100% control is easy

I just joined, so I find it odd that you have a whole forum dedicated to how to control a lucid dream. Lucid dreams are very easy to control once you get the feel for it.

It's all about expectations and confidence. When you want something to happen, do you think "hmm, I hope this will happen, perhaps I can try to make it happen", or do you think "now this will happen". If you assert yourself, and have confidence that it will work, then it will work.

Confidence alters your expectation. If you are confident that everything you want to happen will happen, then when you want something to happen, you expect it to happen.

Expectation is key. Confidence brings about expectation. Do you fear you'll get your head chopped off? What was that over there? Oh no, is it going to happen? BAM. Head chopped off. You created the environment, and your fear fueled it. Instead... Do you see a person? It's time to jump 30 feet over them, and land in a pile of deadly spikes... only to fall right through them, and glide to safety. Because that's what you expect to happen. Or do you expect that to happen?

I'm rambling... I think :-P.

If you don't expect to walk through objects, and if you don't expect to be able to jump 30 feet in the air, THEN YOU WON'T.

Once you turn lucid, say to yourself "I know this is a dream. I know that my mind creates this dream environment. Therefore, I will accomplish anything I want." Start expecting cooler things, and you'll start seeing cooler things.

Ok I'm done ranting :-P.

~Sean

Peebrain, everyone here DOES know that, but you, being a natural lucid dreamer have been able to experiment hundreds and hundreds of times with that. Others have only had... 4? lucid dreams. They haven't "gotten the feel for it" yet, as you say. Once my conciousness is high enough in a lucid dream, I will also be able to have 100% control. The problem is, if you have low conciousness (which is also low realiziation that it is a dream), then you will have little or no control because you don't realize that it IS a dream and you CAN do anything.

The forum dedicated to dream control is dedicated to helping people realize what you have just said and helping people with methods and such. When I say methods, you might think, "You don't need methods, all you have to do is will yourself". You are right, but for some people it is easier to imagine a jet pack blasting them places while flying than to just "will" yourself because they have had little or no experiance flying in lucid dreams. You on the other hand, have had hundreds of lucid dreams as I said, so you know how to fly and what it feels like, so it is easier to recreate the feeling for you. Also, you might have been able to fly and have 100% control the first time you have ever done it. A lot of people here have that ability too. Although, some people don't have that. You say "confidence brings about expectation" but some people aren't confident because some people aren't confident for many reasons such as...

A) aren't confident in real life, so basically probably aren't confident in dreams
B) has had negative influences related to lucid dreaming, such as people telling someone that flying in lucid dreams is "hard" and "requires extreme skill"

Since its all power of the mind, you need to have an assertive mind and a lot of confidence, which some people don't have...

Understand (sorry if I repeated things a lot)?

Actually not everyone knows that. And sometimes it takes *A lot* of time to realize your mistake.
For example I had no control over summoning for like 2 months, cause I picked up a wrong technique. So I used *only* expectations in order to summon... Result = no summoning ability

Now I corrected my mistake and side with peebrain, saying that conrol is:

-confidence
-expectations
-willpower

if used together, almost anything is possible

I understand that others need methods, but what I'm saying is:

No, actually you don't need methods.

What happens when you use a method? You are programming yourself to believe "IF I do this method, THEN it will work". You are using the same old "confidence and expectation" method, but disguised. They say to themselves "ok, I read on the forum that if I do this, then it will work". So they do it. How confident are they that the method will work? Do they trust the person who said it? If they are confident that the method will work, then it WILL WORK.

It breaks back down to what I said. Do you expect the method to work? If yes, then it will. If you expect failure, then you will fail. Using a method is a way to trick yourself into expecting something. I suggest learning to expect something, then you won't EVER need a method. Get to the root.

~Sean

Yes, well the thing with methods is that after doing them a few times you think, damn this is easy. You will realize that flying is easy and try it by just willing it. It is probably easier to do a method first as opposed to try willing first.

The thing with willing is you don't really know what will happen. With methods, you understand how it will work. After hundreds of lucid dreams, you will have a really large understanding of how "will" works so you will be able to will things better. So yes, you don't NEED methods, but they help to visualize flying and help you understand how it will work better...

I sort of knew this stuff but thanks for the reminders. Reading this before bed just reinforces what I already know to be the best way to have control. Hopefully tonight I'll have my second LD and really get something acomplished - I'm finally doing RCs in dreams and staying calm when I realized it's a dream so now all that's left is to gain confidence in controling it. I'll maybe take baby steps at first but I expect to make huge strides soon.

In a sense control is really easy. Its just like the matrix. To do what Neo does is easy....but hard because of the limits people put on themselves.

i agree with peebrain

Methods grow from experimentation and polishing of experiences from past people. These methods may not work for everyone.

