lucid dreaming

Lucid dreaming is becoming conscious in your dreams.

Many people have done this; it's the sudden awareness "oh! I'm dreaming this!". That part is straightforward and there are good first steps to get started in the right direction. Getting to a lucid state is one thing. Getting there reliably, staying there, and remembering it afterwards are entirely different animals. Charles McPhee refers to this ability as being a sophisticated lucid dreamer, and has written a book on the mindset and practice needed to pull it off..

Some of the people who are attracted to this kind of thing also entertain other interesting ideas about channelling, out-of-body experiences, etc. I cannot speak to that; I have no interest or point of reference. Lucidity to me is a way to play with my own head in the only spare time I have (while asleep). And it works without drugs.

my own experiences

It's one of the most bizarre, liberating, and euphoric experiences I've ever had. I am just now learning, so my lucidity in dreams is fleeting and shaky, but I can tell it's something important.

One of the obstacles to achieving a sophisticated level of lucidity is that we're so rarely lucid in our waking lives. We drive and don't remember the road, forget what we're doing in the middle of doing it. Lately, my interest in conscious self-awareness has reminded me of zen's emphasis on being, on the here and now. And also of Huxley's crows that cry "here and now!" on his Island. So my waking and sleeping consciousness are both becoming more important to me. Things fall into place ("there are no coincidences"). One of the basic techniques is to keep a dream journal. I will likely integrate this into my one-minute journal.

I have been normalizing my sleeping patterns in preparation to start my lucidity experiments in earnest. I have also been considering buying some lucid dream technology for some time, but the price was prohibitively high (ie, the decision to purchase wasn't ecological for me ;). Lucky for me, I was reading alt.dreams.lucid and ran into a fellow who sold his NovaDreamer to me at a fair price. I got it just as agreed and was very impressed by the level of finish and quality (and I'm a bit of a hard-ass on things like that). I've been using it about every other night (that's all my girlfriend can stand), and keeping notes in the abovementioned journal.

Successful lucid dreaming episodes

My dreams are noted separately in my diary. Dreams are set inside blockquotes, with lucid sections emphatic.
Dream Dev. Mode No. Intensity Rate Type Sensitivity cue
Dec 16
Baby Rats		 na na na na na na na non-functioning light switch.
Standing in line ND 1 6 2 1 2 3 11 cues, 1 seen in dream.
Red and white ambulance lights in eyes, NovaDreamer mask
Alien sex na na na na na na na Realized the weirdness of it all.
Go Lucid! ND 1 6 2 1 2 3 17 cues (!), 1 seen in dream.
Was aware that the ND was cueing me.
In bed na na na na na na na watch hands running backwards

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