Last night, I had a dream where I was “Lucid”, except I wasn’t actually in control of my actions. Despite knowing I was dreaming (by doing the pinch test), I couldn’t act however I wanted.
In contrast, in a real lucid dream I had years ago, I knew I was asleep, and could do whatever in my dream until I woke up.
Anyone else have these types of “Fake” lucid dreams? If you do, are they common?
Someone in a lucid dream can have different levels of control and awareness.
I’ve been naturally lucid dreaming since I was six. At times I can be 100% aware, to the point where I’m actively trying to keep myself asleep (figure that out, I still don’t understand how it works,) to where I know it’s a dream but don’t entirely comprehend what that means.
I can experience changes in lucidity throughout a dream, because I’m still not conscious. I’m not controlling absolutely everything I see and feel, I’m just driving the narrative and forming memories while my brain fills in the blanks. In a lucid dream you’re not your body, you’re a projection of yourself in your mind’s randomly generated theater while physiological mechanisms are doing their best to keep you from boxing your cat/partner/wall in your sleep, so it makes sense your body would feel difficult to control in a dream, because you’re still just imagining what movement feels like.
How common they are depends on the person and the circumstances around them, because people can train themselves to lucid dream. Medication, drugs, routines, mental health etc. can all impact how someone dreams.