Have you ever had a "Lucid Dream"?

This other "dream" thread here had me thinking, and it reminded me of this... Have you ever had what they call a "lucid dream"?

A "lucid dream" is when you are dreaming and you become AWARE that you are asleep and dreaming, yet you're conscious of it and therefore can control it!!

I had this experience ONCE. It was the most amazing feeling.
This happened several years ago. First, I had a 'normal dream', then at one point I became "aware" in my dream that I was indeed still asleep and dreaming. I remembered then, that when I was awake I had once read about how in a "lucid dream" you can actually control what you are doing! I said to myself, "Wow! I believe I'm having one if those lucid dreams right now!!" I decided to try it... I decided to flap my arms to see if I could fly. At first I couldn't get off the ground. I kept trying, and soon enough I was able to levitate up off the ground! I did it several times. It was incredible! I didn't end up really flying, because I think at that point after "thinking" too much about being lucid, it actually made me wake up out of it.

Earlier in the dream (I don't remember now, but it may have been before trying to fly)... I wanted to go back into that "normal" dream I was having, to make up an alternate ending! I didn't like how people sitting at a table with me were treating me, and in the normal dream I couldn't convince them that they were wrong. I walked out of the room feeling like I had no friends in the world. Anyway, when I went back "lucidly" into the same dream, like the director in a movie, I made it come out exactly the way I wanted it to, and said what I had to say to those people at the table, and I made them understand. I felt so good after, and left feeling confident.

I've read that some people develop the skill so that they can use lucid dreaming as a tool for rehearsal of real life events. Public speaking, difficult confrontations, artistic performance and athletic ability. Because the activity of the brain during a dreamed activity is the same as during the real event, neuron patterns of activation required for a skill can be established in the dream state in preparation for doing these things in the waking world. Some people use lucid dreams for problem solving and artistic inspiration.

The scientific community has only recognized lucid dreaming since the late 1970's, but the practice dates back thousands of years to ancient cultures.

There are ways to develop the skill, but I don't think I'll be trying it! Kind of scares me to be honest . If it should spontaneously happen to me again, then I'll just enjoy it.

Have any of you experienced a lucid dream before? Maybe you're already a pro at it?! :52:

I have not but it would be great to control your dreams. I have a repetitive dream I wish I could control, bad dreams.

Yes! I have actually just started having them as I have become more aware of how I react to stress (try 2 years of nearly constant vomiting because I didnt understand what was going on). One of the things that happens is a string of repetitive dreams, including the bird dream I talked about on the other tread. Other common themes include falling from rickety heights, having no control over my vehicle, be it horse, bike, car, whatever. I am also frequently attacked by wolves and bears One thing though that pertains to this is that when stressed, I dream that I am bitten by venomous snakes. A few weeks ago I was having such a dream and realized that this happens often in my dreams, and never in real life. I then asked my friend who was in my dream if it was a dream, and she laughed and said no. But I explained to her in my dream about why I suspected it, and she again denied it was a dream, but I wasnt dead of a snake bite, so I just assumed it was a dream and moved along.

Every time I realize I am in a dream, it's because my alarm clock is going off, so I wake up. Cool concept though, I would love to be able to so I can fly

birdsquawk said:

every time i realize i am in a dream, it's because my alarm clock is going off, so i wake up. Cool concept though, i would love to be able to so i can fly

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that's what wing suits and parachutes are for! Stop dreaming and start living it... :d

Yes I have.....but I have always been a 'weird' sleeper. I have it under control a little better now but I used to have different issues (Sleep paralysis being one of the ones I had fairly regularly, and I was really terrified the first few times.) But I also used to have these weird blips like micro sleeps.....I was awake and carrying on a conversation, but then would start talking nonsense, far out imaginative nonsense, and then would 'wake up' and be confused. My friends would crack up but I was like 'wow, I was just sleeping....what was I even talking about?'

I think that was more from sleep deprivation in that case.

But the 'lucid dreaming' actually can be beneficial to those repeated nightmares....I was ultimately able to work through a repeating nightmare until I never had it again because each time, I was able to alter what happened until it couldn't hurt me anymore!!!

You can actually teach yourself how to lucid dream. I don't do it anymore, but its incredible once you figure it out!

I think I have had a few lucid dreams. I never could trigger it intentionally though.

I have had a couple of those, in one I was being chased by vampires and the other chased by zombies. Thankfully I was able to survive
On a side note, I think I watch too many horror movies

I can't recall ever being able to control a dream, but I have become aware a few times I was dreaming. I wish I could control my dreams though, that would be awesome!

ruffledfeathers said:

Sleep paralysis being one of the ones I had fairly regularly, and I was really terrified the first few times.

But the 'lucid dreaming' actually can be beneficial to those repeated nightmares....I was ultimately able to work through a repeating nightmare until I never had it again because each time, I was able to alter what happened until it couldn't hurt me anymore!!!

