Hi folks, I think today might have been a milestone for me.

I was taking an afternoon nap to catch up on some sleep I lost between Friday and Saturday and as usual, I was dreaming. In this particular dream I was driven to my old house back in the Caribbean. As I got out I walked up the stairs and into the living room of the house something strange happened: I became lucid! At least it felt like I did.

I realized I was dreaming because I was floating in midair and not walking on the ground like a normal person. Anyway, the second the I realized I was dreaming, I felt like I was 600 pounds. My once swift movements became slow and labored and I couldn't understand why. I made it from the living room to the hallway and I was trying to get to the back of the house but I couldn't.

The more I strained to move, the slower I moved; it was like I was in quicksand. Strangely enough, I randomly thought of the TV show Smallville and how the character Clark moved at super speed and that got me moving quickly again for about 2 seconds before it stopped working. However, when I consciously tried to have this thought again it didn't work.

I tried walking, didn't work. I tried levitating forward and it didn't work.

As I kept on straining I eventually felt like someone was putting their arms around my torso and preventing me from moving, but I couldn't see anyone there.

Eventually, I was straining so hard that the environment around me started to warp and eventually exploded into total white. I then lost consciousness again.

The question I have is: Was this a genuine lucid dream? Or was I dreaming that I became lucid in a dream? :O If this was real I feel honored that such a great thing has finally happened to little ol' me!

Hi chronopolis. It sounds like a lucid dream. Congratulations.

If you keep practicing and/or thinking about becoming lucid the frequency of this kind of dreams will increase.

I have three "states of mind" that I like to use when describing my experiences to make it easier for others to know what's going on and to make it easy for other people to answer their own questions of "what was this?".

"non-physical dream awareness experience"
"non-physical lucid awareness experience"
"non-physical astral awareness experience"

The bolded parts being most important.

A dream awareness is a normal dream. You're the actor not knowing you're in the play.
A lucid awareness is a dream in which you realize you're dreaming. That's the only thing you know. You're the actor who knows full well they're in a play, but don't know who you are in real life.
An astral awareness is a dream in which you realize you're dreaming AND you have a full (or as close as possible) waking awareness. You're the actor who knows you're in a play and you know who you are in real life.

Using these tools, you should be able to answer your own question now. :)

If you've noticed, with these terms, I shift the experience from being something you DO (ie: "I had a lucid dream") to something that you ARE (ie "I lad a lucid awareness" or "I was lucidly aware").

"The difference is not in the nature of the reality but in the consciousness that observes/experiences it."

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@ingerul9: Thanks! I always thought I was cut off from such experiences so to have one finally is a great feeling.

@Ryan: Wow, those are excellent descriptions! The "non-physical lucid awareness experience" describes my experience perfectly. I was aware of what was going on but I wasn't 100% there in the sense that I knew my name, address here in PMR etc. I merely "took control of the wheel" so to speak.

Thanks!

Yeah, Ryan, good descriptors. Sure provides for a good self-analysis tool.

Nice one Ryan.

I've used an analogy in the past that pretty much matches that description using a different metaphor;

A dream awareness is like watching an engrossing film. You are watching the plot unfold and react emotionally.

A lucid dream is like watching an interactive movie where one can manipulate the outcome and be involved with the plot.

The astral awareness is like walking onto the set of the film while it is in progress. You can interact with the actors and choose to ignore or leave the plot. One can also exit that particular film set and visit other sets while interacting with the actors... most of whom believe that the film is their real life.

I'm a sucker for obscure metaphors. In the long run Ryan, regardless of catagory, they are different aspects of the same thing... depending on the conscious quality and focus.

"I tried walking, didn't work. I tried levitating forward and it didn't work."

Just use focused intent next time....intent will move you in an OOBE....My early OOBE's I was flapping my arms.


That sounds like a lucid dream to me.OOBE's from my experience are vibrations and ears hissing undeniably and hard to forget.

Good Luck

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Shut up and meditate

To me, Out of Body Experience is simply a Wake Initiated Lucid Dream, where the dream is extremely vivid and you are extremely lucid. The way to recognize it is that when you wake up, everything should seem dull, numb and grey compared to the Vivid Wake Initiated Lucid Dream you just had.

I get the hissing and intense vibrations when my body is paralized and the dreaming process starts up. As if the dream motors in my head are starting to spin at high RPM and increasing... Untill I slowly establish dream awareness.

The fact that you EXPECT TO BE IN YOUR BEDROOM when the Wake Initiated Lucid Dream is slowly coming to life, causes an interesting issue. You parallel process external input and internal dream awareness input. Yet, if you never had the expectation to be in your bedroom in the first place, you would just begin the WILD dream where ever you wish it to begin or choose to expect it to begin. Just feel like you're in a park and see the grass, or feel it with your hand. Feel the wind on your forehead and smell the fresh autumn leafes. Use your imagination to tune your awareness onto the location of your choice. Its more similar to Consciousness Teleportation rather then Body exit. The Term "Body Exit" implies and assumes that your starting point is always the body. Its not, unless you want it to be.

All my Wake Initiated Lucid Dreams were experienced in the early morning, when the chemicals in your brain are at its most optimal state of balance for the WILD to occur. After ~6.5 hours of sleep, maybe less maybe more. I think you can easily develop a sense or intuition for the balance when it is there. You feel heavy and numb, yet fully aware and conscious. Yet, the pitfall is having issues falling back asleep when you do wake up, move your body or become to conscious of your body.