The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

"Lucid dreaming (also known as dream consciousness or conscious dreaming) is dreaming while being aware that you are dreaming. To actually have a lucid dream you merely have to recognize that you are dreaming. Realizing you are dreaming may not seem all that special, but becoming aware that you are dreaming presents the opportunity of controlling dreams. The idea is that once you are aware you are dreaming you can alter your dreams and dictate what happens: you can do anything you’ve ever wanted and go anywhere you’ve ever desired. Furthermore, everyone can learn how to have lucid dreams. Sound too good to be true, or perhaps a little too “new-ageish?” Lucid dreaming is very real and very possible, and there are many practical and down-to-Earth reasons to experiment with lucid dreams. Are you a little apprehensive over the idea of controlling your dreams, for various reasons? You can also use components of lucid dreaming to simply aid in dream recall, to provide you with more of an opportunity to deeply explore your dreams, and to even help increase the chances of you dreaming about things that you’d like to dream about—without having control."

taken from http://www.dreamviews.com/index.php

Lucid dreaming is something that has interested me for some time now. I'd like to ask who here has tried it, how they managed it, how they discovered that they could do it, to what extent they can control their dreams...anything you have to say about it would be great.

It is a very interesting subject to me as it is something I have been able to do for a very long time. I am actually able to control many of my dreams and make "conscious" decisions while dreaming and control the direction the dream takes.

Thanks for posting this thread!

So what sort of things do you get up o in your dreams Gwen?

very interesting and i have had those dreamsd and have controled them

That has only happened to me once, I knew I was dreaming and I was reading from an incredible book of knowledge.

I still remember thinking ' I should wake up now and write this down...na no need how could I ever forget this '.....well I woke up and forgot it lol

Think that was a lucid dream but it has never happened since.

A lucid dream is a dream in which the person is aware that he or she is dreaming while the dream is in progress. During lucid dreams, it is often possible to exert conscious control over the dream characters and environment, as well as to perform otherwise physically impossible feats. Lucid Dreams are known to be extremely real and vivid.

A lucid dream can begin in one of two ways. A dream-initiated lucid dream (DILD) starts as a normal dream, and the dreamer eventually logically concludes that he or she is dreaming, or a wake-initiated lucid dream (WILD) occurs when the dreamer goes from a normal waking state directly into a dream state with no apparent lapse in consciousness.

Lucid dreaming has been researched scientifically, and its existence is well established.[1][2] Scientists such as Allan Hobson, with his neurophysiological approach to dream research, have helped to push the understanding of lucid dreaming into a less speculative realm.

I have had many dreams where I knew I was dreaming but I never did try to control the dream. I prefer to let things just play out as they were meant to be.

I have had many lucid dreams and i was able to control my dreams....to every last detail...It was all like a movie to me where i was the director and actor...

Ive had dreams like this but i was not able to control it i had tried but was unable perhaps i was doing something wrong i dont know or i just dont have that power

I've had it happen before but I don't realize how I ended up realizing it was a dream. I ended up changing the dream in my favor, but then quickly forgot during the dream that I was in the dream~
I woke up so confused.

most of the time i dream of whatever my mind comes up with but sometimes i half 'wake up' and realise i'm still seeing my dreams and then i can control them and make the story/scence play along as i want it:)) happened the other day...until my alarm went off:(

It's only happened to me once when I was a child. I distinctly remember not liking the fact that a large piece of farm equipment ran me over and killed me so I rewound everything and ran away the second time. It was a strange sensation and I've never figured out how I did it.

Ok, back to class it appears. There are three different types of dreams can anyone out there name them and their characteristics?

Ok, lets do it this way. First we have Literal. A literal dream is just that if you dream you die and don't wake up that is a literal dream. These are the ones that you awaken from shaking in terror.

Secondly we have Prophetic. A prophetic dream is a dream of things to come. Be it either a vision of things to come having to deal with you or others.

Finally we have Repetitive. A repetitive dream is one that occurs over and over again until you learn from it. Be this your subconsciousness's way to tell you that you are forgetting to lock your doors at night or a memory from times past that haunts you and you need to overcome.

