Yet Another Newbie

[Diotam]

Hey everyone! As you can all tell, I'm extremely new to the forums, and sort-of new to the concept of lucid dreaming. Basically, I've been having very frequent semi-lucid dreams for as long as I can remember. I'd go so far to say that 5 or 6 nights a week, I am completely aware that I am dreaming. For a long time, I figured this was a normal thing that happened to maybe not everyone, but the majority of people. For the past couple weeks, I have been trying to experiment with exerting some control over my dreams. All attempts have failed horribly. As soon as I had attempted to influence anything in my dream, even something as simple as changing the direction I am walking, the dream would just sort of fall apart. Not in the sense that things would not be right, or I'd suddenly wake up (which, as far as I have read, is what happens a lot). Rather, I gradually regain my waking senses. I'll start with having a sensation of laying down, despite my 'dream-self' being jogging or something like that. From there, I'll start to feel parts of my body (all the while, the dream is still going on), ending with the feeling that my eyelids are closed, and then it's usually only a few seconds before I wake up. The whole process seems to take about a minute, effectively ending any dreaming. The whole thing is a bit of a weird experience, really. My dreams are not unlike watching a movie. I'm sitting in the audience, 100% aware that what I'm seeing is a dream, but being completely unable to do anything. I'm just sort of along for the ride. On occasion, I do manage some control, but not on any sort of regular basis. On top of that, it's not some technique. Rather, it just happens. ((As a basic summary, in case you don't want to read that: Being aware that I am dreaming is no large feat for me. Staying asleep once that realization has occured, as well as controling the dream are what I can't do. I know nothing about the terms or techniques, as what I can do so far is natural to me.)) So, that prompted me to look online and see if there was anything I could do about gaining control and prolonging dreams. A google search quickly brought me to this site. From the looks of it, you guys seem really nice and helpful, and I'll likely be staying a while.

[Vex Kitten]

Welcome to Dream Views Diotam. Lucidity with no control or longevity. That's very odd and must be frustrating. There are techniques to prolong lucid dreams, try rubbing your hands together or the dream spinning thing or focus on different points of your dreamscape instead of worrying about control. And I'm taking it you realize you're dreaming while in the middle of a dream? DILDing? If so, perhaps you should attempt the occasional WILD, it can be an entirely different Lucid Dream experience. In my case, if I 'wake up' in the middle of a dream I usually go with the flow of the dream. If I go from wake right into a dream, totally aware that I'm dreaming from the very start, I make my way through the dream in an analytical manner. Perhaps you'll have more control in a WILD? Unless you're WILDing already. And in that case I don't know what to say but good luck with your future lucid dreams. You'll eventually gain more length and control with more practice, especially now that you're seriously attempting dream control and duration. Hope you get get there. Keep practicing and you will.

[Diotam]

Thanks for the welcome and support And I'm taking it you realize you're dreaming while in the middle of a dream? DILDing?[/b] Yes, that would be it. I have no real strict dream sign to tell me that I'm dreaming, though. Rather, I'll see something that doesn't even begin to make sense, and reason out that I must dreaming. It tends to be different from night to night. A few days ago, I had dreamt I was in the middle of Japan. It didn't take me all too long to realize that there was no concievable way a broke high-school student could have got to Japan in the few hours since I fell asleep. Thus, I must be dreaming. Dream Recall is also a bit of a problem for me. Obviously, I remember having the dream. However, I tend to only remember bits and peices of them when I wake up. I'll remember that I'm in a certain setting, or that I performed a major action, but all the small stuff is completely lost. If I was aware during the dream, I remember that clearly, as I usually wake up shortly after. Are there any techniques, besides keeping a dream journal (which I'm already doing), to help improve this? Also, I guess I should add, that while I am aware that I am dreaming quite often, it is not exactly what you guys refer to as lucid. My basic train of thought is: "That purple bookshelf just ate my cat." "That can't happen, I must be dreaming." "That's nice, I'm dreaming." And 99% of the time, it's just left at that. I know I am dreaming, every now and again I may think "Hey, I'm dreaming. I want to walk into the neighbours house, not mine. Just to see." I may try and succeed (rarely) or I may fail, in which case I wake up. However, it's not until I am awake that I fully realize that I can try just about anything, because I am dreaming.

[Vex Kitten]

A lot of the time when I have a DILD, I don't even know what it was that made me realize I was dreaming. I just suddenly become aware. You should try to WILD sometime. As far as recall goes, usually talking about your dreams as soon as possible after waking will help you recall better too. I used to tell my room mate all my dreams as soon as I could and my recall improved quite a bit. Find someone you trust and see if they'll lend you an ear. Pick a couple of good reality checks and stick to them. When you become lucid again try to find your hands. Once you see them try to put your finger through the palm of your hand. It will slide right through. Or maybe bite your finger, that's what I do. It feels odd to bite yourself and feel nothing there, no flesh, bone or pain. These little tests should anchor you in the dream and if you successfully preform them then there is your first step towards gaining control. It takes practice.