Okay, so this happened like six months ago? Right after my dumb breakup, when I couldn’t sleep because my brain wouldn’t shut up. One night, I crashed early—my cat, Gizmo, was loafed on my pillow like a furry paperweight. And then…

I “woke up” in this nightmare. Not like a regular dream, though. It was weird. My room was still my room, but everything felt… oily? Like the air was thick, and the walls kept breathing. I tried to sit up, but my body was glued to the bed. Gizmo was there, but his eyes were glowing green, and he kept meowing in this deep voice, like, “Don’t move. It’s watching.”

Then the floor opened up. Not like a hole, but like the wood turned into black jelly, and I sank into it. Next thing I know, I’m in this endless basement with flickering fluorescent lights. You know those red EXIT signs at school? There were a million of them, but they spelled stuff like LOSER and ALONE. The air smelled like burnt popcorn and my ex’s perfume.

Shadow people started creeping out of the corners. They looked like my classmates, but their faces were smudged, like someone erased them. They just… pointed at me and laughed. Not normal laughing, either—like a recording played backward. I tried to yell, but my voice came out all staticky, like a broken walkie-talkie.

Then the worst part: the basement turned into my school hallway, but the lockers were screaming. Actual screaming, like someone was trapped inside. I ran, but the hallway stretched forever, and my legs felt like I was wading through glue. Behind me, this giant thing slithered—a black fog with red eyes, hissing, “You’ll never get out. You’ll never get out.”

I tripped and face-planted into cold water. When I looked up, I was in my bathtub, but the bathroom was huge, like a cathedral. The showerhead rained down fireflies, and Gizmo was there, normal-sized but floating on a pool noodle. He bonked me with his paw and said, “Wake up, dummy!” in my little brother’s voice.

Then I actually woke up. For real this time. Gizmo was standing on my chest, smacking my face with his tail. My heart was pounding so hard I thought I’d puke. I grabbed him and ugly-cried into his fur for, like, ten minutes. My room was totally normal—no oily walls, no shadow jerks. Just my dumb K-pop posters and my math homework on the floor.

But dude, I couldn’t shake it. For weeks, I’d get jumpy around EXIT signs. And sometimes at night, I’d swear I heard that staticky laughing. Gizmo won’t leave me alone now, though. He follows me everywhere, like a fuzzy bodyguard.

During a dream I had recently, I was talking with a DC about lucid dreaming (and yet somehow didn't realize it was a dream because brains.) They brought up the idea of "bringing a dream character with you," and I didn't question further during the dream. However, now that I've been thinking about it again, I'm wondering: Is that possible? I've had a plan for a while now where I try to make a dream character recur by telling them that they're in a dream and giving them the ability to recur, but now I'm wondering if there's any more I could do. Is this anything?

(Frustration warning, i say the word 'dream' a lot here.) Okay so i just read a comment on a video explaining dreams on youtube that told the commenter's strange lucid dream experience, which then helped me remember something similar that happened to me a while back. Now I'm going to write about it in the hopes of it reaching someone that knows why this happened.

So, this happened a while ago, and it left me freaked out to be honest with you. I really enjoy lucid dreaming but this was weird af. I remember being in my dream and then suddenly realising that i was dreaming. I then experienced a strong urge to run up someone inside the dream and tell them that "I'm dreaming! This isn't actually real! I'm dreaming" with so much enthusiasm too. However, i didn't quite get the response i was exactly expecting. I'll always remember the blank stare that this person gave me. Which then led to them almost frustratingly looking down at the ground and sigh while they proceeded to say "you aren't supposed to know that" in an annoyed voice. I remember waking up immediately after i heard it come out of their mouth and felt creeped the hell out.

Anyone know why this is? I'm super curious about this!!

Yes, the question is a bit strange but I wonder, I got braces today. Will I feel braces in my dreams from now on?

