Lucid Dreaming, and the practice behind it.

[Freyr]

Hey.
I'v recently been getting into "Lucid Dreaming" and have had an interesting experience the other night after days of practice. I am not to familiar with all the possible aspects of the practice of "Lucid Dreaming", but what i have noticed to be working quite well is every time you look at your hands, ask yourself, "Am i dreaming?", and while you are in the dream and look down at your hands, you will ask yourself the same question, "Am I dreaming?".
This is what i experienced in my Lucid dream, it may seem a little poorly written, but allow me to say that i was half awake when i decided to write it down as soon as I had awoken, ha ha. (If i knew i was going to be posting this on the forum, i wouldn't have mentioned names, but i am sure the people as to who i am mentioning, will not mind a whole lot) Here it is:

I was with Natasha and Brad in a bedroom of some sort. I was trying a shirt on and getting very frustrated with the collar because it was to big and the collar of my under shirt was sticking out and driving me crazy. Suddenly we were all sitting down and discussing something. After the discussion we went out and Brad picked up a bag of some sort of drug. I don't know where he got it because i didn't see him pick it up, but it was there. He urged me to take the drugs ( almost looked like a bag of mushrooms, only shaped and colored like a sweet potatoe ) and we all kept walking. We somehow ended up in another house and i went to the washroom to fix my collar. When i looked at the mirror i noticed something strange. My face was kinda ripply and was bending back and forth. I looked down at my hands and realized i was dreaming! I decided to try it out and walk back to the room. Both Brad and Natasha were staring at me as if time had stood still waiting for my every action. I asked Brad if he knew what i knew. He didn't say a word. Natasha stood up and asked me if i really knew where i was. I told her i think she was a figment of my imagine. She Asked me to stand near the wall and than walk beside her. I went over to the wall and gave it a shot. What happened was incredible. I watched myself walk over to the other side of the room. At that moment Brad stood up and slapped my double in the face, and looked at me and said "Wake the hell up man! It only gets worse from here, Trust me, i am stuck here to!" But i couldn't wake up. I got kinda nervous. It seemed so real that i thought it was just the mushrooms playing these weird games with me. But i felt completely sober. I tried to split myself again, but by concentrating i ended up bending a wall completely in half. Brad spoke again, " Next time you do that make sure i am not standing next to the wall, the thing almost crushed me. Now wake up before this gets bad". Still nothing. I looked around the room and visualized i was outside, and then i was. Natasha was no where to be seen. I looked back and Brad was standing beside himself. I didn't know what to say, But he spoke, " This is what happens when you come here to often, you split and get stuck here, why do you think i am here talking to you?" I told him i figured it was because i was dreaming and i saw him before i went to sleep. He told me a piece of him was always there, and if I need out, to just ask him. So i asked him to wake me up. At that moment, He and his double looked at one another, and said "Ok" and walked into each other. Light completely engulfed my vision, and i was awake..

Now, when i decided to post this on the forum, I had a strange sense of "Deja Vu", as if I had written this before. Maybe a past Precognitive dream about this exact moment? I don't know for sure.
If anyone has had an experience like this, please post a reply

[calikid]

Reminds me of a Carlos Catenada book I once read.

His teacher had much to say on the subject, saying outright that he could physically appear in two places at once through lucid dreaming.

I myself did some research on the subject back in the day, BEFORE internet (boy, now I feel OLD haha).
Published studies were available (my university library), at the time recommendations included trying to focus on your hands during the dream to become aware of the dream.
I was able to attain that first step, but unfortunately looking at my hands within the dream caused me to immediately awake from the dream with a vivid memory of the incident/scene.

It was something like a shock to the system to consciously realize it WAS a dream. At least for me.
Sadly I never was able to get beyond that first step.
The next step (according to the literature) was to direct the dream, even attaining flight/travel if desired.

Another recommendation/method was the use of a blindfold with imbedded red lights that would flash when REM movement were detected. In your dream, it was claimed, you would see the red lights and get a clue.
Never did track those down, maybe on eBay?

Odd you had the opposite problem that I had, I awoke immediately, you had a hard time waking up.... go figure.
Were you fearful in the dream? Is that why you repeatedly requested assistance in waking up?
Your description did not sound particularly disturbing or threatening.
Perhaps next time you could "direct the dream" somewhere more pleasant...

[lycaeus]

Cool! Lucid dreaming sounds like a lot of fun. Definitely going to try harder to stay conscious at night. I really do wonder if other parts of us are fully conscious on 'the other side' in Dreamland.

