Newbie but self-taught, level unknown

**Kayjee** · 10-21-2007 03:45 AM

I had terrible nightmares as a child (diagnosed as night-terrors after I was an adult, a little too late

). Once I became a teenager, in self defense I began to teach myself to control my dreams. I began by telling myself every night before falling asleep that these were MY dreams and I could decide what happened in them. It took a while, but I finally was in the middle of a nightmare and managed to tell myself that it was my dream and I didn't want to have this dream anymore. At that point my dream experiences finally began to change for the positive! Now, at 42, I can do the following: change a dream in the middle if it is emotionally upsetting, continue a positive dream after being awakened by concentrating on it before going back to sleep, and choose what to dream by meditating on it before I go to sleep. Lately, I've started to feel like occasionally I'm either leaving my body during dreaming and travelling somewhere else OR having exceptionally clear dreams. Also, two or three times a week, I have a musical dream - ones with clear and complete songs in them, many of which I don't ever remember hearing before. So, does anyone have any idea what kind of "level" of lucid dreamer I am? I'd really appreciate any input, thanks.

**Sugarglider11** · 10-21-2007 03:49 AM

welcome to dreamviews

well, you seem to be an ok lucid dreamer, but you probably need to work on dream control. You should be able to easily be able to improve, one question though, how often do you have lucid dreams?

edit: woot, 500 Posts

**Clairity** · 10-21-2007 03:52 AM

Originally Posted by Kayjee

So, does anyone have any idea what kind of "level" of lucid dreamer I am? I'd really appreciate any input, thanks.

I don't know what "level" of lucid dreamer you are.. but you certainly are a gifted one.

It would be great if you started a dream journal (http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...splay.php?f=26).

Welcome to Dream Views and I look forward to reading more about your experiences!

**peppy** · 10-21-2007 03:55 AM

Hello,

to Dreamviews. I think it looks like your going pretty well with lucid dreaming.

**Vex Kitten** · 10-21-2007 04:08 AM

Welcome to Dream Views.

You sound like you're quite the dreamer. I don't know about rating you, I wouldn't even know what to rate myself as a lucid dreamer.

You should give the lucid tasks a try to help hone your dream control. THere is a basic and advanced task, a new set every month. Here's a link to the October task, http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ad.php?t=44482. It's always fun to read the variety of dreams that spawn from the same topic.

**Kayjee** · 10-21-2007 04:53 AM

I probably have lucid dreams about once a week. I haven't tried to expand the amount of times I have them because, as a writer, I get some inspiration from the dreams I just "let happen". The dream journal sounds like a good idea. I do have one lucid dream that I remember very clearly, so I guess I'll start with that. Thanks for the replies!

**Sugarglider11** · 10-21-2007 02:02 PM

If you dont remember your dreams often you should write a dream journal, you will be able to have more lucid dreams, and you will remember more regular dreams, so its win win.

**Lord Toaster** · 10-21-2007 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by Kayjee

I haven't tried to expand the amount of times I have them because, as a writer, I get some inspiration from the dreams I just "let happen".

Remember that you can still get very good inspiration from Lucid Dreams, since you can fixate the dream on whatever area you need inspiration in. Especially if you have a problem in a novel or story that you're writing, you can call up a box with the solution in, or watch a film which you know will show you the answer to your problem.

Also, just because you are lucid, doesn't mean that unexpected things don't happen. Even when you are completely in control, you still find strange things turning up.

Anyway, good luck developing your lucid ability, and welcome to Dreamviews

**Kayjee** · 10-22-2007 06:20 AM

I did go over to the dream journal thread and started one, but I'm not sure how you go about putting a link to your dream journal into a post. Anyways, I thought about what you said about inspiration in lucid dreaming, and I think I'm going to try meditating on the characters from my writing before I go to sleep. Maybe something interesting will happen.

I'll check it and let you know what happens later.

**Redrivertears** · 10-22-2007 05:31 PM

Hey there,

Welcome aboard!

A little thing about this 'supposed level' that you're asking for.

Why don't you tell us? What do you consider your level of 'lucid dreaming'? Something that you compare to others? What for?

Far as I know, dreaming and lucid dreaming is an entirely individual and subjective thing. What possible difference does it make that you're a five, Bob is a seven and Ann is a three? Instead, measure your own level for yourself. Ask yourself, what do I want out of my dreams and my lucid dreams, and then see how far you are along to achieving those things. Not only will it give you a far more useful 'level' of lucid dreaming, but it will also give you a clear view of how your nights are evolving.

I think you'll get far more satisfaction and interesting comparisons out of that, then to try to slap some outside and irrelevant 'level' tag on your dreams.

So you tell us? What level are you?

Just my 2 cents,

-Redrivertears-

**Kayjee** · 10-24-2007 09:23 AM

Thanks Redrivertears for your post. I hadn't thought of deciding my own level in relation to where I want to go, so that gives me something to think about. I guess I would be a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10 for what I want to achieve. I laid the groundwork when I was able to stop my night terrors while I was dreaming by telling myself that it was MY dream and I didn't want to dream that. I've traveled a little further down the path by being having a little success on meditating about what I want to dream about and having it happen. I've also had some very enjoyable "serial" dreams where I've been able to remember what I was dreaming about and go back into that dream if I got back to sleep within a short period of time. So, I'm still a student on the pathway with a ways to go to achieve the things I want to. Only time will tell how well this works!

Here is a link to my dream journal in case anyone wants to check it out: http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ad.php?t=45529