Hello, What is it like to be lucid in a dream?

[humbee300]

I'm new on DV and I have stumbled on this site on Wednesday when I was looking up on Lucid Dreaming. I read a Wikipedia about LD, but I never really dug into LD. I want to start my journey in LDing, so I started my membership with DV on my birthday today(I've turned 19). I read some of your dream journals (especially DreamQueen's) and was inspired to have my own.However, since I'm new, I won't have any entries anytime soon. I also want to ask what is it like to be lucid in a dream and share some tips on obtaining Lucidity.

[RobotGymnast]

Happy birthday! I haven't actually experienced one where I'm fully lucid, but I've heard it's a lot closer to being awake than being in a dream.

[XeL]

First of all, and happy birthday! The first thing to do as a beginner is to start writing a dream journal. Not just an electronic one, but a real one. Keep it by your bed and when you wake up, try to write down as much as possible of what you remember from the dream. In this way you will impove your dream recalls, which is crucial if you want to get LDs. As for the feeling of a lucid dream, I don't really to be honest. I've had 2 lucids in total but I've lost control right away so I'm still waiting for my first "real" lucid dream. This site has a great tutorial section where you can read everything you need to know. Happy dreaming, XeL

[yuriythebest]

it's amazing! Imagine how neo felt when he realized he was the one- it feels like that only on steroids! Complete freedom!

[RobotGymnast]

... The first thing to do as a beginner is to start writing a dream journal. Not just an electronic one, but a real one ... Wait, what's the difference? I like my laptop better ><. It's a lot quicker and more organized. ... In this way you will impove your dream recalls, which is crucial if you want to get LDs ... Oops, is it really crucial? I can always remember my last dream. I should really start doing that journal thing.

[yuriythebest]

Wait, what's the difference? I like my laptop better ><. It's a lot quicker and more organized. well, if your laptop is on standby while you sleep perhaps you could, but it's all about quick access- in the time you turn on the lap top, launch word, etc you might forget a detail or two, while you can access a copybook in mere seconds

[RobotGymnast]

Actually, my laptop's usually on during the night. My bed's one of those ones that's like a bunkbed, but with no bottom bunk, so I sort of have to leave the bed anyway to turn on a light and get a book anyway.

[JamesLD]

the first time you become lucid, the moment you realize your dreaming its one of the greatest feelings and it like something youve never felt before. "wow im walking around in my own head right now, I can do anything i want!!!

[spiritofthewolf]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Welcome to DV, I hope you enjoy your stay here and learn a lot about lucid dreaming. I've had lucid dreams where they have looked and felt more vivid and realistic then waking life... I know it's a hard thing to put into perspective but once you begin to have them, you will know what i mean! Good luck buddy!!! Spiritofthewolf

[humbee300]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Welcome to DV, I hope you enjoy your stay here and learn a lot about lucid dreaming. I've had lucid dreams where they have looked and felt more vivid and realistic then waking life... I know it's a hard thing to put into perspective but once you begin to have them, you will know what i mean! Good luck buddy!!! Spiritofthewolf Thanks, Spiritofthewolf, I hope I become lucid and remember my dreams. I hope I can get as many LDs as you do.

[Hidden]

Actually, my laptop's usually on during the night. My bed's one of those ones that's like a bunkbed, but with no bottom bunk, so I sort of have to leave the bed anyway to turn on a light and get a book anyway. You could put your journal under your pillow. Another disadvantage of using a computer instead of paper is that the screen will blind you, which is bad for your recall and could make it harder to get back to sleep. Plus, if you wake up in the middle of the night and remember a dream it'll be a lot easier to get the motivation to write it down if your journal's handy rather than down lower. I guess you could put your laptop under your pillow. As for how a lucid dream feels, I'd have to say that the first one is the best. Even though I woke up right away, it was amazing just knowing that I was dreaming. Everything sort of clicked into place (best way I can describe it) and made sense. During the handful of longer dreams I've had I've mostly flown, which was really fun. Lucid flying is about ten times better than non-lucid flying, something I only realized when I flew in a non-lucid a few days ago. And I have to say, even NL flying is pretty good.

[RobotGymnast]

...You could put your journal under your pillow... What about lighting D=? I can't hold a light, a book, and a pen all at once.

[XeL]

What about lighting D=? I can't hold a light, a book, and a pen all at once. You can't write in darkness? I can. If that's a huge issue for you though (which i storngly doubt) you could always get one of those flashlights that you attach to a book. I don't know what they are called in English.

