I finally had a real lucid dream - well two, actually - and it was amazing

[pixiedust]

So last night I was exhausted - I'd only had about four hours sleep the previous night, and cos I really wanted to take a shower, wash my hair ect, by the time I finally got to bed it was 3:30 am. I laid there, reminded myself I wanted to lucid dream, did my white light affirmations (inspired by Clairity and modified slightly, and I've always wanted to say thanks for that, it does make me feel protected). Anyway, laid there for a min and tried to count 1 I'm dreaming 2 I'm dreaming, thought I felt some vibrations but wasn't sure if it was maybe just the cat scratching himself. From then on, this is what I remember. Very brief non-lucid about trying to go to a bathroom and pee with a dog snarling at me. Back in bed, feeling like I just had the shift, just feeling...strange. Reach up and do a nose RC. I CAN BREATHE! I couldn't believe it. I feel sort of trapped in the bed, it's odd, like I want to get up but it's not that easy, so I start rolling from side to side, back and forth, til I roll out of bed and hit the floor. Start laughing my arse off, my bf sits up with a funny look on his face and asks wtf I'm doing, I can't stop laughing. I get a strange feeling, do a nose RC - I can STILL breathe It was an FA. Ok, now what, I think. I don't see anything at this point btw, my eyes see only blackness, but when I reach up and pinch my nose, I can breathe. I wear a sleep mask at night, btw. I try to open my dream eyes but it's hard, feels hard to open them and as I try to I see a little light at the bottom and I'm afraid I'm about to really open my eyes and wake up, so I stop trying. I decide because I'm seeing blackness I should try flying through space. I think to myself that I will see Saturn up ahead, and try to imagine/will myself to be flying through the universe. I feel a little like I'm moving through blackness, but no planets, no nothing :/ I then tell myself "Saturn is below me", and try to look down and sort of fly downwards. I see a vague glow that may be Saturn, but I can't get the planet in my field of vision. Dammit. I'm not sure what happens next, I think I have another FA, do the nose RC, find I'm still dreaming, and have a hard time believing it - I keep thinking I just must not be pinching my nose hard enough, and that's why I can breathe. It's amazing the rationalizations your mind comes up with. I pinch it HARD, as best I can, can STILL breathe, and finally believe it again. Next thing I remember, I've finally got imagery! It just sort of came out of nowhere. I am in a modern, busy hospital. I just sort of materialize in the hall of ICU, and as I start walking a harried looking black female doctor walks by me, I bump into her and she gives me an irritated look, lol. It felt so real. I walk a few steps til I get to an exam room and there is an older female doctor with salt and pepper hair... the dream is fuzzy, so I calmly say in a confident voice "increase clarity" or "more clarity", something like that, and it works Things just seem to sharpen like the focus was adjusted on a camera, and the dream feels much more solid. Once it's solid, for no reason I go up to the doctor and hug her. She gives me an amused look and walks away. I'm curious about touch, and there is an empty gurney next to me, so I run my hand along the mattress, feeling a crisp white sheet, and it feels utterly real. I go into another room and there is someone on a bed with a bloody bandage. I am curious, and walk up to them, but get nervous suddenly, not wanting to see what's wrong with them, and walk out. In the next room there's a kid of about 12 who's broken something skateboarding... I walk by him, find myself in a room with a bunch of girls who are listening to the band Nirvana. At this point the dream starts to disappear, I remember I should try to spin but in the next second I wake up.... Absolutely elated I know it may not be much in comparison to a lot of ppls lucids, but I really, really did it this time, not once but twice I remembered to do reality checks, they worked, I got my clarity to increase, I rolled out from my body - and I remained in the dream for a bit and kept my lucidity. I am really, really happy I have to be honest and say I'd had doubts, of course...that little gnawing fear - will I ever be able to do this? Maybe I'm just not one of the ppl who can do it... but I found out last night that I am. Anyway, it's almost 2 am and i'm exhausted, so you can guess what I'm going to do - I'm going to go to sleep and see if I can WILD again. Thanks for reading

[Ghaerdon]

Gongratulations for your first real lucid dream! Has to feel really nice to get two in one night Well, this far, I've had one, and it faded nearly as early as it started, but it won't be the case tonight. I know that this night my lucid dreams will be very vivid and long Have fun exploring the endless dimension of Lucid Dreamin'!

[Clairity]

Wow.. pixiedust what a great first "real" lucid dream!! You did all the right things.. you reality checked, you remained calm when you couldn't see and simply went with it and you recognized a false awakening when you had one! I am impressed! , did my white light affirmations (inspired by Clairity and modified slightly, and I've always wanted to say thanks for that, it does make me feel protected). You're so very welcome!

[Spiek]

Congratulations Your post made a great read, I hope there will be more to come!

