Lucid Dreaming

[TheNoNamedOne]

Have you ever noticed you were in a dream? If so, did you take control and do the things you would like to do -- fly, talk to a deceased relative, friend, or someone famous -- or have sex?

Noticing one is in a dream and then controling it has at times been referred to as astral projection, but recently it is being called lucid dreaming.

Besides, you cannot control the nightly ride on the wings of your subconscious. Or can you? (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/09/23/MN5VS6IM1.DTL) ...

It is likely some people have always had such dreams, said Jayne Gackenbach, a professor of psychology at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, Alberta, who conducts research into lucid dreaming. ...

"Yes, people certainly can, within their dream, realize 'this is just a dream' and continue to participate." ...

"Do I believe that someone could potentially alter or interact with their dreams in such a way that they could change the dream? Yes," he said. "Do I think that you could essentially design a dream - 'Oh, I want to go to Honolulu and have this big hunk hit on me'? It's a bit of a stretch. But I can't say it can't happen." ...

"In one of my earliest experiences with lucidity, I announced to an auditorium full of people that I was their god (wasn't I?). When they did not respond deferentially, I used telekinesis to send one of them flying across the room." ...

...people can make a plan while awake and then execute it in their dreams. ...

... the part of the brain involved in logical reasoning and working memory, becomes more inactive during REM sleep, while other areas of the brain, like the visual and emotional centers, rev up.

Do you believe in it? Have you experienced it? Often? Only a few times? If so, tell us about them, how you came to notice you were in a dream state, and how you controlled the dream.

[DougP]

Awesome subject

Actually this has happened to me on quite a few occasions. I have a great many number of dreams that I remember in detail but have a hard time writing them out so to speak. What emerges most vividly from my dreams are the actions of my self and "others" that I'm interacting with. Uusally the back drop so-to-speak is a little funny. However there have been a few dreams where the back ground/ place is very vivid in detail although it seems more like a place I haven't been before. These "places" I remember most appear quite frequently. The dreams aren't the same just the area that's taking place.

A few other things I've noticed. My dreams have a tendency to show ADD like symptoms. In other words the "topic" changes sometimes on a dime and next thing you know I'm somewhere else doing something else. The best part is when I start doing the "lucid dreaming" your OP addresses.

Oh I could go down the list of things I enjoy doing while in this state. Flying is obviously one of them. I have jumped off of very tall buildings and kept my eyes open the whole way down. Feels like tripping over something or jumping on a very firm mattress. Ah what else? Reading. Yes you can read in your dreams or at least I can. I've writen down words after waking up that I have read in my dreams. Sometimes these words have been in another language like french. I had to google them and to my supprise they were actual words.( I think this has to do with having heard or read the word somewhere but only remembering it subconsciously. I need to dig up some of my old scribblings.

Now the actual "lucid dreaming" as its called is in my opinion different than the ones where you want to run but can't or want to yell but can't. I often wonder what has triggered the "awakening" within the dream. Sometimes I think it has been when I realize something is out of order. Like when I'm talking to someone I know but they are several years younger than they should be. Like when I'm talking to the 15 year old version of my younger brother. Or when I'm in a place and realize I'm not there. Or at least the last thing I remember is being in my bed room a 1000 miles away.

Sometimes it just happens. For instance I have that under water trying to reach the surface dream more times than I can count. And everytime I do I end up not being able to hold my breath any longer and then notice something that shouldn't be happening. I can breathe. At first I'll usually only take a couple of breaths. Kind of like when your in an area that has a horrible stench. But soon I'm breathing like my lungs are the size of a couch. Its a great feeling walking around underwater and breathing like its normal.

Another thing I realize when in this lucid state is that somethings seem real while other things don't. For instance I can pick up objects and the texture feels very real. But many of the other things, people etc do not. I often find that I don't do a lot of interacting with people once I'm aware that I'm dreaming. I'm not sure why though. I wish there was a way to record my dreams. Sometimes they(dreams) feel more like years than just a mere 6 to 7 hours.

[socalheart]

Yes. I've often been able to "control" what "I" do in my dreams. I dream in colour and can also read things in my dream. I've never been able to see myself in a dream though. Each time I try to see myself in a mirror or other reflection, either my perspective or the dream subject changes. The most common thing I can control in my dreams is the ability to fly. I've long believed that a recurring dream is a piece of a past life. In those dreams, I let things move along, once I recognise it. Sometimes, I don't have any control of the dream. I call those nightmares.

[TheNoNamedOne]

A few other things I've noticed. My dreams have a tendency to show ADD like symptoms. In other words the "topic" changes sometimes on a dime and next thing you know I'm somewhere else doing something else. The best part is when I start doing the "lucid dreaming" your OP addresses.

Oh I could go down the list of things I enjoy doing while in this state. Flying is obviously one of them.

My dream topics only change on a dime like that if I am not aware that I am dreaming. If I become aware that I am dreaming I can keep the topic forcused and that storyline moving forward.

I've only experienced flying like 3 times, and none of them recent. But it was a great feeling.

What I have experienced more than a few times when I knew I was dreaming was the ability to jump huge distances and in height. It seemed I was trying to fly but gravity would always pull me down, but then the next jump would be even greater. And as I got higher and higher it was harder and harder to keep myself in a controlled upright position and in the beginning was scary because of the great heights and the speed of coming down. I always noticed an intense stretching feeling in my whole body during these jumping dreams.

Usually all the people around me would think it was the craziest thing they had ever seen.

Though not as good as flying, when those jumps got to going, that, too, was really cool.

I would only start these jumps when I knew I was dreaming. Still, flying is better.

[TheNoNamedOne]

Sometimes it just happens. For instance I have that under water trying to reach the surface dream more times than I can count. And everytime I do I end up not being able to hold my breath any longer and then notice something that shouldn't be happening. I can breathe. At first I'll usually only take a couple of breaths. Kind of like when your in an area that has a horrible stench. But soon I'm breathing like my lungs are the size of a couch. Its a great feeling walking around underwater and breathing like its normal.


Doug, I have had this breathing under water dream, too -- several times. Really is strange and a great feeling. I mean, that sensation of water moving in and out of the lungs is just hard to describe but it really does feel like they fill up. The deeper breaths you take, the stronger and better the sensation.

I never walked on the bottom like you, though. I was always swimming.

And this kind of dream is one of those kinds where I know I am dreaming.

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

For those who'd like to learn how. (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Lucid_Dreaming/Introduction)

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

I also recommend the movie Waking Life.

http://www.foxjapan.com/movies/wakinglife/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waking_Life
http://publish.uwo.ca/~dmann/waking_essay.htm

[DougP]

Lucid dreaming may weaken the borders between waking and dreaming, the conscious and subconscious mind, reality and fantasy. This might lead to problems of a dissociative nature. Probably the most common form of dissociation involves having problems distinguishing your waking memories from dream memories. Everyone who recalls at least one dream will have to sort out their dreams from reality in the morning. This can really be a problem for those who have previously had zero recall and, due to lucid dreaming, have had a major uptake in recall. Now, suddenly, they have all these excess, illogical memories to sort out. This is unlikely to be a major problem, but may be a big annoyance. An example is when you have actually misplaced an item, and "find it" in a dream. If you cannot distinguish dream from reality you will now think you know where that item is, perhaps even placed it where you felt sure to find it later, but when you awake it will not be there.

Man I've had that sorting out memory problem before. Not remembering if its something from a dream I'm remembering or if its something from real life.