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Living in a Lucid Dream

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Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#31

Post by smusamashah »

crazygringo wrote: post #15

I frequently have lucid dreams, in that I'm entirely aware of that fact that I'm dreaming while in the dream. What I find interesting, however, is that if I have a dream I forgot to study for my test, or I'm naked at school because I left my clothes somewhere else, or the school play starts tonight and I haven't memorized a single line... the fact that I know I'm dreaming doesn't help at all . Because the problem is…

Mine are like yours in that I am never certain where and when I am in real life. But they don't last very long, I become too conscious and wakeup or just go with the flow and forget being lucid. They rarely last very long to think and experiment.

But in situations like yours, I am never sure where I am in my real life. I know that its a dream and I am sleep, but where and when are never certain.

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#32

Post by burnished »

pozol wrote: post #22
crazygringo wrote: post #15

I frequently have lucid dreams, in that I'm entirely aware of that fact that I'm dreaming while in the dream. What I find interesting, however, is that if I have a dream I forgot to study for my test, or I'm naked at school because I left my clothes somewhere else, or the school play starts tonight and I haven't memorized a single line... the fact that I know I'm dreaming doesn't help at all . Because the problem is…

This is fascinating. I had a period where I was really trying to be able to lucid dream but never could. It’s interesting that this sounds so much like my normal dreams, but just adding that you do realize it’s a dream. I didn’t think it would be so similar.

They aren't always. I got lucky one time, I read about lucid dreaming techniques and when I fell asleep was able to use one. The dream was otherwise a nightmare but when it became lucid that stopped being a consideration. What I remember is immediately trying to fly, succeeding somewhat, then finding that my attempts to exert control over the dream were waking me up (which I guess is a not uncommon experience).

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#33

Post by lawrenceyan »

crazygringo wrote: post #15

I frequently have lucid dreams, in that I'm entirely aware of that fact that I'm dreaming while in the dream. What I find interesting, however, is that if I have a dream I forgot to study for my test, or I'm naked at school because I left my clothes somewhere else, or the school play starts tonight and I haven't memorized a single line... the fact that I know I'm dreaming doesn't help at all . Because the problem is…

Same for the most part. I get the rare "super lucid" dream where it's almost 1:1 to being awake, but 99% of the time it's like how you describe.

I think this is because our brains will happily "predict the next token". We've never evolved to have to consider doing anything else. So when you're asleep and placed into a scenario with some context associated with yourself, the brain does the natural thing and performs prediction.

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#34

Post by shostack »

crazygringo wrote: post #15

I frequently have lucid dreams, in that I'm entirely aware of that fact that I'm dreaming while in the dream. What I find interesting, however, is that if I have a dream I forgot to study for my test, or I'm naked at school because I left my clothes somewhere else, or the school play starts tonight and I haven't memorized a single line... the fact that I know I'm dreaming doesn't help at all . Because the problem is…

Similar to my experience. I also find my control of my body is still somewhat linked to my real body.

For example, one way of maintaining and strengthening the lucid experience is supposedly spinning around in place with your arms spread. When I do that, I find a dream sensation that feels a bit like my arms trying to move out from under my pillow or caught in the sheets. I then wake up shortly after that.

Other times I'll know I'm lucid and can do some tricks, but still feel a bit limited, whether by the dream or my beliefs of what I think I can do in the dream. I cannot manifest scenery or people. Mostly I can get a small hop glide for flying, sometimes I can shoot a magic projectile. This may be due to limited control and practice.

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#35

Post by jowdones »

When I lucid dream, usually I also have the ability to "fly" and in time I learned one thing. As much as I love to use the "fly" ability to explore, I must not steer too far away from the point I am currently. Otherwise I can examine in quite vivid details the stuff around but if I leap too far it's like my mind says "sorry dude, you've reached end of simulation area, here's where you wake up".

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#36

Post by Aerbil313 »

Yeah. You can practice lucid dreaming. I was a (not born, learned) lucid dreamer a few years ago, then I got into college and my sleep schedule got messed up, so I don't do it anymore. Had I learned DILD (dream-induced lucid dreaming) techniques I could continue but those require constant daytime effort no matter how little. I was lazy and went with WILD methods, and they work wonders when you have a consistent sleep schedule.

Can attest that lucid dreams are as detailed and real as real life. Can't tell the difference. In one of my first attempts, I had a 30 minutes long lucid dream (I was able to precisely measure.). You know the feeling of wonder and awe? You feel it for at most a few minutes at a time usually. I was in constant amazement all through the whole half an hour. Because against my expectations, everything was as real as the real world. The texture of the ground beneath your feet, the feeling of air when you move fast, the taste when you eat. The weight and texture of stuff when you touch, the feeling of your own weight on your feet when you stand. The sun shining, reflections, brightness. Human eye level perfect quality and detail when you look. This feeling of awe didn't went away for me, I still get it when I LD.

There was a thread about it recently, I wrote there some more: About learning resources too: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38399548

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#37

Post by smusamashah »

altruios wrote: post #29

The way I lucid dream is to 'stay awake' through the process of falling asleep. There are a few tricks I use... but I don't recommend the experience (It can be... uncomfortable {there is a reason you don't remember the point you loose consciousness}). I don't know if these are universally applicable tricks either. But focusing on a point (visualizing it as actively as you can) seems to be important to staying awake t…

Yesterday I was a having a very visual trip down the memory lane (2 decade old) while in the process of sleeping. And this memory was triggered by a smell. I was enjoying the memory (an old house and streets I was trying to remember in detail). This didn't make me lucid though, wasn't even trying to be anyway.

But having actually followed the process, I can now understand how it can help with lucidity.

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#38

Post by mapcars »

One of the biggest modern day spiritual gurus says that dreaming is just a fluctuation of mind activity during sleep, we can enjoy it but it has no significance in terms of spiritual development.

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#39

Post by Aerbil313 »

ggeorgovassilis wrote: post #17

Richard Feynman reports in his biography on his own experiments with lucid dreaming. He found sleep to not be restful enough anymore, found it impossible to switch the lucid part of dreaming off and eventually had a negative experience that caused him to stop.

Everything is best enjoyed in moderation. The current consensus among the LD community is the same: Lucid dreams aren't as charging as normal ones. There's no scientific definitive answer but many think it's because the prefrontal cortex is 'turned on' in LD while it remains off in normal dreams.

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#40

Post by cgriswald »

altruios wrote: post #29

The way I lucid dream is to 'stay awake' through the process of falling asleep. There are a few tricks I use... but I don't recommend the experience (It can be... uncomfortable {there is a reason you don't remember the point you loose consciousness}). I don't know if these are universally applicable tricks either. But focusing on a point (visualizing it as actively as you can) seems to be important to staying awake t…

I’ve been taking magnesium for a couple months now and one thing a I’ve noticed is that the line between wakefulness and asleep has blurred. I will sometimes watch some TV and I’ll be sitting there watching an episode and don’t realize I’ve fallen asleep and this is a dream until weird things start happening in the show. I often imagine floating outside my house (similar to what the article describes) as a method to fall asleep and since starting magnesium my thoughts softly blend into full blown dreams. My dreams in general have been far more lucid.

I’ve only noticed one other side effect. I normally experience hypnogogic jerk and since starting magnesium, a few times the jerk itself has pulled me out of the descent into sleep.

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