What is lucid dreaming and how rare is it to have?

The best way to describe lucid dreaming is having the ability to navigate your dreams and control everything to the last detail of what unfolds...

For example, when i have had a lucid dream i am aware I am dreaming and i am the author of my own dream..I remember saying "There is a hill and I am gonna climb that hill and when I get to the top and look over I will see the most beautiful garden I have ever laid eyes on..." Then I begin walking towards the hill, climb it and look over and what do you know? There is the most beautiful garden I have ever laid eyes on!!

If you can think it you can do it in your dream!!

I have never been able to control when I will lucid dream and I know if I could, I would want to sleep all the time!
I have heard that the way to begin to lucid dream is when you are in your dream state, find your hands and you will realize you are dreaming while in the dream....the key however is that when most of us realize we are awake in our dream, we wake up....and that ability is instantly lost......

I would love to know how some of you prepare to lucid dream on command!

Pax

I've been lucid dreaming all my life. Actually in my youth I was surprised that other people didn't either remember their dreams or wasn't able to control them. I'm able to even wake up intentionally if I'm having a troublesome dream "ok had enough of this nonsense"

But there's also more to this, sleep paralysis isn't fun. Loud banging crackle, like an explosion but implosion in my head. It's always horrifying even though I know that relaxing myself it stops faster but still. Sometimes I have a dream within a dream within a dream within… you'll get the point and that's not fun. Because they are so real you think you're awake in your own house but you're not and usually in lucid dreams like this there are these "shadow people". I'm actually quite amazed to hear that these black figures are worldwide phenomenon because I thought they're just boogies in my dreams.

I could go on and on about my dream world but it's such a large subject.

Am12c Wow yes i can totally relate because this just happened to me! As it says later in this paragraph, there was shadow figures. Just need to share this. So this morning after a good nights sleep i couldn't get back to bed so i stayed up watching tv. Finally i doze off and before i know it my mind is awake but my body is not. I say to myself this is sleep paralysis. At this time i am very aware of whats happening. I've always wanted to lucid dream i have been extremely curious about it for some time now. So when i realize that i am experiencing sleep paralysis, i say to myself "Brandon try and climb out of your body into the dream world" (as i read on other sites that this is what you do). My hands start shaking and i hear a loud buzzing. I've always wanted to fly while lucid dreaming so i say that to myself and my body starts to move and sort of lift up, but before i could go on my body caught up with my brain and i was awake. I think i was extremely close to lucid dreaming and i would love responses on this from other people to know what exactly happened or if they experienced the same thing. It was pretty awesome. Also, i know for a fact it was sleep paralysis because my room was dark and i saw weird figures, but when i had awoken the sun was up so it was definitely my mind playing dream-like tricks on me. Anyway, responses are appreciated!!

Every night before you go to sleep, tell yourself to look at your hands in your dream. If your hands are disfigured or blurry, you know you are dreaming and can take control. You will actually remember this in your dreams and look at your hands, leading to lucid dream experience. Now that you know you are dreaming and still asleep, try to do something...I picked up an old dusty vase that was in my dream and turned it to gold. Then I got too excited and woke up lol, but I woke up remembering what I was able to do.

This technique works for alot of people, give it a try before bedtime for the next few nights.

Sounds great i am going to try it ! One thing, when i told myself to move and play a part in my dream world, my body was reacting as if i wanted to move to wake up, not to stay dreaming. Was that becuase i was still in sleep paralysis ? a reply to: mystic0608

a reply to: DreamBig21

I had an experience with a "Shadow Person" a few months ago. I was in sleep paralysis and "woke up" or thought I had, and there was a tall shadow standing at the end of my bed. I used to have a hard time dealing with the "paralysis" usually waking myself up, but this time I told myself I was going to relax and I did. Then I took my foot and touched the stomach of the "shadow figure" and it felt like flesh and blood. I was told not to be afraid and then I woke up. I can still feel myself touching his stomach, the whole experience was just weird. I also felt a great release of fear when I woke up, so I was thinking it could somehow be connected to consciousness, but who knows?

Wow thats crazy! Who told you to not be afraid the shadow?! And yeah it covered the whole width of the hallway. I was scared but i wasnt at the same time all i wanted to do was have fun! Lol but then i struggled too much and woke up . Now i cant seem to get back at it :/ it seems to only happen when im extremely sleepy and im not focusing on it. a reply to: mystic0608

originally posted by: DreamBig21
Wow thats crazy! Who told you to not be afraid the shadow?! a reply to: mystic0608

I don't know who told me, honestly, it was just a thought that was there, it seemed to come from everywhere as corny as that sounds.

Soooo interesting a reply to: mystic0608

Sometimes I wake up when my mind is switched off - basically my mind is dreaming away, and my soul has come to awareness in my body, it is fascinating as I experience what it is like not to have a mind.

What is the difference of Lucid Dreaming and Day Dreaming. People say Lucid Dreaming can help you improve your self, but i want to say that Day Dreaming can cost you a life (aka you daydream and life time is ticking away while you daydream).

So what is the difference, how can you know you are not daydreaming?

a reply to: [post=18369221]saadad
Look at your hands, if they are distorted in any way, it is a lucid dream.