Hi, everybody! I’ve been practicing lucid dreaming for the past two summers, with quite a bit of success. However, something started happening this summer that never happened last summer: once I become lucid, I lose most of my sense of vision. It has taken many forms. Usually, I appear to be wearing a mask that I can’t rip off, no matter how hard I try. Another time, a giraffe clung to my face and wouldn’t let go. I can sometimes see about 25% of my field of view from behind the obstruction, but it’s often blurry. Recently, I’ve tried not to panic when this happens. I find that the mask only manifests if I expect it to. And resistance only reifies it. But on a couple of occasions, I’ve been able to focus on other sensations or visualize the dream I want to have. And then I can slowly begin to see as normal—until I worry about not being able to see again.
In a related version, I get to the part of my lucid dream where I want to carry out my intended action of flying. But then everything fades to black. I try to continue, but it feels more like I am imagining a lucid dream, rather than having one. I’m still asleep, and I doubt that I’m in a lucid sleep state, but my desires have essentially locked me out of having my intended experiences.
Has this happened to anyone else before? Any advice on what it means, or how to overcome it?
A few questions: Do you wear a sleep mask? Have you changed your sleeping conditions or environment? Are you taking any supplements or medications that maybe affecting your sleeping/dreaming? Any life-changing events that may be affecting your experiences? Perhaps looking at external conditions may help you find some cause(s) for these changes.
I’m kinda dealing with the same issue. In my case, it tends to be similar to the second case: Everything goes black! I can feel my dream body, but I can’t see anything anymore. Recently it happened again, and what appears to work for me is just to stay calm and believe a dreamscape is gonna appear anew. Every single time I struggle against this situation, I just end up waking up ! (Or, I have a false awakening)
I think there’s something behind it, for our unconscious mind to act in such a way… I have ideas, but they may be pure illusions… Better ask advice from someone wiser. I’m really interested in the answers to come… So, my only suggestion from personal experience: stay calm and allow. And if possible, try asking why this is happening within the dream ! I’ll let you know next time I have an opportunity to do the same…
Well, that’d be awesome! But I have no idea… The weird thing is that I can still feel my body in the dark. I can still think. It happened this morning again ! I had a short lived lucid dream and again, as soon as thought and tried to apply my healing plan, the dream faded away and I was in this black space. I could also feel my “day” body lying on the bed toward the end. I tried to remain there but woke up. And then slipped off my bed and fell on the floor… And woke up again! (for real, this once!)
Is it possible to experience dreamless sleep as a “speck of awareness” or with a dream body, aware of this black space ? And, if aware in dreamless sleep, can you still think ? As to make the observation “wow, I’m asleep, and I’m aware of it!” Is this black space the substrate ? Something else ? I don’t know. If someone can shade the light in there…
This leads to a host of interesting implications, I’ll just mention a few. First of all, you can’t really see in a dream, right? There is no eye in there. It’s just the habit of having an eye, of being a seer, of duality, that is being revealed. This in itself is interesting to explore. “You” are not seeing anything in a dream. Try to find the seer, the dreamer – can you find one? The other things you talk about are beyond what I can respond to here – this would be a fun one to bat around during a questionar session. It could mean quite a few things, none of which I would be worried about. Curious, yes; worried, no. Maybe there’s a conflict of interest going on; maybe part of you doesn’t want to see . . . the devolutionary aspect of your spectrum of being may want to continue to hide out in the dark. If so, smile at that.
I am appreciative of your post, RTLLuc, the timing is lovely for me: just having awoken this morning with an official desire to explore this issue of difficulty seeing for myself, and there was your post in the Night Club email. Wishing you lots of good exploration. Maybe you are to accept the mask and move in the dark.
I had just awoken earlier this morning recognizing that not being able to see feels officially a ‘problem’. For me the visual field has been grey as of late, where I’m lucid, and the dream continues on but I can’t see. I am able to interact with dream figures, navigate buildings, drive, etc.
I sometimes try to hold my eyes open (less skill), other times just deal with it, like resigned to a disability…(more skill?). Now upon awakening and reflecting this morning, I’d like to explore: trusting that I can remain lucid and immersed in the dream at choice by relaxing into it without giving preference to sight as important.
But also: this morning while experiencing this white/grey field I called out, “I need help with seeing!”, and with that the right side of my vision popped in, flickering in and out and foggy, but available. So I might experiment with that as well. Thanks again for your post. Now I’ll go back and reread the other responses…looking forward.
Thank you Andrew (I’m navigating a similar issue, just wrote about it). I love the idea of smiling at/about devolutionary aspects who may want to hide out. Adding on a little here: an aspect who may want to hide out or whose visual field is black or grey may have a lot to teach us about navigating the dark comfortably. In my case, I think perhaps an opportunity for integration.
I recently had a lucid dream where I decided to meditate. I “closed my eyes” and everything turned grey. Later, I mentioned this in our Dream Sharing group and someone offered the opinion that it sounded as if I had encountered a “portal” and that the next time this happens I should ask to open the portal and move on. The person mentioned that when it happened to her she usually saw red or a different color and asked what grey meant to me. I’m older, so I answered the it represents “wisdom” to me, which was a different interpretation from hers.
That’s funny, I was just starting to get into it ! I saw this book last week and read the part on the hypnagogic state in one of Charlie Morley’s book a few days ago. I think it may be worth exploring and working with. It could really help me finding the answers I’m looking for. I just need to keep my dream journal close to me… and learn to surf the hypnagogic wave
Hey brother same thing has been happening to me as well and I’ve found that basically if you just surrender into it sometimes mine will turn into dreams of clear light and i will meditate there for a few seconds to maybe a minute however long i can maintain it then if you’re very very calm and lucky you will eventually emerge in a new dreamscape or if you’re very calm and unlucky you will fall back into non lucid dreams then try to memorize this pattern and remember to do a reality check after everything goes dark to regain lucidity and then if you’re just not calm at all you’ll obviously wake yourself up
If you engage the dream more and are focused on doing things and changing the dreamscape or switching your center of focus this also seems to help . Because I’ve noticed if i just stare or do the same thing for more than a minute i will also lose my sight which really isn’t so bad it’s a blessing actually forces you to focus inward and maintain a shamatha like meditation practice in this state will keep you lucid
