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Lucid Dreaming. Your Thoughts.

Migrated topic.
State of the Mind

State of the Mind

Rising Star
I thought this fitted quite nicely in the new sub forum so made this thread.

Recently I have been exploring lucid dreaming, I find it very interesting exploring ones mind and combating the "monsters" one has.

However there are some mixed responses about lucid dreaming, some find it frustrating and struggle with the concept. However some have become so apt at lucid dreaming that they find it tedious. An example would be 69ron's post in the "Passionoxia".

69ron said:
I mastered lucid dreaming when I was younger. After a while I could do pretty much anything I wanted in the dreams, I could fly, I had magic powers, I could make people appear and disappear at will, I could change everything in the dream, I was GOD. It was fun at first, but it became boring. There was no challenge to the dreams anymore. Nothing scared me anymore. Even the most horrible monster could be turned into a beautiful sex crazed woman in seconds.

After a while it feels like you’re playing chess with yourself and it’s no fun anymore so I stopped doing it.
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I would like to know other peoples experiences with this and their thoughts on the subject.
 
My thoughts: Lucid dreaming is so freaking hard! I barely have any control most of the time. And when I do, I don't know what to do with myself so I just "practice flying."
 
Lucid Dreaming is one of SWIM's favorite ways to explore consciousness. After practicing and having good success in doing it he discovered that this phenomenon is very much connected to a certain neurochemistry as well.

He learned a lot from Thomas Yuschak's theories (who later disappeared for unknown reasons) and noticed that Lucid Dreaming can be easily triggered by raising ACh levels while simultaneously stimulating / modulating ACh receptors like it is done by e.g. nicotine. A superbly effective way to induce a lucid dream is to take Galantamine combined with a choline salt after a few hours of sleep.

SWIM also noticed the "wear off"-effect after some years. But then he started to drink ayahuasca which brought his dreams and also his lucid dreams to a whole new dimension. Since then he also drank ayahuasca in his lucids from time to time and enjoyed similar experiences to waking life ayahuasca rituals. So for SWIM lucid dreaming started to make sense again. He also thinks that it fits nicely into his shamanic way since he believes that a lot of healing can be done while being conscious in the dreamstate.
 
I have only managed to lucid dream properly once, very briefly. I would love to learn.

Does anyone know of any really good lucid dreaming forums? Or good solid techniques for beginners?
 
i completely agree with what 69ron said about "playing chess with yourself"

something about lucid dreaming every night and not having a choice

it really drained me mentally and physically for months

like i had been running around in my dreams all night and never got any real sleep
 
ohayoco said:
I have only managed to lucid dream properly once, very briefly. I would love to learn.

Does anyone know of any really good lucid dreaming forums? Or good solid techniques for beginners?
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Aparently it is easiest to do it when you are in that "nearly awake" state. Setting an alarm for 3 hours before you normally get up and leaving it on snooze so it keeps you from deeper sleep. There is loads of info on the web, I'm sure.

Like you ohayoco, I have only had one proper lucid dream experience. It was absolutely amazing. All of my conscious functions were normal, but I was in the dream world. I went flying, quite a typical thing to do, apparently!

I have had other "hyper-real" dreams though. The most disturbing was when I fell deeply in love with a girl, and genuinely felt like I had lost someone when I woke to discover it had never happened. It actually took me a few days to get over it. :shock:
 
I have been following this Webpage and have been trying to improve my dream recall, in an effort to learn the trends of my dreams. I have found that I am able to lucid dream occasionally, however it does not last long and I wake up quickly, which can be very frustrating.

However I think it can be very rewarding, the aim of lucid dreaming is to find inner peace in my dreams and thus improve my sleep quality. This as well as beginning to understand my mind more.

It's a really interesting topic and it is nice to see peoples stories and opinions. :d
 
Lucid dreaming is simply amazing I got really into it for awhile.

I could not say I have mastered it by any means but simply the realization while you are dreaming is what kept me coming back.

Definitely flying is a typical first move. Manifesting a woman(you know what I mean) was always nice to..

I got away from it for awhile just out of not doing reality checks and not really thinking about it to much. Over the last week or so I have had a couple of those dream realizations, where I am like "Oh man I am dreaming"... My dreams are so vivid and are 100% as real as this reality!

Last night I had one of those realizations but it was in a scary context and I didn't really alter anything... It was a long drawn out story dream, can't remember the beginning or middle but here is the ending.

