Lucid dreaming help, please

I've been able to control my dreams for as long as I can remember...

As a child I could even trade information among friends within my dreams.

I've been trying to take my dream role play to a new level and have been attempting to implement some techniques I've learned about on the Internet to make myself more self aware within my dreams. You know, to wake myself up to my dream world, but when I do that, it wakes me up in real life...

I can usually tell I'm dreaming in a dream, when things are not good. But doing so, usually immediately wakes me up. But taking control of my good dreams is a whole different ball game. I usually am not skeptical during a good dream and therefore don't actively change the outcome. I watch it like a movie I guess? But through my own eyes.

Last night I used some techniques I learned of and recognized my dream even though it was good, but doing so ended a great great dream...

How do I not wake up when I recognize a dream?

Any experts out there? I'm interested in hearing first hand experiences as well.

reply to post by sparda4355


Posting from my iPhone, at work, so responses will be quick and to the point;

Have you tried sleeping during the daytime? I had similar experiences with lucid dreams at night, becoming lucid would shock me awake or my subconscious would simply stop creating the dream (blacking out), but sleeping during the day, after having a good nights sleep, I find my mind is more awake within the dream and I can fly controllably and occasionally change the setting of the dream without blacking out or waking up.

So if you've got a day in which you're not busy with anything, try having a nap in the afternoon. Good luck

spin around as fast as you can.

in reality it makes you dizzy, but in dreams it keeps you focused.
it might make you enter another dream but you wont wake up.

either that or try to focus in your hands.

I lucid dream all the time now. All my life I have had vivid dreams with loads of detail, texture, colour and sometimes even smell. Gradually over time my lucid dreaming became more often to the point where I now dream lucidly every time I sleep - even a nap can bring a wonderful dream for me.

When there is a difficult/dangerous situation in my lucid dreaming state - I just control what happens. There is no technique for me - you talk about techniques and that is strange to me. When I am being threatened - does not happen often - I take control as it is my dream and my dream state.

I am learning about prophetic dreams and am learning to see the metaphors. Sometimes the prophetic dreams are actual, as in real people and I recognise faces but sometimes the dream is full of metaphors. I used to get frustrated at the metaphors but have learned to muse on them and work through the main symbols in any given dream. Trying to work out the dream symbolism makes my cognitive processes work - sometimes very hard - but I have learned to accept the dreams.

Sometimes when I am searching for a solution for a problem I actually request a dream to help me understand a particular situation. Sounds like you are quite gifted - given that you have been lucid dreaming for years. I am no expert but it would seem to me you just need to accept your gift and understand your dreams. Maybe the so called techniques you have learned are messing with your ability to manage your lucid dreams. Mother Nature provides us with all we need - maybe you need to accept your giftedness and you will stop waking up during the dream.

Much Peace...

reply to post by Glass


In reference to the nap advice...

Should I be extremely tired? (that's usually the only way I can nap)...

I intend to try this, seems like good advice. My only concern is the three kids usually in the house.

Thank you

reply to post by UziLiberman


Spinning around?

Lol, I will try this (even though it sounds like a hiccups cure)



My only issue is this, the moment I realize it is a dream... I wake up.

Before this, I'm not in control of me?

reply to post by sparda4355

What works best for me against waking up is tactile stimuli within the dream. Moving my hands against for example rough texture or rubbing my dream hands often helps against waking up.
Also it could be that you get too excited when you turn lucid and this can easily wake you up as well.
But there is another great trick. You can easily reenter a dream if you try the DEILD trick right after you wake up.
What you basically do is keep your eyes closed and try not to move a single muscle at all.
This trick will usually lead to another lucid dream within a minute and sometimes I have had up to 5 lucid dreams in a row using the DEILD tech.
I would suggest you google it for more info.

reply to post by Amanda5


When I say I've always been able to control my dreams...

I mean, before I go to sleep I can "set them up".

