For people who can control their dreams

There are alot of threads on dreaming these days. What i want to know is are things like lucid dreaming and OOBE actually real?

If so do you have the ability to control what happens in your dreams and actually create a "reality" ??

Are some dreams better than your real life meaning its gutting when you wake up and have to live actual reality??

Has anyone ever got trapped in a dream for what seems like days/weeks unable to wake up seeming losing all control??

I have experienced sleep paralysis but all i see is black, no noise, i just try to scream or kick myself out of it. I dont find it particulary enjoyable like some members do.

Im going to start practicing dream recall as this dream stuff interests me.


[edit on 2-1-2009 by daxman]

"For people who can cotrol their dreams
There are alot of threads on dreaming these days. What i want to know is are things like lucid dreaming and OOBE actually real?"

Yes they are real. A basic lucid dream is simply a dream where you realize you are dreaming. Usually the dream is going along like normal and then you start to ask yourself "hey is this a dream?" OOBE is real too but I only have only had one maybe two solid OOBE.

"If so do you have the ability to control what happens in your dreams and actually create a "reality" ??

Not as much as you'd think. You can create things at times but it's not easy. Pretty often I can make a particular person walk into the room in a lucid dream. Two things that come easily to me are flight and telekinesis in a dream.

"Are some dreams better than your real life meaning its gutting when you wake up and have to live actual reality??"

Absolutely! It can really ground you in real life though if you deal with it patiently. Also after a good dream especially if it lasts a long time you usually wake up in a peaceful state not so much a wanting sort of state, you are in a good place to deal with the let down.

"Has anyone ever got trapped in a dream for what seems like days/weeks unable to wake up seeming losing all control?? "

Well you have dreams that seem to occur over many days where you only see part of the days, it is split into parts like a movie. As far as getting trapped, only once. I dreamed I was riding in a car with some friends and we were going to a party that I knew was bad news. I asked my friend who was driving, "Am I dreaming?" And he told me "I wouldn't worry about that." So I say to hell with this I'll just wake up if you are going to drag me around and lock me in the car with you. I couldn't wake up. So I started bashing my head against the window in the dream trying to wake up. Couldn't do it and it wasn't hurting so I ended up going with them and basically had a decently long lucid dream. But yes I felt trapped, it was just unpleasant which is why I wanted to wake up.


"I have experienced sleep paralysis but all i see is black, no noise, i just try to scream or kick myself out of it. I dont find it particulary enjoyable like some members do. "

Realize that you cannot move until your body is ready, it's physically impossible and therefore there is no reason to try until you are more awake. If you want to try to come out of it then just try to move a toe or a finger, once you do that you will be up. Sleep paralysis can be fun to play with though. You may find you are able to move your dream arm or spirit arm and this is part of OOBE. Do that a few times and move more and more. Then you realize that if you did this with your whole spirit or dream body you would find yourself out of your body and having an OOBE.

"Im going to start practicing dream recall as this dream stuff interests me. "

Record your dreams and you will see amazing results. I use a digital voice recorder now this is the easiest way. It also helps to write them down, if you want to. It's all about how much time in waking life you put into it. You get out of it what you put into it.

And if you want a lucid dream to last longer, you have to chill. Stay in the background and observe. If you want to do other stuff that's cool but the way to make one really last is to stay calm. I have had a lucid dream that lasted 20 minutes and one that I estimate lasted 2 hours.

You can controll the deams you have.

I have done it only twice.. being self aware in a dream is very odd!! lol

The problem is most people dont know they are dreaming they just are.. but once it clicks its a deam then it gets odd I did it twice becouse the first time i did it i was shocked.. the 2nd time i was seeing if what i had "thought i was doing "in my sleep" was a dream itself.. turns out its not...

The only thing i was confused about was the total random crap i thought of when i was "controlling" or atleast knowing i was sleeping lol..

Bonkers but there is alot more to dreams and good its a good subject to debate.

NOVISE than you so much for that reply. You answered every Q I asked!! Cant fault it

The increase in threads posted has I guess made me more aware and interested in them.

As i said im going to start recalling my dreams. As it stands i quite often will be doing something and i will have a flash of something i dreamt about, but as soon as i realise its what i dreamt about its gone, and i literally can even remember what the flashback was, so yeah i need to record my dreams as soon as i wake up.

Ive woken up enough times lol but never thought about recording dream events so as your more experienced can you tell me if dreams are easy to remember when you first wake up?? Or is this also something you need to train your mind to do??

