Medical Lucid Dreaming: Technique and Difficulty

[cytokinesis]

What is the technique behind lucid dreaming, and how difficult is it to accomplish?

 

[Gale]

i didn't even know what it was until recently, but i accidently do it all the time. therefore, it's pretty easy to do i guess. it's mostly just realizing that your dreaming when you dream. it helps when you can remember dreams easily and also if you have an active imagination. i usually end up having lucid dreams so often cause i create such unrealistic senarios in my mind that i know they're not real, so i know I'm dreaming. you can search online for like real techniques if you want, or get a book or something. but i really don't think it's too hard unless you're trying to experience something real particular.

hmm

 

[cytokinesis]

I've always wanted to fly in my dreams. My friend said he did it one time, but he couldn't hold the image long enough so he always fell.

Apparently it's hard to fly.

 

[Gale]

it's hard if you can't believe that you can sure. i have a tenedency to believe anything's possible so i guess that's why it;s easy enough for me. you just really really have to believe you can do it.

 

[Meninger]

Lucid dreams is definitely one of the weidest phenomenas out there.

Basically...in one's dream one is fully conscious that one is dreaming but dreams anyways.

So basically it is like you are in this state where you are "awake" but "dreaming" in a sense.

I had a lucid dream once. Here is the scenario. I dreamt that I while I was talking to my friend casually in my dorm. He started walking up to me until he was right in front of me, turned his head around, and when he turned it back around his eyes had turned "devilish." He came face to face with me with those eyes and just stared at me for a while. Of course, deep inside I was absolutely terrified. It is one of those feelings where you feel so frightened that chills run up your spine, you kind of get this feeling like you are about to float, and depersonalized in a sense. And yet, I knew it was a dream and even said this to myself as he was approaching me.

It is almost like you are placed in a movie.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Been there done that. This is really cool!

All that I did was to concentrate on "becoming aware" of dreaming while dreaming. I just kept thinking to myself that I would become conscious of any dream. I did this each night until I fell asleep. It only took about a week I think; then one night during a dream, I realized that it WAS a dream. I chose to fly out the window. I then flew all over the city. It was a very cool experience. It is also one of those dreams that cannot be forgotten.


I was just thinking of this recently. I need to do this again.

 

[cytokinesis]

Wicked! thanks!

I'm going to try this tonight.

 

[Joy Division]

Originally posted by cytokinesis
I've always wanted to fly in my dreams. My friend said he did it one time, but he couldn't hold the image long enough so he always fell.

Apparently it's hard to fly.

Are you kidding? I always just flap my arms ... it always seems to work. I'm not even kidding, I've been having dreams like that as longs as I can remember.

 

[Lonewolf]

There's a special name for this? I've been doing for as long as I can remember having dreams. It uusally happens after something I don't want to happen occurs, so I 'wake up' in the dream and do something to change it. Then you're pretty much free to do what you like in the dream world.

I've never tried really concentrating to do it. Maybe I ought to sometime. I can't do the flying thing like Ivan. For me it's just wandering around as in ordinary life. I need more imagination. Anybody got a deep psychological explanation about lucid dreams? lol.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

From what I understand, most people are not usually aware that they are dreaming. I have never heard of this being a natural ability. Very interesting...are you saying [lonewolf and Joy] that you are often aware that you are dreaming; and that you can control your dreams?

 

[Lonewolf]

Yeah, I do it quite a lot. It depends on my state of mind. I do it most when I'm stressed about something. I've never intentionally done it, however. I can't do anything too unusual in them.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Originally posted by Lonewolf
Yeah, I do it quite a lot. It depends on my state of mind. I do it most when I'm stressed about something. I've never intentionally done it, however. I can't do anything too unusual in them.

In a true lucid dream, you should be fully aware that your are dreaming; and you should have total control over your dream. In my experience this was the case. The funny thing was that in the dream, I didn't think to do the same things that I might think of while awake. For example, why I chose to fly out the window [of the monorail] and then around the city, instead of choosing to be attacked by ten naked women, is to this day a mystery to me. It was like I had control of the dream but not my own thoughts. Very strange...

 

[Lonewolf]

Yeah, I'm completely aware that it's a dream. Weird stuff happens, but I just deal with it without super-powers or anything like that.