I can create the world in which I dream (most of the time), but...

I cannot control myself within my dream... This is what I'm trying to learn to do... I watch my dreams as though they are a movie and I am the camera... But I don't actually decide what to do, within the dream. I too dream in vivid detail, and create amazing worlds to dream in... I've lived entire years within a single nights sleep.

When it's a bad dream I recognize it and wake myself from within the dream.

When it's a good dream I don't realize it until I wake.

reply to post by sparda4355


Being physically tired is preferable.

Dont stay up all night with intent to sleep during the day, this is counterproductive since you need your mind to be functional
Do some physically exhausting activities, allow yourself to wind down and nap for an hour or two.

You want to have as much clarity of mind as possible, while still being in a state that will allow sleep. Also, avoid caffeine obviously

reply to post by juleol


Now that's exactly what I was looking for

Thank you!!!

Keep the good advice coming people! I appreciate it all

reply to post by sparda4355


i thought it was dumb too, then i found myself instinctively doing it once when loosing lucidity and it did work for me.

i understand what you have been experiencing, first times i got lucid i'd get too excited that i was actually lucid thus loosing focus which would cause me to loose lucidity or simply wake up.

every time you get a step closer, no lucid experience is in vain

reply to post by juleol


This is all really good advice, and reminded me of some additional advice;

Breathing; sudden changes in your breathing rate can wake you up, so try to maintain the same rate of breathing when becoming lucid.

Waking up/returning to the dream; as juleol mentioned, keep your eyes closed when you awaken, and don't move. Maintain your breathing rate. If you feel a sort of vibration and numbness you're on the right track. You should return to the dream fully lucid.

Tips for in the dream; try not to strain your focus on distant objects or minute details, your mind may overwork itself trying to fill details that were not intended to be noticed, this leads to blacking out

reply to post by sparda4355


Try melatonin...but beware...the dreams can be a lot to handle.

Benadryl works too especially if you mix both...but prepare to be groggy.

Try this and you will have clear lucid dreams I guarantee it as the terms and conditions do not allow me to explain the other ways.

Originally posted by sparda4355
I've been able to control my dreams for as long as I can remember...

As a child I could even trade information among friends within my dreams.

I've been trying to take my dream role play to a new level and have been attempting to implement some techniques I've learned about on the Internet to make myself more self aware within my dreams. You know, to wake myself up to my dream world, but when I do that, it wakes me up in real life...

I can usually tell I'm dreaming in a dream, when things are not good. But doing so, usually immediately wakes me up. But taking control of my good dreams is a whole different ball game. I usually am not skeptical during a good dream and therefore don't actively change the outcome. I watch it like a movie I guess? But through my own eyes.

Last night I used some techniques I learned of and recognized my dream even though it was good, but doing so ended a great great dream...

How do I not wake up when I recognize a dream?

Any experts out there? I'm interested in hearing first hand experiences as well.

i do not recommend pumping urself with chemicals that your body already produces. when u can learn how to drive cheicals and hormones through ur system via emotion. but do what u will.

if u need help catching the dream u can try this...

1) set a very soft alarm timed to go off about 2-3 hrs after ur asleep. remember it's sound so that when u hear it in your dreams u will know. it has to be soft enough to be heard yet not too loud to wake u up. ull have to find the right volume for urself depending on how deep a sleeper u are.

2) practice

Originally posted by Glass
reply to post by juleol

 

Tips for in the dream; try not to strain your focus on distant objects or minute details, your mind may overwork itself trying to fill details that were not intended to be noticed, this leads to blacking out

What is "blacking out" I've never experienced a dream ending like this without me waking up?

What happens when you "black out"?

reply to post by 0mage


I like that sound advice!

The way I maximize my dream activity is multiple alarms... If I need to be up by 8, I set a 5, 5:15, 6, 7, and 7:50 alarm... My last 10 minutes are usually the most intense!