Originally posted by daxman
NOVISE than you so much for that reply. You answered every Q I asked!! Cant fault it

The increase in threads posted has I guess made me more aware and interested in them.

As i said im going to start recalling my dreams. As it stands i quite often will be doing something and i will have a flash of something i dreamt about, but as soon as i realise its what i dreamt about its gone, and i literally can even remember what the flashback was, so yeah i need to record my dreams as soon as i wake up.

Ive woken up enough times lol but never thought about recording dream events so as your more experienced can you tell me if dreams are easy to remember when you first wake up?? Or is this also something you need to train your mind to do??

I seem to have the same problem I wake up think ahh yes I will remember that write it down in the morning go back to sleep wake up and nothing, ok so now this is my newyear resoloution put a note pad by the side of my bed so i can write an essay at 3 oclock in the morning great!!!!!!!!!!! rock and roll to you too!!!!!!!!!

Rock n Roll

Ok so on a scale of 1-10 how real does it feel. I mean lets assume being awake is 10, can you achieve that level of feeling in a dream?

I find the best way to remember dreams is to wake up slowly, no alarm clocks or sudden awakenings as these seem to dislodge the memory. As you wake up try to focus on the dream, don't try to think about it, just focus on remembering it. Stay in bed and do this to start with as any distraction can throw you and the dream will start to fade, often rapidly. It can be really helpful to write it down or use a voice recorder. The more often you remember your dreams the better and more frequent your recall will be. Everybody dreams, even those that think they don't and pretty good recall is fairly easy for most people to achieve if they go about it the right way.

Lucid dreaming is best acheived by asking yourself to lucid dream before you go to sleep. I know talking to yourself may seem a bit odd but it does work. In my experience it can take anything from a few days to a few weeks of this before any results occur and certainly in my case, the lucid dreaming will reduce in frequency quite quickly if I stop the process of asking myself to lucid dream.

The earlier poster who said that you have to chill is spot on. None of this can be achieved if you are stressed or otherwise preoccupied with worries. Dreams, particularly lucid ones, are a fascinating experience though and I wish anyone trying the best of luck.

Oh it is definetly something you train your mind to do, it's an acquired skill. It is easiest to recall right when you wake up, whether it's time to wake up or it's 2 am. The short term effects are greater than the long term effects, it is like exersizing because when you stop you really lose your strength, but obviously if you don't exersize you can still run and walk and w/e you just aren't in shape so that's OK too.

The more and more you recall/journal the more you will remember, conversations and what you saw in the dream, but especially the story. Dreams follow a story line in my experience. There is almost always some sort of plot that is followed and a story line.

That's another reason I use the voice recorder. After a while you entries will be pages long and your hand starts hurting from writing. When you are starting out just put anything you remember even if it's something like "Went on a trip with best friend, we laughed, we were in a car and I don't remember much else." That is how mine started, with very little things. With time though you will be writing pages if you want you can sit there forever and keep remembering little things. Lucidity is different, it comes in streaks with me, but I enjoy the benefits of recall ability moreso than lucidity. Both are very fun. Recall is more like reading a story and every time you remember something its' like "hey cool!" Lucidity is less fun to recall in some ways.

So you don't have to necessarily focus on lucidity too much, the recall ability is more of a focus with me. The lucidity will definetly come, there are just some things that cannot happen without you realizing it's a dream. I had a dream the other night where a friend of mine had written me a very sweet and heartfelt letter in a christmas card. I didn't realize this was a dream at the time, but man do I wish my recall was good enough to remember what the letter said completely. And yeah I don't think reading in a dream is a problem, what happens though is if you look away and look back, the letters will be scrambled and different.

And I'm glad to help. We are exersizing when we do this. This will help me with my dream recall. Any moment of waking life you spend reading about dreams, talking about dreams, or recalling your dreams or pondering what to try next in your dreams is a moment that will help you with your dreams.

The next thing I want to do in my dreams is ask for help, ask for someone to come and help me or someone. Instead of trying to fix everything on my own which doesn't tend to work. So that's what I'm working on atm. It might be a long time before I remember to actually try it, but always have a goal in the back of your mind.

edit: It feels real but it usually feels better. It is amazing how real things can seem even though you are lucid.

[edit on 2-1-2009 by Novise]

Interesting topic,

I've been able to realize I'm in a dream a couple times, for 3 years I believe.

