Lucid Dreaming - Teaching Thread

[BLUEELECTRICMONKEY]

READ THIS FIRST:

Hello to all (potential) lucid dreamers.

I see this is something many people show interest in, so I decided to start a teaching thread about it.
I will post here lucid-dreaming techniques and theories, in a certain order, that can enable everyone to start having many lucid dreaming events.
(Scientifically proven so far: 80%+ can have lucid dreaming with applying induction-techniques).
If you already had some, your in a good position to start (most remember at least one).
If you are into some kind or mind-expanding techniques anyway, or "open to spiritual experiences", this is also a good start.
If you're into scientific exploration, you have a good start also.
If you have none of the above in your resume, you can still count on a basic 80%+ chance of success if you do it long enough.

There are many theories about lucid-dreaming, and this thread is about a certain teaching in a certain order. People are of course welcome to share, and also apply whatever that want in their experiences, even if they are working according to my model.

THIS THREAD IS NOT ABOUT DREAM INTERPRETATION

We'll of course use many interpretation models, but LUCIDITY is the subject here.

Others techniques and theories can be shared as stated, but this is about a practical advancement in the Dream World, not about arguing about meaning and ideas.
If you have something important to say that you'd like me to refer to in the course of discussion, you can always post me a private message about it.

All are welcome to share their advancement in the course of study and experience, and the thoughts they have about it, and the lucid dreams they have while doing it, and other things related.
Experienced lucid dreamers are also welcome to express their wisdom and insights of experience, and join the course of study and dreaming.

We will use all this info to show how lucidity can be more available and more sustained, and more prolonged.

Many people just have frequent lucid dreaming every now and then, and enjoy it as it comes, and this is fine, but this is not the subject.
Many lucid-dreamers have their own individual techniques for inducing the lucidity, but this is more about a basic program for everyone, not about "what-works-for-you", even though "what-works-for-you" is the only possible outcome when it comes to Lucid Dreaming.

This is a way of addressing dreams directly, and finding for yourself what works for you, when and while you do it.

I hope many people will join this course of personal experience with the dream world, and that it will enrich their lives with experiences people don't even dream about.

(c)

[BLUEELECTRICMONKEY]

CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS
(for the sake of discussion)

{This post will be updated every once in a while to add more concepts and models to the accepted-language of the thread}

LUCID DREAMING:
Dreaming while knowing that you are dreaming.

LUCID DREAM:
A dream in which you know this is a dream.

This thread is about LUCIDITY IN THE DREAM WORLD, and not about other "lucidities" and other definitions of "dream world"
Other lucidities and other definitions of dreams for the mind, can of course be a by-product of lucid dreaming activity, and are expected to occur as a result of strong lucid dreaming activity.


I.
Levels of lucidity:
-----------------
We can define 4 basic levels of Lucidity:
1. Everybody dreams.
2. Some remember their dreams.
3. Some can know in the dream it's a dream.
4. Some can know in the dream it's a dream and do something about it.

Lucidity is defined as level 3+, and level 4 is what we're really after.

All these levels have possible sub-divisions. For example:
1.
Some "never dream", but scientifically, dreams are REM periods of the brain and occur in all of us, except extreme cases of abuse-and-torture, and brain-injuries. Without brain-dreaming, the body usually cannot survive for more than a few days, and one could usually go longer without eating, or without drinking, or without both, than without brain-dreaming.
This "never dreaming periods" always end sometime.
2.
Some remember more and some remember less.
Some remember for a long time, and some usually forget.
Some remember visuals, some remember stories, some remember communications, most remember not-so-much-color, and less-of-other-senses, and "things said" in the dream are rarely remembered as "how they sounded".
All this can be improved, and will be improved, on the beginning of the course.
3.
Basic lucidity is knowing you're in a dream, if only for a second, and even if you wake up shortly afterward.
It doesn't mean you know who you are, or what's your name, or where are you sleeping right now, or that you'll remember this is a dream a minute away into the future.
All this forms of lucidity can be changes, and are never "quite the same all over the lucid dream".
A good lucid dream usually involves more than one understanding of the dreaming reality.
Realizing this this is a dream, (re-)applying-this-understanding consciously, and not-waking-up, is the basic way to achieve and sustain lucidity.
Some techniques and lucid-dreams, are about lucidity-right-from-falling-asleep, and they work somewhat differently subjectively, and I also valuable for the lucid-dreamier.
4.
This is where the fun really begins.
What can be done with lucidity ?
What can be experienced in the dream world ?
How is lucidity applied one it is achieved ?
How not to wake up ?
How to fly ?
How to remember what I wanted to do when I was awake and thought about it ?

