Lucid Dreams, Astral Projection, etc.

My experience with lucid dreaming has never been one of completely controlling the dream. It's usually that something will happen, and I'll decide, "no, I don't like this", and I'll consciously change the scenario. I don't know how it works to trigger this, though--it's only happened to me a few times.

Your Service,
Ket Makura

Proud Air Force Sister.

I have semi-lucid dreams fairly regularly. I can't trigger them, they just happen of their own accord.

Sometimes I am able to control exactly what happens- for example I'll be dreaming about waiting for a bus and suddenly realise it's a dream and think 'hmmm, I think I'll fly instead' Then I begin to fly. This is awesome, sadly it doesn't happen very often.
More usually it will be something very simple- I'm being chased by a dog and then I just wish the dog away, but the rest of the dream carries on as normal and I don't make any more choices.

There are supposedly several ways you can train yourself to have a lucid dream. One I remember reading about (I don't remember the book, sorry, this was years ago) involved looking for 'dream clues'. Apparently there are common 'flaws' in dreams that will tip you off to the fact you are dreaming - light switches that don't work, falling too slowly when you jump off something and the view from the window not being the one you expect. If in doubt, jump on the bed, switch on the light and look out of the window!
If you can realise that you're dreaming, you're only one step away from being able to control it.

Hope that's of some kind of use.

-jen

Personally, I've had one or two fully lucid (when I say "fully," I mean as in control as I could hope to be) dreams, but there's no surefire way of doing it. For a part when I was interested in these things, I was part of a forum community where I met some people who had been studying and devoting months and years into developing a talent for it, and even they could only do it one or two times a week, seemingly at random.

The way I found effective (meaning both times were with this scenario) was premeditation. I of course had to go through my ritual of chanting "I will remember my dream, I will remember my dream" repeatedly before bed seeing as otherwise they would just float away once I woke up. But after that, I also used brainwave tones (basically, things that interact with your brainwaves by creating two unique tones, one in each ear, and supposedly affect your neurological construct--though research hasn't been heavy in that area, I believe they work rather well), and meditation before I slept, seeing as it was the fastest conclusion as I do my own meditation for a variety of reasons (one being collecting ideas for writing, actually).

As for how they "feel," it's very unique. I almost got so excited when I realized that I was in a dream that I nearly woke up. Nevertheless, I remembered to keep my cool (as I had learned previously), and decided to try to do some of the things I had planned beforehand. The way I figured out I was in a dream the first time was I attempted to levitate from my bed (this was my planned "reality check" since it was always easy for me to remember, and so I did it every time I suspected I might or might not be in a dream state). I managed to do so, and realized that I was in a dream, and from there, my subconscious took over a little bit and dumped me on the floor. I managed to make my world spin a little bit and thought, "It would be cool to be in a park right now" and I went to a misshapenly, little park, and managed--to my dismay--to forget everything I had planned on doing while in a dream state. So, I basically just sat around in my dream until I fell asleep (in my dream), and then woke up and was no longer in a dream. The second time I realized I was lucid dreaming (with the levitation trick I found handy), I had decided beforehand that I was going to fly somewhere, and not forget because I was upset with the last time. Instead of flying through the window, however, I hit the window and woke up. Quite anticlimactic.

Through my experience, I've found that it takes a LOT of skill and training to be coordinated enough to fully control yourself in a dream, and to control the world around you, while remembering things in your consciousness. It's a very delicate world, the dream world that you create, because there's always the chance that you will wake up. You also have to remember that you ARE dreaming, and you can technically do ANYTHING you want, and yet, you can't get so uppity that you won't be able to control it and slip into subconscious dreaming again.

Anyways, I hope some of that rambling helped you out some. Good luck on the story!

~Siswi

Personally, I've had one or two fully lucid (when I say "fully," I mean as in control as I could hope to be) dreams, but there's no surefire way of doing it. For a part when I was interested in these things, I was part of a forum community where I met some people who had been studying and devoting months and years into developing a talent for it, and even they could only do it one or two times a week, seemingly at random.

