Issue with control

[Zack]

I had my second lucid dream last night... in the first (last week), I tried spinning, but as I did so, I felt like I was watching my dream body rather than being inside it, and I disconnected from the dream and had a false awakening. Last night, I became lucid and did a few things, I guess subconsciously, before I decided to consciously do something. At that point, I felt the dream slipping away and tried to rub my hands together (the second method I learned), but it felt like my arms were completely paralyzed and I couldn't get my hands close enough to touch each other, and the dream collapsed. Is there some trick to this that I'm missing, or do I just need more practice/lucids?

[UcfGirl]

As a natural lucid dreamer since I was little, I say practice with more lucids. Everyone has the same problem with your subconscious fighting it or at first it becomes difficult to hold on to the dream once lucid. I overcame mine with time and growing up, gaining a better understanding of myself and knowing my dreams very well. It becomes easier to relax and stabilize with time. Just remember these are your dreams, and you know yourself better than anyone. Reflect on your mindset in the dream and what's going on in your every day life. Go to bed with an open mind and the world of lucids should pull you in right before your eyes. I feel like if you try too hard with tricks, it kills your creative process. Some tricks may work. If I slip out of a lucid dream, immediately fall back asleep and you should be able to have another.

[BobbyLance]

I think its just natural for a beginner to "slip" out from a dream. You'll probably be able to control it once you get the hang of it after a few more LDs.

[Puffin]

Spinning can have mixed results in a dream. If you spin too fast, you might end up destabilizing the dream because you're not able to focus on your surroundings as much. However, if you spin slowly, you'll be able to look around and take in all of your surroundings. When you spun, perhaps you just needed to focus more on your dream body than your surroundings for the time being; eg. rubbing your hands. As for your second dream, I've personally never had issues with my dream body, but I can suggest visualizing your hands coming together, and imagine what they will feel like when you rub them together. Also, don't think of your physical body, or even the fact that you're actually asleep; this will totally throw off your attention towards the dream. Sometimes you end up becoming lucid in a dream right at the end of your sleep cycle, so there's not much you can do there. Having a couple more lucids and being able to practice stabilization and dream control methods will really help; you're just figuring out how to do things, so I definitely wouldn't say you're missing something.

[The Cusp]

Being unable to control your dream body is very common among people lucid dreaming for the first few times. A few more lucids and that shouldn't be an issue anymore.

[Zack]

Thanks to everyone for the tips/advice/information! Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I was practicing... then went to see Harry Potter 7-2. Wasn't bad. As a natural lucid dreamer since I was little, I say practice with more lucids. Everyone has the same problem with your subconscious fighting it or at first it becomes difficult to hold on to the dream once lucid. I overcame mine with time and growing up, gaining a better understanding of myself and knowing my dreams very well. It becomes easier to relax and stabilize with time. Just remember these are your dreams, and you know yourself better than anyone. Reflect on your mindset in the dream and what's going on in your every day life. Go to bed with an open mind and the world of lucids should pull you in right before your eyes. I feel like if you try too hard with tricks, it kills your creative process. Some tricks may work. If I slip out of a lucid dream, immediately fall back asleep and you should be able to have another. Yeah, oddly after I've fallen asleep after both my lucid dreams, they've just been standard. I've been trying autosuggestion and this open-mindedness and I think it's helping, but it's far from a silver bullet. Thanks for the tips! I think its just natural for a beginner to "slip" out from a dream. You'll probably be able to control it once you get the hang of it after a few more LDs. I hope you're right! Spinning can have mixed results in a dream. If you spin too fast, you might end up destabilizing the dream because you're not able to focus on your surroundings as much. However, if you spin slowly, you'll be able to look around and take in all of your surroundings. When you spun, perhaps you just needed to focus more on your dream body than your surroundings for the time being; eg. rubbing your hands. As for your second dream, I've personally never had issues with my dream body, but I can suggest visualizing your hands coming together, and imagine what they will feel like when you rub them together. Also, don't think of your physical body, or even the fact that you're actually asleep; this will totally throw off your attention towards the dream. Sometimes you end up becoming lucid in a dream right at the end of your sleep cycle, so there's not much you can do there. Having a couple more lucids and being able to practice stabilization and dream control methods will really help; you're just figuring out how to do things, so I definitely wouldn't say you're missing something. I think that was the issue with my spinning, perhaps. Instead of thinking of actually turning to see everything, I focused too much on just the act of spinning. Oops. I definitely didn't think of my sleeping self for an instant; I just thought of all the things I could do. But as soon as I felt the dream slip, I tried the hand-rubbing... I think perhaps I was too far out of the dream, and what I felt was my sleep paralysis? Not sure. That's good to hear. This is definitely one long process and not an easy one at that. Thanks for the very thorough response! Being unable to control your dream body is very common among people lucid dreaming for the first few times. A few more lucids and that shouldn't be an issue anymore. Hope so!

[Havok]

Was ready to start a new thread there, but I see there is a similar issue I have when attaining lucidity. Sometimes I am able to stabilize and have an epic Lucid dream, other times I may be caught off guard. When I become aware of the dream I sometimes feel heavily drugged up, like I have no control over my body, like I had been heavily drinking yet I am concious. This can last sometimes as I try to control it, but I was wondering if anyone could recommend an approach or explanation as to why this happens and is it something other people experience? Many Thanks

[BobbyLance]

Hi there my friend, It's natural to have lucid dreams that's kind of hard or stiff to control. Most people here in DV experience it too, including me. Not even the masters of lucid dreaming can escape this issue. It has something to do with the dream's vividness. The more vivid the ream is, the more easily you can control your dream body. It's just a matter of "connecting" yourself with the dream body. Let's say, the skin of your dream body is numb, try rubbing it on rough/spiky surfaces. If you're tongue is numb too, lick the pavement. If you can't speak, grab a rock, and eat it. I know all of this things I'm talking about sounds stupid, but this are good ways in activating your dream body and making it less drugged and heavy. Hope this helps and feel free to ask more questions

[Havok]

Hey, Thanks for the advice. This only happens every now and then, but some times it can be really weird. I think maybe it could be from not making a clean transition to the lucid state, as I have read this in other posts. I have tried with success, the feeling for textures, like the brick work on the pavement and fur of an animal and tastes etc, this helps keep the clarity in my lucid state, but sometimes I cant quite get a grip on it, it has been improving I must admit. But that sounds more helpful for specific areas ie when speaking, eating something and the likes, will defo be trying that more and doing some more RC's.