Thread: Dream controll

My advice: whatever happens in your dreams is just that, a dream. There is absolutely nothing you can' overcome through willpower and if you regret doing something remember that it didn't really happen. Also, what DCs tell you might not be true.

I'll try to help as much as I can.

Originally Posted by Allanrps

In one article it said that looking into a mirror in a dream may show you a disfigured form of yourself, or how you see yourself. What if you do not want to see this image? What if this horrifies you? Imagine seeing a gruesome image of yourself know thats who you think you are. Could that instill fear into your dreamself that converts to your real self?

It is true for most people it seems that looking in a mirror can make some creepy images. You could see an image of yourself with a bloody and torn up face, and you might think you really have that face in a dream. After you wake up, you would probably feel the urge to go check in the mirror one last time, but I'm sure you would get over it after realizing your face is just fine.

Originally Posted by Allanrps

Also, i understand that you know your dreaming in a lucid dream, but what if something you do makes you doubt that? What if while dreaming you do a reality check and it proves false? now instead of saying "im dreaming" you say "my whole life is a lie" or "my world just turned upside down?".

I have had one experience similar to this. I saw some pretty amazing things and became lucid. After about a minute though I though to try the breathe through the nose reality check. I couldn't breathe through, so I thought I was actually awake. I didn't become really upset or anything, except a little sad that I "wasn't dreaming".

Originally Posted by Allanrps

How much control do you REALLY have over what you do in your dreams. What if you have a yearning to do something in real life that you deem is morally wrong, such as having premarital sex. In real life you can control this and restrain from such practice, but can yearning in the dreamstate overcome this, causing you to do things you much regret in real life?

On one of the tutorials here I found something about the three parts of the human psyche. There is the id, the ego, and the superego. The superego is what keeps you from doing things that you would consider immoral, and the id deals with more instinctive things (like the need to mate). The ego and super ego are both turned off when you dream, so the id might take over and make you do things that you consider wrong. If you seek out something like sex in the dreamstate it shouldn't affect you in real life. Your superego would turn back on and you would have moral thoughts again.

Originally Posted by Allanrps

In a recent post on this forum a dreamer posted about dream characters, who are ruled by her subconscious, disrupting her dream. She had trouble getting rid of them and had to use demons to kill them usually.What if these characters do something much more disturbing than to only bother one, such as telling them things they do not want to know about themselves or attacking them or scaring them? How could you escape them when it is your subconscious that brings you them?

I don't think there's really a way to escape your subconscious. Most of the time, if not always, your subconscious does strange things like this for the better. If they tell you something about yourself, you should accept it, and if you don't like it you can try to change it. As for attacking and scaring, it might be trying to help you out with a fear. I also heard somewhere that nightmares tend to be the minds way of preparing you for things (even though they might not happen). So the main point here is to just try to listen to your subconscious and let it help you.

Originally Posted by Allanrps

One of my other ponderings is this; If you train yourself to lucid dream often can you untrain this habit? If your dreams become horribly unruly and horrifying could you stop yourself from becoming lucid in dreams? Such as training yourself to do something that reacts similarly in a dream as it does in reality and telling yourself that that means your are awake? If someone was used to checking his watch to see if he is dreaming was given a faulty watch in reality could this tradition go so far as to make him doubt reality? If he looks at his watch and see the second counting down could he think he is dreaming while he is awake? Because of these thoughts i have had aprehension of trying lucid dreaming. Could someone guide me on this?

Yes, I believe you could successfuly untrain yourself. There wouldn't be anything specific to do other than completely forgetting lucid dreaming and quitting reality checks in real life. As time passes you should eventually stop doing reality checks in dreams. Personally though, I don't think it's wise to run away from the problem. It's your dream and your mind, so you should just fight back against these horrible dreams. Or you should at least try talking to them because that sometimes has funny and friendly results.

Originally Posted by Allanrps

If someone was used to checking his watch to see if he is dreaming was given a faulty watch in reality could this tradition go so far as to make him doubt reality? If he looks at his watch and see the second counting down could he think he is dreaming while he is awake? Because of these thoughts i have had aprehension of trying lucid dreaming. Could someone guide me on this?

I'm a little confused on this one, but it's very rare for someone to confuse the real world for a dream. This is because a part of the brain called the logic centre is turned off during non-lucid dreams. In a dream you would jump out a window because "the concrete is obviously made of cotton candy". When you wake up your logic centre is turned back on and you would say, "If I jump out that window I'm seriously going to break my leg or worse!" So you would have to try really really hard to convince yourself you're dreaming in the real world.

