Lucid Dreaming

[HyruleGuardian]

Does anyone here know how to do it? The subject always fascinates me and I wish I could, but I'm not completely sure how.

[rockin n rollin]

I remember reading somewhere in my psychology book about lucid dreaming. Although I never tried it, I remember it said something about relaxing and imaging yourself doing something while telling yourself that your going to dream about whatever you want.

 

Sorry I don't know if that was much help

[arwen]

My dreams are often lucid if we are talking about the same thing. It means that I am aware of the fact that I am dreaming. But it's not that I can control the contents of my dreams as often is described for lucid dreaming. For me, this is an involuntary thing that happens when I sleep. Personally I hate it, because it feels like I can't wake up even though I know I am dreaming. That sometimes makes that I have a very violent dream that continues while I feel alert and awake.

 

The other way around also happens, my mind will be awake but not my body. I feel paralyzed then- I can't move because my body is still sleeping but the mind is awake. Again, I don't really like that.

 

To trigger lucid dreams, it is said that writing down your dreams helps. It is also believed that people who are able to remember their dreams (like me) are more prone to experience lucid dreams.

 

Hope this helped,

 

Arwen

[Haven]

I've experienced lucid dreaming a few times before, where I was able to control my actions or whatever. Or I could have just been dreaming that I was able to control my actions in a dream.. who knows?

 

I feel paralyzed then- I can't move because my body is still sleeping but the mind is awake.

Actually, you are literally paralyzed.. when you go to sleep, your muscles are paralyzed so that you don't act out your dreams or anything (people who sleepwalk have problems with this). So when you wake up but you can't move, your brain has failed to un-paralyze your muscles. Usually this happens when you haven't been getting a lot of sleep, or if your sleep schedule is very irregular. If it ever happens to you again, try really hard to move a finger or a toe.. usually this breaks the paralysis, and you'll be able to move again.

[arwen]

Yes, I know Haven! It's a good thing too, my dreams are so wild that I would be running through my house if my body wasn't surpressed lol...

 

I was scared to find out that actually both sleep paralysis and lucid dreaming (and in addition the weird voice like things I hear just before I fall asleep) can also be symptomatic of narcolepsy. My bf often complains about my restless sleep, I yell, fumble around a lot, wake up a lot while still dreaming (and I will start talking to him haha, I even called him one night to ask him if he PLEASE could tell me about the news or something 'real' because somehow my mind was still dreaming while the rest of me was very much awake).

[Raiden]

When I was younger (in my teens, 14-19) I used to have lucid dreams, in that I was consciously aware that I was dreaming and I could take control of something. I also used to have some variants of sleep paralysis. Also I used to have short bouts of sleep (5-10 mins max) where I'd dream that I was falling or something, and I'd wake up with a jolt (don't know what the technical definition for this is).

 

However I no longer have any of these occurrences... Don't know what that means in itself though lol.

[Parsley]

arwen - I'm pretty sure you don't have to worry about the lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis. My dad works in a sleep lab, his job is to understand what our brains and bodies do while we're asleep etc. Sleep paralysis affects a lot of people, more commonly as you get older - my brother and sister get it sometimes now, and both my parents have had it. It's just a slight delay, like you said! When you have lucid dreams, it means you're not in the phase of sleep to get proper rest. Your brain obviously cannot shut off completely, that's why we dream whilst asleep. So if you're awake enough to be conscious of that fact you are dreaming...you're clearly not getting much rest.

 

Sometimes I wish I liked science enough to do what dad does, cause it's so interesting. Anytime any show is on about sleeping disorders and things we do whilst we're asleep we end up having these great conversations about it. Our minds are *WEIRD*

 

x

[honeyspur]

Lucid dreaming can be achieved through habit.

I did research and an eventual oral report on this. I've also done it.

 

First, get a notepad or a recorder of some kind.

Every morning, upon waking, write down ANYTHING you can remember. Even if it's just, "I was outside" or "Someone was standing next to me at some point" or "it was nighttime"

 

Do this everyday. You will eventually begin to have longer, more detailed dreams. If you keep up this routine, (your writing will get longer - it will become a challenge) you will, I suspect, begin to have dreams like I had for awhile.

Dreams where you can fly. These are said to be the most exhilerating, happy dreams you can have and are linked to the most lucid dreaming.

Good luck - it will take some diligence, but it can be very fulfilling and exciting, so go for it!!

[lonely_me]

definitely write down your current dreams when you wake up, especially your recurring ones. The only times I am able to have lucid dreams are during recurring dreams because it's easier for my mind to recognize that they are dreams while I'm sleeping. Once I know my recurring dream very very well, I find myself thinking "This has happened before" mid-dream and trying to change the outcome. I think when I was younger this only happened during nightmares and it was my way of "protecting" myself. Now it happens during any kind of dream that I've had a couple times. Once I am familiar with what is happening and I am positive that I'm mid-dream, I can start to put all my effort in to changing it.

 

As for sleep paralysis, I have heard that if you can keep clear and unafraid during it, you can use that skill to have lucid dreams. I always get very fearful furing sleep paralysis, so I don't know if it works, but I think the idea is that you train yourself during it to think "I am dreaming, there's nothing wrong, I'm in control". It's supposed to be easier during sleep paralysis because you are actually awake or something. Then, you're supposed to eventually be able to take what you've been practicing during sleep paralysis and use it during a dream.

[applepie]

I used to have these when I was on anti depressants. My dreams were so vivid and I'd realize I was dreaming, but I'd wake up soon after. I had some seriously life changing dreams. Most of them were incredibly violent and gory.

 

Now I don't remember my dreams at all.