Now we have the fun part. ALL dreams are in color.... NO that is incorrect in fact the ONLY dreams that are in color are repetitive. ALL dreams can be controlled by the dreamer... NO that is a very common misconception ONLY literal dreams can be controlled to give you an aspect of understand what you are meant to see. Dreams can fall into more than one category. TRUE. Dreams can be literal and repetitive night terrors fall into both categories.

I hope you have all learned something from this... once again class is dismissed.

On a final note as it was brought to my attention that there could be some confusion with the literal dreaming. In a literal dream what you see is what is actually happening astral travel is considered literal dreaming and it is the dreaming that we awake from still being tired feeling as if we have not yet slept.

Wow, great responses so far, thank you all!

I myself have never gotten to the stage of being able to control my dreams. At least not that I remember. Although there usually is a point during a dream when I know i'm dreaming, and I can think rationally, but for some reason I haven't tried controlling anything.

I have had those types of Dream quite a bit it took many years and many dreams to realise that I actually had control over them......I had a recurring dream for the longest time always awoke to the feeling of extreme pain in my chest as in my dream I was stabbed......when I realised I had the ability to enter my dreamworld.....I actually "hurt" the person who attacked me changing the dreams outcome and ending the recurring nightmare it had become

I usually wake up when/if I realize I'm dreaming lol

How is lucid dreaming different from a controlled meditative state? Or Astral projection, dreamwalking etc.. Does it depend on the content of the dream?

Interesting thread Carnal :)

Great thread! Ive never been able to quite master it, like astral projection, but i love reading and learning. Thanks so much for the link.

This subject fascinates me as well. If I could learn how to lucid-dream in my dreams, I might actually figure out more details of the places I visit or the countless deaths (undeaths? since I always wake up alive) that I experience in the dreams I have. I would have loved to go back to the dream where I spoke a language no one speaks today.

What I really wish for, is a way to record the dreams I have as seen from my eyes so that I could study them in greater detail... but sadly that technology hasn't happened yet.

Lucid dreams neevr last that long and odnt occur that often. But yeah ive had them and choose to fly lol >.< Great experience.

A freind of mine said he reaized he was dreaming whenever something that would be impossibe in real life happened, like he shot someone and they didn't die, he said there was a moment where he was just thinking "wait a minute... this is a dream!" and at that point he would begin to dream he had superpowers and he would start blowing things up DBZ style. I don't remember my dreams personally but I wish I could and I wish I could have a lucid dream. It sounds fun.


Also I wonder, do you think this would be possible with halluciations? Like say a peson took a=some acid and began to hallucinate, but then acknowledged that he was in fact hallucinatin, whoul he be able to dictate what he saw?

This is so ironic.
I am actually having to do an experiment on Lucidic Dreams in Psych class.

Haha, neat.

From what I've experimented though, if one wishes to try Lucid Dreaming, follow the process I have thoroughly tested:

(This is off my actual research paper)
THE Sleep/Wake/Back to Bed METHOD
PROCEDURE:
1) go to bed for 6 hours or so
2) then wake up
3) stay awake for an hour or so (about 20-60 minutes)
(or at least until you are "awake"
and not sleepy-headed or foggy-minded
...get out of bed and do something
...you HAVE TO get out of bed!!!
preferably record your dreams in your dream journal
or do some reading about lucid dreaming.
4) THEN go back to bed
using whatever technique you normally use to induce your LDs
( i.e. MILD technique, affirmations, counting, trance induction, visualization, grounding your awareness, etc…)
Then it is lucid dreaming time!!!

...I thought everybody could do that...
I've done that since I was five years old, in a way...Mainly in a nightmare. If I had a nightmare, I would wake up halfway, realize I was dreaming, and then control the dream, and what happens, even controlling it somehow while I slept.
I still do that today, if a dream isn't going in the direction I like. It makes sense, since most of the time it's your own mind that creates the dream, you should be able to control it.

i have never been able to control my dreams . or at least didnt think during the dream that i was.

I believe dreams are our spirits way of remembering past things, or sometimes seeing things to come.

BloodyVampireRose, but what about those just weird dreams that really have nothing to do with anything?
That are just sort of random?

What I meant by that last post, lol, is how does that tie into the past or future?

Yes I to would to know the answer to that question.

