Lucid Dreaming - (Six Incredibly Awesome Mind States You Can Experience)
June 11th, 2008
When I was a kid, I wanted to know how to fly, or to be a powerful wizard in a fantasy world. I wanted to fight evil sorcerers and rescue princesses and all that usual stuff. I can’t say any of these has come true in my real life. And I don’t think they will, either. I’d need a virtual reality machine for that.
A lot of us probably wish the scientists invented a virtual reality machine. Well, guess what…
You already have a virtual reality machine in your head. It’s called your brain. Or, more specifically, the part responsible for dreaming.
Sure, there’s one major problem with dreaming. You don’t control what you dream about. But imagine for a second you could. Imagine you could become fully aware of the fact that you’re dreaming, while you’re dreaming, and decide what you want to dream about next. Wouldn’t that be totally awesome?
It is totally awesome! And it’s called lucid dreaming, and you can do it!
Lucid dreaming
If you ever tried getting yourself to exercise or run regularly, you’ll know the first step is the hardest. It takes incredible amount of effort to put on your running shoes and step out the door. Once you’re out there, the running itself is trivial by comparison.
Similarly, lucid dreaming itself is as easy as riding a bike downhill. The tricky part is becoming aware of the fact that you’re dreaming.
Becoming lucid
If you want to become lucid, you’ll have to notice you’re dreaming. And to do that, you’ll need to notice inconsistencies around you. Stuff that makes you say “hey, this absolutely couldn’t happen in real life. This must be a dream!”.
How often during the day do you check if you’re dreaming? If you’re like most people, then never. And that means that you won’t check it while you’re dreaming either. Dreaming is, after all, just a rehash of your daily experiences.
The first and basic method for achieving lucid dreaming is called reality check. It involves checking whether or not you’re dreaming during the day. And doing it often.
1. Reality check
In movies, the traditional way of checking if you’re dreaming seems to be pinching yourself. Too bad it doesn’t work in real life (or rather, real dreams). You can imagine the pain quite vividly.
Then how do you check? After all you can imagine anything.
It turns out reading something in dreams is damn difficult. The letters tend to blend and jump around, and if you turn away and look back the text will usually change to something completely different. (I can also confirm that you can’t play chess in dreams. Quite a shame, since I was hoping to get some chess practice during dreams. Then again… I could imagine anything in the whole world… and I wanted to play chess??? Talk about unimaginative…)
Therefore a good way of doing your reality check is to carry around a special piece of paper for that. Write a text on both sides, something like “Reality check! Am I dreaming?” on one side, and on the other side “Hmmm… apparently not.”
Then, during the day, simply often check the piece of paper. Read one side, then flip over, read that side, then look away and look back. If the text is still the same, you’re probably awake. If the text has changed and now says “Soviet submarines cause cancer” or “gurbuz mbodut qgzup cthulhu!”, it’s pretty damn likely that you’re dreaming.
Reality check also makes you more sensitive to other inconsistencies around you. When I had my first lucid dream, I became aware of the fact that I’m dreaming precisely because there was an inconsistency. I was locking the door of my flat. I turned the key once. I turned it twice. I turned it a third time. Then I was like “Wait a second, my lock only turns twice.” And bam! I became aware of the fact that I’m dreaming!
2. Wake up and go back to sleep
Another technique that really worked great for me is waking up and getting back to sleep. It works as follows:
1. Set your alarm clock an hour earlier than usual
You could try different times too. Maybe an hour and a half earlier than usual would work better for you.2. Do something for 20 minutes
Go grab something to eat, or write a journal, or do anything else you’d like. Just avoid activities that could stop you from going back to sleep (like exercise).3. Go back to sleep
This method is supposed to make you about 20 times more likely to have a lucid dream afterwards. I have no idea how accurate that figure is, but from my experience it could be pretty damn close.
My first couple of lucid dreams always happened in this situation. Sometimes even not on purpose. Like one night, I woke up at about 4 am to go to the bathroom. I was awake for about 5 minutes, then went back to sleep. It was enough - I had a lucid dream afterwards.
What to do once you’re lucid
Ok, now you’re aware of the fact you’re dreaming, while you’re inside that dream. Go wild!
To quote from DreamViews, a website about lucid dreaming:
To fully experience lucid dreaming, you have to remember that you are not governed by any laws in your dreams: you have complete freedom. Instead of walking to school or work, you can fly. While in mid-flight you may spontaneously decide you’d rather explore the elusive depths of the ocean without a breathing apparatus, or travel at incomprehensible speeds and explore the endless heavens around us without a ship. Or perhaps you’ll remember a book or a movie that captured your soul—perhaps you’ll become the main character of that book or movie and live for a short while in that story. Or maybe you’d just like to live your own life, with the added bonus of not being restricted by any consequences of your actions. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to tell off your boss, or push your car to its maximum speed (and beyond) on an open stretch of highway. Regardless, it will likely take a while for you to fully appreciate the idea that you can do whatever you imagine—you’ll likely think things are not possible during your first few lucid dreams, and be unable to do them.
One of my personal favorites is flying. I definitely recommend you to give it a try.
Things to watch out for
Don’t worry. Lucid dreaming is perfectly safe. The only things you need to “watch out for” is things that could prevent you from having lucid dreams.
1. Becoming too excited
This isn’t from my own experience. But I heard that some people, when they first became lucid, were like “Yeey! Yippee! Woohoo! I’m having my first lucid dream!” - and woke up from the excitement.
So, when you first have a lucid dream, try to stay calm. Of course you’ll be terribly excited. Just try to enjoy a calm exhilaration, without jumping around going “Weeeee!”.
2. False awakening
This one was huge for me. I think that most of my lucid dreams ended in a false awakening. Definitely more than half of them.
The thing with lucid dreams is that they’re extremely vivid. And I mean extremely. You can’t easily tell a difference between lucid dreams and real life (that’s why reality check is so tricky).
Often, you’ll have a lucid dream… and then you’ll dream that you wake up (false awakening). You’ll lose your lucid dream. And if you don’t realize you’re still dreaming, you’ll go back to normal dreamless sleep.
Let me repeat - this experience will be extremely life-like. I fell for it the first couple of times, and even later, when I was well aware of it, it still often got me.
So here’s what to do. When you wake up from a lucid dream, do a very, very thorough reality check. The chances are, you’re still dreaming. Best keep some text to read by your bed at night, so you can immediately do a reality check when you wake up.
One time, I had a lucid dream. Then I had a false awakening. But I spotted it (there was some inconsistency, can’t remember what), so I enjoyed another lucid dream. Then I woke up. At least that’s what I thought. Actually, it was another false awakening, but I didn’t realize it this time. Shame, I wonder how many false awakenings I could string in a row 
Odds and Ends about lucid dreaming
If you want to find out more, check out this website about lucid dreaming. You will find more detailed explanations, more reasons to try lucid dreaming, more techniques, more personal stories, and other stuff related to lucid dreaming. (You’ll also finally get to find out what that bloody word lucid means )
And one more thing…
If you had any personal experiences with lucid dreaming, or are going to give it a try after reading this article, please leave a comment or drop me an e-mail. I’d really like to know.
###
On my last post a reader suggested I make summaries. I’m giving it a try. Following twitter’s example, I’ll make it 140 characters or less.
Summary: Lucid dreaming means consciously being able to control your dreams as you’re dreaming. You can then enjoy the unlimited dream world.
Stay tuned for the second of six incredibly awesome mind states you can experience. We’ll explore a state very similar to sleep - relaxation. But a kind of relaxation you’ve likely never done before.