The way it feels when I realize I'm in a dream, feels air-ish, spacey, blank, quiet. I am able to say, "I'm in a dream". If i would jump between rooftops and wasn't going to make the jump, I was able to stop and rewind or place myself at the other side to prevent falling. I fear heights just to mention. One other dream, I was thinking of jumping off a cliff into sea, but there was this, imagination of me jumping and landing in the water. So from there, I could see how it would look if I had fell.

Other dreams when I realize I'm in them, I do things that I know won't affect reality.

One dream i had recently scared me awake, literally. It was supposedly the end of the world or the coming of it. What woke me up was when I realized my girlfriend wasn't with me, I even whispered to myself in a sad tone "she's not here..". After that I woke up and turned on the computer to check for any notes from her, I checked ats if something disastrous had happened. I felt like I didn't know what was going on in the world. Just to note, my girlfriend is overseas. I must be that I missed her so much.

I looked up my dreams from the dream dictionary website. I still have the notes from my dreams if anyone is interested.


Oh, i forgot to mention another control in my dream. I happened to be at a beach. I had gone underwater, holding my breathe. Then realized I was dreaming and decided to just breathe. I was able to as if I was breathing in air.

Other interesting dreams are ones where you are trying to punch or kick something/someone. Before, i always had a hard time doing so, it would be like a slow motion numb punch. Now, I can actually connect at full force.


It seems my dreams are becoming more in my control for the past year.

I've always wondered about them and wanted to share them. In hopes that maybe, it is just a dream afterall and no biggie.




EDIT: corrected some spelling and added additional note info.






[edit on 2-1-2009 by non-living]

Well Novise keep us informed, i enjoy reading your posts on this.

Non Living- Go for it, post some notes. I think it will help us who are just starting out. For example the only thing i can recall about my dreams last night was that there was a Kinder Egg in it, i looked away and it was gone, i was quite gutted lol i looked away and back again and it was there

So nothing is going to sound strange !!!

reply to post by daxman



I've had dreams like that only a couple times in my life where everything seems so completely REAL that when you do wake up it is a SHOCK. And yes it was incredibly depressing to wake up, oddly enough...lol. I don't know about other people, but when that happens to me it kind of messes me up, so I feel weird for days after....

reply to post by Novise


I have to disagree with you on sleep paralysis. I routinely have been able to move just by getting very mad and scared...it feels like my arms are heavy and like I am very sluggish but can work through it. It is usually after a nasty melatonin induced nightmare. ( I have clinical insomnia..lol)


[edit on 2-1-2009 by djvexd]

Originally posted by daxman

There are alot of threads on dreaming these days. What i want to know is are things like lucid dreaming and OOBE actually real?

In my opinion, yes they are. I experimented with OOBE's when I was younger, had a few interesting experiences. I havent experimented with it in years though.

If so do you have the ability to control what happens in your dreams and actually create a "reality" ??

In dreams, I think so, Im not able to control my dreams. My mom once told me she is able, but I dont know to what extent. Dreams are different then OOBE's (IMO). as for creating a reality, I just dont know. I have wondered about that myself. Is a dream some how a window into another reality? Is it just random nuerons in the brain firing? I cant say for sure, but my belief is there is nothing random about it.

Are some dreams better than your real life meaning its gutting when you wake up and have to live actual reality??

The answer to this is going to vary from person to person I suspect. MY answer is no, I havent really ever had a dream that is "better" than reality. My dreams (atleast the ones I can remember) are always very bizzare and usually I cant make heads or tails of them. I have had dreams where i am glad it was just a dream though, Like When I had a dram that my mom had died. It seemed so real. After I woke up I truly believed she was dead for about 5 minutes. Generally for me the answer is no, but I suspect a few people will say yes.

Has anyone ever got trapped in a dream for what seems like days/weeks unable to wake up seeming losing all control??

hmmm, I havent that I can recall. I have had one of those dream within a dreams before though. You know, the kind where you are dreaming about something and you wake up(atleast you think you do) only to realize a few seconds later that you are still dreaming. then you wake up. When I "woke up in my dream it only took me about 5 seconds to realize I was still dreaming and I woke up as soon as I realized.

I have experienced sleep paralysis but all i see is black, no noise, i just try to scream or kick myself out of it. I dont find it particulary enjoyable like some members do.

Im with you on that one. I dont find sleep paralysis particularly fun. I havent had any wierd experience with sleep paralysis, but I remember the first time it happened, I was about 7 and it terrified me. Now when it happens I some times just wait for it to wear off, but usually I am able to force myself to move. I start by forcing a finger or toe to wiggle and go on from there. But yeah, I dont find it particularly fun.