The most recent one was when I got bit by a snake, then I 'woke up' in the dream, and killed off the snake. I went to see my Grandad after that, and asked him if he had any treatment for the snakebite. He gave me this weird ointment, but it worked anyway. I then left his house and went walking around the streets outside his house, which weren't as they really are. I woke up not long after that.

I usually only remember the dreams where I've had some conscious effect on them. I have the same as you, I think. It's like you can do whatever you like, but you can't alter your surroundings.

 

[Joy Division]

I'm not always aware of the fact that I'm dreaming. I think most of the time a lot of my dreams are similar enough or recurring so I can tell that I'm dreaming. There's always tell-tale signs for me like when I try to move my limbs don't respond or are very weak.

Of course this doesn't always mean I can act on it. Sometimes even when I can tell I'm dreaming I usually just go with the flow, unless I really want something out of my dream. However even when I'm not aware that I'm dreaming I can make decisions that interact with and decide events in my dream.

In my experience it takes two things to really take control of your dreams, you need to be able to recognise the signs and become aware of your dream. Then you need to want something bad enough to change your dream. So at first if you realize you are dreaming, try to interact with your dream in ways that you want to. Then when you have a little more practise I'm sure you could control just about every aspect of your dream.

I know when I was a child I had certain recurring nightmares which stopped when I became aware* of the situation and confronted my fears in my dream.
*(Not really aware that I was dreaming but aware that I could affect what was going on in my head.)

 

[megga124]

I've also had lucid dreams...at least once a night for as long as I can remember. Having the control to "press pause" in a dream and change it or rewind a bit and then continue at will is something that I've always done if I start to have a nightmare or if the dreams is really really good. It's sooo great to be able to do. However, if you manipulate your dreams too often it can be damaging since your dreams are the main outlet for the human subconscious.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

At some point in our advancement of technology might it be possible to put someone directly in a lucid dream state? Could this then open boundless opportunties to experience things. For example, in the movie "strange days"?

 

[Tsu]

Originally posted by Lonewolf
I can't do the flying thing like Ivan.

Yes, but you're not a permanent resident of the ozone layer like Ivan is.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Originally posted by Tsunami
Yes, but you're not a permanent resident of the ozone layer like Ivan is.

Hey am I going to have to whoop you again Tsunami?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Originally posted by Greg Bernhardt
At some point in our advancement of technology might it be possible to put someone directly in a lucid dream state? Could this then open boundless opportunties to experience things. For example, in the movie "strange days"?

The ultimate in Virtual Reality!

 

[zoobyshoe]

Lucid dreaming? I'd be happy if
someone could explain how to be
lucid when awake.

 

[Tsu]

YES. Could someone PLEASE explain that to Zooby!

 

[hypnagogue]

Originally posted by Greg Bernhardt
At some point in our advancement of technology might it be possible to put someone directly in a lucid dream state? Could this then open boundless opportunties to experience things. For example, in the movie "strange days"?

I don't see why not. In fact there are already primitive technologies designed to achieve such an end. For instance, they have these goggles that flash lights on your eyes during REM sleep (or something analogous-- don't remember the exact details). The idea is that you will subconsciously pick up on the flashing lights, which act as a cue to tell you 'hey buddy, you're dreaming right now!'

I'm surprised no one has mentioned The Lucidity Institute yet in this thread. There's a lot of information on the nature of lucid dreams and methods you can practice to eventually achieve lucid dreams regularly.

http://www.lucidity.com/

 

[phoenixthoth]

i have lucid, vivid dreams almost indistinguishable from reality when on the following two substances: mugwhort and the nicotine patch.

cheers,
phoenix

 

[hypnagogue]

What's mugwhort?

 

[phoenixthoth]

an herb. it's legal. you can use it to make tea before you go to bed. tastes bad.

 

[merak]

Originally posted by Ivan Seeking
In a true lucid dream, you should be fully aware that your are dreaming; and you should have total control over your dream. In my experience this was the case. The funny thing was that in the dream, I didn't think to do the same things that I might think of while awake. For example, why I chose to fly out the window [of the monorail] and then around the city, instead of choosing to be attacked by ten naked women, is to this day a mystery to me. It was like I had control of the dream but not my own thoughts. Very strange...

one can be attacked by ten naked women at any time you know..
but how often do you get the chance to fly around the city...

 

[sage]

i have never had a dream in my whole life(ie. i never remember them when i wake up). any suggestions on how to have a dream?

