Thread: progress, I think??

hi guys - haven't been around for a while, my mind was taken up with other things. - I wasn't too well but I'm ok now. Anyway, needless to say that my dream journal etc. went right out the window.... although, because I was not drinking or smoking, my dreams were really vivid, and recall was very good. Now I know what the hell is going on ( ) I've been able to get back to normal and doing the things I was doing before!!

Anyway, the other night, after NO prior intent-setting the night before, I was bumbling around the house in an early morning dream. I don't remember what went before this bit, or whether I had a dream sign, but as I walked into the kitchen to see my Dad cooking on the stove (maybe my dream sign? my Dad would never cook in his own house, let alone mine!!) I said very loud and clearly "I AM DREAMING". At which point the room started to kind of swirl a bit, like it was trying to come into focus, then I woke up Also, I had cool hypnagogic stuff going on for a while after this, and although I was technically awake, I went with the hypnagogic imagery for a bit without being distracted by the outside world.

So, surely the fact I managed to realise I was dreaming is progress? How do I stop from waking up though? How do I stick with it?

When I LD'd all those years ago, I induced the LD by looking at my hands in the dream - maybe I need to start looking at my hands more in waking life (says she, looking at her hands)........

hope everyone is doing ok and having some wild and crazy dreams!

ps horrible dream last night (had it and woke up within an hour of going to sleep????) - two men, they were in my bedroom and they were all hunched over. They were dying. I remember saying to one "do you want us to leave you in peace to die?" and he just pointed to the radio and said "just turn that shit off". Then he was saying how much he loved me and it got a bit weird (no details ok?) but I clearly loved him back and my heart was breaking. Now what the hell was THAT?? (and it was NOT my husband........)

Hi

I was wondering where you were! Welcome back!

hi Seeker, thank you

If I meet you in the street, will you look like that manga dude in your avator??

I can only wish..... attractive, isn't he?

he is rather handsome......

now I want one (and she has to be just as cute).

can't wait to see it!!

hi there! ^_^

seems like you're close keep up the good work! best of luck~

Im sorry I've never meet you just wanted to say Hello and keep it up you've got the basic's.

oooh thanks guys, that IS reassuring.

And anyway, I need to be able to get lucid. I could do without having people dying in my bedroom!!

Originally posted by Book_Lover
because I was not drinking or smoking, my dreams were really vivid, and recall was very good. Now I know what the hell is going on ( ) I've been able to get back to normal and doing the things I was doing before!!

This seems to support Seri's idea about any kind of drugs inhibiting the 'true potential' of dreams...

Yes, that's DEFINITE progress!

Despite your waking up right afterwards, the fact that you realized you were dreaming is HUGE. When I was little and first started having lucid dreams, that happened to me a lot. I tried all kinds of things to calm myself and stay with the dream, but it wasn't until I was a teenager and read LaBerge's book on lucid dreaming, that I found a reliable technique for staying lucid.
The Spinning Technique is usually described as being used for retaining lucidity after having already been lucid for a period of time, but I used to use it for just what you are describing.
When you first realize you are dreaming, try this......turn your body (your dream-body of course) around and around really fast. After a few turns, you might even try falling backwards (that part has always worked great for me). Don't even try to catch yourself when you fall backwards.
What always happens to me after doing the spinning and falling thing, is that I wake up in my bed. This is the part where you need to be very critical of your feelings and surroundings, because what usually happens to me is that I'm not actually awake....I "wake up" into another dream, right in my bed! The first time or two that I tried this, I woke and thought, "crap! I woke up!" but then something weird would happen in my room, like my cat would start barking or my clock would read 19:78. When I do it now, I automatically know that it's just another dream starting, and I pop out of bed and continue into another good lucid dream. It sounds very strange, I know, but give it a try if you're having trouble staying asleep or staying lucid.

Email me if you have any other questions!

hi tjhands, thanks!! I will certainly try the swirling thing. (that is if I remember to). I might also buy the LaBerge book. I haven't had anything as good as this since unfortunately, although the night before last, my dream recall was EPIC! My husband says I was writing my dream journal for over half an hour........ Last night was unfortunately not nearly as good. I need to get lucid cos I keep having dreams of people or pets that I love dying, and in the dream I am sooo sad. I also want to get lucid really badly now.

I also remember from when I was a kid that a lot of the time I would think "I'm dreaming" but then, my dreams were completely different then, I flew all the time. I think I was a lucid dreamer as a kid and I think maybe that lots of kids are.

Onwards and upwards!

Cheers

If you did it as a kid, you can certainly do it now. To use the cliche, it's like riding a bicycle; it may take a few tries, but you never forget how. You are doing all the right things: writing in a journal, thinking about it during the day, etc.
Set your alarm clock for the early morning hours (3am or so?), then wake up, turn the light on, and read an engaging book or magazine for a half hour, then go back to sleep. This is the BEST way to maximize your chances of having a lucid dream. I think that by going from sleeping to waking to sleeping again, it confuses the brain as to whether it's awake or asleep, and makes a lucid dream MUCH more likely. If it doesn't work the first time, try it again and again.
Yes hon, you NEED to buy LaBerge's book. Without that book - even though I had many lucid dreams before reading it - I wouldn't be HALF the lucid dreamer that I am now. No lie.