Strong emotion in the dream

**CJC** · 05-24-2015 02:53 AM

This isn't the typical "I get too excited and wake up" thread, but it's related. The answer to that always seems to be "remain calm" and "don't let your emotions get out of control, followed by "you can learn how to keep your cool with practice."

The thing is, for me, the whole point of lucid dreaming is to experience overwhelming and empowering emotions, be it pure awe, astonishment, excitement, etc. My lucid goals are things like staring at a beautiful otherworldly sunset or hopping in the Aston Martin and flooring it, things that will definitely extract strong emotion. I want to feel these powerful feelings, not have to try and regulate them.

So, can it be done, or am I doomed to having to control these emotions?

**ParanoidLlama** · 05-24-2015 03:54 AM

I'm not really too sure about this explanation, but I think the reason people wake up when they get excited after going lucid is because they're not properly stabilized in the dream. When you're not well stabilized, you're in a very fragile state where any large spike mentally or physically can wake you up. This is also why whenever you fall in a dream from a high place you usually wake up. So basically, what I mean is it can definitely be done, as long as you have grounded yourself well into the dream and are not thinking about reality.

Hope this helps! Sweet (lucid) dreams..

**DawnEye11** · 05-24-2015 03:58 AM

Theres nothing wrong with feeling joy,excitement or other emotions in a dream. But if you get too excited in the dream or panic you can end up not being able to move in the dream,having a False awakening or waking yourself up. But what i mean by too excited is like you are high with excitement.

**Sageous** · 05-24-2015 05:33 AM

Originally Posted by CJC

So, can it be done, or am I doomed to having to control these emotions?

It can be done, and be assured it can be done without controlling or subdoing your emotion.

As Llama already basically said, I think the waking-up problem might actually have less to do with emotion than it does with losing lucidity. It isn't your powerful emotions that are waking you up, but your loss of touch with your dream: When something truly stirring occurs in the dream, you tend to unconsciously forget you are dreaming, and when you forget you are dreaming, the sudden "reality" of the moment might switch your brain into waking mode.

So the cure I think does lie in stabilization, and stabilization in this case should be based on remembering that you are dreaming, no matter what happens or what strong emotions you might feel. Try to keep the notion that "this is a dream" cycling through the back of your mind, and remember, no matter how emotionally charged you get, that what's happening is not real. If you can manage that, you should be able to side-step your physiological reaction to strong emotion and keep sleeping right on through the moment. This isn't easy, but it can be done -- and you don't have to remain calm at all!

**robertcox88** · 05-24-2015 07:34 AM

Yea think of it like you are watching a powerful movie or listening to an amazing composition of music... they can get you emotional, but just realize where that emotion is coming from and don't let your "self" become too high or low or scared because of it. You can even use that philosophy in reality... and it can help you stay even keeled. Some people don't like being even keeled though, me included. I tend to get caught up in emotional states because it makes me feel alive. Those different states of being are fun... but from them comes instability. It's almost like you have to trick your brain into being emotional while staying even keeled in reality... it's like acting. You allow yourself to go places but are able snap back to your "self" at any time.

**Goldenspark** · 05-24-2015 10:27 AM

Most of my LD's have been short and I've woken because of over emotion or inability to engage fully, but I have had 2 longer LD's, one about 5 minutes, where I didn't wake early, and my view of that was that engaging in the dream is a way of distracting your conscious mind into not thinking about the fact that you are dreaming. For me it feels like a delicate balance where in order for it to be an LD the conscious mind has to wake just enough for you to realise, but not so much that it swamps the dream. It's a bit like that Feeling when you are on "autopilot", say when driving, and you are not consciously thinking about the driving, but then you snap back to engaging again. Staying in the LD feels like you are still on autopilot but half-noticing in a casual way.
I think that just having lots of LD's and trying to stay calm allows you to temper the over-emotion that brings you out of the LD. It took over 30 short LD's for me to curb my excitement!

**CJC** · 05-24-2015 02:50 PM

Thank you all, I'll definitely use this advice and let you know how it goes when I have my next LD

**GRValentine** · 05-27-2015 11:41 AM

I personally never had issues with strong emotions in lucid dreaming. But I think this will help you. The lucid dream is part lucid part dreamy ( I know it's obvious ). If you are too lucid you will wake up, but if you are too "dreamy" you will lose lucidity soon. Maybe you have such a strong desire for it to be real that you wake up. I have a question for you. Are you sad when you wake up from your strong emotional dream? ( like disappointed )

**Rothgar** · 06-01-2015 03:35 AM

I have had close to 300 lucid dreams...but just recently i have started extending from very short lucid dreams (a minute or two) to much longer. What happens to me is that the dream goes black and I assumed I was waking up and then did. Now I hold onto something and keep feeling it during the darkness. In about 30 secs to one minute the vision comes back and then I get a longer LD. I guess this is a form of dream chaining but it really has given me much longer LDs.

**CJC** · 06-02-2015 04:08 AM

Originally Posted by GRValentine

I personally never had issues with strong emotions in lucid dreaming. But I think this will help you. The lucid dream is part lucid part dreamy ( I know it's obvious ). If you are too lucid you will wake up, but if you are too "dreamy" you will lose lucidity soon. Maybe you have such a strong desire for it to be real that you wake up. I have a question for you. Are you sad when you wake up from your strong emotional dream? ( like disappointed )

Disappointed, no. Longing for more, yeah

**Timothy Paradox** · 06-02-2015 02:50 PM

The first few LD's, I got very excited. Now, it's more like "Oh, it's a dream. Oh well. Let's get on with the program."

**robertcox88** · 06-03-2015 07:12 AM

Originally Posted by Rothgar

I have had close to 300 lucid dreams...but just recently i have started extending from very short lucid dreams (a minute or two) to much longer. What happens to me is that the dream goes black and I assumed I was waking up and then did. Now I hold onto something and keep feeling it during the darkness. In about 30 secs to one minute the vision comes back and then I get a longer LD. I guess this is a form of dream chaining but it really has given me much longer LDs.

This is gold thank you! I'm going to try that... Exact same thing happens to me all the time and instead of just wake up, I will continue in that space of being awake but just keep my eyes closed and return to that lucid state. It will probably happen tonight.