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Wondering if I can change myself in a dream.
I guess it's a question about nightmares and dream personas.
Does nightmare represents something I'm concerned about in real life? How can/should I deal with this stuff?
And if, for example, I have some anger management issues, can I somehow resolve them in a dream? And what should I do to succeed?
Can I dream of some object/person that represents that side of me and destroy it?
Sure, you can change yourself in your dreams, lucid or not, though it would be funner to do when lucid since you have control over what you want to morph into. OR I think you meant "change" as in personality -- to which the answer is still yes. Many people use lucid dreaming to conquer their fears. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by ClockworkOrange
I think that not all dreams contain significant meaning, but nightmares do tend to surface when we are stressed or worried about something, and they can take many forms – scary people or monsters, etc. In my opinion, the best thing to do would be NOT to defeat them right away, but to talk to them. Or maybe ask them what they want and why they are bothering you. I think that's the best way to get closure rather than killing them or something, because they might just keep coming back. Same goes for anger management I guess – talk to your subconscious and figure out why you feel a certain way about something. Some people also unleash their inhibitions against certain things and people in lucid dreams hehehe. I'm sure many people have more creative ways to deal with those, can't wait to read them as well.
Seeya!
I would not think destroying it is going to be helpful as the problem is anger in the first place. I would try something that involves you staying calm in dream settings that would normally make you angry.
Any changes you make in your waking life will resonate in the folds of your dreams. If the things in your dreams will change your woken self is a choice of your own. (Idk why I felt wise saying that. Felt all Jung like.)
In my experience with combating goofy representations of my life in dreams it just turns in to a cool action movie. If I think about them when I am awake it is just violence and lucid shenanigans. Even if the characters are a love triangle I've found myself in. So if it can help anger management problems I am very uncertain and inclined to suggest no.
Nightmares can happen from the stress of situations in your life, sleeping disorders, and a whole host of other reasons.
If you suspect that a character in your dream represents that bad side of you, I would suggest not destroying it, but try to accept it as part of you.Quote:
Originally Posted by ClockworkOrange
Same, as in waking life, if you have a trait that you don't like about yourself, denying it's existence will not make it go away. First step in healing (getting rid of anger in your case) is to accept that we have it and that it's a integral part of us. Then, you can work on overriding those angry feeling by rationalizing, why it's better to not lose your cool and to solve the problem that made you angry peacefully.
According the "Gateway to inner self" by Robert Waggoner, scary stuff we encounter in our dreams (including nightmares), could be that part of us that we don't like and thus reject it or deny it's existence. If you kill it, it will keep comming back. If you express acceptance and love towards it, it may change into something non-threatening and even melt into a dreamer to form a whole being again.
I'm mentioning this, in case you can't create this being yourself, maybe you can approach some other, already present being like Waggoner suggests. Hope this helps.