I'm Lucid... But Am I Really "dreaming"?

[SunShadow]

For about 2-3 months now I stopped trying to LD (trying had ruined both my ability to sleep well and my dream recall, so I thought a "pause" might be a good idea), but recently I have had some strange experiences... I have an habit of drinking a glass of water at evening; it helped me while I was trying to LD (so I could wake up at the time I wanteed to WBTB), but then I kept drinking it every evening even after ending my attempts. Now that I'm not attempting WBTBs, I usually wake up at about 8 in the morning. Some days, when I've nothing to do, I usually go to the bathroom then go back to bed. At this point I'm fully rested, but still I get in a sort of partial sleep (sorry, I don't know the english word for it...) in which I am partially conscious... At this point I usually start seeing something that look like dreams. At first I thought they could be HI, but they are far more complex and detailed... just like sme quite realistic dreams. The strange thing is that I keep feeling my real body in the process, thus I immediately realize I'm "dreaming", but I fear that if I tried to use some control, even just moving the way I wanted, I could move my "real" body and finally wake up. So I just lay in my bed and watch things passing by like a movie, leaving my subconscious (or whatever is creating these "dreams") full control. Now I was wondering: are these real dreams? Are these just very complex HI? Can I improve my ability to control them? Will I wake up if I try? If you know the answers to these questions, or if you have any hint I might find useful, please help! And if these are real dreams: damn, my LD count is completely wrong!

[arby]

You should be able to simply move your body in your dreams without moving your real body by simply thinking of moving yourbody in the dream. Taking control of your dream and imersing yourself in it is probably the best way to get into a true "LD state" from there. You'll totally forget about your real body. You can call them dreams if you want to. The only real reason to count if they're dreams or not is for bragging rights so it doesn't really matter. All that matters is if you can imporve yourself and have fun dreams.

[Wolffe]

Now I was wondering: are these real dreams? Are these just very complex HI? Can I improve my ability to control them? Will I wake up if I try? If you know the answers to these questions, or if you have any hint I might find useful, please help! And if these are real dreams: damn, my LD count is completely wrong! [/b] Welll to me, this sounds like what I kept experiencing while trying to LD. Are you on the border of consciousness when you experience them? Can you only just recall them? Sometimes I have daydreams that are very visual, and I wouldnt normally daydream them when in a normal state, just as I'm about to fall asleep, and it sounds like these to me!

[Shadow Dreamer]

Somtimes early in the morning i have these sorts of thing usauly before i wake up i try to say in them but always wake up i have no control over them though

[the real pieman]

i had something like that yesterday, i was lucid and i could move my limbs in the real world and by concentrating i could switch between them, i didnt open my eyes because i was afraid that my dream which was the first lucid that i have had in weeks would end, eventually it went back to the dream world and stayed that way...still it was a very odd experience...

[SunShadow]

Tonight I've had a new similar experience: I can't recall the dream; The only thing I can remember is that I could hear some real noises in the dream. I heard my parents moving around and talking; the noises went on for quite a long time, so I realized I was dreaming and it had to be late. So I opened my eyes and looked at the clock, and it showed 7:22 (I think). It was too early for all that noise, so I realized I was still dreaming; that was only a FA (I'm having a lot of them since I started Lucid Dreaming). So I tried to open my eyes again; this time I opened them for real and the clock was showing about 10:45. The interesting fact is that I tried to control my real body but I only managed to control my dream body... so I might be able to try to control my dream body without risking of moving my real body! I fear this would not work though; eyes and eyelids are a particular part of the body after all; the only part you can move while in SP... maybe with the rest of the body it just doesn't work the same. For arby: If it is true that I can control these "dreams" and enter in a full LD without waking up, wouldn't it be the best way to enter a LD? I do not completely lose consciousness while getting to the dream, and I regain it completely as soon as I realize it is a dream... It would be like a WILD without the need to go through all the previous stages! (I already had a WILD, and the level of consciousness I have in these "dreams" is almost the same as in a WILD... but I didn't have to go through SP or transition phase, only a bit of HI) For Wolffe: when the "dreams" start, I am on the border of consciousness, right; but as soon as I become aware that I am dreaming I regain most of my consciousness (since I spent some time trying to have LDs in the past I'm now able to stay in a LD without waking up as soon as I become aware; I still have problems if I try to do something "unusual"). I do not move though, because I am afraid I will move my real body doing so, and I would wake up. I can only just recall them in the sense that I do not try to control anything in the dream, but while I'm dreaming I have the feeling that I could control myself, only with a great risk of waking up... so I just kept my eyes closed and watched. If I try to control them, how can I be sure I will not wake up? Do you have any suggestion?

[arby]

Your entire body should work like that. =P And heres why getting to LDs that way isn&#39;t so great: you have to totally forget about your real body to make it go away so you can LD. This WONT happen if you&#39;re thinking of LDing >.< You&#39;ll alwayts remeber that your body is still there in the back of your mind and it wont go away. To get into dreaming state your attention has to be on something else completely like the dream. This usually sents you into a normal dreaming state. From there you would need to DILD. I can pretty much enter that first state freely but I can&#39;t get from there to LDing exept for by total accident. But dam, when you go from there to LDing it tends to be very vivid. =P Hmm, maybee trying to create a technique to do this is in order. I&#39;ll give some thought to it.