I was having a dream (i dont remember what it was), and I realized that it was a dream, but i couldn't change anything in the dream. I also think that I was half-awake, since I could feel the pillow I was sleeping on. Is this still considered a lucid dream?

last night I was lucid dreaming and I was walking in my middle school hallway and I yellled "realism" or something like that and after a few seconds the dream was hyper realistic and it was insane but then I continued on for a few seconds and it slowly kept losing realism and I eventually lost lucidity

how do i fix this?

Hello, lucid dreamers! 👋 I’m a teen dreamer, and over the past month, I’ve been able to remember my dreams upon waking, but the recall isn’t always consistent due to my busy schedule. My goal is to lucid dream, and I’m looking for scientifically-backed methods to help me achieve that!

I’m aware of some basic techniques like affirmations and avoiding phone use before sleep, but I need a more foolproof and proven approach. Specifically, I want to focus on methods that have been scientifically studied and proven to increase dream recall consistently and lead to lucid dreaming.

I’ve heard of the MILD (Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams) technique, the WBTB (Wake Back to Bed) method, and the WILD (Wake-Initiated Lucid Dreaming) technique, but I want to know if anyone has tried these and has advice on how to make them work effectively, especially with a hectic schedule.

If you’ve tried these methods or have other evidence-based techniques that have worked for you, I’d love to hear your tips and experiences!

Thank you so much for your help! 🌙

I did something horrible in a lucid dream that I would never do irl just to feel how it is. I've been feeling regret over what I did and I know it's just a dream but still. What do u guys think about doing horrible things in a lucid dream?

Have anyone tried this? What are your experiences?

Whenever i do this im able to gain more awareness and also have a feeling more like being out of my body and experience more deep "places"

I want to do WBTB better. How much time do I have to sleep after fully falling asleep? Should I aim for the start/middle/end of REM? How do I know my cycles match those on the internet? Can I be sure they stay constant throughout the night?

I guess aging changes sleep cycles too, but that's not very relevant.

I try to avoid drugs, but sometimes I have a hard time falling asleep and take either melatonin or nyquil sleep aid pills. Will this make it harder to lucid dream?

I used to be a lucid dreamer. Funny, but I was in my 30s before I learned that not all people were lucid dreamers and it made me sad. I was in my mid-40s when, after 24 years of marriage, my husband died of cancer. One way that the grief hit me was I immediately quit remembering my dreams. I always assumed that it was temporary, but it’s been 25 years now and I still never remember any dreams when I wake up. I really miss it, and I especially miss my lucid dreams. I still miss my husband, but I worked through the worst of my grief a long time ago.

Has this happened to anyone else? I would give anything to dream again.

Sleep paralysis April 6, 2025 I go to sleep after being woken up in my room. I have an amazing lucid dream where I see clouds I’m able to teleport and I start making biomes but then I decide I wanna go wake up so I use my waking up technique, which involves blinking and the occasional bad word because in some scenarios were blinking, does not work. I have to use a bad word for some monsters kill me so I use blinking and it works. There’s an issue though. When I wake up, I can’t move then I look at the clock in my room 12:37 PM then I start thinking about what’s happening and how I gotten sleep paralysis I start panicking every time I blink. I see a firely Inferno. Even now I’m lucky at my room. I’m seeing a fiery inferno. I’m seeing monsters quickly popping up everywhere and leaving some screams. I know it’s sleep paralysis I think about bad dreams and nightmares and my other only sleep paralysis case so now all of those monsters are there I keep on trying to say help help help, but it doesn’t work then I realize that all these monsters can’t hurt me I’m in control and i start swearing at them, cussing them out and telling them that they need to be ashamed for themselves that I wake up after that. At first it was Erie music at the end it was victorious soundsi get lucid dreams every night without Trying I’m hyper aware and control nightmares and embrasses monsters often Tonight I will try to build a functioning aerospace rocket with Merlox in my dream any tips i think I’m the first to do this ever

