Lucid Dreaming? Sort of? WTF?

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by Frontier, Jan 8, 2009.

  1. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    Fairly often, I will wake up in the dark and not be able to remember how old I am-- I will mentally scroll through all the places I've lived and all the bedrooms I've had until I get to the present. Is there a word for that? :D
     
  2. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jul 16, 2001
    Location:
    Trekker4747
    Nocturnal Chronoboudoirism
     
  3. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    ^^ That link doesn't work. :confused:
     
  4. Holdfast

    Holdfast Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2000
    Location:
    17 Cherry Tree Lane
    Worrying. :p
     
  5. Terengo

    Terengo Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2006
    Location:
    St. Louis, bitches
    When I was very young, I dreamed that some ventriloquist dummies were leering over my crib rail (I told you I was young), and when my mom came in to pick me up, I woke up enough to know I was in her arms, but the dummies were still there. But it doesn't seem so odd for that to happen to a baby.

    I once had a lucid dream where my son and I were exploring an old house, we got separated, and I got locked in the bathroom. After a while I remember thinking "This is a stupid way to spend a dream", and suddenly I was out of the room.

    Recently, I dreamed I had forgotten some paperwork for an important meeting. I thought about all the steps I'd have to take in my dream to go back and get them and get the meeting going again, and I decided it was too much trouble, and just declared to myself that the papers were actually there, and they were.
     
  6. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    I was expecting a far worse diagnosis than that. :D

    Maybe they really were. :eek:
     
  7. K'Ehleyr

    K'Ehleyr Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2008
    Location:
    In a world which very few others see
    I have a total fear of ventriloquist dummies after watching Magic. Any doll really, especially the ones with the eyes that follow you.....:klingon:
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 15, 2009
  8. Terengo

    Terengo Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2006
    Location:
    St. Louis, bitches
    OMG!!! I shall not sleep tonight!
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2009
  9. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    Have either of you ever seen the movie Dead Of Night? :evil:
     
  10. K'Ehleyr

    K'Ehleyr Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2008
    Location:
    In a world which very few others see
    Just 'Wiki'ed' it. I love old British films, but I also like to sleep at night:lol:.
    May be brave enough sometime:eek:
     
  11. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    It's a fantastic movie, but you must definitely watch it on a night when you don't have to get up in the morning. :D
     
  12. the Dagman

    the Dagman Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    May 3, 2001
    Location:
    just north of Berkeley, CA
    I have been able to dream lucidly since my teenage years, but have never experienced sleep paralysis. Likely because I also have been know to sleep walk. But I love it when I can be lucid while dreaming. One of my favorite "tricks" is to decide it is time to fly, and I soar into the air like Superman.
     
  13. Deks

    Deks Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2003
    The paralysis in question is actually fairly common and nothing to be afraid of.
    If it happens again, simply try to calm down and wait until you can move again.

    Lucid dreams ...
    Fairly interesting subject.
    In fact, I was able to willingly induce them night after night (it takes a few days of meditation/self hypnosis to get into it all so my brain can adjust) but also was kept being pushed out of the dream fairly often as soon as I realized I was in a REM state.
    Trouble is that I always remained calm and didn't get excited about it because I knew that such actions often kick you out of lucid dreams, but even with that and various techniques at my disposal, I was able to remain in my dream for a small amount of time before I'd experience a feeling of being pushed backwards (getting out of the dream).

    Although, there were periods when I was able to remain in a lucid dream for a while, but virtually nothing I did in order to attempt and control the dream worked for some strange reason (except for 1 time ... but that didn't last too soon).

    I haven't had a lucid dream in quite a while now ... although I know I am dreaming every night.
    In fact, human cerebral cortex ALWAYS enters REM state each time we go to sleep.
    Trouble is that most of the times we don't actually remember it, but we do dream every time.

    I also experienced half-hallucinations in between being asleep and awake.
    Those are close to lucid dreams actually, but not entirely.
    See, I was able to actually experience (feel) the imaginary situation I conjured up on purpose (was aware of everything and took the story into the direction I wanted to).

    When it comes to dreams, I am able to experience/feel everything in them to the exact same level as when wide awake.
    So dreams and realism are no different for me in the tangible aspect, and if I write down my dreams, I seem to be recalling them more and more, and just chalk that all up to another life experience.
    I learned a lot through dreams alone.
    Much more than what real life offered in my youth actually and I incorporated it as part of actual experience as I would in real life (which actually helped me become aware of multiple aspects).
     
