Dreaming, Sleep, and not needing an alarm clock.

[Krazyskooter]

So, For the last 10 years or so I've noticed that around 70% of the time I dream, I am aware of being in a dream and can control things to a degree. Some times it's hard to do what I want, and other times it's a simple as thinking it. I was wondering how common that is and if anyone would share their experience with it.

Also, because of this, I don't think I'm actually getting a good nights rest. I wake up about twice a night and Its rare that I wake up feeling refreshed.

The other thing I think is pretty weird is the fact that I can tell myself I have to wake up at say 6:35 a.m. and I will wake up at whatever time I told myself with near perfect precision. Does anyone else out there not have to use an alarm clock because of this? I would really like to know how my brain knows what time it is without me having to look at the clock.

Personal stories are welcome, just tell me what you all think. Thanks.

 

[Jotto999]

A few times I've had dreams where I knew I was dreaming and just grabbed the whole thing by the balls. Once I was in a sunny field, then turned around knowing a tall apartment building would be behind me, in the field. I eagerly raced to the top in an elevator, then jumped off the top of the roof. It was exactly like jumping off something high in Super Mario 64, except I didn't have to do a butt-slam at the last second to avoid damage, I just hit the ground and stood up again, knowing I was dreaming, and so abusing the fact that I was invincible I tried to get back to the top and do it again but I woke up.

I've also jumped out of airplanes in dreams, but not as a fearful falling dream, rather out of excitement, knowing I could hit the ground and be fine. I've wanted to try skydiving for a while now, that might be it.

I get lots of Omega-3 in my diet, so my dreams tend to be in high detail, easy to recall, and all that.

 

[Krazyskooter]

I usually try flying in my dreams. Some times it works, other times it's like I have a chain holding me back. I've also had dreams that were completely in french, I understood everything and I don't speak french. I think that one is me imagining what french sounds like and then applying my own meaning to the words,

 

[Jotto999]

I usually try flying in my dreams. Some times it works, other times it's like I have a chain holding me back. I've also had dreams that were completely in french, I understood everything and I don't speak french. I think that one is me imagining what french sounds like and then applying my own meaning to the words,

That's interesting, I've had dreams where people speak to me in English, I understand what they said perfectly, but in hindsight the actual words were kind of a garbled mess, it just sounded proper during the dream. Hell, I've reacted to people in dreams sometimes when I'm not actually sure they even said a damn word, I just knew what they were thinking by default, for a very simple reason.

 

[Andiferous]

i hope this isn't too long. I've been lucid dreaming a while too (though it tends to take practice to keep it up at times) and at this point I am always aware on some level that I am in a dream.

I started lucid dreaming at five years old. It was such a big thing for me that I still remember images in detail. It was black and white like the really old sitcom, a kind of creepy antique feel. I can still see the dream in my head, really.

I was a castaway on Giligan's Island and Evil Zombie Skipper emerged. He chased use all over the island, and managed convert the Professor into evil Zombie drone professor who was a bit like Skipper's Egor. He had an devilish power of touch that could zap away our souls and make us walking rotting flesh. I still remember the dream vividly, and remember him issuing a kind of cliche evil cackle (hilarious now really). He had me cornered and I didn't know what to do. He told me if he touched me I would lose my soul and my body would start rotting and falling apart just like him! At first I was terrified, and he drew the drama out as long as possible to maximise my terror. But then I had a spontaneous moment. I said "Okay. Fine, kill me. I double dare you! I don't care if you touch me! You can't hurt ME!" and other such five year old taunting. I think really that I didn't follow the typical nightmare script, and I had confounded myself, and in a way created a lasting dream "me" persona with superhero powers and would always be around if I needed her.

