Im New, I have some questions. Please help

[Darkshadow2468]

Hello everyone I have just stumbled upon this website today and after completely reading through it, I remembered when I was younger (6,7 years old) I would have nightmares quite frequently. Most frequently the dream would be something like me standing in my family room in the dark. Down the hall I could see the door to my room open, with light coming from it and I could hear my family talking and laughing in it. I would try to move toward the door, because of the terrifying darkness around me, but I couldn’t move. Next either the room would seem to get smaller and crush me until the dream ended, or the furniture would start to move in to me. I had a longing to get to the light but never could. Eventually my other “good” dreams started randomly turning into these nightmares. This probably doesn’t sound too out of the ordinary (or maybe it does, I really don’t know too much about this stuff) but I would have these dreams almost every night and being terrified (I started to avoid the family room all together) I decided I needed to do something about it. One time, when a dream started turning bad, and I saw myself in the all too familiar setting, I shut my eyes as hard as I could and counted to 10. I woke up. I would do that every time I had one of those nightmares and eventually stopped having (or remembering) them all together by the time I was about 8 years old. Great story, I had a problem, I resolved it. But that’s not the end. If I still have your attention, please read on. I am going somewhere with this. Now, 16 years old, I have not had a dream in a long time. Sure, I know that you have many dreams every night and just don’t remember them, but all that happens to me now is the occasional waking and thinking to myself, “oh I had a dream”. Back then the dreams seemed so real. I lived them. It’s hard to explain, but I’m sure someone knows what I’m talking about. Now if I have a dream it’s like a fleeting past memory. It’s as if I remember watching something happen. I no longer participate like I used to, and I really miss that. I don’t necessarily want to control my dreams, but I want to start being in them again. Being aware of them as they are happening. Not after they do Now my questions. First of all was I being lucid in my dreams when I was younger? I would be aware of the dream while I was dreaming, although not being able to really control anything except waking myself up. Next, can I ever feel that again? If you don’t know what I’m talking about please don’t answer. I don’t want to be all powerful, with the world at my fingertips during my dreams but I want to be able to be in my dreams, not just remember them. Could this experience (including the reoccurring dream) have been linked to some problem or insecurity with my life and I have gotten over it which is why it stopped and I stopped really living my dreams? Is there anything anyone can tell me that I didn’t already read? Is my lack of real dreaming related to the extreme stress I undergo as a teenager? Thank You SO much for your time and attention. If you can help me resolve this little desire of mine, I believe I will be a little more content.

[TygrHawk]

First of all, I would say that you definitely were lucid in these nightmares. It sounds similar to my first lucid experience, where I intentionally awoke myself to escape from a monster in my dream when I was pretty young. As for not remembering your dreams now, I think you just need practice. Stress may be an issue. But if you repeat to yourself as you are going to sleep "I am waking up after I dream, and I am remembering my dream", it should help you to do just that. Then make sure you write down what you remember. The more you do this, the better you'll get at it. Also, remember that you're likely to have longer, more vivid dreams after at 4-6 hours of sleep. I've added your AIM address to my contact list. Feel free to IM me anytime -- my contact info is in my profile.

[Darkshadow2468]

Thanks for your help

[Howie]

First I would like to welcome you to the Forum Darkshadow2468 I too had a reacurring nightmare when I was younger. Maybe younger than you. The dream consisited of a monster who would not allow me to save my mother. Anyway I one time in the dream connfronted the monster (dream character) and that was the last time I ever had that dream. I too have overcome fears through Lucid dreaming because you have the abiluity to control the outcome. So if your question is by being able to become lucid can help with insucurities and many other issues then yes, absolutly. Is that what you are asking?

[Darkshadow2468]

Is that what you are asking?[/b] Kinda. My main question was, if i was becoming lucid in my dreams back then, why did it all of the sudden stop? Could it possibly be because I conquered that dream? Those are the only dreams I ever became lucid in (at least that I remember) I was hoping that by finding out why i was becoming lucid in those dreams it could help me be lucid in my dreams again. Now that I know something about it, I think i will find lucid dreams much more enjoyable. If there is anything you can tell me that I havent already heard I would really appreciate it. Thanks again for all the help

[Amethyst Star]

I find that stress plays a big part in every aspect of our lives. With dreaming, I usually find that the more stressed I am, the more nonsensical they are and the less likely I am to remember them. As for "living in" your dreams, I've had that feeling before and I think that I might be starting to regain them. I used to have dreams involving me having supernatural abilities and it seemed that the more time went on, the more my abilities grew. Then I had one where I was taking a test and I failed because I was unable to turn a red rose silver. Since then, those dreams went away, but I believe that they are slowly coming back.... at least I hope so. The idea that one's life can progress and grow in the dream world is a facinating concept to me! For the most part, as we get older, dreams play less of a role in our lives, so we disregard them. During high school, they weren't very important to me and so my recall wasn't what it was when I was younger, but now I've been working my way back up. Dream Journals are an excellent way to help you remember your dreams and I find that the better my recall is, the more vivid my dreams appear to be, or at least I remember them as such. Have you ever tried re-visiting that old nightmare? If you can manage to bring it back (though this could have varying consequences), you might have a chance to attain lucidity. Other than that, I'd suggest searching for dream signs that may be re-occurring in your dreams as of late. I hope this addressed at least some of your questions. Feel free to ask if you need anything else Welcome to DV! -Amé

[Howie]

Originally posted by Darkshadow2468 Is that what you are asking? Kinda. My main question was, if i was becoming lucid in my dreams back then, why did it all of the sudden stop? Could it possibly be because I conquered that dream? Those are the only dreams I ever became lucid in (at least that I remember) I was hoping that by finding out why i was becoming lucid in those dreams it could help me be lucid in my dreams again. Now that I know something about it, I think i will find lucid dreams much more enjoyable. If there is anything you can tell me that I havent already heard I would really appreciate it.[/b] At that younger age were you really aware of what you were doing? Becoming Lucid. I know it just kind of happened a few times for when I was young. Since there has been such a long lapse in Lucid dreaming you may have to recondition your brain to the concept of Lucid dreaming. And the older you get the more influenced your physce becomes and a variety of concepts that you have to percieve.