The BIG "Was this a LD?" topic - Part V

[MoinsQ]

If I see a dream as a lucid dream depends on how long and strong the lucidity was, but I do see a dream as a lucid dream pretty quickly.

[MovieMe]

Was this a lucid dream?

I failed WILD before going to bed so I fell asleep, then I woke up after having a nightmare. I try WILD again but fail, so I simply fall asleep again. Now, suddenly in my dream (In the middle of a freaking dream) I stop, and I say to myself “What am I doing? This is only a dream! I can do whatever I want!”. But thinking about this it feels as if it wasn’t me saying that at all, so I suspect this to have been a false lucid dream - And this pretty much proves it:
After telling myself that I’m lucid I ran up to the nearest girl and started kissing and making out with her, then I go on to the next girl. There was never a point where I could think clear and actually do what I really want to do in a LD.
Now, in the morning I had no memory of this, only my nightmare and the ND I faded into after all the kissing, but suddenly it just came to me, everything. But I doubt this was a real LD, but a false LD is better than nothing, right? I mean, I ust be getting closer?

[MoinsQ]

Indeed. But it could even be a LD. But then of very low vividness and with poor recall.

@exscape

Warning, long post ahead!

Hi everybody,

I’ve had weird dreams the last two nights, and I really can’t figure out if they were lucid or not. I do know the “if you realized you were dreaming, you were lucid” rule, but I can’t remember if I realized or not!
My dream recall is usually quite bad, and I’m writing this just before dinner time, so the details are vague at this point.
I should also point out that I haven’t done any “preparations” for LDing, like having a dream diary, doing RCs during daytime or such, I’ve only read small amounts on the subject in the past (not in the last month).

Last (kinda) but not least, I’m currently taking two medications that often affect sleep; Cipralex (a SSRI type drug), which can among other things cause insomnia, and Xanor Depot (aka Xanax XR, a benzodiazepine), which often, and in my case, causes drowsiness/somnolence (sleeping lots, yet feeling tired daytime). Since I started with Xanor, 10 days ago, I’ve been sleeping a LOT, about 10-11 hours a night.
Anyway, on to the story/questions.

What I remember from the night before last night is not much at this point, but I remember looking at my hands (stretching the fingers, kinda like “jazz hands”), looking away, and then looking back. When I looked back, the fingers were all screwed up, pointing in all kinds of impossible directions. I don’t think I was scared, but I also can’t remember if I realized that it was a dream or not.
I remember a scene (where the hand thing happened), somewhere in the middle of the corridor of my old school. It was pretty dark, as if it was night, and I couldn’t see either end of the corridor as I recall, which you definately can do IRL since it’s completely straight.

The next day, I spent quite some time reading about lucid dreaming, pretty much right after breakfast. Why is this significant, you ask? Well, I don’t usually wake up and think about lucid dreaming, like I suppose lots of you “vets” do!

Onto last night. I don’t know if I did any RCs during the night, but I do remember some funky stuff, like trying telekinesis, which I don’t think I have ever dreamed about before (nor thought about IRL). I reached out with my hands and kind of stared at something, and it worked. I don’t remember what, or anything else… This was in the same scene as the previous night (in fact this memory might be from that night too).
I also remember some bits about trying to get to a girl I like. First, I thought about walking there, but it seemed it would take too long (probably about 15 minutes, IRL that is), I think I was afraid I’d wake up before I got there. So, I figured I needed a faster way. My next idea was to go by car. I don’t remember why but it didn’t work… I did get a car and I do know how to drive. Last thing I remember (I think it’s the last, anyway) is going there by bike, I remember being at a part perhaps 1/3 of the way there, and that’s my last memory.

So, could this have been, perhaps only partly, LDs? The reason(s) why I ask and don’t just accept these as regular dreams is the RC in the first dream which I’ve never dreamt about before, and that I felt more active, in a way… In a regular dream, I’m like an observer, but I felt I could “think” and possibly control my actions in these dreams.

As a bonus question, how do the rest of you “remember” LDs? Do you remember that you were lucid etc, or is it just like any old dream afterwards? I suppose the former, but I still gotta ask for some experiences!

Sorry for rambling on, and thanks to those who read the whole post!

I think it was a normal dream since everything was very vague and you didn’t realise that you did not need a car, since it was a dream and you can do everything. I have had this too sometimes, I don’t think it feels any greater than the average normal dream. But this false lucid dream tells that you are on the way with lucid dreaming, believe me.

As for the bonus question, I remember my lucid dreams more vivid then normal dreams. Well, actually I remember them the same as normal dream but I remember too that I experienced them as more vivid than the average normal dream. Sometimes I don’t remember one vividly though and then I wonder if it was really a LD or maybe just a FLD.

By the way, your post may be long, but I do not think anyone minds.

[ThePromethean]

i got lucid a bit last night, but i think it was during HI and not a dream proper. I think i was crossing a bridge, and trying to recall all i could from a previous dream, when i thought ‘hang on, i must be dreaming now’. but it didnt feel natural, it felt like i was imagining it, and once i was lucid it took a great effort to keep it from fading. was this an actual dream or HI?
if it was indeed HI should i have continued as if it were a dream? (taking reality checks and lucid pills for example)?

[kTFox]

You should have at least done a RC to make sure. It might have been HI or HH.

[ThePromethean]

whats the difference exactly?

[kTFox]

I’m not really sure.

[MovieMe]

@ThePromethean

whats the difference exactly?

Hold your mouse over the text - HI and HH to see what they mean.

[ThePromethean]

so HH is jsut bigger and scarier? got it. your right, it could have been either. though there isnt really that much of difference.

[kaybee2]

Okay, I’m a little weirded out by this dream, because I’ve never had one this confusing before. I honestly don’t know whether it was lucid or not, so someone please tell me before I explode!!!

I started out by attempting a WILD, which didn’t exactly work. I fell asleep, and I remember having a dream (although right now I don’t remember what it was about). Then I had a FA, and I remember “waking up” and wanting to write down that dream. But then I “fell asleep” again (still dreaming, I might add), and entered another dream. This one was taking place at my high school, and Shiguru Miyamoto (the guy who first created Mario games) was there. Being a huge Mario fan, I was really excited. He had a Japanese translator there, and I told her to tell him that I said hello and that I really loved the Mario games. She did, and translated for me that he said hello back. I was still really excited–at first. Then, all of a sudden, I remembered that I hadn’t gotten to write down that earlier dream! I didn’t want to be rude to Miyamoto and his translator, but I really needed to wake up before I forgot it (apparently it was really interesting). I quickly said goodbye, and then I woke up. And I couldn’t even remember the original dream that I’d wanted to write down!

Does having a lucid dream inside of another dream actually count as having an LD??? I remember that it was very vivid, and unlike most NDs, my mind was actually comprehending and thinking hard about everything that was happening, as if I was awake. Was it a LD?