I remember reading Castaneda and Don Juan said that when a person sees his 'double' that he dies... I wonder if he is right. Maybe the people in your dream really were figments of your imagination.

I remember becoming lucid in a dream, years ago. I looked around the room and thought no effin way, Im lucid dreaming. I tried to calm down. Then I went to a door to see what was beyond. As soon as I opened the door I was sucked back in a whirlwind and woke up. Damn! Oh well, was still really cool and the memory of it makes me want to keep trying at it.

[lycaeus]

I remember reading Castaneda and Don Juan said that when a person sees his 'double' that he dies

I should probably add that it's me you're talking about in your dream (Brad) in the dream and I'm still alive. So it really makes me wonder if I actually am split and stuck there... Guess there's only one way to find out and that is to wake up in the dream! Maybe you should slap me and tell me to wake up if it happens again. btw I haven't done mushrooms in over 2 years and rarely drink because weed and alcohol weaken your energy body which you need for lucid dreaming and is just a distraction in general.

[Freyr]

Reminds me of a Carlos Catenada book I once read.

His teacher had much to say on the subject, saying outright that he could physically appear in two places at once through lucid dreaming.

I have also been getting into Carlos Casteneda, that's where I originally got the idea to practice Lucid Dreaming. The idea of being completely awake in your dream state really intrigued me considering you spend a good 1/3 of your life sleeping and it just seemed like I am missing a good portion of my life just forgetting my dreams and never writing them down.

Were you fearful in the dream? Is that why you repeatedly requested assistance in waking up?
Your description did not sound particularly disturbing or threatening.
Perhaps next time you could "direct the dream" somewhere more pleasant...

Well, its not that i was afraid or scared of what was happening, I just felt really overwhelmed with the feeling that i was awake in the dream. Hearing some of my friends experiences, they all mention that they had complete control over the dream and could also fly and put themselves anywhere they wanted to go, but I didn't seem to have that complete control like they did in their dreams. That's when I started getting nervous. I guess not knowing what my mind would do next was kinda frightening but nothing seemed to pose a threat. If it does happen again I will surely try to direct it somewhere better, I guess that being the first Lucid dream I experienced, I didn't really know how to take it ( I am sure no one does, unless they are more familiar with it ).

I remember becoming lucid in a dream, years ago. I looked around the room and thought no effin way, Im lucid dreaming. I tried to calm down. Then I went to a door to see what was beyond. As soon as I opened the door I was sucked back in a whirlwind and woke up.

I'v heard that a lot to. I figured just the thought of being aware of the dream was going to wake me up instantly but i couldn't wake up for the life of me. Maybe i really didn't want to wake up and that's why i continued to stay there. I do remember taking melatonin before i went to sleep so maybe that helped me to become more aware of it and could be the reason why i stayed there. Who knows, but it was fricken interesting! haha.

[lycaeus]

I do remember taking melatonin before i went to sleep so maybe that helped me to become more aware of it and could be the reason why i stayed there.

According to the 'C's' in the Cassiopaean material, melatonin is a mild hallucinogen. I notice when I take it I'm more aware during my dreaming. It helps me to remember them to.

I know nicotine patches are an easy way to induce lucid dreaming, but it gave me a lucid nightmare that involved me having a wounded arm where I put the patch on before bed, so I don't plan on trying that again...

I know monatomic gold induces lucid dreaming, but that is definitely a bad thing to take in and no one should consume it imo. Lakhovsky cables seem to help too with no bad side effects.

[Freyr]

Both Brad and Natasha were staring at me as if time had stood still waiting for my every action.

I felt that I should elaborate on that. It seemed like when I had realized I had been dreaming, both Natasha & Brad seemed to be aware that I had realized I was dreaming. I thought that maybe there is a piece of us in the dream world when were awake at all times but it may just be in my own head. It most likely wasn't them but just something I had created in my dream. By Brad telling me to "wake the hell up!" could have just been my fear of something bad happening and warning myself to be wary. There was no sense of complete control but I know I was the only one in control at that time, so I might have been creating alternate ways of waking myself out of the dream for just in case.

According to the 'C's' in the Cassiopaean material, melatonin is a mild hallucinogen. I notice when I take it I'm more aware during my dreaming. It helps me to remember them to.

I just wanted to give a little Melatonin overview for people who aren't to familiar with it and would like to try it out for themselves.

"Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the brain. It helps regulate other hormones and maintains the body's circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is an internal 24-hour clock� that plays a critical role in when we fall asleep and when we wake up. When it is dark, your body produces more melatonin; when it is light, the production of melatonin drops. Being exposed to bright lights in the evening or too little light during the day can disrupt the body' s normal melatonin cycles. For example, jet lag, shift work, and poor vision can disrupt melatonin cycles".
"Some researchers also believe that melatonin levels may be related to aging. For example, young children have the highest levels of nighttime melatonin. Researchers believe these levels drop as we age. Some people think lower levels of melatonin may explain why some older adults have sleep problems and tend to go to bed and wake up earlier than when they were younger. However, newer research calls this theory into question."

"Melatonin has strong antioxidant effects. Preliminary evidence suggests that it may help strengthen the immune system."

"Studies suggest that melatonin supplements may help people with disrupted circadian rhythms (such as people with jet lag or those who work the night shift) and those with low melatonin levels (such as some seniors and people with schizophrenia) to sleep better. A review of clinical studies suggests that melatonin supplements may help prevent jet lag, particularly in people who cross five or more time zones. A few clinical studies suggest that when taken for short periods of time (days to weeks) melatonin is more effective than a placebo in reducing the time it takes to fall asleep, increasing the number of sleeping hours, and boosting daytime alertness. It' s not clear how well melatonin works, however -- some studies suggest that it only reduces the amount of time to fall asleep by a few minutes."

"everal human studies have measured the effects of melatonin supplements on sleep in healthy people. A wide range of doses has been used, often taken by mouth 30 - 60 minutes prior to sleep time. Results have been mixed. Some evidence suggests that melatonin may work best for people over 55 who have insomnia. One study of 334 people aged 55 and older found that sustained-release melatonin seemed to help people fall asleep faster, sleep better, be more alert in the morning, and improve quality of life in people with primary insomnia."

"Some people may have vivid dreams or nightmares when they take melatonin. Taking too much melatonin may disrupt circadian rhythms (your body clock)"


(Though I believe that it wont cause nightmares, but make the dreams more vivid. If your outer world is conflicting with your inner, whether it be bad or good, will most likely be effecting your dreams, not the melatonin)

[Freyr]

I thought I should add that I dont promote anyone taking drugs. But there are a few "good" ones out there that have had positive effects on me and will only say the least about them.

[Freyr]

How To Remember You're Dreams

Remembering your dreams is the starting place for learning to have lucid dreams. If you don't recall your dreams, even if you do have a lucid dream, you won't remember it! And, in order to be able to recognize your dreams as dreams while they are happening, you have to be familiar with the way your own dreams work. Before it will be worth your time to work on lucid dream induction methods, you should be able to recall at least one dream every night.
Getting plenty of sleep is the first step to good dream recall. If you are rested it will be easier to focus on your goal of recalling dreams, and you won't mind so much taking the time during the night to record your dreams. Another benefit of getting plenty of sleep is that dream periods get longer and closer together as the night proceeds. The first dream of the night is the shortest, perhaps 10 minutes in length, while after 8 hours of sleep, dream periods can be 45 minutes to an hour long. We all dream every night, about one dream period every 90 minutes. People who say they never dream simply never remember their dreams. You may have more than one dream during a REM (dream) period, separated by short arousals that are most often forgotten. It is generally accepted among sleep researchers that dreams are not recalled unless the sleeper awakens directly from the dream, rather than after going on to other stages of sleep.

It can be useful while you are developing your dream recall to keep a complete dream journal. Keep the journal handy by your bed and record every dream you remember, no matter how fragmentary. Start by writing down all your dreams, not just the complete, coherent, or interesting ones--even if all you remember is a face or a room, write it down.

When you awaken in the night and recall what you were dreaming, record the dream right away. If you don't, in the morning you may find you remember nothing about the dream, and you will certainly have forgotten many interesting details. We seem to have built-in dream erasers in our minds, which make dream experiences more difficult to recall than waking ones. So, whenever you remember a dream, write it down. If you don't feel like writing out a long dream story at 3 AM, note down key points of the plot. Also write down the precise content of any dialogue from the dream, because words will almost inevitably be forgotten in a very short time.

