Thread: Normal to be scared about lucidity at first?

I'm not sure where this should be posted but since It has something to do with the previous post I will post here. I am trying myself to become lucid.. and I have similar fears as you which are inhibiting my becoming/staying lucid I think. I seem to fall into sleep paralysis on a nightly basis... and it really bugs/scares me.. nothing worse than that feeling..but if i could make the transition into the dream that would be nice but I seem to panic when I feel the sleep paralysis and wake up...The closest to a LD I have gotten (not sure if it was an LD or not) was I falling into the sleep paralysis when I started to dream..I realized I was dreaming.. and I morphed into a tiger (unintentionally, totally against my will) I felt as though I had no control..I could feel myself purring..it was so realistic.. and I began flying through my house.. It was not by my control though which scared the hell out of me and awoke me..so was this a lucid dream or not, and why was I unable to take it over once I realized I was dreaming......This experience has put a fear in me I think that has inhibited my ability to fall back into the dream state..would love to be able to get over the fear of not being in control over a dream I realize I am dreaming in.. if that makes sense...

Some people are a bit hesitant at first some people are not, that's what makes us human. The worse thing you should really be afraid of would be the possible paralysis once you wake up but that is only temporary and is only scary if you're unprepared.
I had my first LD last night and wasn't aprehensive about it even though I didn't know what would happen exactly but you can control what happens in lucidity and you are quite aware of your surroundings so I doubt a nightmare would even occur. If it did you should be able to kill/stop/erase the nightmare or at the very least simple wake yourself up.

With most LD's and LD techniques, its a confidence thing that gets most people. If you're confident it your control, you will be able to do it no problems, if you're confident you will be able to defeat/stop the nightmare you will be able to.

PS - I didn't want to do any dream recall (although I think I might now) so I just jumped in the deep end and tried out some techniques and was pleasantly suprised with the results.

Cheers

Well last night I tried to just let go of the anxiety about the sleep paralysis.. and I think I successfully had some LD's...I cannot recall the small details but I remember some of the stuff..but I am still having a hard time.. When I first fell into one and realized I was dreaming I tried to do some things.. I was able to control things... but I felt as though I was struggling to have control.. almost as if I were crossing over between a regular dream and a lucid dream..if that is possible.. for example.. I was trying to fly..(lol) and well the first and second attempt failed miserably, i jumped up and fell down immediately as if i were irl.. finally on the third attempt I had liftoff.. then other times with other things like creating things it was the exact opposite it would work the first time.. but I was struggling to get it to work the next..or it is a long struggling process.. like for example..I was sitting at a bar.. and there was an ice cream sunday cup sitting there empty.. I stuck a paper towel in it and turned it into a hot fudge sunday with a cherry on top....but at first I could not change it.. then it started to change.. but morphed very very slowly.. and not completely.. finally it finished.. but there was no cherry.. so I created one and it was instantaneous..I do not know if there is an explanation for what I am experiencing or a solution being as this was only my 2nd lucid dreaming experience..and the first as I posted earlier was similar in terms of fighting for control. I also had several false awakenings..but it was basically one dream ending and another beginning almost immediately as I told myself I was still dreaming..Upon my real awakening I woke up in a sweat.. any information, solutions/suggestions etc. would be greatly appreciated... please help LDing when your only half in control isn't really fun..

Originally Posted by DrEaMeR23

I only learned about lucidity 1 or 2 days ago, and I've read a lot about it since then. But I'm kind of hesitant about having a LD. Everybody says it's really cool and only seems to be talking about trying to stay in it and not waking up. So what can go wrong in a LD (besides waking up)? I'm probably most afraid of being lucid during a nightmare (although I haven't had or at least remembered one for a while). Because in non-lucid nightmares I can just let what happens happen. But I'm just afraid that if I become lucid in a nightmare, I'll be unprepared, make a wrong decision, and not conquer my fears. I'm sure there's a section of this forum about nightmares that I'll read about later. But is this hesitance normal for beginners? And how can I take care of it?
P.S. I am far from having a lucid dream because my dream recall isn't that good anyways, but still...

Okay, a word of warning: On your first LD, you may feel a pulling sensation when discovering you're dreaming. It's nothing major, though. It's less pressure than a Gravitron at the state fair.

Other than that, you have absolutely nothing to lose! You could actually turn a nightmare to a dream that's loads of fun. (like a recent dream I had where becoming lucid in a nightmare went from a car-ride to hell to beating up the Devil matrix-style! )

And if you haven't been keeping a dream journal, you should. That helps a TON. If you need further help with LDing don't hesitate to PM me.

DrEaMeR23, you don't have anything to worry about in regard to making a wrong decision, or something going wrong in a nightmare.

Think about it: when yyou are in a nightmare, you are being terrified, and there's nothing you can do. Everything will go wrong.

But in a lucid nightmare, there's nothing that can hurt you, and you can easily end the nightmare and turn it into a profitable dream. You can even wake yourself up if you just want to get out of the dream, but once you become lucid in a nightmare, you'll realize that nothing can hurt you(or any dream for that matter).

Suttsman, I don't know what you're talking about this 'pulling sensation'.. that's never happened to me.

Not knowing what to expect can and probaly will create some anxiety. That's normal and you'll grow out of it Just remind yourself that you are in a dream and that nothing can hurt you. It's hard to do in the midst of a sea of emotions, but when you get more practice, it will come more naturally.

Control comes with time and practice as well. One thing you can do to help that is to draw yourself even more into the dream by rubbing your hands together, calling out "More Clairity," or even just walking around. By focusing on your position in the dream, you can increase the realism and have more influence over the events of your dreams. It takes practice, though, so don't get discouraged if you don't get it right away.

