This is a question for all of you who have had lucid dreams and know that they are lucid.
What does it feel like to be lucid in a dream?
The reason I ask is because over the past couple of night I have had dreams in which I have made choices. For example, last night I was following an old prospector type guy up a ditch but when he started scrambling up a cliff face to get around a bush I decided to cut through the bushes on the other side of the ditch. The problem was that the decision was so instantaneous and natural that I don’t know if it was a part of the dream of not.
In another dream from last night I was dreaming about reading some words that had been written down on a piece of paper. The problem was that the words and letters were so jumbled that I couldn’t make heads or tails of any of it. With a little effort I was able to read a few of the words but, again, it fet like a part of the dream.
My initial impression of lucid dreaming was being fully conscious and “awake” in your dreams. With that thought in mind I have literally woken myself up several times in the past when I realized that I was dreaming.
So again, I ask, What does it feel like to be lucid in a dream?
when I’m lucid, I’m fully aware I’m in a dream and I am capable of making free choices. But usually i don’t have my full waking memory, so i can forget goals and intentions unless i really wanted to do them.
Yeah it’s very difficult to describe…near impossible perhaps. I typically, when it comes to emotions anyway, feel extremely excited but I also have a sense of urgency to do whatever I want to do.
For me it’s different at times. Depends on what is going on, where I am at, how I got lucid etc.
I do notice that my sense of touch is noticed more. If I put my hands into a stream of water it will feel cold, and like water. Whereas if I happen to be around water in a ND I usually don’t notice what it feels like.
This is also the same for wind, I will usually notice if it’s blowing.
My lucid experiences usually tend to be very bright.
If youre absolute lucid, you wont be in motion you just stand there in your dreamworld waiting till you move around and do stuff, if your dream is keeping you in motion it means you have a lower lucidity or possibly a ND
I remember when I was just starting out. My dreams started getting… weird… and definitely more lucid-like. But until you have one, I think it’s near impossible to describe/grasp. So if you’re like me, you’ll have a bunch of dreams that, night by night, seem to become more logical and involving more decision making until you finally have a LD.
more decision making? well then, does yelling at someone on a bike because their riding past me(without reason) a lot count for a choice? That dream was more vivid than almost every other dream I had. It was like a perfect replica of the place it was in…it even got the details right +.+
I’m currently trying to obtain lucidity and i’m curious as to a few things. How does it feel - does it feel just as if you were walking around and controlling your body in real life (waking state) or different? How does time pass - how do you know when it’s time to wake up, and not just get carried away and end up sleeping for an entire day?
Edit: im sorry im really tired and didnt knotice the post below mine on exactly the same thing. You can deleted this
Hmmmm… I can basically describe it as a mental feeling of zoning out. When you zone out, everything is tuned out of your mind. You feel absolutely nothing and pretty much are in your own world.
On the other hand, physically, to me, the air is a bit thicker, not like water or jelly, but some kind of thinner substance - maybe like outter space with zero atmosphere - and you move as if you’re a tiny bit restrained (even if you move quickly). Everything appears to be smoother as well (at least in most of my dreams).
And like someone above me said, you slow down when you’re in a LD (in my LDs the environments seldom ever change). Decisions are less spontaneous and if you seem to be moving around a lot, you’re probably losing lucidity or having a FLD, such as when I try to walk to a different environment, I lose my grip on my dream and tend to drift away from my ultimate control. I believe it feels like a more intimate connection with the environment around; you notice when things are out of place, strange, or just absurd…
It definitely is hard to explain. For me (at least in my LDs so far) it feels so much more vivid and detailed compared to a ND, but not as realistic as in real life though. But that could be because my 2nd LD wasn’t a very high level of lucidity (My first LD lasted less than 10 seconds).
For me, becoming lucid feels as though my mind suddenly… exists. I can feel my consciousness washing over the dreamscape, and I know that it’s a dream.
This question is tougher that I first thought. The feeling varies, of course. Sometimes I feel as present in the dream as in real life, or more. The dream can be really vivid, or not so vivid. I guess it depends on how lucid I am and the intensity of my REM sleep.
One thing I think is pretty common in my lucid dreams is that I seem to “glide” when I move. Not that much, just a little bit, so moving feels a little different, but not always.
Compared to normal dreams, LDs are usually more vivid and my thinking feels like it is normal, but I can realise later that it was not.
I want to say something about making choices, but I don’t know what. I do know that making choices is a significant thing. Very much a part of the appeal of lucid dreaming.
As others have said before me, having a LD is rather hard to describe. For me when I become aware and Lucid, it is like the realization that I have total freedom!
All my senses seem enhanced as I look at my surroundings. I take my time to see, touch, and even smell everything around me. It is very exciting as I explore my new and strange surroundings.
Realization. Before you actually realize: “This is a dream!”, I don’t think you’re properly lucid. Sometimes this is a very elating feeling, sometimes it’s more of a “cool, what shall I do” feeling. I think it’s much more obvious when you become lucid than when you lose lucidity.
Just look around you real fast, find an object, touch it feel it, feel the realness of it. To me that’s exactly what a lucid dream is like, everything around you is completely “real” in the area of senses, allthough, more-so in a way. It’s a feeling that’s very hard to communicate when the other person hasn’t experienced it yet. I would say, a surreal heightening of the senses and realness with what you come into contact with in your dreamscape would be the best way I could describe it.
The best lucid dream I had does involve being “fully awake” in your head; of course being fully awake in a world with very few rules and a guardian spirit gives you endless possibilities! This is probably what you were imagining and probably what you should strive for.
There are many other “half-lucids” and “semi-lucids” where I think I’m getting there; Theres just a small part of you awake…its not as strong.
What I have noticed is that even that little bit of awareness makes dream recall so much better for the night. You remember Sooooo much more! hope this helps
