I think it's quite clear from reading the various threads on DV that stress negatively affects lucid dreaming. I'm wondering what you guys think might be possible causes of this?
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I think it's quite clear from reading the various threads on DV that stress negatively affects lucid dreaming. I'm wondering what you guys think might be possible causes of this?
Well, I don't know much, but I am sure it is caused by stress hormones creating dull dreams you can't remember, kind of like some meds.
Stress affects lucid dreaming because it affects its foundation-dream recall. It affects the recall because the mind is more focused on the stress than the dream. Less dream recall equals less chance of a lucid dream.
I would sat that stress has a negative effect on any hobby that you have. :) it is just bad!
More specifically, there are a lot of things that you can do with more than one thing on your mind. Dreams and lucidity needs focus. The type of focus that stress takes away. This is why when meditating I dont focus on "not thinking of anything." I focus on one thing. Even if it isn't LDinh, the practice is good for LDing.
This makes sense! But I haven't experienced that personally. My dream recall is just as good when I'm stressed but I tend to not get LDs. And when I DO become lucid it's usually a very low level lucidity where I don't remember much outside of the dream, I just know that it is a dream. And my dream control is affected too! I have terrible dream control right now, can hardly even fly.Quote:
Originally Posted by dolphin
I can relate to this idea, stress definitely takes away from my focus. Maybe that is related to why my dream control is so bad right now, do you experience loss of dream control too when you're stressed?Quote:
Originally Posted by BrandonBoss
I was thinking about this a lot earlier and I thought that maybe I just become less aware in general, becoming more preoccupied/distracted by my stress. Last night I remembered many, many dreams with great recall. I noticed that there were a lot of obvious signs that I was dreaming that I would normally pick up on and I just didn't notice at all. I really want to get to a more concrete understanding of why this happens, maybe it could be useful in some way.
I feel like it would be because you aren't focused and calm. You have your mind in other places, where you aren't focusing primarily on lucid dreaming or dreaming in general. I think it's almost similar to taking a test you studied for really hard. You know that you know the answers, you are really anxious, and you don't know how to do any of the problems. Your mind is racing like crazy and you don't have the ability to think straight (Not saying that you think straight in dreams, it's just a metaphor). If you calm down and focus, you might pass the test with ease, remembering things along the way.
The ironic thing about this post is how I did take a test today that is exactly as I described. I was flipping out until I calmed down and focused. I have been so stressed lately haha.
As far as the whole focus aspect, lucid dreaming is about awareness (No duh. This is why I am a dreamguide), and when you lose that awareness and start walking through the day as a mindless zombie, focused on errands, and tests, and tests, and homework, and tests, you forget to RC and do all the things that help you become lucid at night. It really is hard getting into the habit of being like this every second of the day, (Which may be counter-productive, as you are mentally exhausted at night), but that is discussion for another time.
That's just my experience. I haven't had a lucid dream in 2 weeks. I usually average 10 a week. So much for being a natural.
Wouldn't it be great if life was just focused on lucid dreaming? Completely and utterly devoted to the cause? *sigh*
Also, as a side note, it was mentioned up there ^ that meditation is extremely helpful. Thought I would just throw that in there. Seriously, try it sometime. It will be hard at first, but pays off in the long run. Not just lucid dreaming, but life in general.
Thank you to everyone that replied :D
@sinisterDezz - I can believe most of what you said but I'm not entirely convinced about losing focus on the daytime work for dreaming leading to decreased lucidity at night. I feel like it might be something else. Before the tests rolled around I was having 2-3 LDs a night with no effort, no daytime work, no RCs at all. Then I became stressed and now I have to put in a ton of effort just to have one LD. Maybe it could be related to what TwitchLucidity suggested as far as stress hormones affecting awareness.
I think we can all agree that stress detracts from our emotional attention. I am wondering if anybody knows about a chemical foundation for this phenomena? And if stress detracts from our ability to focus then wouldn't that lessen our ability to take in new information? I think that this seems counter-intuitive, would make more sense to me if we became more focused and more aware when under stress.
When I am stressed I tend to over focus on whatever it is that I am stressed about, to an extent of paying less attention to what is going on around me. Successful lucid dreaming requires paying attention to what is going on around one, one's circumstances. When I am stressed I am more likely to have a car accident because I am thinking about whatever I am stressed about rather than about driving. Lucid dreaming is a skill which just like driving requires attention to the present moment.