Lucid Dreaming........

Sunshine

Trust the pie.
Dec 17, 2009
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A lucid dream is any dream in which one is aware that one is dreaming. The term was coined by the Dutch psychiatrist and writer Frederik (Willem) van Eeden (1860–1932).[1] In a lucid dream, the dreamer may be able to exert some degree of control over their participation within the dream or be able to manipulate their imaginary experiences in the dream environment.[2] Lucid dreams can be realistic and vivid.[3] It is shown that there are higher amounts of beta-1 frequency band (13–19 Hz) experienced by lucid dreamers, hence there is an increased amount of activity in the parietal lobes making lucid dreaming a conscious process.[4]

Lucid dreaming has been researched scientifically, and its existence is well established.[5][6]

Lucid dream - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When I was a child, long before I knew there was anything scientific about this, I learned I could control my own nightmares. Or at least I could wake myself from them. I would realize I was in a nightmare and force my eyelids open. The scenes continued for a bit, and then stopped. I have been able to willfully dream about certain things, and to control the content and outcome of dreams.

What are your experiences with this? Studies have also shown that when we dream our minds have incorporated the techniques of cinematography. Those of us who grew up with black and white TV, dream in black and white. Our dreams in color are symbolic. We zoom in and out, fade and do all the things a TV or movie camera does.

Stories?
 
Very cool topic. I just finished a five week course on Dream interpretation with psychologist and philospher Eugene Gendlin and Ann Weiser Cornell.

Tibetan Buddhists teach "Dream Yoga", a form of meditation that teaches lucid dreaming. The whole point is to begin to see that the dream life and "waking" life are the same.
 
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Very cool topic. I just finished a five week course on Dream interpretation with psychologist and philospher Eugene Gendlin and Ann Weiser Cornell.

Wonderful! I look forward to your contributions to this thread!
 
Gene Gendlin uses sixteen different questions to help people mine the treasure from their dreams.

Each question you "take down" into your being and let the meaning unfold. I could post Gene's questions if you think it would help.

I can't share the Buddhist teaching on Dream Yoga. You have to get authorization from a Buddhist Lama.
 
My friends tell me I am the best they have ever seen at making what I want in life 'materialize' through visualization. I have read a lot of the Rosicrucian books about this, and what they teach is basically what I do. I was taught to plan for things through the 5 senses. And I have often visualized a thing or accomplishment that way up to and including the feel and smell of success.

The woman who recruited me to Vanderbilt for the master's kept telling me that I was practicing at that level, but I needed to get the piece of paper. I had two dreams. One was of me playing a piano improvising with the music because I couldn't really read the notes. But then suddenly I would be able to read the notes and play the music from the musical theory presented on the page. The other was somewhat frightful. I dreamt that I was walking up a flight of stairs and tripped on the top step!~ That one is telling of the fear I had, what with taking such a risk and having children to support at the same time.

The first time I ever dreamt of my children as adults was after my daughter married. She was 30 and my son was 33. And for weeks I dreamt I was back at their reception party!
 
Gene Gendlin uses sixteen different questions to help people mine the treasure from their dreams.

Each question you "take down" into your being and let the meaning unfold. I could post Gene's questions if you think it would help.

I can't share the Buddhist teaching on Dream Yoga. You have to get authorization from a Buddhist Lama.

Whatever you can post would be interesting, I'm sure. Didn't know there was such a thing a Dream Yoga. Will look into it.
 
I've experienced lucid dreaming for years. That's not to say that most of my dreams are lucid, in fact, most are not. But, there are times when I am aware that I am dreaming, and at that moment I can influence the content and outcomes of dreams.

My dreams have always been in color and I grew up without a TV in the house until I was 17.
 
Gene Gendlin uses sixteen different questions to help people mine the treasure from their dreams.

Each question you "take down" into your being and let the meaning unfold. I could post Gene's questions if you think it would help.

I can't share the Buddhist teaching on Dream Yoga. You have to get authorization from a Buddhist Lama.

