Its all about learning right?

I just finished reading the site, wonderful introduction to this... practice? skill? im not sure what to call it. However the concept is incredible and makes me question all my favorite dreams that i've had in my life. I've only gotten 10 hours of sleep (i think) in the past 2 days so while im really intrigued im going to type this then get a HUGE amount of sleep, and see what happens.

When i was young (4 or 5 maybe), i used to be able to sleep in my parents bed during the day cause i couldnt sleep well at night and i would have the same dream of being in a carriage pushed by a lady i couldnt distinguish. I would always wake up and just be bewildered that there was no way of explaining that to myself. There was nothing abnormal, it felt real. The dream would come back each time i would sleep in that room and i can remember almost wanting to just sleep in there for a week because it was the only way to trigger the dream it seemed.

In my own room a few years older, I can remember another where i was being chased by a man resembling the Undertaker of the WWF. I was really small but it didn't dawn on me that it was a dream sign. I was just terrified. I dashed through a enormous jungle-jim like they have in the McDonald's play-places and what not. But he was always almost within reach of me. I would wake up. I would just wake up and dismiss it as a nightmare.

When i was a preteen i can remember having very dark dreams. That honostly scared the hell out of me. Deaths occurred alot. Very bizzarre things to people i cared about, people i didnt know. Some with me acting out of line with no control. I can remember having a very disturbing "nightmare" and missing school the next day and asking my friends if so-n-so was OK, because somewhere i was afraid something had happened to him.

These things i believe created alot unwanted stress on my head and made me not want to sleep. So i simply havent given my body alot of needed sleep over the years. I stay up, I go out, stay busy. Parties, Friends, Work late, TV, Video Games, the whole works. My body runs on what it gets and its a machine. But i do have obligations that require more sleep, such as working, and i take a Melatonin to get a good nights rest.

At first this was great. I could get 10 hours of sleep if wanted. Watch some prime time tv and pass out in bed around 9. Not worry about what to do till all hours of the night. And i would have these incredible, extremely vivid dreams. Theres only 2 i can remember now and im kicking my self in the ass because i wish i could remember more now as that would be incredibly useful.

The first, im in a mall and the place floods from the ceiling like its just all of the sudden jumanji and i just fly through it and as i escape, i wake up. I really wish there was more to that dream, although ill never forget how incredible that dream was.

The Second, im with a girl ive had a crush on for years. Its very passionate and visual. Thats perhaps not a very good sense of what i remember from distortion but im sure you get the jist of it.

These are merely the postive dreams, and i believe the ability to control the negative dreams would lead to less stress in my body and allow me to sleep more sound with better results. Once i convince my self to learn the signs that im dreaming i can have amazing nights of sleep with incredible dreams periodically.

So, im confidently and honostly going to work with this because i think it will create positive vibes in my life. I would love to hear responses from others who have experienced success in a similar goal as encouragement to me.

Everybody have a good night.
-Strayed.

First off, welcome to DV! :D

Lucid dreaming is a GREAT way to deal with bad dreams and nightmares, especially when they are recurring. I did this myself when I was aged 3-6, because I had a lot of nightmares back then.

I'm currently going through a hard time because I'm suffering from anxiety. In this scenario, it's common to have lots of nightmares and lack of sleep because of this, thus making the anxiety even worse. But, because of lucid dreaming, I have been able to get normal amounts of sleep, with good (lucid) dreams to the point where sleep is my "time off" anxiety.

For you, I would recommend starting up a dream journal. You can make on here on the forums if you want to have a public one (lots of members do), or you can just keep it on your computer or on paper. Look for similarities in your dreams, this is what we call dream signs. These dream signs will help you get lucid, by doing reality checks when they occur both in dreams and waking life.

You will find out more about this in the tutorial section where you will find more lucid dreaming induction techniques: http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...splay.php?f=25

I would also recommend you the book "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming" by Stephen LaBerge, not only does it have a ton of information about lucid dreaming and induction techniques, but it also has good information on how to use lucid dreams to overcome nightmares.

Good luck, and don't hesitate to ask if you have more questions! :)

Hello and welcome to Dream Views.

I just have to say that yes, lucid dreaming does help with nightmares. Most of my dreams were nightmares. When I started serioulsy working at lucid dreaming the nightmares gradually lessened until I very rarely have a nightmare anymore.

I can't say for sure if it was lucid dreaming that helped with this or simply the fact that I was paying more attention to my dreams and pondering them. It was probably a bit of both. Whatever it was, this site is a major reason for the nightmares being gone now.

I hope the same will be true for you.
:)

After hearing about lucid dreaming, I too was ready to get to sleep and show those evil nightmare creatures who's boss.

Unfortunatley, since understanding what and lucid dreaming is, how i can control it and do what i want; the monsters have not come back. I guess they are scared of me now or something =P

Luminous, I love reading articles and things online, i dont do too well with books but i will look into it as this has already captured an invested amount of time, Sleep with productivity? I love it. Vex, Dizko, im really happy to hear everything you said. Hopefully those Nightmares will fade. Thanks for the replies i know i typed a ton and i appreciate those who read it.

Last night i set my alarm for 11:30 am. Which would of been exactally 7 hours from when i fell asleep. Figured this would be good to recall my dream after some REM. I remember waking up 13 minutes late and having the alarm as a constant sound in my dream. I cant remember much because my bodies been really exhausted and i fell right back asleep for another 4 hours. However, what i believe my subconciousness accepted that that sound was apart of my surroundings. Rather then questioning it. I think this is only a subtle example of the power of the mind and its going to take discipline to work on my reality checks.

I think the pad and paper will work great for me as a way to jot notes and convert them to a journal i'll start here as things become clearer. I find the act of coming here, and talking about it allows for my mind to stay on the topic longer. I always believed that you dream about what you think about the most mixed with events of the day. While that may not be completely true, i do believe it holds some ground.

Please keep with the encouragement and tips.
-Strayed.