Thread: Physical limitations an lucid dreaming.

Hello, I'm new to this forum and lucid dreaming in general. A friend of mine got me interested in it recently. The reason I want to try is, well, I'm limited physically. I have Muscular Dystrophy, and have little/no arm and leg control. This has made life rather limited and confining for me. It seems the only times I feel the slightest bit free is during dreams. I'm hoping lucid dreaming would be therapeutic for me.

But this brings up several problems. I can't physically do certain reality checks (obstructing nose, jumping, looking at my hand), or certain techniques (can't get out of bed, change my sleeps cycle, get more/less comfortable). Plus I'm afraid of sleep paralysis, so WILD is out of the question, and it seems that if I know I'm falling asleep, I wake myself up out of habit.

Now, I'm a complete noob, so I'm not sure if this will cause me difficulty or not. Is this something to be concerned about? Or are there enough different working methods that I'll be able to find one I can use?

Thanks!

Hey there,

You know, all these techniques that you read about, requiring you to do this or that are, in my opinion, all just techniques that help focus the mind on lucid dreaming. But its the mind where it eventually happens, so no... I don't think any physical limitations should make it more difficult to Lucid Dream.

Additionally, for everyone it is always a matter of finding out what works for him or her. What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. Personally, I find that doing these sort of dream-checks that you describe doesn't help me lucid dream at all. In fact apart from keeping a dream journal, I really don't do anything at all that requires taking any sort of physical action.

I guess my point is: find out what works for you. The most important parts are wanting to lucid dream and being willing to invest time and effort into it. If you got those two going for you, you're off to a great headstart, and will probably find a way to manage to Lucid Dream sooner or later.

Hope that helps,

-Redrivertears-

My very first (and one of my my longest and most profound) lucid dream happened spontaneously from within a dream (DILD) without reality checks of any kind. All it took was about 10 days worth of thinking a lot about the subject, and wanting it badly.

I still have most of my LDs through the DILD way. The only time I do Wake-Back-To-Bed is because I had to get up anyway to go to the bathroom.

It shouldn't be a problem, even with whatever problems you may have. Some good techniques for you may be MILD, VILD, Dream Reentry, and CALD (can be found on ld4all). A good reality check would be to read something like a number, close your eyes, open then after a second or two, and read it again. If it says something different, you're obviously dreaming. The main factor in LDing is how much you want to, the techniques are just ways to try to increase the chances of it.

Originally Posted by Erig

Hello, I'm new to this forum and lucid dreaming in general. A friend of mine got me interested in it recently. The reason I want to try is, well, I'm limited physically. I have Muscular Dystrophy, and have little/no arm and leg control. This has made life rather limited and confining for me. It seems the only times I feel the slightest bit free is during dreams. I'm hoping lucid dreaming would be therapeutic for me.

But this brings up several problems. I can't physically do certain reality checks (obstructing nose, jumping, looking at my hand), or certain techniques (can't get out of bed, change my sleeps cycle, get more/less comfortable). Plus I'm afraid of sleep paralysis, so WILD is out of the question, and it seems that if I know I'm falling asleep, I wake myself up out of habit.

Now, I'm a complete noob, so I'm not sure if this will cause me difficulty or not. Is this something to be concerned about? Or are there enough different working methods that I'll be able to find one I can use?

Thanks!

Hey Erig! The thing about reality checks is that they are meant to make you question reality, so they don't really need to be physical at all. All you need to do is look around, be aware of what is happening and ask yourself if it is possible. That way, you may end up gaining awareness in a dream, and when you question reality in a dream, you often end up lucid. Also, there is no real reason to be frightened by sleep paralysis, you go through it every night wether you like it or not . Good luck !

If there is any person in the whole world that LDing can benefit, it's definately you.

Having said this, I know you have some limitations. But, you can RC just as Spartiate said. Just ask yourself if you're dreaming or not. It's that easy. Without the physical aspect, you need to think about it more often so that your brain makes the connection.

DILD is probably the best method for you. RCs and keeping a dream journal will really be the only tools you have to use. It might take a long time, but it also may not...So, stick with it. Everyone is capable of lucid dreaming successfully.

Hello!, you don't have to do RC's for DILD's to work.

Trying waking up 6 hours into sleep, or 4 hours into sleep.
and then go back to sleep with confidence you will have a lucid dream

its all about confidence.

I'm very interested in what you might come across in trying to LD. I work with some guys with MD but they're not very interested in LDing.
One problem that I foresee is recording your dreams as soon as you remember them. If you have the ability to write and can set up a pen/notepad within reach you may be able to record dreams as soon as you awake from a dream. Or if not, ask your staff or parents or whomever assists you in the morning to jot down key words for you to evaluate on later when on DV. I agree with Rose_Red. The best RC for you to attempt would be reading something near you. Maybe put up an inspiring quote related to dreaming near your bed?
Anyway, those are my thoughts.

First, welcome to the forums!
Like everyone above me said, you don't have to RC to have a DILD. Simply asking if you're dreaming is usually enough (all of my lucids were through asking myself if I'm dreaming, not doing a RC). You can also do the text-RC, as you don't need anything to move except your eyes.
Good luck with your lucid dreaming attempts

Thanks, everyone! You've set my mind at ease. Now I can just concentrait on learning to become lucid. C:

And nice avatar, rose_red! (I'm a big fan of Naruto, too.)

While your condition may prevent you from doing many reality checks, I suspect it may also make new ones possible for you. For example, since you can move in dreams in ways you can't move in reality, all you have to do to check to see how well you can move an arm or leg, and if you can move it significantly more than normal, you know that you're dreaming. If you think this, or something like it would work for you, I reccomend it, because, while physical reality checks aren't strictly necessary, I've found them to be extremely useful.

I'm in a wheelchair myself and consequently know exactly where you're coming from I have a question for you are you walking around in your dreams or in your wheelchair if you're walking around try to notice it and more than likely you'll gain at least partial lucidity if you have any more specific questions or just need somebody who's been there either find me in chat or pm me

Wendello