I hadn't known they were called lucid dreams but I have them all they time. I use to sleep just to dream....So I could be with the one I loved or go to a place
I wanted to be.. I know that I'm dreaming and I can direct the show... I usually have to be well rested...maybe I really don't need to sleep but I take a nap or I sleep in a couple of hours beyond what my body needs...I am a sleep but not deeply...that's`usually when my lucid dreams occur..

I had read about lucid dreams a few years ago, and how to teach yourself to know when you are in a dream.

The method I used involved looking at anything with a number once, look away, and then look back. Most of the time, in a dream, the number will change. Once this happens, you can then use this as a trigger to know you are dreaming.

My one intense experience had me flying and throwing cars, and doing other crazy stuff like I was Neo in The Matrix.

I need to try this again, because it is intense!!!

I have lucid dreams every so often, and like Billy said, I would swear that it was real, until I would fully wake up in my bed or my girlfriend would look at me like I am nuts for asking her if I was in bed all night long. It is really something else to have a lucid dream, and even freakier when one of them is deja vu. Carpe Noctem

i love the dream i can control.

I have had lucid dreams, but they happen very, very rarely. I am working on it. Lucid dreaming is learnable though.

One of the hurdles of getting to lucid dreaming is the fact that our minds seem to be willing to accept almost anything at the time, even if you wake up with that "What the hell?" feeling after.

Recalling your dreams is a very important part of it. Keeping a dream journal is suggested. Lucid dreaming is associated with REM sleep which is a deeper, later part of the sleep phase. So, if you aren't getting a lot of sleep you probably wont have much success.

One of the first steps in having one is to realize that you are dreaming. This can be done with "reality checks." Looking to see if a clock is running backwards or acting abnormally is the most recognizable one to me. Looking in the mirror to see if the image is distorted or blurry works well too. Basically just look for things that are out of place and make a note of it.

The next problem is becoming very excited once you realize you are dreaming and snapping awake. This is fairly common. Do your best to stay relaxed and the realization that you are dreaming. This isn't always an easy thing to do. Something I was told about is spinning. If you find yourself waking up, force yourself to stand in one spot and spin in a circle. This will usually keep you dreaming but it could also cause things to change quite drastically. So, another reality check might be needed.

This is just the tip of the iceberg and there is much more out there for the taking. I will post more in the future.

I have these dreams sometimes. I wish I had them all the time. Then we I had nightmares I could change them for the better. I have been plagued with nightmares since I was a child. Some much worse than others. Every now and then though, I have a dream where I realize I am dreaming and then I can control what happens. It's a really cool feeling to be in control of your dreams.

Lucid dreaming is very good for someone who has chronic nightmares. It might be just the type of thing that will help you. Best of luck :)

ihave had some wierd dreams

Dreaming has changed as I've aged, not necessarily for the better. But I'm happy to report they remain in flux, that it's changeable, hasn't lost it's elasticity.

I chanced on lucid dreaming by accident as a teenager. Always a light sleeper, I awakened frequently and would remember my dreams. I didn't want to lose the thread, could pick up where I left off.

Also, if I had been doing algebra homework, I would sometimes solve formulas in my sleep.

I figured if I could do that then maybe I could set the direction of my dreams. So, I'd try to think of something to focus on before I went to sleep: a problem, or a pleasant escape into an ideal world (anywhere but here). Oddly, no nightmares. Dreams were a friendly world.

I dreamt symphonies, intergalactic travel, mysteries. Great stuff --- never wanted to wake up, and frequently didn't. Barely attended school.

As I grew older, my dreams were a replay of the day. I was in career mode and working out subtext in interpersonal relationships. It was exhausting.

now i no what the name of the dreams i have .. right before i go to sleep i have csrtain things on my mind. i dont like to go to sleep angry at any one as i carry it into a dream.. it cpuld be a very violent dream or just arguments but i try to stay away from them..

then ive had dreams were i had tons of money and went on spending spers..

Ive had dreams like this but i could not control it. I had tried but, was unable perhaps I was doing it wrong.

I don't think it's lucid dreaming that I do. Whenever I drift in and out of sleep, like wake every 5 - 20 minutes, I always make decisions for my dreams while I'm half asleep and then fall back under and what I thought IRL happens in my dream. I would like to be able to do it while fully asleep though!
Kind of unrelated- I've been keeping a dream journal for the past two or so weeks. It's so much fun.

