Today, 01:45 AM
I've often wondered if LD'ing is just really more a product of not sleeping well, or some other kind of a sleep disorder. I can't honestly say I get the sleep I would like to get most nights, and I've wondered if LD's are just some space where I'm half asleep and half awake.
I don't know. I definitely have them though.
It was actually kind of funny how I even discovered what they were called. For years I called them something completely different. I kept seeing people talking about this thing called "lucid dream" in paranormal forums like on ATS, but I never read any of those posts. Then one day I came across some article which described the experience to a "T". It wasn't until the end of the article where they mentioned it was called "lucid dreaming", and then I was like ..."OHHHHhhhhhh, THAT's what it's called!!!".
I guess I still don't understand why people think this is some paranormal thing. I used to know this girl who was really into the whole dream and dream analysis thing. Her big thing was training yourself to remember your dreams after you woke up. She said this had some connection to whether you dream in color or black & white (but you don't perceive it this way in your dreams). I'd never thought about that before, and I honestly believe it was me trying to remember my dreams in detail after I woke up which led to the ability to have these lucid dreams.
In any case, there's no paranormal about it, at least not for me. I don't see or experience anything abnormal, like ghosts or other weird shit. Of course I sometimes have dreams which involve people who have passed on, but it's not like they're ghosts, but rather like they're still here (things like parents and friends who have passed). I don't think that's anything out of the ordinary though; most people have dreams about loved ones.
I will say this though, and I've said it repeatedly. By far...the most disturbing lucid dreams are the 'dream inside of a dream' kind, like the little Russian dolls. Those dreams are straight-up troubling. I've had some which were so unbelievably real that it took me over an hour (seriously) after I woke up to confirm I wasn't still dreaming. I don't like those dreams at all! Even if they're not like nightmare type dreams, I still don't like them. I had one instance where I woke up and sat on the edge of the bed for a good 40 minutes convinced it was still a dream and I was going to wake up from it any moment. Worse, I've had dreams where I was dreaming (in my dream), and woke up (in my dream), and knew I was having a dream inside of another dream, and woke up from that dream (again still dreaming) and was sitting on the edge of the bed wondering if I was dreaming (in my dream)...only to really wake up and then not be able to figure out if I was still dreaming or not.
And I guess the big differentiator is the realism of these types of dreams. They are hyper-realistic, almost impossible to distinguish from a non-dream state. Thank God I don't sleep walk, and I never have! I can't imagine having one of those dreams and sleep walking at the same time.
I'd love to see an EEG of what the brain is doing during one of these dreams, compared to a normal dream. The vast majority of my dreams are just normal ones, but every now and then I'll have one of these lucid ones. They're definitely notably different. Just a regular lucid dream (i.e. not one of the dream inside of dream ones) are fairly pleasant, and some even very enjoyable. Other times I don't dream at all. So, it's kind of a "fielder's choice" for the brain when I go to bed whether I'll dream at all, or just have a normal dream, or have one of these lucid dreams.
That has kind of been my experience(s).
I don't know. I definitely have them though.
It was actually kind of funny how I even discovered what they were called. For years I called them something completely different. I kept seeing people talking about this thing called "lucid dream" in paranormal forums like on ATS, but I never read any of those posts. Then one day I came across some article which described the experience to a "T". It wasn't until the end of the article where they mentioned it was called "lucid dreaming", and then I was like ..."OHHHHhhhhhh, THAT's what it's called!!!".
I guess I still don't understand why people think this is some paranormal thing. I used to know this girl who was really into the whole dream and dream analysis thing. Her big thing was training yourself to remember your dreams after you woke up. She said this had some connection to whether you dream in color or black & white (but you don't perceive it this way in your dreams). I'd never thought about that before, and I honestly believe it was me trying to remember my dreams in detail after I woke up which led to the ability to have these lucid dreams.
In any case, there's no paranormal about it, at least not for me. I don't see or experience anything abnormal, like ghosts or other weird shit. Of course I sometimes have dreams which involve people who have passed on, but it's not like they're ghosts, but rather like they're still here (things like parents and friends who have passed). I don't think that's anything out of the ordinary though; most people have dreams about loved ones.
I will say this though, and I've said it repeatedly. By far...the most disturbing lucid dreams are the 'dream inside of a dream' kind, like the little Russian dolls. Those dreams are straight-up troubling. I've had some which were so unbelievably real that it took me over an hour (seriously) after I woke up to confirm I wasn't still dreaming. I don't like those dreams at all! Even if they're not like nightmare type dreams, I still don't like them. I had one instance where I woke up and sat on the edge of the bed for a good 40 minutes convinced it was still a dream and I was going to wake up from it any moment. Worse, I've had dreams where I was dreaming (in my dream), and woke up (in my dream), and knew I was having a dream inside of another dream, and woke up from that dream (again still dreaming) and was sitting on the edge of the bed wondering if I was dreaming (in my dream)...only to really wake up and then not be able to figure out if I was still dreaming or not.
And I guess the big differentiator is the realism of these types of dreams. They are hyper-realistic, almost impossible to distinguish from a non-dream state. Thank God I don't sleep walk, and I never have! I can't imagine having one of those dreams and sleep walking at the same time.
I'd love to see an EEG of what the brain is doing during one of these dreams, compared to a normal dream. The vast majority of my dreams are just normal ones, but every now and then I'll have one of these lucid ones. They're definitely notably different. Just a regular lucid dream (i.e. not one of the dream inside of dream ones) are fairly pleasant, and some even very enjoyable. Other times I don't dream at all. So, it's kind of a "fielder's choice" for the brain when I go to bed whether I'll dream at all, or just have a normal dream, or have one of these lucid dreams.
That has kind of been my experience(s).