Oh my...now what?

Hi everyone,

My name is Esmeralda , I'm 19 years old and I'm a Dutch student living in Amsterdam. I have always been sceptical when it comes to lucid dreaming. I never believed in it. I always thought: a dream is just a film made of thoughts and actions. A friend of mine always told me about her lucid dreams, she had trained herself when she was a little kid to escape the boogie man in her dreams. She has a cue or something like that.
So I was a non-believer....until a couple of days ago. I was dreaming for a while and suddenly I was travelling. I was in a train and then it was like I woke up in my dream. I looked around for a couple of seconds. The next stop was not even close to my house. I just pressed the button to go out of the train the next stop. It felt so trange. I was happy and excited at first but then I got scared, because I realized I didn't know what would happen next and that sort of freaked me out and I woke up.
I am still a bit overwhelmed by it and I started searching lucid dreams and I found this site. I just want to relive that moment again and not be freaked out by it :P I am willing to put a lot of effort in this and I don't care if it takes years I am hooked now :P
I actually don't even know if this was a lucid dream, It sure was something I have never experienced before.
I think the best thing to do right now is to start reading some of the topics here and make new friends :)

First off, welcome to Dream Views! If you think you would like to start practicing Lucid Dreaming, I highly recommend looking at some tutorials.

First off, is the DILD, which I believe is the most common. You can find the tutorial here.

Or, you can look at the WILD tutorial here.
If you are interested in WILDing, you should also look here for a WBTB tutorial.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me via private message, or anyone else by using the forums. Best of luck!

-Muggler

Thanks Muggler! WILD really sounds fascinating and it scares me as well :P I think I will try a DILD first since that is already freaking me out.

No problem. I am currently trying to WILD, because DILD doesn't appeal to me as much.

If you want to try to DILD, you need to learn to do Reality Checks quite often.

If you don't know what a Reality Check is, you can find that here.

actually WILD does sound challenging but I don't know if I can handle it :P I read the tutorial about it and I realized that my mother had some WILDs a couple of years back. I always wake up naturally almost the same every single day so maybe that can be usefull for a WILD.

That would be very useful. As long as you get at least 5 hours of sleep if possible.

Whether you try to DILD or WILD, you need to know that it takes time. You can't expect results right away. For some people, it takes weeks. Others, it could take years. Just keep confident an never give up. You will get one eventually.

Reality checks are a good start, but I really recommend either WILD or MILD. DILDs tend to be more sporadic, but you never know...some techniques work fantastically for some and not in the least for others. I guess I'd just try playing with a few different techniques and find the one that works for you. Also keep in mind that it usually takes about a month or two to become lucid on average. However, I do know of an exceptional few that become lucid very quickly.

If you plan to lucid dream in the long run, I would recommend picking a technique and sticking with it, as it will become embedded habit and you won't even have to think about it one day in the distant future.

At any rate, welcome to Dream Views! :welcome:

ok first off, I never had so many dreams in one night in my life. I had 4 dreams or maybe even more. I dont know if they were lucid but they were different than the dreams I mostly have. The one thing I did in every dream was rubbing my hands and looking at my hands. I think I knew that I had some sort of control because in one of the dreams I had to clean my room and I walked to my closet and I said "ok if I open this closet door the first pair of jeans and shirt I pick out will be the best one" So I was expecting the closet to do what I wanted it to do :P
Also there was one scene where I was eating something and then I thought: am I really eating this or am I eating this while I am sleeping and it is projected in my dream.
I think I'm making progress :P

I would recommend anyone starting out in LD should read Exploring The World Of Lucid Dreams by Stephen Laberge.

