First lucid experience this morning!

[lionizing1]

This morning I had my first lucid experience! I was so happy when I woke up. I've been writing down my dreams in my journal for almost a week now, but the last two days I couldn't remember a lot.. I got a little demotivated and scared that I was loosing 'the ability' etc. Last night I woke up around 5 AM and didn't remember anything. I stayed awake for one hour, tried to listen to some binaural beats but wasn't able to fall back asleep. I guess I was forcing it too much? I eventually got out of bed, went to the kitchen, drank some milk, smoked a cig, went back to bed with some relaxing sounds (asmr) and just told myself to get some more sleep. Dream: I was in a bar in my town. There was one table with girls laughing and acting drunk, no other people around. I recognized some girl I met this summer, ordered a beer. I felt depressed cause my dream recall vanished. (irony) Suddenly I started to feel really weird. I wanted to lay my head on the counter but was scared that the bar tender would throw me out for doing that. I wanted to rub my eyes to feel better. The moment I did that, I saw my hands, moved my wrists and immediately knew I was dreaming. The location of the bar changed: I was sitting at my desk in my room. My hands looked the same as in waking life, but I couldn't count fingers and my sight looked like I took magic mushrooms. I almost lost the dream, but hanged in their for 20 seconds (?). I heard a pumping noise in my ears (like a sort of hardcore techno from the bar) and I had a exciting feeling in my belly that went to my heart. I also heard the asmr i was listening to and felt my body laying in bed. I woke up in my bed, false awakening, very dark. I felt normal but started floating from my matras. I thought I would see myself sleeping, but that didn't happen. It felt like I was really floating in a sleep position. My body turned and went back down with my head first. I bumped 2 or 3 times with my head against my matras and woke up for real this time. Sun was already shining. This took 10 seconds. (Thinking back at this: Felt like my mind went back to my fysical body. That's probably nonsense.) The weird thing: when this was happening I remembered that I already experienced something alike but just completely forgot about it. This is intense! What's next? Anybody had this experience as well for the first time? Any tips on what to do now? I'm so happy!

[OneUp]

Congrats man! The first Lucid is always one to remember. Once you get a few more lucids, and some practice you'll be able to do alot more and stay in the lucid dream for alot longer. Advice: Keep practicing, and keep that Dream Journal. Dream Journal's are so amazing, that if you do them right, you can remember every single detail from almost every single dream of the night. Of course that comes in handy when you have an LD. When my recall was pretty good, it would take me 2 hours everyday to record all of my dreams. Keep at it man.

[lionizing1]

Hey, thanks for replying! 2 hours of dream recording is a lot. Never knew that was even possible. I'll keep recording, writing down, reading on the forum, reality checking, ... Question aside: the pumping noise, floating above your bed, strange belly feeling, ... Are these typical for lucid dreams?

[DoubleHelix]

I'm not qualified to answer your questions as I've only had 1 bona fide LD myself. I just wanted to congratulate you and wish you many more! Lucid dreams are amongst the most awesome of experiences...I >>SO<< want it to happen again to see where I can take it. Pretty sure you're feeling the exact same way right now. Anyway, congrats!!!! DH

[lionizing1]

I'm not qualified to answer your questions as I've only had 1 bona fide LD myself. I just wanted to congratulate you and wish you many more! Lucid dreams are amongst the most awesome of experiences...I >>SO<< want it to happen again to see where I can take it. Pretty sure you're feeling the exact same way right now. Anyway, congrats!!!! DH Thanks man !! Every night a fresh start. Love this.

[OneUp]

Question aside: the pumping noise, floating above your bed, strange belly feeling, ... Are these typical for lucid dreams? Nah man, I've never experienced stuff like that before, but that doesn't mean that others haven't. From what you're describing it sounds like you are experiencing some effects that are attached to WILDing. I don't do WILDing, and from your description of how you got your first LD and the very fact that you do reality checks, it seems very odd that you would experience those things. Like I said though, its not a problem or anything, but I've never had them myself. So to answer your question directly, I would have to say no, they are not typical for lucid dreams. Maybe you were very near consciousness so you felt your body alot more than you usually would, not sure though.

[Oneironaut Zero]

Congratulations! Gotta love those first-time lucids! The floating thing is pretty normal, for me. Gravity often acts weird in my lucid (and non-lucid) dreams. I dance a lot, in waking life, so sometimes I will be dancing in a dream, and my feet would gradually just starting floating up off of the floor. It gets kinda irritating, sometimes. Lol. Had a couple of experiences of floating above my bed, but that doesn't happen very much, in particular. And I agree with OneUp: eventually, you can get to the point where it will take you hours to log a night's dreams. It helps to just write 'notes', the first time you're recalling a dream, instead of writing them out in full sentences or complex style. That way, you can recall a greater amount of information, in a shorter time. Then, once you have the gist of everything that happened in the dream, you can go back and fill in the details. Having those notes will help you remember more context, as well, as you're writing everything else out. Also, when you get to the point where you start to feel like you're waking up, looking back at your hands (or otherwise looking at or touching other things in the dream) will generally anchor you to the dream, instead of focusing on the outside world. It doesn't work all the time (as just the anticipation of eventually waking up will cause you to do so, often), but it definitely helps. Keep journaling, and keep going!

[lionizing1]

And I agree with OneUp: eventually, you can get to the point where it will take you hours to log a night's dreams. It helps to just write 'notes', the first time you're recalling a dream, instead of writing them out in full sentences or complex style. That way, you can recall a greater amount of information, in a shorter time. Then, once you have the gist of everything that happened in the dream, you can go back and fill in the details. Having those notes will help you remember more context, as well, as you're writing everything else out. Thanks for the tip and encouragement, OZ! I'm using my cellphone to record my voice after just waking up. Later in the day I'll listen to it and I'll write it down in my journal. This morning I had a 15 minutes long memo. Good to hear that you're experiencing similar floating stuff and I'll def use the anchor techniques. Excited for more.