Dreams being followed or chased

I am 24 and I have these dreams since I can remember (4-5 years old). I dream that somebody is following me, then chasing me, and when he finds me I paralyze in fear, and I can't move at all. Every time I dream this, there are other personages, other circumstances, different motives, and he never catches me, because the dream is so extreme, it wakes me up. When I was a kid I was so scared that I woke up sweating, and my heart almost exploding. Now I got used, and at the end of it I realize I'm dreaming, and I think about something else, and change the dream with a better one.

Lucid dreaming, defined as conscious awareness during the dream state, is a fascinating experience. One of the benefits of lucid dreaming is its ability to reduce the frequency of nightmares. You appear to have discovered this ability on your own. There are several techniques, which can increase the frequency of lucid dreams, such as MILD (Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams), and the reality-testing technique. All lucid dreams are classified as either 'DILDs' (Dream Initiated Lucid Dreams) or 'WILDs' (Wake Initiated Lucid Dreams). In a dream initiated lucid dream, the dreamer notices something odd in the course of the dream. During a wake initiated lucid dream, the dreamer consciously enters the dream state, with no apparent loss of consciousness. DILDs are much more frequent than WILDs, accounting for at least 80 percent of lucid dreams.

The great news is that anyone can learn the ability to lucid dream. Some become so excellent at lucid dreaming that they acquire the ability to induce lucid dreams at will. Stephen LaBerge is the individual who proved the existence of lucid dreams, by forcing dreamers to rehearse pre-determined eye movements, and signal when they realized they were dreaming.

Luciano wrote:Lucid dreaming, defined as conscious awareness during the dream state, is a fascinating experience.

Sometimes I have similar dreams - something bad is happening like being chased or hunted (and as usual my legs seem to slow down or stop working just as I really need them!) and I suddenly realise its just a dream - but I can't stop it. Sometimes I start hitting myself in the dream - over and over - trying to jolt myself awake - but its doesn't work (I dont think).

Is this lucid dreaming?

The experience you described was a dream initiated lucid dream (DILD). Although the definition of lucid dreaming is "knowing that you are dreaming", the degree of awareness in lucid dreams varies dramatically. Here are the three levels of awareness in a dream:

LEVEL 1 : The dreamer asks himself "Am I dreaming?", but fails to reach the correct conclusion. This is simply a 'pre-lucid dream'.

LEVEL 2: The dreamer is fully aware he is dreaming, but is not in control of his actions. He may fail to realize that the characters or events in the dream pose no real threat.

LEVEL 3: The dreamer is not only aware he is lying in bed dreaming, but has the complete ability to reason in the dream. As a result, he can completely control his behaviors and actions.

Lucid dreaming is useful for combating nightmares. However, intentionally waking yourself is not a reliable method for fighting nightmares. This will only assist you in the short-term. In contrast, facing the 'threat' in the dream is advised.

In ‘Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming’ by Stephen LaBerge, it is recommended that lucid dreamers (oneironauts) confront the dangers in a nightmare. During a chasing dream, try to pleasantly face your pursuer, while showing no fear. This tactic produces positive long-term results for some chronic nightmare sufferers.

Acknowledge that the characters and events in a nightmare are merely a creation of the mind.

If you have any more questions about lucid dreaming, don't be afraid to ask them.

I hope you don't mind that I comment... I too have dreams of being chased. I don't know why I don't have dreams of things I love (like sex) but instead I find myself running from the devil a lot. It's going to kill me I know. So weird that the faster I try to run the slower I go. I'm 43 years old (damn I'm old .. my God) and I've had these being chased dreams for all my life. I remember being REALLY YOUNG, like 5 or younger, and being chased. It's a curse I think.

I've done a lot of reading about this lately in an attempt to resolve what appears to have been a recurring nightmare fo me (I only remembered it once, but woke for a long time with my heart racing and in pain). I spoke to a counsellor who told me that often it's a part of ourself that we are running from, and if we can turn and face that part and ask it what it wants, the nightmare will often stop. I don't lucid dream (yet!), so I decided to use self-hypnosis and I wrote a script and recorded it and put it on my ipod following an induction script, and I essentially told myself that it was just a dream and it was safe to turn and face whoever was chasing me. I listened to the script twice when I went to bed. That night I slept longer than I have in ages and I woke up really sleepy (I've only woken sleepy about 4 times in my adult life - I have PTSD and wake up suddenly every morning) and I was sleepy all day. It was amazing. I've since learnt that in some old cultures it's well known that if something is chasing you in a dream that if you turn and face it, you can resolve it. Just thought I'd post this for anyone looking for help with dreams of being followed or chased - I think it has huge potential.