New Here, intro + questions

[jaasum]

I found this site to be the most useful sort of information since I sort of "stumbled" onto the topic of Lucid Dreams. My dreams have always fascinated me and the idea of making them more real and me more aware of them is very intriguing. I have had many of the typical DILD type dreams where I am in a dream and then realize "This is a dream!" and then either wake up or take more control of the situation. Then I have also had dreams that are very vivid, but I am always doing something mundane, like driving to work, only to wake up again. So the idea of being able to one, Realize I am in these dreams, and two self induce them through a WILD is very fascinating. I have been reading through these forums for the past few days so I feel these questions are justified, and if I simply haven't read enough and someone would like to link me to a thread that can help that is perfectly fine as well. I am very aware of "newbie" status on a board and know enough to read some before I ask questions. So here goes. The main thing that is getting me from reading techniques such as RT is: How real are lucid dreams? Especially when you self induce them. Once I get it down will they be so real that I will be confused to if I am actually awake or not? Or it will it be like the dreams I have before where I realize it is a dream, yet it is still very abstract and dream-like (hard to remember when I wake up). This is just out of curiosity, because if I am just going to go into a LD just to have it be nothing more than just a "really good dream" then I don't see the point in waking up at five in the morning to do this. But if the experience is truly as awesome as it sounds I am all in. I am fairly good at recalling dreams and I have had the ability to wake myself out of dreams so I will be practicing the WILD technique. I have tried it a little bit the last few nights but got distracted or woken up. I got to the point of feeling very heavy and seeing flashes of color and light, but that is as far as I got. So what I can really expect from "staying awake" until I dream (as far as how real it is)? My second question would be: Will it be extremely difficult? I know everyone is different but my dreams tend to lean very much towards the realm of abstraction and a separation of reality. Such as most of my dreams are in places I have never been with people I have never met. Sometimes my dreams are only colors and sounds, or very strong emotions. So will that make it harder for me to have a lucid dream? Because most of my dreams are so bizarre than I wouldn't even think to reality test. This question I may not have an answer for, maybe if some people could just share their first experiences then I would know what to expect. Thank you

[Redrivertears]

Hey there, How real are lucid dreams? Well unfortunately, you'll find that with dreams there is very seldomly a single answer. It depends a lot. Some lucid dreams I've had were abstract and vague, many were as real to me as walking around while awake. Additionally, there are techniques you can use to try and 'make' your lucid dreams more real and vivid. Sometimes, lucid dreams can even seem *more* real then waking life. That said, I've never waken up and not know I've awoken I think we have an inherent sense of being awake that is pretty much foolproof. Which is why whenever I'm not sure if I'm dreaming or not, I know I am As to the second question, how easy will it be? Again, that varies greatly. For some people it comes natural, for others its a lot of hard work. But I think most will agree that its worth the effort. From what you describe, I think certain aspects will come easy to you, certainly inducing lucidity. Other aspects might be harder (such as making the dream more lucid and vivid), but you won't really know until you try, I'm afraid. And lastly, sharing first experiences, I can tell you my first lucid dream when I began practicing was very real, so much so that I remember it clearly even now (more then 12 years later). I had been practicing for about two weeks, and it sort of happened spontaniously, I suddenly became aware that I was dreaming. Since then, I've had many lucid dreams. Some of which I don't really remember anymore, and others which I carry with me and the memories of which are as real and vivid to me as memories of special events during my waking life. Anyways, hope that helps a bit, -Redrivertears-

[Wavefunction]

Hello, to Dreamviews! I had that same question, how real could it be, until I had my first LD. I reminded myself before bed that night that if I had a LD, I would be sure to remember if it was real or not. And it was completely realistic, just like real life (except for the control part, and sometimes weird things happening). I remember that it was more real than I ever had imagined. WILDs are supposedly even more realistic than DILDs. Becoming lucid in a dream with colors and emotions would be harder, because there's no reason to RC, and no reason to think you're dreaming (and no body to do an RC with!) However, the dreams where you're in places you've never been in shouldn't be a problem, because either way you should end up RCing.

[jaasum]

Thanks for the warm welcome! Your questions are defiantly helping, I also have been reading in the LD experiences section and gotten more insight, but your direct answering of my questions helps the most, enough to keep me trying. I attempted my first WILD last night but there was no success, I started a log in the dream log section. I had great success at dream recall when I had a regular dream but no lucidity yet. Keeping track of everything I did wrong and consciously changing it the next night should help.

[Alex D]

Hey there, welcome to Dream Views! Good to hear your dream recall is going well, that's without a doubt the most important part. WILD can be very touch for new lucid dreamers and old ones alike, so don't let any failure knock your confidence.

[jaasum]

So last night I attempted just practicing staying conscious while I went to bed the first time (so this wasn't a WBTB, but somewhat of a WILD) I got fairly far and then all of the sudden it literally felt like I was in a boat and someone grabbed the end and rocked me hard, because I felt as if I rolled all the way left then all the way right. This shocked me and I became very alert. What could this have been? After I calmed down a bit I had a brief second of hearing voices, they weren't saying words, more like noises. Sort of like "Uhhh yaaaa" Am I just wasting time trying to WILD while I go to sleep the first time? Are these signs that I am getting closer to staying alert while I fall asleep?

[Adam]

Hey, welcome to the forum. Trying to WILD when you first go to sleep I would have thought was near on impossible. WILDs usually occur when falling back to sleep after waking from your REM sleep. When you go back to sleep and WILD you fall back into the dream as return to REM sleep Good luck

[jaasum]

Perhaps I am a little confused on that. I have been reading TONS the past few days about WILDing So was what I experienced close to successfully WILDing? And when I do the wake then back to bed my goal is to awaken DURING REM sleep the WILD? I figured it was the process of staying aware during all five sleep cycles, that's why you wanted to stay up for an hour or so to kind of "reset" it. Any clarity would be appreciated.

[Redrivertears]

Hey there, The sensations you felt were likely the feeling of your body falling asleep, appearing as hypnagogic images. It's common when sleeping or getting close to sleep for outside stimuli (sounds, feelings, smells), to appear as dreamimages or hypnagogic images. Many people have reported getting this 'rocking' feeling (myself included) as the body relaxes and begins to prepare for the night. The things you heard were likely hypnagogic sounds as well. Again, many people have reported hearing words spoken or snippets of conversation as they begin to fall asleep. If you're interested in knowing more about hypnagogic images and sounds, do a search on these boards, there's tons of info on them! -Redrivertears-

[jaasum]

Okay, so I have been practicing every night. I try different techniques but usually the same pattern. MILD when I go to bed, then I wake up in the night and attempt to WILD. I get interesting results by that, but my dream recall has gotten better than ever! Last night I remembered a total of 4 dreams! I have never been able to do that before in my life. Does this mean I am getting closer to attaining a LD?

[Redrivertears]

In a way, yes... but it's more general then that... You're starting to pay more attention to your dreams, your starting to sharpen your recall, you're starting to get more interested in your dreams. This will not only help you to get lucid dreams sooner or later, it'll likely cause you to have far richer dreaming experiences as a whole -Redrivertears-

[jaasum]

That too