 

[phoenixthoth]

a 21mg nicotine patch induces dreams as well as the herb mugwort.

 

[Myriad209]

Hmm, when I have a lucid dream, I am usually horribly terrified yet, I can't even see what's going on in my dream, and I WANT to wake up and get out, but yet I am drawn toward this terror... very strange... When I finally do wake up, I feel as if I have been transferred to another reality, like I've been in this dream for eternity. It's an eerie and incredible feeling.

 

[Myriad209]

I did more research on this topic, and I found out there are very many techniques and some science behind lucid dreaming. A 100% legit site is here www.dreamviews.com The forums there are extremely active and there's a bunch of tutorials on lucid dreaming and what-not, check it out. What I was explaining earlier was actually when I had a WILD (wake-initiated lucid dream), you can see what that is if you go to the site
:zzz:

 

[bomba923]

Hmm--what makes you guys think that just b/c a person "knows" he/she is dreaming...

...that they therefore have total control over it?

 

[Telos]

Hmm--what makes you guys think that just b/c a person "knows" he/she is dreaming...

...that they therefore have total control over it?

There seem to be so many people asking this question on the net these days... I don't know what's so difficult to understand.

Dreams are created by us. If you know that you're dreaming, you know that you are creating the scene.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I experience the following variation on the lucid dream on a regular basis:

In my dream I find some coins on the ground. The coins are bizarre in one way or another. For instance, Roosevelt's bust on a penny or a nickel with Jefferson on one side and a buffalo on the other. I know that I only see such coins in my dreams, so I perform the following test. I squeeze one of the coins in my hand to see if I can feel it. I feel it. I rejoice that finally I have really found these crazy coins and that this time I am not dreaming.

This dream occurs roughly two or three times a year. Someday perhaps, I will devise a more accurate test. If I do, then I expect it will either wake me up, or I will experience a true lucid dream.

 

[The_Bled]

I've been playing around with lucid dreaming for several months now, and it's the most amazing thing I've found the mind could do. If you don't know what it is, it's dreaming while being aware that you are dreaming. In a normal dream, you're convinced it's reality.

At first, it doesn't seem like a big deal, and most people I explain to about it don't jump up and get excited... in fact I'm usually brushed off. It seems "too good to be true" or just some more astrology crap. No superstitious stuff... only science.

There are so many different ways to achieve a lucid dream, and the most popular one is WILD (wake-induced lucid dream), where you pass directly from the waking into the dream world. The "journey" there can be frightening for people who don't know what's going on (hypnogogic imagery/sounds, intense vibrations, rapid spinning or flying feeling, sleep paralysis). In fact, that's how I discovered lucid dreaming, I accidentally had one of these WILDs when I lay down to take a nap did some research and poof, lucid dreaming.

The Tibetan Monks performed what are called "reality checks" 21 times a day to become lucid. It's very simple and you can come up with your own. For me, I simply say "Am I dreaming?" and the key is to say it with sincerity, then I try to poke through my palm with my finger. If I'm dreaming, it goes through, if not, it doesn't of course (unless your finger quantum tunnelled through your hand!).

If you think dreams aren't vivid enough to bother with... wrong. They can be extremely vivid to the point where there isn't much difference between the dream and reality. The common dream drug used is vitamin B6. I actually haven't used it that but it's worth a look into.

When you become lucid, you can control your dreams and make them be anything you want. You can fly into space and explore the universe, have sex with the girl of your dreams... whatever.

The site that educated me about everything is www.dreamviews.com . Simply an amazing site, with an extremely active, helpful, friendly forums. They are legit, trust me, there's nothing new-age on there except for "dream meaning or dream sharing" which I don't believe in. If you're starting out, read the homepage first then go to the forums > tutorials and just choose a topic (look into WILD).

It takes a lot of dedication and a stress-free mind... if you have neither, then you might not be very successful. If you don't get it the first night, or second night, or the first two weeks, keep trying. It took me 2 weeks before I had a lucid dream on purpose. It's worth the effort, believe me.