My gf isn't exactly enthrauled about this method, but she's gotten used to it...

It's also the only way to insure I actually wake up for work!

I'll turn off alarms, snooze repeatedly, even walk across the room to deactivate my alarm... All without waking up!!! Lol

that must be stressful on your girlfriend who may have a different spiritual path where alarms actually hold her back while u propel yourself forward. just consider it.

there is another way..

eat well and take a good rest. i mean a long one.. full 8 hrs at least and allow your body to wake up when it feels good and ready. go use the potty or whatever and then go back in bed and lay on your back with eyes closed. you wont feel like going to sleep but set urself thru the motions anyway. learn the sleep process so u can induce it manually relaxing and turning off everything except your eyes. peering into the third eye region. just remember to keep looking and seeing under your eyelids.

if u are successful what happens is because the body is already well rested.. it maintains a higher level of alertness. if u can manually make ur body sleep it's easier to lucid dream. and no alarms will be necessary.

again practice is key.

also u may not know.. but whatever is the very last thing on your mind as you actually enter the sleep state is what u will dream about.

Originally posted by 0mage
that must be stressful on your girlfriend who may have a different spiritual path where alarms actually hold her back while u propel yourself forward. just consider it.

I do this mostly for "waking up purposes" as I mentioned... I've needed to since a young child going to school, or my dad had to wake me. It also makes me wake up happy...

My gf doesn't mind we used to tease about it, but she usually wakes up before me now anyway so she is my, first alarm.

there is another way..

eat well and take a good rest. i mean a long one.. full 8 hrs at least and allow your body to wake up when it feels good and ready. go use the potty or whatever and then go back in bed and lay on your back with eyes closed. you wont feel like going to sleep but set urself thru the motions anyway. learn the sleep process so u can induce it manually relaxing and turning off everything except your eyes. peering into the third eye region. just remember to keep looking and seeing under your eyelids.

I appreciate the advice, but it's not realistic for me... I have a busy life and I choose to enjoy both my awake life and my sleep life.

I can't just wake up whenever I feel like it, work, kids school, etc...

And if I tried to get a full 8 hours of sleep every night, I'd never have any time to enjoy my awake life!

[quoteif u are successful what happens is because the body is already well rested.. it maintains a higher level of alertness. if u can manually make ur body sleep it's easier to lucid dream. and no alarms will be necessary.

again practice is key.

also u may not know.. but whatever is the very last thing on your mind as you actually enter the sleep state is what u will dream about.


It's good advice, don't get me wrong... To me, this is mostly theory, and would never work in practice (for me) because I'd never be able to fit it in...

reply to post by sparda4355


Blacking out is the phrase I use for entering a lucid but dreamless sleep. The dream becomes blurry and unstable and slowly or rapidly fades to black, and kind of feels like getting lightheaded and unable to keep your eyes open. It's like waking up without actually waking up; the body remains in sleep paralysis and it's possible to start dreaming again but most of the time I wake myself up after blacking out by breathing rapidly. On one occasion I had an out of body experience (OBE) after blacking out and another time I was able to visualize vivid 2D images but couldn't enter a dream.

reply to post by sparda4355


Watching this movie (Waking Life) before bedtime can induce a lucid dream in itself. This is a good scene explaining the basics of lucid dreaming.

For me I have always used the most common technique - the 'Am I Dreaming ?' prompt during waking consciousness to induce lucid dreams at night. Once lucid I try a few different things to maintain that level of awareness, and not slip back out in to the passive state.

1. spinning as discussed above
2. looking at my hands. they never look normal in a dream. they seem to glow for me
3. focusing on a dream anomoly - ie. the sky being the wrong colour.
4. going weightless, hanging in the air or having a fly aorund. I love flying the most

Once you have mastered that bit, bring in some dream characters to keep things moving. Create anything, any setting, scenery, scenario you want. Good Luck with it.




Are You Dreaming ?