[Hidden]

You can't write in darkness? I can. If that's a huge issue for you though (which i storngly doubt) you could always get one of those flashlights that you attach to a book. I don't know what they are called in English. I don't know what they're called in English either. Or any other language for that matter. I think it might be called a book light. But yeah, you can definitely write in the dark. It actually isn't good for your recall to turn on lights. Some people even write with their eyes closed so they can remember the dream better. I used to do that, but then when I tried to read it later I had to be... creative. Now I just write in the dark. If you stay up late enough it'll be light when you wake up anyway. Or you could get a pen that lights up.

[yuriythebest]

It actually isn't good for your recall to turn on lights. I don't quite concur- lights in my opinion have no impact on dream recall- if you read your DJ prior to sleep and don't move while waking up to recall your dream with some practice you'll have good dream recall. I write my dreams both with using natural and artificial light and don't think there's much difference. Writing in good handwriting (mine is awful sometimes) seems to be important though otherwise you have to "piece it together" later on, which may work when the dream is fresh but if you pick up that DJ several months later you won't make heads or tails from it. That being said, I do have a quirk of my own- drinking milk seems to help my dream recall, so if writing with turned off lights helps you then by all means

[RobotGymnast]

Unfortunately, my writing was bad to begin with. Add the factor of getting a laptop and pretty much ABANDONING all writing didn't help. If I write in the dark, it's going to be messed up, especially if I move to a new line. I think what I'm going to do is afix my dream in my mind before moving, and then go down to type it on my laptop. I find my dream recall is organized into: things I forgot because I didn't think about them, and things I remember eternally because I thought about them for a minute. I doubt I'll forget something in the trip from my bed to my computer as long as I consciously remember the dream once or twice first. If it starts being a problem, though, I'll try the booklight thing. I think I used to have one.

[humbee300]

Thanks for your advice on keeping a DJ, everyone, and I already have a DJ. Now I just need to develop a good dream recall.

[RobotGymnast]

My dream recall is quite good, I think because I've been trying to since I was pretty young. At that time, Google was still rather new, and I didn't really know how to get help (nor would my parents have let me), so I sort of just tried the straightforward method of wanting to remember my dreams. Your subconscious clues in after a while, just like I kept wanting to know I was dreaming (In every dream I can remember for the past few years, save one, I knew I was dreaming). So, if all else fails, just want it. I'm also the kind of person that berates themselves for not doing it, and feels disappointed, and then I'd remind myself again. After a while, your mind gets used to it I guess.

[Hidden]

Robot: ALL your dreams have been lucid? Then why does it say in your sig that you're an inexperienced lucid dreamer? And yeah, like Yuri said, whatever works for you best is what you should do.

[RobotGymnast]

No, I wish they were lucid. I always have control, and I usually know I'm dreaming. However, this isn't enough to wake my conscious mind. It's very annoying.

[Hidden]

I'm not sure I know what you're talking about... If you know that you're dreaming while you're in the dream, that is, by definition, a lucid dream; control and whatnot aren't factors in determining whether or not you were lucid. Is it like you're dreaming about having a lucid dream?

[RobotGymnast]

There's been an argument about this in another thread (not exactly, but close). My active understanding that I was dreaming has long since been replaced with more of a "feeling", that I just know what I can do. Although I do often actually say/think the words "I'm dreaming", I do not invoke my conscious mind. The problem is that there are two different definitions of a lucid dream; one is that you are aware of your dream, and the other is that your conscious mind is awake during a dream. I'm often aware that I'm dreaming, but I'm not conscious. I consider being conscious during your dream a true lucid dream.

[Laura]

I have been lucid dreaming for years and years, and have had all sorts of experiences. but when I actually get up from bed, I have felt that I have gone somewhere, by that I mean, I have felt that I am still moving, and have had all sorts of them, but the one that is the best is the ability to feel like your flying. I can do summersaults, and excape this way, I have used this to get out of fearful situations...........strange stuff. i have often wondered why in heavens would you want to do this, this comes naturally to me, and it has happened so many time.

[Hidden]

Ah, I see, I had a dream like that last night. I'd just finished climbing a hill when I realized that I could have just flown up because it was a dream, but there was no "aha" moment. Is that the sort of thing you're talking about? Laura: Eh? Why you would want to do what? You mean lucid dream?

[XeL]

Ah, I see, I had a dream like that last night. I'd just finished climbing a hill when I realized that I could have just flown up because it was a dream, but there was no "aha" moment. Is that the sort of thing you're talking about? Laura: Eh? Why you would want to do what? You mean lucid dream? If I understood him correctly in the 2 other threads he posted, he claims that he can control the dream just as well as in a lucid one... The only thing is, he isn't lucid. Personally, I think this is bullcrap. I've never heard of something like that.