This is a possible technique for those who have a tough time with certain aspects of dream control, like flying, materialism, etc.
In a few threads now, a lot of people have mentioned that need for confidence in your LDs for control to really work. I definitely agree with this. If you don't think that ice cream is gonna appear in your hand, it probably won't. But as many of us know, it's hard to overcome this confidence barrier. We may scream out "APPEAR YOU ICE CREAM CONE! I'M DREAMING, I AND CAN DO ANYTHING!", but for the life of us nothing happens. To these people (like me!), I suggest this:
Ask around in your dream! It's your mind. You'd be surprised at what comes out of dream characters' mouths when you ask them stuff about your dream. Ask that stange old man at the corner how to shoot fire from your hand. If you're like me, chances are you'll get an odd answer, if it makes sense at all. Many people tell me "you're not ready yet", which I accept (though I maybe shouldn't).
You may actually have someone give you instructions on how to do certain things. These may be very weird, like "dance a jig, then you can shoot fire!" Go ahead and do what the weirdoes say though. You may find that you gain your desired control ability! For me to fly, I need to jump as if I'm about to land flat onmy face. It's an odd technique, but I'd rather have to do something weird and be able to fly than not be able to at all!
This technique may not work for everyone, but it'll likely at least get you some amusing dream experiences, which makes it worth a shot. I find it can really help your confidence to be able to do certain "impossible" things in dreams. Unless you're REALLY lucid, your dream self stillt ends to accept a skewed dream world. That's why you can be in a lucid dream on another world and not really pay attention to how much different the world is sometimes. As such, even your lucid self is likely to accept what your dream characters say with little doubt - at least, less doubt then trying to snap your fingers and make something appear!
To those who are having trouble, give this a shot, or anything similar. The main point of this is - work WITH your dreams to get your desired results, not against them! Instead of saying "why won't this work?!", instead ask, "What can I do to make this work?" If asking people won't work, look for answers elsewhere. Meditate in your dream, read a book in your dream, look in ponds, mirror, anything that you think might give you answers! It's a lot easier than trying to force stuff, and it's a lot mor fun too - why waste a lucid dream being frustrated?
Happy dreaming!