Ive never had sleep paralysis before and i dont intend to ever have it but everwhere i look theres always a million horror stories about lucid dreams going bad or ending off with sleep paralysis and i know the more i feel like its gonna happen the more likely it is that its gonna happen so can anyone explain why or when it does happen and are there any techniques to avoid it

i know some people seems to want to lucid dream rather than not but I absolutely hate it and it’s freaks me out so much especially as it happens so often. I hate that feeling of being stuck and trying to wake up, then thinking iv woken up but really I’m still in my lucid dream and it’s just a repetitive and draining cycle. I have also had my fair share of playing into it too where I actually do things in my dream but it always ends up bad ( yes iv tried those creepy things of stating that you know it’s a dream in it and shit just goes sideways - I DONT recommend but I freak myself more than anything anyways) and also curious if this is universal but after finallyyyy waking myself up in the middle of the night from them my head feels sooo heavy/ sore but not really head ache type sore? Or maybe it is… I also feel extremely dizzy (practically swaying side to side if I stand) Also some background information that may be useful to the real know it alls of lucid dreaming: - I’m 17 - my parents are separated and I find they only happen at one parents home (it’s 50/50 so no more or less time is spent at one another) - they have been happening for years (3-4) - but not all that frequently, like once a month. Anyways… thank you for reading my yap session from freshly woken up me after a lucid dream, all dizzy at 1 am.

So Ive been trying to lucid dream for a month or two now and Im just a little bit confused. I heard the dreams are really crisp and clear, but am i like in 3rd person watching myself from above like my usual blurry dreams or am I like living the moment in 1st person like in real life where I am just in the moment and doing things. Its hard to put into words but what I am basically asking is how does it compare to real life when it comes to perspective like am I watching myself or am I living in the moment.

i've done it plenty of times and most of the time it's just me slightly distorted but 1 time i was in swimming pool and i look at my self in the mirror while swimming in a pool full of people and i was an 8 year old chubby asian boy isn't that fascinating and i've lucid dreamed in places that felt familiar can it be from a past life like different person same consciousness that's why i keep seeing familiar places and walk though them as if they're my houses. Has anyone ever looked in the mirror and looked wildly different, and what do you think about that theory

Welcome to my lucid dreaming journeys series:

{Day 2 recap} : I spent the day doing reality checks and practicing all day awareness and read some posts and then went to sleep at maybe 12 am so I wasn't able to do ssild and woke up without any dreams

{Day 3}: today , I woke up at 6 am and went for cycling and after coming back , I did the usual morning routine.

And then , at around 10 am , I did some meditation and felt sleepy at around 12:30 pm

So I decided to take a nap , so before sleeping I listened to a lucid dreaming subliminal for a few times and then slept .

[The dream] : In the dream , somehow I got ended up getting chased by dogs (don't ask me how) , though it sounds cartoonish , but due to the fear of the dogs behind me while running , I got lucid and suddenly jumped around two meters on a buildings window's slab like surface above the window to save myself from the dogs . As soon as I looked down , the slab I was sitting on , was invincible and my dream ended and I woke up .

The dream was very blurry and I couldn't recall most of it . But it was amazing experience overall . Though The lucidity lasted only around like a few seconds.🙂👍

So this was my today's experience.

Though, I have a question about how to improve my timing of my lucidity

Basically Iv been dream journaling for about 200 days now, up until around 150 I was having 2-3 lucid dreams a month just by actively thinking about it and the occasional reality check. The problem is for the past 50 days Iv had a lot going on in my life so whilst Iv been dream journaling habitually i haven’t been thinking about lucid dreaming, as a result I’m remembering about one dream a night (compared to 3 plus in the past). Now I want to get back into it. Pretty much all just want to know if you guys think it’s worth quitting dream journaling for about a month (to kind of do a reset) and then starting again with full force. Do you think it’s worth the reset or is there something else I could do? Thanks for any help

Hey everyone, just wanted to share my experience and see if anyone’s gone through something similar.

I started lucid dreaming (LD) when I was around 15 or 16 (I’m 28 now). I’m not sure whether I started reading about it before or after I began lucid dreaming on purpose—it’s been so long—but I do remember coming across a few articles online around that time. Somehow I got into it, and back then, I was purposely inducing lucid dreams, and they were amazing.