Feel free to ask more questions and let me know if I missed something.

i guess my main concern is this. Are you conscious enough to exercise self control? Can you fully control your emotions and actions? If something could make you frantic in real life but you are able to control it would it send you overboard in your dreams? If you can force yourself to do something you know you should but at the same time goes against what you want to do in real life, can you do the same in a dream?

Originally Posted by Allanrps

i guess my main concern is this. Are you conscious enough to exercise self control? Can you fully control your emotions and actions? If something could make you frantic in real life but you are able to control it would it send you overboard in your dreams?

Your level of consciousness tends to vary in lucid dreams. I think the more aware you are, the more control you will have over yourself. In most of my lucid dreams I have been able to control my emotions and actions though. Being lucid easily allows people to deal with fears. I'm an arachnophobic (extreme fear of spiders) and I have almost no control over it in real life. Non-lucid dreams are able to scare me because I'm not thinking right, but I'm usually fearless in lucid dreams.

In a non-lucid dream I had once, there was a giant spider killing people and I was very terrified. I was even more afraid and irrational than I would be in real life. In another dream however, I was being swarmed by 1000 spiders. I became lucid and most of my fear left me because I knew that they were not real. I also knew I could use dream control to get away from them, so I teleported to a place where they couldn't get me.

Originally Posted by Allanrps

you can force yourself to do something you know you should but at the same time goes against what you want to do in real life, can you do the same in a dream?

Let me give you another example from a lucid dream I had once. A man was about to jump off of a skyscraper in my dream and I had to get to the roof and stop him. There was a girl standing near the elevator and she wanted to have sex with me. I was tempted, but I told myself no and went up the elevator to save the man.

I really don't think you need to worry too much about not being able to control yourself or anything. Even if you aren't capable of controlling yourself in a lucid dream it's not a problem. They're just dreams after all.

Originally Posted by Allanrps

In one article it said that looking into a mirror in a dream may show you a disfigured form of yourself, or how you see yourself. What if you do not want to see this image? What if this horrifies you? Imagine seeing a gruesome image of yourself know thats who you think you are. Could that instill fear into your dreamself that converts to your real self?

Dream mirrors are a lot like looking into a mirror on LSD. (Shhhh... I didn't say that). You could only freak yourself out from an evil dream mirror version of your self in waking life if you are already mentally unstable to begin with.

Originally Posted by Allanrps

Also, i understand that you know your dreaming in a lucid dream, but what if something you do makes you doubt that? What if while dreaming you do a reality check and it proves false? now instead of saying "im dreaming" you say "my whole life is a lie" or "my world just turned upside down?".

Most of the time you don't experience that doubt, it usually all or nothing. By the time I bother to do a reality check, I already know I'm dreaming, even if it doesn't work. Also you don't really get those paradigm shifting moments in dreams (other than lucidity), you just kind of go with whatever whacky changes present themselves like it's always been that way.

Originally Posted by Allanrps

How much control do you REALLY have over what you do in your dreams. What if you have a yearning to do something in real life that you deem is morally wrong, such as having premarital sex. In real life you can control this and restrain from such practice, but can yearning in the dreamstate overcome this, causing you to do things you much regret in real life? In a recent post on this forum a dreamer posted about dream characters, who are ruled by her subconscious, disrupting her dream. She had trouble getting rid of them and had to use demons to kill them usually.What if these characters do something much more disturbing than to only bother one, such as telling them things they do not want to know about themselves or attacking them or scaring them? How could you escape them when it is your subconscious that brings you them? One of my other ponderings is this; If you train yourself to lucid dream often can you untrain this habit? If your dreams become horribly unruly and horrifying could you stop yourself from becoming lucid in dreams? Such as training yourself to do something that reacts similarly in a dream as it does in reality and telling yourself that that means your are awake? If someone was used to checking his watch to see if he is dreaming was given a faulty watch in reality could this tradition go so far as to make him doubt reality? If he looks at his watch and see the second counting down could he think he is dreaming while he is awake? Because of these thoughts i have had aprehension of trying lucid dreaming. Could someone guide me on this?

Dude, you worry too much. I'll tell you the same things the same thing I told the girl with the pesky dream characters, everything requires your attention to exist. So don't worry about it, and wherever possible, choose what you focus your attention on, whether in real life or a dream. You can focus on what can go bad in a dream and create an infinite number of negative scenarios, or you can focus on how awesome lucid dreaming can be and all the incredible things you can do. In a nutshell, that's what dream control is. If you're easily distracted by negative things, just remember you can choose to focus on something positive at any time.