The way I found effective (meaning both times were with this scenario) was premeditation. I of course had to go through my ritual of chanting "I will remember my dream, I will remember my dream" repeatedly before bed seeing as otherwise they would just float away once I woke up. But after that, I also used brainwave tones (basically, things that interact with your brainwaves by creating two unique tones, one in each ear, and supposedly affect your neurological construct--though research hasn't been heavy in that area, I believe they work rather well), and meditation before I slept, seeing as it was the fastest conclusion as I do my own meditation for a variety of reasons (one being collecting ideas for writing, actually).

As for how they "feel," it's very unique. I almost got so excited when I realized that I was in a dream that I nearly woke up. Nevertheless, I remembered to keep my cool (as I had learned previously), and decided to try to do some of the things I had planned beforehand. The way I figured out I was in a dream the first time was I attempted to levitate from my bed (this was my planned "reality check" since it was always easy for me to remember, and so I did it every time I suspected I might or might not be in a dream state). I managed to do so, and realized that I was in a dream, and from there, my subconscious took over a little bit and dumped me on the floor. I managed to make my world spin a little bit and thought, "It would be cool to be in a park right now" and I went to a misshapenly, little park, and managed--to my dismay--to forget everything I had planned on doing while in a dream state. So, I basically just sat around in my dream until I fell asleep (in my dream), and then woke up and was no longer in a dream. The second time I realized I was lucid dreaming (with the levitation trick I found handy), I had decided beforehand that I was going to fly somewhere, and not forget because I was upset with the last time. Instead of flying through the window, however, I hit the window and woke up. Quite anticlimactic.

Through my experience, I've found that it takes a LOT of skill and training to be coordinated enough to fully control yourself in a dream, and to control the world around you, while remembering things in your consciousness. It's a very delicate world, the dream world that you create, because there's always the chance that you will wake up. You also have to remember that you ARE dreaming, and you can technically do ANYTHING you want, and yet, you can't get so uppity that you won't be able to control it and slip into subconscious dreaming again.

Anyways, I hope some of that rambling helped you out some. Good luck on the story!

~Siswi

From what I know in my Psych background---which isn't much, just roughly 1 1/2 years of classes---the lucid dream is a sort of takeover by the subconscious. Generally, we dream about 4-5 times a night, depending on how long we sleep and how long our sleep cycles last. A general sleep cycle includes several NREM dreams, which are not in color and generally are not remembered, and one REM dream, in color, which can be recalled. Sleep cycles last roughly 90 minutes.

My lucid dreams have varying intensity. Some lucid dreams have a vague sense of deja vu, as if I know I've been in this situation before, specifically in the dream state. There are some that I know I'm dreaming, but it's not a major thought, just a kind of passing observation. Then, there are the ones in which I know I'm dreaming, but it usually isn't one of those "I'm not wearing pants" scenes. It just kind of flows and floats into the mind, much like the dream itself.

To change a dream in the midst of it, the thought must be initialized and then applied. A general Hiro Nakemura from "Heroes"-like squint of concentration fits it best---the thought happens, it starts to work, and then you have to focus...losing grasp of what your thought is ends the dream abruptly. The scene may go black, but that's okay---faith and focus have to come into play in order to make it work. If it does work, then the dream is at the whim of the dreamer, but I've not kept my focus for long enough to really make it go. Every subtle change takes focus, and I never have enough beyond two or three goes at it.

There is also the interesting bit of dreaming after you wake up---when you wake up and go back to sleep, you have an NREM period that lasts only a short time. Dreams then, I believe, are technically hallucinations, but it may be easier for your character to have some lucidity then, having been awake a few moments previous. I usually manage lucidity here when I'm dreaming, and know something's out of place (i.e. the "I have no pants on" example); of course, the main focus in lucidity during these dreams are to WAKE UP, which I do. As such, it's a form of control and a lucid dream, but not one where you want to control the direction.

I hope my two cents helps and that it's psychologically correct. It's been a bit since my last psych class so I might have goofed some things, but my own experiences are certainly valid, at least according to me. :-p

Good luck writing!

I had only one experience like that. In the dream, I was driving in a car with my friend on the highway. At the time, I had been researching astral projection and the like, and I looked at my watch twice--and noticed the times had changed. Not even by seconds, but by whole hours. I looked up to a nearby billboard twice, and noticed that the advertisements had changed. One of the things I read about on the topic of dreams is that one way to notice you're in a dream is if you do a quick double-take on something, usually a page in a book or the time. If it changes drastically, then that's a tell-tale sign you're in a dream.