All the things you "can do" in a lucid dream, are beautiful experiences, and can enable you more and more possibilities.
You can search the dream world.
You can deal with your problems by addressing them somehow.
You can fulfill fantasies.
You can ask questions
You can ask for interpretation in the dream
You can pray
You can fight
You can have all kinds of sex
You can become someone else
You can be totally free from all laws of Society and Physics.
And you can apply whatever you want, or already doing, with lucid-dreaming, and decide more and more for yourself what you want to do about it, once you see more and more how it is.

II.
Experiences of the sleep time.
1.
Dreams and Lucid dreams
2.
Hypnagogic State, is the about the visual and audetory experirences some expreience while "falling asleep".
(cartoon like "movies", and geometrical patterns, and "thoughts" that "sound" like someone else thought them)
(don't worry about it, even Pyschiatry calims these "hallucinations" are normal)
3.
Hypnopompic State, the the on the other side of the sleep cycle, and occurs, if at all, when the sleep is over and right before waking, unless you awake from a dream or from the alarm-clock or from the sun.
Quite like the Hypnagogic, not "too much" interesting, but with some differences, that don't really concern us now.
4.
Deep Sleep
No visual memories, and aparently no consciousness at all, and no sense of time, and different brain-waves, from other states.
5.
Out-of-body-experiences, and/or Astral travels.
There are so many thoeires about these one, but since we are interested in direct experience, we'll simply define them is OBE=An experience in which the experiencer is convinced he has left his physical body.
These are not the subject of this discussions, but:
A. They appear to happen more when you lucid-dream more, in some cases.
B. They can be more accessable, and more occuring, after lucidity, and we'll adress that aspect.
Some say it's a dream, or a lucid dream, but "feeling yourself leaving your body while conscious", causes a subjective experience quite different from regular lucidity.
C. You can dream more about having OBEs, and not really having tham in some "obvious way" that shows you it's a dream, or that it's not really your body, or where you sleep/slept/will-ever-sleep. These are called "Fake-Obes", and they are great opporunitiies for lucidiy, if they occur somehow.
6.
SUPER-SUPERVISOR-STATE:
This one experience is not necessarily real, but we can still talk about it, and it could possibly be achieved.
This is a very calm, and centered state, in which you can enter any other state of consciousness from, i.e., you can stay there, you can wake, you can start a dream, lucid-or-not, with a chosen scenario, or without one, you can leave your body, and experience other hypnagogic/hypnopompic-style experiences, with a storng feeling of conscious choice about it.
This state is also not the topic here, and if some people reach it, they are welcome to share and tallk about it. We'll usually talk about this state metaphorically to describe passages between experiences.
7.
Spiritual-Soruce-connection-State:
This is also not really connected, and is not necessarily real, but is seems to be supported by many, as a one-moment event that happens at least one time every 24 hours, in which we are in Samhadi, or Enlightment, with with DMT rushing in the brain more than usually.
We might talk about it in our discussion, if it will be relevant to experiences and lucidity aspects.
8.
Others:
Sleep-talking, Sleep-waking, Bed-wetting, Sleep-Paralysis, Sleep-terror, sleep-trances. death-like-moments, and many other possibilities.

All those definitions are not all supported by a scientific-clear-distinctions, but we are using them for subjective descriptions of experiences.

(c)

[BLUEELECTRICMONKEY]

SCIENTIFIC REMARKS:

1.
PROOF.
Proof is of course irrelevant if you have direct experience, but Lucid Dreaming was scientifically proven.
Since the eyes, even if closed, always somehow look to where you look in a dream,
And
Since the time in a lucid dreaming appears to be subjectively moving, in the same "rate" it moves, in waking:
Lucid dreamers, successfully transmitted previously-agreed-signals, showing that they know they are dreaming, while scientifically in a dream-brain-activity.

2.
BRAIN WAVES:
Dreams and other sleep-experiences all have different brain-waves-patterns than normal-waking, and if you are interested, check out:
Sleep - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dream - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Electroencephalography - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rapid eye movement (sleep) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lucid dream - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

3.
TIMES:
As stated above, time seems to go in the same "rate" in dreams, or at least in lucid dreaming, contrary to common belief.

(c)

[BLUEELECTRICMONKEY]

FAQ:
Q&A:

1.
But this is just a dream, I can't get over this feeling, whenever I am lucid it feels not-real, and I wake up.
A:
This is a great barrier to pass, you are conditioned since ever to consider dreams as not real, and this can cause you not to remember them and not to experience them fully.
You don't need to define them as real.
You will sometimes feel that a lucid dreaming experience can feel more real than other experiences, and you can always ask in a lucid dream for it to feel more real to you, in many ways.
Also you can use this quote by Morpheus from The Matrix:

Morpheus: If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain

2.
Doesn't this interrupt with the normal function of dreams:
A:
No, you still have many many non-lucid dreams, don't worry about it.

