Has anyone else found that speaking in a lucid dream destabilizes it?

**Shugo332** · 04-21-2014 06:57 PM

So I have successfully developed the ability to lucid dream for over a year maybe two now (lucid dreaming didn't come natural for me). For a while after I developed the ability I was successfully going lucid 2-3 times a few months. I now have stopped almost all of my previous methods to make lucid dreaming more common, it was becoming to much I kept feeling paranoid that I was in a dream even though I knew I wasn't and I would feel somewhat derealized. Anyways I can still lucid dream it's just not as frequent of a experience now. In happens randomly now or if I have it via sleep paralysis aka wild. In fact I just had a random lucid dream this morning it came off at the end of a particularly adventurous dream, I won't say all of it because there was to much to state but I'll tell the last things that led to going lucid. Me and my friend who I came across at some point during a dream broke into a warehouse from the ceiling we jumped down onto a unrealistically large stack of empty boxes which broke the fall. I then jumped from that stack to the smaller stack and then to the floor, it was such a big jump I kinda felt fear doing it but I was ok. When I reached the floor I said in my head "..you know this tends to happen a lot in my dreams". I stopped abruptly feeling stunned the thought caught me off guard and then while seeing two warehouse workers walking past me seeming to not even notice me I vocally stated "I am dreaming!" Almost immediately the dream started fading out and going black except a few large holes where I could still see fuzzy images of the dream. I said "no no no you can't do this to me again!" I started threw out my arms and tried to stabilize the dream but the destabilization was too far ahead and I woke up into sleep paralysis. So anyways I said no you can't do this to me again because almost every single time I ever vocally stated "I'm dreaming" the dream would suddenly destabilize. Does anyone else have problems with this is it common for beginners? My problem is when I was learning how to lucid dream before I could I went over a few things to the point I now do them everytime I go lucid without thinking, vocally stating I'm dreaming is one of the things that got drilled into me while I was learning how. I don't even think about and I can't seem to help it I just blurt out that I'm dreaming every time I realize it without trying to. I was thinking of trying to go to sleep repeating to myself to not do that, but I don't always lucid dream anymore so that probably won't help. It probably be easier in a wild because you don't completely go unconscious actually I have successfully remembered not to state I was dreaming before in a wild and the stabilization was fine. It doesn't seem to effect the dream if I say I'm dreaming in my mind only if I vocally state it. So was wondering what other people think is this a common experience for people when they try to vocalize something when lucid, and why do I feel like I can't help saying I'm dreaming even though I'm already lucid?

**DreamscapeGoat** · 04-21-2014 10:04 PM

Being unable to control what you say might just be because of habits due to your reality checks.

Really, I think the problem here is that because of past experiences, the dream automatically destabilizes when you speak. You constantly keep expecting the dream to fade away after you say this, even if you don't mean to. I'd suggest trying to implant the idea that the dream will not destabilize into your subconscious - it might help with this.

Destabilization does happen with beginners, though - it slowly starts to happen less and less, so don't worry.

**Shugo332** · 04-23-2014 10:15 PM

Thank you for the advice

I'm kind of wondering how to implant a idea into your unconscious though (other then the obvious being saying it over and over and over). Not being able to control saying something first thing when I go lucid is habits made when learning how to go lucid and coming under the understanding a lucid dream is not lucid until you verbally say "I am dreaming". I only later realized a lucid dream is a lucid dream once you realize your dreaming regardless on if you vocally state it or not. Basically my question is, is there a more reasonable way to implant a idea into my subconscious that doesn't involve repeating it in my head for a long time?

**RavenOfShadow** · 04-23-2014 10:48 PM

As Dreamscape touched upon, this seems to be a classic example of conditioning. You lost lucidity after speaking once or twice, so you got it into your head that whenever you speak in a lucid you will make it destabilize. Now your mind has come to truly believe that, so low and behold, you speak and you awaken. This is just a matter of repeatedly confirming with yourself that speaking will not destabilize the dream. Repeat this as a mantra, and then once you're lucid ignore the thoughts telling you that it will destabilize the dream; don't try to speak and don't try not to speak. As soon as you focus too hard on something meta, the dream will collapse almost every time. Keep your thoughts grounded in the dream: "Oh that flower looks cool" not "I wonder how long this lucid will last", "I should see what this DC's name is" instead of "I hope talking wont wake me up!"