Let's get lucid

[Archangel (aka SoupDragon)]

Yes.

[Peter Thomas]

Yes.

(Was there ever any question?)

[Meowster]

Yes, the question was this: Are me and Mark that sexy that people have fantasies about us?

And the answer is Yes. Yes, we are.

[m0ds]

Peter, it's a shame, but I've read that if you think about it too much then it just won't happen. So, try not to concentrate TOO hard and give it another shot! In the same way that if you think about what you dreamt too hard, you forget it (I liked the way the site said 'Other thoughts and memories compete for your attention, thus causing you to forget your dream') I guess if you try and "do" it too hard (Lucid Dreaming that is, RobertEric) you just won't be able too.

Geoff, lets say I wake up from a dream and write down the one thing I remember about it, for example, Curly ears. By writing that down, how will it help me "remember" my dream? :/

And Yufster;

[Shattered Sponge]

Yes, the question was this: Are me and Mark that sexy that people have fantasies about us?

And the answer is Yes. Yes, we are.

Actually, the answer is no; neither you nor Mark are even remotely sexy.

Well, Mark is, but that's beside the point; it's more the fact that you two are so completely and utterly besotted wth each other that makes you popular with the AGS fanfic community.

Now who wants BOYD/RE slash fiction?

[m0ds]

Nickhead. The reason people dream of us is simply because we promote ourselves too much.

After reading my messages, you'll then read "m0ds" at the end of it. Though people don't always read sigs, you've probably read "m0ds" at the bottom of my threads a million times, subconciously. Also the fact you've probably seen hundreds of images of me. LOL.

I think thats why people dream of me/Yufster.


m0ds

[Shattered Sponge]

Well that's just bullshit.

Vel and Mills are the two people who have pimped (or 'promoted', as you chose to romanticise it) more than anyone in the community, and yet I haven't read a single fic focusing on them, despite the fact that they are an obvious pairing for a steamy lemon.

So, Mike, honey; I believe I have completely refuted your point, and that you owe me oral sex for such an unjustified contradiction of my statement.

* Shattered Sponge unzips

[Robert Eric]

Actually, I haven't had a dream since I stopped drinking booze.  *shrugs*

[Duzz]

I always had a hard time having lucid dreams, even when i was in my prime, (ie did reality checks all the time in real life) I only had a good lucid dream about once a week.  It's harder for different people.  The other thing you should know is that it takes most people a month or more to have their first lucid dream, after starting to try and have them.  Some people have them the first night though, so don't be discouraged.

I find I can become lucid lucid once a week still if I start writing down my dreams again, but I can rarely get the motivation to do it for more than a couple of weeks.

Reality checks (RC's) are just so you know if you're dreaming now or not.  Right now you're probably pretty sure you're awake, but when you're asleep you think the same thing, so you should do RC's all the time.  They're hard to remember to do at first though.  RC's are also useful if you think that you're probably dreaming but want to know for sure before you jump out a window or something.

Another thing that's good to do, related to reality checking, is to just imagine what you would do if you suddenlly realised that you were dreaming.  This helps prepare you for when you DO become lucid, and stops you getting to excited and waking up.  (most people wake up really quickly the first few times they become lucid.)

The thing with people who 'don't dream' is that they actually still have all the dreams, they just don't remember them.  If, before you go to bed, you remind your self to remember your dream as soon as you wake up, and write down anything you can remember (even if it's something useless like '...went through a door...') you should be able to start remembering more and more.

[M]

How often should you do reality checks exactly? Seems like in a single day you could do it too much if you're not careful or if it becomes one of those compulsive-obsessive things. What about doing it at set times every day would that work?

[Duzz]

unless you already have obsessive compulsive tendencies, i doubt you could do it TOO much.  Generally the more the better, but working by a schedule works too.  But The schedule should be something like, every time you "go to the toilet, or eat something" rather than "every hour" because then (hopefully) in your dream, when you eat something, you'll do a reality check.

[m0ds]

How in depth do you reckon a reality check should be? Just a thought? Or a full pause, stopping and taking in everything about you for a few minutes.

?

PS, here's what I managed to jot down from last night in my "dream journal". This is the first time I've ever jotted my dreams down so its a little patchy

- Walking under an underpass of some kind, smelly, almost like a cow-shed but not unpleasent in anyway.

- Large house (no real exits?) with servants inside. Don't remember much.

- Board game - waiting for radio for clues to advance. A couple of other people playing it too. Was feeling happy but kept getting distracted / pulled away from the game.

- Violinists and a celloist playing, talking to me. I believe they were all on my back patio. (sp)

- Helicopters, several large ones (chinook's) flying about in strange formations and unusual movements.

- CB radio.

Also, I looked at a photo this afternoon which shows a guy called Martin Rant (an old friend) which triggered my memory and I remember he was in one of the dreams I'd had last night.

Anyway. This is just the start. YEY.