Update: Hi StumbleUpon users!
If you enjoyed this article, I would appreciate a thumbs up. And if you have any personal experiences with lucid dreaming, feel free to share them in the comments. I read all the comments, and they make me feel warm inside. I finally found lots of fellow lucid dreamers through writing this article 
June 11th, 2008 at 17:39
I hate the thought of the false awakenings that seem to inevitably accompany lucid dreaming and I can’t help wondering if it’s worth it. I’m not sure it would be, for me. I have pretty good dreams anyway, without being lucid.
June 11th, 2008 at 21:36
Many years ago I heard about lucid dreams but after many attepmts I never had one (that I remembered, at least…) and all but forgot about them, until recently.
Last Wednesday I got out of bed and wandered downstairs wondering why there were men sleeping in the bathroom and unable to find the kitchen. All of a sudden I realised it was a dream - everything became ultra vivid and I got very excited. I took a moment to think about what I wanted to do - fly, obviously! - and jumped out of the window shouting “I’M DREAMING! I’M DREAMING!” like a lunatic…
Then I woke up
After that I had a normal dream where I was talking to someone about my lucid dream, which is usually about as close as I ever get.
Hopefully seeing this blog post exactly 1 week after my first lucid dream as an adult will sink well into my subconscious.
(I used to have lucid dreams a lot as a child, but unfortunately it’s not something that’s nurtured in children in todays world so I forgot all about them until I was well into adulthood.)
June 16th, 2008 at 21:00
I have this friend who is a freshman on psychology. I once randomly opened your blog and found something I thought he’d find interesting so I mailed it to him. But, before clicking the little [x] button I read the first paragraph. Then, I read the second. Then I read the third. Then, I read the whole post. And the one before. And the one before that one. That easily, I became addicted to your paragraphs.
I’ve got to say, you are by far the most interesting person I’ve read on the world wide web and will continue to read. Please, PLEASE, keep up the awesome work (word good just didn’t fit ^_^).
Now, as for the lucidity; I’ve been aching to try this. It sounds way too good to be true but I’ll give it a try starting today. When the first dream “hits me” (or should I say “I hit it”) I’ll write an awfully long comment about it (and maybe write it down somewhere on this huge net).
Thanks, Cheerios.
Armin.
June 21st, 2008 at 12:51
I’ve tried a number of times to experience a fabled “Lucid Dream”, but have never succeeded while actually trying. There have been quite a few cases where I’ve realized I was in a dream and broke away from the original plot when this wasn’t my intention when going to sleep, but they have usually been unpleasant…
In most of the dreams I’ve had where I realize that I’m dreaming, I usually have problems with the gravity. I suddenly can no longer stand while crossing the road, or I fall out of the sky and hit the ground. Other bad things have happened, e.g. fire, paranoia, speaking gibberish. My lucid dreams generally end in some state of panic.
Also, I noticed that my judgment is significantly impaired during dreams, so even when I do have them, I can’t think of what to do. I tend just to see the flaws in reality, become paranoid and stop dreaming.
I plan to keep trying to have lucid dreams though. After all, even nightmares have entertainment value
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:00
[...] Hell, yeah! That’s nuts enough for me to try! Plus, it apparently improves concentration, has great benefits for your health and makes you happier. But let’s face it, that’s not why I would do it :). I just enjoy the really weird stuff that’s beyond anything ordinary people would ever imagine, let alone experience. (Dare to join me? Try lucid dreaming.) [...]
August 8th, 2008 at 0:20
I lucid dream frequently, it’s easy for me. I often find that I awaken a lot during these, only to fall back to sleep into the same dream. I am not sure if it is a false awakening or not; usually if it’s a good dream I want to go back to it, so I will lie very still and keep my eyes closed to do so. But if it’s a bad dream I will follow through with the “false” awakening and get up: open my eyes, go to the bathroom, whatever. Anything to assure I won’t fall asleep to the same bad dream.
Also: I can always fly in every dream, lucid or not, so I never have falling dreams. And I can always breathe underwater in every dream, so I never have drowning dreams. But it shouldn’t be proclaimed as some awesome experience - even while knowing I’m dreaming I can’t do EVERYTHING. Flying is hard most of the time and so is telekinesis (one I enjoy). Once you’re aware you’re dreaming, it’s not like you can be Mr. Superhero all of a sudden. And if I go to sleep visualizing a certain person I want to dream about, sometimes they appear only to hate me and want nothing to do with me.
Another less cool part about lucid dreaming is: once I realize I’m dreaming, I can’t think of anything to do, so I sort of wander around doing nothing until I awaken (falsely or not).
Anyway, my thoughts.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:04
I am very interested in this. I normally have a very difficult time sleeping but when I do lucid dream it is about something very strange like vampires and giant turtles attacking my town (one of which I have never even seen) and us hiding in some really cool giant bathroom with beds and things of that sort inside a giant swimming pool hall or something. It always seems rather out of control even if I know I am dreaming.
August 12th, 2008 at 17:11
Yeah, it’s always amazed me that I could wake up early, do something for 10 minutes (such as going to the bathroom, getting a quick bite to eat) and then plop down into bed still a half-awake zombie and nearly instantly have a dream that I remember. And I know it’s pretty instant because I wake up 20 or 30 minutes later.
So, in other words, your technique does work. I’ve been doing it a long time.
The downside, though, is that you wake up easily. I’d have sex dreams and other lucid dreams that I really enjoyed and then poof, it’s over.
August 13th, 2008 at 22:09
I just noticed, if one could get “used” to lucid dreaming, what if they were able to start reading and such. What if that even caused to completely destroy the ability to tell whether you’re awake or not.. This could cause insanity.
(I can’t wait to try it.)
August 17th, 2008 at 2:24
In my own experience, smoking marijuana before going to sleep can help to induce lucid dreaming, Sativa strains in particular.
If I had to guess, I would imagine the relaxed state helps your mind keep control over your body and prevent you from jerking awake upon realizing that you’re dreaming. Additionally, a strong dose of grass can be mildly hallucinogenic.
August 17th, 2008 at 7:23
I have lucid dreams pretty frequently and they’re amazing! However, sometimes I have limited lucidity (is that a word?) and once I realize I can have magic powers, they won’t work for me, or I suddenly will only be able to look at people’s feet. And flying is great, but in my dreams, I either have to pump my legs to fly and get higher, or I’ll fly too high and when I need to land I’ll have a long, agonizing fall to the ground but usually not be hurt.
Maybe if I practice the “Am I dreaming?” thing more…
August 20th, 2008 at 0:01
I used to lucid dream a ton as a teenager. I had read a book on it and found it very interesting and start it. The book suggested first learning how to remember your dreams reliably. It said to do this to concentrate on wanting to remember them as you fall asleep. After that, to concentrate on dreaming about a certain thing. After that, to concentrate on controlling your dreams.
I’ve recall dreaming and wanting to figure out some particularly hard puzzle from real life and figuring it out in the dream. It almost always woke me up immediately if I did. (Usually had to do with a bug in some program I wrote, lol)
I’ve often wondered if lucid dreaming is not closely related to hypnotism….
August 23rd, 2008 at 21:03
The biggest problem with dream recall for me (I haven’t passed this hurdle yet) is that my normal dreams are often convoluted and completely nonsensical, like I’ll be able to transform into a painting at will (yes at I had a dream like that) and it seems totally normal in the dream, and all the events string together totally fine. Then I wake up and try to remember it, and the bits that I can remember never seem to make sense together, so I can’t remember the rest.
