A lucid dream is a dream where the dreamer becomes aware that he/she is dreaming, and gains control of what happens in the dream.
In my spare time(which I have an unhealthy amount of) I found a wikibook on becoming a lucid dreamer. In this excerpt from the book, it provides several reasons you may wish to dream lucidly:
Sounds fascinating to me, and according to the book most people have had a lucid dream at some point in their lives. Anyone on the forums had an interesting experience with this, or an opinion on it?
I am fascinated with dreams, and especially lucid dreaming. I actually have a thread about it from maybe a month or two ago in the Pyschology section. I actively train myself in various ways to help have lucid dreams. I have only successfully had 3 LDs since I first learned about them. It’s not easy to do, but it is so worth it when the training pays off.
The first time you have a LD, you will probably take a moment to look around and say, “holy s#*t this is realistic!”. It’s amazing that, if one learns to LD at will, they can have god powers in a completely realistic universe that they control every time they go to sleep.
I know a good deal about lucid dreaming, but I can’t possibly type all it up.
Same here. I currently have no job, and am homeschooled with one of the “work at your own pace” things, so basically I will work on it once a week, and spend the rest of my time doing various pointless things. Frankly, the lack of structure is taking a toll on me in many ways. I’m starting to hate it.
That kicks ass, but its also fun to take out your anger towards the public school system by sticking it to the man’s underpaid employee and defacing the bathroom.
You don’t always have complete control of lucid dreams. I haven’t had many but one time I was morphing into animals and I jumped off this cliff but couldn’t turn into a bird… it really sucked ass-- but still awesome
Keep a dream journal as it will greatly help with remembering your dreams, as well as give you signs to look for.
When you first become lucid, you have to remain calm and try spinning around on your axis once or twice, as for some reason it seems to help with keeping lucidity.
Hmm, interesting. I’ll try that the next time I get one (if ever). Maybe its because your brain has to work hard to provide all that 360 degree visual information…
Rubbing your hands together works as well. Basically, to keep your mind in the dream, you have to touch and feel things that are in the dream. To be connected to the dream world so that the feeling of laying in bed doesn’t come back. You don’t have to do it constantly, just whenever you feel your starting to slip.
Another important thing about lucid dreaming is the difference between realizing you are dreaming and then truly believing it. Many times I have had dreams where I realize I am dreaming, but fail to complete a reality check because I don’t actually have control. You have to PROVE to yourself that you are dreaming by completing these reality checks or you will not have nearly as much control over the dream, and you will probably slip back into ignorance after several seconds. Lucid dreaming is tough, but since we spend a third of our lives asleep, why not put in the effort to gain control of our dreams?
Thats interesting as hell, never heard of that. Did you read that or develop that technique?
Thats so true, alot of people I talk to will say they have had lucid dreams but it was just because they realized they were dreaming but had no control.
Basically, if you ever find yourself in a lucid dream, try to stop everything. Freeze. If you can stop and keep the dream from pulling you along with the story, then you are truly lucid. Thought that’s a pretty helpful fact.
FUCK! I forgot to do that this morning, I have late arrival today and I had a "semi’ lucid dream
I was in a super market in the now colonized antarctic, I forgot what absurdity made me sort of realize I was in a lucid dream but it had something to do with the oranges being a weird section (yea, nothing to do with penguins outside the market). So I stopped my “friend” and I was like wait what the fuck is this, I think I’m dreaming. I stopped completely, looked at my hand, which did not look weird, and I tugged on my index finger… nothing happened. I was almost positive I was lucid and I jumped up and down to see if I could fly (and the moment I went into third person) and lost lucidity… I never truly gained it… all my reality checks were fucked… I think my subconscious was tricking me.
The never failing reality checks are A. Holding your nose and being able to breathe through it. B. Trying to stick one of your fingers through your other hand.
Nice though…should try the “chaining” technique…works unbelievably well.
Interesting. It’s really hard to remember what all senses you can have in your dreams. Can’t forget feeling of touch, however. Probably the best one for lucid dreaming! Flying way up above the ocean feels completely realistic, and is frankly unlike anything one can ever experience.
As for the 3rd person, that is very common, but I don’t know if I’ve ever had a dream like that or not. I’d imagine I have.
Can’t stress it enough, the key is to KNOW your dreaming. You must prove it to yourself beyond any possible doubt, which is much harder than people think. Anything can be achieved through dreaming. Keep on trying!
](https://www.ilovephilosophy.com/uploads/default/original/2X/7/7c349bf1053f368a5729d053e1e91215f22ce66c.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
