The Problems With Lucid Dreaming, and What You "Can't" Do
This is me trying to push the envelope here. I don't know yet what the limits are to lucid dreaming. It's said the only limit is the imagination, but I'm curious what possible restrictions may exist.
Things Claimed to be Impossible
Some people have claimed that shared lucid dreaming or prolonging them to feel like days is impossible. But have these people asked their subconscious or dream guides about the topics? Have they made more than one attempt to understand how it may be possible? And are they using their own lack of experience as evidence to disprove them?
I don't discount things like shared dreams or prolonging them, especially the latter. Personally, if lucid dreams can only last a few minutes, then what's the point? Many hours of the day have to pass between each lucid dream--assuming you can even have them consecutively--so if all that work gets you just a measly few minutes, then it sounds like the efforts are far outweighing its rewards. I.e, that's a lot of work just to have a few minutes of lucidity where you can barely accomplish anything.
And by pushing the envelope, I mean more than discovering limitations, but also attempting to find solutions. Like having longer dreams, or discovering more effective induction methods. Methods that don't rely so much on chance. For example: hoping a dream sign occurs, hoping you'll actually notice it, and hope you perform a successful reality check.
Possible Solutions We Can Try Today
How can we discover this? The only what I know how is to ask and/or try. Ask your dream guides or subconscious, or let your imagination make an attempt and see what you learn. Aside from prolonging dreams, my main goal--as mentioned in another post--is to use lucid dreaming to program my subconscious mind to become a master lucid dreamer, thus, allowing me to have them at will whenever I want.
Programming the subconscious mind is very possible. It's done through hypnotism, affirmations, subliminal messaging, and other methods. Essentially, what your subconscious believes, it fulfills. And since lucid dreaming allows direct interaction with the subconscious mind, you could accomplish in a single night, what other methods would require days to even weeks.
You can debate the possibility of the aforementioned goals like shared dreams, but this one goal in particular is actually very possible. It certainly can't hinder your progress. And honestly, it makes sense for this to be the very first thing someone does in their first lucid dream. Until we discover more efficient ways of inducing lucidity--ones that aren't too reliant on chance--it's very practical to take advantage of your subconscious, and make future lucid dreams less difficult to accomplish.
This is why my main focus on gaining future lucid dreams has been about programming my subconscious mind through affirmations, rather than the constant reality checks throughout the day. To me, RCs are great for confirming lucidity, but not triggering it, as I mentioned above. At least not for beginners, and even then, experienced lucid dreamers can have varying success. Even if they do everything the exact same way, but for unknown reasons still don't attain lucidity some nights.
Aren't these problems we'd rather have solved? Less variables and more certainty? To have clearer answers for the people who struggle for months just to have their first lucid dream? Yet, by the end of the day, all we can tell them is "keep trying"? Not to offend those who try to help others in those positions. But you have to admit, that's a very discouraging problem we've yet to find a better answer to.
Conclusion
Right now, the only thing we can do is try. Ask questions, make attempts; not being discouraged because it doesn't sound possible. There are many things I want to use lucid dreaming for in regards to entertainment and other such things. But these issues have to take priority, for me anyways. If I have a lucid dream and do what I want one night, then fail to have another for who knows how many days, I'm left wondering what wrong. And what's to prevent that from happening to me, or anyone? Nothing. At least not yet.
I hope those who read this appreciate the sincerity of my effort to bring this to your awareness. The solutions--or rather, the means to obtain them--sound far from difficult to do for the more experienced lucid dreamers. I also hope you share my endeavors to learn the possible answers, so we can make lucid dreaming an easier experience for others to achieve. Isn't that why we're all here? Finally, if you're interested in how I use affirmations, you can learn more from my linked post below.
http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...made-easy.html