Im going to start practicing dream recall as this dream stuff interests me.

Very good, I wish you luck, my friend.

[edit on 2-1-2009 by gimme_some_truth]

oh by the way, if you are curious about OOBE's

You may want to take a look at the book, Journey out of the body by Robert Monroe. Its an older book, but it is the one that I used to help me get started with my experimentation with OOBE's.

he has a website too.

The Monroe Institute

Here too is a link that shows the method that he (and I used) to achieve an OOBE. aHow to

It took me about a year of practice. I worked at it every night for an hour or two (sometimes more if I had any success). It takes alot of patience, but its possible.

So for what its worth....

Dust

[edit on 2-1-2009 by gimme_some_truth]

Excellent questions, daxman! These are fun to answer

What i want to know is are things like lucid dreaming and OOBE actually real?

I can only speak from experience about lucid dreaming, and yes, it is very real (there are also scientific studies that prove that you're actually conscious while lucid dreaming rather than just the "illusion" of consciousness).

If so do you have the ability to control what happens in your dreams and actually create a "reality" ??

Sometimes - I think you can do this with practice (there are techniques for controlling certain things). Technically, since it's all in your imagination, you should theoretically be able to control everything once you're aware that you're dreaming, but it doesn't always work that way; I think because the actual environment you see/smell/touch/etc. is created by your subconscious, not everything is under your "conscious" control.

Are some dreams better than your real life meaning its gutting when you wake up and have to live actual reality??

Yes, it's happened to me, and it can be somewhat disappointing when you wake up.

Has anyone ever got trapped in a dream for what seems like days/weeks unable to wake up seeming losing all control??

When I do lucid dream, it's usually very short (only a few minutes at most) because I usually get too excited and wake myself up, but I've heard some claims from lucid dreaming "masters" who allegedly can sort of speed up time so they live an entire day in a one hour dream, and even one claim that a guy lived an entire dream lifetime in one night (but I'm skeptical about that).

Ok so on a scale of 1-10 how real does it feel. I mean lets assume being awake is 10, can you achieve that level of feeling in a dream?

Lucid dreams vary greatly (for me at least) in realism. Sometimes it's kind of hazy and not too clear, other times it feels amazingly like real life (smells, sounds, feelings, etc.), and this can vary throughout the dream.

A few weeks ago I was really surprised when I had my most realistic dream ever, because on a realism scale of 1 to 10, I would rate this dream an 11. I know that doesn't make sense, and I guess it's absolutely impossible to fully describe the feeling. Basically colors seemed brighter than real life, smells, sounds, and all natural senses felt "realer" than real - if that makes any sense at all. I would describe it as "hyper-awareness" or maybe a "surreal realness". In the dream I was on an alien planet of some kind, and it was just astounding. Unfortunately, it lasted only for a short time (like 30 seconds), and my only memories of the dream are memories of how I felt after waking up when the dream was still fresh in my head.

That's another strange thing about dreams - it seems I always forget my dreams, no matter what I do. I mean, I can write them down or make a mental note, etc. of them, but the actual memory of the experience always disappears, leaving only memories of the memories, if that makes any sense.

Yes lucid dreaming is very interesting once you start to figure out what you are doing. I have found that the best way for me to enter into an lucid dream is if I tell repeat to myself while I am in bed and ready to sleep

The next visions and images you see will be your dream. Any sounds, conversations you here will be in your dream.

I try to repeat until fall asleep. That has worked the best for me. It also helps to think of a place you would like to start your dream at, or a scenario while you are repeating the above. I’ve also found that before you gall asleep while you are relaxed it is easier to remember past dreams.

Until you really get a firm grip on lucid dreaming it will come and go. I have notice within a single night that I have been lucid threw only parts of a dream. In the beginning try not to change or create things. Just when you realize that you are dreaming just go with the flow and just consciously make small decision on what to do. For me if I try any thing major I will either loose my lucid state or wake up.

And also it is not something you will learn today and do tomorrow. You have to be patient it becomes frustrating when you realize that you are close to doing what ever it is that you want to do while you are lucid. Once you become frustrated you can just about throw that lucid experience you were having out the window. Just take small steps and it slowly comes to you.

I know I have said a good bit, but I am no expert wouldn’t want you thinking that, I am still struggling with the creating something big but having a great time trying to figure it out.

There is a thread that shakesbeer started where he gives a lot of information about lucid dreaming and offers as much help as he can. His thread has helped me out a lot so I will leave it here for you.

www.abovetopsecret.com...'

