Am I dreaming?

[Solita]

Hi, I'm new to DreamViews. I first heard about lucid dreams a few years ago but I haven't become interested in it until yesterday. So, just some background information... I've only been able to recall dreams once every few months, probably because I have been on an irregular sleeping schedule for the past two years, especially recently because of exam week. In a discussion with a few friends, I thought I could use lucid dreams as a way to inspire me to go back to a regular sleeping pattern. I thought I would start off with increasing my dream recall by chanting, "I'm going to remember my dreams." After an hour of chanting, I start drifting off into a semi-conscious state. Then I see these scenes, about 10 seconds in length, 4 in less than half an hour. They're unrelated, obscure and I have a hard time remembering them. I kept bouncing back and forth from having these to being fully conscious and now I can't really go back to sleep. This is strange because I usually just fall asleep once I go to bed and especially strange since I've never directly went from being conscious to having dreams, even when I was on a regular sleeping schedule. Are these scenes dreams? And is this normal or am I suffering from a sleeping disorder? Any advice or something from experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Erinn]

Welcome, Solita ! Those scenes are just Hypnagogic Imagery, they're not actual dreams, but they're a sign that you'll be going through a shift from the waking state to the dreaming state very soon. You see them every night before going to sleep, but you remember them only when you're trying to be aware of them. It's very good that you've already experienced them, since you'll be needing them for many lucid dream induction techniques. And don't worry, it's not very likely that what you said are signs of any sleep disorder. By the way, a useful advice...start a dream journal (you can start it on the forum if you want... or not), it will help you a lot. Not only that you'll be able to recall more dreams, but you'll be able to recognise your dream signs and that WILL help you with gaining lucidity. If there's anything you don't understand on these forums, just hit the search button... the search button is your friend Anyway...Good luck and sweet dreams !

[Shift]

As Erinn has said, these are very normal hypnagogic hallucinations. Most people are just not fully conscious or just can't remember them, but most lucid dreamers attempt to keep themselves awake that long so the people you'll meet on Dreamviews are very often going to talk about them I've gotta commend you on chanting for so long. I'm not sure you've gotta dedicate so much time to that, especially if your goal is to get on a normal sleep schedule. Just try to give yourself at least 6 hours of sleep a night, and really put in the effort to make sure that whenever you wake up from a dream you jot it down, and whenver you wake up in the morning you lay there trying to remember if you were just dreaming. Over time this recall will improve. Sounds pretty cool that your friends are into LDing! Do they lucid dream?

[Solita]

Oh, was that what it was? It's nice to be able to put a name to it, so I can do some research on it. I think I must've frightened myself awake because I had no idea what was happening, which now I understand I shouldn't. I've gotten myself a dream journal and I've been doing regular reality checks, thanks. It's not that I had the patience to chant for an hour, but I wasn't able to fall asleep, especially because I kept feeling strong discomforts after a while. I plan on collecting dream recalls on the weekdays and then attempt LDing on weekends. And no, unfortunately, my friends don't LD. We've heard about it, but none of us has actually tried it. I should try to persuade them to join me, eh? I have a few more additional questions I couldn't find information on. How often can one LD? I understand it varies from person to person, but with proper training is it possible to do it everyday? Also, how vivid are lucid dreams and is it possible to increase the clarity of them without the use of drugs? All of my dreams are very blurry so I'm a little worried about the clarity of my lucid ones. Thanks for all the advice.

[Erinn]

It's nice to hear that you started a dream journal, keep it up. Regarding your questions... My friend has LDs almost on a daily basis, sometimes more than one. He got so bored with controlling them, because he tried everything and now he's just living in his lucid dreams, without any control except the awareness. Anyway, my point... it's possible to have them very, very often, but that kind of dream skill comes with practice and focused intention. Although, as you pointed out... it varies from person to person. Vividness and clarity of both non-LDs and LDs also varies... from person to person, from dream to dream. Sometimes you can really know that you're dreaming and still not be aware, but sometimes it can feel as real as reality... some even say that it can be more real than reality, you'll see what they meant There's also the memory factor...I had some LDs after which I woke up and I couldn't be sure if I was really lucid or was I just thinking that. On the other hand, after some lucids I felt so great and I could remember every single detail from the dream, just like it really happened. Btw, vitamin B6 helps a lot with vividness and it's harmless anyway. You don't have to take supplement pills, you can just eat bananas or something else with B6... They're millions of threads about B6 and dream supplements on the forums... but make sure you take them with a grain of salt... nothing gives free lucids and nothing is completely harmless. P.S. Persuade your friends... if they don't want to try it, it's their loss

[Shift]

And no, unfortunately, my friends don't LD. We've heard about it, but none of us has actually tried it. I should try to persuade them to join me, eh? I have a few more additional questions I couldn't find information on. How often can one LD? I understand it varies from person to person, but with proper training is it possible to do it everyday? Also, how vivid are lucid dreams and is it possible to increase the clarity of them without the use of drugs? All of my dreams are very blurry so I'm a little worried about the clarity of my lucid ones. Ah, that's too bad. Good to hear that your friends are open-minded about it though, I absolutely think you guys should try to learn together! Regarding LD frequency, yea it really depends. Some people are naturals and it'll happen every night. Some people will learn, and get them a few times a month. I usually get them about once or twice a week. If you learn the DEILD technique (a type of WILD), you can potentially have multiple lucid dreams in one night. Also, being stressed out and etc. is often blamed for causing dry spells. If you learn to WILD (not just DEILD, which is at a very specific moment when you have just woken up from a dream), you can intentionally give yourself a lucid every single time you go to sleep. This is relatively advanced, I can barely ever do it. Dreams can be VERY clear and vivid. I have not nor will I ever take any supplements to lucid dream. To me, that is a waste of money. Other people feel differently, so just follow whatever you think you'd like to try out. Without drugs though, they can be very vivid. Working on building up your ability to recall dreams is, to me, one of the best ways to recall nice vivid dreams. While in a lucid dream, just focusing on things and remaining calm and relaxed should make a dream clearer and more vivid. Hope that helps