Any of you ever experienced lucid dreaming? Lucid dreaming is the ability to be in a dream state and realize you are dreaming, being fully aware you are in fact asleep.
Here?s my story. I am now and always have been an active dreamer. Of course many mornings I have no memory of my dreams but quite often my dreams are vivid and my recall the next day is excellent. I usually have what I call ?escape? dreams. In these dreams I am in a house, a warehouse, a carnival, etc..etc.. and cannot get out. I'm often pursued by seen and unseen beings. Many times I also have my daughter present and am desperately trying to get us out of wherever we seem to be trapped. When I am experiencing these types of dreams I wake up frequently only to fall back asleep and pick up right where I left off before I woke up.
Now let me backtrack a minute. When I was a kid I had many nightmares. I even had hallucinations in which I would be half asleep / half awake, literally walking around the house terrified, begging my parents to wake me up. Eventually the hallucinations did stop but the nightmares persisted. I went to my parents again and again asking for help to deal with my nightmares. I remember my father telling me to try and remember I am the only real person in a dream. No one can harm me if I can remember this is my dream, I am real, they are not. His advice was the beginnings of my lucid dreaming as a child.
I remember the very first time it happened. There was a being in my closet that was scaring the crap out of me. Suddenly it dawned on me what my father had said and all at once I realized I was asleep. In my dream I swung open the closet door and yelled my grandmothers name. Why? I?m not sure but I yelled ?Granny!? and the being shrieked and disappeared. I woke up immediately.
After that night I would lucid dream quite frequently. It gave me an incredible sense of power. My nightmares no longer bothered me as I had full control over my dreams. I could fly at will. And let me tell you that the sensation of dream flying was as real
as anything I have ever done fully awake. I was able to wake myself up at will if a dream became too scary for me. If you have never had a lucid dream you may find this difficult to swallow but for those of you who have, certainly you understand.
As I grew older and the nightmares subsided I also seemed to lose the ability to lucid dream. I experienced my last lucid dream sometime in high school.
Two nights ago I was having a very active dream sleep. As usual I was having an escape dream and was unable to get out of this huge house. Although, this time, my daughter wasn't present in this dream. I woke up several times during the night only to fall back asleep picking up where I left off. Once as I woke and relieved my bladder I remembered my days of lucid dreaming and decided to concentrate on remembering I was asleep when the dream kicked off again. I was in a dream state in no time, stuck back in the house, trying to get out. But this time it was different, although I was unable to make the connection that I was having a dream, I was able to change my dream attitude. I begin trashing the house instead of running from room to room looking for a way out. I kicked in doors, kicked in the walls. This seemed to really throw a kink in things and I woke up.
When I fell back to sleep I didn't have anymore dreams that I can recall. I?m excited about what I consider a partial success. Maybe my lucid dreaming days are not over. I'm actually excited about going to bed tonight and will work to hone my lucid dreaming abilities.
Any lucid dreamers out there? Any thoughts on what I consider to be a fascinating subject?
Here?s my story. I am now and always have been an active dreamer. Of course many mornings I have no memory of my dreams but quite often my dreams are vivid and my recall the next day is excellent. I usually have what I call ?escape? dreams. In these dreams I am in a house, a warehouse, a carnival, etc..etc.. and cannot get out. I'm often pursued by seen and unseen beings. Many times I also have my daughter present and am desperately trying to get us out of wherever we seem to be trapped. When I am experiencing these types of dreams I wake up frequently only to fall back asleep and pick up right where I left off before I woke up.
Now let me backtrack a minute. When I was a kid I had many nightmares. I even had hallucinations in which I would be half asleep / half awake, literally walking around the house terrified, begging my parents to wake me up. Eventually the hallucinations did stop but the nightmares persisted. I went to my parents again and again asking for help to deal with my nightmares. I remember my father telling me to try and remember I am the only real person in a dream. No one can harm me if I can remember this is my dream, I am real, they are not. His advice was the beginnings of my lucid dreaming as a child.
I remember the very first time it happened. There was a being in my closet that was scaring the crap out of me. Suddenly it dawned on me what my father had said and all at once I realized I was asleep. In my dream I swung open the closet door and yelled my grandmothers name. Why? I?m not sure but I yelled ?Granny!? and the being shrieked and disappeared. I woke up immediately.
After that night I would lucid dream quite frequently. It gave me an incredible sense of power. My nightmares no longer bothered me as I had full control over my dreams. I could fly at will. And let me tell you that the sensation of dream flying was as real
as anything I have ever done fully awake. I was able to wake myself up at will if a dream became too scary for me. If you have never had a lucid dream you may find this difficult to swallow but for those of you who have, certainly you understand.
As I grew older and the nightmares subsided I also seemed to lose the ability to lucid dream. I experienced my last lucid dream sometime in high school.
Two nights ago I was having a very active dream sleep. As usual I was having an escape dream and was unable to get out of this huge house. Although, this time, my daughter wasn't present in this dream. I woke up several times during the night only to fall back asleep picking up where I left off. Once as I woke and relieved my bladder I remembered my days of lucid dreaming and decided to concentrate on remembering I was asleep when the dream kicked off again. I was in a dream state in no time, stuck back in the house, trying to get out. But this time it was different, although I was unable to make the connection that I was having a dream, I was able to change my dream attitude. I begin trashing the house instead of running from room to room looking for a way out. I kicked in doors, kicked in the walls. This seemed to really throw a kink in things and I woke up.
When I fell back to sleep I didn't have anymore dreams that I can recall. I?m excited about what I consider a partial success. Maybe my lucid dreaming days are not over. I'm actually excited about going to bed tonight and will work to hone my lucid dreaming abilities.
Any lucid dreamers out there? Any thoughts on what I consider to be a fascinating subject?