August 24th, 2008 at 10:13
I’m extremly interested in this topic! i’m going to college soon and thats when i’m going to start trying to master this technique. I’ve experienced it once before (Flying), and found it so satisfying!
i’ve got some questions about dreaming/sleeping methods-
like combining lucid dreaming and the Ubermans sleeping schedule .. How do i email you? . i cant find any address?
August 24th, 2008 at 10:34
@Starbeams:
Yeah, it’s not like I’m in full control when dreaming either. Completely random stuff sometimes happens in my dreams… that’s half the fun
@Niall:
I like your attitude. You remind me of… myself…
@Sorian:
I remember waking up one morning, suddenly realizing how to play a difficult piano passage I’ve been practicing. But that’s about the only time I remember finding a solution in my sleep. I’m sure there’s more potential there for me to explore.
@Alphabet:
Oh yeah, I’ve had plenty of crazy stuff in dreams. That’s more like the rule than the exception.
If you want to practice remembering your dreams, try writing a dream diary. It worked for me.
Just keep pen and paper next to your bed. Then, in the morning, the moment you wake up, just keep lying and remember any fragments of dreams you just had. Don’t go to the bathroom or anything, because that would break away all the fragments of dreams you barely remember.
After you remembered all you can about the dreams you had that night, write them down in the diary. You can write short bullet points or long prose, whichever you prefer.
This lets your mind know remembering dreams is important to you. In a few days, you will start to remember more dreams.
Enjoy!
@Jaime:
Yes, I deliberately hide my e-mail address so you can only see it under ultra-violet light…
Ok, maybe not. Just click the link called “about” at the top right anywhere on my blog. You’ll find my e-mail address there.
August 26th, 2008 at 0:06
I have tried to have a Lucid Dream for some time now, but I have yet to have one (at least, not in the normal sense). However, I have had a number of times where I have very strange dreams, and halfway through I notice that I shouldn’t be able to do what I am doing. Unfortunately, I have yet to actually notice that it is a dream and take control of it. More often then not, I simply accept it and continue on with the dream. For instance, one dream I had I was able to jump rather high, as if I controlled where the top of the arc is. I realized that I shouldn’t be able to do this… but instead of realizing that it was a dream, I just continued along the story line (if you will) that was already in progress, always cautious to land on something soft to break my fall when I jumped (like a tree.)
Several times after waking up from such a dream, I have realized that it was a dream and tried to reenter the dream, but usually this either results in me recounting my dream or failing to remember it at all.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:27
Thera,
You are the only other person that mentioned telekinesis. I do this too as well as flying.
Sensations? What do you feel and can you explain it? Flying to me is very like falling but you don’t. It’s like weightlessness. Telekinesis is different. It feels like physical concentration. Like slightly tensing the muscles around the… mind. I hope you see this and respond.
August 28th, 2008 at 22:02
@Victory:
Hey! Last time I had a lucid dream, I also tried telekinesis. Awesome! It’s my new favorite! I can’t wait until my next lucid dream to try it again
And thanks for describing the way you feel the different things (flying, telekinesis). It could be really interesting to compare how we all feel the different things.
When I want to fly, I need to move my arms up and down, like I’m a bird. It feels sort of like swimming. Then, once I get up in the sky, I can sometimes stop moving my arms and keep flying. After that it’s more like superman-style flying.
And telekinesis feels completely effortless to me. I just lift my hand and make stuff move, like Sylar in Heroes
September 25th, 2008 at 22:07
Another reality check is with a clock. Look at a clock, look away for a second, and then look back. If it’s the same, you’re probably not dreaming. This is the one I use, and it’s helped me become lucid many times.
Wake up and go back to sleep: I read that you set your alarm for five hours after you fall asleep and then stay up for about an hour. Anyway, this happened to me by accident: I woke up for about a second, then fell asleep, and had an incredibly vivid them fantastically lucid dream. I even remember falling into the dream! It just melted into the dream from darkness. It was pretty damn amazing.
I have done both one and two and their a bitch!
I’d like to issue a warning: If you’re used to having nightmares every night, becoming lucid can be scary as hell. I’ve done it and had to force myself awake (”Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP!”) because I almost peed myself. I woke up panting and sweating, it was that bad. Fortunately, it became much less scary after that. But damn difficult, particularly to stay lucid. It took me four years to have my first lucid dream I could remember! That’s dedication! Then it became difficult to distinguish between reality and dreams, and it all rolled down hill…. I stopped, but I’m thinking of starting again, and I hope to have more control and distinction. Hahah, any tips?
Another thing, it’s always been difficult for me to control my dreams. It’s like crazy, because I feel like I want to do something, but then I want to think that in words after–but the feeling is enough. If I feel I want to drive through a brick wall, and then try to start thinking, “I want to drive through that brick wall!” chances are I’m already through or close to being through the brick wall once I finish thinking that thought. It’s difficult to get used to, for my part. Another thing, I couldn’t control: I tried to make a clock reappear in my bathroom, but it just didn’t want to reappear. I stood there for I-don’t-even-know-how-long and tried to make the stupid thing come back, but it just wouldn’t! Any tips for that?
October 13th, 2008 at 21:57
I had quite a few of them. But the most vivid one was my last one, I had a week ago or so.
I have had just finished watching Trinity Blood anime series and read some stuff of myth, Krsnik to be more exact. And the dream I had. There I was something between Abel Nightroad, the main protagonist of the series, and Krsnik of Croatian/Slovenian myths.
So I’m doing the assignment from Vatican and I get ambushed by the vampires. Of course, as a main protagonist I fight them bravely off, well most of them, since I get captured some moments later. And I get to be interrogated when this HUGE vampire comes, takes me into his hand and tries to squeeze my insides out of me. And then my conscious mind is like “Damn I need to do something, otherwise I’m gonna be dead meat in a matter of seconds. Come on think, think, think…JACKPOT! Dragon” So I turn to dragon, but that doesn’t yield any results as I’m still getting squeezed. Then my conscious mind is like “S**** it’s no good. Okay then try let’s try mouse”. And poof I turn into a mouse and the magic happens, I become just too small and fall from his humongous hand and manage to escape only to come back with a bang at my 80% Krusnik form from the anime (not to be confused with Krsnik of the myth) and slay them all. Then the last thing I remember before waking up is me reporting the mission to cardinal Sforza
October 13th, 2008 at 22:49
I have been aware that I am dreaming before, but I cannot control my dreams. Instead, I wake up.
October 13th, 2008 at 22:52
wow!! so cool! i sometimes realize i am in a dream, but i follow the rules and go with it. i will have try this rule breaking!!
although a friend of mine told me how to fly in a dream. im sure you can fly anyway you want, but he had an exact method which he taught me! haha!
thanks!
October 13th, 2008 at 22:58
pinching yourself does work. that was my main source of entering a lucid state when i was a child. I would get to a point in a dream where things seemed slightly awry, i can’t remember specifically any of the events, and I had always heard on TV that if you were dreaming you wouldnt feel pain. I’d pinch myself in the dream, typically on the arm, and feel numbness, and that would give me the go-ahead to do whatever I wanted, which typically involved looking up girls skirts and other childhood fantasies. Anyway, it does work. I notice these days however, that with the vividness of my dreams, that I might be able to feel pain in a dream, or at least imagine it, so perhaps my body has changed in that manner, but I know it worked when I was a child.
October 13th, 2008 at 23:10
About two years or so ago I used to practice routine reality checks and log my dreams — dream logging worked wonders for my ability to go lucid. My biggest problem though is when I become lucid the dream becomes “dreamlike”; devoid of color and realism, much like the proto-dreaming you experience before you are completely asleep. Then I get into a panic and have a false awakening.