So I said to myself, "This must be a dream." At first, the whole thing kind of became a little less 'real'--my senses were just a bit stifled, as though I were there and seeing it through my own eyes, but not quite 'feeling' it. Since I had been trying for two weeks to have one of these dreams to experience flying (yes, I'm a dork!), I jumped out the car and started flying alongside it. It felt genuinely like I was flying, with all the wind and rush and danger of flying into a bridge. It was awesome, I'd give anything to do it again, but I haven't had a dream (one that I can remember) ever since, and it's been two years, so.

I 'left' the state by waking up, really. Somehow it ended up with me in a big winter coat sliding into ice-cold water from 100 feet, and I ended up nearly drowning. Once I had climbed out, I was freezing to death, and that's when I woke up. No special way to leave the state, really. At least, not for me.

SimonSwift already said pretty much everything I was going to say. :D But I'll still tell you a few experiences that I've had.

It's the same for me: I keep forgetting what I was supposed to do while lucid dreaming (and most of the time I don't actually now what I'd like to do even if I'm awake) so usually I'll just do what feels like fun. Flying is the most usual I think.

The first time I had a lucid dream was before I had even heard of them. I think I was standing on a roof and I was supposed to go somewhere and then I suddenly realized that I was dreaming and I just jumped of the roof and started flying over houses and fields until I woke up.

The second time I knew about lucid dreams and I started thinking what I should do... and ended up flying again except this time there was an ocean below me (I didn't decide it, it just was there) but then I slipped a bit back into unconscious dreaming and a whale attacked me. :D I tried to wish it away with my lucid dream powers but it didn't work anymore and then I woke up.

Once I was in an archery contest when I realized that I was in a dream and then I remembered that I could do anything I wanted. So I made my arrow hit the bull's eye and won the competition. xD When I woke up I got pretty angry at myself.

There's never been any clear trigger for me. Sometimes I don't actually even realize I'm dreaming. I just suddenly know that I can control thing with my thoughts and use that ability to help myself in the dream. For example, once I was chased by some thieves and there was a river ahead of me so I made myself a bridge with my thoughts and then destroyed it once I was on the other side. I didn't even think that it was a dream, I thought it was real all the time. Actually I find that that way it's easier to keep control when you don't control everything, just change a bit what your subconscious side offers you. If you try to control everything a whale comes there and eats you. :p

I've only had one lucid dream that was unexpected and came out of nowhere.

There was a giant muffin/teacup thing that was trying to squish me so I hid under a car. Then I realized that giant muffin/teacup things weren't real so I went 'wow, I'm dreaming.'

It was like I woke up. Everything became crystal clear. I crawled out from under the car and willed the thing away. It was very difficult for me to do and I had to shut my eyes. It was like I had a mental blockage that made changing things hard. Then I just walked around, poofed up two foxes for company. Then I lost control and woke up.

*sigh*

NaNo 2006: Insert The Non-Existent Yet Somehow Still Witty Title Here (Won!)
NaNo 2007: Forte Valley: Hometown (Lost...)

Anyone here been to Dreamviews.com message board? If so I'm GestaltAlteration. Come bug me some time. =P

I've been into lucid dreaming awhile (4 years). It's possible to learn to do at will with the right training and conditioning.

2006 - E.C. Battalion [52k words]
2007 - Untitled

I guess I'm weird, because I can have lucid dreams whenever I feel like it. A few weeks ago I was talking to my mom about how if you ate too much of a food in a dream you might not like it so much right in the morning, so that night I did an experiment. I had some dream about a car chase or whatever, and I got to this hotel room and was all, 'hey, I forgot about that eating thing'. So a kitchen appeared in the hotel room with some blue bags on the floor and in one was a box of those little chocolate covered donuts. So I ate all of them.

I have no idea about the mechanics of the whole thing, so if someone in a story could 'just do it', or whatever, it would make sense to me.