Possibly, all you will need to do to increase your dream recall is to remind yourself as you are falling asleep that you wish to awaken fully from your dreams and remember them. This works in a similar manner to remembering to awaken at a certain time in the morning. Additionally, it may help to tell yourself you will have interesting, meaningful dreams. A major cause of dream forgetting is interference from other thoughts competing for your attention. Therefore, let your first thought upon awakening be, "What was I just dreaming?" Before attempting to write down the dream, go over the dream in your mind, re-telling the dream story to yourself. DO NOT MOVE from the position in which you awaken, and do not think of the day's concerns. Cling to any clues of what you might have been experiencing--moods, feelings, fragments of images, and try to rebuild a story from them. When you recall a scene, try to recall what happened before that, and before that, reliving the dream in reverse. If after a few minutes, all you remember is a mood, describe it in a journal. If you can recall nothing, try imagining a dream you might have had--note your present feelings, list your current concerns to yourself, and ask yourself, "Did I dream about that?" Even if you can't recall anything in bed, events or scenes of the day may remind you of something you dreamed the night before. Be ready to notice this when it happens, and record whatever you remember.

If you find that you sleep too deeply to awaken from your dreams, try setting an alarm clock to wake you at a time when you are likely to be dreaming. Since our REM periods occur at approximately 90 minute intervals, good times will be multiples of 90 minutes after you go to sleep. Aim for the later REM periods by setting the alarm to go off at 4.5, 6, or 7.5 hours after you go to sleep. Once again, when you wake up, don't move and think first of what you were just dreaming before writing.

To remind yourself of your intentions and get yourself into the spirit of your dreams, read through your dream journal at bedtime. Learning to remember your dreams may seem difficult at first, but if you persist, you will almost certainly succeed--and may find yourself remembering four or more dreams per night. Of course, once you reach this level, you probably won't want to write them all down--just the significant or compelling ones. And, the more familiar you become with the style of your own dreams, the easier it will be to remember you are dreaming while you are dreaming--and explore the world of your dreams while still on the scene.

[lycaeus]

WOW!! AN AMAZING LUCID DREAM LAST NIGHT!!!

this one was crazy...

I was at a tropical wilderness, like a resort. Inside there was this chair suspended from long ropes/cables. Attached to the chair was a lever that I unwound, like a trailer hitch crank that mechanically pushed open or closed a part of the chair, like an extendable leg rest or something (made of metal and bambooish wood components).

The chair pulled me up to the top but before I got there, I felt I was falling down. The chair was pulling me down and it felt like the structure was falling apart. I thought "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die ****!' So I tried to think of some good last dying thoughts (but I forget what they were. I do remember that I got a specific date though: June 23 19?? or June 1923 [pretty sure it's June 23] but damn, not completely sure. Definitely a June and a 23 in there...

It felt strange. I desperately clenched a rod on the chair to keep from flying up and away as the chair descended too quickly. I was falling for a while and I didn't hit the floor of the gigantically tall 'Tiki' hut thing. It was like bamboo poles, with nice wooden deck and fabric canopy. I just felt this surge of energy pulling me up and I let go of the pole I was hanging on to. I was then shoved out through the roof by an inexplicable force. And I burst into the sky to behold thousands of people flying through the atmosphere. People had their arms straight out like superman. We couldn't help it, this force moved us and carried us. It felt better than anything like a divine, loving and godly energy moving us from within making us free.

It felt like this was the future. Could just be the crazy old astral world though. [not sure why I originally wrote 'old-astral-world, but perhaps I'm subconsciously familiar with astral travel? this reminded me of some other dreams where I could fly]. IDK if this is normal for astral/lucid dreaming but I now know what the big fuss is with all these people trying to get into these states.

I think I was one of the last people, or most stubborn to fly away with this force, because so many were already flying when I broke through the ceiling, thousands-probably millions from my view. This was monumental for me and it felt just as real as this normal waking life. ATM it was the hugest, most important and unexpected event of my life, not sure what everyone else thought about it though.

At the end of the flying day, we stopped at trhe end of the day to eat in a nice resort, tropical area like a dock or beach or something. I nibbled on some dry delicious snacks. We talked about things I can't remember. I wondered how we went to the bathroom because I figured we were forced to fly non-stop all day, but that thought passed. I felt like I couldn't stop flying even if I wanted to. This force just pulled us up and we flew, felt like we were traveling the world.

I remember before I fell asleep I was singing in my head Montalk's lyrics for the song Prevail : 'Ride into the Wave Ride with hearts a glow-oh-oh-oh, Oh Yeah! a reference, I'm guessing to the 'Realm Border Crossing' of the approaching 'WAVE' the C's talked about maybe? That's where we are supposed to transition to a higher level of being called 'Fourth Density'.

