Comment by tluyben2 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by tluyben2 | Hacker News Reader

I practiced lucid dreaming intensely when I was 18 for over a year and it has been automatic since (it is over 25 years later); I would not miss it for the world. It's like a strong hallucinogenic drug but without the side effects (aka recovery is instant when I wake up). I like doing the things you would think that are great; flying around, getting shot without being hurt (I did it 1000s of times and still find it interesting when the bullet goes in but it doesn't hurt; very strange feelings as my brain signals imminent and possibly lethal damage), fighting with robots, having sex and so on. And everything (well, for as far as I know that is; many things I dream I have never experienced, but it my brain at least thinks they would feel like that) feels like the real thing. Also in real life I have fear of heights; in my dreams I like to fly as high as I can and then swoop down over the lands (which are often rain forests with maya temples for some reason).

I do solve programming problems in those dreams, at least I think so; I wake up with a clear path to attacking those problems I went to sleep with and I do have lucid dreams where I am discussing those issues with someone. Always someone who I 'feel' I know, but who looks very different than they do in real life. I definitely would find going to sleep a lot more boring without these dreams. Advantage I find as well (I am not sure if everyone has this, but the book I learned lucid dreaming from says it's one of the side effects) is that I remember all my dreams.

I have long been curious about the following; since I have been wearing wristbands like the Fitto, which measures sleep, I notice something which could be related (or Fitto etc sleep measurement is just bullshit; I had it with multiple brands though); compared to everyone I know, I spend far more time in REM and deep sleep; far more than my comparable age group. I spend, comparatively, very little time in light or awake state every night. Wonder how this is for other lucid dreamers.

Had a similar experience - started as a teenager and now it's automatic. Also dreams are becoming more abstract, more visceral, and more epic as I age.

Sometimes wish I could turn it off, though - it can be exhausting. I'd like sleep to be more restful by default but have a way to choose to have a lucid dream if desired.

> but the book I learned lucid dreaming from

I was going to ask you how you learned and practiced lucid dreaming. What book was that?

This requires a bit of backstory; I grew up in a very small village with a very small library. The village as a whole was very religious and most books in the library were screened by bible thumbing community members. I had ‘internet’ of sorts through BBS systems which gatewayed to international gopher, ftp and other systems but books were books. One of the books that slipped through the cracks was a outer body experience book. I am an atheist; always was while raised christian; I always asked the questions I was not allowed to ask and I never found anything in religion remotely believable even though everyone around me (without exception) was devout. I do not believe in outer body experience but it was something else to read for a change. So I read it and it contained a training for doing OBE, which is, in fact, lucid dreaming. And I can see how someone can see lucid dreaming for OBE or even signs of god and an afterlife. It is pretty convincing. I have spoken to dead people, next to my bed. I remember the conversations. I have met and talked to people I have never met and so forth. I have seen angels (as our earthly brain would imagine them; lot of light and very friendly). But these were all dreams and we all dream like that: most people just forget what they dream. This book gave me the training to do this at will and even change my dreams significantly.

The all fail the tests that come later in the same book (I will try to find it); the book trains you to fall through your bedroom floor and check the table in your own house for something. Then to prove it is OBE, someone puts something there, like an ace of spades and the next day you tell what it was. Cool so ofcourse I tried this; I fell through my bed, through the floor (which was made of wood which it was not) and floated over the livingroom table, saw a big white paper with a square. Told my sister this: there was no square, there was an ace of spades. It was, ofcourse, a dream but I was far more amazed I could get my brain so far as to do what I set out to do: create a dream in which I do what I wanted before I went to sleep. That I can no longer do at will; that required a lot of training.

Can you recommend any guide how to learn lucid dreaming?

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