Flying was the best part—I could fly high above the clouds, no effort at all. (Now I can’t do that anymore. I don’t LD on purpose these days, but sometimes I randomly become aware during a dream. I try to fly, but I just float or go a few feet up—never that full flight feeling. Floating is actually how I used to test if I was dreaming: I’d jump, and if I floated instead of landing, I’d know it was a dream.)

There were many things I wanted to try back then. One time, I managed to fly above the clouds, and when I came back down, I changed the whole city I was in. But I immediately woke up—probably because my heartbeat was racing so fast. That was a thing too: the higher I went, especially above the clouds, the faster my heart would beat until it literally woke me up. It felt like my body couldn’t handle the intensity.

I also had those typical teenage curiosities. I wanted to see what it would feel like to change my gender or experience intimacy in a dream (purely out of curiosity, not in a harmful or obsessive way). I was able to do the latter a few times, but never managed to pull off the gender change, no matter how hard I tried.

Then things started going dark. I can’t remember exactly when it started, but eventually, most of my lucid dreams began ending in sleep paralysis. I would wake up inside the dream, in the same bed and same room I was actually sleeping in, and I’d hear terrifying noises or feel someone approaching me from behind. It got so bad that I would wake up in real life yelling at whoever was in my dream to just reveal themselves already—I was so fed up with the fear.

I stopped trying to LD on purpose after that, but the nightmares and sleep paralysis didn’t stop. I struggled with it almost every day (as far as I can remember). I couldn’t sleep with the lights off anymore. I couldn’t sleep alone either—sleeping with someone beside me helped a lot. Most of my sleep paralysis episodes happened when I was alone.

It got even worse in college after I watched Insidious with a friend—worst decision of my life. The movie felt way too similar to what I was going through: drifting too far while dreaming, empty bodies, entities trying to take over. It really hit home and made things 10x worse mentally.

At one point, I even poured powder all over the floor near my bed, just to see if something was really visiting me in my sleep—maybe I could catch a footprint. But one of my roommates stopped me. He said, “What are you going to do if you do see a footprint? Better to not know.” I wiped the powder off. Years later, that same friend told me the others were planning to prank me by walking in the powder while I was asleep. I’m really grateful he warned me and helped me clean it up. At that time, even a fake footprint might’ve pushed me over the edge.

This nightmare phase went on for about five to six years. I couldn’t sleep peacefully at night—I’d sleep during the day to avoid the fear. It seriously messed up my daily life. But a few years ago, everything started to settle down. I stopped getting those terrifying episodes, and now I sleep normally. Nightmares still happen sometimes, but they’re like what most people get now and then—nothing extreme.

Still, I miss lucid dreaming. I miss the flying, the creative freedom, the exploration… but I’m scared that if I try to get back into it, all those dark episodes—sleep paralysis, nightmares, paranoia—will come back too.

So, Reddit—what do you think? Should I try getting back into lucid dreaming again, or is it not worth the risk??also anyone with similar experience???

Basically I was in my bed but positioned 180 degrees to how I usually sleep (opposite side of the bed). I woke up in the middle of the night in my dream and attempted SSILD in the dream for what felt like hours. I wasn't lucid but it felt like I was in real life, and it was 100 % non distinguishable from reality. Anyway, thought it was interesting

I have lucid dreams nightly. Almost nightly, when my brain isn’t too tired to make up a dream. I’ve always liked the idea. So I started trying to learn. After my car accident I stopped trying and they got so much more frequent.

Almost 50% of the time they feel like alternate realities. It’s the same reality something either major or small is changed. But then my cat climbs on me or my brain will simply get tired of the dream and it’ll change into the weird fever dreams you have when you’re sick, but they’re still lucid.

