woot. first lucid dream after trying for 2 weeks.

Well after hanging around here for a couple weeks I finally had an LD.

I set myself up for a WBTB knowing I had the day off today.

After a few false awakenings that I was unaware of (duh). I found myself up the stairs from my basement where I was sleeping. I looked out the window and saw a truck pull in, I didn't recognize the person. I couldn't get a good look at their face. A bald man walked out and tried the side door. I still couldn't get a good look at the face. I thought it might be my father in law, but I wasn't sure. I thoguht it was really strange since he lives far away and shouldn't be at our house unannounced in the middle of the day.I tried a nose check RC at this point. I passed, though i'm not sure I did it completely whole heartedly. I walked to the living room now, and I saw there were more people in the truck and it had changed colors and they were going to rob the house. (they were backing it up to the front door) At this point , I go this has to be a dream. And I did another RC check with a pinched nose. I could breath right through it!

Well first thing I do is say, i'm going to get out of here. So I just leap into the air and try to get the surroundings to change. I start to fly, Everything goes white and I hear an incredible wooshing in my ears (like running with a football helmet on ).

I know i'm a bit in trouble at this point, because I have no detail at all. I try to get to a snowy scene in which I was in earlier in my dreams, but fail. I couldn't figure out how to spin since I don't seem to have any body, so i try to rub my hands together. At this point I notice I can't move my arms and they are in a coffin like position that I fell asleep in. Once I recognize this it brings me out of lucidity and I'm now in just blackness and I can feel my sleep paralyzed body and hear the wooshing sound -- the furnace had just kicked in right next to me.

Well not very exciting, but I learned a good lesson. Keep your cool once you notice it's a dream. I think if I hadn't gained lucidity in a sort of 'bad-dream' type situation I would have just hung out and kept my cool. I know people always say -- "STAY CALM" but it's hard to do until you experience it yourself for the first time.

Another interesting note now that I think back on my previous dreams after doing a WBTB. They seemed closer to the surface if that makes sense. Like one part of my mind knew it was a dream but I didn't know enough to really break the spell of it. I tried a smaller interval (20 minute) WBTB yesterday and I noticed the same thing.

Anyway, thanks for the help everyone. I now can say with completely confidence to my friends that lucid dreaming is not BS :)

That's a good start!

Some advice that might be helpful..

Do RC's when you're awake.. do them often, even if it seems silly to do them when you know you're awake. The habit often will carry over into you dreams.

Always assume the awakenings are false, RC them.

Develop a comfort that whatever you do, you can do it freely and without recrimination.. do something outrageous. The more crazy things you do in your LD's, the less impossible these things will seem.

Take control of a situation. When you gain lucidity, don't just go with the flow, impose your will. Confront dream characters and make them answer you. Don't worry if you have to slap a few of them around a bit.

Try to get used to sleep paralysis. For some, sleep paralysis is uncomfortable and can elicit panic. I often hear dischordant noises, blood rushing in my ears, hurricane winds, etc. The perception of an oppressive "evil presence" can occur, and can be quite upsetting. I usually encounter this not during "black" sleep paralysis, but during false awakenings when I find myself in my bed. I agressively challenge the "presence" :mad:

It's all about getting accustomed and comfortable with the various aspects of LD's.

Thanks Dan,

I do reality checks often, though not always completely whole heartedly -- i don't expect them to pass. Which is why my first RC passed in the dream. The SP didn't really bother me, i was just frustrated because I wanted to be dreaming but I could feel my SP body. Is there anyway to get out of this stage or once you can feel your waking body are you pretty much gauranteed to wake up?

When in sleep paralysis, or in that very relaxed state "inbetween" sleep and wakefulness, I can create some pretty cool 3-dimensional imagery. The "blackness" become a canvas on which to create scenes.

I believe a common "mistake" during sleep paralysis is to become overly-vigilant of the state. Relax into the sleep paralysis and try to project imagery.. rather than having your alert mind pull your more toward full wakefulness, try to let it pull you more toward dreaming.. and you may be able to re-enter dreaming with lucidity intact.

I'm not much of an authority on induction techniques.. I've just alway been able to go from wakefulness to sleep paralysis to dreaming with lucidity intact throughout. If we label wakefulness as (a), sleep paralysis as (B), and dreaming as ©, the induction route from wakefulness to lucid dreaming is A to B to C. The alternate is C to B to A... not what we want! The goal is to learn how to go from C to B to C.

Easier to describe that to learn.. practice practice.