Ok … Im new at this … Im 23 and used drugs and alcohol to an extreme for 7 years before finally realizing that it was an error to do such things… Now my question to those who have many years of experience in this area… Does it matter if you remember what you are LDing about in the morning when you wake … I mean what im saying is that even if you dont rememeber what you are LDing about does it really matter when you are awake (not that you are not awake when sleeping)?? The point of LDing is to become more centered ?? What is the end means of LDing?? Enlightenment?? Knowledge ?? (Taping into the innate ideas that we posses?) Im just looking for a broad-overview of what LDs will help me with … any input would be greatly appreciated!! THANKS
Hey I’m from Michigan too (brrr…) Anyways, for me lucid dreaming is a cool way to do things you can’t do while awake. I’m not sure if there’s anything that happens from having them if you forget them but I have no idea. But to me they’re just really fun. Although once I get better at them I plan on using them to meditate and stuff. If you look in the dream journals page you can see what kinds of cool things people do in their lucid dreams too.
Well, it sort of matters that you remember it. I mean what is an experience worth if you have no memory of it? Its like that question… would you spend the next five years of your life in complete blissful paradise if at the end you would never have one memory from the five year span? Not me.
Lucid dreaming is different things to different people. Some do it just so they can beat people up Street Fighter style and others are searching for some sort of spiritual or psychological meaning within themselves. Some people even believe that the world they go to while dreaming is a reality unto itself and not just a creation of the mind. Anyway… I guess you have to figure out what you want to do with it.
I personally want to get some mad skills with it for a variety of reasons ranging from pure hedonism to self improvement.
If you’re having problems remembering your dreams… keep writing down anything you can recall about them in the morning. Eventually your recall will improve.
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The reason why the Tibetian Buddists cultivated LD (dream yoga)
was to obtain:
- Increased Awareness in waking life.
- Better understanding of oneself through contact with you mildly-subcoscious self.
- Clarity (too much to discuss here.)
- Better confidence & mental health.
- Improved Cognitive abilities.
- Better dealings with others.
- Above all else, enlightenment, with the results of the meditation.
What good would it do you if you were to have an LD, then forget it?
To LD you have to remember your dreams.
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I wouldn’t say that you have to remember your dreams to LD but they deffinitely aren’t worht much if you don’t recall them.
I guess this goes under clarity too Phantom… but the Tibetans also cultivate dream control because they believe that the same spiritual body you inhabit when you dream is the body you’re in after you die. In order to be able to control yourself and not become lost after death you have to be able to recognize and control your dreams.
I also plan to try things like meditation within them once I get better. I think it’s a great way to exercise your mind and memory, and I’ve heard somewhere that in LD your left and right brain are operating fully, in sync with each other but im not sure if this is correct…LaBerge also explains some practical uses for everyday life. Either way the benifits of LD are endless for whatever reason you use it for, spiritual, practical, learning, amuzement, exploration etc.
OK… Ive also been informed that when LDing … You are able to practice things … Persay… You want to learn to dance so you LD about dancing and this allows you to dance better when awake … is this true?? Also LDing is said to be a doorway to the AstroPlane … Any comments on that ?
Not to mention Ive also heard that when your dreaming you actually interact with others in your dream … Your dream and someone elses intermingle So that is said to explain why people recall faces of those they have never ment while awake…
aydira … ya Michigan is kinda cold … I dont mind it tho … Ive got some winter insulation 
Where abouts do you live ? The UP is a lot colder than the Lower part
I think in general if you practice things in dreams it makes them easier possible because you’re less nervous about it somehow because you already went over it inside your head. I read somewhere about a study where women who practiced having babies in their dreams had much easier deliveries. 
I’ve heard the astral plane connection thing too but I haven’t experienced that (to my knowledge anyway). I’m sure it’s very probable that we go to the astral plane while dreaming without even knowing it sometimes.
There’s a thing called shared dreaming where you meet other people in your dreams and also precognition could make you dream of someone before you meet them. As far as I’m aware this hasn’t happened to me yet but I’m working on it. 
I live in south east michigan. I’m always cold it really sucks. My body has no insulation though. Maybe I should eat more butter?
I would recommend lots and lots of broccoli and bananas to help with that insulation thing … Ya I live in the Lansing area so I get the minimal lake effect 
Hopefully not eating both at the same time…
Have you had any luck remembering your dreams yet?
Ya I average 1-2 dreams a night that i can remember… However I Lucid Dream every night … I can control things but only when reacting to something I cannot create something out of the blue … there has to be a cataract involved… So I am not fully aware that I am dreaming therefore not truly Lucid dreaming
How about yourself?