Thread: first stable, prolonged lucid...yes!

finally, after ten short, mostly vague lucids, i made a breakthrough...this post is kinda long, but nicely broken up:

i awoke from a dream in the middle of the night. went to the washroom, got a drink, and returned to bed.

the next thing i know, sleep paralysis is descending (as it often does after the six hour mark of my sleep). you must note i did not have unbroken consciousness going into the vibrations...i just suddenly became aware of them.

so, i allow them to intensify as per usual, except they become much stronger. my heart starts beating faster, and i can hear my pulse strongly in my ears. i calmly attempt to slow it down, but it only gets faster and faster (so fast it could not possibly have been real...what happened was i dreamt i was having sleep paralysis, while already fast asleep ).

i got too agitated and awoke in my bed (or so i thought- but as i was defintely already asleep, this was my first false awakening).

i sit up in my dream bed, and open the window, then lie back down and get comfortable. before long, another wave of sleep paralysis descends. this time i dream of rising out of my body, but quickly awake (second false awakening).

so now i'm sitting in bed again, after having two "unsuccessful" WILD's, with no clue i dreamt both of them

now i'm frustrated, so i just 'go to sleep'. next thing i know, i'm standing on the windowsill of my bedroom window, watching two friends of mine unload something in the dark.
i contemplate jumping off and trying to fly, but stop myself just as my legs tense up, remembering i wanted to stabilize my next lucid dream.

i jump down into the darkness and try rubbing my hands for 30 seconds. nothing. so i search out a dim patch of light, and attempt gazing at my hands to stabilize the dream. instead, my hands are replaced by two bulbous effigies of my own head, muttering away at me.
i laugh, and think "how cool is it that i know i'm dreaming right now..."

i move from one patch of light to the next. my hands get clearer at every stop, until they are 'lifelike'. then i come upon a well-lit porch, with my friend kristin standing in the doorway. i eagerly leap up the 3 steps and stand in the light, gazing at every intricate line of my hands before walking into the living room.

i look at my hands again, and then survey the room. it was f***ing MIND-BLOWING! everything was so realistic:

the shadows, the angles, the colours...i walked to the wall and ran my hand over the glossy paint, enraptured. kristin walks in, laughs, and says "oh yeah, you're dreaming" (the same way she'd usually say "oh yeah, you're high" )

next i check out a wicker chair in detail, before walking to the other side of the room and lying down on the hardwood as i listen to kristin and another dream character have an interesting conversation.
i attempt to levitate- my legs easily rise, but my head feels like a lead weight. however, i eventually manage to raise my entire body about five feet in the air (with extremely realistic sensations) and lower it again.

at this point i start to lose visual imagery, and quicky try dream-spinning for the first time. after 5 seconds of doing it with my eyes closed, i open them while still spinning to see if anything has happened. it is dark, so i assume i failed and stop spinning.

i am in my bed, again . And again it was only a false awakening

so i relax and try to go back to sleep (while still dreaming). i experience sleep paralysis again, and this time i 'slip' out of my body and into the wall. on it is pinned a note, which i can quickly read in the dark. unfortunetly i cannot remember exactly what it said now.

anyways, then i really awoke, got up and turned on the light to make absolutely sure. reread different texts, surveyed my room. the window was closed incidentally.

it was quite a bizarre experience, as well as the longest, most incredible lucid dream i've had yet. from it i've discovered the rubbing hands method doesn't really work for me, whereas gazing at my hands works like a charm.

i can't wait to improve my abilities now that i know i can stabilize a LD, and maintain lucidity for a prolonged period.

i also HIGHLY recommend that any beginners concentrate on learning to stabilize their dreams, and attain full lucidity before doing anything else. it is tempting to try something more exciting first, but if you find your LD's are somewhat vague, and never last too long, it is probably because you haven't mastered the basics yet.

i have no doubt that if i'd tried to fly as soon as i realized i was dreaming, on the windowsill, i would have either flopped to ground like a salmon, and awoken frustrated; or, flown into the night, and quickly lost lucidity or awakened.

i'd had ten LD"s of varying clarity before this, and was starting to become frustrated at their vagueness and breviety. however, forcing myself to practice different techniques to see what worked was the best thing i've done yet since i started LD'ing.

anyways, this isn't a damn book..