It was AMAZING. I noticed that I seemed to be somersaulting most of the time and I couldn't control that, but I had the straight superman pose down a few times at the beginning like all the other fliers. I didn't know what was going on for a while though.

So at one point I then remember flying over a busy city and went down to the street. There were lights, people partying. This felt like our world but in the future. I think there was a concert venue I might have been playing at, or someone else [it felt familiar, like in other dreams I've had. there were staggered blaconies along the walls, busy place, cool lights, not grungy, clean and futuristic but not like in cliche sci-fi movies]...
I flew down to the ground and I threw a big heavy object at a van for some reason. It smashed the side of the bumper pretty good and Inside was an attractive girl. Then another girl appeared. Then the van was full of good-looking women (my taste). Their van smashed into a pole. I realized that I think I could manifest whatever I wanted, this was just before I decided to ask to see something important. No one was hurt though. That was the extent of my (semi-conscious) romantic wishes though, just to see some pretty girls (in clothing lol).

This incident I pulled attracted an angry crowd.

I also remember in this busy city night life that I was in a dark apartment building hallway. There were red and black colors, perceptions or ambiences. There were some guys in suits, like Matrix Agents, or gangster business, evil guys, ugly with gross, pale skin. They attacked me. They shot me in the back and it healed in seconds as the bullet pushed itself out. I slowly got rageful as I pushed the bullet out and my skin healed (without my hands, it just healed itself). I was with another guy in the hallway who reminded me of Morpheus [from The Matrix movie] I turned around to face the agents and the Morpheus guy I was with said 'Don't do it'. I looked at them (not sure what I was going to do) and they shot me in the neck/side-of-face area. That one healed to, it was bloody and gruesomely grotesque.

Strange thing was at this point that I could see myself (or this character) from a 3rd person view as well, my perception was not limited to just the body looking out through the eyes). . I saw myself like I had 2 huge eyes, almost like a grey aliens almonds, but the eyeballs were missing and you could see my human eyes barely beneath the red tissue (insde eye sockets without eyeballs) seemingly hidden but visibly peeking out through the soft, moist, pink tissue, but only on closer inspection could you notice them... from afar it just looked like a human with a big head and big grey eyes missing pulled out of the eye-sockets. I thought this symbolized a disguise or mask of some sort. I don't think all the Flyers were like that when I first saw everyone flying through the sky. They looked like normal people though when flying and eating. [IDK if that was me or someone else, or maybe I changed form <shrug>]

So I left this area where I fought Matrix Agents. I felt anger from people as I flew away from the streets. It was difficult to rise above the city-life. I felt that they saw me flying and thought 'It's one of THOSE PEOPLE' and I felt anger and hate towards me, like bullets shooting at me. I was low and I think one guy shot a shotgun and I was worried for a second, but I was okay and flew away. I felt the negative emotions as if I was a freak to be hunted but they couldn't hurt me.

At one point I asked to see something important once I realized I could travel anywhere. I think I wanted to see my future life or something. I flew on and then saw this building, like grass on the stony walls, actually a garden. Lots of people (I think this was the future). Some tourist event, museum or some gathering.

There was a family of 2 girls (maybe 19/20) and a younger teenage boy (I think). The one younger woman I saw was skinny, long legs dressed really cool, but not sci-fi weird-techno-cool, like our normal style but I think in the future. Long straight hair with different earthy colours (blond, black or brown and tan) folded up, or clipped to the side or half-pony tail or something like that. Also had a bar piercing in one nostril as well as a long skinny strap over the shoulder. Like a camera attached maybe.

There was an older man and older woman, (maybe 65; it's what I got). I thought the man was me in the future, but he said that he wasn't. I went down to the ground and he looked to me casually and said I know who you are. I think he said I died when my wife is 65 and she was completely distraught. The woman with the man I was talking to looked partly Oriental but more white, and the man had some healthy European (maybe a bit of Greek), (the badass rich guy/classy style with beard, thick stocky muscle build, probably leather jacket too, short black hair, well-worn 'seasoned' face, wise blue eyes). The older woman looked like she was healthy and gorgeous before she aged... He also said something about a janitor was her (my wife I think?) only one there for her or something, but it might have been about something else(?).

I then walked along the grass, amongst the crowd like at a tourist destination and left through the entrance area. I zoomed off to keep flying.

I thought at first that this was my family, and if it was then it looks like they are well. But I don't think so actually, it was probably another family.