Lucid Dreaming

[Comshaw]

Ever done it? Can you do it on command? It's an interesting concept. I have had some dreams that I knew were dreams while I was in them. It hasn't happened a lot to me, maybe 4 or 5 times. But it was a strange and interesting experience. I think I'm going to work on making more dreams lucid. What say you?

Comshaw

How to Lucid Dream (Even if You Think You Can’t)

 

[JaxRhapsody]

I've had lucid dreams, but I often realize they're dreams before I wake up, and don't get to have that much fun.

 

[Wishingbox]

I’ve had one really vivid lucid dream. It was pretty awesome I knew I was dreaming and flew around then had my way with some woman.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I've had phases of them - some meds induce lucid dreaming. Can be great fun, can be a bit disconcerting or downright unpleasant.

 

[SimonDoom]

To some degree, yes, and it's happened quite often. Usually lucid dreaming happens when I am beginning to come out of sleep, and a part of me recognizes I'm dreaming and thinks, "What can I do? What can I get away with?" But before I'm able to do anything I wake up.

 

[Djmac1031]

Funny this comes up here; I had an idea for a story, perhaps even an anthology series, that would feature lucid dreaming.

Haven't written anything yet, it's still in the "rattle around inside my head" stage.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I tried for a while to get out of body experiences, in my late teens, early twenties.

Happened just the once, I reckon, after some very good sex. I'd dozed off, felt myself roll over, opened my eyes to look into a pair of very blue eyes, then a very quick roll back. Given that my girlfriend had hazel eyes, and mine are blue, I think I was looking at myself. Only ever happened the once, but incredibly vivid.

 

[Alitaptap]

Yes, it’s quite fun but scary at the same time. Learned a trick while doing it. When you find yourself there, instead of trying to move your body - just think of where you want to go, what you’d like to do or see, etc. Be specific. You can go into that state either at the point where you’re just about to fall asleep, or just about to wake up.

My mom told me though that before you do anything, make sure you protect yourself - either by imagining some white forcefield around you, or thinking /saying the name of your closest connection to the divine and asking them to protect you (it can be anything/anyone). She says if there’s good/bad IRL, there’s that there too. I’m not completely sure if what she says is true, but I do it just in case haha!

 

[SimonDoom]

Yes, it’s quite fun but scary at the same time. Learned a trick while doing it. When you find yourself there, instead of trying to move your body - just think of where you want to go, what you’d like to do or see, etc. Be specific. You can go into that state either at the point where you’re just about to fall asleep, or just about to wake up.

My mom told me though that before you do anything, make sure you protect yourself - either by imagining some white forcefield around you, or thinking /saying the name of your closest connection to the divine and asking them to protect you (it can be anything/anyone). She says if there’s good/bad IRL, there’s that there too. I’m not completely sure if what she says is true, but I do it just in case haha!

I've had a few occasions in dreams where I felt like I realized "I'm dreaming and I'm conscious of this!" (but perhaps that was just part of the dream!) and I tried to act on it, but inevitably I just woke up and didn't get to continue enjoying it.

 

[Alitaptap]

I've had a few occasions in dreams where I felt like I realized "I'm dreaming and I'm conscious of this!" (but perhaps that was just part of the dream!) and I tried to act on it, but inevitably I just woke up and didn't get to continue enjoying it.

Yup, you’re in that state at that point. The trick is in not “trying” to act on it. Just think of what you want to do and it will just happen. In that state, action follows thought automatically. So just think it, and you’ll find yourself there.

Best to decide what you’d like to experience before you fall asleep, so when you’re there you can grab that thought and experience it. Sky’s the limit at that point. Do you want to see the universe, fly, etc. It’s quite trippy actually - and I think people experience it differently based on what senses they relate to more. For me it’s how things sound and feel, what I see comes last for some reason.

Literally, anything. I’m going to sound weird now but who cares, so here goes. You can even ask for healing, send someone love, etc. In this state, I was able to fix my relationship with my dad. He was living far away and there was no contact - so I’d send him love. He started writing me physical letters and our relationship grew from there. So yeah, sky’s the limit at that point.

Oh, and since you already find yourself in that state often, just imagine a ball of white energy (the force field thing) surrounding your body just in case. I trust my mom regarding these things.

