I've always been a lucid dreamer but my dreams basically start off seemingly logical and devolves into chaos to the point that it is frustrating and legit makes me mad enough to wake up sometimes and be mad for a good while about it.
For example, I'll have a position in my head that is chess and then as time goes on, I notice from a third-person sense (hard to explain) that the game somehow turned to checkers. I'll say to myself "That doesn't make any sense. I know I was just playing chess not too long ago and that the game hadn't ended yet. I'll get up and try to leave just to basically time warp back to the chess position that i had previously been dreaming about. I'll have some good thoughts about the position from a third-person view and then first-person plays a bad move for seemingly no reason. I'll then act surprised as if the person in the dream didn't realize the mistake and have all the same emotions as if I actually had it happen to me in real life. I can feel my blood-pressure rise, etc... and have the added bonus of the anger from none of it making any sense. I basically spectate myself in every lucid dream I have and let me tell you.... it's painful.
Or my dream will just be the earth turns to chess squares while I'm walking or other weird stuff but that doesn't bother me as much as that enters a realm that isn't realistic which is fine. The realistic dreams need to make sense in some way or I go insane.
A gas station being where I know a car dealership is. Not okay. Me getting out of my vehicle and stealing my friends car for no reason. Not okay. My work location changing to a different state is also not okay.
Can anyone relate to this? LOL
Dreaming from a third-person (almost like a narrator) and first-person practically simultaneously? Super weird. I am also quite attune to my real-life surroundings while dreaming and have even continued dreaming while opening my eyes for short periods of time. It's like a movie keeps playing and if the third-person wants to zone out then I can but when I start paying attention it really is the same sensation as if I missed a small part of the movie and it kept playing.
It also has come to a shock to me how many people never lucid dream. I always thought that everyone did it when I was young and learned that wasn't the case at all. In fact, it actually scares people to lucid dream.
But by far, the craziest thing for me about lucid dreaming is being able to argue with someone in my dream and for them to say something that absolutely shocks me on all levels. I don't get how that phenomenon can even happen. My brain came up with it. How does it shock me like that? From a third-person sense I have even wanted to wake myself up and write what they said down before because it was so good. That in itself is a crazy phenomenon to me too.
Sorry to derail this thread but I've been thinking about my lucid dreaming more and more lately. People have recommended that I go get a sleep study done because there might be something wrong with me. The stress from dreaming can be very real though. To that much I can attest.
You, are certainly a lucid dreamer master. You seem to control your dreams at the top level. What I mean is that you definitely not always make up your dreams, but you're a logic person and you get mad if your dreams do not depict reality. Which is amazing.
Personally, I can't do that with chess. I choose what's going to happen in my dreams deliberately each morning. It's like writing a scenario for a movie. But chess, I calculate, and play moves, and it's not me who decides what moves my opponent makes, it's my brain,I don't know if you get it. And while my dreams don't make sense at all, I don't get mad, and I just try to sleep. Chess dreams though make sense and are totally tiring.
Really? People are afraid of lucid dreaming? I can't understand that. It sounds crazy. But of course, each human brain thinks in a totally different way.
That shock occurs to me too😂. I give an answer to an argument for my opponent which totally shocks me. I don't know how that works, but brains can remember 20 moves of chess theory, couldn't they surprise themselves in a dream?
Also I want to note something else to about lucid dreaming. I can wake up for some minutes and then return back, think of what I was dreaming, and then continue the plot. Also, if I get to decide to wake up, I continue to think about the dream, and continue the plot, totally awake, with eyes wide-open. It's definetaly not lucid dreaming, but something like fake scenarios, but it's a thing.
That is the same for me.
People in my dreams act on their own accord and without me knowing, but certain situations are very hard to explain how your brain does it.
It's cool to think about how our brains do things like this.
Yeah. Apparently it is hard for the people that don't lucid dream normally to differentiate between what is real and what isn't. Sounds crazy to me too, but I guess it kind of makes sense as well. I've always wondered what keeps people from lucid dreaming.
I usually don't choose what my dreams are but I do have good control over them. I can't force my dream to make sense though. Some times the chess involves one position and I will calculate that one position all night. Other times I have experiences like others have mentioned where the pieces appear out of nowhere and the act of calculation is felt but there isn't even a clear position. Those are the ones that hurt my brain.
I'm surprised this doesn't affect me in a more harmful way. I usually feel well rested even when this happens, but it also feels like my brain never relaxes.
I hate things that hinder my sleep. When life has me really stressed, I can tell because I go in and out of REM and i'll have like 30 mini dreams in one night. That sucks.
It is also strange to me that lucid dreams are supposedly most common during deep sleep but it doesn't seem to be the case for me. I'm usually still very attune to my surroundings but in a really weird way. Instead of reacting to actual noises or other scenarios with my actual body, I basically react as I would from the third-person perspective inside my dream and if it is serious i'll "wake myself up".
I have been jarred awake from a very deep sleep multiple times though when I didn't know why. In those cases, I experience a very cool sensation. I have to really try to be able to move. I learned after this happened that your brain releases chemicals to keep you from acting out your dreams. I admit, this was weird. I didn't have any hallucinations paired with it that people often have when they experience "sleep paralysis." I don't think it would scare me even if it did. Personally, i think this sensation feels good and have experienced it in many different volumes.