As the big Eldoret Express bus hurtled down the straight stretch of tarmac 100 meters from my parents' house, I lay flat on my back, further down on its path, with my face up and my hands to my sides. Naturally, I was profoundly alarmed, and my immediate thought was to get up and move out harms way. But a part of me cheekily said, "No, you are dreaming. Let's see how this plays out.".

So I stayed put, waiting until the left front wheel was within meters of my head. I was dead meat.

But alas! At that very moment, a powerful force yanked me by the feet, and I woke up in horror, sweating profusely but glad to be alive and well.

That was back in the in the late 90's. I was on the last steps of my primary school education.

This particular dream bewildered me. It was the first time I had been able to detect that I was dreaming, and even make a somewhat conscious decision on that basis. It was terrifying, to be sure, but also eerily thrilling to think that I could somehow affect my dreams.

I don't remember discussing this particular experience with anyone soon after it occurred. But it did recur, albeit infrequently, many times thereafter.

It was not until I was in college, I think, that I started talking about "my special kind of dreaming" and trying to find out from friends if any of them could identify with my experience. Amazingly, not a single one could! In fact, some barely fell short of suggesting that I was possessed.

Luckily for me, I am not particularly superstitious or given to accepting supernatural explanations for things merely because they lack otherwise comprehensible evidence. In any case, it didn't bother me much as it did not interfere with my waking life. If anything, I considered that it made my dreams a tad more interesting.

Anyway, my latest experience of this kind of dreaming was only last night. It was rather weird, the dream. Spooky, even. In fact it was spooky enough that I will not describe it here. But suffice it to say that once again I detected it for what it was, a mere dream. Although this time I do not remember trying to influence it, I am thankful for the fact that knowing it was a dream made an otherwise scary dream quite tolerable - that part of me again, saying, "It's only a shitty dream. Pay it no attention.".

So when I woke up, I said to myself, "Okay, let me get on the internet and see if I can settle this matter once and for all. After all, Google knows everything, except what women want.". That is how I ended up on this Wikipedia article.

And now I have decided to bring my quest to find fellow lucid dreamers here on Wazua. Anyone?

nothing unique about realising that you're dreaming and trying to influence the dream. don't see anything special here.

Some substances cause lucid dreams.

apparently Cheese is a suspect substance that gives "vivid" dreams.

Ditto here.

I used to enjoy such dreams especially the age between 12 and 17 years. Those years, 99% of my dreams were controlled. The part i liked the most was when trying to run in a dream but i couldn't, i would tell myself it's a dream and i needed to straighten my legs and instantly i would stretch my legs and be able to run and fly.

The easiest to control for me are fight dreams, no one beats me in them.

The hardest ones to control have always been of eating fish. I always wake up before the fish is served. Nkt!

See, finally I find company.



@mkenyan, douchebag!

Well, I don't regularly eat either substance. But that would be an interesting connection.

Okay, let's now put this another way. Anyone here who simply CAN'T identify with this type of experience?

Mimi, I hardly dream! I can't even remember the last time I dreamed! I'm normal!

Except as a kid, I had those where some scary animal/person is chasing you but the feet won't run. I don't remember controlling or even trying to.