I can agree on the idea that having confidence, desire, and expectation will stimulate natural methods along the way. Of course, this is not discount the use of already used methods. They may save lots of time. But it's true, that some people (including me) might limit our lucid experiences to the completion of a certain method...which I realize, is a very stupid way to go.

The best affirmation in this case is "I have a natural ability to lucid dream!"

yeh but its harder than it sounds to actually have, and CONTROL, a LD.
I haven't had one yet and i hate seeing people rambling that they are naturals, etc...blah blah blah.... becoz some people have been trying their hearts out.
When i do i'll let you know IN THE RIGHT FORUM...

I don't think that is 100% true. I have had totally random and unexpected results happen before. I know some people who also say they done something 50 times before without ever having a problem then one day they try and it doesn't work.

Its a good guide though. I would say most of the time it should work but dreams can be weird some times.

I also notice that how much of awareness you have in your lucid dreams often affects the control of your dream world.

Confidence + Expectations + Awareness= Better Control

Also try to feel the power inside you growing. Knowing that you're not limited to anything.

If you find it hard to control your dreams as if it is on purpose, it might mean that you need to clear something up before you're able to do something like for example, you try to fly, but you can't. Maybe in your real life you're too stressed out or too "heavy" to be able to fly therefore you're stuck in your dream. Once it's worked out, you should be able to do it.

Also not to mention that practicing often will help you to gain more control of your lucid dream(s). So... keep PRACTICING! ;)

Good post btw... :) I'm also a natural lucid dreamer and I found what I said does play some kind of small factors in my dream control.

Good luck to everybody! ;)

You just explained it. I've always been able to lucid dream, too, without any "methods", and I didn't understand it. I was surprised to find a whole forum on this and actually methods to ld.
Your explanation for the whole confidence thing actually makes a lot of sense. Before I dream I ask myself, "hmmm...what am I going to dream about tonight." I don't have any doubts that I might not dream and control it; it's more of a matter-of-fact thing.
It's probably different for people who aren't natural, so they can't just tell themselves what to dream and control during their dreams. Therefore, they probably need those methods and tutorials so they can go lucid.
I disagree with you when you say that when you are trying a certain method you are already setting yourself up with failure due to low-confidence. For example: some people are especially gifted at math. for the ones that aren't, they need to study methods and tutorials. Studying and learning those don't make space for "what if's". They probably boost confidence.
Anyway...im rambling... :-P I'll stop here.
Ciao.

I see a lot of you still like your methods. Let me explain how I view it. Granted, I am a natural lucid dreamer, and everyone hates me, yatta yatta yatta - but perhaps I can shine some light on something. Or just waste your time :-P.

*steps on soap box*

A method to do something is a way to convince yourself that it will work. The method doesn't do anything except invoke the "confidence+expectation".

For example:

Let's say you have trouble flying in a lucid dream. You are lucid, but for some reason you just can't fly. Then, one day, your best buddy comes online and screams "I DISCOVERED HOW TO FLY! I can do it in a lucid dream! I figured it out!". So you say (logically): "How do you do it?". He says that he pretended he was wearing a jetpack, and he could fly with it on his back.

So now, you say to yourself:

"A jetpack makes people fly. This method makes sense to me. My best friend, who I trust, just told me that it works. He is very confident in his method of pretending to wear a jetpack. Next time I am lucid, if I do this method, then I can fly! I am excited!".

So what happens? The environment you exist in creates confidence and expectation. You are confident in your friend. You are confident that his method will work. You expect that IF you do his method, THEN you will fly. Your confidence is imprinted on your expectation.

The method makes sense to you. You reason with yourself "of course! Jetpacks make people fly, so this makes sense. This should work.".

You say: "This should work".

That is the key sentence. "Should" implies confidence and expectation. You expect it to work. You are confident it will work.

And guess what happens? Your next lucid dream, your confidence and expectation takes over. You try the method, and you fly! But why do you fly? Because the method is good? No. The method is a crutch. The method is what convinced you, and gave you confidence and expectation.

The method did not make you fly. The method invoked confidence and expectation. This is what I do:

Lucid Dream -> Confidence+Expectation -> Control the Dream

This is what you are doing:

Lucid Dream -> Method -> Confidence+Expectation -> Control the Dream

You are doing more work. The method does not control the dream - the method gives you confidence. That is why some methods work for you, and they don't work for other people. One particular method gives YOU confidence, but to someone else, it might give them doubt.

So, like I said in my first post: You don't need a method. Using one method is a way to hack around your lack of confidence - I agree. In that sense, a method is useful.

