Hey everyone, my name is Ryan and I attend Mandeville High School, where I am a senior. I, as all seniors are, am required to write a 10 page paper on the topic of my choosing. I have chosen to do my project on lucid dreams, a topic I have been thoroughly enthralled with from the time I had heard about it. That being said, I am also required to have a personal interview with an educated person/persons on the topic, and was wondering if you guys might help me.
First Name:
William (but I go by Zack or Yoshi ;))
Age:
21
How did you first learn about lucid dreaming?
I was looking up various food items that, if eaten before bed, effect dreams. I happened to stumble upon DreamViews and learned most everything I know, here.
What was the process in which you learned to achieve lucidity?
I read through the many tutorials and browsed the forums, obtaining as much information about lucid dreaming that I could. I then keep a dream journal and basically began practicing the DILD technique. I performed reality checks (RCs) during the day in hopes of them carrying over into my dreams. Along with my dream journal, visiting this site everyday kept my mind on lucid dreaming and I was able to achieve lucidity pretty easily. I then learned the WILD and DEILD techniques. Plus, I had alot of free time and plenty of opportunities to practice LDing.
How often are you able to become lucid?
I am currently having a little over 20 LDs per month, about 5 or so a week.
What was your first/oldest remembered lucid dream?
The very first LD I ever had was a long time ago. It was before I knew anything about LDing. I was around 6-7 years old. I dreamt I was at my elementary school and walking down the hallway. Suddenly, a bunch of teachers, students, and camera-men walked around the corner and stared at me. Some of the teachers gasped and the camera-men started snapping pictures of me. Others pointed and laughed. I was confused at first and when I looked down at myself, I realized I was naked. I immediately thought, "What! I just had clothes on two seconds ago! What happened to them?" I freaked out for a minute and thought, "What? Am I dreaming or something?" As soon as I said this, I realized I was definately dreaming. Its hard to describe, but I suddenly got that rush of emotions and was amazed at my discovery. Somehow, I knew I was dreaming and I could feel it. The people kept staring at me, so I decided to have a bit of fun. I threw my arms out in front of me and shouted, "Who wants a hug!?!" I then ran at all the people. They all screamed and took off running. The camer-men dropped their cameras and bolted. The kids laughed and ran away as the teachers screamed and ran for the hills! I can remember this dream like it happened yesterday, and I have a pretty poor memory to boot.
What are some of your dearest lucid dreams?
Some of my dearest lucid dreams involve travel to fictional or no longer existing places. I have visited the 7 wonders of the ancient world (Colossus of Rhodes, Artemis Temple, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, etc.). I have also visited Hogwarts castle on a couple occasions. I love nearly all my lucid dreams and it is hard to single out a few of them. Another one of my favorites was me conjuring up a battle against Sephiroth (character from Final Fantasy VII). Another fond memory I have, is riding to moon on the back of a large black (lunar) wolf.
What are some of your favorite things to do in dreams?
Obviously, flying is very fun and is probably performed at some point within every lucid dream I've had. Sex is also another big one, lol. Can't help myself sometimes. But my absolute favorite thing to do in dreams is basically, going with the flow. I love to just explore my dream universe and go along with the strange dream plots and dream adventures that spring up. It is kind of like exploring a virtual book or movie. Except, it is rarely ever the same experience. You never know what crazy event you'll witness next or what random dream character will show up. It is a whole lot like being a young child again. Young children often have many imaginary adventures, imaginary friends, and basically love to just pretend. Well, lucid dreaming allows those imaginary things to become real, within the dream world of course, but you can taste, feel, see, hear, and smell everything. Just like in real life, only now, there are no boundries and virtually anything is possible (once you are experienced of course). And when I play along with the random dream plot, I am basically improvising and going through this adventure not knowing what to expect.
What do you believe the benefits of lucid dreaming are?
It is a nice stress relief. It is a time to "get away" from normalcy. It really kind of opens your mind to the impossible and is really an opportunity to explore the impossible and the improbable. There aren't many times where you get to explore your own mind completely, dreams are one of these times. My dreams are crazy, random, and generally make you say, "WTF?" after reading them. Knowing myself, that is exactly what I expected. When you watch a movie about...say...super heroes. Everyone thinks, "Yeah, that would be awesome if I could do that. At least once." Well, in LDs, you can get that chance to be a Spiderman, Batman, Superman, etc. Even better than that, you can become an astronaut without years of training, you can see the world without traveling outside of your home, you can do things completely out of charater with no penalties or repercussions. The possibilites for the benifits of LDs are endless, but most of all, they are fun. If you are going to sleep 2,920 hours a year, why not make the most of it.
What are some reasons that people should try to learn about lucid dreaming?
See response to the above question. Primarily, it is fun.
Also, if you would like to throw any more information in, it would be appreciated(very much so.)
For any more info on what you can do in a dream, or some of the common activities that dreamers like to do in their dreams, I suggest browsing through some of the dream journals here on Dreamviews. Here is the link, http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...splay.php?f=26 . My DJ is there as well, if you want to get any ideas to expand on my answers you may. It is "KingYoshi's Dream Journal..." (catchy title eh? lol)
You also will be in my bibliography, I give credit where credit is due.
Thanks so much, Ryan.