And just to add, and this can get addicting, so beware. As long as it enriches your waking life, it can’t be bad. Balance is key.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

To some degree, yes, and it's happened quite often. Usually lucid dreaming happens when I am beginning to come out of sleep, and a part of me recognizes I'm dreaming and thinks, "What can I do? What can I get away with?" But before I'm able to do anything I wake up.

Annoying as fuck, ain't it?

 

[elizaloo]

All the time.

My dreams are usually of the post-apocalyptic/end of the world type and I can end them before I am killed/eaten/whatever.

I also dream of bathrooms; full stalls, broken toilets, blocked doors etc....and they wake me up - when I have to use the bathroom.

Lately I've been having sex dreams, involving a certain someone....vivid, erotic, arousing dreams that wake me up in a cum. Those are the best. I make those last as long as I can.

It's no wonder I wake up exhausted.

When I was younger, I was able to fly in dreams, not far and not high off the ground, but it was the most amazing feeling.

 

[Djmac1031]

When I was younger, I was able to fly in dreams, not far and not high off the ground, but it was the most amazing feeling.

I've had the flying dreams. They usually started out scary; me lifting off uncontrollably, floating up and away, out of control.

But sometimes I'd be able to take over and control my flight. Those are magical.

 

[elizaloo]

I've had the flying dreams. They usually started out scary; me lifting off uncontrollably, floating up and away, out of control.

But sometimes I'd be able to take over and control my flight. Those are magical.

YES!

I was 10? ish when I had mine, but I remember that 'magical' feeling for sure! Wish I could make those happen again.

 

[Djmac1031]

YES!

I was 10? ish when I had mine, but I remember that 'magical' feeling for sure! Wish I could make those happen again.

I can't remember the last time I had that dream. I rarely remember dreams at all anymore.

And unfortunately the ones that linger are usually the negative ones.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Try bog myrtle tea. It's legal. Favored by the Viking Berserkers and other Northern European seers.

 

[elizaloo]

And unfortunately the ones that linger are usually the negative ones.

You need some.....inspiration.....for positive dreams!


Happy thoughts before you fall asleep.....erotic thoughts.....start a 'good' dream when you lie down, close your eyes.....you're a writer, your brain will take over, right?

 

[Djmac1031]

You need some.....inspiration.....for positive dreams!


Happy thoughts before you fall asleep.....erotic thoughts.....start a 'good' dream when you lie down, close your eyes.....you're a writer, your brain will take over, right?

I've been experimenting around with meditation videos, especially ones to help you sleep and dream.

Results are inconclusive at this point. I have found several that help me sleep. But whether they affect my dreams I can't really say.

 

[tenyari]

My dreams are almost always lucid.

It's been that way since I was a child and used a lucid dream to finally end a persistent 'monster' dream by turning another monster into my ally.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I can't remember the last time I had that dream. I rarely remember dreams at all anymore.

And unfortunately the ones that linger are usually the negative ones.

I regularly have flying dreams, and what I call "long story dreams" which connect long sequences together, often erotic. I never know who she is in those dreams, but they're always vivid, in intense colours. I suspect a lot of these subconscious women arrive in my stories (because I have no other idea where they come from).

I've had night terrors on occasion, but not for many years. They were probably stress related. My dream life nowadays is nearly always "pleasant dreams". What gets interesting, is when I start dreaming of characters I'm writing - that's usually the sign of a story that will do well, because of an extra intensity.

 

[LupusDei]

My dreams are almost always lucid.

It's been that way since I was a child and used a lucid dream to finally end a persistent 'monster' dream by turning another monster into my ally.

My way of dealing with "monster" dreams was to turn myself into the worst monster of them all. There was a story called "Ultimate Weapon" or some such, where some scientists unleashed a flying jaw that ate everything, and I borrowed the idea. It's extremely fun to turn the tables, jump up, transform into a flying jaw with a bunch of tentacles swirling behind (just for show, mostly, but if I find myself unable to fly for whatever reason I can kind of hand walk like one would do when swimming in very swallow water using them) and go chase the chasers and eat everyone and everything else. After a while that entire genre simply went away, and when I started to employ the same for "evil people" dreams (like someone cutting off my forest unlawfully or by some dubious mandate) that genre was greatly reduced too.

Yes, I trained lucid dreaming to deal with my childhood and early teenage nightmares and once there of course tried to abuse the ability for various fun things. But in the result the entire landscape of my dreamworld changed for the better, towards very cinematic, complex tales that rarely were about me personally anymore.