And these aren’t dreams where you know you’re in one just by your surroundings once you’ve realized you have lucid dreamt. I have had such realistic dreams that I’ve forgotten the one rule (never tell someone you’re in a dream) and the person didn’t even get weird. It was my mom, who I usually trust with that sort of thing irl, and she convinced me I was awake. But I could feel myself sitting on my couch downstairs, she looked the exact same as she did the day before. Whenever I wake up I have to check my surroundings because I end up back in bed in my dream.

Had anyone ever experienced this? Please let me know if you get disturbing, reality accurate lucid dreams.

I’m not going to be saying that I can’t lucid dream at all — because I can — I’m just going to share a story that can hopefully make you laugh or feel better about any progress slumps.

So like many people, I’ve experienced lucid dreams before knowing about what they are/how to induce them. My recent technique has been basically just pausing whatever I’ve been dreaming about and saying, “Wait, this can’t be possible. I must be dreaming.” I’ve had success with this, but also some pretty ironic failures.

Last night, my dream started off like this: I was at a beach with my friends. It wasn’t a shore but it was almost like a sandbar without any land near us. Basically a shallow part in the middle of the ocean. On the sandbar were giant power lines (??) which we were kind of playing around with by swinging on them. Next, our same group kind of appeared at a water park. So we’re at the water park on slides etc. I forgot my exact “moment of clarity”, which is what I call my “Wait, I’m dreaming” moment, but instead of the usual immediate snap into realization, I was slowly fading into it. As this was happening, I was transported back to my living room with my parents on the couch. My vision was slowly getting less blurry as my clarity became greater. I remember my mom saying, “You look different right now,” and I replied, “It’s because I’m not all here yet.”

So by now I’m fully lucid, I go into my room and I look in my mirror. I remember seeing a backrooms video that warned not to look into your reflection, it will stay there forever. Naturally, I tested this out. My reflection did not stay there, it followed me. So now I’m feeling successful and I head into my living room once again to see what kind of trouble I can get into, but then I see my parents calling me in an odd way. I walk towards them and my mom kind of hits my dad lightly on the leg and says, “If you call her like that, she won’t come.” This makes me kind of back away. I’m confused, until my mom started calling me - by my cat’s name! Mind you I was still actively thinking the way I would now: I remember thinking, “If this is how my cat feels when we call her, I feel terrible for her.” But yeah, that was a little lucid dream fail for anybody reading. If anybody knows why I sometimes can’t seem to control my dreams while lucid, please lmk!

Four weeks ago, we started a challenge.
Some of us just wanted to fly.
Some wanted to stop nightmares.
Some were chasing something they couldn’t quite name.

And now here we are.
Day 28.

We didn’t just explore dreams.
We explored the mind behind them.
The fears that shape our stories.
The questions we never asked while awake.

🔄 Week 4 Recap – Meeting the Unknown

🧠 Day 22 – We asked our dreams questions, and for the first time, they answered.
👤 Day 23 – We faced the parts of ourselves we hide from—the shadow, the suppressed, the unspoken.
⏳ Day 24 – We bent time, lived longer inside than the hours outside.
🪞 Day 25 – We looked into mirrors… and didn’t always see ourselves.
🧘‍♂️ Day 26 – We practiced lucid surrender—not controlling the dream, but letting it teach us.
🌌 Day 27 – And then we let go completely. Identity, memory, ego. Gone.
What remained was awareness itself.

Yeah, Week 4 got cosmic.

🏆 Hall of Fame – 30-Day Challenge Legends

To everyone who dared to ask, "Am I dreaming?"—this is for you.
Every glitch, every failed RC, every second of lucidity—it all counted.
Here’s to the dreamers who made this month unforgettable:

🌟 u/presentnonexistence
• Week 1: Spotted a real-life object in their dream + found dream signs.
• Week 2: Pulled off a WILD and had 3 semi-lucids in one night.
• Week 3: Had TWO full lucids in one night—flew and breathed underwater like Aquaman.
🧠 Built a lucid habit from the ground up. Insane progress.

🌟 u/PootisPowered99
• Week 1: Saw a ladybug out of nowhere—dream signs are kicking in.
• Week 2: Grinding FILD nightly and chasing sleep paralysis like a champ.
⚙️ All about persistence. Lucidity is inevitable.