So slowly and with drama, the evil zombie skipper touched me with a forefinger briefly. We waited and nothing happened. And then I made a cackle of my own and taunted him endlessly.I made sure to let him know that I was impenetrable and immune from the zombie disease, I was a superhero, and I could make myself into anything I wanted. I just remember laughing a lot. He kept trying to touch me over and over again, growing more and more frustrated, till he "ARGHED" and left in cliche defeated villan anger, and I woke up. And I've really never forgot that epiphany. I sometimes even remember that dream whileI am dreaming.And that persona is still in there somewhere when I'm asleep.

I could write a half a book on stuff after that.

 

[Krazyskooter]

I've had dreams that would make the most awesome movies. they would literally melt the audiences faces, except for the fact that when I wake up, all I can think about was damn that would have made an awesome zombie movie...then I forget all the details.

 

[Andiferous]

I usually try flying in my dreams. Some times it works, other times it's like I have a chain holding me back. I've also had dreams that were completely in french, I understood everything and I don't speak french. I think that one is me imagining what french sounds like and then applying my own meaning to the words,

That's interesting, I've had dreams where people speak to me in English, I understand what they said perfectly, but in hindsight the actual words were kind of a garbled mess, it just sounded proper during the dream. Hell, I've reacted to people in dreams sometimes when I'm not actually sure they even said a damn word, I just knew what they were thinking by default, for a very simple reason.

I notice that too. I have a lot of theory on that, and have tested on some levels, but it's really kinda big and complex and rather daunting.

It's not possible to remember or read symbols or numbers or sequences. You can make up that you did, though. I get super annoyed trying to dial phone numbers. That's like my 'I can't find the bathroom' dream hehe.

I became very aware of the whole process much of the time, and I usually dream every night at least once. I have ideas on what is happening and when I test them, they seem to work. Iff you have nightmares I may have tips for control...

 

[Krazyskooter]

Lol, Me and Freddy Kruger are best friends in my nightmares. we play poker with Jason and Hannibal Lecter. We have Pennywise the clown over to make balloon animals for us. I haven't had problems with Nightmares since I was kid. I do suddenly wake up from my dreams for no reason from time to time like I had a nightmare but it would be something stupid that triggers it. Like seeing a squirrel or a bird.

 

[Andiferous]

Lol, Me and Freddy Kruger are best friends in my nightmares. we play poker with Jason and Hannibal Lecter. We have Pennywise the clown over to make balloon animals for us. I haven't had problems with Nightmares since I was kid. I do suddenly wake up from my dreams for no reason from time to time like I had a nightmare but it would be something stupid that triggers it. Like seeing a squirrel or a bird.

I wonder if it is a certain type of thinking process that makes things happen by association...

And me too. I don't think I remember a time when I was not getting nightmares as a kid. I had nightmares or night terrors nightly and often woke up screaming or crying. I was terrified of sleeping.

After I started lucid dreaming I had another six years of nightmares and gradually figured out the best ways to make them go away. At that point I stopped having nightmares...

Maybe that kind of thing gives people a bit more urgency and motivation to lucid dream.

 

[Master_Ghost_Knight]

A few times I've had dreams where I knew I was dreaming and just grabbed the whole thing by the balls. Once I was in a sunny field, then turned around knowing a tall apartment building would be behind me, in the field. I eagerly raced to the top in an elevator, then jumped off the top of the roof. It was exactly like jumping off something high in Super Mario 64, except I didn't have to do a butt-slam at the last second to avoid damage, I just hit the ground and stood up again, knowing I was dreaming, and so abusing the fact that I was invincible I tried to get back to the top and do it again but I woke up.