My ex girlfriend and I walked down my 2nd floor apt stairs and out the front door. We were walking along the sidewalk next to a line of cars, when we noticed there was a man in a black ski mask who had a girl pinned to the hood of a car.... He had a black pistol at the ready, my ex said run and we both started a mad dash lowering our heads as he shot at us.. Somehow my ex and I become separated and his attention was entirely on me... I was running and ducking and ended up in the open between the initial line of cars and a set of garages in front of my apt. He was still firing and somehow missing me with the pistol, I fell to the ground and he whipped out an automatic shotgun (how do you whip out auto shotty)...He put his foot to my head and said now everyone is going to die... It was at the point I realized to was dreaming and said this isn't even real... At the point he is probably pulling the trigger I wake up breathing hard...
I know it seems freaky to some but honestly I don't mind dreams like that although the do give you quite a rush..

A few things about lucid dreams and my coming to a realization... For some reason when I lay down or fall down in dreams that is usually when I know. It just doesn't feel like the normal sensation I would have when I do the same in this world.. Lights were always a trigger to and if I was going to make 1 recommendation for reality checks it would definitely be flipping a light on and off 10 times a day each time saying I'm awake right now... I think that is what got me there the first time...Sometimes though you get there in a blank state type dream which is where some real fun begins.
 
I was into this a while ago, trying every night, it is very difficult to attain lucidity, atleast for me. I have only had about five lucid experiences. Everything seems so real. I think there is a line between controlling your dreams and really being focused at the same time, because it does get kind of hazy. A few nights ago I became aware and tried flying, yeah, I guess it is a common thing to do because it is something we all know is impossible in real life. So I say to myself okay lets fly, I run and jump over a fence and hit the ground hard. I'm like, what? Are you serious this is supposed to be possible, so I run and jump, more focused this time, and begin flying over a forest and looking down on everything. I was able to land at will at certain points, and jump up again to continue flying. It is bizarre how real things seem. Just imagine how aware we are in waking life, if we were aware all the time in dreams, maybe it would be hard to tell the difference between the two, albeit the impossibilities, still a great way to explore a different realm.

If you are looking for a good forum for lucid dreaming I would check out dreamviews.com/ They have a good community and good insight.

As for techniques that a beginner can try are reality checks. For me I try looking at a clock or your watch throughout the day, your hands, or something else and by reminding yourself I am awake and this is real. Then in your dreams you can look at your hands and try to put one hand through the other or transform, look at a clock, it will change time, or you will realize you aren't wearing a watch or have a tattoo, etc.

Another thing you can do is keep a dream journal. As soon as you wake up try not to get up and out of bed so fast, try to recall as much of your dream as possible and document it. The more frequently you can recall your dreams the better the odds you are of realizing you are in a dream.

I will have to try that ACh thing, I take melatonin everynight to try to extend or go into deeper REM sleep, I suppose it works, I have more dreams, more vivid, and am able to become lucid easier.

Maybe we should start a topic for a dream journal, where we can post and discuss our dreams?
 
nicotine plasters : )

I have used these some years back (unfortunately began smoking again few months after stoppping)
but anyways i remember the dreams were very vivid when i forgot the remove the plaster before going to bed..

anyone tried these plasters for lucid dreaming?
i still got some laying around somewhere, wonder if they are still sticky..
 
I have become increasingly interested in dreams as a way of exploring altered states of consciousness, I now keep a dream journal and try other lucid dreaming techniques (I have also tried mugwort as a way of enhancing dreams.) Psychedelics have contributed to my interest in them, sometimes when I am tripping I feel as though it has a dreamlike quality to it- and vice versa (some of my dreams are now even more surreal/'trippy' then they used to be.)

The other night I had my first pronounced lucid dream experience, I became aware that I was missing my tattoo and thus realized I was dreaming and what I was seeing couldn't possibly be 'real.' I couldn't change or direct the path of the dream, but I thought it was a pretty cool first step just being able to dream whilst being fully conscious of it =) It's helped that recently I've been waking up at around 6-7 ish then falling back to sleep for a few more hours- I get really intense dreams from it.

I think if I stopped smoking so much weed it would help a lot too, it def detracts from my memory recall ability.

