Reverse WILD?

[Spartiate]

Hello everyone, I have noticed that the quality of my dreams has definitely improved since I started reading these forums, so I figured that it might improve even more if I started participating in them! Last night, something weird happened when I tried to achieve the ever elusive WILD technique. I basically failed but I got a rather long dream afterwards in which I gained lucidity. There were many events during the dream that raised my level of awareness, so I will spare you the details, but the thing that got me lucid was my dad sorting potatoes in the basement. At that point I realised that I was dreaming and I get this overwhelming feeling that if I don't do something soon, I will lose it all. So I scream out the words "Lucid Dream!" and that's when the fun begins... After a great flash and the traditional increase in clarity I get from lucid dreaming, I find myself in my bed paralysed like a rock, only my eyes managed to move very slowly. I looked around and all but the details seemed in order (the colors were all wrong though). I could not feel my bed sheets and my whole body felt cold, similar to a numb limb that has just started to regain its blood flow. There was also a humming sound, like vibrating crystal. I attempted to fly but failed, I looked around, desperate to do anything, and then I saw a potato on my bed with a ghostly hand trying to grab it. I attempted to move the potato with my mind, and it worked, but it moved sort of like a slideshow. Not long after, I start to feel pulled from my dream and unable to stop it, until I feel fully awake. The weird thing is that I woke up with my eyes open and I still have no idea at which point I was dreaming and at which point I was awake. A couple of reality checks confirmed that I was awake (I really wasn't sure though, I woke up in the same position and while looking at the same place as in my dream). Needless to say, I woke up with quite the adrenaline rush! After thinking about it, the whole thing reminded me a lot of a WILD, except, well, backwards! Does anybody have any ideas or comments about this? Looking forward to posting on these forums !

[Tornado Joe]

Hi Spartiate! Sounds like you had one heck of an experience. Not long after, I start to feel pulled from my dream and unable to stop it, until I feel fully awake. The weird thing is that I woke up with my eyes open and I still have no idea at which point I was dreaming and at which point I was awake. In my opinion your transition from sleep to wakefulness was not as clear as you may recall it. You've already experienced the false awakenings earlier and even had to do an RC to make sure you were awake the second time. Just as we can incorporate things we see before we dream INTO a dream, so can our minds "connect the dots" after awakening to explain what we just experienced in a dream. So, I think you woke up, still half asleep and not completely 'aware'. You saw your surrounding or room. And while in this foggy state of mind, your brain mixed in reality with that transitional state of waking up. You end up mixing it all together after being fully aware and it seems like you were awake the whole time - with your eyes open.

[Spartiate]

Thanks for the reply. Just as we can incorporate things we see before we dream INTO a dream, so can our minds "connect the dots" after awakening to explain what we just experienced in a dream. That's an interesting observation, kind of like the ultimate optical illusion (since illusions are usually created when the brain "connects the dots" when there is missing information). I was also wondering if those hallucinations you get before falling asleep can also happen when you awaken? If so, that could have only added to my confusion. I tend to wake up rather instantly compared to falling asleep.

[Tornado Joe]

I was also wondering if those hallucinations you get before falling asleep can also happen when you awaken? Yes, they do - they are a product of the transitional state you go through between the awake to sleep AND sleep to awake.

[dreamscaper22]

Hi..im new to this forum but not to forums in general... i had one of those dreams where your laying there and you can see everthing around you but you cant move and then i hallucenated ...i didnt know i was asleep..