I have lucid dreams on a regular basis, and they are all in color. I'm odd that way, I guess. I can remember smells, tastes and colors from my dreams. I also think I REM more than most people. I've been told that as soon as I close my eyes I tend to REM. Those dreams are in color too. Sometimes I choose the colors or one catches my interest. Sometimes I'll wake myself up as I'm falling asleep if I don't like the drift of the thoughts.

The lucid dreams tend to be progressive too. I remember what happened in previous lucid dreams.

Lucid dreams can be triggered by a course of unusual events before sleeping. Many cultures do this by creating an altered state in the person through various drugs.

But mainly for me, I really like lucid dreaming... and I practice it sometimes. I sometimes also purposefully induce dreams. (It's kind of like meditation before you fall asleep on a consecutive amount of nights.) The more you try to induce lucid dreams, the more they come true.

Lucid dreams are also good for exploring your subconscious, facing your fears, etc.
I like dreaming a lot, 'cause I get superpowers about 50% of the time or more. And I can fulfill wishes I have that I can't get while I'm awake. Since I'm a writer too, the dreams get more and more complex. The more complex they get, the more fun it is to control the dream. The more I have lucid dreams, the more complex they seem to also get... so it's a good cycle. I often test story ideas this way too. The trouble is waking up properly and writing down the story before I forget. I'm still trying to figure out how to do this 100% of the time.

If I have it good, I can remember about 5 dreams a night, or I'll have one long dream that's connected. It's an exercise in memory.... and I think extending your memory would be important in that.

Telling someone you're a writer is like telling them you're an obsessive compulsive bipolar schizophrenic that goes to AA meetings once a week.

I guess I'm the odd person out, here. When I first read about lucid dreams, my first thought was 'how can anyone not know that they're dreaming?' I can only remember one completely non-lucid dream. There were a few where things happened that I wasn't expecting, but I knew that I was dreaming.

It just seems so obvious. In my dreams, buildings are shaped differently, although I know which building they're supposed to represent. In my dreams, there is no background noise. I hear voices more in my head than in my ears, at least part of the time.

It's not that I control everything. Dreams have their own flow and most of the time I leave that alone. But I can fly and teleport and rewind the dream to make things happen differently, if that's important to me. On the other hand, if something pulls my lungs out through my throat, I can just leave them dangling there, staying calm because in dreams you don't need the dream lungs to breathe. The party can go on and in that case, no one seemed to notice. I never was any good at party small talk, anyway.

The most memorable thing about lucid vs non-lucid dreaming is being able to feel what is going to happen next, sometimes in time to sidestep it. That never happens in real life or in a non-lucid dream. When something happens in a dream that I didn't feel coming, it's very startling to me.

I had a nightmare that quickly turned into a lucid dream. I was in a prison in hell and there were lots of skeletons if you're wondering what hell is like, but at one point I just said, "This is a dream! Holy cow!" And I stopped be terrified and waited in my prison cell to wake up.

NaNo '05: Failed
NaNo '06: Won
NaNo '07: --
Cups of Coffee: 9
Cups of Tea: 13
Energy Drinks: 2

I make sporadic attempts to improve my ability to lucid dream, but I have to admit I've never really put in the effort to learn to do it properly. I find the more I concentrate on my dreams (remembering them, thinking in advance about what I might like to dream about), the more likely I am to have a lucid dream.

One thing I find - it's hard to explain it properly, but sometimes there's a sort of strand of organising going on in my head when I'm having a lucid dream. Like, for example, I remember having a dream where I was going to stay in a hotel, and I didn't like it, I forced it to change to a nicer hotel because I knew I was asleep and dreaming and could do that if I wanted to, but I really did have to force it, and remember to keep it the way I wanted it to be... It's as though the more aware I become that I'm dreaming, the less I'm able to just go with it and the more it becomes a sort of air-traffic control, director-of-operations type role. It isn't always like that, but it can be, and when it is it's not entirely comfortable.

Egad. I envy anyone who'd ever dreamt lucidly, and even more so if they can do it at will.

One of the dream cues I know has been mentioned: dreams don't do rapid changes of light, so flicking a lightswitch will show if you're dreaming. Dreams don't have detail, so looking at your watch or the palms of your hand will also work.

