Was i lucid or dreaming of lucidity?

Hey there so i been aware of lucid dreaming since maybe November but i haven't been religiously trying to do it. What i been doing because i don't want to do Rc's every day of my life is before I go to bed i tell my self a mantra. I say "I will lucid dream" and i make an understanding that I am going to bed therefore if I am anywhere besides waking up in the mourning I am dreaming. I also sometimes try to do wake back to beds but i only do it if i naturally wake up at a time I know I am in a rem cycle. Sadly i don't have much disipline in doing this and fall asleep(Something i am going to work on more now that I am getting into lucid dreaming more). Anyway last night i had a dream and i cant really tell if I was lucid or if I dreamed I was lucid.

The Dream

The dream starts off with me and a bunch of people i'm good and decent friends with are sitting around a table eating. Then afterwards we are walking down a path of a village. The village was that of like samurai era. Me and my group we come to this food stand were theres a bunch of samurai looking people cooking. It was almost like shogun because they were cooking extravagantly for us and doing crazy stuff while cooking. After there dishes were done they displayed them to us and we clapped for them. Then randomly we wanted to go fishing so i said hold on let me change my shoes. I looked down and put my hand out and just created my other pair of shoes like if i was a wizard. It was at this point i was like "Im dreaming". So the dream goes on and were in front of my friends house now and were waiting for something before we go fishing. My friend lives on a lagoon. So i say to my group of friends "watch this" I grab a small fishing pole and stare at it and concentrate into making a huge fishing pole. After i make it into giant fishing pole i cast it and it just goes for flying far far away. Thats when one of my friends say "Now thats cool!" and i wake up.


I think i was just dreaming i was lucid because i didn't really feel like i was consciously there. I never lucid dreamed before because i am just taking it slow and not trying very hard to achieve it (I just recently this week decided i am going to actually practice and start trying to do it). So i am not sure how you feel when you realize your lucid dreaming should i have been able to full think as if i i was awake but just sleeping? This was my first dream were i actually conjured things up.

Anyway this site is great I been a long time reader i just don't post much. Does anyone have advice on how to get better at Dream induced lucid dreams without Rc's? I am now going tostart trying to Wbtb more seriously when i wake up in a rem cycle. Cheers and happy luciding =)

I belive the definition of lucid dreaming is being aware that you are dreaming. So technically when saying to yourself "this is a dream" - you've had a LD. However how aware you are in a LD can vary. Sometimes the awarenes of Yourself and your sorroundings are just incredible and through the roof - other times you can hardly maintain lucidity and everything is blurry. i have experienced myself thinking as rational as i am right now in a dream, and other times i cant collect my thoughts and go all instinctive.

Im going to work on stabilizing the dream and bringing more awareness into it. I belive you should be doing the same. Look at your hands, rub them, look at your dreambody look at your sourroundings, touch something. Perhaps say "awareness now!" dont know if this last thing works in lucids, but it is said to be working in out of body experiences.

Good luck with your quest for lucidity. I think you should make your mind for it and go all in. The initial excitement and energy you put into rc'ing all day long - is a good way to go lucid to begin with. MILD takes longer to learn, but if you start of with doing RCs daytime and MILD when going to bed and in the night, you should start seeing results soon.
Remember to do a dream journal as well... sounds like hard work, but when in the swing of things you can cut down on RCs and the dreamjournal. You dont have to RC the rest of your life if you get the Mild going.

First I was gonna say that you had a regular dream with some control. But then you said 'I'm dreaming' - and that makes it a LUCID dream. It was a DILD - since it started as a regular dream, in which you realized you are dreaming. Congrats!

Everything TJuulsgaard says is good advice. I would just suggest you change your mantra to be in present tense, not future. If you say "I will lucid dream' - your mind interprets it as anytime in the future, just not now. So 'I lucid dream' is better. My favorite mantra that works well is 'Next time I'm dreaming, I look at my hands and realize I'm dreaming'. I say this while looking at my hands - palms.

Mantras, RCs and daytime awareness make MILD technique VERY effective. Also, your mantra should be the last thing you do before acctually falling asleep.

Good luck!

Yes, you were lucid but only just, it sounds like. You were somewhat aware but not fully rational. I have experienced 3 levels myself, although some claim there are 6. That said, 90 percent of mine are fully rational and you feel 'there'. Before RCs and actually trying I had 2 or 3 semi-lucid dreams and did like you, controlling environment a bit, but it still was dream-like. But if you do an RC in the dream, and it wakes your brain a little more. But the very best are when you actually think you are in real time, but by training you decide to do an RC 'just to stay in practice' and then say 'holy .....' I'm DREAMING! Those times for me make it all worthwhile and you are then THERE, fully present in a different reality.

Thanks guys for all the really good feedback. Gab I am definitely going to take your advice on mantras and your hand mantra. After further thinking about it Rothgar i think your a 100% correct with my dream I was aware but not fully rational. I can't wait to LD and be fully aware of everything it only makes me want to LD more =).

Good luck - just wait til you get that WHOOOOSH-feeling, and go WAUW!!! Cant really explain it better...
Everybody who's tried that is going to be hooked on LDs.