There is another thing, that's kind of weird. The last couple of nights I've been having problems closing my eyes. Well, keeping them closed. I'd rest on my pillow, close my eyes and I can't stop them from jittering under my eyelids, causing me to have to open my eyes again to be comfortable. Weird. I thought I just had something in them, but it happened again last night. It's teh gey. I don't think it's related to any of this, it's just annoying and is stopping me from getting to sleep :p

[Gregjazz]

Geoff, lets say I wake up from a dream and write down the one thing I remember about it, for example, Curly ears. By writing that down, how will it help me "remember" my dream? :/

Yes, it will help you remember your dream. At least that works for me.

Actually, you probably want to write your whole dream down at first, but later on, you won't have to write anything and still be able to remember it.

EDIT: It's also good to write down what you smell or hear in your dreams, rather than just things you see.

[Ghormak]

Writing down your dreams is fun. I normally remember my dreams vividly when I wake up, but if I later in the day try to think about what I dreamt, I usually don't remember a thing. But if I write down a just a little about the dreams, it is enough for me to trigger my brain to remember the whole thing.

Here's an example of what I wrote down this morning when I woke up:

"I was participating in some kind of therapy theatre play at the stage of my old elementary school, and my old religion/psychology teacher was the director. When I got home, I had recieved 2 new text messages on my phone. One of them had a carton of apple juice attached. The carton was leaking, so I had to start drinking from it so nothing would spill. I drank until I woke up."

Because I wrote this down, I remember the dream very well. I know exactly what I mean by "therapy theatre play", but I don't have the faintest idea how I would explain it to anybody.

[Gregjazz]

Yeah, isn't that funny how you forget it even twenty minutes after you woke up? Then again, sometimes you remember more of your dream as the day goes on.

[TerranRich]

I haven't had any lucid moments in dreams, but I have been able to meditate and control my heartbeat. I swear I became sadistic and made it stop for a few seconds. During that moment, my legs became very numb and it was a very surreal experience. Then i released my control and things went back to normal.

I want to try it again sometime.

[BerserkerTails]

Okay, that's it. I'm starting a dream journal. I've had way too many cool dreams I can't remember, except that they were cool.

Feh. Let's see what happens. Maybe I'll even get to Lucidity someday.

[Timosity]

At certain times in my life I've had the ability to control some dreams to some extent.

Last night becasue of this thread, It reminded me to give it a go (but only a a subconcious level).

I woke up earlier than I wanted to get up so I tried to get some more sleep. Quite often when I wake up early it's in the middle of a dream, and if I can get back to sleep quickly enough I can continue this dream. I can also lead the dream in ways that I want too. I was totally aware it was a dream and at this point I actually remembered this thread.

It's still quite warped and changes like a normal dream, but you do have thoughts you can knowingly add.

I haven't had a dream for years where I could fly, but I used to have them all the time (especially when I was less than 10), and I could float around, but once I caught on I was dreaming I'd always slowly decend back to the ground, I could take off again for a while but as soon as I thought about it I fell back down. But the actual feeling was amazing.

some people say they don't dream, but that is not true, you dream several times every night, it's just that you don't always remember them.

From my experience it's easier to remember your dreams if you wake up during them, and they fade fast if you don't write them down (unless they're a nightmare that you'll never forget)

It is also easier at this point to start manipulating your dreams if you can get back to sleep. It can also be similar if you feel yourself waking up.

I remember studying something in a Psychology subject I did at Uni about the different levels of sleep, and REM sleep or something was the level where you were deep sleeping and where dreaming occurred (note this is vague & I could have dreampt it)

So I'd say it is usually when you are coming out of this state ready for waking that you are actually somewhere inbetween conciousness's, therefore you are more likely to be semi concious and control certain aspects of your dream (at the same time your dream can confuse your normal thought.

I suppose a good example is when your alarm is going off & you are interrupted in your dream by some siren or bizare noise. But It can suck sometimes when that Chick of your dreams is there and you can never see her face (lucky you can still see the other parts)

[Toefur]

Now here's an awesome thread I wish I had seen earlier. I am totally in to this stuff, although I haven't successfully managed a lucid dream yet (for a few years, anyway).

Though I do have my dreamcall up to about 2 dreams per night.

As for reality checking... does anyone have any suggestions? I simply CANNOT remember to do reality checks. I even have bits of paper all over my room telling me, "REMEMBER TO DO FREQUENT REALITY CHECKS".

I never do!

There's always the easy way out: buy the novadreamer (http://lucidity.com) for a few hundred dollars. Lucid dream induction device. 8)

[TerranRich]

This might not be completely on-topic, but last night as I was going to sleep I tried meditating. I didn't know whether I wanted to control my heartbeat or try ethereal projection. I actually ended up speeding up my hearbeat to an insane speed, and I could feel my heartbeat pounding so hard, with so much force, it felt like it was about to explode out of my chest.

I have no idea what that happened, but it eventually slowed down and all is good. It was weird, though.