3.
Is it dangerous ?
A:
Not really, you can always tell yourself afterward it was just a dream if that what it takes.
Some "mental-health experts" say this might not be good for people who cannot make a distinction between dreams and wakings (while awake), but I guess Lucid Dreaming helps you see the difference between the dream world and other worlds more clearly eventually.

4.
Isn't it like drugs ?
A:
Kind of.
As far as psychedelic experiences, trips, highs, paranoia, adrenalin, and maximum possible confusion of the mind, nothing comes close to what a lucid dream can offer you.
Many describes a certain Lucid Dream as the most-wonderfull-experience ever, and I believe it "beats" most drugs.
As opposed to other "drugs", and other "spiritual practice":
a. It's legal, and can never be outlawed effectively.
b. It's moral, since dreaming about anything is always considered OK by morality, and it's also the most immoral possible, since no morals really apply in the Dream World, and you can easily avoid them, usually, whether you want to or not.
c. No damage to the body is possible, unless in very indirect ways, like believing the lucid dream told you to cut your leg and stuff like that.
d. No waste of time is really involved, except the time you use to write the dreams down when waking, which can usually take less than 15 minutes a day of your waking time, which is usually less than other "spiritual practices" and "drugs-duration-of-effect".
e. No enstrangement from society is needed, or forced, or avoided, as well as no back-to-society counter-effect is involved. you can get as far a way as possible from society and its patterns in your dreams, and there's no "cultural-price" to pay. Even if you just want to talk about lucid dreaming all day long, you can do it in the net.
f. If you consider DMT to be the really only true drug, consider the option the DMT is more released in the brain in prolonged-dreaming.

5.
How can I share my dreams here, If the content are so explicit and even though I'd like to see how to work with them I don't want everybody to know about some of my dreams ?
A:
You can post me some PM about it, and I can write about it without revealing the dreamer if you wish.

(c)

[BLUEELECTRICMONKEY]

DREAM MODELS

Here we'll update the list of the models we are sometimes using for description.

1.
WILD and MILD:
usually known as Wake-induced-Lucid-Dreaming, as in "falling asleep consciously" and Mnemonic-induced-Lucid-Dream, as in "realizing that this is a dream while already dreaming"
Mostly we talk about Lucidity as MILD, and even WILD cases, are "developing in their lucidity" using MILDs, using re-realizing-this-is-a-dream.

2.
False-Awakening or Fake-Awake
is about dreaming the you woke up.

3.
MATRIX
This is a model we can easily use, since entering the Dream World is our agenda.
Neo is the lucid-dreamer, learning to gain good access to the matrix, and bend its "rules". PERFECT-NEO is on some kind of a mission, and you can use other characters from the movie to describe ceratain "you"s and "others", in different dreams, and different attitudes. Trinity for women is also easily used.
Morpheus is the greek god-of-dreams, and the hero of the Sandman comics series. He is both the "creator of dreams", and the guiding element IN-THE-DREAM, if present, as in someone who teaches you how to fly in the dream, in the dream.
Dodging bullets, creating your own simulations, running and fighting, adventures, moving between dreams and worlds, and everything else that's in the Trilogy, can become a vivid Dreaming Reality, or a possible model for explanations.

(c)

[BLUEELECTRICMONKEY]

Lesson #1

Dream Recall

--------------
I.
Importance.

This is the most important thing to improve, if we want to gain more access to the dream world.
This sounds a bit strange: "I want to have lucid dreams, not remember my usual ones", but this is the best technique.
1.
You will not remember all your Lucid Dreaming if you usually don't remember dreams. You might even have one using some technique, and still forget most of it later.
2.
You will RECOGNIZE your dreams more easily after you see more and more how they really are.
3.
You will pay more attention to dreams immediately after waking up, and you will even experience some counter-effect of more waking-dreaming-connection that will eventually manifest in Lucidity.