**There are some products out that are supposed to make you lucid dream, I have no idea if they work but you could try them out.:zzz:

 

[-Job-]

I wouldn't try this for the world. I think i would act out the lucid dreams. I've been very lucid in some of my sleepwalks and, though i do what i choose to do, since the reason for my walks is something that is bothering me or i feel like i should do, i only end up doing things that are either dangerous or ridiculous, not to mention the very unstable state a sleepwalker is on, with any little stimulus behavior may change drmatically. One of my biggest fears is of doing something to myself or others during sleep that i'll regret when i wake up. The most ridiculous of my sleepwalks involves walking outside at night to do a chore that i was supposed to have done during the day but that i artfully managed to skip (my guilt was very big for very little reason, it wasn't an important chore or anything) I remember everything very clearly. I remember opening the door, i remember my father (he was awake) asking me what i was doing and i remember how i replied "nothing". I remember walking out into the garden, my vision wasn't focused, kind of blurry, so i remember feeling my way around (my father later told me i was just going around in circles), then my father came outside and told me to go inside, an instruction i instinctively obeyed (he was a rough guy), and i went directly to bed. In the next morning i woke up without remembering much, but, like a dream, it started to come back to me. I remember checking my feet and seeing they were dusty and dirty and then feeling very bad, guilty and stupid, and i had to hear it from my father and 5 brothers for a long time after. One of my twin brothers may be worse than me, not in the magnitude of things he does but in how often.
If that was some sort of lucid dreaming, then i don't want it.

 

[___]

i had one yesterday.
in that i was being chased by some people. infront of me was a cliff and behind me, death. then i realized that i had this dream before too(that one was not lucid and i am not sure how it ended).
it was like playing with my memories of other dream life in a dream itself and veryfiying that i have had this before. i told myself that i have had this dream before, it is only a dream, and i can jump off the cliff nothing wil happen to me. i jumped.
i was also aware of my real life body. i had been wanting lucid dreams before and told myself not to open my real eyes. it was like being aware of my real body and the darkness of the bed-room and not wanting it.
after that i woke. as soon as i thought of the bedroom i was in and my real body, i woke up.

Beginner's Tips:

-Keep a Dream Diary.
-Set your alarm for six hours from when you go to sleep, look up at your "third eye" (the middle of your forehead) for a minute or so, and go back to sleep.
-Ask yourself several times a day "am I dreaming?" even when you know you're not. Think about it and find reasons why.
-Before you go to sleep tell yourself "I AM going to have a lucid dream" and believe it.
-Sleep as long as possible, 8 hours or more. (your alarm is at 6 hrs.)
-To trigger lucidity, try to find something that's broken. A common one is a broken lightswitch.

 

[Mk]

i was also aware of my real life body. i had been wanting lucid dreams before and told myself not to open my real eyes. it was like being aware of my real body and the darkness of the bed-room and not wanting it.
after that i woke. as soon as i thought of the bedroom i was in and my real body, i woke up.

I thought this was really weird.

Once instance, I was dreaming, dreaming a nice lucid dream. *thunder lashes outiside the window* in reality. I can feel my body try and wake up, for fear or inspection of this sudden loud noise. I say no way José, I'm having a nice dream here. We mingle (fourth person?), my instinct wins, I wake up, and yell "Dammit!" I get mad every time it happens. Dammit!

Keep a dream diary

This is important to raise your awareness of lucid dreaming. And its possibilities. You can look back and think about what you would have done differently, or changed. Also, so you can remember your dreams better. They can escape you rather quickly.

-Ask yourself several times a day "am I dreaming?" even when you know you're not.

This works very well, I am a much more frequent lucid dreamer now, and with a higher degree of lucidity. Ask yourself that as much as possible.

-Sleep as long as possible, 8 hours or more. (your alarm is at 6 hrs.)

Try and sleep like 10+ hours on one day a week. Or two or three. Just sleep in blocks as long as possible. And dammit when you have a dream lucid or not you want to remember, outline the events in your head twice, then write it down if you can. If you finish writing the dream (it doesn't have to be a great work), you'll remember it more vividly, and for much longer (x?).

They work, try them out. Reap the benefits.

 

[___]

I thought this was really weird.

Once instance, I was dreaming, dreaming a nice lucid dream. *thunder lashes outiside the window* in reality. I can feel my body try and wake up, for fear or inspection of this sudden loud noise. I say no way José, I'm having a nice dream here. We mingle (fourth person?), my instinct wins, I wake up, and yell "Dammit!" I get mad every time it happens. Dammit!

that was what i was trying to say. i was wanting it and i knew i was in it(my wishes realized). i was aware of my room, my earlier dreams, my body and the dream and also the power over it (being god of that universe).
and i got up with this realization.