I own a NovaDreamer (http://www.lucidity.com/novadreamer.html) which has never worked in eleven years, even when I had vivid dreams.

It triggers an LED before each eye and bleeps, which supposedly you'd see in a dream the way that a 'phone ringing in the real world might get incorporated.

Only the weak are good, and even then it is only because they are not strong enough to be bad.

- Josef Stalin

I experimented briefly with lucid dreaming. For me, it was mainly a decision to remain aware of my dreaming. After a few sessions, I gave it up because my lucid dreams, being controlled by me, were less entertaining then my normal dreams. I also recall that the lucid dreams seemed borring and barren compared to my normal dreams.

There have also been a few cases where I've become aware that I am dreaming in a middle of a dream. In the cases I recall, it usually occured in a fairly realistic dream setting compared to the norm. And I needed to consider the question before deciding that yes, I was. Afterwards, I tend to shrug and just continue with the dream and not try to control it.

I am a constant lucid dreamer. I don't how or why I started it, but I can tell you one thing. Loosing any control over a dream is a very scary thing for me. When I lose control, I'm more likely to wake up with a racing heart or something like that (and have the hardest time falling BACK asleep).

As for astral projection, a lucid dreamer can be considered an astral projecter as well, projecting themselves into the "dream realm". The body stays in one place and the essence of the person will travel to the other "realm".

If you want me to explain further about either topic, just message me!

I can't tell you much personal experience in the way of lucid dreaming but I can tell you a TON of stuff on astral projection - it'd take hours though so I'll spare you unless you really want it!

However I'd like to recommend you find a copy of the movie "Waking Life" - not only is it lots of fun to watch, it's a really good resource if you need an idea of what lucid dreaming might look and feel like.

I usually know I am dreaming in my dreams. It just seems sort of obvious to me. Controlling my dreams, on the other hand, is a different story.

My vision usually blurs or my 'connection' to the dream weakens. After that, I usually lose focus and get spiraled into a completely new dream 'topic', and forget about it until I wake up. But yeah, I am usually annoyed in my dream afterwards, because I couldn't control it. But it is more of a 'background feeling'..

And then came last night...

A city of lights, cars, and highways stood before me. I, on some sort of rise, spotted my destination - an airport. I knew I was dreaming. I opened my mouth and said, "Fly!" in a commanding sort of way, and I immediately took off. I could feel my feet leave the ground and the loss of gravity encompass me and carry me away. Soon my eyes watered from the cold air I was rushing through, and I thought with utmost happiness, 'I've finally flew!'. Thinking on it, it is kind of funny I was heading for an airport when I flew. xD

Well, to my point - When I lose my sense of reality(A.K.A. forget it is a dream), it feels like when you lose a memory. It slips ever so slowly from your grasp, and yet forever stays on the tip of your tongue.

Hope that helps,

~Stephen P. Inzunza~

P.S.: /wave -> Yllaria

~Coincidence is a Rare Occasion~

I think that lucid dreams are so much fun! It's kind of annoying though because I don't tend to get them very often. The times I get them I really appreciate them though. I have them when I'm having a nightmare which I suppose is quite helpful!
I don't really know how to cause them although I'll definately try some of the methods on here. They look interesting.

In my novel this year it's like all set in a dreamworld. I've got a couple of questions that I was hoping for some help with;

1) If you were dreaming and you were in the dream to such an extent that you could feel pain, what would happen to your body here?
2)Can you fall asleep within a dream?
3) If the answer to 2) is yes then what would you dream about?
4) How do you make yourself wake up from a dream?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Tell me if there's anything you know.

Sio

writing...so many definitions. For me I suppose I need it to LIVE! Take away my books and my keyboard and I'd probably wander around a desert looking lost and trying to read sand!

My dreams are always extremely vivid, even if I can't control them. o_o;
Most the time I know I'm dreaming, so I guess that makes me a lucid dreamer - though I can only control them about half the time.

Sometimes dreaming so vividly with such control is frightening. I've had a few dreams I've literally had to rip myself out of because yelling at myself didn't work in the dream - and even though you know it's not real it FEELS real ... then you wake up out of breath, wondering if you really were just, in a sense, part of the clearly etched images in your head.