Also keep in mind that stress and anxiety will kill your dream recall. So just relax and enjoy the experience!

Ok, well my last post on this forum was a while back, and i've been having problems even attaining lucidity. For some reason I seem best able to achieve dreaming during naps and not when i bed down for the night. The few LD's i've had while napping have still been struggles..Today I managed to fall into a nap and very quickly found myself dreaming, I realised I was dreaming, and once again unable to do anything but was totally aware I was dreaming and able to feel sensations very realistically. I am writing this now because I can recall the dream very clearly and it's the best I can explain my problem to date.. so here's what happened. I begin having a dream in which I am outside of my house walking, I pass by a porta potty and hear a flapping,thumping sound inside.. it sounds like a bat is trapped (this is when I realised i was dreaming...I asked my self why in the heck i would have a porta potty outside my house...) from there the dream instantly went to inside the house with my telling my father there were bats in the porta potty....soon after it jumped to my room...where I began trying to control the dream more than just letting it flow.. it was a very choppy dream.. now this part I must say is what sums up every LD i've had to date.. i just could never remember it when trying to explain... I cannot See myself.. in my dreams..It's like i am looking out two holes cut out of a paper bag over my head except my body arms,legs etc are not visible 90% of the time.. I tried looking in a mirror in my dream and could see nothing but eyes... I fought with myself until my face emerged.. the entire time i felt as if i was in a straight jacket unable to move my arms or legs... I tried to look at my hands but i could not move my arms nor see them or my hands.. I asked for more clarity I tried and tried to move my arms and rub my hands together but no go... finally i was trying to break free of the wieghted down feeling and i had dreampt that my body pillow was wrapped around me like a lead boa constrictor I peeled it away, and squirmed out if it's grip... i tried lifting the bag or whatever was covering my head off of me, but I couldn't i felt as though i was trapped...upon struggling to move in the dream I woke up..that and the dog had began to bark in real life which woke me as well.. But that sums up every single lucid dream i've had.. i just could not recall enough detail to be able to fully describe the feeling.. and after that nap dream... I realised that I myself am missing visually etc. from every LD i've had.. Now i'm not sure how to get past this problem.. I have a tendancy to sleep on my stomach with my arms pinned down and a pillow over my head... every time i've achieved lucidity i've been sleeping that way.. could that be transferring over into the dream?...I can't nor have i been able to dream while sleeping on my back.. not sure why.. it's just extremely hard for me.. any suggestions are welcome.

I also forgot to mention I kind of think this could be more of a halucination state during sleep paralysis prior to lucid dreaming. However, it seems an aweful lot like a lucid dream because i realise it's a dream (ie. not real or possible) and i am indeed asleep while this is happening. Sometimes I'm able to have slight control but I still cannot move or see myself most of the time.. but I always get the feeling of heavyness, inability to move, being constricted and so on.. When I try to LD I often try to repeat to myself while im falling asleep "I'm awake but i'm dreaming" over and over...as well as doing reality checks throughout the day and just before bed.. My thoughts are maybe I should try a different method? o.0

(Maybe I should take naps more often...)

That sounds fustrating to say the least. Did you try relaxing and letting the dream run its course? I've had one experience where I could not move and it was SO annoying! I couldn't even change where I was looking, but after a minute or two I was finally able to move again. If your dogs hadn't been barking, it's likely that you would have eventually been able to regain mobility.

Try not to force it next time. It can be hard when you're just stuck, but if you find that something's not working, try something else. Also, even if you can't move, that doesn't mean you can't still affect the dream. Try summoning someone to help you. As far as mirrors, you can keep trying to look at yourself, but it may just be something that takes practice and depends on how deeply/lightly asleep you are. I don't know.

Sorry to hear your lucids have been less than perfect and I hope you don't let that stress you out too much.

Thanks, I'll be trying again tonight trying to just let it flow, I do agree now that you bring it up if the dog hadn't been barking It might have worked out..at first I overlooked it as he just woke me up, but I can understand how he could easily have just caused an "interference" of sorts before I finally woke up from it. Last night I did try again with a slightly different approach I tried to WILD, and I got into sleep paralysis and could only move my eyes I layed there still with my eyes closed for around a half hour and never got any hypnagogic imagery or auditory hallucinations. I was laying on my back and when the sleep paralysis started I was tiny bit tingly all over.. I felt like I could move if I really wanted to and concentrated on it, but I didn't feel it was necessary the feeling of a struggle and panick wasn't there... it was very relaxing actually. I felt like I was laying on my back on a raft in a pool.. with waves/vibrations..was an almost Euphoric feeling. Much more pleasant than the experience the night before actually. The kind of sleep paralysis from last night I could handle.. Now I just need to find a way into a dream from it or how to get to the hypnagogic and auditory hallucinations going..No matter what method I choose the one from the other night or the one from last night, or even a combination that works for me,I'd just like to get fully lucid once. I just got very frustrated the other night with having a tiny bit of control and at the same time not being able to move or really do anything.. Also in the dream I posted about before this post the feeling of constriction, and being restrained, unable to move etc.. was 1000x stronger but I was also fighting it right from the second I felt it..where as last night the transition into the paralysis was easy and smooth..it wasn't like BAM i'm paralyzed *panicks* lol.. was just that smooth easy transition which was just inability to move while experiencing a pleasant euphoric feeling.. strange. However I do appreciate the suggestions maybe I can co-mingle the methods, and remember what you suggested and i'll be looking forward to a full blown lucid dream soon.