What are the pros and cons of decending in a lucid dream?

[curiousnewcomer]

Hello, my name is Mike and im a newcomer to this site and to lucid dreaming (havent had a lucid dream yet) and i have a question. When in a lucid dream, I heard that descending could be a bad thing. I've recently started on the path to self discovery and lucid dreaming (from my understanding on it) could be a great aid. I have recently started keeping a dream journal in hopes to have more vivid memories of my dreams and potential to start lucid dreaming. So my question to you is this: When in a lucid state if descending can bring up negitive experiences be it ones that are external or internal can be hard to grasp and cope with. For me following my path of self discovery i feel that it would be a good thing to look into when i have the ability to do so. Is this something that i should reconsider or if my intent is for digging up these negitive parts of my mind in order to overcome and release is worth the risks. So as the title says what are the pros and cons of this side of lucid dreaming? I am sorry if i could have summed this up a lot quicker but your answers will be greatly appreciated.

[Fragile]

As far as I'm aware, if you're in a lucid dream, you can bring yourself into memories (or warped versions of them) with a single thought. You want it to happen, or you want something to be there, and it will be. Nothing in the dreams are actually real, though. Lucid dreams are like a sandbox. You can build the most elaborate sandcastle, but you can always step out of the sandbox. So there's no real danger. You can certainly run the risk of upsetting yourself if you make something bad happen in the dream, or bring up a memory you may not wish to see, but you gotta remember it's not real. I really think you will find it more beneficial than anything.

[CNGB]

Fragile is right on the money. There's no physical danger to lucid dreaming (unless, perhaps, you subconsciously create a danger--but that's a whole different subject that doesn't belong here, and I really wouldn't worry about it if I was you) at all, but you run the inevitable risk of feeling bad if you bring up past memories. If you get upset then you might wake up--either literally or just lose consciousness--and your wonderful lucid dream will turn into a nightmare. I wouldn't suggest doing anything that you're unsure of until you've become more experienced. Best of luck!

[fogelbise]

You may get negative experiences within the dreamworld if you expect them due to something you read or heard. I have broken a few myths that I heard about lucid dreaming but the biggest ones were the ones that I generated myself! The only descending I can think of off the top of my head during a lucid dream was a very nice experience under the ocean. In a lucid dream, with experience, you can make the experience to your liking or get out if you don't like it.

[JoannaB]

The thing though is that you got to be careful with perusing negative emotions. Even in waking life negative emotions and negative thoughts and negative self talk can have much more serious consequences than you might think. For example, if you keep telling yourself that you are worthless, you are going to start feeling worthless, and it can spiral out of control. In dreams emotions and thoughts actually make things happen in potentially a completely realistic way. So if even the relatively powerless waking emotions and thoughts can lead to disastrous consequences to your psyche, dream emotions and dream thoughts can potentially have even more powerful effects. So you might want to be very careful with perusing ones that will likely lead to negative consequences on your psyche. While the stuff in the dreams is not real, but your mind is very real in dreams, and so if you mess up your mind, you are not just messing up a dream representation of your mind, it's the real thing. Personally I would recommend perusing empowering dreams instead of ones that bring you down. Because once you are down, you may not be strong enough to bring yourself back up again if you have eroded your self confidence and self esteem for example. But of course that all depends on what exactly you do to yourself, and how careful you are. I am not suggesting that it would never work or never be a good idea. just got to be careful because as I said your mind is real in the dream.

[curiousnewcomer]

Thank you all so much for the responses. I'm not rushing myself by any means as far as trying this (I'm still having a hard time remembering my dreams let alone letting myself take control of them). Once I obtain the ability to take control of my dreams I'll be taking my time heading down the road that I brought up. Joanna, thank you for the warnings I'll take them into account. The things that I want to dig up I feel will be very specific once I reach that point. Although they might not a favorable thing to bring up do you think that going into this with the correct mindset would help me? I'm only 23 years old but I feel that I have been through some rough experiences in my life thus far. I feel that with enough mental preparation I should be able to view these memories and I am sure that they my tug at me but with the intent that I'm setting right now and building upon to let these negative experience go. I will definitely be going for empowering dreams once I am able to reach the point of Lucidity to help myself. I have the urge to go to the roots and let go of the base line problems that give me these foolish insecurities that are holding me back. While I was typing I had a thought, in the dream space if you can create what ever your mind wills then you could perhaps bring forth yourself as a child in front of you. If you can do this can you sit yourself down and talk to your child self? Kind of like being your own psychiatrist?

[JoannaB]

Ah, see what you are describing, bringing back negative memories with the intent of letting go, that can empowering. I think a lot depends on your conscious perception and attitude toward the memory in the lucid dream. If you bring back negative memories, and get lost in them, and feel powerless once again, then I feel that could cause more harm than good. But if you bring back such memories in order to remind yourself that this is not who you are any more, or that now you are above this, stronger than this, have better understanding than your younger self did, that could be empowering. So I think with the right attitude, the right expectations, the right intensions, perhaps you could be quite empowered and not brought down by such experiences. Depending on what it is that happened in your memories, it may be a good idea though to involve another person by telling them ahead of time of this plan, and after the fact having someone to talk to. Having another good lister for support I think would help with such a plan, so that you are not in this alone, even though in the dream you will be alone, but at least before or after seeking someone else out - and not just over the Internet - may help. you mention "being your own psychiatrist" and that frankly raises some alarm flags for me: first of all psychiatrists are trained and have a lot of experience and you won't be able to replicate that; and if your issues are serious enough that you think you should seek out a doctor, then you should seek out a doctor; and don't forget that in your lucid dreams your mind is still your mind, and if the issues are big ones, they will still be there, and will likely make it harder to achieve your goals. Also since you mention psychiatrist the only people for whom lucid dreaming is not recommended according to LaBerge are people who cannot differentiate dreams and reality, so depending on your mental issues, if you may have this issue, then LDing may not be recommended after all. However, if your issue is a phobia for example, I think LDing can work very well to face one's phobias - I used to be unreasonably scared of big dogs, and a lucid dream experience improved that for me. So you see it depends on what your issues are, whether LDing is a good idea for you, and whether you should seek out a psychiatrist or therapist in addition or instead of.

[realdealmagic]

I think for this kind of lucid dream, you have to have practised for a long time. It is a very advanced thing to do, playing with memories, and you will have to have a high skill to do so. Or at least, it will be better and more safe for you if you do. As the others have said, there is nothing that can physically harm you, but mentally? You can definitely hurt yourself to some extent with this kind of thing. I guess all I'm saying is take it slowly and be careful. And post your results when you do get around to doing it! Good luck!