As the title suggests, I have been having very long dreams, much longer than usual, ever since changing my habits before going to sleep. Over the past two weeks, my dreams have ranged from regular length, to the feeling of them lasting a day. In the longest case, I had the impression of a day long dream, before waking up into a false awakening and experiencing another really long one. I’m not claiming that I’ve lived every second of that day, but that I am under the impression that it has lasted that long. The reason I say “confused” is because upon waking up, strange things happen. Like on Saturday morning, I completely forgot the time of the week.
Another example was on Tuesday/Wednesday. I experienced the most vivid dream I’d ever had, about construction works finally getting finished at my school. I was surprised when, in real life, I walked past a completely different scenario.
The reason I think I’ve had these dreams is because I’ve started to practice visualising scenes in my head. I just let my mind flow, and focus on anything that comes up. When I go to sleep, a constant stream of images is present; obviously not the same as what you see with your eyes open, but constant visualisation, nonetheless. I’ve also been experiencing regular hypnogognic sounds because of this, such as a car door slamming shut, and whispers that turn to silence as soon as I realise they are there.
I guess the purpose of this post is to ask if anyone knows what’s going on, really. I’d love to hear any other similar experiences, as well as what you believed caused them.
do you visualize things on purpose? i have a problem with visuals… even when i try to make HI appear, i just get nothing, just darkness. it makes me very sad
could you please talk about this visualization in more detail? i would like to hear it, and if possible, try it out too.
For the first couple of days, I had to really try to visualise them on purpose. But now they just appear after I close my eyes, and there have in fact been one or two times where I’ve not wanted imagery, but have gotten it.
My main problem was that I expected imagery to be different to what it is. When you experience it, it’s completely different to what you witness when you have your eyes open. It’s hard to explain, but visualisation is a mental image, rather than actual solild shapes and pictures. You have to kind of “tune in” to your mind, and listen to what it is coming up with, rather than force it to try new things.
I used a ton of techniques. I began by visualising different colours, and soon enough, I’d begin seeing subtle changes between each one. I also usually choose something I’ve come across during the day, something that has really stuck in my mind. Those things ae usually the easiest to visualise. Your mind will begin with that, before changing things, and before you know it you’ll be in outer space or somewhere stupid like that
It’s extremely hard to describe, because it isn’t actually physical colour you are seeing, rather a mental representation of that colour. I witness a stream of images, but they are extremely faint, with black still being dominant. It’s getting stronger with eac day, however, and if discover anything else I’ll let you know
This sounds rather interesting. It could help with LDing. Actually, I’ve had a theory about it for a while. You know how you said you ‘tune into your mind’? Well, people always try to force thoughts into their mind as they fall asleep. But I think that listening to what your mind has to say is the best way to get in sync with it and the best way to get lucid.
BryanG, it seems to me that you’ve focused your intent through your techniques and is getting the results you should’ve expected: you’re dreaming more, with better recall and lucidty/quality/awareness.
As for the duration, there are people that claim to have way longer dreams than that. So, maybe if it isn’t common, I can say at least it isn’t out of this world.
Again: I just think you put some effort into dreaming and is now experiencing the outcome of that.
This thread interests me, not just because of your strange dreams, but because of your unique mind. You really have a talent for visualizing things. I really wish I were in your shoes right now, but I’ll need to work my way there.
All pleasantries aside, do you eat cheese or any dairy product before going to bed? It’s a popular conception, that actually has some scientific evidence, that cheese can cause vivid dreams and hypnagogic imagery. This could be the rot of your troubles.
