A strange, and obnoxious, phenomenon that occurs during lucid dreams

[The David]

Okay...my main obstacle, when it comes to lucid dreaming, is not so much reality checks, or dream recall, or anything else of the sort. I frequently become aware that I am dreaming. However, after attaining lucidity, the dream fades. All the imagery is gone, there are no sounds, and I can feel myself lying in bed.

Until recently, I thought this just meant that I was awake from the dream, perhaps in some weird hypnopompic state.

Just the other day, I dreamed that I was standing in front of these strange children. I had this machine that emitted an oily spray from one opening, and a flame from another opening. I was spraying the children and then torching them (this was BEFORE attaining lucidity, mind you), and I ran out of oil (don't you hate that?). I instantly became lucid, then manifested a bottle of canola oil behind me, because it's easier to manifest things outside of your view. I took the bottle, then the imagery faded. I felt myself in bed. It was the same feeling I mentioned in the first paragraph-I felt myself in bed, and did not see anything-but this time, I still sensed that there were children in front of me, and I felt, very vividly, the bottle of oil in my hand. In some sense, I was still dreaming.

Okay, so that probably sounds weird, and it's a long paragraph, but has anyone else experienced that after attaining lucidity? Was I really awake, or did I just need to remind myself that I was dreaming and enter the dream again? Or does this make absolutely no sense to anyone?

[Blueskied]

Doesn't sound too weird.
Had a similar experience this morning after a short LD.
Been lying in my bed after the dream has ended. All was black, i couldn't move (sleep paralysis i guess). But there were some leftovers of a dream (sounds).
This state lasted about 10-20 seconds.
I think i read that visuals are the first thing that disappear when a dream starts to end. That would explain the blackness while other impressions are still there.
How long have you been in this state?

[The David]

Originally Posted by Blueskied

Doesn't sound too weird.
Had a similar experience this morning after a short LD.
Been lying in my bed after the dream has ended. All was black, i couldn't move (sleep paralysis i guess). But there were some leftovers of a dream (sounds).
This state lasted about 10-20 seconds.
I think i read that visuals are the first thing that disappear when a dream starts to end. That would explain the blackness while other impressions are still there.
How long have you been in this state?

How long have I been having these experiences? I don't know, probably years. I had another this morning. How long does the state last? There's no way of knowing, because I'm still at least partially asleep.

[Minsc]

I go into a state where I can barely move and have a ringing in my ears which gets louder when I do so.

Have to go back asleep for a second to wake up normally.

[Erin Pavlina]

Minsc! That ringing sound you hear is the beginning of a change in your vibration, one that leads directly to astral projection. Instead of going back to sleep (which is definitely an option), try to encourage the ringing. You can't move because your body is prepared to stay put while your soul goes travelling. Lift out of your body when that happens and see what happens.

[Steve Pavlina]

Sounds to me like a loose cable.

[Reyv]

In regards to the initial question, how about false awakening?

Happened to me just a few days ago. I was kissing this girl, and then my dream started fading while my eyes were closed. I reopened my eyes and I could see my room (or so I thought), yet I could still vividly feel the sensation of kissing for a few more seconds. I thought to myself it was weird for my dream senses to leak like that into waking life, but I didn't investigate further.

I finally woke up a few minutes later and realized what that had been all about, and that I should've RC'd.

[The David]

Originally Posted by Reyv

In regards to the initial question, how about false awakening?

Happened to me just a few days ago. I was kissing this girl, and then my dream started fading while my eyes were closed. I reopened my eyes and I could see my room (or so I thought), yet I could still vividly feel the sensation of kissing for a few more seconds. I thought to myself it was weird for my dream senses to leak like that into waking life, but I didn't investigate further.

I finally woke up a few minutes later and realized what that had been all about, and that I should've RC'd.

It's so weird, though. I really have no idea if I'm really awake or not, because I feel myself so clearly in the bed, and am convinced that I'm awake. But after feeling the bottle of oil...it has to be false.

[Lil Chris]

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

Minsc! That ringing sound you hear is the beginning of a change in your vibration, one that leads directly to astral projection. Instead of going back to sleep (which is definitely an option), try to encourage the ringing. You can't move because your body is prepared to stay put while your soul goes travelling. Lift out of your body when that happens and see what happens.

Hey Erin,
Sometimes i get a ringing in my ears while awake, is this anything...? It's kinda wierd, it seems like i get really focused and all thoughts are gone... any advice...?

[Parthon]

To OP:

Yeah, I've had that many many times, most nights in fact. I'll be dreaming and it will get really vivid, then I'll realise I'm dreaming and the dream becomes less real, and very fake. I can control the entire dream at this point with my thoughts or imagination, but the whole thing is created in my mind and feels completely made up. It's at this point that I just let go and wake up.

If it's a lucid dream I'd love to be able to enter it consciously when it's still real and not have the whole fake feeling take over.

If it's a precursor to astral projection that would be even better, but I've never experience the ringing sound.

Either way, I'm going to keep practicing and see what happens, that's the only thing I can suggest.