How to tell

Is lucid dreaming something that hits you suddenly, when you experience it, are you sure that it is and you have no doubt in your mind and that you are 100% sure that the dream is lucid? Is it so wonderful that you will be positive that it is a lucid dream? Upon waking, will you still feel the same? Will you remember that it is a lucid dream? Are lucid dreams easily remembered? I know that is a lot of questions, but I am starting again when I quit trying to induce lucid dreams last year at this time. Thanks for your future suggestions!!!

I wouldn’t count on your first lucid dream to be 100% lifelike and clear as an experienced persons, although it has been known to happen. There are different levels of lucidity as well. There are levels where you know that you are dreaming, but don’t have any control at all. You cannot change anything, make anything appear, sometimes you can’t even move and most of the time you end up waking up immediately. Sometimes you are just lucid enough to do small things. Once I was lucid enough to levitate off of the ground, but couldn’t make any of my friends appear. Other times you are so lucid that the world around you is bursting with color, texture, and smells. These high level ld’s are generally difficult to achieve without lots of experience. It’s one thing to become lucid, but it’s another thing to stay lucid and asleep. If you manage to have one of the high level lucid dreams, the whole time you are in it it is the most wonderful feeling in the world. If you are truly fully lucid you will be able to recognize the fact that EVERYTHING around you, your dream body, and dream characters are all not really there. You will also be aware that your physical body is asleep and in bed while you are this floating consciousness. These high level lucid dreams are the ones that when you awake from them you will feel the most joy from. Not to disappoint you or anything but the feeling never truly feels as great once you’ve woken up. You can remember everything if you’re quick to write it down or record it immediately after awakening, although I have had some lucid dreams that ended up being so long that I couldn’t remember half of what I did at the beginning. It all depends on the person. It’s good that you took a break from trying so hard because trying so hard is generally what causes most people to fail. I know how cheesy that sounds, but it’s the truth. I hope I’ve helped out with some of your questions, but truth be told I can’t remember all of them now that I’ve typed this far. Good Luck :cool_laugh:

Often people don’t know if their dream was classified ‘Lucid’. There are a lot of topics ‘Did I have a lucid dream’ or ‘Was I lucid?’. Your big first lucid dream may be a little bit of a let down before you become good at it, you may feel not dream-like, wake up directly after you realise it’s a dream, or may not have any powers exc. This is not for all people, some people have high lucidity on their first time, some don’t. You need to remember that lucid dreaming is a skill that comes with time. The more lucid dreams, the better you will get. Don’t think that your first lucid dream will be what all of them will be like :grin:

Yes. Well for most people, of course you will feel excited and probibly happy that all your work has paid off. As for remembering, I didn’t remember my first lucid dream until about 6 at night. When I Did I was soo excited :wink: You can never be sure with lucid dreams, you may feel after you get to be good at it that you feel more in touch with yourself, but it’s unlikely after one lucid dream you will be super-spiritual all of a sudden. Lucid Dreaming is a journey, not something that will happen in one go.

I hope I don’t forget any lucid dreams!

Are lucid dreams easy to forget? How long would you say it would take to achieve the high level of lucidity you guys describe? I guess I should be more patient and not to expect my first lucid dream to be so great…

They are usually easier to remember than normal dreams. The high level ones, i remember often as great as real life.

That really depends on the person i believe… can be days, weeks or months… I think i had my first really high level one after around 3 weeks… First lucid dream was after one week only.

I actually think you should do the opposite! I truly believe you have greater chances if you think positive and expect to have a great one :smile:

I tried for a few months, and nothing happened, expect some really low lucidity, where I know that it is a dream, but it was just was like a regular dream. I hope that my first LD will be a great experience. BTW, how long did it take you guys to have your first real LD?

I stand by my opinion that lucid dreams are no harder to remember than anything spectacular you’ve done in RL. Why should they be? The only reason you don’t remember normal dreams often is because you’re not consciously experiencing them. You basically have to search your memory after you wake up, as opposed to forming and organizing the memories at the time.

When I wake up after an LD, no matter when it occurred during the night, I can always remember every detail - even those that were mostly insignificant. I believe it has something to do with consciousness, and the additional associations that are formed in memory when you can actively think about something as it’s occurring. This seems to be the key to remembering anything.

I hope that’s true, atheist. What’s the point of having a lucid dream when you can’t remember it?