier for you to get past the weirdness of your first experience.

[Jimmie Lynne]

Congratulations. Yes that was a lucid dream. I've noticed that lucid dreams sometimes feel like dreams in which you dreamt you were lucid if you don't wake up immediately afterwards. Your control was very good. Being able to fly and materialize something on your first attempt is a real achievement! I've managed an LD three times and I can't materialize anything. . . when I try to exert control everything goes all wonky and my furniture starts stacking itself, and my clothes start turning random colors. . . and then I find my pants have somehow gone missing. So. . . kudos!

[buckie]

Well, erm... wow. What an odd and totally novel experience it all was - and at 38 they don't come along that often for free I can tell you I have to admit that I was sceptical about it because I'd never heard of it and it seemed so outlandish and fantastic an idea that you have to forgive me for that (I felt like that about hypnotism though too until I experienced it - maybe one day I'll learn). However, an odd thing happened last week that I thought I'd share. I was in a bar with an uber-rational friend of mine (curmudgeonly so) and I was mentioning this site knowing full well I'd get slated but wanting his perspective... but the attack never came, he just asked about the site, what it said and such. I told him that it was mentioned that some people can just do it and don't actually know that that isn't the way that other people dream and he admitted to me that he'd been able to do it since he was very young. He'd been having nightmares and his mother told him that if he just told himself in his dream that it was just a dream and took control of it he could change it! So he started off doing it to defend himself and now takes it for granted he can be aware in dreams. Anyhoo, thank you to this site for being here and showing me something I never expected. I hope I can do it again and get some consistency... How bizarre

[Gwendolyn]

Soudns like a good LD to me. I mean, I am sure you need to work on clarity and whatnot, but it does seem as though you had a pretty good first one. Welcome to the forum. I hope that you learn a lot from us, and I am sure we'll learn from you, since you have such a good background in psychology and hypnosis.

[buckie]

Soudns like a good LD to me. I mean, I am sure you need to work on clarity and whatnot, but it does seem as though you had a pretty good first one. Welcome to the forum. I hope that you learn a lot from us, and I am sure we'll learn from you, since you have such a good background in psychology and hypnosis. [/b] Thanks for that. I'm going to continue working on increasing my dream recall and also throw a few RCs into the waking day* - I had better dream recal again last night but no more LD. I'm also hoping now to review some of the academic material on LD; I'm guessing LaBerge is the place to start - are there any other decent papers you can recommend? Also, I've not made it around all the site yet so I'll be off and do that too. Cheers, buckie. *I'm guessing that what they aim to do is raise your awareness of specific activities - like watch checking - so they become cues to thoughts about consciousness and dreaming and lucidity, hoping that if you do them enough or give them enough significance they'll bled through into your dreams and act as triggers?

[Gwendolyn]

*I'm guessing that what they aim to do is raise your awareness of specific activities - like watch checking - so they become cues to thoughts about consciousness and dreaming and lucidity, hoping that if you do them enough or give them enough significance they'll bled through into your dreams and act as triggers? [/b] You've got it! That's exactly what this is supposed to do.

[Jimmie Lynne]

Oh, you have to stick around forever and let me pick your brain all the time. I am very interested in a scientific and psychological approach to lucid dreaming and dream control.

[Smallest Bundle of Light]

Hi All! Congrats Buckie on your LD! This is my first post. I've been intending recall and lucidity for a few weeks now. When I found this site I was already aware of LD through the works of Carlos Castaneda but wasn't sure how attainable it was. This community offers the support and then some. By the affirmation of Buckie's LD, I'm sure I'm rel close. I look forward to mastering this art form with the rest you.

[Jimmie Lynne]

Hi, welcome to the forum. Good Luck!

[buckie]

I hope that you learn a lot from us, and I am sure we'll learn from you, since you have such a good background in psychology and hypnosis. [/b] Oh, you have to stick around forever and let me pick your brain all the time. I am very interested in a scientific and psychological approach to lucid dreaming and dream control. [/b] Thanks, I've learned so much already! I'm not sure what insight I can bring but I'm quite good at pulling disparate info together and when I'm interested, and now I'm *very* interested, I will dig right into it. I'm pretty empirical with a sprinkling of qualitative thrown in; I'm certainly not at the "new age" end of the spectrum of these phenomena that's for sure (although that's not to diss anyone approaching it from that direction - we're all just a floating point of view). I've also got a pretty nailed down self-hypnosis routine that I find helpful as a bit of a generic toolkit. I've managed an LD three times and I can't materialize anything. . . when I try to exert control everything goes all wonky and my furniture starts stacking itself, and my clothes start turning random colors. . . and then I find my pants have somehow gone missing. So. . . kudos! [/b] I've just been reading some of your progress through your diary and what you've managed is a level of consistency which is what I want next (I hope I'm not being too unrealistic or greedy). It's good to see that through working at it you can get reproducable results... it gives me hope I can get it going. Anyhow - I'm off to bed for a bit of SH and (hopefully) recreational dreaming

[Jimmie Lynne]

I've just been reading some of your progress through your diary and what you've managed is a level of consistency which is what I want next (I hope I'm not being too unrealistic or greedy). It's good to see that through working at it you can get reproducable results... it gives me hope I can get it going. [/b] Thanks. That really cheered up my day. You must be a very good psychologist. oooo . . . maybe you could give me a little advice on how to deal with my therapist. I don't want her to think I'm delussional when I tell her about this whole lucid dreaming thing.

[buckie]

oooo . . . maybe you could give me a little advice on how to deal with my therapist. I don't want her to think I'm delussional when I tell her about this whole lucid dreaming thing.[/b] IANAProfessional and I obviously don't know you personally so I'm not for flinging advice around willy-nilly on an internet forum(&#33, but if you want to show her that it's not something odd/dangerous/damaging/culty you've gotten into you could point her to something like this and I'd bet she'll be interested in your underlying motivations for doing it but you seem clear about those - people certainly seem to use it to manage bad dreams/nightmares etc... Just a thought.

[Jimmie Lynne]

Thanks! That website is exactly what I was looking for.

[buckie]

Well... I've been silent for a while mainly because although dream recall has been getting better, lucidity has been non-existent. It's been a bit frustrating after such a good start an' all - hoped it would just start coming naturally. I've had a lot on emotionally at home so my focus has been a bit off. Last night however I became lucid again, although only for a few moments, at around 5am. I was tossing and turning trying to get comfortable and grumbling to myself in my head about when I would get to sleep when I noticed a fly in the room and my eyes started following it doing that crazy angular fly pattern. I did this for a few moments and then thought "you can't be doing this, your eyes are shut" at whch point I woke up. I think this was because I was so lightly asleep. Thought I'd post this in bed before going to sleep as a bit of a suggestion to myself.