1) Dreams

Have you ever had a dream like this?

Lucid dreaming is consciously perceiving and recognizing that one is in a dream while one is sleeping, sometimes leading to control over the "dreamscape", or the faux-reality dream world within a dream. Stephen LaBerge, a published author and expert on the subject, has defined it as simply realizing that one is dreaming while in a dream.

Please say if you've had one and what it was about.

That is not called a lucid dream. A lucid dream is when you consciously experience in the dream. Dream recall has nothing to do with it. Indeed, we often have lucid dreams but never remember it, so it is as if it never happened.

Strange, how the memory is almost synonymous with the past; anything else is hypothetical.

Hardly. I do it all the time. And I have mates who do it all the time. Just because your ignorance renders it rare.

However I oughtn't do downplay your enthusasim. Keep at it dude.

I've been able to see my dreams happening, but I haven't had a lucid dream yet. When I dream I watch it and know I'm sleeping which is kinda fun. I have a book on lucid dreams and am trying to have one :)

I got to chapter 2 of my book "How to Control your Dreams" and while reading chapter 1 it talked about the Don Jaun guy. It was interesting and will have to try it when I read more into my book and learn more about Lucid Dreams.

What are the 7 steps?

I've been reading more into my book and am now on chapter 3, Looking inside the dream. But to recap the last chapter Inducing the Light, they gave some things that you can do to help have a lucid dream. The first thing though was dream recall, which remembering a dream helps you have more and remember them better. These are the steps they gave:

Prepare for the dream: Tell yourself before falling asleep that you want to and will remember your dreams. Keep a notebook and pen (perhapes one equiped with batteries and a small light) near your pillow or try telling them to a tape recorder.

I'm on chapter 3 now, but to recap on the last chapter, they gave instructions and steps you can follow to help induce lucid dreams and to improve your dream recall. Here are some things you can do to increase your dream recall:

Prepare for the dream: Tell yourself before falling asleep that you want to and will remember your dreams. Keep a notebook and pen (perhapes one equipped with batteries and a small light) near your pillow or try telling them to a tape recorder.

When awaken after a dream, keep quite, perhapes closing your eyes again to return to the dream in order to remember it. Let your mind wonder.

Upon waking up naturally (without an alarm or radio) let your thoughts wander. Because you probably have awakened just after a REM cycle when dreams are most likely to have occurred, doing this will often recapture a dream. If you must awaken to an alarm and find that you aren't remembering any dreams, set the alarm back half a hour. This might awaken you from a different part of your sleep cycle.

If you find yourself being distracted by external happenings--your three-year-old wants to talk--or by internal thoughts about what you have to do when you get out of bed, try setting aside a morning for dream recall when your're less likely to be disturbed.

Keep your eyes closed while trying to recall dreams and rehearse the dreams in your mind's eye before opening your eyes. Outside images will disrupt those of your dreams.

If none of the above steps helps you recall a dream, you can try setting you alarm in the middle of the night or ask a friend to awaken you at a specific time. Such unusual arousals may enable you to remember a dream.

I'll post the steps for helping have lucid dreams later. :)

I never read any books on it but I used to do it all the time. First I would find mysef in the dream and knowing that I was dreaming would usually wake me up. But I learned to control that and just enjoyed the dream. Then I learned that I can change anything so I acted out certain scenes...usually flying around my town or having super powers. After that I reached my highest level...I created people I knew and beings. I created an entity to predict the future...white beard...staff the whole deal. It took all my energy and many many times i tried and failed. As for the bad mental health that is bull...and worth the experince. However, he is right to say that bad can happen. As the dreams become more vivid so do the nighmares and what can be more scary than not being able to wake up from a nightmare or waking up only to really still be asleep...the mind plays many tricks on you but in the end I even enjoyed those too. So have fun. And I wasn't able to predict the future nor did I ever think it would work but it was fun to try : )

Well for a poet, having a nightmare that was very vivid would be good for a poem. :D But of course you'd have to train yourself to not fear it and here are some more tips for lucid dreaming.

Ullman and dream therapist Gayle Delaney have each written in-depth accounts on analyzing your dreams. They both emphasize asking questions as a way of getting at the heart and soul of your dreams. Try asking yourself the questions Delaney recomends in her dream analysis:

When you reexperience the feelings you had in the dream, what do they remind you of in your current life?

Do you have any ideas already in mind about the meaning of this dream?

Describe the opening setting of the dream.
Does it remind you of anything?

Who is X, Y, and Z (describe the charecters in the dream and your asociates to them.)

Is there some part of you that is like X, Y, and/or Z?

What are the major objects in the dream, and what are they used for or how do they work?

What do the objects in your dream remind you of, and why are they important (or not important) to you?

What are the major events or actions in the dream, and what do they remind you of in your waking life?

my brain hurts.

david