The other thing is I tend to experience sleep paralysis somewhat frequently. On those occasions I can sometimes use it to produce lucid dreams, but sometimes my mind creates sensory illusions so real and convincing that I can “feel” my way around my bed, the room, touch my wife, etc. all while in a state of sleep paralysis, but I can verify later that my experiences were illusory by doing the same checks when I’m awake.
I fell out of the practice after a while, though I always wanted to get back into the groove. It’s just a pain getting back into the habit of dream journaling, even though it carries with it the benefit of enhanced dream recall which is cool enough on its own.
October 13th, 2008 at 23:33
Yall are high on weed…
October 13th, 2008 at 23:37
I have been doing this for quite some time. I never knew there was a term for it. I am a BIG fan of laying in bed and reflecting on life for 1/2 hour or hour before I need to be up. So I often set my alarm for 6am and upon waking re set it for 7am and lay in bed and either reflect or slowly fall asleep and have what I now know is called a lucid dream. I’ve had the false awakenings many times. One issue I had once when I was in high school was that in my false awakening I had to use the bathroom and so I went and did. My mind was convinced that I really was in the bathroom and apparently I wet the bed. Quite embarassing at 16 or 17 years old. So now whenever I do this I make sure I’m awake before I go to the bathroom. But I can’t really explain how I do this. I think I try to scream or something in the dreams and that wakes me up.
A question I have. Ever since I was little about 90% of all dreams I can remember (except the lucid ones) are out of body. I see myself as a bird would see me flying about 2 feet above and behind me. I never see my face, or clearly the faces of anyone I know. I cannot ever picture the faces of my dearest family members no matter how hard I try, but there’s never any question about who is who. Do you know what this may be, and what it might mean?
Thanks,
please if you are able to reply, do so to the email I provided. Also, if you’d ever like I give you permission to use my embarrasing story (with or without my name)
October 14th, 2008 at 0:05
I used to have lucid dreams that I could fly even before I ever heard about lucid dreaming. Recently my lucid dreaming has stopped and I no longer have control. I think it may have something to do with the fact I was in love with my girlfriend and had a very positive outlook on my future. Recently we broke up and my life outlook hasn’t been as optimistic since: however, I hope the advice in this article will give me the ability to fly again.
October 14th, 2008 at 0:44
I have lucid dreams often and just thought I would share an experience that stands out in my mind. I remember I was in this gigantic building and it was almost like those tournament fighting games. (unreal tournament) except instead of shooting people you could morph into anything you want to overpower your player. It felt like I was in competition with other lucid dreamers and everyone kept morphing to a higher power level, ie. human, human with gun, human master kung fu, gorilla, alien, monster, robot, silver surfer, the hulk, until finally after a few times of being defeated and entering I remember that my morph was so extreme I started defeating every enemy in the building and started to destroy the entire surroundings brick walls; (they were apparently in my dream indestructible like borders of the game, you could not go outside the building) and eventually I started destroying the games dimension and breaking into new ones. it was friggin awesome. anyways. once i broke into the next few dimensions I almost entered into the new dimension as a new player and had to morph up to the ranks again to defeat the other players. once I had my ultimate character morph though I knew I was un-defeatable and kept leveling up dimensions. until I woke up. Just thought I’d share that dream with you guys.
Thanks for reading.
October 14th, 2008 at 1:06
@adskjlf:
Yeah, it’s weird how your mind just creates rules out of nowhere. I remember I once had a dream in which I had this hole in my hand, and I could sort of move it around. But for some reason, it moved according to very specific rules. Maybe the brain just tries to create rules and logic where the aren’t any? (I heard that’s where superstitions come from)
@brian:
Awesome! I was really hoping to find someone who would say that pinching works for them
I have this theory that it all depends on what you believe. So if you believe pinching yourself won’t hurt in a dream, it won’t. If you believe looking at something, looking away, and looking back will let you know if you’re dreaming, it will. Then again, maybe the latter will always work because of the random nature of dreams.
Arrgh
So much cool stuff to explore, and so few lucid dreams!
@Derek:
Yeah, them biatches dreams can be EXTREMELY real. That’s why I made it a habit to always check very thoroughly if I’m really awake after a lucid dream. Because it sure feels so even if I’m not!
@Fishy:
Just a hobbyist who enjoys lucid dreaming.
Sorry, but I have no idea what could be causing your out-of-body dreams. I’m not a PhD in dream science or anything
@Matt:
I love this sentence of yours when taken out of context:
“I hope the advice in this article will give me the ability to fly again.”
Yes, I love randomly entertaining myself like that
October 14th, 2008 at 1:22
in the books of canstaneda about don juan (indian magician)there is a diffrent technique to train the lucid dream. just look at your hand during the day and also ask yourself “am i dreaming?”. if you are dreaming you are not able to focus your hand and then you will realize it.
for me it just worked two times because i didnt train.but it was great.
so train more!
October 14th, 2008 at 2:07
I have also been having these lucid dreams pretty frequently.
I remember once going to bed at 23:00PM and waking up at 13:00 PM completly exausted from around 10 dreams. I had flied, frooze time, i even went to a library, knocked alot of books down from the shelfs and when the librarian said “Hey, put them back again” i laughed and said that she only existed because I wanted to… And POOFF! She vanished
Also prevented my father from having a heart atack. Srunk to the size of his hearth and hugged it in order to keep it pumping! I also used somekind of telekinesis against a demon.
This being said, I know this may sound crazy but when WE say that the dreams are pretty real, i mean smell, taste, pain, and pleasure are all present! Everything! Shadows, reflections, faces. Lately even words and setences, although they can morph themselves from time to time. Alas, these wonderful experiences can leave one pretty exausted. I usually suffer from migraines and complete numbness after nights like this one. They can boost your selfconfidence in a hurry, as when you wake up, tired, you feel like a million bucks ( even more, since you can’t pay for time travelling to an Incan-like civilization).
The problems came afterwards.
I find myself easily distracted during the day, in an idle contemplation of these wannabe realities. I even have doubts when i wonder if i am dreaming at all, or if am i awake at all. I kind of fear these situations, since they usually mean having me disconnect alot from the real world. How come we can do stuff like this when most people I know can’t ever dream in colours, or hear sounds????
Our brain has the power to shape reality in a way so powerful and intense that it is enough to fool us completly!
Well, i’m off to bed now. It’s 1 AM here in Portugal.
Hope i can fly my way out of bed this night as well.
Regards to all you morfeo-nauts out there ( couldnt come up with a better name ).
Please keep sharing your experiences with us.
Also, great post Vlad
October 14th, 2008 at 3:19
Once I had a dream that I was in school.
But I realized I was dreaming because it was supposed to be a Saturday or a school day or something.
So I found my friend Jenna and told her she was in my dream.
Then we went around the school wreaking havoc and convincing people to do “bad things” because they couldn’t get in trouble. Ha.
Also I had a dream (again, I was in school in this dream) and something tipped me off that I was dreaming.
So I went off to find the boy I liked so I could kiss him (weird, I know).
But my legs were really heavy and I could barely walk and I was walking really weirdly. And these two mean girls saw me walking funny and started laughing at me.
My legs ached for two days after that…
October 14th, 2008 at 4:17
Mad stuff…I’m gonna try some of these things tonight!
October 14th, 2008 at 4:40
I rarely have lucid dreams. Hopefully reading this article will provoke some.