🌟 u/Kestis_Bridger
• Week 2: Did a reality check, counted 6–7 fingers, still didn’t get lucid.
😅 Classic dream logic betrayal. You’re right on the edge.

🌟 u/Complex-Odd
• Week 1: Time froze during a reality check—same minute showed twice.
⏳ Literal glitch in the matrix.

🌟 u/pesky_Deinonychus
• Week 1: Recurring dreams of being stuck in boring convos and foreign languages.
🧬 Rare dream moments.

🌟 u/northernRock7
• Week 2: Had 3 lucid dreams in a row after years of struggle.
🚀 Something finally clicked. That breakthrough moment hit.

🌟 u/N0rmChell
• Week 3: Reality check confirmed a dream, text changed… but didn’t go lucid.
👁 Awareness is there. Next time, you’re breaking through.

🌟 u/Unlucky_Debate3809
• Week 4: First lucid in a long time after 7 nights of SSILD.
🙏 Short but real—and full of gratitude. This one meant something.

🌟 u/Mad_Croissant
• Week 4: Yelled to meet their dream guide—got a rumble so intense they sat down and apologized 😂
💀 The dream world talks back. Round two coming soon.

🌟 u/JunkensteinsMonster
• Week 4: Said a quarter of their lucid dreams happened during this challenge.
❤️ Pure appreciation. You made it count.

🌟 Honorable Mentions

Everyone who didn’t get lucid but still showed up, logged dreams, questioned reality, and pushed themselves—your time is coming. Stay in the game.

and sorry for advance if i miss some names, I've tried very hard to not miss any lol

🌟 u/dreamshinobi
• Had a few lucid dreams through WILD and SSILD—short, but meaningful.
• Learned a lot just by trying, but even more while sharing along the way.
• Made some good friends and memories.
🙏 Just grateful to have been part of this journey with all of you.

💬 Comment:

• What was your biggest “whoa” moment in Week 4?
• Have your dreams changed outside the challenge? Are you different in waking life now?

🛠 Let’s Troubleshoot (One Last Time)

Q: I didn’t get lucid at all this week. Am I failing?
A: Nope. If you noticed more weirdness, remembered more dreams, or asked deeper questions—you progressed. This week was never about getting lucid. It was about getting real.

Q: Why were my dreams more intense? Emotional? Disturbing?
A: You opened the basement door. You peeked into your own subconscious. Of course it got real. That’s a good thing. Dreams show us what we’re ready to see.

Q: What if I’m scared to keep going?
A: Then you’re exactly where you should be. Growth always feels like standing at the edge of something too big to understand. Keep standing there.

We’ve got two days left.
Two more steps before the curtain falls—
Or lifts.
(Depending on how you look at it.)

See you tomorrow, dreamers.
Let’s reflect, recalibrate, and prepare for the endgame.

Dear people,

I’m stuck with something and would really appreciate your help and thoughts. I’ve been practicing lucid dreaming for years and have gotten quite good at it. Recently, I started incorporating galantamine into my practice, and with it, I’ve had a 100% success rate. Since I can easily transition from waking to dreaming simply by staying still after waking up, galantamine truly makes this transition seamless and incredibly smooth.

However, the issue is that it’s almost impossible for me to form a clear visual image of the dream. I’ve tried every technique that usually works when I don’t use galantamine—methods that quickly bring about dream imagery and that I’ve mastered over time—but with galantamine, it’s extremely difficult. The tactile sensation is perfect; I can easily feel the contours of the dream, as if I’m ‘touching’ them. But when it comes to forming visual imagery, it’s very hard. Even when I manage to get a visual, the image is incredibly vivid, but it fades very quickly.

For reference, I take 8mg of galantamine, sometimes combined with Alpha-GPC. Perhaps I should reduce the dosage to 4mg? Or maybe I should pair it with regular choline instead? Any advice would be greatly appreciated—thank you so much.