Lucid dreams.

[hazetwostep]

lucid dreaming (LD) is an amazing tool for exploring consciousness, your unconsciousness, and so much more.

what epsilon describes is known as WILD (wake induced lucid dreaming) and can be very effective but very challenging for some.

another way to induce LDs is known as WBTB (wake back to bed) and it works much better for me so i thought i would throw it out for everyone...

first, the more you read info, think about, talk about dreaming and lucid dreams the more you will become aware of that area of your life (through saturation of the subject into your subconscious). whenever you awaken and remember a dream you had, write it down. Essentially keep a dream journal. It is important to write it down as soon as you wake up (even at 3AM) otherwise you will forget it or part of it. remembering your dreams is key because what good is it becoming lucid in a dream if you dont remember it when you wake up?

each night as you are lying down to sleep repeat phrases over and over that focus your intent (subconscious saturation again).

"I am going to sleep. I will dream. I will remember my dreams. I will realize I am dreaming."

set your alarm for about 6 hours after you go to sleep. when it wakes you up turn it off and repeat your intention phrases while going back to sleep. this works even better for me in the morning too if i can afford to lounge in bed awhile and just keep falling asleep and waking up at leisure.

anyway, i have had a lot of success achieving lucid dream using this method.

good luck fellow travelers...

[Coelho]

Well... this morning (or rather afternoon ) i had a dream that confirmed that flying indeed spends a lot of energy (dreaming attention).
In the dream i was running, then noticed that running as i run while awake was too cumbersome, so i started to hop, like if i were running on the moon, so each stride had several meters, and then i decided to fly.
Note that i wasnt aware that i was dreaming, i was "into" the dream, the same way im "into" the waking world right now... (but only cause im sober :jointsmile anyway, after several years of experience with dreaming (since i was born), i knew i could fly in the dream, even without being aware that i was dreaming.
So i hopped higher and started flapping my arms. I really dont know why i started to flapping my arms. I dont need to do this to fly in the dreams. But this time i could be thinking i was a bird, who knows?... Anyway... i started to flapping the arms, and my flight followed it exactly as the flight of some big bird (like a seagull) follows it wings flapping. Then, after some seconds of flight (maybe half a minute) i noticed i was losing height and also consciousness, and moments later i awoke.
And it always happens. Whenever i fly, it makes my dreaming attention wane, and i awake. I only would like to know... why???

[hazetwostep]

One of the best ways to stay conscious in the dreaming state is by stimulating your dream senses. If i am dreaming and aware of it (lucid dreaming) and I start losing clarity and can sense that I am beginning to wake i have a few techniques that help you stay in the dream.

While in your dream and when you begin to lose clarity and connection simply:

1. Rub your hands together- by stimulating your dream senses (touch) you help your mind stay attached to the dream consciousness which can help prolong the dream.

2. Spin in circles- another form of stimulating your dream senses

Also, if you regular fly in your dreams you have a great tool to awaken your consciousness to experience a full lucid dream. Before be keep thinking in your head "Anytime I am able to fly with no assistance I know I must be dreaming." Repeat over and over while going to sleep, almost like a mantra. This will saturate your subconscious with the thought and it is very likely that next time you notice that you are flying without assistance you will remember the rest of the statement that "you must be dreaming." When you awaken your consciousness in the dream world, the possibilites are ENDLESS... literally. You will find yourself full conscious in a world with no laws and you will have complete control over "matter."

[BBoyShotty]

wow im so glad this thread was made! A friend of mine gave me a link to a clock that supposedly helps you achieve lucid dreams a few years ago(before i started smoking), but i havent given much thought on the topic since.

Its funny that you guys mentioned the flying in dreams, because it triggered a memory of an old dream of me flying around my living room that i TOTALLY forgot about..it was weird, it was like an internal FEELING that ive never felt before...it was like i could just FEEL that i could fly. N yeah, its strange, but I too felt like i could only sustain that FEELING of flying for short bursts, kinda like Coelho.

Another lucid dream experience i kept having last year wasnt so pleasant...it freaked me out everytime it happened. I guess it would start off like any other dream, but then somewhere in the middle of it all, something unsettling would happen, n i would realize i was just dreaming, so i would try to wake myself up like in the movies (ie: pinching myself, telling myself to wake up, its a dream, etc.) but the thing was, i WOULDNT wake up..the pinches, slaps, wahtever felt sooo real, but yet, i couldnt wake up. Then i would try repeating, "its a dream, wake the fuck upp", and would try to open my eyes, and its weird...its like i CAN kinda open my real eyes, but eveyrthing was blurry, until id finally snap back into my body, and id jolt up in my bed, panting..