Instead of wasting your time looking for the perfect method to accomplish something, work on your confidence. Convince yourself that this is YOUR dream, this is YOUR mind, and YOU are under control. Once you can convince yourself of that, with 100% confidence, you can DO ANYTHING YOU WANT. With NO EFFORT. With NO METHOD.

Instead of searching for one method to fly, and one method to walk through walls, and one method to breathe under water... FIX THE WAY YOU THINK. Stop hacking around your lack of confidence.

*steps off soap box*

~Sean

Ok then how come some times something fails after you done it say 15 times and it worked? You have pretty much total confidence that it will work because you done it so many times and you never had a problem. That one time it just doesn't work though. Then maybe every other time from then on it works fine again.

I could be wrong but I personlly think its more about thinking of what you want to do. The key is you don't think. Confidence might do the same thing. If you think it will work you wont worry and will just go and do it. Then again even if your sure it will work if you think about it to much it might fail. Might have big doubts about something but, you just run and jump off the building anyway you might fly.

When your not lucid you don't think about anything, you just do stuff as you go and I think acting the same is the key of doing whatever you want while lucid.

I have to agree with PeeBrain, for two reasons I think...

1) I agree with his confidence + expectation idea, that's how things have worked for me in my lucid dreams both for the positive and negative. I also think that the level of the persons lucidity also has to be taken into account.

2) I think certain methods like using a rocket pack to fly and things like that, may be helpful to people try to learn how to fly in dreams, but I think that it's a bad habit to get into. If people use it as a crutch in the beginning and then drop it after a bit that's o.k, but I think in general it's best to avoid these types of things.

ypm.

Other ways to learn control in your dreams, and I was taught this as a child, is to write down your dreams immediately after you wake up. Do this every morning and read through them frequently. You will be able to remember past dreams easier and you will begin to recognize things that happened in past dreams happening in current ones. From this you know how to react and become closer to realizing in your dream that "Yes this is a dream and in my dreams I make the rules. You will find that you can become whatever and do whatever you wish. With continued practice of this you will find your proficiency increasing and in a short time you will become adept, and may find ways of reaching a higher consciousness to solve problems in life and find answers to questions beyond your conscious minds abilities.

I am a natural and I totally agree. My only problems have been the limits I put on myself. For years I could LD but lacked control like I wanted. Only after talking with someone else did I think about restarting or rewinding my dreams. I put the limit of only moving in one time direction on myself. Once I realized that it could be done, I gained more and more control. I now start every night with what every dream I want. All of this because I have learned to release the limits I have put on myself.

Do people tell you that no one can control their dreams? If you truely believe them, you will never LD. If believe only the smallest bit you might only have limited success. You have to know you can do it. You have to truely believe and have confidience.

Is there a forum for naturals? I have LDed for a long time and feel like I have run out of ideas. I look to movies for things to do in my dreams, new ideas to try out. I would love to talk with other naturals out their to know what they dream about. I have turned back to dreaming normally just to get new dream ideas. Help!!!

http://dreamviews.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4092
^^ For jeff

Although its kinda annoying when people say they "run out of ideas". I mean... if my LDs aren't very high lucidity I might know what you mean but if its as real as real life.... I don't know how you can get bored.

There are an infinte amount of possiblities.

Flying... that is so much fun, well... only in a highly vivid dream.

How could people say that they "ran out of ideas" in a lucid dream? Thats what your subconcious is for. Let your subconcious think of something.

Been here 20 min. and p-brain has actually answered my question. I've been lucid for years but could never direct the play. Sounds easy, I know it's not. Look at your confidence levels in the waking world and I think you will see a correlation between them and your problems with dream direction. All of the planes of perception and reality( here, there and every where) appear to be seperate, but they are in fact one. Placebos work.
Well said P-brain. I knew this but have trouble personalizing it. Guess I need more confidence

i think it goes without saying that there have been some really good points made here. but what the hell? i'll say them anyways. i like the idea of using confidence in controlling dreams. i am starting to understand that i create the environment and can change it. yes, the first thing one must do is realize that they are dreaming. even though i am a natural lucid dreamer, i find controlling my dreams to be difficult. not to mention there are people still learning the skill of lucid dreaming. this is the reason we have these threads. besides, i think that no matter how long you've been doing it, you can always get better at it. i also think that methods are good to guide someone with developing this skill, however, they can also hinder the process. you can get so tied up with the methods that you lose focus on your dream. it happened to me last night. i kept telling myself, i'm dreaming. when i woke up, i realized i'd fallen asleep and missed out on my dream because i was so intent on having an ld. getting lost in the steps is very easy. the most important thing you can do in this process is to dream.