On another note- I don't understand the whole doing reality checks in a dream thing, if you can actively divert your attention anywhere your already fairly lucid & in control of the dream o.0
 
It required me a lof of efforts to train to lucid dreaming when I was younger. And I had amazing experiences that I still can remember. Curiously, beeing older, lucid dreaming occurs more often naturally, maybe because of broken sleep patterns.
Few years ago I would never have believed it could becomes tedious as it was so much fun and amazing.
More often it is amazing but indeed, when you try to take the control on it by using your waking-life memory and desires, you quickly sees how limited it can be. It can be fun but you just can't discover anything new that way. I am at a point where I think that some unconsciousness (or limited awareness) is welcome :roll:
 
Virola78 said:
nicotine plasters : )

I have used these some years back (unfortunately began smoking again few months after stoppping)
but anyways i remember the dreams were very vivid when i forgot the remove the plaster before going to bed..

anyone tried these plasters for lucid dreaming?
i still got some laying around somewhere, wonder if they are still sticky..
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I have used these not having any intent on having lucid or vivid dreams, but for all three nights I wore them, I had some very vivid dreams... they were actually all nightmares. But very very vivid. Im thinking about quitting ciggs, and am thinking of trying the patch again. Maybe with some of the tricks ive picked up on the web I can turn them into lucid dreams.... Definately gonna have to look into the Galantamine combined with a choline salt too
 
Virola78 said:
nicotine plasters : )

...

anyone tried these plasters for lucid dreaming?
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SWIM used them a lot for lucid dreaming, but they are not as effective as galantamine is. This is simply because they lack the AChE-inhibitor quality. But if you add some huperzine and a choline salt (SWIM very much prefers alpha-GPC) your chances to get lucid are greatly increased.

Furthermore, the combo galantamine (plus choline salt) + nicotine is simply amazing. It can give you very long and stable lucid dreams, usually lasting for 45 to 60 minutes.

Pure nicotine dreams however, even if not lucid, can be really amazing too. It seems to be connected to the raise in dopamine levels the nictonine gives you. This is of course especially true if you are a non-smoker.

OT: SWIM often thought about using nicotine patches while drinking ayahuasca btw. Peruvian shamans often use nicotine for their brews and it is said to increase the visions. Has anyone ever tried that?
 
ohayoco said:
Oh yeah a girl once told me she lucid dreams every morning and that she doesn't like it. She didn't explain further.
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Sounds like this girl is confusing lucid dreaming for sleep paralysis, or she suffers from sleep paralysis as part of her lucid dreaming.

Tbh...sleep paralysis is just something to get used to and IMO it doesn't detract from the awesomeness of being able to dream lucidly.

Anyone looking for more info. best have a look at the Lucidity Institute :)

In fact...as I'm so lovely, I'll post a link.


There are also other bits and pieces that are linked on EROWID's dreaming page in the Mind & Spirit section.

In my experience, my favourite lucid dreams have been when I fill my room with good ole nag champa smoke and just slip away :)
 
Lucid dreaming is pretty fun for me. It usually happens naturally, and when it does I don't take full control. I like the uniqueness of unconscious thought, because it comes up with some incredible things that I usually couldn't imagine. I read above a few people saying that dreams are really limited in full consciousness and it's true. I am generally half awake when dreaming, because during it I know it's a dream but I "play along" basically. It makes dreams more interesting.

I can recall one interesting dream that was lucid. It was right after a trip on san pedro and I had gone to sleep. I woke up inside this restaurant, and it was in a desert so I thought I was in Texas or something. Anyways, I was seated at a table and I heard these old people start talking about peyote. I turned to the old lady who mentioned it and whispered, "You know where to get peyote?" she asked "Why, are you on some right now?" and I replied "Yes I am actually, well not on peyote but san pedro." to which she said "Oh boy, you gotta get the peyote!". I woke up after that.

It makes me wonder what kind of implication dreams have in waking life.
 
Nowadays I hardily ever rememer my dreams properly anymore, let alone have lucid dreams.

The strangest thing is that there was a period of abour a year, some 5 to 6 years ago, when I remembered 5 dreams a night and had lucid dreams very frequently.
The clearity and the awareness was amazing. The realism was awe-inspiring. At that time I smoked Cannabis, more than I do now, and was suffering from severe wintertime-Insomnia, like I still have every winter. I wonder why my Dream Recall and Lucid Dream Frequency was so much higher back than, then it is now.

