Improving dream clarity...

[Vance]

This is probably the gazillionth time this has been posted, but hopefully this one is a little different... 1. Can you train yourself to have your dreams look exactly like waking life? I've been talking to people and it seems that all their dreams are in perfect clarity, but mine are blurry, I can't see perfectly clearly and my surroundings change too spontaneously. 2. Can you stabilize dream logic? What I mean is your surroundings stay constant and continuous. This is not so much a major problem, but if I let my guard down for a bit or have a lull then I have to switch my surroundings back. 3. Can you stabilize conversations? Just thinking about a DC's reaction con cause then to do it, I imagine them jumping at me then I have to rewind to when we were discussing transcendentalism. (I know it is very tempting for someone to leave a one sentence thing like "My dreams are weird i never know what im doing lol" But complete answers to my three questions are infinitely more helpful... And if you say "It's different for every person" that's fine, but I really would like input on how to try/your story.) Thanks for all the posts!

[Sickscent]

This is probably the gazillionth time this has been posted, but hopefully this one is a little different... 1. Can you train yourself to have your dreams look exactly like waking life? I've been talking to people and it seems that all their dreams are in perfect clarity, but mine are blurry, I can't see perfectly clearly and my surroundings change too spontaneously. 2. Can you stabilize dream logic? What I mean is your surroundings stay constant and continuous. This is not so much a major problem, but if I let my guard down for a bit or have a lull then I have to switch my surroundings back. 3. Can you stabilize conversations? Just thinking about a DC's reaction con cause then to do it, I imagine them jumping at me then I have to rewind to when we were discussing transcendentalism. (I know it is very tempting for someone to leave a one sentence thing like "My dreams are weird i never know what im doing lol" But complete answers to my three questions are infinitely more helpful... And if you say "It's different for every person" that's fine, but I really would like input on how to try/your story.) Thanks for all the posts! I think you could probably train your consciousness to have dreams that look like everyday life, but why would you want to? You can develop so many other techniques of practice that can make the dreams so much better than your everyday waking life. The more experience you have, the clearer they become, but it does take work. The best technique I have come across is to focus on a specific detail in the dream. For example, I had a lucid dream where I was fluctuating back and forth and that made the dream hard to have clarity in. I saw a wooden fence and walked up to it. I focused on the patterns in the wood grain all the while making sure I didn't lose lucidity. The more I focused the more the 'blurriness' or fuzziness began to go away, and the clarity became unbelievable. I turned away from the fence and looked away and the clarity remained for awhile, slowly going back to blurriness. I would focus back on the fence and keep doing this back and forth. It was almost like training my dream consciousness to know that I wanted things to remain clear. Another technique is to say aloud, "Clarity!" But for a lot of LDers it is hard to remember, and you will get different effects by using voice commands. But you will find results from using conscious voice commands. Though I believe those are only a temporary solution, whereas the actual training of your consciousness is absolute. If there is nothing around to focus on, use the fingerprint patterns on your fingers! Then you can walk around the dream and when you begin sliding, focus on your fingerprints. The more you use focusing techniques, the more you will find your dream stabilizing. So I guess you get a bonus! DCs are a different story. Conversations, mathematics, memorizing number sequences (phone numbers, etc) and that kind of stuff is transient. It shifts constantly. Some conversations you will remember easily, others you won't. If you have enough lucidity that you can discuss transcendentalism, then make sure you either say out loud, or let your consciousness know by focusing on the concept, that you wish all positive information to be remembered upon wakening. Again, the practice of focalization can help alleviate these problems too, though nothing is 100%. Hope this helps!

[Clairity]

Vance, I think the answer to all your questions is getting used to what being lucid FEELS like by grounding yourself in your dreams. I know when I first become lucid, I have to fight that initial rush of adrenalin. I do this by telling myself to calm down, breathing naturally (or a little slower) and I try to "ground" myself in the dream (i.e., make it as lucid as it can be) instead of immediately racing to do something before I lose lucidity. One of the tricks I use to "ground" myself is to "touch" things. By touching.. I mean really "feeling" them. Get into how they feel.. are they hot, cold, smooth, rough, etc. (this also increases the vividness of the dream along with helping me remain in it longer). You may also try to increase your vividness by confidently stating aloud "increase lucidity" or "clarity now". Just remember that "the deeper the level of lucidity.. the better your lucid experience should be"