So I am very new to this, as in less than a week. I had a very odd experience that left me confused and discouraged. I would really appreciate some advice:
I had woken up naturally about 6 hours after going to bed and was trying to use the MILD method. As I was laying there repeating my mantra, I heard a disembodied voice commanding me to stay absolutely still which I did.
Some time later, I became aware of the fact I was asleep. I kept repeating to myself “I’m dreaming.” Each time I thought it, I felt a powerful tingling sensation all over my body like pins and needles. I think I was lucid, but everything was black. The only thing I experienced for awhile was the tingling feeling.
Eventually, I managed to conjure up a dream scape (though it didn’t last long.) Most things I have read about your first lucid dream describe it as euphoric and liberating, but I didn’t feel that way. I felt stressed and a little panicked. In my short lived lucid dream (if that’s what it was) I was a video game character and quickly died for no apparent reason, getting a jumbled dream-text “Game Over” screen.
What do you guys make of this? Do you think this was actually a lucid dream? What do you think the blackness was before I was able to conjure a dream scape?
It is very common to get excited, confused, and even stressed in a first LD. The experience is so new, and we have so many things we want to do in such a short time. This usually makes first LDs short.
The blackness is commonly referred to as the void. What you did was a WILD, and WILDs often start with this while a dream scene forms. I experience the void every time I teleport in lucid dreams, between the old and the new dream scene. The best explanation I can come up with is that we are asleep, our senses are tuned out, but there isn’t a proper dream to substitute them yet.
You have just proven that you can WILD! I hope your next one will be more stable!
Really? Wow, I didn’t think I’d be able to pull of WILD so soon! Thank you for your comment, and thank you in particular for letting me know that first LDs can be stressful. I was worried I was doing something wrong.
The tingling sensation usually occurs when you are feeling a bit cold and you dream as if you’re in the water, in the complete dark or simply fall from a building or terrace.
The tingling sensation would usually wake you up and you’ll immediately feel stressed out and question whether you escaped your body for a moment or not.
If you keep repeating “i’m dreaming, I’m dreaming”, you might stress yourself out. But if you simply try to remember the things you were dreaming a moment ago, it will most certainly put you back to the dream you had. Sometimes even repeating the dreaming aspects you already encountered.
Getting too excited is usually a dream breaker. Be it beneficial or maleficent.
Congrats on your first WILD! It means you’re kind of a natural since WILDs are somewhat difficult (and scary) to do. I get that same tingling feeling every time I attempt a FILD and at first I was terrified but now I see it as a sign that I’m transitioning into the dream world. And it also took a little effort to get my FILDs up to the same high level and quality as my DILDs. So although it wasn’t what you hoped, keep the faith and you’ll be a pro in no time.
I hope your next one will be more stable!