  14. K'Ehleyr

    K'Ehleyr Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2008
    Location:
    In a world which very few others see
    Don't flying dreams indicate a wish to escape from something? I know I had frequent flying dreams when I wanted to break up with a boyfriend. Is this true with anybody else?
     
  15. the Dagman

    the Dagman Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    May 3, 2001
    Location:
    just north of Berkeley, CA
    Me? No, I'm not gay. Never had a boyfriend. :D
     
  16. Deks

    Deks Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2003
    Not necessarily.
    The desire to fly without assistance from machines or contraptions can also manifest for example so we can see the world from a different perspective and experience a certain feeling of 'freedom'.

    See, walking limits us a lot in terms of speed, perspective and other aspects.
    Flying does not.
    It allows us to reach places that we cannot easily reach on foot.
    It also eliminates the worrying aspect that you might die if you fall off a cliff for example.
    It eliminates what we perceive to be basic limits.
     
  17. Zulu Romeo

    Zulu Romeo World Famous Starship Captain Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2004
    I never get "flying" dreamsw. I guess this means that despite my general dissatisfaction with my lot in life, I'm actually subconsciously liking being stuck in a rut. :(
     
  18. Zulu Romeo

    Zulu Romeo World Famous Starship Captain Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2004
    I'd just like to revise my original statement in light of new experiences.

    A few minutes ago I've experienced something similar to what Jadzia had described above. The strange thing is that it began as a brief sleep paralysis then became something else entirely.

    I've had a very tired few days, following a busy week at work, so I've found I'm feeling sleepy during the late afternoons and evenings now. I just nodded off a few minutes ago, and suddenly woke up with a bang. Only this is how the chain of events went:

    1) I pictured myself in bed, waking up and feeling paralyzed as one would do during sleep paralysis. I do my usual thing of trying to fight it and rouse myself.

    2) However, instead of feeling the inability to breathe as I usually do with sleep paralysis, the sensation passed very quickly indeed. Usually the sensation of sleep paralysis for me lasts a good 2 to 3 minutes in the dream state - this time it lasted about 20 seconds. Instead of passing out, I remained aware of my surroundings throughout, but if anything more drowsy than during a sleep paralysis episode.

    3) As I woke up, I heard a crashing noise in my ears. It actually felt as if something in my ears and in the back of my teeth (what's left of them anyway) had just exploded.

    And then I felt myself awake rising out of bed slowly.

    Now, I think this feeling, the crashing noise, could well be a myoclonic jerk of my jaw muscles experienced when coming out of dream sleep. (As the temporomandibular joint lies in close proximity to the auditory canal, mandibular noises such as jerking of the muscles of mastication, causing forced clenching of the teeth, transmit very easily to the ear.) I often get this all the time when trying to get to sleep (and failing), but instead I feel these jerkings in my legs and back muscles, interpreted in the dreaming state at the time as a "trip" or a "fall and sudden thud". I find this explanation the most reassuring, as I'm not entirely convinced it was a hypnopompic hallucination.

    What now puzzles me is this phenomenon of dreaming about waking up and dreaming about dreaming. Maybe I actually dreamed that I was in a sleep paralysis episode (as opposed to actually being in one) then woke up when it didn't feel "real"? Maybe my waking up in the bedroom is actually part of the dream itself - and it certainly wouldn't be the first time I've had this sort of dream: I used to dream all the time of waking up in the room I'm currently sleeping in and finding something wrong in my bedroom, usually the alarm clock not switching off, before waking up properly. Strangely, this sort of dream only happened if I was depressed about something.
     
  19. Michael Chris

    Michael Chris Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 11, 2001
    Location:
    The 'Querq, NM
    I have sleep paralysis quite often. It's disconcerting. I find it helps to focus on trying to move something small say my finger, and then work my way up.
     
  20. Jadzia

    Jadzia on holiday Premium Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2008
    Location:
    England
    I don't have sleep paralysis on a regular basis, what I had was a one off about... 6 years ago. I'm sorry to hear it's such a regular problem for you.

    The loud noise I sometimes have heard upon waking up with a start was unrelated to that experience. It is also a rare experience but it has happened more than once, perhaps no more than 10 times in my life. It wasn't a bang; it was as I described, an echoing door slam, like the sort of noise you'd get from hard slamming a 10 foot high heavy solid oak door shut in a large stone room, where the sound is heard reverberating for around 10 seconds into wakefulness. That isn't something bio-mechanical.