I had my first lucid dream. Any insights?

[shawnmihalik]

I had my first last night, and it lasted surprisingly longer than I'd been lead to believe it would, but it turned out be a somewhat scary experience.

In the dream, I kept waking up in houses different than my own. This happened about four time in a row. When I woke up in the last house, I thought I had actually woken up. I looked outside and noticed that it was still dark out, but when I checked the time on my phone, it read 10:00 AM. That's when I realized that I was dreaming.

For a few seconds, I was very excited. I have been trying to have a lucid dream for several months now, and now I was having one and the dream was taking place in the kind of house that I have always wanted to live in. But then I heard a noise behind me and turned around to see four dogs run out of the other room and straight at me. I reminded myself that this was a dream and that nothing could hurt me, and three of the dogs vanished; however, the fourth dog bit my hand. It didn't hurt, but I was unable to remove my hand, yell at the dog, or produce any sound above a whisper for several minutes. I just stood there trying to fight off the dog and remove my hand from its mouth for several minutes before I finally woke up.

When I woke up, I was sweating and breathing heavily, but my heart rate was surprisingly calm and steady. I had trouble falling back asleep after the intense experience.

Can anyone offer any insights into why my first lucid dream was more of a nightmare? Has this happened to anyone else? How can I prevent it in the future while still having lucid dreams?

[Daffy Duck]

Keep practicing. With time you'll be able to control your dreams better, including those pesty dogs. Next time, think of ducks. We're not so bad. Feed them bread.

Have you been to this web site? Lots of good info: World of Lucid Dreaming: Discovering Self Awareness in Dreams

[Midwinter Mist]

I think it's just one of those things.

As mentioned by DD, time and experience will give you a higher level of manipulation over your dream, but even with experience you'll likely find dreams creating many surprises.

I don't know whether or not those dogs represent anything, particularly connected to the home (i.e. something preventing you from reaching that home in life, driving you away from it), but once the attack fell into place, your reactions and feelings within the dream quite possibly enticed the scenario further and your lack of experience in the lucid field prolonged the fight with the dog. The rush and concern of the experience would have definitely made it a difficult moment to stop.

But, hey, at least you managed to prevent the pain and that's definitely a good step. I've had a lot of unwanted dogs coming for me in my dreams and I've felt the horrific pain of their bites, although they were in my regular dreams. Nevertheless, I tend to let the lifelike emotions, senses and pains flow accordingly in my lucid dreams as I just find it all amazing. I quite enjoy playing around with the temperature in my dream. I remember sleeping in the summer heat, but in my dreams I'd make it snowy and drop the temperature down and it really felt like I was there, enduring the cold!

[bluestar]

Even lucid-dream-dogs could be tempted by a nice juicy steak. Or a good dog-stick...? Try it? You never know -you might find yourself an ally....

[Angelique]

I'm no dream interpreter or anything but which hand was it? I've read different books about symbolism and usually the right side of the body represents the external/business side of one's life and the left represents the internal/personal side.

I'm guessing the dog biting your hand could mean you're being held back from doing something.

That's the first thing that came to mind.

Congratulations on your first lucid dream!!!

[shawnmihalik]

Originally Posted by Angelique

I'm no dream interpreter or anything but which hand was it? I've read different books about symbolism and usually the right side of the body represents the external/business side of one's life and the left represents the internal/personal side.

It was my right hand. That could make sense, actually.

[indigoschild]

Originally Posted by shawnmihalik

Can anyone offer any insights into why my first lucid dream was more of a nightmare? Has this happened to anyone else? How can I prevent it in the future while still having lucid dreams?

Keep trying dear. I cant recall having any that were nightmares so much but i do know...even those scary dreams should be paid attention to. There should be symbols all around you. Make sure you are taking a good mental note of them while you are dreaming AND better yet, as soon as you wake up..jot ALL the things down that you saw, heard ect. Sometimes a symbol in a dream will frighten me and if i think on it too much....i wake myself up. Try to be as calm as possible once you notice you are dreaming. Ask questions if someone is near you to respond 2 you and like someone else said above....the next time you are attacked by a dog...throw him a bone or a steak or something...lol You have all the power! Follow the guidelines on dream journaling if you are not already doing this. This should not only help you interpret your dreams better but it will also help you remember them and recognize lucid dreaming even faster. Use your imagination and visualize objects to bring/create into the dream with you! Its going to be fun times once you get the hang of it. Therapeutic even.... Best wishes and let us know how things go!

[Wax Frog]

I've had TWO lucid dreams in the past two weeks, and I haven't even been trying to induce them - this after struggling to have them at various times in the past decade

[Summerbreeze]

Congratulations, this is the beginning of many exciting adventures and quests. Watch out there is the possibility of getting on the astral plane during lucid dreaming

[Wax Frog]

Originally Posted by Summerbreeze

Congratulations, this is the beginning of many exciting adventures and quests. Watch out there is the possibility of getting on the astral plane during lucid dreaming

I'm guessing this post is addressed to me? Astral plane indeed - I've requested that my Expanded Self meet with me the next time I go lucid...