I do that all the time. Most of the time it's when I'm having a dream that I don't like....I can change what is happening in my dreams. Not sure how I do it.

I have tried many times to no avail. The problem is when I go to sleep~ I'm sleeping! How do you gain control of the dream to begin with?

I have had a lot of lucid dreams, i do not try to do it it just happens, one minute i will be dreaming and the next minute i know im dreaming and i can control what is happening, but for me it does not last long or atleast that is what it seems...

I discovered the ability to lucid dream after I first starting meditating. I was in my early teens. I found that it came rather easy for me. However, I haven't been as disciplined in my meditation as of late, so it's a little harder for me to control my dreams now. Even before, when I was good at it, I couldn't control them all.

Usually I wake up as soon as I realize I'm dreaming.. I wish I could keep the dream going.

I have been ab
le to control my dreams since I was a kid. Back then it wasn't so much controlling them but k
nowing I was in a dream and forcing my self away if it was a bad dream or even making myself go back if
it was a good dream. Nowadays I just change a dream to suit my n
eeds, ie if it is a bad dream I change it around so it is a good dream...it is a very
iteresting topic found your information very good thank you.

Although I have never had a lucid dream, I have had dreams so real that my body has suffered everything in the dream. To the point where I have waken up but still found myself part in my dream and part in reality. Smells, bruises in my dreams are so real when awaking.

I have only been able to realize I'm dreaming, I have yet to administer some type of control.... I'm still working on it... Hopefully I will be able to get the hang of it soon though since some of my dreams I can't recall if I wanted to....

i dont ever remember my dreams

I think i've had an experience like this perhaps. Thanks for the information.

the only time this has happened to me is when I have a falling dream....

Almost all of my dreams have me in them. The bits I can control do not involve me..so a partial lucid dream perhaps. I have always wondered why I can't direct the parts that I am in, only the other people and things.

It really works, to calm ones mind before sleep, to bring it in a balanced state, so it can see clearer.

Usualy after this, one can start to experience lucid, gaining bigger control over it.

But of course, you gotta be continuus when it comes to this excercise.

Proly about five minutes of meditation before sleep, or it depends on how good are you at it so far., would do the trick.

I like flying most.

I have only had a few I could control, but i remember all of them.

when i have lucid dreams, i can control some of the dream, but not all...

I have had this happen more than once but didn't know what it was called.
According to the information I've read tonight i've had both forms of Lucid dream.

This is very interesting because the first time it happened it was Dream Induced and I was back in high school and I was directing the dream. I was actually aware that what I was thinking was beginning to happen as i thought it.
I have been able to fly in these dreams and I've even been able to travel to countries that I have never been to.

I am glad that you posted this forum and am going to continue to research this subject now that I know i'm not alone. That others have these dreams and that they are recognised .

i love those dreams so much fun havin control over dreams

i have had this when i was asleep. i was dreaming that my friend's mum had died and i should leave him alone. then i interjected in my own dream that it couldn't be true and this was only a dream. after that it stopped, but i woke up very confused the next morning

I don't remember my dreams so not sure if I've had a lucid dream or not.

Lucid dreams are like orgasms for the anorgasmic - difficult to achieve, impossibly hoped for, and once you have one, you just keep trying and trying for the next...

Personally I've experienced lucid dreams quite a few times now. It's an exhilarating experience. Knowing you can control your own fantasy world. I've never deliberately tried to have one however, they just seem to happen of their own accord.

i hope they are real...

This is very interesting..
I never tried it before, I will try soon and see if it works

From a very young age I was trained in many things and this in a way was one. I was raised in part on a reservation and part of my training there was in some of the things a shaman/medicine person would need to know and be ale to do. I was taught to dreamwalk and in part it means I had to first learn to control my dreams.

Okay, should I burst your theories all
hell and back? I lucid dream all of the
time. Actually, my waking dreams are
far more real than my reality. I do the
whole dream w/sleep thing sometimes
but they are not my favorite.

I always dream in color, in vivid details,
and I never forget my dreams when I
come back from them. Even sitting there
talking to someone, I can be seeing the
dream state worlds in the back of my
consciousness and it is severely
distracting. Not that I mind...