Or sometimes I'll like a dream so much that I'll be thinking in my dream "I need to remember this when I wake up, this is cool." Just to find when I DO wake up, it suddenly slips away from me. Usually when that happens, someone will say or do something, or I'll see something that vaguely had to do with my dream and it will trigger my memory of it.

o_O; And at the person above me, unless someone else posted while I was writing this - I have felt pain in dreams before, it's really odd to say, but I have.
You know.. you dream of war or bad things happening to you. When I wake up I'm always fine though, if that happens. ;W;
Actually, a few times - unless it was just lethargic hallucinations, the area that DID get hurt in the dream feels a little strange after you wake up, but then again that could just be my thoughts, still stuck in dreamworld, or, naturally, my huge imagination. XDDDD;; .. Oh gawd, this post makes me sound crazy. <333333333

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/FatedRegret/NaNoWriMoSig.png

I don't know about falling asleep in a dream, but I do know someone who had the 'waking up dream' seven times in a row. You know, you wake up, get up, start going about your day... and then you wake up and realise that actually that was just a dream. Only my friend kept waking up, over and over... it completely freaked her out because of course when she really woke up she wasn't sure if she was still dreaming.

Hey Lais!
I don't think its odd, a lot of people who I have spoken to who have lucid dreams, well, lets just say when they say lucid they mean LUCID
Do you always remember your dreams then? I dream very vividly, but I don't always remember them although I always know I hve been dreaming.
Does anyone else find that they have and remember several dreams a night?
It is a bit of a strange idea though to try and understand what it would be like to feel real pain in a dream and then when you wake up, but I'm trying to understand how my main character would feel when she woke up. Its been like a very long epic dream for her and she feels like she's been there for days and obviously got a number of bumps and bruises but I can't decide whether to have her see her injuries when she gets home or not...
Gosh, looking over that last paragraph I'm not sure it makes any sense whatsoever. Ah well, I'm sure someone will understand me =P

Sio

writing...so many definitions. For me I suppose I need it to LIVE! Take away my books and my keyboard and I'd probably wander around a desert looking lost and trying to read sand!

In response to the question about pain after dreams, I had a dream two years ago where I got into a struggle with some girl (I was this super spy in my dream :D ) and she ended up shooting me in the head like 9 times. And I was in terrible pain in the dream and I knew I was dying and when I died, I woke up. But I was crying and I felt like there was blood all over my face and head and I had one of the worst headaches I've ever had in my life. I dunno if that helps, but yeah, I've had pain carry over/get translated from my dream to reality before.

"That wonder was to heare her goodly speech:
For she was able, with her words to kill,
And raise againe to life the hart, that she did thrill."
~Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queen 1.10.19

I have lucid dreams, fairly often. The most noticeable thing for me is that even though I know I'm dreaming, I don't seem to think in the normal, logical, sane way that I would if awake. For instance, I've had lucid dreams in which I was in my room and it had expanded to about fifty feet square, but at the time I didn't notice anything was in any way different; I also recently had a lucid dream in which my skin started to glow neon green (don't ask; this wasn't a conscious decision, it just happened!) and I decided "Oh hey, cool, I must show this to my housemate. I'll just wander over to his room and show him my cool green skin and amazing flying skills, since this is a dream and obviously that means I can fly". I was fully aware I was dreaming, hence the "I can fly, yay", but it completely did not register that I couldn't really show anyone, since they would just be dream-characters and not the real people... I also find that I still get very scared in nightmare-type dreams and have trouble "changing the channel", even when I know for sure that it's not real.

I also have very tactile dreams. I've heard people say that you don't really feel tactile sensations in dreams, but I definitely do - I've been amazed before, in lucid dreams, by the fact that I can feel the floorboards under my feet, the coldness and damp of the rain outside, the feeling of a cat's fur. Even small details that you wouldn't think a dream would include, like a breeze on my face. It's pretty amazing. I have also very definitely felt pain in a dream, though I should maybe add that I do have a chronic pain condition and maybe it just carries over to my dreams.

Oh yeah, I've also had "false awakenings" from lucid dreams, where I think I've woken up and sit up in my bed and go "Wow, what a cool drea--- hang on, I don't recall my bedroom looking like this. I'm still dreaming, aren't I." Sometimes this is actually quite a creepy feeling, sometimes it's really cool...

