When I was really small I dreamed that a vampire was in my room and I said "I am not afraid of you because this is a dream." Then I turned on the light expecting him to burn but then he only burnt in sunlight, not by lamplights.

I had the dreams Birdie described quite a few times. But this was only during my extreme fear of the dark years. I've gotten somewhat over that fear, but I used to be deathly afraid of the dark. I got these dreams, vivid nightmares in which this demonic force spoke to me. At the point where it spoke to me, I'd "wake up" and see demonic images coming over me. They always happened at my fiancee's house too.

At one very vivid time, I had the same demonic nightmare, "woke up" and had a "vision" of a very possessed and demonic Steve crawl over me. I was actually sleeping next to him in real life, so it was quite realistic. I tried to scream, and couldn't. Tried to move and flail away and couldn't.

Then I'd actually truly wake up, and could not open my eyes, could not scream or breath or move or flail.

Steve would usually wake up at this point because I'd be moaning so much, and he'd try to wake me up.Eventually I would, panting and in a sweat and in quite the panic... But they haven't repeated themselves for a while.

Controling dreams though seems like such an effort? I rather enjoy my dreams to take me where they will. I wouldn't want to put so much mental effort into my dreams when I'm trying to rest. =P

In the last couple of years, Lisa, I've continued to have dreams in which I would be facing familiarity within strange contexts, and trying to solve them. In some of them, I knew my name, and upon waking would realize that I had stated facts within the dream action, which were part of my actual history. And lately, I was aware, within the dream, of moving toward or away - not in steps but sort of as gliding. And when I woke, I remembered parts of the dream longer, until I began to think about elements of it and my mind concentrated on related or tangential matters.

But if I "replayed" elements of the dream in my mind, I remembered the broader outlines (or my mental questions about the dream) longer.

And last night, I had what felt like a pivotal dream, wherein I was moving upward (not necessarily above the earth) and had a distinct feeling of "connection" with others, and encountered a vista that made me feel wonder. I hesitate to call it a light show, or like a planetarium experience, or a fireworks display; because that makes the wonder I felt seem less than it was.

Also, there were elements that I felt - during the dream, and upon waking - were symbolic and meaningful, but also somehow real.

When I awakened about 2 to 3 hours before I was ready to get up, and then went back to bed, I still remembered many aspects of the dream when I awakened again and arose.

I've not been pursuing this consciously, but perhaps I have been subconsciously. I'm not ready to start a journal necessarily, but I seem to be moving from confused and muddled "observer" to a watchful participant who is learning how to control a shifting environment.

But then, maybe I'm jumping to grandiose conclusions. It's something for me to watch and ponder, at least.

Niki; I have to be careful of the temperature of a room when I go to sleep at night, becuase when it gets too warm, I have very similar dreams to what you described where you dream you woke up but can't move, etc. And if I've watched a scary movie, I sometimes still have to sleep with the light on, which is kinda weird, considering I wear a sleep mask on, but it's the IDEA about keeping the light so I can see that helps to keep away more bad dreams.

On really scary dreams, I work at just waking up, not really controlling them. Once I realize it's just too scary to be real, I try to wake up.

It seems to me that the only dreams I can slide back into and start dreaming where I left off are the scary ones. The good ones I seem to just forget immediatly upon opening my eyes, and all I am left with is the essance of the dream.

Carl asked that we revive this old thread!

One of the keys to becoming aware in a dream is to keep a dream journal. Keep it right by the bed, with a light or a lighted pen so you can write even if it's dark without coming "fully awake" by turning on the main lights.

The more you write down dreams, the more you will train yourself to remember them.

If you don't have a dream journal yet, get a pile of paper and put it by your bed tonight - to have something until you can get even a cheap pad of paper that's a little more organized!

Write down even the tiniest hints of dreams you have when you wake up. Even the smallest memories will get your mind on the path of training.

Thanks, Lisa.

Yes, that's what I'll do - start the journal. I have been thinking about the current dream as I get up. But unless I talk about it and write about it, it fades away.

Yes definitely the memories when you first wake up are SO much more sharp, it is amazing how much detail you can remember.

Part of the key is not to "jolt" yourself awake. Don't turn on the lights, don't go climbing out of bed. Have a small book light or pen light to use, and keep the paper and pen right within reach. You want to "wake up" as little as possible, to keep your dream memories as powerful as possible.

I never saw this thread. I love it!

I can control my dreams. I worked on this and I am at a point now where i can stop myself from waking up, " so I can finish the dream". This is useful when you are dreaming of the "houses" in your (?) psychi? Soul? There's lots of words for this and I don't want to offend anyone. anyway, I kept waking up during these dreams and it was aggravating! If I can finish the dream I might see things in there that are helpful in my waking life.

Once you start working on this it gets easier all the time, IMO.

I've found that if I dream of a person that I'm close to, or know socially, usually it means I'm gonna do something with this person. some project, or some quest. So that was pretty gratifying!

Also, realizing you're dreaming while you're in the dream. This is comforting if I'm dreaming of something that is unsettling etc, to me.

I'm interested in hearing others thoughts and accomplishments about this.

That is wonderful, tweetymom, that you have built up such a skill with your dreams. Using dreams to learn is a part of many cultures and it is often something that the high level shamans master! You are a shaman in your own right.

Do you keep some sort of a dream journal?