I remember one night I had a bad dream, about what I have totally forgotten, and I woke myself up. I can sometimes feel sensations in dreams, but this time I actually woke myself up. In the dream I clutched at my neck for some reason, and I woke up to pains in my neck. I remember thinking, “Hmmm am I bleeding?” before falling asleep again. In the morning I remembered the dream and closer inspection in the mirror revealed that I had sunk my fingernails into my own skin.
I seem to do things like this fairly often. I’ll dream that somebody is threatening me and I’ll wake myself by punching the air, pillows, the wall, etc.
And does anybody else have pseudo-dreams? I’ll be half asleep and I’ll start having a dream but I’ll do something (like trip on a sidewalk) and I’ll jerk awake. They’re really frustrating.
October 14th, 2008 at 6:06
“You don’t control what you dream about.” BUT…
Look up OBE and find that Lucid dreaming is just the tip of the iceberg. You aren’t you’re brain…think about that one with open minded skepticism. Go for the ride of your discovering life….
October 14th, 2008 at 6:44
I often have dreams in the morning in which I get out of bed, have a shower, get dressed and eat breakfast. It’s annoying when I wake up and discover I’m still in bed. Some mornings I go through the whole routine several times over. I definitely wouldn’t be opposed to something more interesting happening in my dreams!
Also sometimes I find that after (or perhaps during, I’m not sure) one of these dreams, I try to get out of bed but I’m physically unable to move, like there is this force pinning me to the bed or something. Has anyone ever experienced that?
October 14th, 2008 at 7:29
I’ve been able to do this since I was a little kid, and no, I’m not special in any way, is it weird that sometimes it comes effortlessly for me?
October 14th, 2008 at 8:03
Welcome to the l a y e r~| || ||| c a k e ||| || |
October 14th, 2008 at 8:22
i found accidentally about lucid dreaming i would get drunk the night before wake up early go home so i had a little time being awake so that helped my chances i just read and yeah then go back to bed and had the weirdest dreams and i eventually realized that i could control them its great
October 14th, 2008 at 8:45
I lucid dream almost every night. I studied out of body experiences as a teenager and that’s when they really started. I got extremely good at doing whatever I wanted. I was really going to the extreme creating and doing anything and everything. Then this one time i was nineteen years old I think, I had just created a meteor by and had thrown it into the earth, and I woke up, kind of. I was laying on my bed in my room, the room was lit up with light, but the light bulb was not on. Then I heard a voice that sounded like my voice, but I knew it came from somewhere else (like god or something), it said “Do not control the dream, go with the flow”. I don’t remember the exact words but that’s the jist of it. I couldn’t move at all I was paralyzed and started getting scared, I don’t remember what happened after that. Now I don’t totally control my dreams like I used to, I usually do whatever I want, but I try to do it within the “storyline” or “paramaters” or whatever. I now believe that there are more to dreams than most of us understand, I think they are there for us to learn something about life. I am also starting to think that real life is somewhat of a dream, or virtual reality. I have tested this theory, and it seems to hold true. If you believe in something, that something will happen, concentrate on something you really want or need you usually get it. There have been witnesses of monks flying and disappearing. Many people swear by that movie “the secret” which is kind of a rip off materialistic version of the real secret. For whatever it’s worth that’s my 2 cents. Oh yeah if you haven’t seen ghost in a shell, go see it, just watched it again last night. Freakin’ great.
October 14th, 2008 at 9:35
Great article & well explained. I first realized I was lucid dreaming around 2 years ago and have been practicing ever since. I find staying awake for long periods & depriving myself of sleep ( around 2-3 days of no sleep )I can lucid dream quite easily. The trick is to get yourself over-tired so you can’t sleep. What happens next is that you doze off and sleep very lightly at first which enables you to remain concious enough to start lucid dreaming. Once you fall into a heavy deep sleep there’s no chance of experiencing a lucid dream.
During my first few lucid dreams I woke myself up from the excitement of the reality of the dream. I have now learnt to control the excitement and speak to myself when I’m dreaming to confirm I’m in a dream. I get myself to do things I realize are impossible in real life & then I know I’m dreaming.
As a consequence of lucid dreaming I’m moving up a level & trying meditation and getting inside my brain. I’ve managed to relax totally and get inside twice. If you think lucid dreaming is good, just wait until you start meditating. It is literally mind blowing
October 14th, 2008 at 11:12
Thanks for the advice. i’ve had plenty of lucid dreams, but it happens completely randomly. i guess it never occurred to me to try and devise a way to make it happen.
Now it suppose i wont have to.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:22
I can only remember two lucid dreams ever in my 33 years. The first time, i was like 10 (and it was the most awesome thing I’ll never forget!) and I used to pretend this old refrigerator box was a spaceship. In my lucid dream, I my box was a fully-functional aircraft. I flew all around the neighborhood, fully aware it was a dream. Another time about 10 yrs. ago, I was crawling through a manhole in California when I exited through a hole in the ground - looked around and somehow I knew I was in Mexico. At that very moment I knew I was dreaming, and immediately attempted to fly. I got about 3 or 4 feet off the ground and gradually got better as the dream continues. But it’s been awhile since I’ve had one.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:39
i keep dreaming that i am jesus christ. this is interesting cause im not christian, im muslim. as a kid i could fly in my dreams all the time, and i would. but lately my dreams have been combination of either a self realization that i am the one, or of others realising that i am the one. i dont even know what ‘being the one’ means. in other dreams ive seen angels bringing me parchments of paper with divine text on them that gives me the message that i am the mesiah everyone has been waiting for. in other dreams, ive been healing people from their sickness. died and been resurrected so much so that i even dreamt at a later stage that the pope and the vatican have realized that i am the one. i dont know what these dreams mean or what their relevance is. i primarily use them as inspiration for my art. im an graphic artist. and will in a few months be putting up images of my art online on my website. i believe the brain has infinite power and potential. where we go from here is a choice i leave up to my brain. or my brain leaves up to me. either way… i look forward to the ride.
ps. IN REALITY I AM NOT JESUS CHRIST.
October 14th, 2008 at 13:48
I’m about to go lucid dream.
I’ll post back and let yous know how it went.
I’m going to keep this website up for my reality check :p
P.S. I gave you thumbs up on stumble :p
October 14th, 2008 at 14:58
I have always been able to lucid dream ilove it, for the people who get nightmares this is possibly the best time to have a lucid dream, as for me when this occurs i sudenley have what ever supoer power I need to defeat the cause fo the nightmare ie ninja kung fu skils like in anime or crouching tiger film kind mutant powers like xmen anything you can imagine it’s a good feeling stnading there after beating a thousnad ninjas to a pulp and think man that was easy end any nightmare lol, also no one has mentioned this but i can change the backrounds or my dreams not just like in my home town so mega city but he style so black and white normal clour and sometimes i even dream in cartoon or anime style. Oh to the morphing guy there are groups of people who believe you can meet up with other lucid dreamers and have competions like that try to out dream the other person soem whole websites dedicated to that though most of them seem to be for martial arts but more like in the matrix style. ope this helps some one have more fun lucid dreaming
October 14th, 2008 at 16:37
[...] Lucid Dreaming - (Six Incredibly Awesome Mind States You Can Experience) [...]
October 14th, 2008 at 16:44
Awesome article. You summed up lots of good stuff about lucid dreaming fantastically. If you don’t mind, I added a post on my blog with a link to your article to give you some more traffic. Keep up the good stuff!
October 14th, 2008 at 17:26
@Chris:
I actually heard about the technique of looking at your hand to do a reality check. I guess it’s similar to looking at a piece of writing. Pick whichever you prefer
@Jacob:
Hmmm, I never had a problem with recognizing that I’m awake. I mean, in a dream, I’m sometimes not sure, and sometimes I think I’m awake. But whenever I’m awake, I definitely know it. Maybe I haven’t had enough lucid dreams to go crazy yet?
