i learned about lucid dreaming and the first night i get one

hi...i read about lucid dreaming last night at about 5:00 am, i always do this. i stay awake until i am exhausted and then go to sleep i sleep for usually 11-12 hours and then do it over again. the dv website said to get better sleep so i think i will start so i can remember my dreams better.

anyways i believe i had a few lucid dreams before (like years ago...one with a girl i like ^^, and another where i could fly) the one with a girl in it took place the night after i saw a movie called waking life (i think that was the name of it) it was an animated movie that had alot to do with philosophy and its theme was (guess what) dreaming. after seeing this film i was thinking very deep about dreaming for many days and life, philosphy ect. that film really made me think lol u should see it. anyways last night was the first lucid dream i had in a long time. after reading how to lucid dream on the website, i thought to myself easy ways to lucid dream. so i did this: out side my bedroom door to the left is 3 light switches the way left one has a bulb that is burned out nobody in my house is jumping up to fix it so it will probably be out for a while lol. anyways the bulb is behind you if you were facing the switches. as i was going to bed last night i thought of the left switch over and over, my minds thoughts would stray to other stuff, like the paintball game i played that day or movies i saw, girls...but every time i started thinking about those i would stop and concentrate on the light switch. finally a weird feeling came over me like i was dreaming (i really wasnt) but i was sure if i was or not. my eyes were shut and i didnt want to open them because i was almost asleep, but i opened them because i thought i was. i looked around the room and stood up and everything looked exactly like it did as if i were awake, i jumped up and down a few times...every thing normal...then i looked at the clock and thoguht to myself if the time was around the right time (i think it read 6:03, which was right). so i went back to bed thinking of the left light switch. finally i started to dream and i dont remember it well but i remember turning on that light bulb and realizing that it wasnt possible because in truth it was burned out. i also remember spinning around while every thing was going black. and when i stopped spinning a man was looking at me from under that light bulb...the rest of the dream was lost i cant remember it, but my dream memory will improve because im gonna try harder and get more sleep. does anyone have tips for remebering dreams or changing where u are in your dream?

hey man i saw that movie too, thats what got me into the whole lucid dreaming stuff... fuck its cool. anyway, thats sick that u got a lucid dream first go, ive had one extended one occur naturally when i was 12, and ive also had an astral prjection about a year ago. but lately every time i realise im dreaming i wake up. i have however found a good way to recall dreams - like you were saying about repeatedly thinking of the light switch, i repeatedly think in my head "i am going to remember this dream" until i fall asleep. last night i tried to kill 2 birds with one stone, saying "i am going to remember this dream" and "its just a dream" (i remember that second quote was what i was saying to myself when i had my dream at 12) but i found myself only remembering the first quote as i got closer to being asleep and it didnt work. also, dont try the "i am going to remember this dream" quote when youve got something important on the next day, youll most likely wake up at about 4am with the dream in ur head and youll have to write in ur journal so u dont forget (dream journals do work well) and youll wake up hella tired the next day due to the interruption in sleep. also, remember to start repeating the phrase again when you go back to sleep the second time, otherwise it may not work. as for lucid dreaming, im still working on purposely attaining that state (ive found some cues in my journal) without waking up (i forget to spin around :oops: ) anyway let us know how you go with it and ill do the same.

later dude

Waking Life started it all for me. I watched the movie about ten times, then had a lucid dream. I even think about the movie while I'm having lucid dreams. Then I stopped focusing on dreams and theyd come once every few months,and for just a minute. But since I've gotten on this site my dreams have been more intense, longer and more lucid. You came to the right place.