Trying to explain lucid dreaming to somebody

[mylucidworld]

I don't know if i am the only one but i find it very difficult to describe lucid dreaming to people. It is really frustrating because people mock it like it is some sort of weird hobby or something so then you explain it and they think they understand but really they don't! I have been trying to explain it to my mother but i gave up. Then recently i decide i was going to make her understand what lucid dreas are all about so i showed her a film called Lucid which was good i thought and after about an hour of explaining after the film she now finally understands what it's all about. So does anyone else find it difficult to describe to people?

[innerspacecadet]

I don't. I rarely do explain it to people, and when I do, if I say, "it's when you know you're dreaming," that seems good enough. Heck, some people have even heard of it!

[ExoByte]

I agree in that its difficult. Often times it just comes out weird and I know people are looking at it like a New Age ideal. Frankly I think its because of the name, just the way its put forward it seems to be "that kind" of name to fit in with New Age ideals. There are some people who understand it and I can talk about it with, but other than that I just don't care too much to explain it to people. Not worth my time. I've been mocked because of explaining the meaning of word "Oneironaut." It comes to the point where I just get sick of trying. Even with those who believe it and understand it, I still get funny looks from sometimes. I'm not surprised though, New Age ideals are on the rise big time right now and a lot of people are very skeptical. Just the name "Lucid Dreaming" sounds like it would fit in with those ideals, so its not surprising all too much. Enh, I just leave it be now. People don't want to care, their loss. They get interested, Great! One less ignorant person in the world, well, at least to the Lucid Dreaming world.

[AmazeO XD]

Just spent 30 minutes explaining it to my friend, Max. He said it sounds really cool and he's gonna try. I told him to just start writing down his dreams as soon as he wakes up, and that will improve his memory. So... I'm kind of guiding him. Basically, when I explain it, I say it like this. "Lucid dreaming is a state of dreaming. Like... imagine if you were dreaming, and then all of a sudden you realized you were dreaming, and you could change whatever you wanted in the dream." I've never had anyone mock it.

[Funnel]

Holy shit, Oneironaut is a real word? I just thought that was some made up word by oneironaut. I don't explain it to a lot of people, but I do feel it is too associated with new age when it is very different.

[Hobbles]

I told my brother he understood it quickly. I think understanding it would have a few reasons of the following. Probably depends on age (my mom would be harder do to having dreams that just happen not dreams she controls or becomes aware the younger excepting something new comes easier such as an instrument) vs. personality (if a person is hot headed or so on and believes in it not being true then chances are it wont get though example my step dad or grampa or if a snobby popular person example a celebrity they probably wouldnt even care and may make fun of you....) vs. culture (if some lives in an area were people don't know what a dream is in the first place then you would have to explain a dream which would be a task which would think would fail). This is just my opinion have not told my mom, step dad, or me grampa my brother did and we are both trying at it now.

[Hazel]

if I say, "it's when you know you're dreaming," that seems good enough. That's exactly the way I describe it!

[CheshireMischief]

Revision: "It's when you know your dreaming and you take control." Thats usually how I put it. But yes, I get funny looks and skepticism all of the time, even fear for some people which I totally don't understand. Thats why I love these forums so much, there are so many people that actually know what I'm talking about and can relate. It seems that the internet alone has been the sole tool for all of us to come together like this. Does anyone think it was possible to get this many lucid dreamers together without the internet? I think not.

[bro]

Usually you cn tell if someone is going to take kindly to it or not...My bro I had some luck with and although he's not proficient at all, we regularly discuss dream topics. It's a shame most of us have gotten lots of nagative reactions and labels to go along with interest in dreams and lucid dreaming but eh, people are close-minded...Enjoy it yourself, we know it's something to behold. Amazeo, good job with your friend Max..hope you can recruit some more

[Oneironaut Zero]

Holy shit, Oneironaut is a real word? I just thought that was some made up word by oneironaut. Hehehe.

[ExoByte]

Yup! Its a real word. Think of it like Cosmonaut, Astronaut, Psychonaut. Oneironaut means "Explorer of the Dream World." Theres even a medical practice called Oneirology which focuses on the study of sleep and dreams.

[Naturally Lucid]

I wouldn't try - they only ridicule you - like family member "u really must be dreaming" - unless they ask you, I'd keep it to my self. A bad example would be a vegetarian - explaining it to everyone when ever they ate when they never ask. Like explaining LDs to people before they sleep, when they didn't ask. They sort of get annoyed... Plus, these people aren't really awake anyways, other wise they'd be able to LD... they won't understand you for the most part... I think some of my family members (catholic) think/believe it's 'evil' - ja - who would have thought! !

[Funnel]

I almost like how many people don't understand/know about LD. It makes me feel special

[jereb]

I almost like how many people don't understand/know about LD. It makes me feel special I can relate, it makes me realize that I can do something that most other people don't know how to do/won't take the time to understand how to do/call me crazy for attempting such a ridiculous thing. I'm Special!!!!!!!

