Lucid dream control - how?

[smallstar]

Cheers,

After a week of trying, I'm still having severe problems controlling my dreaming. I have observed that I usually get at least 1-2 'reality checks' every night. In that point, I realize that I'm dreaming, but either:

1) immediately get too excited and wake up due to increase in heart rate

2) try to force the dream to fit what I manifested during the evening, violating dream logic/consistency and waking up from the internal protest

3) realize that I'm in control, but fail to do anything fearing 1) or 2) would happen, in this case the dream may go on

4) realize that I'm dreaming, but cannot do anything to control it

Any ideas about what I could do?

BTW, the type of dream I'm trying to create is where I 'summon' someone. I hope that I won't need a permission from the other person in real life before the summon can take place successfully...

-SS (Mood 1)

[Jill]

Erin's got some good blog posts on this, plus I think also a podcast. You might want to check those out if you haven't already.

[Sheehan]

A week is too short a time It's a skill that will improve with repeated use. I could give you some tips about how I improved the lucidity level in my dreams:

1. Keep a dream journal and document your dreams with as much detail as possible.

2. Optimize your sleep pattern (like, never sleep until you are sleepy).

Regular practice and journaling will improve your dream recall and also make you calm when you discover that you're lucid. It's perfectly normal to lose lucidity quickly in the first few lucid dreams. However, as I said, it will get better. Just hang in there.

[smallstar]

Cheers,

It was Erin's podcast that got me interested in this thing once again. I had done the journaling thing (wake up, switch light on, journal a few lines, go back to sleep) for a month 5 years ago. It clearly helped dream quality and had me see 3/4 LD's, but it was also painful and left me more tired in the morning. This time, I'm trying to do this with less pain, but maybe you are right and I will need to journal what I remember in the morning.

-SS (Mood 1)

[smallstar]

Cheers,

Three weeks of intending and still no progress. Last night, after a week of getting no reality checks at all, I very strongly intended to get them - got two, and both woke me up immediately.

I also set an alarm and go WILD after 15 minutes of staying up - no success, since every time I felt myself falling down I got immediately excited, or my eyes started to spasm on their own which about doubled my heart rate (is this REM sleep without the sleep?) After giving up, I could not even fall asleep normally!

I still want to avoid the journaling stuff. Now I'm starting to think about giving up the whole thing and developing my generic self control (calmness) first. What do you think?

-SS (Mood 3)

[Mayo]

Interesting, i tried this last night. Although i haven't got to phase of sleeping i got into the phase of "eminent shutdown feeling" where my body had a sensation like someone had shut down the entire power grid of my body, i thought something special would happen, like i would actually enter the dream like you enter the room through the door, well it seemed like i got into some ether world, i saw blue light, glimpses of images like when you are starting to semi-consciously enter the dream. But alas nothing, so i decided to turn on my side and start sleeping the old way, although i had to consciously force my body to move, it was not that hard like you have no control of the body but i had to exert some will to open my mouth and move my arms and legs. All in all, like Erin said this is great stuff, for first to start lucid dreaming, 2nd to start to grasp the concept of firing up the chakras and exert OBE experience. I said it before: cant wait to get through the firs phase! (^_^)

[The David]

It's hard. I had a crazy dream last night, involving:

1. A false awakening that felt just as real as any real one.

2. Me writing the dream down in a dream journal (which was really frustrating when I woke up, even though I remembered it more clearly as a result)

3. Reality checks that did not work.

I think this will permanently botch up my attempt at lucid dreaming.

Try not to think too much when you're dreaming, or you may get distracted and forget what you're doing, and that you're dreaming. Just let things flow more naturally, and if you feel that you can control it, then do.