_________________________________
2002 - It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time - 50k (almost exactly)
2003 & 2004 - crashed and burned early on
2005 - Not Exactly Romance - 51k (finished in fifteen days!)
2006 - Into The Sea - 41k (argh)

Ketsurui , that's been my experience too. I'm dreaming and on some level I am aware that what I'm experiencing IS a dream. I might be able to make some vaugue choices (Run, stop, fly?), the dream pretty much unfolds as it will. And if things get disturbing I can choose to wake up.

The only real nightmare I've ever had happened because I was dreaming about myself (something I almost never do) and I thought I was awake. I dreamed I had just woken up and was lying in bed in the dark and I remember thinking if we had an earthquake (I lived in Alaska) would I take the time to dive under my desk or just roll over against the wall. And I heard hushed men's voices in the hallway. At the time it was just me and my mother living there so shouldn't have been any men. Then I heard my door creak open, and soon thereafter I felt someone sit down on the edge of my bed and I BOLTED awake. I have never HEARD my own heart beating before or since. It was terrifying.

It only ever happened that once.

On the Astral Projection side of things I do remember having a dream that I thought was probably astral projection. I remember flying over the city to my highschool and walking through walls and glass (which had a kind of crystaline shiver feeling to it) and I remember flying downtown to the Hilton (which was at the time the tallest building in town) and I remember going down the halls and deciding to go into someone's room, and as I went through the wooden door it felt very strange. There was some kind of resistance slowing me down, like I was walking through warm jello. And I remember thinking to myself "oh sure, because wood has it's own life-energy" as if it made total sense to me and was something I knew all along. And i remember going into the room and there was someone sleeping there and I looked under their bed and saw a couple board games and then I woke up.

I don't know for sure, but if that's the closest I've ever come to anything seeming like astral projection. I used to dream a lot more vividly and flexibly when I was younger so I don't even know if I COULD duplicate it or not.

Same here. Someone was reading my a book and I said I didn't like that a little girl was going to die so she didn't. But I only kept it going for a few minutes before someone woke me up. I had a lucid dream the other day and it was a silly dream. But I remember know I wasn't suppose to be asleep and a copy of myself popped up and I told it to shake me, to wake me up. And I did. I wish it would happen more often. I've always wanted to know what it like to fly in your dreams. Or commit suicide. Just to see if I wake up.

Join us, we have legalized hover boards.
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2007- Willowland (FAIL)
2008-Untitled (Not Fail? I think yes.)
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Plotting cyber-punk novel with mind controlling government for November. Help?

My dreams are usually lucid...I usually let me dreams go with the flow, but when I don't like where its going, I push it back on track, so to speak. If I have to push too much, I wake up. I love it, because that means I rarely or never have nightmares. My little theory is that the "awaking when pushing the dream too much" actually happens for everyone who wakes up from a nightmare.

In response to Sio: I don't know about falling asleep during a dream, but I do know about waking up in a dream. It's a very very weird experience: I dream that I wake up, and think I'm awake, but actually I'm not...although usually I notice that things are slightly odd. Then,a fter a while, I really wake up, and all falls into place. It's not really a matter of "making" me wake up inside the dream, it's just part of the dream, only because I'm aware of the dream itself makes it a strange experience

Gnawnowrimo in history:
2003: Paper Gods and Written Heroes (won)
2004: Thuiswereld (Homeworld) (won)
2005: Dead Cities/Theriumvalk (not won)
2006: Dreams of black and white (won)
2007: The spy who IM'd me (won)

I've had several dreams that always end up in me dying. Then they repeat themselves. When I realize I am having the same dream -- same events, same guy chasing me, etc., I turn another route. Usually this brings me to another set of events altogether. Usually when I change the order of events and I don't die, I no longer have the dream. I never realized that this could be lucid dreaming. Thanks for posting this!!

You may want to check Doreen Virtue-- she's an author who writes about angels. I believe she had an astral projection experience....

Yes it is possible. i have that often. I don't really remember what I dream about, just that I wake up and I realize I am still dreaming. Usually at this point I can start thinking, oh I just need to wake up again, and then it happens in real life.