I have been told my style of dreaming is
highly rare. Only really great authors
have been known to possess it. I am not
a great author, but I have never once
even tried to get published. Honestly, I
am afraid of what would happen if I were
good at it. I hate book signings and
publicity touring...Lmao.

Still, it would give me things I lack today...
I could tell you about dreaming; I really
could, but you probably wouldn't
understand a word of it or ever
experience it if I did. I can't understand
why everyone doesn't dream the same
way I do. It seems so normal to me...

J.K.

I have done this but I have had issues with my dream when I saw something yet to happen and when it did. It make me not want to dream anymore

i had a few and the information i have read on here explains alot more then what i understood prior to reading this thread. Thank you

didnt know this one i wonder what they were called thanks

I totally believe in lucid dreaming and have done experiments on it for myself after watching a documentary about it. We also took it to another level by linking lucid dreamers. My step son was having awful nightmares and we figured we would try one of they things they talked about on the show. We sat down together and drew a picture of a door so that both of us were involved in the construction of that dream door so that when he had a nightmare he could find the door and I would keep that door in my dream in case he needed me. It actually works he had a nightmare and came to the door when he came in he was in my dream and away from the bad thing in his and we both went to his to get rid of the bad thing so that he didn't have that nightmare anymore.

Doesnt controlling your dreams sort of defeat the purpose?
It is suppose to be a subconcious relief of emotions and reactions. By controlling this out burst of usually bottled emotions or unrealized feelings, you are basically clogging a release passage.

well as i belive so is this a stage between sleep and awakeness. You dont really sleeping when you have theese dreams. Im pretty sure you is awake but somehow is feeling that you sleeping.

Dreams usually do occur close to the end of the slepeing cucle which is why a lot of people wake up right after a dream. It is also why certian sounds they hear in their real world are incorporated inside their dream world.

I've only had a lucid dream about maybe two or three times in my lifetime and all I did was realize I was dreaming and woke myself up. I'd rather not be aware that I'm dreaming until I wake up, especially from a nightmare.

my roommate sees thing that are going to happen in the next day or two evwen if it is something stupid.. i do not dream and when i do its not good..

I've had lucid dreams, but they are always random and always occur in recurrent dreams. Recurrent dreams are the only one I have where I realize I'm dreaming, because I remember what happened in the last dream (ex. after having a recurring dream about going through a maze a few times, I will remember which way to go and what happens there). Knowing what happens clues me in to the fact that I'm dreaming, and I start trying to control things.

Unfortunately I tend to over think things, so sometimes it doesn't work. I will essentially trick myself into causing it to fail by doubting my ability to change things, even though it is my dream.

Usually I try to test it out first by summoning some small item like my purse, and if it works I'll just do whatever I want. But there have been occasions where it will occur to me that since I knew it was a dream and knew what was going to happen, it might change itself so that I would be confused again, and that's exactly what will happen.

I will go into a familiar situation, then instead of going the way I expected it to it will go completely cock-eyed and leave me utterly confused and unable to effect my dream any longer even though I still knew it was a dream. Clearly my sub-conscious is a strange place.

Since they only come at random intervals and only in certain kinds of dreams I haven't had too many of them. Only twelve that I can remember, and maybe a few more that I don't. I'm still unable to induce them, even though I've tried many times.

I don't know if what I do is lucid dreaming but it sounds enough like it. I fall asleep in class..... a lot. But when the teacher tries to humiliate me by asking a question she thinks I wasn't listening to, I answer every one of them correctly. When I'm sleeping, I can hear every word she says and even see myself writing it down on the notebook. But when I wake up, nothing's there and the writing was just in my head.......

I'm with SingingGhost on this.. although differnet people have diffeent experiences, we dream. on the whole an expression of self-though, self-doubt, or fantasy. It's a release.. grant you.. there are things others can teach me, but overall I think she has it sussed well.

Now.. if we'd been talking Astral travel??

i have had lucid dreams for as long as i can remember. i used to exercise control over them, but i then came to realise that controlling them defeats the object. now i will sometimes try to keep them on track, but try not to control them, as if i do that, it simply becomes fantasy and wish fulfillment, and cannot teach me anything.