I hope that I have helped and would recomend you checking out his thread.

Though I've had vivid lucid dreams in the past, I lost the ability sometime after puberty hit. Ever since, I find that the only way in which I can tell dreams from reality is by the bland continuity of day-to-day life. Dreams are so unpredictable, but reality is more like an abstract equasion.

I only post to bring to light one interesting aspect of my dreaming which may or may not be shared by others here. In most, but not all, of my dreams, I am so thoroughly involved in the dream that I have distinct memories and knowledge of who I am, where I am, etc. Its not as though I "wake" to find myself in a strange place wandering about; I always have a reason, and can remember years into the past of my dream self. Once I was a father, more often a soldier, and sometimes a monster; each dream, though bearing no vague semblence to my waking life, carried with it enough detail of mind and memory to take from me the ability to rationalize the fact that I was not actually awake. Hence lucid dreaming has become an improbability at this point.

As a side note, though it doesn't have much to do with lucid dreaming, roughly one-third of my dreams involve nothing to do with reality; colours, shapes, and worlds of alien nature do, at random, take possession of my sleeping mind, and I find myself a witless wanderer through nightmare vistas of great intrigue. While this may not interest most, as everybody has strange dreams from time to time, it should be noted that the sheer detail of the dreams, as well as their content, began at the early age of twelve for no discernable reason, which is contrary to psychology's theories on dreaming. I mention this to drive home a point which should be made to any who seek what twisted answers dreams, lucid or otherwise, offer the dreamer; to thine own self be true. No scholar, friend, lover, or foe can tell you what secrets your dreams hold, though they may help you find your way. The person who seeks to know the art of dreaming requires only infinite patience for one's self and a driven, yet open, mind.

As for the whole out of body thing, I accidentally did it once. When I was younger and didn't know anything about metaphysics, some fool friend of mine thought it would be a good idea to teach me how to meditate over a drink. The next thing I know, I'm looking at the Weave. Point is, out of body experiences are ill-advised at best, and shouldn't be attempted without rigorous mental training; its not a toy, and should be treated more like a gun than anything else.

I have more to say, but as I could speak aimlessly with no proof that I am speaking from experience, nor a single shred of evidence beyond the personal testimony of myself and others, I will be silent. After all, my own dreams await.

Hey
I have lucid dreams all the time. Every night before I go to bed I just think about what I'm going to dream about.. then I close my eyes and start acting it out.. soon enough I slip into dreaming but all the while I know I'm dreaming and I'm still able to control what's going on.
I recently broke up with my boyfriend and it was really tough on me, so at night I dream that we're still together. Every morning when I wake up it's this horrible feeling knowing that my dream is over.. so I quickly try to go back to sleep so I can dream some more about us. So as for waking up in the morning, yes it can suck.
Being able to control your dreams, or know that your dreaming is amazing though.. one of my favourite things to do is fly. I love to fly in my dreams.

I consider my dreams the other half of my reality.

I am an avid astral projector as well as able to lucid dream very frequently. The two experiences are similar, yet very different. Astral projection is less cartoonish, and requires you to consciously exit your body while lucid dreaming often occurs while already in a dream, and noticing that you are dreaming through dream signs and reality checks.

My experiences in both could literally fill hundreds of pages, and many have been written about in threads I regularly discuss in the paranormal section. I tend to almost life a second life while in my dreams, visiting far off places that would floor you from the beauty some of them exhibit.

I am literally my own god when dreaming, and can create or experience anything. As for how real it may feel, while I know I am dreaming, it is still so very real that I consider my dreams a second part of my life as stated earlier.

Some of the things I really enjoy doing are flying, casting lightning from my hands, telekenisis, and summoning beautiful women to do my bidding. The dreams have no limits and you are only bound by yourself. I also ask questions of the entities I encounter in order to recieve answers to help guide me in my life.

I had to make this a short reply due to being at work at the moment, but when I get some time I will write a reply that will answer everything you could ask and then some. If you would like, you can go through some of my older threads I have created regarding the subject and I think you will find many experiences that you may find facinating. I also spent much time writing up my accounts of many of my astral travels and lucid dreams, so they are much more detailed then what I have covered in this thread.

I can only reccomend that you one day experience it for yourself. Words cannot express how absolutely amazing things can become.

More when I was younger I could control my dreams. usually if I felt a dream was going down the wrong path, getting scary, I could just change some part of the dream or my own actions in order to take away the fear. It is harder to now that I am older proly because I have killed brain cells with drinking and smoking.