Weird dream inside a dream

[OldRightHander]

This happened last night. Not quite like something out of Inception, but definitely a bit strange. Most of my dreams are extremely vivid and this was no different. I was downtown and I was flying around like Superman, buzzing by the stadiums and just flying all over, when the light bulb went off in my brain that there is no way I should be able to do this so I must be dreaming. That was strange enough, knowing I was dreaming. I've heard of this happening to people, but it's not an experience I'm exactly familiar with. Anyway, I flew around for a while and then felt things dissolving and I woke up.

I woke up in bed next to my wife and I was feeling kind of amorous, but she wasn't too inclined at the moment, so I just sat there thinking it was weird that I had just had a dream where I knew I was dreaming and I kept trying to get my wife more in the mood, then I woke up again, this time for real.

Anyone else had anything like that happen? I normally have vivid dreams, but this was a little bit out of the norm for me.

[Ravenlord]

i would say i do that about 90% of the time that i dream--but i also dream maybe once a week.

[RedFanAlways1966]

You actually remember your dreams?!? Something I never do. I have heard that not remembering them is common for males. Of course I have had a nightmare or two in my day and I seemed to remember those.

[OldRightHander]

Originally Posted by RedFanAlways1966

You actually remember your dreams?!? Something I never do. I have heard that not remembering them is common for males. Of course I have had a nightmare or two in my day and I seemed to remember those.

I've always remembered them. Most of the time I will remember 3 or 4 a night and they're usually very vivid.

[klw]

I will tend to remember my dreams if I am sleeping while laying on one side but not remember them if I am sleeping while on my other side. I imagine something is making me sleep less deeply on the side for which I remember the dreams.

[Larry Schuler]

I have intense dreams 5-6 nights a week. Apparently it's not common but it's always been that way for me. Your dream within a dream sounds like something I experience maybe a few times a month.

The last few weeks I've been having recurring dreams about trying out for my high school team and being left off the team or benched. Wonder what it means!

[RBA]

Originally Posted by OldRightHander

I woke up in bed next to my wife and I was feeling kind of amorous, but she wasn't too inclined at the moment, so I just sat there thinking it was weird that I had just had a dream where I knew I was dreaming and I kept trying to get my wife more in the mood, then I woke up again, this time for real.

Anyone else had anything like that happen?

Nope, I don't even know what your wife looks like.

[OldRightHander]

Originally Posted by RBA

Nope, I don't even know what your wife looks like.

Thanks for the laugh.

[TeamSelig]

Google lucid dreaming.

I've read some stuff on ways to practice this. Supposedly if you work at it, you can eventually be able to control them.

I can't remember exactly but it was something like, throughout the night - anytime you wake up, roll over and write down what happened. Then read over it in the morning. Also always think to test yourself in your dreams, such as repeatedly look at a clock. If it changes each time, you are dreaming. Once you realize you are dreaming, you can do whatever.

I never did try the journal thing, but concentrating on remember dreams seemed to work a little bit. IDK if I really believe it, kinda seems like voodoo to me.

[OldRightHander]

Originally Posted by TeamSelig

Google lucid dreaming.

I've read some stuff on ways to practice this. Supposedly if you work at it, you can eventually be able to control them.

I can't remember exactly but it was something like, throughout the night - anytime you wake up, roll over and write down what happened. Then read over it in the morning. Also always think to test yourself in your dreams, such as repeatedly look at a clock. If it changes each time, you are dreaming. Once you realize you are dreaming, you can do whatever.

I never did try the journal thing, but concentrating on remember dreams seemed to work a little bit. IDK if I really believe it, kinda seems like voodoo to me.

I looked that up and opinions seem to be all over the place, but it seems that's what happened to me, although without any real effort. It seems there are a lot of people actively trying to do this and using all manner of recall exercises and reality checks to achieve it, and in my case it just happened. It was definitely different, having that level of awareness, and the dream inside a dream thing was a bit odd.

I also came across some opinions by a few Christians claiming the whole thing is occult and opens one up to demonic influence, but I'm not sure I buy that angle either. I'm a Christian and I don't see anything inherently evil with what happened. It was simply a greater sense of awareness if you will. I guess I could have used the freedom that comes from that awareness to indulge in any manner of sin, but just about anything can be used for good or bad purposes.

With the way I remember dreams and the vividness of most of them, I'm surprised this hasn't happened more often, but maybe it's kind of rare. It was definitely unique.

[WMR]

Originally Posted by OldRightHander

I looked that up and opinions seem to be all over the place, but it seems that's what happened to me, although without any real effort. It seems there are a lot of people actively trying to do this and using all manner of recall exercises and reality checks to achieve it, and in my case it just happened. It was definitely different, having that level of awareness, and the dream inside a dream thing was a bit odd.

I also came across some opinions by a few Christians claiming the whole thing is occult and opens one up to demonic influence, but I'm not sure I buy that angle either. I'm a Christian and I don't see anything inherently evil with what happened. It was simply a greater sense of awareness if you will. I guess I could have used the freedom that comes from that awareness to indulge in any manner of sin, but just about anything can be used for good or bad purposes.

With the way I remember dreams and the vividness of most of them, I'm surprised this hasn't happened more often, but maybe it's kind of rare. It was definitely unique.

Are you sure about that? Isn't it possible you were still "on rails" so to speak, and just felt like you had some level of freedom or autonomy that didn't really exist?

[OldRightHander]

Originally Posted by WMR

Are you sure about that? Isn't it possible you were still "on rails" so to speak, and just felt like you had some level of freedom or autonomy that didn't really exist?

That could have been the case as well. It was something new to me and then when I did the google search I found out the crazy differing opinions people have on the topic and whole groups of folks online who actively try to do it. It was all news to me.

[WildcatFan]

I rarely remember my dreams, and I'm jealous of those who do.

I used to have crippling nightmares as a child, and I figured out eventually that they almost always occurred when I lied a certain way in bed. I wonder if I developed the ability to suppress the memory of my dreams while getting over the nightmares.

[BCubb2003]

Once I dreamt I was awake, but when I woke up I was asleep.

[marcshoe]

I've done the dream-within-a-dream thing, and it honestly terrifies me. I have occasional panic attacks in my sleep, and they are sometimes linked to this type of dreaming. I've also done more conventional lucid dreaming, which is okay.

I write fiction, and my dreams often inform my fiction. The first book that I put on Amazon began with a dream of a scene that ended up being about halfway through the book. I'm currently working on a rewrite/expansion of a rough draft I've had lying around for years, and the key to getting this going was a dream of a woman riding down the street on a lawnmower, shooting people with a nail gun (research tells me that what I dreamed about is a gauss gun, fwiw.) The first book I ever read came to almost in its entirety in a dream that involved a pacing blue tiger.