It just puzzles my rational mind. I cannot pinpoint exactly what the critical conditions are for lucid dreams, but I do remember back than(in my lucid year-ish period) that despite Insomnia and emotional excitement I experienced a sense of longsretched, vast and persistant calmness. High awareness, low frequency of thoughts. The typical state often described as Zen.

It is exactly THAT state that is required for Lucid Dreaming. No matter how familiar this state may seem to us, maintaining this state is what's really hard.
It balances on such a narrow edge. It is not keeping this balance why we fall into illusions and suffering in Waking Life. The same seems true for waking Life.

I don't know what caused me to be so spiritually balanced back than. I tried traditional meditation excersizes to induce this calm, but passsive state of consciousness, but have not yet had the patience nor dissipline to practice meditation to reach this calm, attentive state of no resistance. But back in the "Lucid Dream year" I did nothing at all to attain this "state", so I'm not sure how to go about Lucid Dreaming anymore.

Back than I did have success with performing Reality Checks often enough to dream about doing them. This lead me to become lucid many times, but most times I suddenly just KNEW that I was dreaming, without a clear reason why. I would allways back this up by doing a Reality Check to confirm it. Then, one day, I ceased becomming lucid in dreams and I ceased doing Reality Checks in Dreams. Soon I ceased to remember my dreams too. Now I've been hardily able to recall a full dream for allmost 4 years now.

I wonder what lead to this long dryspell. And even more I wonder how I can end it.
 
ohayoco said:
I have only managed to lucid dream properly once, very briefly. I would love to learn.

Does anyone know of any really good lucid dreaming forums? Or good solid techniques for beginners?
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I love a good lucid dream.

There are many techniques for enhancing dreams - but, I've used something for some time now which reliably induces a lucid dream. Calea zacatechichi extract works wonders expanding the dream world. I haven't had the live plant, but it's next on the list.

 
hahaha i actually wrote a post on another topic.. but since i've gained full membership (YAY) i'm going to quote what i wrote on another sub-topic board on here!

missxsmilezz said:
It's insane that I just had a crazy lucid dream last night! I've been able to have lucid dreams every now and then for a few years now but i've always had really good dream recall ever since I was a child. i love lucid dreaming :)

In my very first lucid dream, I was driving my car in my dream, but the car wasn't MY car in this reality. It was a totally different car in the dream and for some reason, in the dream, I realized this and thought to myself, "THIS ISN'T MY CAR." So I kind of freaked out a little and then I realized it was a dream. So i was like, "hmm.. if this isn't a dream, then i could do whatever the eff i want" So i started driving all crazy. I made a U-turn onto incoming traffic. HAHA. Now that I think of it, what if it wasn't a dream? haha that would suck.. but anyway, I didn't get hurt at all.. so I stopped the car and got out and ran out.. and I started to run REALLY fast on the side of the freeway.. it was soo exhilarating! and then the dream scene kind of turned into a grassy field with hills all around and I started to jump really high up and down. So fun!

and so yeah.. that was the first of many.

There are actually lots of methods to start lucid dreaming.. most of my lucid dreams were from doing the WBTB (wake-back-to-bed) method. This is where you sleep for about 5-6hrs. wake up by an alarm clock or something. then wake yourself up, get up, stretch a bit, walk around for like about 10mins while really thinking in your head, "i'm gonna lucid dream, I'm gonna lucid dream!" haha. and then you go back to bed. Supposedly, REM sleep is when you remember dreams the most, so if you wake up during that time then fall back asleep w/ the mindset of lucid dreaming then you'll fall right back into REM sleep and hopefully become fully conscious or at least remember better, since you were just awake earlier.

Another method that has been working for me lately has been the WILD (Wake-Initiated Lucid Dreams) technique. This is where you go from waking state to dreaming state undisturbed. it's crazy to go through. because to me.. one minute i'm lying in bed and through a process of relaxation, sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic imagery, the dream state setting seems to construct itself around me.. so when i open my eyes again.. my dream eyes open and i'm somewhere else! and i know for sure the other me is sleeping in bed.

if they say that dmt is naturally produced every night when you sleep, i wonder if i get to witness the release of dmt naturally, fully conscious when i go through this WILD technique to have a lucid dream!
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but yeah.. if you want a good website to learn more about lucid dreaming and other techniques.. i'm actually apart of this forum as well it's..
www.dreamviews.com
 
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