@Gigi:
Yeah, I also sometimes jerk myself awake when falling asleep. Like this one time, I sort of dreamt I was dancing as I was falling asleep, then in the dream I tripped, had to stumble to regain balance… and I woke myself up because I actually moved my legs in real life. But I never find myself actually hurting myself while dreaming. The most I ever do is knock stuff of my night table.
@Astral:
I’ll definitely look into Out-of-body experiences sometime. And blog about it
@Jim:
lol, that sucks. If you carry on with the morning-routine dreams, maybe you’ll end up like the guy in Groundhog day
On a more serious note, it looks like your morning routine is seriously ingrained. So much that it gets into your dreams. Maybe you could try switching it around a bit just for fun? Wake up. Eat breakfast before showering. Then do the whole showering and getting dressed thing with your eyes closed the whole time (be careful you don’t slip in the shower). Just a few ideas off the top of my head. You probably won’t get a chance to read this comment anyway
@vic:
Totally, it rocks when it comes effortlessly! I remember I had a bunch of lucid dreams in the weeks after I wrote this article, without even trying! Just thinking about it a lot got me there
@Andy:
Heh, I don’t like lucid dreaming THAT much, to go without sleep for 3 days for it :). It’s more like a fun thing I do some nights. And as to meditation… it’s definitely on my OMG-sounds-awesome-I-gotta-try-that-!!! list. In fact, I meant to start trying it about a week ago. Not sure why I didn’t.
@Garrioch:
I also heard lucid dreams are great for STOPPING nightmares, because you can control the dreams. But I don’t have much experience with that. The worst nightmare I had in a long time happened last weekend… when I dreamt I woke up at 16:00, which meant I slept through my regular weekly parkour meeting. Yeah, not that bad of a nightmare compared to monsters or lawyers
And lucid dreaming competitions? That sounds just soooo nuts! I gotta try to find a local group :p
October 14th, 2008 at 21:24
hello all,
I read about lucid dreaming first when i was 13 and wanted to try it but i forgot about it, but now im 14 and ive just read this im going to have a proper attempt at it, i’m so glad i read this.
Thank-you so much
If i succeed i will write another comment
October 15th, 2008 at 0:07
i’m usually able to control my dreams, but one of the worst lucid dreams i had was when i wasn’t able to wake up. i became aware that i was having a dream (from inconsistencies, like you said), but wanted it to stop because it was a nightmare and i tried to wake up. instead i had a false awakening, but i recognized it, so i tried to wake up again. i had another false awakening! i had at least three false awakenings in a row, and each time brought relief followed by an even worse terror as i realized that i was still asleep, and thought that i would never wake up. i only woke up in the real world when my roommate shook me - he said i was thrashing around and yelling “somebody wake me up!”
i’ve never known if this was a series of true lucid dreams, or one big nightmare about not being able to wake up. if you’re aware of lucid dreams, can you have a real dream that you’re lucidly dreaming, without actually being in control?
October 16th, 2008 at 10:22
I used to stage the nights I want to have a lucid dream. I would only get a few hours of sleep the night before. like two or three. Its hard but I can do it, then I would nap in a well lit room with very loud music nothing harsh or too startling. If you really wanted to dream to some thrash core or something then you have to be REALLY tired.
I visualize myself doing something like walking in the woods. If you are tired enough you will go straight to rem sleep, the quick transition makes it extremely easy (for me) to tell that I am dreaming. This is also a good way to train your brain into recognizing a dream. I can almost always recognize when I am dreaming now, thankfully, no more sleepless nights.
Now, when I have a nightmare it is actually enjoyable, it’s like you are in and have complete control over a horror movie. Man chases you with an axe? Go after him with a chainsaw. Serial killer stalking you, toy with him until you have him cornered and reveal that you have been luring him into your own murderous plot. I did that one once and got a kick out of scaring the sh** out of him.
however, I cant seem to do things that involve superpowers. or something I guess my brain deems illogical. And sometimes I forget that I am dreaming so its back to script. On occasion, if my brain is really trying to tell me something all of my efforts are thwarted. I cant move unless its in a specific direction or I cant speak unless its …on script. It gets very frustrating. Its as if you are battling some unseen force/person for control. It always ends with me waking up or just going along with it. And then I’m usually like “what the hey! You made me dream about grapes hatching into ducks?!”
October 17th, 2008 at 4:15
I once had the a very strange experience with a lucid dream. I was on a path, I don’t remember where-to, and I suddenly realized I was dreaming. So I decided “hey, my dream wanted me to go this way, but I never go into the woods (like it was a recurring dream…but it wasn’t at all…), so I’ll go in the woods. Suddenly there were these red eyes glaring at me from the woods, like they wanted me away from the woods. I ended up not going.
I often wonder if this was a real lucid dream, or I just drempt that I was having a lucid dream. I think this because it was NOT a dream I had ever had before, yet I thought it was, and those eyes taking away any control I had…
October 18th, 2008 at 8:01
I have lucid dreams once in a great while. Nothing too extraordinary though, just exercising some control over the situation, like “No, I won’t lose my shoes right now in this roller coaster, I am dreaming” or “this crane is swinging just a bit too high to feel comfortable dangling from it, so let’s tone it down a bit”. I don’t get too excited and I haven’t experienced this total freedom some reported.
October 18th, 2008 at 17:21
I’ve had many experiences with lucid dreaming, and false awakenings. it is interesting when you are also a sufferer of night terrors let me tell you! However, one incident I remember clearly was when I became aware of standing in my kitchen during the day. I don’t know -how- I knew I was dreaming, but I did. I decided it was quite cool and I’d test it out. Went out my front door and determined that I wanted to see flowers. when I walked around the side of my house there were GIANT flowers..tree sized. Maybe next time I should play chess? ha.
October 22nd, 2008 at 9:40
I recently had a lucid dream where I became aware while talking to a girl, a particularly good looking girl that was obviously into me, I ended up trying to convince her that she was a dream, but here’s the kicker, she argued back that I was the dream… so which is it?
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:45
my name is Adrian and i’m 16 and looking forward to my first lucid dreaming experience!! I’ll post a comment on how it went, if it works tonight.
October 23rd, 2008 at 8:49
I has a completely insane grouping of falsze awakenings one time that were like thirty nightmares strung together. Almost drove me insane with terror. There were like creatures crawling out of the walls and relatives trying to eat me, and babies screaming, all manner of crazy stuff. It was like absolutly horrible. I though I would never wake up. Only happened once. Usually it’s awesome thoug. I’ve had sleep paralysis a couple times too, that one really suks as well
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:27
Is it really worth it if you can have false awakenings?
I am thinking about trying this, but I’ve had false awakenings before and they were always basically nightmares.
On one occasion in my entire life I sleep-walked, and it was after a false awakening.
Is it worth it?
October 24th, 2008 at 6:44
ive actually had many many of these dreams ever since i was a little kid… but i didnt know they had a name or anything like that. i always think they are real and it takes quite a bit of time to decipher what i did or didnt do after that
October 24th, 2008 at 9:44
I never thought I could truly lucid dream. I have dreams where I may subconsciously make something happen but nothing I felt was intentional, like flying. I have never flown in a dream anyway. But I have had dreams where I think everything is real. I know what it’s like to walk on water and what this girl felt like when I was kissing her in a car in my driveway. Is this lucid? I am confused by the definition. I have dreams that are often confused/feel/could be replaced with reality but at the same time I don’t seem to be controlling them. Maybe I am but just haven’t thought about it that much? HELP!?