Whatever you can post would be interesting, I'm sure. Didn't know there was such a thing a Dream Yoga. Will look into it.

Lama Tsering Everest, a western student of Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, teaches Dream Yoga all over the world.

She's coming to live in my community for the next year.
 
I've experienced lucid dreaming for years. That's not to say that most of my dreams are lucid, in fact, most are not. But, there are times when I am aware that I am dreaming, and at that moment I can influence the content and outcomes of dreams.

My dreams have always been in color and I grew up without a TV in the house until I was 17.

Now, I dream more in color than I did when I was younger. Most of my generation find it odd to dream in color, though.
 
I've experienced lucid dreaming for years. That's not to say that most of my dreams are lucid, in fact, most are not. But, there are times when I am aware that I am dreaming, and at that moment I can influence the content and outcomes of dreams.

My dreams have always been in color and I grew up without a TV in the house until I was 17.

Now, I dream more in color than I did when I was younger. Most of my generation find it odd to dream in color, though.

I wonder why that is.

Almost all of my dreams are in color and very often lucid.

My Dad told me when I was having recurring nightmares that I need to just realize that these things that cannot actually be real are just imaginary and part of a dream, and that once I realized that I could control what happened, like imagining finding a magic sword behind a tree, etc.

It worked quite well.

But now my nightmares tend to be about real world situations like getting laid off, or learning my mother died, that sort of thing.

Magic swords dont exactly help with that. lol
 
Ive always dreamed in color.... my dreams are very real. Smell, touch, feel, sound, sight, temperature.....

some i can control and move... others not at all.
 
Ive always dreamed in color.... my dreams are very real. Smell, touch, feel, sound, sight, temperature.....

some i can control and move... others not at all.

I have never had smell in mine, but then my nose is pretty messed up from allergies most of the time, lol.
 
Ive always dreamed in color.... my dreams are very real. Smell, touch, feel, sound, sight, temperature.....

some i can control and move... others not at all.

I don't recall smell in my dreams. I have been awakened by smell, though, if I had put something in the oven to cook on low temperature over night. Only actually felt touch if I was wound up in the blanket and thought I was choking or drowning.

But we do have 'muscle memory.' Most abuse victims relive their trauma in their dreams, and they will physically fight in their sleep. I've seen that happening when I worked nights in psych hosptials. That is a symptom of PTSD.
 
A lucid dream is any dream in which one is aware that one is dreaming. The term was coined by the Dutch psychiatrist and writer Frederik (Willem) van Eeden (1860–1932).[1] In a lucid dream, the dreamer may be able to exert some degree of control over their participation within the dream or be able to manipulate their imaginary experiences in the dream environment.[2] Lucid dreams can be realistic and vivid.[3] It is shown that there are higher amounts of beta-1 frequency band (13–19 Hz) experienced by lucid dreamers, hence there is an increased amount of activity in the parietal lobes making lucid dreaming a conscious process.[4]

Lucid dreaming has been researched scientifically, and its existence is well established.[5][6]

Lucid dream - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When I was a child, long before I knew there was anything scientific about this, I learned I could control my own nightmares. Or at least I could wake myself from them. I would realize I was in a nightmare and force my eyelids open. The scenes continued for a bit, and then stopped. I have been able to willfully dream about certain things, and to control the content and outcome of dreams.

What are your experiences with this? Studies have also shown that when we dream our minds have incorporated the techniques of cinematography. Those of us who grew up with black and white TV, dream in black and white. Our dreams in color are symbolic. We zoom in and out, fade and do all the things a TV or movie camera does.

Stories?


I can do it - I have done it my whole life...

The worst part is when you do wake yourself up and you're paralyzed for a good 10-20 seconds and you cant move...

Of course then some have lucid dreams that are wonderful and they wake up and they want to go back to dreaming... Those are usually those good 10-11 hour sleeps you wake up from and feel great and energetic - then you think about the dream and how great it was... Of course you forget it most of the time...

