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questions about lucid dreams

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icecreamtrepan

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After seeing Waking Life, I kind of have a renewed interest in lucid dreaming. I haven't really tried any of the alphabet-soup methods offered on Wikipedia or anything like that. But I read something about nightmare-ish lucid dreams, and although I rarely have nightmares (my "bad" dreams revolve around me trying to accomplish something in vain in a short amount of time, being late, and almost falling from a high altitude - not really scary, just suspenseful), I'm still wondering if it's likely to have a nightmare lucid dream if I manage to even pull of having a lucid dream in the first place?

And, I usually use cannabis a few hours before sleeping, although the past few nights I have stayed sober. Does anyone think cannabis would help me reach a lucid state in my sleep?
 
Cannabis would probably actually make it more difficult. Retaining awareness while falling asleep takes a great deal of concentration, and cannabis typically isn't conducive to that kind of focus.

As far as having a lucid nightmare . . . that doesn't really make sense. If you're aware that you're dreaming, then you have nothing to fear. And if youre lucid to the point that you can actually control the content of your dream, then you can change the whole scenario.
 
Well, another concern of mine is false awakenings and not being able to wake up from the dream, if I manage to achieve a lucid state. What could I do to wake myself up, if I were in this position?
 
The desire to "wake up" causes you to wake up. Or if you find that difficult just imagine wiggleing your big toe it will bring you back into your body and cause you to wake up.
 
^It will probably take practice, though. I doubt you'll be able to do it so easily the first time you try.
 
When i smoke cannabis regularly I hardly ever dream, or at least i don't remember when i do.

If i go from smoking cannabis regularly to smoking non at all without tapering then i often have about a week of really vivid dreams. If you react the same way as me then maybe this effect could help with lucid dreaming. Unfortunately i also suffer mild insomnia when i do this; but when i do manage to get to sleep the dreams are crazey.
 
Yeah this is something I meant to get into when I was off cannabis for a year due to legal problems. Pity I never got around to it. I couldn't imagine myself being both a stoner and a lucid dreamer at once. In fact, most of the lucid dreams I've spontaneously had (most of which have been very short), have occurred when I've abruptly quit toking.
 
a lot of it has to do with memory.

you have to remember your dreams, and they're easy to forget.

hell, you can have a million lucid dreams in one night, its all useless if you never remember them
 
ive been havin dreams where i thought i was awake, and then id actually wake up and feel confused as hell.

this bad?
 
everyday shit.

riding round with go to work, doin shit round the house, and ill be thinking the whole time, " what a day " or soemthing like that, then ill wake up and be like " oh shit it was jus a dream ".

weird?
 
I lucid dream roughly twice a month.
This is kind of a natural thing that began with late adolescence. My dad recalls something similar when he was the same age, which abated when he was about 30 (I'm 25).

>>I'm still wondering if it's likely to have a nightmare lucid dream if I manage to even pull of having a lucid dream in the first place?>>

For me, a lucid nightmare is not a possibility. The fact that you know that the world is in your head, and thus in your hands, dispels all fear.

>>Well, another concern of mine is false awakenings and not being able to wake up from the dream, if I manage to achieve a lucid state. What could I do to wake myself up, if I were in this position?>>

Usually, you'll find yourself wanting to stay asleep longer rather than wishing to induce waking. Lucid dreaming is fucking great. :) That said, I have experienced nested chains of false-waking. If you do a quick mental check, asking, "Am I awake?" you'll know, if not immediately, then after a minute or so.
...
I have a method that induced increased lucid dreams successfully. Let me know if you wish to know.

ebola
 
No, cannabis will not help.

I'm actually opposing most peoples ideas here in the fact that I don't think it's neccessarily "healthy" to lucid dream. I think sleep is a period in which self-awareness is turned off for a reason, and if you are self-concious in a dream than that defeats the purpose, or partial purpose of sleep. Your brain needs rest and to disconnect its self, and lucid dreaming can only, in my opinion, hurt the circumstances by which we recover through sleep.
 
Edvard Munch, I don't see what gives you that idea. Do you have any references to back that up? I always feel the most refreshed when I wake up after an intense and vividly real dream. You dream during REM sleep, and not really any other time. REM sleep is what repairs your brain. In laboratory studies, rats deprived of only REM sleep (but not other sleep cycles) showed rested bodies but fatigued brains, and died quickly. I'd say any practice which prolongs REM sleep must be good for you!
 
saucy2040 said:
everyday shit.

riding round with go to work, doin shit round the house, and ill be thinking the whole time, " what a day " or soemthing like that, then ill wake up and be like " oh shit it was jus a dream ".

weird?
Click to expand...

Thats not weird, it happens to people all the time. what you need to start doing is looking for signs that you're sleeping, such as:

seeing how lights change (from dark to sunshine, or turning on a light in a room). When you're dreaming, you can't adjust these light levels so well, or not at all, your dream is always the same level of brightness. So if you walk into a pitch dark room and turn the light on, you're not dreaming.

reading small print or looking at the time, it's hard to read in dreams.

seeing weird shit happening

Finally, start to question if you're dreaming in your regular waking life. If you don't question it when you're awake, you won't when you're sleeping.
 
Edvard Munch said:
No, cannabis will not help.

I'm actually opposing most peoples ideas here in the fact that I don't think it's neccessarily "healthy" to lucid dream. I think sleep is a period in which self-awareness is turned off for a reason, and if you are self-concious in a dream than that defeats the purpose, or partial purpose of sleep. Your brain needs rest and to disconnect its self, and lucid dreaming can only, in my opinion, hurt the circumstances by which we recover through sleep.
Click to expand...

MyDoorsAreOpen is right, lucid dreaming happens during REM sleep. Your heaviest dream period. It doesn't interfere with your regular dream cycle at all. I also wake up a lot more refreshed after lucid dreaming.
 
MaxPowers said:
seeing how lights change (from dark to sunshine, or turning on a light in a room). When you're dreaming, you can't adjust these light levels so well, or not at all, your dream is always the same level of brightness. So if you walk into a pitch dark room and turn the light on, you're not dreaming.
Click to expand...

Interesting. This explains one of my most frequent nightmares, where something (usually a ghost) is stalking me slowly around a house, and I know I can make it go away or at least get the upper hand, if only I could turn on a light in the pitch black place. But none of the lightswitches do jack. I have a lighter but it won't light. Nothing I frantically do gets any light into the place. I usually wake up after trying to swear in frustration or call for help, and my voice doesn't work either.
 
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