Lucid dreaming

[Leroy]

I've had them from time to time, but as soon as I realize it is a dream, I almost always wake up. The first one I had I was in a battle with my old guard unit. At just about the moment a guy was going to shoot me in the head, I said, 'I don't care, it is a dream anyway'. Then I woke up. It almost always happen at just the moment I am to be killed, hurt or punished for something.

[Freed Roger]

I'm not sure this is lucid dreaming - I will semi-wake up cognizant that I'm in a dream and what's occurring in the dream is [expletive] up then I resume the same dream and try to fix it to no avail. Then in the morning I tell my wife about the lousy night's sleep I had because of some dream I was trying to fix, but I typically have no clue what the dream was about other than it was annoying.

[cardinalkarp]

While it's definitely possible to have a lucid dream and not remember it but from what you explained it sounds like you were in the middle of a dream, woke up, and when going back to sleep resumed the dream. If it were a lucid dream you probably could have "fixed" whatever you percieved the problem was.

[Freed Roger]

While it's definitely possible to have a lucid dream and not remember it but from what you explained it sounds like you were in the middle of a dream, woke up, and when going back to sleep resumed the dream. If it were a lucid dream you probably could have "fixed" whatever you percieved the problem was.

I guess vivid is one thing and lucid is another. Does it matter that it is a situation that can't be fixed in reality? -I faintly recall dreams that I lapse out of then go back in often involve work problems, or my teenage daughter not taking responsibility for speeding tickets - if I'm lucid in my dream, I know those deals can't be fixed.

Maybe I answered my own question. Probably these are more like the regular dreams - my mind's way of coping with stress, or dealing with some situation I have while awake. A way to soften the blow when the real-awake situations occur. -i.e. Once had a bear wake us up huffing and sniffing at us outside our tent -the rest of the night I had uncontrolled vivid dreams of bears prowling around.

[cardinalkarp]

Vivid and lucid are definitely two different things. Trying not to sound too "out there" because honestly I've never really had a lucid dream that I know of. From everything I've read even though a problem hasn't been or if you don't think it can be resolved in "reality" it still could be a way of your subconscious mind trying to resolve those issues. As crazy as it sounds if you were "lucid" in the dream you could confront the issue and possibly find a resolution.

[lukethedrifter]

Going back more than 20 years ago, a friend of mine was experimenting with controlling his dreams. Keeping a notepad by the bed to immediately write down what you recalled was part of it. I have no idea how much success he had.

[cardinalkarp]

Going back more than 20 years ago, a friend of mine was experimenting with controlling his dreams. Keeping a notepad by the bed to immediately write down what you recalled was part of it. I have no idea how much success he had.

Yes, they do suggest keeping a dream journal. The main reason for doing that in the beginning is so you can recognize certain "dream symbols" to let yourself know that you're actually dreaming. If you begin to see a pattern in your dreams it's easier for you to recognize you're dreaming and therefore it's easier for you to become lucid in your dream

[maddash]

So is there research that shows lucid dreams having a different kind of brain activity than normal dreams? I've had lucid dreams before, but I've often wondered if what I thought was a lucid dream was just a normal dream that I remember being as lucid. Does that make any sense? All dreams are memories right? You wake up and you remember the dream (even if it's lucid), but you never actively experience a dream like you experience real life, right? So, what's to say your mind isn't just playing tricks with your memory, making you think you actually had control over things. Like your brain accidentally labeled it as lucid when it should have labeled it as passive, but the content of the dream is unchanged.

[lukethedrifter]

So is there research that shows lucid dreams having a different kind of brain activity than normal dreams? I've had lucid dreams before, but I've often wondered if what I thought was a lucid dream was just a normal dream that I remember being as lucid. Does that make any sense? All dreams are memories right? You wake up and you remember the dream (even if it's lucid), but you never actively experience a dream like you experience real life, right? So, what's to say your mind isn't just playing tricks with your memory, making you think you actually had control over things. Like your brain accidentally labeled it as lucid when it should have labeled it as passive, but the content of the dream is unchanged.

No, that's not it all.

[maddash]

So is there research that shows lucid dreams having a different kind of brain activity than normal dreams? I've had lucid dreams before, but I've often wondered if what I thought was a lucid dream was just a normal dream that I remember being as lucid. Does that make any sense? All dreams are memories right? You wake up and you remember the dream (even if it's lucid), but you never actively experience a dream like you experience real life, right? So, what's to say your mind isn't just playing tricks with your memory, making you think you actually had control over things. Like your brain accidentally labeled it as lucid when it should have labeled it as passive, but the content of the dream is unchanged.

No, that's not it all.

Not it all? What did I leave out?