Lucid without Control (Dream Craziness)

[Midwinter Mist]

(Please excuse the chunk of text - the main point is near the bottom if you'd like to skip through.)

I've been aware of lucid dreams since last year and have had successful lucid dreams on a fair few occasions. I think it was in August this year that I had a burst of them, which was great. Then, as time passed and my mind began to wander with its troubles, I would perform reality checks every single night but would brush it all off as reality, until finally nothing.

Well, only moments ago, it all kicked off again, only it didn’t seem to kick off right.

The dreams felt very long and as lifelike as you can imagine they’d be. I kept having false awakenings and this led to me realising I was dreaming, shockingly so, over and over and over again.

I’d be wandering about my home in the morning with noticeable differences in the house, one even being a door at the top and edge of the stairs, which was rather interesting. Anyway, I’d begin to count my fingers and check my breathing and everything would fit. Finally, I’d become aware I was dreaming and I thought completely aware within the dream. However, when trying to perform tasks, nothing worked.

To be honest, my lucid level was low, as much as I didn’t think so in the dream state. Although I knew I was dreaming, I’d still rationalise almost everything around me, such as the layouts of the rooms, the position of the house in the area, where people were gathering and more. In fact, I was even running about with my ex at one point without feeling discomfort. If there’s no discomfort with that girl, something isn’t right.

I won’t go into every little thing that happened within these dreams but instead will jump straight to my attempts to manipulate the dream world without any luck.

One example comes when I was walking along the path through the field, which courses past the back of our house. It was very busy in the dream with lots of parents and other people (a school is nearby). I felt uncomfortable with all of them being there, so, aware that I was dreaming, I decided to imagine everybody vanishing, even closing my eyes and yelling out that it’s my dream and for them to all disappear as though I’m about to perform some wild magic trick. Instead, everybody just stared at me and acted as they would in a real life situation and I must have lost that sense of awareness as I felt incredibly embarrassed by it! Undoubtedly, I wanted out of there because of it. I couldn’t manipulate a single one of them.

Another example came with another false awakening. I remember experiencing the feeling of waking up from a dream, but performed immediate reality checks being aware of what happened just before and went straight back into an aware state. Excluding the actual waking world, I must have woke up around five or six times in the dream. Anyway, my mother had come in and I decided to just tell her that she isn’t real and that it’s my dream. Suddenly, I don’t even think she is my mom anymore, but what I do know is that informing her of this brings unwanted results - she begins to turn evil.

Yeah, it does worry me who and what exactly are around me in my dreams, pretending to be nice, but this person was turning evil with their eyes changing and these fangs appearing. They then started to raise their arms and prepared to come at me, but I did at least manage to change that scenario. Yes, as read in a book, I used love! Well, I basically changed the subject and started to ask them about pleasant things they like, mentioning rainbows, snow, stars and other things. They quickly turned back into a loving person. Snow and stars are my likes in particular. I was telling them about how you could add some shooting stars, fireworks and maybe planes streaming through the skies without noise to add to it all. I then suggested we look out the window and see if we can make any of it appear. It seemed I was still aware it was a dream, but I couldn’t do a thing. I couldn’t change the environment as I have done in the past. I actually wanted to ask this person to encourage me, but maybe it was a good thing I didn’t as they could have turned nasty again, haha.

Anyway, this post is getting long now so I actually won’t go on - you get the idea, I was aware I was dreaming but couldn’t do anything about it. I performed my checks often to keep me aware (I always count my fingers, but it was actually the first time I saw my hand with those additional fingers - we’re talking about twelve). There’s no doubt I still rationalised a lot away without thinking and that’s obviously part of the problem. I realise there are things I can do in my day to try and fix this (I’ve done it before so why not again?). I’d just like to know if there is anything I could have done in the dream itself to enhance my ability. I guess I wasn’t believing in it all enough. I tried to clap off lights, turn my shorts into trousers (that one is easier in the waking world - you just change clothes), you name it! It just would not work. What could I have done inside the dream to enhance my capabilities?

[StacyT]

I'll be interested to hear what anyone has to say about this. I have a lot of lucid dreams, but little control over them as well. I wonder if it has to to with the level of lucidity you are having (if that's even a concept). A lot of times, when I realize I'm lucid dreaming, things get visually fuzzy - or people - like in your example, just look at me like I'm crazy (because I try to attempt to fly or start singing at the top of my lungs in crowded places)

I wonder if it indicates holding oneself back or a lack of confidence?

[Midwinter Mist]

Originally Posted by StacyT

I'll be interested to hear what anyone has to say about this. I have a lot of lucid dreams, but little control over them as well. I wonder if it has to to with the level of lucidity you are having (if that's even a concept). A lot of times, when I realize I'm lucid dreaming, things get visually fuzzy - or people - like in your example, just look at me like I'm crazy (because I try to attempt to fly or start singing at the top of my lungs in crowded places)

I wonder if it indicates holding oneself back or a lack of confidence?

I definitely think that's a possibility and there's no doubt the level of lucidity (or level of awareness, which makes more sense) comes into play. In my dream, as mentioned, I was still ignoring a lot of crazy things and accepting them as reality, but I imagine that wouldn't be the case had my awareness been stronger.

Interestingly enough, I've recently taken a different approach to my reality checks during the day. I carry a lot of things out in the same way but now I emphasise a lot of the differences between the two worlds and try to 'attack' and 'split' them further apart to help me distinguish them better.

I strongly make the point to myself that I am mixing my conscious and subconscious minds, becoming the ‘conscious’ in ‘subconscious’. I make it an extreme point that in the conscious side of things, there are very strict boundaries and laws in reality and most things conform to it under ordinary circumstances, whereas the laws and rules are broken in the unconscious mind. Maybe it is possible that this caused a problem in my case, as opposed to helping. Bearing in mind I’m supposed to be conscious IN the subconscious, it could be that my subconscious mind took it literally and was recognising my conscious self as carrying its rules and laws inside of the subconscious world, forcing it to conform to laws it doesn’t have to follow.

It'd be like the waking world in that we could enter another country with different laws to our home country. We don't have to follow a certain law we normally do in this new country, but we carry it over with us as it is what we know and have been taught and follow it anyway. I probably carried that 'conscious self and its rules' crap over!

Does that make any sense?

[bergengirl]

Først time l had power/ total awarenwss in my lucid dream someone was chasing me, but l was running in slow motion. This is so totally different from real live that l had totel awareness. I could fly, cast granadedes as big as water melons and so on. I dont have total controll every time and l think your reemark that you try to have counscious controll in the uncounscious world is very good.
What l tried too do was too have unreality checks instead of realitychecks. How many times during the day do you count your fingers ( hope none =)) Mayby this could be your clue that you are dreaming. Tell yourselv several times during the day, that if l count my fingers l am dreaming and l have totall power. Probably a good idea not too test it by taking of all your clothes hi hi
There is also a big differece with how real your dream feels and how lucid/aware you are.
I also have observed that if l have much stress l have more reallife dreams, but not neccecarely with more awareness. l think that the problem you have with power also maybe maybe relate too your awakening life.
Also l have managed too make the awareness that l have false awakenings into an unrealitytest.
Hope this can help you =)
If not l have more ideas, only remember that l am from norway and there is 7 hours of timedifference also l dont always bother for grammarcheck, hope this is not too much problem =)
Take care and good luck.. There is MUCH fun with lucid dreaming