Dealing with FEAR/ANXIETY

I have some questions to whomever can answer....I've been attempting to gain lucidity for a few months now...I've been succesful once with the WILD technique, but the experience was quite startling. i immediately stopped and couldn't sleep for about two days, just because of Fear.

Now I've been ready many posts about fear and how this new and "unknown" experience of lucid dreaming can at first facilitate some irrational anxiety, but I'm still having some problems getting past this...

here are my questions....

1) what are some methods you used to overcome these fears/anxieties in order to become adept at entering the LD?

2) are there any negative reprocussions to lucid dreaming? Has anybody in here had negative experiences while awake due to LDing? and if so, are they worth continuing with LDs?

It's very frustrating that fear is the only feasible reason i haven't been able to explore this, i want this very bad, but i need some words of wisdom i guess..thanks

I have yet to have any problems with Lucid Dreaming, simply because i know that all it is is a Dream and nothing bad can happen to you, specially when you become Lucid..I have Anxiety myself...and ADD and ADHD, i dont find it hard at all to beable to "Wanna Lucid" i have no fear of anything BAD happening or nothing like that..you just cant look at it that way, otherwise you will be holding yourself back..Just remember..your Lucid Dreams..you are in control,nothing can harm you..you are in charge of everything that happens..

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Originally posted by elsoñador
I have some questions to whomever can answer....I've been attempting to gain lucidity for a few months now...I've been succesful once with the WILD technique, but the experience was quite startling. i immediately stopped and couldn't sleep for about two days, just because of Fear.

Now I've been ready many posts about fear and how this new and \"unknown\" experience of lucid dreaming can at first facilitate some irrational anxiety, but I'm still having some problems getting past this...

here are my questions....

1) what are some methods you used to overcome these fears/anxieties in order to become adept at entering the LD?

2) are there any negative reprocussions to lucid dreaming? Has anybody in here had negative experiences while awake due to LDing? and if so, are they worth continuing with LDs?

It's very frustrating that fear is the only feasible reason i haven't been able to explore this, i want this very bad, but i need some words of wisdom i guess..thanks

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The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. (you might have heard this saying thousands of times, but the meaning doesnt sink in unless you think about it).

The concept of Fear is much more scarier, do you have those moments when you fear somthing then you realise once you've gone though it 'that wasnt so bad, it was easier than i thought......why was i so afriad'? once you overcome the idea of Fear you will become more adept at entering Lucid Dreams.....

In relation to the questions its usually inherent in the personality of the individual, you respond to it the way you respond to eating a cake, you either enjoy the taste or think its got to much flavor therefore it effects you if you eat to much..... you dig me?

Thank you both very much, I do appreciate this advice, its exactly what I'm looking for, someone experienced just to tell me "hey, this is just the first step." I'm very excited about this, i just have to change my attitude and expectations about this, that and just simply laugh at the fear...i have no reason to be afraid, i've had so many bad experiences on drugs, this can't be half as scary.....

I often enter through sleep paralysis, which can be incredibly frightening when you don't know what it is. I've had some very nasty experiences of not being able to wake up (mentally as well as physically) caught in some kind of semi-concious limbo, I could only describe it as the most claustrophobic thing imaginable, being trapped in a tiny crevice of your mind. The way I've found to deal with this works well, as soon as something happens that makes me feel uncomfortable, I don't fight it, I relax, and within a few seconds it passes - it often makes me fall asleep - but that's not a bad thing when you're trying to escape something terrifying. The best thing you can do is remind yourself that although it feels weird, nothing bad is actually happening to you - and you also have to truly believe that - if you can achieve that, then you'll have no worries. Sleep paralysis and I are old friends now.

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Originally posted by Lobe
I often enter through sleep paralysis, which can be incredibly frightening when you don't know what it is. *I've had some very nasty experiences of not being able to wake up (mentally as well as physically) caught in some kind of semi-concious limbo, I could only describe it as the most claustrophobic thing imaginable, being trapped in a tiny crevice of your mind. *The way I've found to deal with this works well, as soon as something happens that makes me feel uncomfortable, I don't fight it, I relax, and within a few seconds it passes - it often makes me fall asleep - but that's not a bad thing when you're trying to escape something terrifying. *The best thing you can do is remind yourself that although it feels weird, nothing bad is actually happening to you - and you also have to truly believe that - if you can achieve that, then you'll have no worries. *Sleep paralysis and I are old friends now.

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Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Before I knew exactly what it was, it was quite a terrifying experience. I now realize that sleep paralysis is in fact a very useful state for inducing lucid dreams.

Sleep paralysis, when I've encountered it, has come toward the end of my dreams. It was scary for a couple seconds then, but now I'm not afraid.

Once I was shot in the stomach with a sniper rifle (in a dream), and I woke up and couldn't breathe for one breath. Also I was stabbed in the back with a grid of invisible needles (had sharp shooting pains), I woke up and couldn't move for two seconds. I thought I was dead when I got stabbed initially, because my vision went from black, to yellowish, to crimson red. It really scared me, until I could function properly.

In reality, I have fallen from a tree, hit my jaw on it, and my vision went from black to yellowish. I saw the crimson red as an even further extension of a more painful injury.

I think the best thing would be to just to let these things happen, before you realize they are happening. It will be scary, and it's easier said than done, but then you'll be on the other side of the fence and realize there are no worries.