The most basic is flying of course. And perfect to get out of that disintegrating stairwell from hell. That wasn't even my own nightmare originally, sister infected me with it, telling about hers. Attempts to fly flapping elbows is stupid in my opinion, but one of my girlfriends claimed that's how she does it, to get up at first, but then it changes.

I do it by switching the gravity right away to... something else. And just fall upwards, then stabilize. It can get tricky, and sometimes there's arbitrary rules, limitations. It can be extra hard to fly while aroused, don't know why. But I also have had mid air sex in the clouds, although that's usually more spiritual than sexual, and in any case you have to teach her flying first, but if you do it right she's usually extremely joyful when it works.

My experience is that the more you want to manipulate the story the higher chance the only result would be waking up. With is perfectly fine way out of a nightmare, but not at all so great if you're aiming for an erotic experience. So it's better done by small nudging, keeping the wants unfocused and letting the dream world absorb and integrate the infusion of will as some sort of magic.

It's more likely to work, for example, if you wish for a reason for her to strip than simply declaring she has no clothes on, although the last may sometimes work too, if accompanied by timely looking away to let it happen for, apparently, no reason at all.

Among hardest tricks is going full noncorporal and go through walls or fly trough ceilings/floors. I first walked through glass in a literal naked in school dream, and then of course wanted to know what else I could do and where to go. But as someone said above, it's best done by simply setting up a destination and teleporting, although if the goal is to remain invisible while spying on people wraithform may be preferred. Of course, as soon you get strong opinion or arousal you're going to be discovered, even no matter how good stalker you may think you're in real world.

Another unappreciated opportunity is to switch characters. It's easier than it sounds. Everyone in your dream is you. Everyone. If you want her to do something very specific, be her. Of course, you can't watch her then at the same time, and the abandoned original you may do something absolutely unexpectedly stupid in the meantime, but such is the dream logic.

 

[tenyari]

Another unappreciated opportunity is to switch characters. It's easier than it sounds. Everyone in your dream is you. Everyone. If you want her to do something very specific, be her. Of course, you can't watch her then at the same time, and the abandoned original you may do something absolutely unexpectedly stupid in the meantime, but such is the dream logic.

I do that a lot too. Sometimes I'm even no character, but just the camera.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Lucid dreaming isn't just for sleepy time, either. It is a mainstay of shamanistic trance. It can also be quite accurate, as I've observed in the field. My own view, from observation, interview, and experience, is that it allows one's mind to fully draw on and incorporate all knowledge, information, deduction, and inference that one might have at their disposal.

Interestingly, the college where I teach distributed a "care package," to employees at home for the pandemic, that included bog myrtle tea, in packets that indicated it "promoted lucid dreaming."

 

[LupusDei]

I do that a lot too. Sometimes I'm even no character, but just the camera.

Closest I have been to that is some dreams told in "third person" where I occasionally see the next point of view character from afar, after already abandoning the previous, as in movie character introductions or comic book style intermissions. Indeed, maybe even seeing scenery none of my characters had or will, or even possibly story related details that the new character isn't supposed to (yet) know. But when the action starts anew I dive into a body bound experience anyway.

Also, the most vivid dream of that style I remember wasn't what I would call lucid. I didn't recognize the experience as a dream at the time of it, at least not till the very end, even if it was totally cinematic experience. But my concious will wasn't engaged as an editor to guide or change things at any point.

Although I switched between at least three viewpoints, including one of the two twin girls and their elderly butler (with whom she was in a relationship that's best described as incestuous even though they weren't blood related), and had those panning camera intermissions, and the main character did a lot of flying.

But he did it riding on his hoverbike through and above truly epic architecture of an otherworldly city. City locked in a shadow war between several powerful families. A resourceful private detective of sorts he was trying to get a sense of the violent death of parents of said twin girls, hired to do so by said butler upon his suspicions that the other twin was directly involved, or at least that her Romeo was.

The movie ended inconclusive though, with my freelancer in love with the "good" twin just as the old butler had hoped will happen, but more confused about what's realy going on than ever, riding into the sunset on such a bittersweet note I was afraid he's going to take off off-word to never return, abandoning the princess in her tower. Probably the wise thing for him to do frankly, even if "wrong" by any... story trope at very least.

But I woke up on that and never got a sequel (unlike some other dreams I have had in series).