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I love dreams! and I have heard of lucid dreaming but am probably not close to that level of control. I'm still practicing trying to remember my dreams! I try to maintain a dream diary which I read helps, also taking a those first few seconds when you wake up to focus on what you were dreaming about, but I wouldnt know how to begin training myself for lucid dreaming.

fellow dreamer :)

I have not reached the level of control either....and there are plenty of online guides for practicing. keeping a dream journal is one of them! It begins to document patterns of your dream life, so you can recognize them when they appear to realize you are dreaming...then comes the controlling part. :)

Isn't the movie Inception about something like that? I can barely even remember if I dreamed during the night, much less what the dream was. I wish I could. Does sleep walking have anything to do with dreaming? My fiancee pretty much sleep walks every night from what I've heard. I'm kind of excited to make some movies of it once we're married.

Interestingly enough, I got really interested in lucid dreaming after listening to a song by Dead Prez when I was in the 9th grade. I might have actually made a topic here about lucid dreaming before. As a matter of fact, I called it "Your Worst Nitemare?!" I began doing research on it and made a few attempts at doing it with little success. I practiced by recalling what dreams from the previous night and I kept reciting everything that happened in it throughout the same day that I woke up so that I could keep a mental track of my dreams. I remember my first success was me being in a dimly lit maze with a purple sky. I was trying to fly out of it, but I used up a lot of my energy to focus on flying and ended up waking up.

Then one time, I was completely conscious in my dream. Except it was more of a lucid nitemare. I was basically in a horror movie, and guy with a chainsaw was coming for me. I was completely conscious, but I had no control of elements in the dream (which is something you should have)

Anything as powerful as lucid dreaming, also has it's negative effects. When I first attempted it, I never realized that I was also capable of lucid nitemares. Though it didn't scare me away from lucid dreaming, it really let me appreciate having normal, random dreams. But I still want to have enough control over my dreams to the point where I'm always flying like Superman, or relaxing on a beach. That was the real goal when I started.

jasonafton: I think in order to remember your dreams, it only takes some effort of mentally challenging yourself to be looking for them, and taking note...really recalling the dreams you had....it just takes a lot of practice I would think.

As for your fiancee....there is a tiny part of the brain that is usually activated during several stages of sleep cycles that is practically paralyzing your body to keep you from getting up and re enacting them...so I believe sleep walking is just a re enactment of dreaming. ( i am no expert though) :D

dmanjr: that is awesome that you were so inspired to practice, and had some results from your practice! do you still try to achieve that goal? I feel you on the nightmares....I hardly ever have a normal dream...there is always negativity and anxiety and fear...and I have quite detailed dreams. Many times I have realized I was in a dream, and also could do nothing...its part of the lucid progress. :) just gotta keep practicing.

I haven't tried to do lucid dreaming since that topic that I made on this site lol, partly because I just didn't make time for it. I might try to get back into it this summer, just so I can be on the beach during the night, if not during the day. Yeah, the whole lack of control can be very bothersome at times, but I think it's worth the experience. I hope you gain complete control and tell me how it is. I might start keeping a dream journal, but I can remember my dreams pretty well nowadays.

Dreaming has always been a HUGE interest of mine. Probably because I'm so interested in all things in the world human kind doesn't know everything about, things still left that hold some sort of mystery. You know?

But I went through a phase where I wanted to lucid dream so desperately. I tried everything. I tried to make it a habit to look at my hands periodically throughout the day, because apparently in your dreams you can't see the details in your hands. By making it a habit, it makes it so that when I look at my hands in a dream, it reminds me I'm dreaming. This didn't work because I couldn't remember to look at my hands, haha. I also tried to chant in my head what I wanted to dream about before I slept, which got very boring and tedious after... what? Two nights? Yeah, I'm not good with keeping with routines.

I successfully had one lucid dream in that phase of my life, and it was very, very weird. I dreamt I was in my old Tech Ed class in middle school, and my teacher asked me, "Chelsea, have you finished that essay?" I laughed and answered, "Essay in Tech Ed? This MUST be a dream!" This of course made me aware I was dreaming, so I ran to the nearest doorway. I always knew I would fly if I had the chance to lucid dream, so I took off out the doorway, my whole class flying behind me. I flew to South Carolina for some reason, and South Carolina was a swamp in my dream. Then I woke up.

But word of advice to you guys who want to learn how to lucid dream: keep a dream journal! Remembering your dreams is the first step to controlling them. If I was more of a morning person I'd keep one, but all I can think of when I wake up in the morning is how badly I want to go back to sleep... Haha.

I love the idea of lucid dreaming!
@Rhiai I agree with you about having a huge interest in it because it's unknown.
I've done it a couple times for a short time, and it's scary but awesome.
The only thing that stops me from continuing to try is my fear.. when I reach paralysis and realize that I could begin to hallucinate a little bit without being able to move,t he story of my friend's attempt comes into my mind. She was immobile because she was in between sleep and wake and she saw a shadow figure like a man standing at her door and it walked toward her and she couldn't move or scream.
Unless you believe in ghosts, this was a half dream in her real life and I think that would be soo scary, so I always freak myself out and make myself move before I can get farther, and then I fall asleep before having any success. :p I haven't tried in a while though, maybe i'll try again tonight.

Here's an article with a few tips that really do help, besides one part: the mirror.. sometimes in your dreams when you look in a mirror you see the worst parts of your personality and it's supposedly really scary and bad, unless you're really prepared for it.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnwlrjeqZC1qa5awto1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAI6WLSGT7Y3ET7ADQ&Expires=1333915924&Signature=cfLxBVvQ3UzgIHLXjiAiQtr7Wmc%3D

Thanks for that article. :D

I agree with both of you....I find it sooo fascinating because of its mystery. I mean...everyone dreams...everyone has to sleep. Your mind is no longer conscious of the world around you, and your body becomes paralyzed while the rest of your body continues to function. Then we are thrown into these other worlds! Its so beautiful. I just know dream content has to mean something!

There is a beautiful documentary on netflix if anyone has it...you should check it out!

@loveashlynne, I've never had anything close to what your friend described, but I've heard of it. For some it's actually a disorder and it happens really frequently, almost like being constantly threatened by a nightmare. I don't think I'd ever sleep again if that happened to me.

But, the way I see it, you spend seven-nine hours a day sleeping, and if you're lucid during that time, then you're basically adding that time to your lifespan. You know? The closest thing to productivity that you can do while unconscious is lucid dreaming. You all are making me want to do it so much more now!!

@Summonthefoxes, what is the documentary called? I practically live on Netflix with all the documentaries I watch. xD

I have never tried to control my dreams, but I have manipulated my dreams when I realized that I was dreaming. There have been many occasions where I have been dreaming and I was able to turn the dream into something more desirable to me. How I do it, I'm not sure. Typically when I realize that I am dreaming, I think about one thing, whether it be something or someone that I want to dream about, and let my mind do the rest. It may not be exactly how I want it to be, but I have been able to replace people already in my dream with someone else.

I only remember one dream where I have done this (I forget most dreams within an hour of waking up):
In the dream I was on a date with someone. The face of the person was blank. Toward the end of the date I began to wake up, and when I drifted lightly into consciousness I was very happy and smiling. I remember thinking, I wish I was on a date with _____, and fell back to sleep with ____'s face in my mind. When the dream continued, _____ was the person with me. I also remember waking up from this dream and rolling over in bed to look at _____ lying next to me. Of course he wasn't there, but the spot where he had laid next to me in my dream was warm and my waist was also warm from where his arms had been around me.

That was the only time I ever woke up from a dream like that and remembered it.