[beorn]

This is great inspiration! I myself have not had any real LD's yet. I had the same doubts as you, but now, I'm getting my hopes up . Thank you, pixiedust!

[Abra]

I think I have another FA, do the nose RC, find I'm still dreaming, and have a hard time believing it - I keep thinking I just must not be pinching my nose hard enough, and that's why I can breathe. It's amazing the rationalizations your mind comes up with. I pinch it HARD, as best I can, can STILL breathe, and finally believe it again. I know what you mean! It's a good sign, though. It keeps your thoughts straight. That sounds like a super good lucid dream! It's one you should be very proud of! Keep 'em coming!

[FreeOne]

congrats on your first lucids! isnt that breathing through a closed nose feeling awesome?

[yelizaveta]

hey i got to use the creepy disembodied hand clap icon.. congrats!! Your first lucid sounded really interesting, i am impressed because it was not really a dild, it seems like you went from waking to lucid and wilded. It gives me hope that given the right circumstances I can wild too. Thanks for sharing!

[pixiedust]

Gongratulations for your first real lucid dream! Has to feel really nice to get two in one night Well, this far, I've had one, and it faded nearly as early as it started, but it won't be the case tonight. I know that this night my lucid dreams will be very vivid and long Have fun exploring the endless dimension of Lucid Dreamin'! Thanks... it definitely felt great to have two in one night Wow.. pixiedust what a great first "real" lucid dream!! You did all the right things.. you reality checked, you remained calm when you couldn't see and simply went with it and you recognized a false awakening when you had one! I am impressed! You're so very welcome! At first I was frustrated at not getting imagery, but I think I just knew that if I got impatient or tried to force it, it would just make things harder, so I just tried to go with what I had. I have to say reading this site has helped a lot - hearing about other people's experiences. Not sure I would have known to try to "roll out" of my body if I hadn't read about people doing it here. When I first got lucid it sort of felt like I was still lying down, although I knew I was in my dream body and not my real body. You'd think it would be as easy as getting up and walking away, but somehow it wasn't - it took a bit of effort to actually get up. The rolling side to side really worked though, and I was able to get up and "out". I can't help being really curious as to why so many people have that similar sensation, but that's a whole other post.... Recognizing the FA's was surprisingly easy, cos I still had that lucid "feeling", if you know what I mean? I was pretty sure I was still dreaming, I just had to do the nose RC to be sure. The whole dream was pretty cool though... I can't wait to do it again. My goal for next time is to try to get outside and do some flying, or at least explore an outdoor, nature-type environment. Congratulations Your post made a great read, I hope there will be more to come! Thank you This is great inspiration! I myself have not had any real LD's yet. I had the same doubts as you, but now, I'm getting my hopes up . Thank you, pixiedust! I think doubts are natural... I've been trying to LD for 2 or 3 months now (LD'd often as a child but not much as an adult), and there were definitely times I wondered if I'd ever do it, but for the most part I've tried to stay positive. I've had a couple semi-lucid moments, including an earlier brief lucid, but the quality wasn't that good. In this one I felt completely conscious, as conscious and aware as I feel right now, very solid and anchored in the dream. My advice is just to keep at it and keep thinking positive, and it'll happen. Do you try to WILD at all? I know what you mean! It's a good sign, though. It keeps your thoughts straight. That sounds like a super good lucid dream! It's one you should be very proud of! Keep 'em coming! Thanks congrats on your first lucids! isnt that breathing through a closed nose feeling awesome? It is! Such a trippy feeling, but really exciting, because it's like 'yess, bingo, I'm lucid' hey i got to use the creepy disembodied hand clap icon.. congrats!! Your first lucid sounded really interesting, i am impressed because it was not really a dild, it seems like you went from waking to lucid and wilded. It gives me hope that given the right circumstances I can wild too. Thanks for sharing! Thanks... and yes, you can WILD I think the key is just being patient, keep trying and don't give up, try not to get discouraged. It's taken me a few months, it was hardly an overnight kind of thing... but it did happen, and I'm looking forward to it happening again

[Adam]

Excellent, congratulations

[beorn]

Do you try to WILD at all? Yes, I do try. But when I try in the evening I usually can't manage to sleep and abort the attempt after laying still on my back for nearly an hour. Of course, when I stop trying and just go to sleep normally, I'm pretty sure I fall asleep within 10 min... . Then, the times I have tried WBTB in the morning, I usually am too sleepy to bother, or I just fall asleep before really managing to start WILDing . So, I guess I don't try hard enough ... I'll have to experiment with when to get up for WBTB, and how long I should stay up. In this one I felt completely conscious, as conscious and aware as I feel right now. This is also very good to hear. My normal dreams usually feel fuzzy, and like I'm not really there. Hey, I guess they're called lucid dreams for a reason.