My first two lucid dreams since I started pursuing them
So the two days after I wrote my introduction post I'v been doing awareness excersises and the occasional reality check. The first night I went out for dinner and had a few beers, so I figured thanks to the alcohol the chances of becoming lucid were slim. That morning I woke up frequently and had two dreams that I remembered quite well. Then I went to sleep for a final time.
--Dream #1
I was walking around in the village where I grew up. There's a river in front of my parents house and I notice that the other shore is off. That is to say, the area thats straight across from the house should actually be a few kilometers more to the left. I turn around and notice that the entire village is scrambled. It hits me, I must be dreaming. I'm thinking: ok, let's see what we can do. I stop a car and take over the driving seat. Then I remember to rub my hands to make it easier to stay in the dream.
The driver is this woman I don't know who quickly transforms into my driving instructor from a year or two ago. I start driving and she says something like 'are you going to drive like crap in your dreams now too?' (I'm not the best driver in waking life ;)). I respond with 'whatever, it's my dream, it doesn't matter if I drive like crap. I notice how real the wheel feels in my hands, and I notice how this experience makes my dream more vivid. Then I remember to try some reality checks, because I've been wondering what they feel like when you actually are dreaming. I close my nostrils and try to breathe. I think it's interesting that even though I am able to breathe in through my nose, it is harder when I am keeping my dream nose shut. Psychology still has some power over me. I push my fingers into my hand and they go through, but as with the breathing it does take a little effort. I'm enjoying this.
I'm still driving, and I'm driving a bit reckless (not fast, but very clumsy). I want to try and see if I can throw the car. I get out, pick it up, and throw it away. It crashes into a glass paneled wall. I walk into a wooden building with some people in it. Suddenly everything fades to black and I wake up.
---
After waking up I feel bad. In this first dream I take someones car, recklessly drive it and wreck the car by throwing it into a wall, just because I can. I wonder if it matters to be nice to others in your own dreams, but I think I'd rather be. It's like being nice to a furby even when you know it's a machine.
---
Next night, I go to sleep, have a few dreams I vaguely remember, wake up a few times in the morning and here's my last dream, which again turns lucid:
--Dream #2
I was staring out of a big apartment building, almost skyscraper, at the cityscape in front of me. I realized I had no idea where I was, what I was looking at and how I got here. So this has to be a dream. I do two reality checks. I hold my nose shut and try to breathe in. I can't. I try pushing my fingers through my hand, I can't. I also try to fly, but I can't leave the ground. All checks have failed, and for a second I'm confused. Then I figure, screw the reality checks, this has to be a dream. So I decide to leave the apartment and go out onto the streets. I start descending an endless flight of staircases. At some point I decide to jump down and let myself fall, ocasionally grabbing railings to slow down my fall. I haven't seen anyone yet so I try and summon someone. Someone appears, not the person I went for, not even someone I know. I stare into his face, he doesn't say anything and starts descending the stares. I follow him. We finally reach the ground floor, which is a huge area that has a hotel lobby like feel but with weird architecture. There's a few people down here. I try and talk to some but they completely ignore me. My summoned person is about to leave the building and I chase after him asking 'who are you?' Then everything turns black and I wake up.
---
In this second dream my level of control was a lot lower then the first. Also, me being ignored by everyone felt as if it came from my guilt about my behaviour in my previous dream. Also, I forgot to do anything to stabilize this dream, which made it a lot less vivid and aside from running around like an idiot I couldn't accomplish much.
A few things I've noticed:
I'm a bit surprised that my reality checks were failing. Is that normal?
I also felt that, although my dream ego was in complete control, it didn't always feel like the real me was in control of my dream ego. Especially in the second dream I felt as if I wasn't really there, I didn't really know what I was doing. I guess that will improve with better stabilisation?
I also think it's funny that the reason for turning lucid in both dreams where identical, I was staring at a mashed up landscape containing buildings or parts of buildings that were familiar but shouldn't be together.
I've had a bunch of dreams since, but no lucid experiences. I haven't been trying very hard and have had a bit of a stressfull week so I'm not too worried about it. I think I'll try and stabilise my dream a little better next time though.
Anyway, I was happily surprised to be able to pull this off so quickly, thanks to a lot of good info I found here. So thanks, everyone!