I have good dreams (or bizarre dreams) I can remember as far back as 20 years ago. Not reoccurring dreams, but dreams I've had only once that I can remember...
 
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I get lucid and very vivid dreams if I take magnesium too close to bedtime. I try to take them early in the day so that doesn't happen.

I think it's kind of scary when you dream like that. I like a nice calm rest without a lot of things I may have to think about even when I sleep. It's never helped me in any way to remember my dreams or attempt to analyze them.
 
I have had lucid dreams for as long as I can recall, too. I dream not only in color, but I speak other languages. I have been trained in both German and Russian and speak either fluently in dreams. Some of my dreams are pretty far out, dragons attacking shopping malls, riding horseback through a variety of landscapes with my cat. I am also able to project places, like Munich. I go back to Munich pretty often. I also have some pretty scary recurrent dreams that most often involve old, creepy houses. I guess I have a lot of luggage.
Do any of you dream of flying? How do you usually fly, if you do?
 
Every time I jump off a building in a dream and free fall, I always wake up before I hit the ground despite I know it's only a dream..

That is actually the best way to wake up - it's pretty fun too....

I will say there have been times where I did jump and then right before I hit the ground I went into another dream (a totally new one) - that is when my dreams get interesting.

It's almost like jumping into a super mario brothers "level pipe." You go in and you're in a totally different world...
 
A lucid dream is any dream in which one is aware that one is dreaming. The term was coined by the Dutch psychiatrist and writer Frederik (Willem) van Eeden (1860–1932).[1] In a lucid dream, the dreamer may be able to exert some degree of control over their participation within the dream or be able to manipulate their imaginary experiences in the dream environment.[2] Lucid dreams can be realistic and vivid.[3] It is shown that there are higher amounts of beta-1 frequency band (13–19 Hz) experienced by lucid dreamers, hence there is an increased amount of activity in the parietal lobes making lucid dreaming a conscious process.[4]

Lucid dreaming has been researched scientifically, and its existence is well established.[5][6]

Lucid dream - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When I was a child, long before I knew there was anything scientific about this, I learned I could control my own nightmares. Or at least I could wake myself from them. I would realize I was in a nightmare and force my eyelids open. The scenes continued for a bit, and then stopped. I have been able to willfully dream about certain things, and to control the content and outcome of dreams.

What are your experiences with this? Studies have also shown that when we dream our minds have incorporated the techniques of cinematography. Those of us who grew up with black and white TV, dream in black and white. Our dreams in color are symbolic. We zoom in and out, fade and do all the things a TV or movie camera does.

Stories?


I can do it - I have done it my whole life...

The worst part is when you do wake yourself up and you're paralyzed for a good 10-20 seconds and you cant move...
Of course then some have lucid dreams that are wonderful and they wake up and they want to go back to dreaming... Those are usually those good 10-11 hour sleeps you wake up from and feel great and energetic - then you think about the dream and how great it was... Of course you forget it most of the time...

I have good dreams (or bizarre dreams) I can remember as far back as 20 years ago. Not reoccurring dreams, but dreams I've had only once that I can remember...

That paralysis happens because you have woke up during REM sleep. Sometimes I can go back into a dream but most times not. My best dreaming was always when I worked evenings, and I could sleep up into the morning. Not a morning person, and look forward to a time when I can sleep as though I am on afternoons again.
 
Do you jump on purpose? Or is the leap part of the dream and then you segue into the transition?

I have never made it to the bottom. It used to be dreams about falling off something tall, but now the older I get and the more I realize my steps are no longer as sure footed as they used to be, I dream that I have tripped. But always wake up. The start that wakes us is called the hypnogogic jerk: Hypnic jerk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

People often hallucinate around waking or falling asleep. This is not true psychosis, and does not warrant treatment. Sometimes they hear their name called, or see someone standing in the room. PTSD patients have it far worse though. But even PTSD is not a psychosis and does not respond to antipsychotics.
 

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