Simple questions on dreaming, please help.

[Aural Fixation]

Hey,
      I'm 15 and i am wanting to LD. i have a guitar-pick on a chain that is always around my neck, and i have read that LD's can be induced by looking at an object that is always with you and asking, "Am i dreaming?" I have been doing this, recording dreams, which by the time i go to write them down, i can only see either 1 scene, or just a simple image, which i write down anyway. The most of any dreams i have recorded in one night was 1 scene and 1 picture. Now comes my questions...
Ok, i have been doing a lot of reading on Lucid dreams, and have found no basic progression out of normal dreams in the month ive been working on it... I have read in multiple places that people trigger the LD by flying, or trying to breathe underwater. This all makes sense to me, however, I have in no way ever had ANY control over my dreams wether or not i am aware that i am dreaming, and the only logical way that i can see a LD being triggered for me is shear chance because i can only take "watch" dreams as they come. Is it like this for everyone else? or does everyone else have control of their dreams to the point that they think it's real?
ANY help is very appreciated, as Lucid dreaming is something i would kill to experience, as i am a teenager, and as a teenager I'm all angsty an such. this seems like it would be a good way to i guess to get a "break" from reality.
~ Brandon ~

[MisterJingo]

Hi Brandon,

When I lucid dream, it feels as real as reality does (sometimes more so). For me personally, that's one of the hallmarks of a full lucid dream. Everything looks solid; I have full waking day consciousness and memory, and I have seemingly free will. Some lucid dreams can be 'muddy', such as my mind feels like it's asleep, so I really have to question if I'm awake and still sleepy or actually LD'ing. For example, I might be LD'ing in my house, but my mind feels sleepy. I see my Mother ironing in the living room, and decide to go flying. So I climb up on the windowsill and try to push myself through the glass, but it doesn't budge. I'm stood there trying to push my head through the glass while my Mother looks at me. Then I seriously worry I'm really awake doing this and not LD'ing (I was LD'ing )
Some LD's I have no control over, such as objects seem solid and largely consistent.  Yet others, I am able to bend the LD to my will, such as morph into other shapes, do gravity defying things and generally have control over what I wish. In both types of LD I can fly (although sometimes I hit a barrier about 20-30 feet up).

I do have dreams where I am aware I'm dreaming, yet I don't have any control – but I'm usually slow to class these as LD's as they don't hit the same kind of reality as a full LD experience.
With anything, your experiences of LD might vary.

[cainam_nazier]

You brain tends to think that all dreams are real when they are happening.  That is why dreams with strong emotional content can have such a physical effect even after you wake, as is the case with nightmares. It is only after your rational mind gets involved that you can determine if it is a dream or not.  

Your level of awareness, IE: how much your rational mind is involved,  will determine how much control you have.  The stronger your awareness the more likely you will have control.  But you must also realize that some times your mind just needs to deal with emotions and things from your day, dreams are how your mind does this, and so you will not always have control.

You also can't expect to be able to jump right into controlling every aspect of your dreams.  It took me some time to actually start controlling anything.  The easiest thing to do is to make small changes, beginning first with yourself.  If the dream is setting you up to make a left turn then actively decide to make a right instead.  By simply not adhering to the role you are in during a dream you can begin to make small changes in the dream.  The small changes will lead you quickly into larger ones like scenery changes or materializing things.

[Aural Fixation]

Wow, ok. Id like to refer to what I had about 14 hours ago as a half-asleep "moment of clarity" in wich i figured everything out. or at least, everything i had been trying to figure out made more sence... I woke up in the morning straight out of the dream (i thought i was in a videogame that was mario... i think) to my alarm clock. I think this dream was so engraved in my memory because the night before, i had been sitting there, just thinking, for about 2 hours. Then i said "whatever" and went to sleep. I havent been keeping a dream record, as i have a REALLY good memory for certain things, and this happens to be the sort of thing i can remember. I remember in this dream, i was at my friend Ian's house. I had about 2 months ago a dream in wich we started building a GIANT slip-an-slide, and in the start to this dream, i was at his house, and he said "Hey! lets go finish my slip-an-slide!" and that sort of jumped my mind in a weird way because i remembered the other dream and went "Wow, ian doesnt acually have a half-made giant slip-an-slide... and i almost realized that i was dreaming, but i didnt quite fully believe i was. that was last night... id like to call it a breakthrough. it was kinda weird, but it was really cool in the morning because i can remember about 2 other dreams from that night fully (both of wich i find completely trivial). Is there anything i should do so that i can next time fully realize im dreaming?
~Brandon~

[jilola]

You brain tends to think that all dreams are real when they are happening. That is why dreams with strong emotional content can have such a physical effect even after you wake, as is the case with nightmares. It is only after your rational mind gets involved that you can determine if it is a dream or not.

And you can tell waking life and dreams apart based on that how?  

In my experience there is no difference at all other than a different point of perception. So called waking life and dreams are just different perspectives to the same reality.

Your brain doesn't tend to think anything, your brain responds to the expectations your mind has in terms of the perceived outside reality.

2cents & L&L
Jouni

[cainam_nazier]

jilola Posted: 05 May 2006 16:03    Post subject:  

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cainam Nazier wrote:
You brain tends to think that all dreams are real when they are happening. That is why dreams with strong emotional content can have such a physical effect even after you wake, as is the case with nightmares. It is only after your rational mind gets involved that you can determine if it is a dream or not.  

And you can tell waking life and dreams apart based on that how?  

In my experience there is no difference at all other than a different point of perception. So called waking life and dreams are just different perspectives to the same reality.

Your brain doesn't tend to think anything, your brain responds to the expectations your mind has in terms of the perceived outside reality.

You're right.  There is no real difference other than perception.  But I believe that it is your rational mind that allows for the recognition of a perception change.  With out the rational, cognitive, conscious part of the mind then we are just animals mucking about instead of humans trying to understand ourselves.

Is that a little more clear on what I was thinking?