Yes I think I'm going to buy that book

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Originally Posted by Ezzie_Ezz

ok first off, I never had so many dreams in one night in my life. I had 4 dreams or maybe even more. I dont know if they were lucid but they were different than the dreams I mostly have. The one thing I did in every dream was rubbing my hands and looking at my hands. I think I knew that I had some sort of control because in one of the dreams I had to clean my room and I walked to my closet and I said "ok if I open this closet door the first pair of jeans and shirt I pick out will be the best one" So I was expecting the closet to do what I wanted it to do :P
Also there was one scene where I was eating something and then I thought: am I really eating this or am I eating this while I am sleeping and it is projected in my dream.
I think I'm making progress :P

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I think you're making great progress!! you might just be one of those people to whom it comes naturally... I started getting into the whole 'astral proyection' and stuff since i was 16... had some weird experiences but never anything solid until i was 21!! (I'm 23 now) and then i got into the lucid dreaming which is very similar, if not the same... I still haven't mastered it, i only have one once in a while, but i think you are in the right path and might be able to learn faster than some of us :roll: :P congrats!

and i guess just let it flow... when you get over-excited about the fact that you're dreaming and you're awake in the dream, it wakes you're body up!! :(
In my case, many times i've been able to be lucid i get a little scared that something or some identity is gonna show up! and so they do... and i ussually try to fight them off! not a good idea cause it always wakes me up... so if you ever see yourself in that position, don't fight them, don't show fear... just look at them like you don't care and think happy thoughts :) IGNORE them...

One thing i am proud of is that i learned to fly!! to some people is hard because its totally new! i mean, you can't fly in real life so you don't know the feeling... don't be scared... just let your self go... believe you're like superman or something... remember how he used to control it? like putting he's arms out... same thing in lucid dreaming... I'm telling you this cause sooner or later you will experience flying... and it is the greatest feeling!! u feel like u have no control but once u learn it, u can go wherever! awesome...

good luck!

yea, get into it. By being an active member of this site you are already increasing your chances of having a lucid dream, even if you don't do anything else.

Thanks for the reactions, I have always liked recalling dreams just for fun. I always travel with my next door neighbour and she always likes to listen to my dreams, because they are superweird most of the time. I have a veeery large imagination. So I can remember them vividly even after taking a shower, having breakfast, thinking about other stuff. I have ben travelling with her for years so I already have dream recall practice. It feels like I have entered a whole different world and I want to know everything about it :P

Welcome to DV! I'm sorry we couldn't talk more about dreaming in chat. ;)

Be sure to check out the tutorial section as well as the main page for some good information on lucid dreaming. :D

Hi! First of all, I just love your beautiful name, Esmeralda!! :)
Now, it seems from what I`ve read in your posts, that maybe you were having lucid dreams all along, even when you were skeptical. :) (I say this b/c you said you viewed dreams as a "filmstrip" Were you always aware they were dreams as you viewed them?) I have recently found that I have had LDs all my life, and just didn`t know it! Almost every dream I can ever recall having was lucid, in the fact that I was always aware I was dreaming. :) Sounds like you may be a natural at this also! :)
What I am working on now is dream control. Now that I know that my dreams have been lucid all along, my goal is to learn to control them and thus explore all my imagination has to offer! Good luck, and sweet dreams!! :)

Hello, welcome to Dream Views!

Recalling your dreams is a great start to becoming lucid; it's good that you've already had some practice with it. You should definitely start keeping a dream journal if you aren't already (didn't read the whole thread, sorry ^^').

Hi thanks I think so too, most of the time I was like a cameraman in my dreams and I would "film"the things I wanted to see. Now they are very different. I think I will start with RC's throughout the day like asking myself how I got there or If I'm dreaming. If I make a habit out of it, it could make me go lucid more often.
And I started a journal yesterday. I wrote 5 dreams I could recall and some are even for me very vivid :P I even remembered what type of coffee someone ordered me to make, caramel flavoured with chocolate sprinkles :P
I actually attempted to have a WILD because I woke up early in the morning and I thought why not? I don't know how long I stayed still but suddenly my heart rate became very high and I couldn't stop my eyelids from moving, that went on for a while and then I got impatient so it didn't work I think :P I did hear a very strange sound it was a kid singing:
Are you sleeping, Are you sleeping,
Brother John, Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing! Morning bells are ringing!
Ding dong ding, ding dong ding.
I have to ask my sister maybe she was singing it :P it was probably her xD

