Two Things I'm Curious About . . .

Hi - I am new to lucid dreaming . . . have been on this forum about one month. I have so far had 2 WBTB/DILDs. I have not truly tried a WILD yet because it seems to be a more advanced technique and I wanted to work on these first and beginning a dream journal. Two things have happened to me that I'm curious about and would love for more advanced dreamers to shed some light on these if possible . . .

1. When I meditate, deeply relax sometime I suddenly hear someone call my name. Does anyone else have this and does anyone know what this is actually coming from? I also sometimes feel I'm in an altered state of consciousness . . . I don't feel awake, don't believe I'm asleep and it doesn't feel like a normal dream. (sometimes this just happens if I am deeply relaxing, but it actually happens to me also during acupuncture treatments when my energy is being balanced . . . its very relaxing, almost hypnotic)

2. I have awoken during the night a couple of times to get up and go to the bathroom . . . I am not sure if I might be awakening during a REM period because I have gone back to bed and gotten back into the same dream I was already having (not lucid dream) as soon as I closed my eyes. Once I was also just seeing a dream as soon as I closed my eyes, but felt like I was still sort of awake . . . I could still open my eyes physically and the image would go away, but I could close them and it would be there! I'm not sure exactly what was going on and thought maybe someone could shed some light on this :)

I also just posted about my second experience in the Beyond Dreaming section . . . I am definitely very much enjoying learning about lucid dreaming and am very interested in the topic of dreamsharing. Thank you in advance for any help you can give!

After posting this, I was reading some more of the tutorials and came across this one on WILDing . . . http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ead.php?t=9806

It sounds like I have been having some experiences related to this when I deeply relax! I didn't realize that is what was happening because other articles I'd read on WILDing talked about some of the more intense experiences . . . I think I may be starting to WILD, but its more gentle . . . ?

I'm not an advanced dreamer, but to answer your first point, I've experienced that a lot. Usually its when I experience sleep paralysis, but I've also heard my name being called and talking when I am in a very relaxed state.

Hey Tess, just sent you a reply btw,

But in answer to your questions on this thread....

1. When in a relaxed state, really relaxed we can often experience similar to that of what happens in the WILD technique, basically in a WILD you go into the stage known as HI (Hypnogogic Imagery) and you experience various colours and shapes and even vibrations and strange sounds. Now it is possible that in a relaxed state like you described that you heard these voices because you were so relaxed, maybe even in a HI-like state but with only voices. Hallucinations could be another answer, don't worry, hallcunations can be quite common especially if your deeply relaxed and maybe even a bit drowsy. Nothing to worry about there.

2. Many people find that when they come out of a dream and take a short break there body does not fully come out of sleep just yet and when you go back to bed after a short break you can easily just slip back into the dream you had just left, its perfectly normal for some and this can be explained by the body still being in a relaxed state and you will find it easier to re-enter the dream. It will seem easy to switch between both the dream and awake because you are on the brink of both and it can be easy to slip between the two until you merge yourself with one of them.

Its great that you enjoy learning about lucid dreaming, feel free to ask any more questions you may have! :)

I've heard people taunting me just before I fall asleep, and I can actually will them to say things, but I can't control what it is that they say. Weird thing is, I never recognise the voices and it's a mix of male and female voices.

I do have that sometimes, yes. I'm almost falling to sleep, and then I hear my brother calling out my name. The funny thing is that call back xD

I think it's just another form of Hypnogogic Imagery, but then relating to your hearingsystem.