 

[scott1]

http://www.dreamviews.com/index.php
Good site about lucid dreamign
I had a lucid dream once I was able to control anything in it all I could do was wake up.When I did wake I felt really weird(I'am not sure to describe)

 

[michealsmith]

cyclo ..im am part of the yahoo groups lucid dreraming group ..join us ..if u haven't already...here is a useful site moreless covers everything
http://brain.web-us.com/lucid/lucid...id Dreams to read 1 million words per minute?

 

[Evo]

I don't understand what all of the fuss is about. All my life I have been aware when I dream. I direct all of my dreams. I control them, it's like I'm directing a movie. If I don't like the way a dream is going, I can stop, rewind, and change it.

I also have dreams that continue after I wake up. Those are weird. The last one I had, a man was sitting at the end of my bed and offered me a drink. I was lying down and he held the glass out to me, so I sat up and reached my hand out to take the glass, but everytime I tried to close my fingers around the glass to hold it, my fingers went through the glass instead. I then realized that the man was becomming transparent and so was the glass. I realized I was trying to take and hold a glass that was actually in a dream and hold it in real life, I couldn't. I was wide awake watching the deame scene which was superimposed over what was real in the room slowly vanish.

 

[mugsby]

you want the most vivid lucid dreams of your life, take antipsychotic medication 4 hours before you sleep.

 

[Mk]

I don't understand what all of the fuss is about. All my life I have been aware when I dream.

Yar, in all dreams I eventually become lucid, its just a matter of time really. But the more intense the dream is, the quicker I become lucid. I feel sorry for people with nightmares :( I don't have any. I always become lucid if the dream starts to get scary.

I also have dreams that continue after I wake up. Those are weird. The last one I had, a man was sitting at the end of my bed and offered me a drink. I was lying down and he held the glass out to me, so I sat up and reached my hand out to take the glass, but everytime I tried to close my fingers around the glass to hold it, my fingers went through the glass instead. I then realized that the man was becomming transparent and so was the glass. I realized I was trying to take and hold a glass that was actually in a dream and hold it in real life, I couldn't. I was wide awake watching the deame scene which was superimposed over what was real in the room slowly vanish.

A false awakening? A kind of dream where you thought you woke up from a lucid dream, and you may even move around, go to the bathroom, get a drink of water (or in your case an alcoholic drink), but later you wake up again. What is really strange is if you wake up from a dream where you thought you woke up. If I woke up from a dream where I thought I woke up from a dream in which I thought I woke up my head would explode from the insanity.

 

[Mk]

you want the most vivid lucid dreams of your life, take antipsychotic medication 4 hours before you sleep.

I was thinking... one of my friends recently had an appendectomy, she said the morphine caused terrible nightmares. This maybe a side-effect or just that she made a connection, but maybe I should take some morphine for lucid dreams.

 

[gumbythescientist]

EVO I believe those dreams that continue when you are awake are known as nightterrors for some people these nightterrors can be horrible expeirences. The reason is usually since when people wake up they assume the dream is over but then they see a vision such as the man you saw and assume its real. This can be vary bad for the person sometimes because he/she assumes the vision is actually a burgler or murderer in their house but its just remant of the dream. One of my friends went several weeks were he saw a shadowy figures walking through his house with a knife or some kind of weapon. He almost went insane until he convinced himself it was just a nightterror.

 

[gumbythescientist]

This website better explains nighterrors.
www.nightterrors.org

 

[Mk]

I remember when I had night terrors. I was like five. I'm very sure I learned lucid dreaming from them.

I was just in a hypnogougic state today. Beautiful. Reds and blues and purples and greys, oranges. Wow. I also saw a women's face, and a man's upper torso + head and neck. He was pleasently disfigured. (for lack of better terminology) He was like spitting out decks of cards too...

I tried to focus in on a part of what I was *seeing* when I did, it quickly grew faint, and turned grayscale.

I also one time noticed I was falling too asleep for comfort. My objective was to get past the hypnogougic state, into dreamworld. Like I read at the lucidity institute, I pictured myself climbing up stairs. It worked! I stayed awake.

I was also almost fully awake in terms of the audio world, that's what kicked me out of hypnogougia. The power went out (happens too frequently in Guam), and scowling, I got up. Had to turn all the stuff on backup battery off. Like my computer. I really love my computer.