October 24th, 2008 at 13:25
I had a lucid dream from doing nothing but reading about your article =P. It was fun. I need to work on my dream recall though if I am to remember it next time.
October 24th, 2008 at 14:12
i’ll be 51 in a couple of weeks & i still vividly recall a dream i had as a child….i dreamt i was a giant eagle, (i distinctly remember looking at myself as i was flying….around my local bus-station!!!….and realising that i was an eagle in mid-flight and being absolutely amazed. that dream has always had me flummoxed until now….i must have been VERY lucidly dreaming.
October 25th, 2008 at 3:37
for some reason i have always had a lot of dreams about my past. they were frustrating because i was stuck in familiar situations with little control, and they were generally just a mish mash of weird, mostly negative experiences.
these were really easy to go lucid in after i started doing overly basic, borderline absurd reality checks when i was confused by things or got “weird vibes.” i’d realize “hey, wait a minute, i haven’t been in high school for like 10 years! nice!” if i could stay calm for a few seconds, it was on! i’d proceed to conjure up old friends out of thin air, and basically relive my childhood. this is definitely the most common lucid dream scenario for me.
over time i’ve gotten better at shifting time and space and flying, but i find that when i sort of “stick to the rules” of the dream i’m in, they are usually longer and more enjoyable.
October 25th, 2008 at 4:51
I often have lucid dreams. It’s just that, whenever it does happen, I get under-excited… and usually forget I’m dreaming… STAY FOCUSED!!!
October 25th, 2008 at 5:56
I had this crazy night when I had a 4 false awakenings in a row! It was weird because after the 2nd time I realized what was going on but I still thought it was reality. I ended up calling my friend in the dream to tell him what was happening so he could tell me I was wrong but he didn’t pick up and I fell further through the rabbit hole.
Lucid dreams have been sort of frustrating for me because I’ll only notice I’m dreaming when the dream gets bad. For instance, I lost my keys but I realized it was a dream so I made the keys appear on the ground but then I resumed dreaming…so close!
October 26th, 2008 at 1:33
One thing that I like to do, instead of carrying around a piece of paper and using it as a check for “Am I dreaming” is whenever I check the time. Every time I see a clock I try to use it as a reminder for a dream check. This seems to work well.
I had read another lucid dreaming article and they had a quiz about different activities that you could test out when lucidly dreaming. Looking in a mirror, trying to pass through the mirror, trying to consciously change ambient light levels, this sort of thing. Soon after I had the chance to try, some I could do, some I couldn’t.
My dreams are generally pretty insane. Fighting wizards on mars who happen to make very good chicken nuggets kind of crazy. Also about the text bit, about reading, looking away and looking back and the text being different. Pretty much everything in my dreams is like this. I’ll be in a house or something and the house will have the quality or designation of “the house I grew up in” or something but not really look like that house, and it will be in a constant state of flux. Moving from one room to another the house will change everytime, but still have the same quality. I find this same thing with text. I’ll have an article or something and the words will jump around but my mind will have a designated meaning of what that article is.
The other thing I was wondering about but never heard discussed is the idea of memories in dreams. Some times I will be dreaming and something will happen that will cause me to think back to something that supposedly already happened. My dreaming self will spontaneously create in dream memories, things that are relevant to that existence but I never experienced first hand. Just wondering about that one.
October 27th, 2008 at 2:43
I never knew there was a name for this. I have been able to achieve lucid dreams on and off for the last 5-6 years. It’s hard for me to remember to remember that i’m dreaming. I love being able to control the dreams i have. Thank you for helping me put a name to this. But from waht i have read so far,I don’t think you are expressing to the folks that have not had a lucid dream how truly amazing they can be.
If you think of a regular dream as a recollection of the previous day, then it follows a particular pattern. It only follows a particular patten because that is the way you remember the day happening. In a Lucid dream anything you want or will to happen happens because all of it is going on inside your head. A simpler example in a lucid dream after you have come to the realization that you are dreaming reach into you pocket and take out a quarter. If you reach into you pocket expecting to find a quarter you will find it, because you mind puts it there. If you reach into you pocket not expecting to find a quarter you will not find it. take out you quarter and flip it in the air. While it’s in the air remember this, the quarter will only fall back into your hand if you think it will. If you want you can stop the quarter in the air, or turn it into a elephant. What I’m trying to say is that anything you truly want can happen if you truly want it to. In a lucid dream the sky is the limit, but only if you think it is. Once you can convince yourself that the limits of dreams are only put there by yourself, you can remove them and enter a world completely controlled by you subconscious will.
October 27th, 2008 at 9:36
yeah im only 18 and i’ve found all this wonderful stuff out since i was about 10. its a nice way to let out and have some fun.
but unfortunatly for me it is kinda dangerous. because as soon as i begin lucid dreaming i’ll be thinking about how much fun i’m having, but if i think of any fear or anything that can ruin the dream then my damn subconcious will add it in the dream. so if i’m flying around at night, and begin to have the littlest thought of how scary this night could be…BAM…giant freakin monster chasin me now and i cant wake up…damn brain…bein eatin by monsters sucks…yes i’m random
October 27th, 2008 at 11:00
I’ve read about Lucid dreaming a few times now, I’ll definitely have to check it out
Cheers,
Glen
October 27th, 2008 at 14:37
I worked really hard to get Lucid dreaming to work. But what ended up happening is that I would just dream regular dreams way more often. That’s the first step I think. I finally had a lucid dream. In it, I punched my friend in the face. I wasn’t mad at him at all. But since I knew I was dreaming, I just wanted to see what would happen. = P
October 27th, 2008 at 19:47
Wow, thanks everyone for sharing your stories :D. It’s amazing how many of you out there have already enjoyed lucid dreaming.
One thing a lot of you asked about is being aware that you’re dreaming without being able to control the dream. Too bad I never experienced that. To me, realizing I was dreaming always meant being in control. Does anyone have any ideas about that? Is it still lucid dreaming if you can’t control the dream?
@Zarticus:
You’re the dream, obviously. I’m just imagining you
@Kuzma:
Lucid dreaming is definitely worth it to me! As to the nightmares… I heard lucid dreaming can actually help you with nightmares. Maybe you can look into that?
@me:
(your nickname seems strangely appropriate)
I had a bunch of lucid dreams just from writing this article. We rock
@chicken:
In my most recent lucid dream, I didn’t have any cool ideas on what to do, so I just sort of flew around a bit. Then, as you said, I got underexcited and actually lost my lucidity. I kept dreaming normally for a couple minutes afterwards.
@speroni:
I also noticed that stuff changes randomly in dreams. It reminds me of this bug level you could get into if you used cheats in the original prince of persia game. In there, if you walked left off the screen, then right back, you would enter a completely different room.
In fact, I use this in my dreams if I want to change something :). I’ll basically think “Ok, now I’ll look away from the window, and when I look back, there will be two cute puppies outside.”. (It didn’t work the first time. There were two ugly old dogs instead. So I tried again, and this time it worked. Then I decided flying is more fun and left them there. I have a short attention span in dreams :).)
@david:
We humans dream. We dream a LOT. It’s just that we usually don’t remember our dreams. Because we have no reason.
My first step towards lucid dreaming was also writing down and remembering more of my dreams. I went from remembering 2 or 3 (if I tried), to remembering 5 or 6 dreams ALMOST EVERY MORNING.
Oh yeah, and I love the way you’re thinking :). “Just to see what would happen…” - reminds me of the xkcd comic about the difference between a normal person and a scientist.