[james-25:22pm]

I think over and over and over again....how all the people I've explained it to have just passed it off. I just don't get how it is not one of the coolest things you could ever do. EVER! But in trying to explain it...you risk making it sound ridiculous...or risk making it sound boring. "knowing when you are dreaming and controlling it"....just sounds dull. "your ticket to a fantasy world in which anything you can imagine you can experience in clarity comparable and even sometimes exceeding real life!" .....*person nods politely and walks away"

[mylucidworld]

I think over and over and over again....how all the people I've explained it to have just passed it off. I just don't get how it is not one of the coolest things you could ever do. EVER! But in trying to explain it...you risk making it sound ridiculous...or risk making it sound boring. "knowing when you are dreaming and controlling it"....just sounds dull. "your ticket to a fantasy world in which anything you can imagine you can experience in clarity comparable and even sometimes exceeding real life!" .....*person nods politely and walks away" If everybody understood lucid dreaming it would probably be one of the most popular things ever. If only there were someway to make everybody understand it.

[Azarus]

If only there were someway to make everybody understand it. Don't think so. Peoples are lazy. And LDng is not easy skill. Many will try for week or month ang quit. For most peoples drugs, like LSD and etc. - just simpler choice. They just have no guts for this. And you know what? It's great! Cos only thouse who try hard can gain many LDs. And it makes LDs - valuable. Not just another game for all who ready to tip 99.9$ and get it hot and ready, if you get what I mean.

[Somnum]

Sometimes its difficult because people, for some reason, hate talking about their dreams, and take them as stupid unimportant things, and are embarassed by them. Its really a shame.

[Sticktator]

I have a friend who I think would be really interested in lucid dreaming, as he comes from a large poor family and has almost no methods of entertainment. He's extremely intelligent and really talented. I want to explain it to him but I don't know how without sounding stupid. I could really influence his life if I introduce him to this. Buf if I do it wrong... It's a lot different to how it sounds. But it's important to me.

[wisp]

Good subject, and good posts. According with the terms i use, in a dream you have 4 options: Lucidity Control None Both LDs don't imply control. I think they just imply knowing you're dreaming. But control and experiences are all we want, right? So we can promote LDs saying they open a door for those. Explaining LDs is easy. Explaining what it may be achieved by them, or the experiences they can carry is a little difficult though.

[Clairity]

I have a friend who I think would be really interested in lucid dreaming, as he comes from a large poor family and has almost no methods of entertainment. He's extremely intelligent and really talented. I want to explain it to him but I don't know how without sounding stupid. I could really influence his life if I introduce him to this. Buf if I do it wrong... It's a lot different to how it sounds. But it's important to me. Has your friend ever watched the Star Trek series as I have used it to help explain LDing. In describing what LDing is to others, I will ask if they have ever seen Star Trek. If they answer "yes", I'll ask if they ever wished they could visit the "Holodeck" and go anywhere and do anything that their minds could conceive of. If so, then that's why I lucid dream.. it's like having my own personal Holodeck that I access via my dreams.

[Sticktator]

Has your friend ever watched the Star Trek series as I have used it to help explain LDing. In describing what LDing is to others, I will ask if they have ever seen Star Trek. If they answer "yes", I'll ask if they ever wished they could visit the "Holodeck" and go anywhere and do anything that their minds could conceive of. If so, then that's why I lucid dream.. it's like having my own personal Holodeck that I access via my dreams. That's a really good idea. Thanks.

[Clairity]

That's a really good idea. Thanks. You're so very welcome!

[lucy]

I think a lot of people confuse dream control with lucidity. As far as I can see it, they're two different things. It's possible to control a dream without being lucid. A lot of people I explain lucid dreaming to say they've experienced it too, but when I probe further it usually turns out to be either non-lucid dream control or what I would call a 'pre-lucid' dream, the state of questioning reality that you get before you actually become fully lucid. I think most people who experience these things think that's the extent of lucid-dreaming. When I've explained to people that this is not in fact lucid-dreaming, but the precursor to it, and that lucid-dreaming is a skill that can be trained and improved, I'm usually met with surprise and curiousity. I've never met a completely negative or derisory attitude to it, but I think often I fall short of explaining it properly. For example: I had a wonderful lucid dream where I turned into a mermaid (great fun, because I can't actually swim in real life). Trying to explain this to a non-LDer is difficult, because they will think you mean that you simply dreamt you were a mermaid. It would be closer to say that during that experience you actually were a mermaid, as far as your conscious mind is concerned, because the experience happened when you were fully conscious. To put it another way (this is hard to explain) when you start thinking about objective reality, it really is actually all inside your brain. You don't see things or hear things, your brain receives light waves or sound waves and then your brain interprets them in a certain way. A dream is simply an image of reality without any external input. So if you're conscious of yourself in a dream, I would argue that you are actually in another reality which is distinguishable from everyday reality but every bit as concrete as far as your brain is concerned. You can think of lucid-dreaming as being a way of entering a parallel dimension that exists inside your mind. That probably makes absolutely no sense, but is the only way I can come close to explaining what lucid dreaming is, to me.

[Diggadog]

"Lucid Dreaming is where you are sleeping and dreaming, you then realize you are dreaming so you can do whatever the hell you want and it won't affect you. Like you see that car that you like over there, go steal it." Haha.