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Patti, I also used to frequently have sleep paralysis. It would always happen at the end of a very scary nightmare (different each time). It was especially terrifying before I knew what it was! Then I read about it, and stopped having them knock on wood. To wake up and get out of the paralysis, I knew I had to utter an audible sound from my voice. I'd try and try, but of course it's near impossible under the paralysis, but usually I'd eventually manage it, and wake up. Whew.

Phlox said:

You can actually teach yourself how to lucid dream. I don't do it anymore, but its incredible once you figure it out!

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I've heard about the techniques and meditation to help put you into the lucid state, but personally, I'll pass on that. It creeps me out... As cool as it is when it spontaneously happens, to "make" it happen would freak me out for some reason.

Terry57 said:

I have had a couple of those, in one I was being chased by vampires and the other chased by zombies. Thankfully I was able to survive

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Thank goodness you knew it wasn't real, and were able to work it out. Chased by vampires and zombies? How scary!

Birdman666 said:

that's what wing suits and parachutes are for! Stop dreaming and start living it... :d

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LOLOL

RavensGryf said:

Birdman666 said:

that's what wing suits and parachutes are for! Stop dreaming and start living it... :d

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LOLOL

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I gotta find the disks that have some of my skydiving stuff on it...

If you look closely at the macaw toy post, you can see a couple of framed photos of four of us on an upside down rubber duck, at 15,000 feet over Davis, CA

And on the floor there are a few photos of me (cartwheeling across the sky in one of them) that I still haven't actually gotten around to hanging up yet. (We've only lived here for four years. I never actually finished unpacking. Hey, why rush it?!)

I've actually had these on occasion, and I find I wake up not very well rested afterwords. Trying to control your dreams can take it out of you...

It's better when the crazy dreams just flow...

Better still when you get that BLACK unconscious kind of sleep... "Really? A bomb went off in the living room last night?!" As a lifelong light sleeper and insominiac, those nights are rare for me.

Ant farts in the middle of the night are enough to wake me up!

Birdman666 said:

Ant farts in the middle of the night are enough to wake me up!

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YES, I will wake up if someone down the block whispers. I use two fans and two white noise machines (and keep an eye mask and ear plugs handy). BUT, on occasion I pass out for about 10 hours and it is absolutely AMAZING. I wake up feeling like a different person, 15 years younger.

ruffledfeathers said:

Birdman666 said:

Ant farts in the middle of the night are enough to wake me up!

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YES, I will wake up if someone down the block whispers. I use two fans and two white noise machines (and keep an eye mask and ear plugs handy). BUT, on occasion I pass out for about 10 hours and it is absolutely AMAZING. I wake up feeling like a different person, 15 years younger.

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Yeah, exactly! And for me that happens about once every 2-3 months!

Birdman666 said:

Better still when you get that BLACK unconscious kind of sleep... "Really? A bomb went off in the living room last night?!" As a lifelong light sleeper and insominiac, those nights are rare for me.

Ant farts in the middle of the night are enough to wake me up!

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Ye I'm the same as you. Ant farts. I have to sleep with earplugs. I can still hear, but makes it a little better.
I'm downright jealous of people who can just fall asleep hard and not wake up until they're nice and refreshed. Those are probably the people who say "Goooood Morning!!" all cheerfully. :49: LOL

Ditto. It's not that I'm not friendly, it's just that I can't quite speak in complete sentences yet, and I really don't want to try and think until at least half an hour or so after my second cup of coffee...

I just point and grunt in the morning... generally in the direction of the coffee pot.

I drink straight espresso, black, from a coffee mug. A regular coffee mug.

Yeah. SO NOT A MORNING PERSON!

I'm not 100% perfect at lucid dreaming, but I haven't had a nightmare since I was a child because I'm always aware I'm dreaming. Especially when I start having a repeat dream. Whenever I start having a nightmare, I simply stop and think, "no, I'm not having a nightmare about this. Let's just dream about something else", and the nightmare will go through this weird configuration change and all of a sudden I'm dreaming about being on a horse, flying, or outside in nature.

y get confused in my dreams if I can't control what's going on, and I've often experienced crazy physical pain during dreaming... one time I dreamt I had decided to get a tattoo that was down the ENTIRE left side of my body, and when I woke up all of my side was in excruciating pain. The human brain is an amazing thing

Birdman666 said:

Ditto. It's not that I'm not friendly, it's just that I can't quite speak in complete sentences yet, and I really don't want to try and think until at least half an hour or so after my second cup of coffee...

I just point and grunt in the morning... generally in the direction of the coffee pot.

I drink straight espresso, black, from a coffee mug. A regular coffee mug.

Yeah. SO NOT A MORNING PERSON!

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Exactly! Me too! I absolutely need that second cup of coffee (in a giant mug) or I just can't wake up or be alert. If I have to reply to someone saying "good morning" I'll just say "morning".

I just grunt and scratch head feathers... and change food bowls and dishes while I wait for the coffee to kick in.