Have You Tried Lucid Dreaming? How Did It Go?

[LizardViolet]

Supporter here, my bf has nightmares and rarely has a good night's sleep.

I have been reading around about nightmare therapies. One that came up in a thread in this folder is called Critical Incident Debriefing (where you essentially rewrite a recurring nightmare to have a better ending, rehearse it while awake, and then it gets fixed in your dreaming life).

I also found quite a bit about Lucid Dreaming -- there is a lot of information at lucidity.com, the site for the Lucidity Institute, plus various other websites. Lucid dreaming is a method of taking control of your dreaming life by first getting into the habit of checking reality (am I awake or am I dreaming?) and then becoming able to check reality while dreaming, so you can recognize that you are in fact dreaming. And then, if you know you're dreaming, you slowly learn to take control of the dreaming experience. Has anyone tried that?

 

[timetorecover]

I have done a technique with my Trauma therapist. It was too heavy. I havd nightmares and felt awful fo days after. I do think it was beneficial now though.

It involved, basically first you look at the trauma and feel it, let it play like a movie. Get your SUDS up, get activated. Watch it close, like you are up front in the cinema.

Then play it again, sitting at the back of the cinema. Repeating the process.

Finally, taking part of yourself outside, watching the yourself watching the trauma movie.

It was soooooooooo weird. I recorded the session on my phone if interested! Have no idea how to download but could try....

 

[timetorecover]

Sorry, unrelated a bit to your original Thread!
:alien:

 

[Kimpersonal]

My nightmares are usually too short to lucid dream. The only times I have experienced lucid dreaming were the few occasions I took sleeping pills. I ended up stuck in a nightmare and felt like I would never wake up from it! It was a terrifying ordeal, but maybe had I learned skills to take control of the dream it could have been a benefit.

I'm going to do some of my own research on this ... it might be worth a shot if I can find a way to extend these short nightmares and then take control of them. Hmmmmm. Interesting.

 

[ashmodean]

You can organize your dreams here: dreams-share.com :)

 

[Jen93]

I HAVE tried lucid dreaming, but all that happens is that I get the nightmare/ flashback, but it's intentional I think, and I end up paralyzed and tears rolling down my cheeks, my eyes squeezed shut tight, and I whimper like a child as the flashback happens, and I forget to rewrite the ending. So much for lucid.

I try to practise it during relaxation/ meditation with calming music. Nope. Doesn't work. :cry: This is part of the reason I end up in the fetal position underneath my desk in my room, or in the closet at night. It's my own fault for trying to do the lucid dreaming thing. :unsure: It just doesn't work for me.

 

[Helliepig]

I don't know if it's the same but it's happened to me where I've sort of been in that half sleep before you fall asleep, neither awake nor asleep but sort of aware of both states... you get to watch your subconcious playing things out and often get some real insights, and you almost choose to stay there. It's really odd.

I've discussed this with T who says the part between awake and sleep, both going in and coming out, is the bit where the unconcious is most accessible, less defended. It is a fasctinating experience but very raw, I can imagine how painful it could get.

I'm sure if you could access it at will it would be really effective therapeutically (although maybe not in the early stages where raw unprocessed trauma is in there)..... Maybe it's the same kind of thing

 

[Jen93]

I don't know if it's the same but it's happened to me where I've sort of been in that half sleep before you fall asleep, neither awake nor asleep but sort of aware of both states... you get to watch your subconcious playing things out and often get some real insights, and you almost choose to stay there. It's really odd.

Exactly what I was trying to describe Helliepig! :D I wish I knew how to stop it. It's scary.

 

[Helliepig]

In an odd way I quite enjoy it because I'm at the point where I just want all the stuff sorted but when it used to happen prior to getting all the frightening surreal traumas out with EMDR it used to terrify me and make me jerk awake in a falling, convulsing, heart stopping way, so I understand where you're coming from.

I guess it means your brain is trying to deal with stuff so it's a sign of movement?? To be honest I had to go through a phase of taking sleeping tablets because I got so scared of the dreadful dreadful things I used to experience during the phase of things coming out. But it's 10000% better now. It is just a part of the healing as stuff that has been held seperately as unintergrated fragments starts to come out.

I'm really sorry you're going through that. I know how indescribably hellish it is. But it doesn't hurt you and if you can see it as a sign of progress, would that help??

 

[LizardViolet]

I think that not-sleep not-awake state is where you go during hypnosis. And my hypnotherapist tells me that when she works with people who have unresolved trauma, they only stay in that state a VERY short time, and never with their eyes closed. For exactly the reason you describe: it can be a gateway to the pits of hell.

 

[Barberian]

I can lucid dream usually when I want to. It takes a few days for me to turn it on or off, it's not a "ok, tonight I'm going to lucid dream (or not) type of thing". I have to work at it to get it going or to stop. Stopping is easier.

The reason I don't do it much any more is my reality when I'm awake comes into question too much. Was that memory a dream or reality? I find myself fact checking my memories too much. Also, I've had "memories" that I carried around with me for several days that were quite disturbing until they finaly fail a fact check that was triggered by accident. Also when I have nightmares they are even more "real" than normal and I find myself sitting in the directors chair all night fighting/guiding or redirecting my dreams all night long.

The above almost sounds like it's just a really "real" dream, but throughout the night when I lucid dream I do act as a director in the dream, I just go with the dream and move it around in my little fantasy world to amuse myself for the night. It doesn't require a whole lot of minipulations of the dreams unless I start to get sucked into a nightmare. My dreams are one of the only things I enjoy in life.

 

[claudineriddle]

Thanks for sharing information. I was also looking for some good information on the topic. If anyone could share something more on the topic it would be great.