Bag of Ass

I've had the same thing happen several times. For example one time I was being chased by a vampire through a parking lot at night, and I thought to myself "I'm dreaming, so I should wake up because this dream sucks." So then I woke myself up.

Does it count as lucid dreaming if it's about a minute before you wake up in the morning and you realize you're having a good dream so you try to force yourself to keep your eyes shut for as long as possible? That happens to me a lot. Usually the first thing I do when I eventually do open my eyes is to check the clock to see if I have more time to stay and dream...but as soon as my eyes are open I can't get back to sleep and back to the good dream.

Mad Kally

I can't believe that anyone would say they is no such thing as lucid dreaming. It's been something I've experienced since I was a young child. It's still just a dream. Nothing mystical about it..

lisarea

I THINK--and someone correct me if I'm wrong--that the 'lucid dreaming' concept, as it's packaged and sold, is based on some idea that it will provide you with some sort of insight and help you sort through your real life problems.

But in practice, I think the phenomenon itself is basically that. That is, the idea that you can control your unconscious, dreaming mind through conscious means.

Now, I don't put a whole lot of stake in the insight value of dreams--not none, mind you, just not much--so I control my dreams to do exactly that sort of thing--either to prolong one I'm digging, or cut off one I'm not.

Tufted

When I sense I'm in a lucid dream state I usually attack (sexually) the first woman near me. I cannot control their reactions, usually trying to fight me off. But I am totally aware that my "Rape" is of a fictional image, yet it seems real. I would NEVER consider taking advantage of a woman by force. But , knowing it's a lucid dream, there are no consequences -ESPECIALLY FOR HER- . It is extremely exciting, because I am aware that I am having a lucid dream. In the back of my mind, I am thinking "Please don't wake up". Unfortunately, I only get into this state once or twice a year.

My normal dreams involving woman are full of the usual repercussions involving relationships. Viva La Lucid!!

Walross

I lucid dream from time to time, and used to much more when I was a teenager. I've often wondered if there is some physiological reason it was more common then than it is now. In any case, I was able to control most aspects of my dream "environment" and I had some great fun. Actually, watching The Matrix reminded me of lucid dreaming in many ways. So, no, I do not doubt that it occurs, since I have experienced it myself.

Walross

greyline

I haven't lucid-dreamed in a while, but when it used to happen, I would also immediately set about having sex. This usually made me wake up (dammit) - just the other day I read that lucid-dreamers were advised *not* to have sex because the excitement wakes you up.

Alien abduction is also linked to sleep paralysis awareness (don't know the technical term) which is something different. It's a well described (but relatively unknown) phenomenon where you wake up but your muscles are still paralysed (which normally happens during REM sleep). So you can't move but are mentally alert, and in my case my eyes are open. This experience is often associated with intense feelings of fear, the sense of a malevolent presence in the room, and aural and visual hallucinations.

This happens to me about twice a month - it is an absolutely terrifying experience, and the fact that you know what it is doesn't diminish this irrational dread. I have sensed shadowy figures next to my bed "looking" at me, felt the presence sit on the bed, seen the covers move, and felt my body levitate. My most common aural hallucination is that of approaching footsteps outside my bedroom door, which is a scary sound in the dead of night, obviously. Sometimes there are indistinct voices and other sounds. Some people have out-of-body experiences, although I have not.

The evil presence and intense fear (a specific part of the brain is presumably being stimulated) are thought to be the origins of myths such as incubus and succubi, demon visitations and - these days - alien visitations and abductions.

These episodes last (for me) about 1 to 5 minutes, and the only way out of them is to try and force yourself to break the paralysis - and the harder you try, the less successful, naturally.

Why do our brains do these things to us?!?

excreationist

I'm always myself in my dreams... although I might sometimes be a younger version of myself.
I can remember my dreams every night I think... sometimes I think I wake up - because I need to go to the toilet or something, and I remember what a great dream I was having (all of them are really interesting) and I go back to sleep to continue the scenario. But when I'm asleep I don't realize that it's just a dream... like in the Truman show, I just "accept the reality I'm presented with". BTW, my dreams are quite realistic, but quirky - I mean there's no really weird (fantasy/sci-fi) stuff - well not recently at least.

For lucid dreamers: Since you realize you're in a dream, are you able to wake yourself up? Can you pinch yourself in the dream and does it hurt? Can you tell people in your dream that they're just a figment of your imagination and say that in a couple seconds you'll wake up, and when they don't believe you, you wake yourself up?

Tufted

When I'm having a lucid dream, I can indeed wake myself up. In fact, during the episode I'm often reminding myself not to wake up and end the experience. As far as the excitement of sex waking me, when I sense orgasm (wet dream), I usually do wake myself up. Dreamus interruptus ! LOL . And I'm 58!!!!

excreationist

greyline:
Here are some sleep paralysis links:

http://skepdic.com/sleepparalysis.html
http://sleepdisorders.about.com/msub...htm?once=true&
http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P.html

I think it basically has some information about it and how to avoid it... but I didn't find any explanations for why it makes you paralysed during the hallucination.... maybe we normally are paralysed during sleep to stop us running around in our sleep (unless we are sleep walkers) people with sleep paralysis could get paralysed for too long - or begin too early. The hallucinations could be from the dreaming-type mode (imagination) being combined with the things they're actually seeing. The scary hallucinations could be from their fear reaction to the paralysis manifesting inself as scary visions.

Nowhere357

Yes the lucid dreamer can wake up by choice. Usually the challenge is to hold on to lucidity and keep dreaming. Choose to wake up and its hard, like pushing, and lucidity slips away before waking. I've never been able to "see" the whole process. I suspect the hard pushing part involves the body paralysis.

Pinching works and yes it hurts. I don't use pinching to see if I'm dreaming, instead I just jump a little and see if I float. Once lucid, I can change the dream "setting" at will, by spinning around. I can change minor elements in a dream, for example if I need a gun, then now I have one.

Lucidity is less an on/off state, and more like a range or scale. I often have partially lucid dreams. Recently, for example, I was sitting poolside with my daughter, when I realized I was dreaming. I immediately started floating around (second favorite thing to do) and I thought this was a good chance to teach my daughter how to fly! I thought she was real! Very strange.

One very real use for lucidity is to conquer nightmares. Another use is to practice real life skills. Target shooting or rock climbing while lucid seems a boring waste to me though. I'd rather fly!

A couple of "rules" I've accepted for lucid dreaming: approach all danger, and approach all pleasure. No fear and no guilt! It's just a dream after all.

For some reason, looking at my dream hands is a good way to induce lucidity. So if I want to lucid dream, I practice looking at my hands during the day and asking, "am I dreaming?". 1-3 days of this, and the lucidity will come (for me). Also, they seem to arise spontaneously every several weeks.