October 27th, 2008 at 22:54
Wow, from your post it actually sounds quite easy!
All my lucid dreams so far were by accident. I still vividly remember the first one. I was walking through a place I had never been to, all the while feeling like it was extremely familiar - a typical dream inconsistency (at least for me) that, in spite of being huge, I didn’t notice. Then, I walked past a friend of mine who was talking to another version of himself. I STILL DIDN’T THINK IT WAS ODD, at least not until I noticed I hadn’t said ‘hello’ and turned back: They had both become two copies of another friend. That was when I noticed that the colors were all different, like someone had messed with the saturation settings on the TV. I had fun for a while, and the dream ended when I crash-landed into a huge greenhouse.
One thing that happens often to me is that I hear my alarm clock go off, but Im still dreaming. Except the “me” inside the dream doesn’t actually hear the sound of the alarm. Rather, I suddenly become aware that this is a dream and that I’ll wake up very soon. I usually have time to say goodbye to the people I was talking to.
October 28th, 2008 at 9:57
I will try this for sure!
I’m excited because I can remember one time I had a lucid dream when I was much younger. I remember looking at my watch (A nervous habit from so many years ago) after talking with a beautiful girl that had walked away. I noticed my watch read 2:88. I tried to figure out why my watch was acting up when I noticed my grandmother holding a tinfoil boot. “Wait, this isn’t real…. Oh My God I’m Dreaming!” And so I bolt after this girl (I was in my early teens) and walk through a set of double doors that she passed through, into blinding light. I can’t remember if anything happened next or if I woke up, but I definately want another shot at that!
Another few instances I remember being able to steer the content of my dreams, but that I didn’t realize I was doing it. Only upon awakening did I realize that ideas I had would incorporate themselves into the dream.
If this works for me, i’ll post more!
October 28th, 2008 at 20:47
I have lucid dreams all the time…without trying to. Unfortunately for me, waking up to realize that all those good things are just a dream usually renders me extremely disappointed and unhappy… I’ve stopped taking naps, and if I wake up earlier than I intended to, I try not to go back to sleep. To me having lucid dreams is more of a curse than a pleasurable experience.
I have loads of lucid dreams where I’m flying. I’ve heard numerous people tell me that that’s a good sign. What they don’t know is that I can never figure out to land in my dreams, so I usually end up plunging to earth and waking up.
October 29th, 2008 at 20:58
This is a very interesting post.
I was wondering, though, is it possible to have lucid dreams without trying to provoke them?
As it happens, I had never heard of lucid dreams until I came upon this blog, but what you’ve described seems to fit my dreams perfectly. Nearly every night, when I do, finally, get to sleep, I end up realizing I’m dreaming. The first few times I kept waking up for no reason, but as time passed my lucid dreams became longer and longer. It’s an interesting experience to feel like you’re awake, but not having any laws restrict you. I remember a few dreams where I’ve been able to fly, and it’s a very strange feeling.
October 30th, 2008 at 0:11
I have so many lucid dreams, I just thought everybody had them. I have them as I fall asleep and since I’m terrible at waking up to an alarm clock, I lucid dream every morning before I wake up. I have to force myself to imagine something unreal and create details about that to create a dream so that I fall asleep. I absolutely can’t fall asleep if I don’t.
October 31st, 2008 at 11:49
I find the easiest way to check if your asleep is to simply try and cross your eyes because you wouldnt be able to.
October 31st, 2008 at 15:37
An interesting way you can check if you’re asleep is by turning on the lights. In reality a room lights up instantly as you press the switch. In dreams, however, there is a few seconds delay.
October 31st, 2008 at 22:58
while dreaming i took a sharp turn while riding a bike and fell. my whole body started shaking as i felt i had really fallen. is that lucid dreaming?
another time i was driving a car (an F1!) although i hadnt learnt to drive at the time. is this lucid dreaming?
November 1st, 2008 at 6:43
I haven’t tried this yet, I have many concerns with it, I suppose I’m just strange. But i’m slightly afraid my dream might go out of hand and i’ll have a nightmare in which i was in control. I’ve heard of it happening before that someone fell asleep and died in a lucid dream, so they died in real life. I’d really like a bit of evidence against that, seeing as I’m a worry wart. But then again - you only have one life, better live it long as you can right?
November 2nd, 2008 at 3:52
Wow, I have read about this before (http://www.dreams.ca/lucid_techniques.htm). Tried it. What happened was not lucid dreaming, I knew I was dreaming, except I could only control my dream to an extent. It was my friend, I was mad at him at the time, and I figured out it was a dream. My natural reaction and I said to him, “Hey is this a dream”, and he said, “No, hehe a dream?”. I tried to pick him up and throw him, or fly out of the building, but I couldn’t? Someone try to explain?
cutem2it
November 2nd, 2008 at 3:59
Actually, I have always had ‘lucid dreams’ and only recently I have found out that it doesn’t happen to everybody. A great gift, I would say, and I have had that since I was little. With me it happens in my first hour of sleep, though.
November 2nd, 2008 at 5:44
The part about morning dreams within dreams reminds me of the Calvin & Hobbes cartoon where he wakes up, walks out the door and falls to earth, wakes up, walks out the door, falls to earth. The third (or fourth?) time he “wakes up”, he looks really nervous!
I do that (albeit not as interesting as Calvin) and I haven’t tried to control them. It’s usually after I hit snooze (and I’m really tired). I dream that I wake up, shower & get aaallll ready to go. Then I wake up for real - I do a test, but I can’t recall what it is - and am usually very disappointed that I have to do all that work over again! I think just being conscientious enough to question if I’m awake is the acid test.
November 2nd, 2008 at 22:04
This was a really interesting read! I keep hearing about this and then forgetting about it before actually trying it. I love how you’ve given actual techniques to help.
I’ve think I’ve only had one lucid dream, and it wasn’t especially exciting…I think I was about 12.
I dreamt that I was next to this massive wall with a huge gate, and coming towards me was a tiger looking like it would eat me. I was frightened obviously and started banging the gate and stuff…then I realised “oh, I’m dreaming, it can’t actually hurt me” so when it got to me my body just kind of fell apart like a lego person or something instead of it being horribly graphic or painful. I woke up after that so no opportunity for flying or anything!
November 4th, 2008 at 7:59
I have had lucid dreams for several years now. I can rarely MAKE them happen on purpose but there was a 3 month period in my life when I knew when to expect them.
I had a college class at 9 am. I would go to class then return home within and hour and a half then I would get back in bed and lie on my back. Sometimes I would have lucid dreams with several false awakenings. Other times i would awaken to being “ridden by the witch.” (This is when one wakes while the body remains asleep. Any attempts to move are fruitless.) Every now and then I have a nightmare so unbelievable I can realize and make into a lucid dream.
I hope to give the “reality check” method a try and see if i can’t enjoy lucid dreaming more reglularly.
November 5th, 2008 at 23:06
oh man, I had several lucid dreams that I remember I had. It usually happened when dreaming about something extremely unpleasant and horryfing - I used to suddenly realize that -hay man, you are dreaming - and than it was… It is just impossible to describe this feeling - I just felt so free, so happy, so enthusiastic. It is true that you can do everything you want in lucid dreams. They only thing that may bother some people is what if lucid dreming is used for implementing the sick ideas into life, eg. killing, raping etc? The other thing that bothers me is that if it was perfectly safe for a brain to go on an lucid dreaming all nights, we could actually do that all the time. But the thing is that lucid dreaming is rare and requires substantial effort to accomplish (I have even read about some special equipment used for it - it catches REM phase or something like that)…