First Post!

[Josue]

Hey folks, I just wanted to introduce myself and ask a few questions. My name is Josue and I live in SoCal, I had heard a lot about LD before, but I was never really interested (I suppose I never truly considered the possibilities before). On Saturday night I watched Waking Life and it suddenly dawned on me that I'll bet that I could probably learn an awful lot about myself through this technique - and of course, what better question is there than Who am I? Anyway, I read through a few sites that were trying to sell me gadgets and guides and seminars, but somehow I felt that that just wasn't the path for me. So, I searched some more and found this site. I memorized the basics and decided to begin a dream journal. I was amazed by the results, I woke up four times throughout the night and was able to recall four dreams in great detail. Amazed at being able to do so much in just one night. I figured why not try for an actual LD last night. I was in the middle of a dream that was quite strange - almost like a salvia trip and I was getting quite scared. For some reason this prompted me to do a "mental reality check" as there was nothing for me to refer to physically. This all happened in an instant, I suddenly realized that it might be a dream since I couldn't remember smoking any salvia and then quickly realized that I was indeed dreaming. Immediately the sound went away and everything turned black and white. I thought to myself, I'm going to lose it, I shouldn't have been so excited to realize what was going on, should have been more controlled. In retrospect, however, I don't blame myself, that's never happened to me before and I was understandably astonished! SO, I did the only thing I could think of, which was to start spinning and repeating to myself over and over that I was dreaming - all the while trying to focus on being anywhere else but in this scary dream. I'm not sure if I was really spinning though, because I seemed to be somewhat aware of my physical body in bed and "knew" that I couldn't really spin because I would spin off my bed. So I kinda just rolled back and forth in an effort to get some kinda movement going on without rolling off my bed. I suppose it worked, because I suddenly found myself in another dream, but I lost all lucidity and got swept away in it. My questions are: A) Has anyone else around here had a lucid experience on their second night trying (or something relative to that), and if so, would you please PM me with any tips that you can think of to help me move forward a bit faster? I know this sounds like I'm being impatient, I suppose I am. I'm not sure if that something to be worried about... You all would know better than I. B) What's the best way not to freak out and be all: "OMG, I'm dreaming and I KNOW IT! " and losing the whole thing? Thanks ~ Josue

[Bonsay]

Welcome and congratulations! Sometimes when you think you're about to wake up from a LD, you might actually be influencing the dream and inducing a False Awakening, waking up in a dream. So I suggest you do a RC every time you wake up, or at least every time you wake up from a LD. A) I didn't get one on my second night, sorry . Many say that it's best not to rush things, but I think it's up to you to decide. Dream Journals are great for recall, so if you keep doing it and make it a habit, it should improve your recall and LD count. Learn about Reality Checks and some basic techniques. Probably for WILDs and DILDs. You never know when they might come handy. There is one very simple technique called DEILD (Dream Exit Induced Lucid Dream) I would recomend if you want to be impatient. B) The only way I know of is to be prepared. Tell yourself before you go to bed, that if you get a LD you'll be perfectly calm, stabilise the dream etc. Just make it clear to yourself that you won't go "OMG OMG" if you become lucid, nothing too fancy. Good luck!

[Moonbeam]

to DreamViews, Josue! That's great that you recall is good and that you have already had a lucid dream. Learning to become lucid was (and still is) the result of a lot of effort for me, mostly the result of things I learned from this forum. So reading and learning is my recommendation. As far as stabilizing the dream, there are different techniques, such as rubbing your hands together or paying attention to small details. I think that practice is really the most important thing. Good luck and have fun!

[aceboy]

its great you had your first LD in three days! Mine took me about a month.

[Vex Kitten]

Welcome to Dream Views and congrats on the lucid dream. When I joined and started seriously trying to lucid dream, it took me more than two days to have one. Great job getting there so soon. About not freaking out, try not move and just take in different aspects of the dream, sights, sound, smells, etc. Instead of getting over excited try to appreciate the dream world that is wrapped around you. Sometimes it only takes a few moments of appreciation to solidify a dream.

[ThePhobiaViewed]

Hey and to DV! For me the only thing it took to get over being excited and losing it was having a few. After the first few I stopped getting as excited because I had done it before so I was more focused on trying some stuff like flying rather than just freaking out. Also I hope all your posts are like your first one because it was very well laid out and was detailed without being a wall of text. If only more people could learn to post like that

[ninja9578]

More to come I'm sure.

[Josue]

Thanks so much for all the nice comments and support. I can't wait to get to know you guys, learn from you all, and share techniques and whatnot once I get a lot better at this. Again, thanks for making me feel welcome, I really do appreciate it - like IRL-style.