Now whats REALLY fucked up to me now, is i just watched the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (if you havent seen it, WATCH IT!!!)a few days ago, and theres a scene where Jim Carreys character does basically the EXACT same thing as me..He manages to open his eyes, but he cant move his body.

neways, just thought i should share haha.
cant wait to goto bed tonite so i can try it all again

[pass_the_dubbie]

STOP MAKING THREADS I COULD REPLY PAGES TO DAMMIT! :wtf:

A little lucid reply...dreams are great, realitys pretty damm good too.

• I always dream in colour(apart from one which was all one colour - grey)
• I always hear(apart from one dream..just grey..no sound)
• I fly(usually to get away/explore different things quickly)
• I imagine where I want to go, and go there
• I smoke weed! (not often..sometimes)

Another lucid dream experience i kept having last year wasnt so pleasant...it freaked me out everytime it happened. I guess it would start off like any other dream, but then somewhere in the middle of it all, something unsettling would happen, n i would realize i was just dreaming, so i would try to wake myself up like in the movies (ie: pinching myself, telling myself to wake up, its a dream, etc.) but the thing was, i WOULDNT wake up..the pinches, slaps, wahtever felt sooo real, but yet, i couldnt wake up. Then i would try repeating, "its a dream, wake the fuck upp", and would try to open my eyes, and its weird...its like i CAN kinda open my real eyes, but eveyrthing was blurry, until id finally snap back into my body, and id jolt up in my bed, panting..

When I was a kid and had the "night terrors" I would always have places I could go to exit the dream, now-a-days I couldn't give a crap. Perhaps if you can you should try going to somewhere in the dream world you feel safe. My exit point for bad dreams would be this set of cupboards, I wouldnt go into them i'd just kneel and close my dream eyes then i'd wake up.

The most scary enocunter I had was when I was in the safe zone, an exit for the dream when the demons were smashing down each shelve of the cupboard it felt like I wasn't going to wake up. I woke up before they got me though then never used that set of dream cupboards again :thumbsup:.

[BBoyShotty]

thanks, ill definitely try that if i get into that state again. Hopefully i can have a lucid dream tonite..ill let you guys know tmr heh

[THClord]

I think about two nights ago I could've lucid dreamed, but I chose not to. In my dream I realized I'm sleeping, and then I thought: "Should I take control?" But I decided, "No, I'm too lazy to want to do that, this dream is already fucking fun" And my dream just continued like an ordinary dream until I woke up.

This brings me to an interesting thought: Maybe the purpose of our dreams is to test out limits. We dream the impossible. We try to do what we possibly can not IRL. But if we fail and fuck up in our dreams, we learn from it, and our subconsious can use this knowledge when we're awake.

[WillyX]

What Epsilon actually describes is more of a meditative visualization than a lucid dream.

A lucid dream is when you are fully asleep and become fully aware during a dream. Something in the dream triggers you to recognize that something isnt "quite right", and then you realize that you arent actually wake, but are dreaming.

It occurs during REM stage sleep. Lucid dreaming has spikes of upper-alpha and beta brain wave activity during REM, which is why you become more aware in the dream.

But it doesnt last long, because the brain eventually phases out of the regular REM stages and you wake up.

But if you have regular lucid dreams you can prolong them each time it occurs. #1 - Dont be scared during it. The most common reason people wake up immediately during it is because they get scared that they wont be able to wake up and be stuck in a dream state. Or fear they will create conditions in the dream that will be terrifying.

[GreenDestiny]

I've tried listening to some audio cd's of that brainwave mind voyage stuff, the ones to help induce a state of lucidity and make you realize you're dreaming. It never worked for me because I could never fall asleep listening to them due to insomnia.

Most of my dreams now are partially lucid, I can control some things but I think I'm still in reality. I believe in things like we are able to move things with our minds, levitate, and fly in real life... we just lack the concentration and mental discipline. So then when I decide I want to fly in a dream, I just do it as if it's something as simple as walking. Sometimes I need to concentrate just a little bit, other time's it's unbelievably easy. I also find myself ninja flipping over obstacles in my way a lot if I'm running.

I always feel pain, can always see in color, and hear. I can't recall any specific times when I've smelled stuff, but I'm sure I have. and I can also read some things. Reading, and understanding what you read, seems to be one of the harder things to do. It'll sometimes be a specific number or word that I can read.

An old way I used to test to see if I was dreaming was to make Wolverine's adamantium claws come out of my hands. I could feel them inside my arms moving through, and it hurt when they cut through the skin to come out.

I end up smoking weed a lot in dreams... and often times I'm growing it too.