There have been a few psychological studies about this recently. It seems really interesting. I don't think I've ever had a lucid dream, but I've never really tried to control my dreams anyway. The problem for me is realizing that I'm dreaming in the first place. My dreams are so close to reality that sometimes I can't tell.

It is true i hav them all of the time.

Although I gave a few starters on how to lucid dream awhile back. I do agree that its not exactly something you should be doing all the time. It is a nice stress reliever and a good way to shake off the beginnings of a nightmare though. Just my two cents.

A blessing and a curse for me My dreams are unbelievably lucid. I am able to maintain all my senses and have the ability to control my surroundings (to an extent). Also, if I wish to return to a previous dream, I can.
The downside is that I do feel pain (surely, because Ibecome active while asleep and strain muscle; sometimes spasm or stop breathing). I have awakened to hysterics of fear or grief and sometimes, I have been able to see things in my dreams that occur in the real world (Im still a bit sckeptical on that).
Nonetheless, many of my writings are from my dreams -- especially since they are sometimes the level of Hieronymous Bosch (scary in itself, I assure you).
I consider it almost a power. To have such control in the dream realm and be blessed enough to remember what I dream.
Another bad side: if I am going through my own personal downward spiral, my dreams become grounds for survival. I face death under so many different disguises and situations -- sometimes I believe I have almost died.
Still, i would not trade this gift. Even if it comes at a price.

I seem to have a natural ability to know and understand when I am dreaming. I don't really know why it happens, but I would say that between 65 and 75% of the time I realize that I am dreaming. I've never bothered to try to actually control the dream myself, but perhaps I should try. Maybe this is a sign that I have an inate psychic ability that I have been unaware of to this point...

i have done that a few times i dont know how but i knew i was dreaming and i made actual desions...

I've tried it on several occasions but I dont' think I've ever managed to achieve it. But then I very rarely remember my dreams in any case...

Funnily, I never thought this was something no one else could do. I spoke with my fiance about it (he loves hearing the details of my loony dreams) and listens in rapt fascination at all the details I can recall, sounds, textures...the whole deal. It has always made me a little scared, especially when i fall into a dream that I know doesn't go well (like I know I am goin go to have to face off against an unbelievable adversary or if I lose a loved one) I don't handle the latter too well, and sometimes have found myself bed-ridden to recouperate. I get so drained that I run a fever and can't eat -- dependingon how intense the dream is and how much "damage" I take in the dream. In the end, it's all one big mind f*ck.
Still, some of my best ideas have come from the things that have kept me up at night or awakened me to horrid panic attacks. My imagination is medival but I love the limitless ability of it.

I have been doing this for a very long time....I usually dream almost every night.

I've only had one lucid dream that I can remember, however I could not control the dream in any way. It was very frustrating because it was a bit of a nightmare. I knew I was in my room, on my bed, but what I saw was terrible and I couldn't change it. I think I was a bit too captivated by the images to do so.
What poor control.

I've had a few dreams where I've been able to consciously change the course of the dream. But I can't do it on command, it just kind of happens sometimes.

I have managed it for short periods but never through any will or deed of my own. It has simply happened mostly realized when I realize I can't understand letters. I keep trying to read something in a dream and even though I know what it says I can't recognize the letters. Sure sign you are dreaming.

Most of the dreams I have are controlled. I don't know if it's because I'm a light sleeper of if it's something else. I've never actually thought about controlling my dreams...it's always come to me naturally.

I had a lucid dream the other night. I was looking round an old farmhouse with a view to buying it, and in my dream I planned out decorating all the rooms, and it all made perfect sense, there were no weird things happening like corpses coming out of walls or the house getting up and walking away...it was like I was actually walking round this house. It was a really cool dream!

I just recently having vivid dreams are these the same as lucid dreams?

this is a interesting topic Ihave had lucid dreams for abotu 10 years and Ican control what happens in them

I usualy never wake up right away after a dream. I wake up right away dreaming in another dream.

I haven't had a lot of control over my dreams then yet it is a area I have yet to explore and work on. I have had moments of control, or where I have entered someone else's dream.

It is a fascinating subject.

some of the best dreams that i've had were lucid dreams. i didn't know it back then, but i've been having lucid dreams since i was a child.

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