Lucid vs. Real Lucid
Hello, I am new here and I am a bit confused about something. I’ve known about lucid dreaming for years but had never experienced it until a few nights ago. I woke up in the middle of the night and could not fall asleep for a while. When I was back asleep I realized through a reality check that I was dreaming. Things get a bit confusing after that because of my initial excitement but I ended up experiencing false awakenings. However, in my dream within a dream I was lucid and it was the most incredible experience of my life. It was absolutely as real as waking life and I am still in a bit of shock. I now refer to this as my “real lucid dream”. My curiosity is this: I have had a couple dreams in my life that are technically lucid, where I am aware that I am dreaming but they are on par with normal dreams in terms of vividness and realistic qualities, they are nothing out of the ordinary. In fact the night after my real lucid dream, I had one of these. Why is it that these dreams are not experienced to the caliber that my real lucid dream was? Does it have to do with the level of my awareness? One other difference is this: Generally when I look back on dreams, including the average lucid ones, I see them in somewhat of a third person view, and it is more like looking at a movie. My real lucid dream however I remember in first person as if it was a real memory.
Most of my lucid dreams are visual and audible only. But sometime I get those really REAL ones. The difference I think is how much you are THERE in it. Just last night I had a few lucid moments, but they were just very vivid visually and audibly, and that was it. I didn't feel like I was in it. I couldn't touch things, I didn't feel like I had a body but just watching it like a movie or like a 3rd person as you say. And now that I have experienced the other more vivid type where you feel completely engrossed and immersed in a different world, I don't think of those type of dreams as completely lucid ones anymore. They don't cut the mustard for me anymore and I wake up disappointed even though to a non-lucid dreamer they would be amazing and I should appreciate them more. (I also think with more control I could have turned it into a more vivid one, but not all techniques seem to work all the time and I didn't even consider it at the time. I should work on that.)
I've also had lucid dreams that I consider semi-lucid. I knew it was a dream, but it was completely wacky and visuals would come and go and there wasn't even a sense of place. And even I wasn't in a normal waking, rational frame of mind. They come in all forms and levels of intensity, but all have one thing in common. You know it is a dream even if you are not in the same frame of mind as your waking self. But when you are thinking rationally with your cognitive waking self with full sensations.... that is not just a lucid dream, but a LUCID DREAM!
P.S. (What does 'cut the mustard' mean??!?!?) :? Don't answer. I should know. I said it! :lol:
And oh yea, those False Awakenings that become lucid are very vivid. Some think they are out of body experiences, but I personally just think it is a lucid false awakening and you feel like you have a body because that is what you expected. But they are very real at times and getting out of bed feels just as real as getting out of bed in real life. In fact sometimes it is hard for me to convince myself that it is a dream and fight the urge to 'fall back asleep'.
You are looking new to the lucid dreams and getting confused about it.
crazytoucan4u wrote: Hello, I am new here and I am a bit confused about something. I’ve known about lucid dreaming for years but had never experienced it until a few nights ago. I woke up in the middle of the night and could not fall asleep for a while. When I was back asleep I realized through a reality check that I was dreaming. Things get a bit confusing after that because of my initial excitement but I ended up experiencing false awakenings. However, in my dream within a dream I was lucid and it was the most incredible experience of my life. It was absolutely as real as waking life and I am still in a bit of shock. I now refer to this as my “real lucid dream”. My curiosity is this: I have had a couple dreams in my life that are technically lucid, where I am aware that I am dreaming but they are on par with normal dreams in terms of vividness and realistic qualities, they are nothing out of the ordinary. In fact the night after my real lucid dream, I had one of these. Why is it that these dreams are not experienced to the caliber that my real lucid dream was? Does it have to do with the level of my awareness? One other difference is this: Generally when I look back on dreams, including the average lucid ones, I see them in somewhat of a third person view, and it is more like looking at a movie. My real lucid dream however I remember in first person as if it was a real memory.
