Oneironaut in training

Hey guys and gals, just a little background info and maybe a question or two.

Over the years my friends have been casually talking about lucid dreaming, but I haven't taken a serious approach to it until now. I've visited the Dream Views site before and have read introductions to lucid dreaming and tutorials on the front page, but this is the first time that I've taken an interest in the forums.

What actually made me serious about lucid dreaming was the movie Waking Life. I've watched it once before -under the influence- and thought it was a cool movie but didn't think much of it after. Recently however, I've picked it up, and have been watching it once almost every day, really scrutinizing each scene. For the past few months I've been questioning reality itself, walking the middle path, meditating, and recently I've been reading Ralph Waldo Emerson's essential works. So, watching Waking Life again in this mindset had a radically different effect on me.

I've been keeping a dream journal, which is actually quite fun. My dreams have become more frequent (or maybe I just remember them now) and many times more bizarre than before. But, it seems like I'm still a long way from lucid dreaming, so I have a couple of questions.

When I first started a dream journal, it was in a notebook that I kept beside my bed. I recently purchased a new laptop, and have been keeping my dream journal in files named for each month. Does moving from one medium to another have any adverse effect on dream recall? Would it have been better to stick to the notebook by my bed? I usually keep my laptop beside my bed as well, so both are very accessible.

On to the second question. I've been lurking the forums and reading tips on how to induce a lucid dream (and this is after I've had a few hours of sleep), and one that I discovered and decided to try out was "Tricking your body into falling asleep" by Jeff777. From my experience with meditation, it's easy to lie still for the 20-30 minutes period without moving so that my body can go to sleep, but it seems like I have a problem actually going to sleep.

If that wasn't enough, it seems like I have trouble distinguishing between my thoughts and actual dreams. I let my mind wander and try to relax, and when a situation forms in my mind, sometimes it's so vivid that I believe that it's a dream, and I quickly do reality checks, but I don't obtain lucidity. So, I lie in bed, trying my hardest not to open my eyes and do another reality check, because I've been having a lot of false awakenings lately.

This interchange between very short dreams, my imagination, and lying in bed deciding whether or not to open my eyes and do a reality check lasts for maybe half an hour to an hour, and then I finally let my guard down. Then a real dream commences and I always forget to do reality checks.

So what should I do? Can anyone describe the feeling they get when they finally fall asleep and have a real dream? How can you separate the instances where you just seem to have a vivid imagination, and a dream?

This is probably the lengthiest introduction thread on here, and I apologize for that, but I'm really not the type of person who engages in small talk. Any tips and suggestions are welcome.

Cliffs:
Intro
Does moving between two writing mediums affect dream recall?
How do you distinguish between imagination and dreaming? What are the bodily signs that happen when you are about to fall asleep?

Hi InTransit! Welcome to dreamviews.
First of all, i can't see how changing from a notepad to laptop to record your dreams would effect your recall, as you said it is just as accessible as your notepad was. Bare in mind however that the longer you are awake, the less of the dream you will probably remember, so if the laptop takes a few minutes to start up then that could be causing a slight problem in your recall.
To your next problem; the best way of distinguishing between imagination and a dream would probably be to look out for any dreamsigns. Dreamsigns are things that are common to a lot of your dreams, and so therefore whenever you see one it will remind you to perform a reality check. If you haven't already found a dreamsign of yours, read over your dream journal entries and see if anything jumps out at you. It could just be as simple as the sky being red in your dreams, for example.
Bodily signs that you will experience when falling are sleep would probably all be centred around sleep paralysis, which includes paralysis of the body, a "sinking feeling", hypnogogia, (i.e hallucinations, hearing voices), and i personally feel a very noticeable tingling all through my body.
I hope that helps.

Thanks for the reply Chris. Looking at my journal, it seems like I tend to interact with people that I don't know, or haven't hung out with for a while, like we're best buddies or something. I even had one dream where I was part of an assassination group with Brad Pitt taking charge, and Goerge Clooney was Splinter Cell ruining our plans. Like seriously, how often would I be in the company of super stars? On the other hand, some of my close friends have been reoccurring dream characters. I'll have to be more aware of my surroundings during my dreams to pick up more dream signs other than the people I interact with.

I have experienced paralysis of the body, the sinking feelings, and the tinglings. To be more specific, I experienced all of those going to sleep last night, but every time I would get close to drifting off, I'd hear my cousin sneezing in the room next to me, or my parents getting a drink of water or setting the alarm. Those events were probably actually happening, but would it also be safe to assume that those were signs of hypnogogia? I mean, all of the other bodily signs were there, and maybe all of that was just a hallucination.

I suppose it is possible, but I'd probably say that it was infact just them making the noise. It's important to not get distracted when attempting something like this and so it would be best to do it when there will be no distractions at all (i know that's harder than it sounds). Hypnagogic imagery will sometimes just come in the form of bright colours or patterns, and occasionally may appear as something more sinister, aswel as the sounds. It wouldn't be uncommon to hear a sort of evil laughter or voices engaging in a whole conversation, when nothing is really happening at all. If you're not sure whether it is just your mind making these sounds then give the benefit of the doubt and remain still.
Have you managed to get into a dream state from sleep paralysis yet?

I don't think I have yet. Every time I experience sleep paralysis I keep thinking to myself, "Alright man, just relax, and allow yourself to dream." Then some feeling comes over me, I get too excited, and I find that I can't go to sleep. I guess I just give up after a considerable amount of time of just laying there and move my body to break the sleep paralysis. It's always after that, that I slip off into a dream with my guard down.

I had a lucid dream earlier! It didn't last very long though...my cousin woke me up when he was getting ready for school, that bastard. I did some dream spins and rubbed my hands together, which kept me lucid when my dream started to fade. That was an awesome experience lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by InTransit

I had a lucid dream earlier! It didn't last very long though...my cousin woke me up when he was getting ready for school, that bastard. I did some dream spins and rubbed my hands together, which kept me lucid when my dream started to fade. That was an awesome experience lol.

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:banana: Success! After you have one lucid dream on purpose, others are easier. Good luck, and try RCs.

Man, RCs are one thing I always forget to do. I've had a lucid dream every morning since the 7th, and I sort of just realize that I'm dreaming.

The dream I had on Tuesday was filled with bycicles pedaling by themselves, and little mythical creatures before I became lucid. But when I went back inside the dream house, something just clicked, I blinked my eyes, and all of that went away. I went back outside and there was a whole new scene before me. There were rolling hills with lush grass that seemed so vivid and oversaturated with color. And frogs. Everywhere.

Ill try to perform as many RCs as I can tomorrow morning, hopefully that'll ground myself into the lucid dream, because they always end so soon :thumbdown2: