questions

i have some questions on lucid dreaming… i just became interested recently.

first, just how real is lucid dreaming? is it actually so real that you have to do reality checks to tell whether or not you’re dreaming?

second, if you can lucid dream certain things, doesn’t that take away the desire to try them in real life? for instance, if you hadn’t had sex with your girlfriend yet, and you had a lucid dream about it, wouldn’t that make the first time you had sex not as interesting? just a thought

third, is there a possibility you can become addicted in one way or another? i think that if i could do anything in my sleep and almost nothing while awake, i would sleep more than normal and constantly look forward to going to sleep

and fourth, do you ever feel guilty about things you do in your dreams? like sex with a woman when you’re devoted to someone else…

any answers are appreciated

Firstly Lucid dreaming can be extremely real and vivid or dull and boring.
The only thing lucid dreaming refers to is knowing that you are dreaming in your dreams. Which brings me to answering the next question- you don’t have to do reality checks in lucid dreams to know you’re dreaming because if you are lucid then you already know you’re dreaming.

Secondly it doesn’t take away the desire to do them in real life because in dreams you’re subconscious is controlling everything. So in real life the experience may be totally different.

Third- well i do look forward to going to sleep, but i don’t really need to sleep longer unless i have time to try a ld technique.

and fourth i have never done anything in my lucid dreams that i would feel guilty about.

This is from my personal experience.

  1. even when its very real, your environment has inconsistancies.

  2. It hasn’t for me, but I guess its possible

  3. I doubt you could ever get addicted to it. Even if you did, in order to have a psychological dependancy on it, you would probably have to be in tremendous stress, and stress stops LD’s from occuring.

  4. You only feel guilty if you do something really bad to someone in a dream, but the moment you wake up its gone.

Aerial asked: Just how real is lucid dreaming? is it actually so real that you have to do reality checks to tell whether or not you’re dreaming?

Once you realize that you are lucid, reality checks are not necessary unless you think you are experiencing a “false awakening” (you think you’ve woken up but are really still asleep). If you are asking if lucid dreaming feels “real”… the answer is yes. In fact, in my experience, they seem ULTRA real… colors are brighter, textures are sharper, etc.

Aerial asked: If you can lucid dream certain things, doesn’t that take away the desire to try them in real life? for instance, if you hadn’t had sex with your girlfriend yet, and you had a lucid dream about it, wouldn’t that make the first time you had sex not as interesting? just a thought.

No, I haven’t found that to be the case. I do enjoy sex in lucid dreams… sex feels very real and is pleasurable but it is still “dream” sex.

Lucid dreams can help you experience things that you may not or should not experience in real life. For example, if you want to take out your aggressions, lucid dreaming is a perfect way to do that… (see the post about “violence”).

Aerial asked: Is there a possibility you can become addicted in one way or another? i think that if i could do anything in my sleep and almost nothing while awake, i would sleep more than normal and constantly look forward to going to sleep?

In my opinion (I’m not a doctor), unless you have an “addictive” personality, I wouldn’t think that LDing would be addictive. I will say that I DO look forward to sleep on those days when I will try for a LD in much the same way that one would look forward to any activity that they enjoy (i.e., hobby, vacation, etc.).

Aerial asked: Do you ever feel guilty about things you do in your dreams? like sex with a woman when you’re devoted to someone else…

Nope… it’s only a dream… :smile: