Clarity of Lucid Dreams

[Matt]

I was able to have lucid dreams when I was I child, but I haven't had one in many years (I rarely am able to remember dreams at all now). I am curious as to how clear everyone's lucid dreams are. In my own dreams, things are very vague. For example, I can tell if a girl in my dream is attractive, but I cannot make out her face. I'm not sure why this is. I can't see her, but I know what she looks like? Very odd.

How clear is vision in your dreams compared to real life? If there is a tiger in your dream, can you count his stripes?

[RandomJohn]

As long as I don't change the number halfway through.

[Erin Pavlina]

My lucid dreams are extremely clear and they last a very very long time. Especially when I'm Storm from the X-Men (one of my favorite characters to play). I recall one time when I became lucid, and me, Rogue, and Wolverine went to battle a Sentinel. Man that was fun! I was able to direct the action of the Sentinel too. Thank goodness I could fly away when things got dicey.

Some of my dreams last 30 minutes or so, in the lucid state. At least, it feels like 30 minutes worth of action. Getting clubbed by a Sentinel is painful though. I need to work on my flight maneuvers a little.

[Radical]

Whenever I dream, it's more like watching a fuzzy film of random thoughts with no sound. It is only when I wake up that I realise how ridiculous it was.

[Adam]

I would think (this is just a hypothesis, and one on a subjective matter, so it can't graduate to a theory) that it largely depends on how practiced a person is with visualization.

From what I've noticed with myself, is that the more that I meditate (I don't do mind-blanking meditations... they're very sensory filled) the clearer my dreams become. If I practice a visualization technique during the day, I'm quite likely to have a dream centered around another object, like my anima is practicing the same visualization technique. (There is an article on wikipedia on animas, but I preffer Jeff Lilly's explanation and story more, which is why I linked to his blog.)

It's something to try, no? At the very least, it could be an interesting 30 day experiment.

[yesyesyes]

I've been trying to have lucid dreams again and trying to start remembering my dreams again. Last night I did that WBTB lucid thing where you get up for 30mins after about 4/5 hours of sleep. I got into a state where I couldn't feel my body two times but I couldn't progress to astral projection or anything after that so I just went to sleep.

I remembered one of my first dreams I've had in awhile though about dishware UFO's. My dream wasn't very vivid though. The visual was probably so bad that it seems like the dream was auditory for me and I was just following along by imagining it--if that makes sense even though I seemed so freaked out by the flying dishware.

So I really have to work on remembering more dreams and making them clearer. How stupid can you be to miss a huge dream sign like flying dishware--my mind always makes it seem reasonable haha.

[Blueskied]

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

At least, it feels like 30 minutes worth of action.

How can you know that? Isn't the sense of time very twisted during a dream?
Some nights ago i had a dream in which i realized that i was dreaming. Ok, now the lucid dreaming should have started. But the dream was not really lucid, more like half-lucid. I was able to take action to a certain extent but then the dream took control over me again like in a normal dream and so on. Why did that happen?

[Erin Pavlina]

Like I said, it felt like 30 minutes worth of action. I don't know if it was really 6 minutes or 2 hours. Dont' really care while i'm in there, as long as I get to finish taking down the Juggernaut or a Sentinel or something.

[Jill]

I had a dream this morning where I remember noticing 2 letters really clearly. Almost as if I was looking at them through a telescope. I even said to myself, "wow, those letters are really clear."

I woke up soon after and later remembered it, but for the life of me I can't remember what the letters were. I keep wondering if they were significant somehow. Or maybe it's just the statement "those letters are really clear" that means something...hmmm

Regardless, I don't think this was a lucid dream, but I am finding that I'm starting to remember more of my dreams lately, mostly from reading about all this stuff on these forums!

[placebo]

Originally Posted by Adam

I would think (this is just a hypothesis, and one on a subjective matter, so it can't graduate to a theory) that it largely depends on how practiced a person is with visualization.

From what I've noticed with myself, is that the more that I meditate (I don't do mind-blanking meditations... they're very sensory filled) the clearer my dreams become. If I practice a visualization technique during the day, I'm quite likely to have a dream centered around another object, like my anima is practicing the same visualization technique. (There is an article on wikipedia on animas, but I preffer Jeff Lilly's explanation and story more, which is why I linked to his blog.)

It's something to try, no? At the very least, it could be an interesting 30 day experiment.

I agree. Actually, I started that yesterday and first night was full of dreams. And I can remember all of them. I was doing mind-blanking meditation. We'll se what's it gonna be in 30 days.

[Nelson]

I think it depends on your memory and your awareness.

While I STILL am yet to experience Lucid Dreams, I have extremely vivid dreams and excellent recall (I even draw what I've seen in my dreams with great clarity)

However, my dreams usually have an array of characters from my past and present and fantasy. Fantastic characters almost always have good detail because my mind is completely bringing them to life - therefore it has free reign to completely create the character withotu me realizing I'm dreaming.

With characters from my past, they will oftn be very blurry or missing pieces or even exactly the same as they were 10 years ago - which blends in with how I remember them - so I still do not become aware of the dream state.

I think your dream characters will probably remain blurred, low detail or incomplete until you allow your mind to create new details for them.

[Blueskied]

Is it true that one can not count or calculate during a (lucid) dream? Because only the right part of the brain is active while the left part (logic, analytic) stays passive?

[Erin Pavlina]

I can count and calculate and even read text without it changing on me, but it's very very difficult and it doesn't happen often

[songwriter]

In some thread about Leonardo Da Vinci quotes we're discussing one that states that he didn't understand why do you see more clearly things in dreams (not to mention lucid dreams) that in imagination when you're awake.