II.
How to do it:
There are many techniques to remember, as in reminding yourself about it every once in a while, and especially before going to sleep. but the number one, and most valuable from other aspects, is WRITING YOUR DREAMS.
1.
You need some kind of dream journal, like a notebook next to your bed, or in your drawer, or possibly writing directly on the computer, even though it's not so natural immediately after waking up.
2.
You need to write as soon as you wake up and as much as you can remember, and even, if only later, what you feel about it and other things you want to write about it, or at all.
3.
This seems tricky. Even if you don't remember much, you start and you remember more.
If you feel that writing about it causes it to mix in your memory, you can write "key points" before writing it all.
This seems like LONG-TIME-MEMORY but it is actually SHORT-TIME-MEMORY.
It seems LONG-MEM, since it feels far-away, and before-the-now, and connected-to-other-LONG-MEM, but it is SHORT-MEM, and however confident you might be about remembering it without writing it, you won't remember it all, unless you somehow make it a LONG-MEM, like with writing it down.
4.
Don't criticize your style or writing and you dream and you memory when writing, just write what you can remember, avoid moral-arguments remembering time is precious.
5.
What to document:
Besides the content of the dreamS, and your feelings and whatever you like to write about it,
It's good to write the dates, and other specific references, like if you dreamed about a certain movie star, right after seeing her in a movie, and other "anomalies" and "coincidences", like different marks for night-dreams and noon-dreams, and all other classification that are important to you.
(if you are interested in how FOODs are manifesting in your dreams, you can add a small icon next to dreams with FOOD elements in them, for quick references)
6.
How to describe the dream:
this is totally up to you. basically just write the "story" of the dreams, documenting the events in the order you remember them, and as you experienced them in the dream. if you "understand meanings" while writing, write them later, or in ()s.
7.
What do you remember:
You can use this basic check up list, though not necessary of course:
a. what you saw.
b. what you heard.
c. what you smelled
d. what you tasted
e. what you touched and what touched you and how did it feel
f. what you thought
g. what you felt
h. how did you "see" yourself, and who were you in the dream
i. how much aware you were, and to what, and especially to the dream-state
j. anything you remember about breathing in the dream.
(I almost never use this check-up list myself, but it's good if you feel "something's missing" and it's good if we want to see how little we usually remember, and it's good if you want to review your dreams).
Every one of them could be expanded: what you saw, and what were the colors, what were told, and how did it sound, who did you were and who did you think you are, and so on.
8.
You should write all dreams you remember from each night.
Some wake up after each dream and write it down if possible.
Some wake up after each dream and write key-notes.
Some write on final-wakings.
Some leave spaces for later-remarks, some write the dreams one by one.
Some write in the dream journal other stuff, some don't
It's up to you.
9.
If you are living with someone who might read your journal, you can use codes for sexual and living-people contents, and for other contents as well.


III.
What to expect:
1.
After 3 months you can easily remember 4-5 dreams a night.
2.
Increasing Lucidity
3.
Increased Creativity (as in expressing yourself everyday as soon as you wake up).
4.
A good understanding of "how your usual dreams go", which will allow access for the "realizing this is a dream" wanted lucidity.

IV.
DREAM SIGNS
A DREAM SIGN is anything that happens in the dream that cannot happen in waking-reality, and can be considered as a SIGN that THIS IS A DREAM.
Every dream has DRs, but we usually accept them as normal reality if non-lucid, and "play along", but we can see them after writing our dreams, more easily.
Possible dream signs:
1. Talking to animals
2. Flying
3. Physics rules not applying
4. Dead people are there
5. Angels / Monsters / other non-humans
6. Context signs, everything is "real" but it doesn't fit, those two characters would never drink and dance together as I see them doing in the dream, for example.
6. Strange Places
7. And more and more.
Everybody has many DRs in their dreams, and different people have different DRs. After you know your dreams long enough, you can learn to pay attention to possible DRs, (for example, one could learn to realize that "if things are hanging in the sky it's a dream", and for another, "if the dogs are talking to me or jumping on me, this is a dream", and so forth, but this is for later)

What to do about it so far ?
Every week or so, or whenever you feel like it, go over you last-week-documented-dreams, and make a list of the DRs of each dream, and see if you can find some common pattern of recurring DRs in your individual dreams.

This is all for now.
People are welcome to post their dreams of the following week here, lucid and not, and we will show DRs in them and continue from there.

(A lot of the techniques are are from the Lucidity Institute, or expanding on them, as well as from other sources)

[curiousGuy]

Can what you do whilst lucid dreaming effect the waking state?

[BLUEELECTRICMONKEY]

Originally Posted by curiousGuy

Can what you do whilst lucid dreaming effect the waking state?

Pretty much everything...
You get many positive "side effects", as more inner-connection, more creativity, more abundance of experience, and you can actually use any kind of spirituality/magic/yoga in dreaming (standing on your head, praying, meeting spiritual entities, going through rituals...)
Psychologically, LD forces you to confront fears and complexes and inner-stuff, and free-libido-expressions.
If you value dream-interpretations you can ask for the meaning In The Dream...
And the rest is for each and everyone to explore on his own...