[disabled_account_2]

Before you start dreaming, the body goes through a paralyzation phase (I'm sure you have experienced that ). Basically, if you know you are dreaming, then you cannot move your living body the same way you do while dreaming. E.g if you punch you wont hit your nighttable I'm not that experienced on the topic, but I think that the paralyzation might fade some seconds before wakeup. So if you have a nighmare you might find your dune on the floor beside your bed, because you kicked it off a few seconds before you woke up.

[Ne-yo]

I fear this would not work though; eyes and eyelids are a particular part of the body after all; the only part you can move while in SP... maybe with the rest of the body it just doesn't work the same.[/b] Actually within the LD regardless of SP you can still manage to move your physical body freely it's just extremely harder without REM. Why? I have no idea. But when you hit SP and you still can move other portions of the body outside the eyes it's just extremely difficult.

[Wolffe]

For Wolffe: when the "dreams" start, I am on the border of consciousness, right; but as soon as I become aware that I am dreaming I regain most of my consciousness (since I spent some time trying to have LDs in the past I'm now able to stay in a LD without waking up as soon as I become aware; I still have problems if I try to do something "unusual"). I do not move though, because I am afraid I will move my real body doing so, and I would wake up. I can only just recall them in the sense that I do not try to control anything in the dream, but while I'm dreaming I have the feeling that I could control myself, only with a great risk of waking up... so I just kept my eyes closed and watched. If I try to control them, how can I be sure I will not wake up? Do you have any suggestion? [/b] Aha, yes, it sounds like you're experiencing the same thing. This is supposed to be a clue that you're on the brink of dreaming. If you can manage to notice them without waking up, you can WILD! I personally haven't managed to yet though, since I wake up way too easily!

[SunShadow]

After having my first and only WILD, I tried for WILDing for about 2 months without success. In that period, I entered SP while conscious almost every night, and I always found that it was still possible to move my body, and it was difficult but not extremely difficult... if I was determined enough, I could still move. Sometimes I had this same feeling while waking up, and this is the same feeling I have during the dreams I described earlier. Only one time I woke up in the morning and found myself completely paralized, except for the eyes and the eyelids (though eyelids were extremely difficult to keep open, I could move them more easily than the rest of my body). Since I had to get up, I tried my best to move and managed to get out of it but it was extremely difficult... I was surprised of such a strong SP, since I usually feel the "softer" version. The problem is that I feel something like this "soft" version of SP during these dreams, and since I find it quite easy to get out of this state I fear that, if I move, I could move my real body just as I do in teh "soft SP". Actually, one time (while I was trying to WILD) I was entering a normal dream because I was concentrating too much on some quite realistic HI... I was opening and closing some kind of scissors in this HI (the scissors looked realistic, but they were the only existing thing, so I was on the edge of the dream) but I moved them putting too much strenght in the movement and this resulted in moving my real index finger thus waking up... I was still in the "soft SP" state, so this means that you can actually wake up from a dream if you put too much strenght in your movements... Actually, I managed to WILD going through all the "stages", so I felt HI, SP and transtition phase while remaining completely conscious... and that's one of the best experiences I ever had, despite having some difficulties with control and waking up very early! If it is possible to WILD in this way, I think this would be the best possible way to LD! You do not lose consciousness and it is quite easy to enter these dream-like state! A technique to gain full consciousness and control in this way would be great!

[Kyhaar]

Not sure if this is smiliar or not.... I went to bed last night trying a method of attaining Lucidity I created, that worked for me the night before. (2LD in 2 days! woot&#33 At first, I was semi-sleeping. I could see faint images, but they vanished when I moved to do a reality check. Later I was fully asleep, and moving didn't wake me up. But that goes in a different topic.

[SunShadow]

Not sure if this is smiliar or not.... I went to bed last night trying a method of attaining Lucidity I created, that worked for me the night before. (2LD in 2 days! woot&#33 At first, I was semi-sleeping. I could see faint images, but they vanished when I moved to do a reality check. Later I was fully asleep, and moving didn't wake me up. But that goes in a different topic. [/b] It might be related; in fact I'm trying to discover if I can move my dream body without moving my real one even if I can still feel it during a dream. What did you mean exactly with "I was fully asleep, and moving didn't wake me up"? Another thing: how does that method you created work? I'm curious

[Kyhaar]

It might be related; in fact I'm trying to discover if I can move my dream body without moving my real one even if I can still feel it during a dream. What did you mean exactly with "I was fully asleep, and moving didn't wake me up"? Another thing: how does that method you created work? I'm curious [/b] 1. I couldn't feel/see my real self. When I was fully asleep, I did a reality check in my dream instead of RL 2. I am going to write it up and post it for all to see