Pfft!! Why didn't you just fly up there? That is what I used to do. Particularly in the past years I have been unable to dream at all, when I go to sleep I'm out! my consciousness is dead only to comeback to life in the next morning. It has also acureds to me very often to wakeup on the time I need to (with a certain degree of imprecision) but generaly if I had a satisfactory sleep time (even if not optimal). I think this is due to the fact that the brain is not totaly unaware when you are sleeping and from time to time it makes me look at the clock (projected in the cieling, yeah I have one of those) to see what time it is and I only realise it when "darn it is that time now! I have to get up! YAWN!... what the? did the alarm clock go of?".
The strangest thing tough is that it doesn't allways work as expected, sometimes I wakeup late for classes even tough I'm perfectly sure that the alarm clock was set, I have to rush to get ready, race back to uni completly convinced that I was late only to find out that I'm more then on time for the next class because the one that I was supoused to have did happen at all and I supousedly knew that a couple of weeks in advance but I have forgoten since. In fact something similar happened to me today but not because there was no class but because there was a subway jam and I would never get there on time anyways, but I could have never known that there supoused to be a subway jam today (since it was unexpected) so I guess I'm psychic :shock: (that or I was just simply late because I didn't get a good night sleep).
It is particularly strange how the brain works when you are sleeping, I very often crack my head for hours during the day trying to solve a problem not being able to achieve, only to figure it out the next morning that I already know the answer. And one time I even found out while sleeping that one of my collegues was commiting plagearism on his experimental report (and after some research, fucking hell I was right!).
I guess the brain is prety much active while you are a sleep even tough your are knocked uncounscios, and I wold be very interested to know how what really happens because my life would be much easier if I could reproduce the results that I can achieve while sleeping when I am awake.

 

[quantumfireball2099]

Interesting side note; I do not dream often (that I remember). Most dreams that I do remember make no sense what-so-ever and the longer I wait to tell someone about it, the more and more I forget the details.

On the other hand, my wife has very lucid dreams. For a while we were going through hard financial times and she told me she kept having dreams where her teeth would fall out. She googled it after a couple weeks and found that this particular dream, or characteristic of the dream, does happen to those who worry about finances often. Thoughts?

EDIT: Grammar nonsense.

 

[Shaedys]

I don't really get any dreams, at least not in the last while that I can remember, but I can wake up on time if I set my mind to it.
I used to have nightmares very rarely, but now I don't have those either.
Never really had lucid dreaming, but when I was little I would dream something and then awhile later I could swear that the exact same thing happened.
Funny how the brain works.

 

[wolfrayet]

I used work in neurophysiology, part of the job was recording sleep studies by means of EEG (Electroencephalography) amongst other electrodes, but the interesting part was analysing the Sleep Profile of the patient the following morning.

Here's a simple overview -

We typically (normals) in a 7-8 hours sleep reach different stages of sleep:

Stage 1 & 2 (typically higher frequency/lower amplitude EEG signals)
Stage 3 & 4 (lower frequency/higher amplitude signals)
REM (Rapid Eye Movement)

Typical Sleep Profile

Interestingly most of us reach deep sleep (Stage 4) within the first 30 minutes of falling asleep & this is generally the most prolonged period, followed by another one or two shorter periods of deep sleep becoming less & less as the night progresses (this is the stage when the body - muscle/tissue etc... 'repairs' itself)

Stages 1 & 2 fall in between these deeper stages & become more prevalent towards the end as one nears wake.

REM stages generally start later in the sleep cycle (indicated as the red areas in the above profile) this of course is known as the dream stage, however, it's generally thought that dreams which are remembered occur in the last few moments of the last REM period (in some cases minutes before we wake up.

REM is the part where the brain 'sorts itself out' & is a really interesting & an important component to getting a good nights sleep & for feeling on top form when you wake up. For example, when in REM your brain immobilises your body so you don't act out your dreams - those unlucky people who suffer from particular REM behaviour disorders miss this & physically act out there dreams - this is also incredible to see!

With the 24hour lifestyle that most live today, sleep deprivation is becoming huge & triggers many other health issues.

Dreaming is still one of those things that we still don't understand the how's & why's.

 

[Jotto999]

Pfft!! Why didn't you just fly up there?.

My flying dreams, and "I'm indestructible! Let's fall off a cliff!" type dreams are very different. In the first, I'd just take off, drifting over the hilly landscape. The indestructible ones are just, like, fuck yeah I can't die right now. They rarely mingle for some reason, I'm either doing one or the other, even though they could be combined.