I am curious now to know if that was who was doing the singing too!! :) :) RC during the day definitely helps. I found that on days that I remember to RC, then I also remember to do so in dreamland, thus leading to a better chance at dream control. I usually check a digital clock then check it again, since there should be no literal sense of time in dreams. The RCs that I`ve found work best for me are checking my hands...never have the proper amount of fingers in dreamland when I RC (up to 10 per hand!lol!) And definitely rubbing hands together is a great way to keep lucidity. Works for me so far every time! Spinning and rubbing hands seems to be a good way to "change the scenery" Good luck and sweet dreams!!! :)

I used the rubbing my hands and looking at my hand RC the other day and I did rub my hands and looked at them in my dreams but they were not strangelooking or maybe I didn't look good enough the only thing was the paleness of them. I asked my sister and she says she was singing something but not that song...interesting :P My mind is playing tricks on me...and I wanted to play tricks on my mind :P I'm going to try again tomorrow morning and hopefully get past the HI's

In terms of reality testing, rubbing your hands together isn't really a test. I also place little confidence in the looking-at-your-hands RC. Different things work for different people, but one of the most fail-safe RC's is the nose pinch. Another good one is the digital watch/body of text RC, but this one has never worked for me. Rubbing your hands together is a technique you do once you become lucid to increase mental awareness and to help you forget about your physical body.

Good luck to you! :D

Another RC I do during the day (when I remember) is try to push my finger through my palm, lol, sounds weird, but possibly worth a try, or also another is leaning against a wall to see if I fall through (I read about those somewhere- have yet to remember them in dreamland though)
Definitely try all the different ones you can think of to see what works for you! :)

It worked! I did both the RC's but the lucid moment was a false awakening I was lying in my bed and then I woke up and I looked at my hands, I had 6 fingers on each hand and then I tried to breath throw my nose while pinching it and that worked as well, but then I woke up :P Better luck next time

as long as you realized you were dreaming while in the dream, you had a lucid dream.

I know, I just want it so badly that my dream recall skills are suffering from it. I am trying too hard I think. I have to go back to just wanting to dream. I am RC'ing throughout the day hopefully it will become a habit/tic :P

Awesome! I`ve never had a false awakening(that I remember) I think that would be pretty cool and pretty freaky all at the same time :)
glad you found an RC that worked for ya! :) :) :) It`s pretty crazy feeling to see your hands with extra fingers, right? lol Made me laugh and be excited in my dream all at the same time :)

I think you could be right about that. Some nights I don`t recall dreaming at all, and I believe it comes from the wanting it so badly too. :( Just relax about it, especially when you lay down :) And always keep positive thoughts about it, cuz if you believe, you will succeed lol :) cliche, but true.
Have a wonderful day, and sweet dreams!!! :) :)

haha I remember looking at my hands...and then looking again to count them because it was not 10 but 12 and then the natural thing to do was to pinch my nose and I could breathe, that was a lot stranger :P after that I saw a bunch of black spots in front of me and then I woke up. I'm kinda dissapointed but my expectations were too high.

aww don`t be disappointed! I`ll be excited for you! Yay! RC worked!! :) :) :) You`re gonna get it soon! = just know you will! :)

Thanks Tara you're so sweet!
I'm just going to sleep today, maybe that will work

haha you`ll probably have the best one ever without even trying! :)-
And just to throw in my two cents, the only LDs I have had any dream control over were WBTB, and its when I wake up after 4 or 5 hours then go back to sleep about 30 minutes later (although most people say its better to only stay up a few minutes) ..but thats just what works for me :)

I did try a WBTB the other day. I drank like 5 cups of water before sleeping and I woke up after having a dream because I had to go the bathroom . Everything was perfect but then ofcourse I was too much waiting for things to happen + nervous for things that could happen. I think I'm just not ready for a WILD. But I'm fine with that I am really rushing into things I just have to say "Es..take it easy ":P

