The Verge of Lucidity?
I first heard about lucid dreaming about 6-7 weeks ago and come to this site fairly regularly. I've been keeping a dream journal which now has more than a dozen entries and I've bought a cheap digital watch that I use for reality checking. Last night I had a dream where at one point, a girl I knew from back in school was holding a piece of paper and she wanted to know who it belonged to so she could return it. She let me see this piece of paper, and written on it were a bunch of lucid dreaming related notes that I recognized as being written with my own handwriting.
I even remember seeing "I will remember my dreams" written in upper case and underlined. However, it seems instead of realizing it fully, I stuffed the piece of paper in my pocket and thought nothing more of it. Was I close here?
Rebecca says: Nice job! Your unconscious was giving you a big fat cue to become lucid. Unfortunately we don't always pick up on these cues - especially in the early days of practicing lucid dreaming - and we bypass them.
I've had lots of conversations about lucid dreaming within a normal dream, and still not become lucid. I once also gave an entire lecture on it in my dream! Duh!
The way to can tell is you have a realization; a light bulb moment where your thought process suddenly pings into life. You'll KNOW for sure that you're dreaming and it's not real. At the same moment, as the logic centers of your brain wake up, your vision and tactile senses will kick into life, so everything becomes extremely vivid. You'll suddenly be IN the dream; like going from 2D to 3D. Even in your very first lucid dream, this is easy to recognize and you won't miss it.
So, I'd say you were close... but no cigar. The fact that you could read the writing in the dream is good - your language centers were active, which is much closer to lucidity than a normal dream. Keep practicing, and I'm sure you will have a lucid dream soon.
Return to Lucid Dreaming FAQ
About the author
Rebecca Turner is a science writer, illustrator, explorer of consciousness - and founder of World of Lucid Dreaming. She is currently studying for a biology degree in Auckland and blogging at her site Science Me.
The Anatomy of a Dreaming Supplement
A lot has happened in the last 5 months. But how did we go from business as usual to changing the face of the entire lucid dreaming supplements industry? It’s a story that I think will interest you – and you might even learn a thing or two in the process. When I was first taken on-board as Chief Lucidity Officer in 2016, one of the first things I was tasked with was taking a good look at our operations and giving things a bit of an overhaul.
9 Reasons Why Everyone Should Lucid Dream
To lucid dream is to examine an intensely heightened state of self awareness, with all the senses activated - a uniquely human experience. What's more, lucid dreaming offers profound benefits that touch all of us, no matter our culture, beliefs or life circumstances. Ultimately, I think all of these benefits put together could play a serious role in advancing the human race.
How to remember your dreams
To lucid dream, I recommend being able to remember at least one vivid dream per night. That will boost your self awareness in dreams (making lucidity more likely) and also means you can actually remember your lucid dreams. Which is nice. Here are four detailed tips on how to remember your dreams more frequently. And if you don't think you dream at all - trust me, you almost certainly do. It takes an extraordinarily rare sleep disorder to deprive someone of dream sleep.
What Do Lucid Dreams Feel Like?
Years ago, before I had my first lucid dream, I had a very specific idea about what a lucid dream would feel like. I thought it would be intense and magical and a little bit spooky. This turned out to be a pretty accurate representation. Becoming aware in the dreamstate is like entering another world. One where physical laws can be manipulated (there is no spoon, Neo) and your fantasies can come true in an instant. There's definitely something magical about that - and it's as if the lucid dream world is a living, breathing organism that can react to your very thoughts.
How to have amazing lucid dreams
Experts agree that everyone is capable of having lucid dreams. Dreaming itself is a normal function of the mind. We all dream every night, even if we don't remember. And we all achieve conscious awareness while awake every single day. So what does it mean to combine these states? Why, the amazing ability to have conscious - or lucid - dreams. Sounds simple, doesn't it? So why do I keep hearing from people who say they can't achieve their first lucid dream?
Mugwort: Dream Sage of the Chumash Indians
It is estimated that these wise and wily Indians have been using mugwort in their healing and ritual practices for 13,000 years, where it is known as the ‘dream sage’. They use the herb to promote good dreams, which they consider an essential aspect of normal human functioning! But that’s not all...