Regardless of clarity (which is a secondary characteristic to the experience), if you were aware that you were dreaming in any small capacity, it's a lucid dream. So congrats. :)
And yes, in my experience, clarity is usually tied almost intrinsically to "how aware" you are. While non-physical, the closer your awareness is to how your are right now, the more clear the experience becomes, until it becomes so clear you call it "real". lol
As for perspective in the experience... a non-physical experience can, literally, be from ANY perspective. 1st... 3rd... in a completely different body... have no body at all... :)
Thanks for all the input. It is good to hear these clarifications.
Ryan wrote:
crazytoucan4u wrote:And yes, in my experience, clarity is usually tied almost intrinsically to "how aware" you are. While non-physical, the closer your awareness is to how your are right now, the more clear the experience becomes, until it becomes so clear you call it "real". lol
that's the interestsing thing. People view clarity as being different meanings and for me (or maybe my terminology of what clarity can be is screwed up??. Let me know what you think).
I can be half in a dream with FULL waking awareness eg 100% waking awareness but the dream itself may not be clear eg I may only have "some" of my senses in the dream as it isnt stabilized yet. I dont know whether to say in such dreams I have clarity (so wouldnt) as I do have 100% waking awareness there but the thing is the dream may not be at all clear... eg it may be all shadowy due to the images not being properly formed yet.
The poster question really interested me as I didnt know that people can usually be experiencing dreams not from a first person sense. I nearly always have all my dreams whether vague or clear ones from the first persons sense. I hardly ever experience myself "watching" anything as Im in it, its all experiencing whatever Im seeing.... (maybe that is cause I dont tend to get those visual images between sleep and wake states either??? even when Im doing a WILD). Maybe my visual sense as it comes in last, maybe by that time Im deep in the dream and hence already experiencing myself there. (my tactile and hearing senses happen faster then my visual sense does).
Anyway.. I'll be watching this thread as its interesting me as it isnt something I experience.
The poster question really interested me as I didnt know that people can usually be experiencing dreams not from a first person sense. I nearly always have all my dreams whether vague or clear ones from the first persons sense. I hardly ever experience myself "watching" anything as Im in it, its all experiencing whatever Im seeing.... (maybe that is cause I dont tend to get those visual images between sleep and wake states either??? even when Im doing a WILD). Maybe my visual sense as it comes in last, maybe by that time Im deep in the dream and hence already experiencing myself there. (my tactile and hearing senses happen faster then my visual sense does).
I do want to say that not all of my dreams are clearly in third person. In fact it is difficult to say exactly how my vague, non-vivid dreams are experienced. However, when I look back and try to remember them some parts of them are seen in a more third person view. Not all of the dream is like this, bits and pieces I remember in first person, but other parts are not as clear. Anyway, it isn't blatantly third person, but when I recall some dreams it seems to be leaning towards third person if that makes any sense.
crazytoucan4u wrote:
The poster question really interested me as I didnt know that people can usually be experiencing dreams not from a first person sense. I nearly always have all my dreams whether vague or clear ones from the first persons sense. I hardly ever experience myself "watching" anything as Im in it, its all experiencing whatever Im seeing.... (maybe that is cause I dont tend to get those visual images between sleep and wake states either??? even when Im doing a WILD). Maybe my visual sense as it comes in last, maybe by that time Im deep in the dream and hence already experiencing myself there. (my tactile and hearing senses happen faster then my visual sense does).
I do want to say that not all of my dreams are clearly in third person. In fact it is difficult to say exactly how my vague, non-vivid dreams are experienced. However, when I look back and try to remember them some parts of them are seen in a more third person view. Not all of the dream is like this, bits and pieces I remember in first person, but other parts are not as clear. Anyway, it isn't blatantly third person, but when I recall some dreams it seems to be leaning towards third person if that makes any sense.
yeah that does make sense :)