Don't worry about WILDing or getting lucids right away. I think it's a good idea to keep relaxed about it. Maybe stick to RCing a lot and having DILDs for now? :)

yeah that's the best thing to do right now. But it's soo tempting to do a WILD I can't help it :P

Absolutely, just relax, like I said before, it seems you may be a natural at this, just keep in mind that the dream control is not the same as LD, don`t worry so much about what all you can make happen in your dreams, first just let yourself see what your dreams have to offer. I have pretty much "shelved" the idea of WILD for now and just commited to "watching" my dreams as they unfold. And that seems to be working pretty well. 2 of my controlled dreams seem to have just popped in by fluke, and great advice I got from Naiya that worked perfectly is when you are viewing your dream like a "filmstrip" like you said, just dive right in... twice thats put me in control of a character who wasn`t myself, and once I was even able to create a purse out of nowhere just to get something I needed out of it. :) :)
You`ll get it. Just hang in there! :)

I think I'm going to start calling the lucid dreams lucid moments because they all last 30 seconds. I had two lucid moments yesterday and another false awakening where I was logging into dreamviews chat to tell about my lucid moment :P The quantity is good but the quality is crap :P

Don't worry, your "lucid moments" (hehe, I like that ^^) will get longer as you get more practice. In the meantime, you can try doing dream stabilization techniques when you become lucid.

Also, you might find DEILD useful if you wake up from your lucid dreams a lot.

I did it! I had a lucid dream instead of a lucid moment :P It lasted more than one minute so I completed my first goal. I am going to write it in my journal and publish it but I woke up again and I forgot about DEILD. I still want to know what would have happened next so I'm going to picture it the next time I'm lucid. It was also the longest dream I can remember since joining DV and becoming so overstressed about LDíng :P

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Originally Posted by Ezzie_Ezz

I did it! I had a lucid dream instead of a lucid moment :P It lasted more than one minute so I completed my first goal. I am going to write it in my journal and publish it but I woke up again and I forgot about DEILD. I still want to know what would have happened next so I'm going to picture it the next time I'm lucid. It was also the longest dream I can remember since joining DV and becoming so overstressed about LDíng :P

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Congratulations :) I am so happy for you :D

I'mma read your journal!

Congrats Ezzie! =D

Awesome! See ,I knew you were on the verge of it!! :) :)
...now only if I could get another LD, lol. All week I`ve had all kinda crazy vivid dreams that were "all over the map", but not even a lucid moment ;) lol
Wish me luck! See you all in dreamland, lol, maybe... :P

Good Luck! If I can do it, the skeptical lucid dreamer :P, then you can do it as well!

..well, still no lucids this week, but I dreamed a bear was in my backyard last night, lol. :P It was so crazy real feeling that my fear woke me up... not like instantaneously, I had time to think, "hmm maybe I better go get the gun" ..then woke up. I don`t recall a dream ever waking me up before that. :P

Just ordered "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming" by Stephen Lebarge... I'm so excited for it to show up... Can't wait to read it!

Same here, I haven't had a LD since my last one two days ago. I tried to wild (again :p) today, but my sister was screaming about something downstairs so I had to scream back to shut her up :P I had a long dream todat but I was too lazy to get up and write it in my journal and now I've lost it :( and noo were you planning to kill the bear, that's mean :P

lol! Idk if I would have killed the dream bear, but I probably at least would have let off one shot to try to scare it off.... it was a realllllllly big dream bear! :P lol

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Originally Posted by Ezzie_Ezz

Same here, I haven't had a LD since my last one two days ago. I tried to wild (again :p) today, but my sister was screaming about something downstairs so I had to scream back to shut her up :P I had a long dream todat but I was too lazy to get up and write it in my journal and now I've lost it :( and noo were you planning to kill the bear, that's mean :P

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Ear plugs. They save my life.