Tips for NOT becoming lucid?

Right, first of all, I know that the reason for this forum's existence is to help people become lucid. It has fulfilled that purpose for me. Now I need help to never become lucid again, or more realistically, as few occurrences as possible.

WTF, right? No, not WTF.

I must be a special person or something, since I'm apparently the only one who is not having fun with this little experiment. I've been becoming lucid many times in the past months. Every time I become lucid, bam - nightmare. Anytime I wake up in the middle of the night and go back to sleep -> sleep paralysis and BAM. Nightmare. Wake up, still in paralysis - wait, what do you know? No I'm not awake, it's still a nightmare! I'm being sucked face first onto my bed while my chairs are sliding around the room with a demon face in my television.

I have classes, very hard classes right now. I have recombinant DNA lab in exactly five hours and I can't go to sleep because every time I fall asleep it's like SP takes five seconds to fully set in, I start seeing flashes of light, hearing noises, and suddenly I'm awake again. Then I'm freaking out because I'm really not sure if I am or not and I know that if I'm not then in three to five seconds of asking that question...all hell is going to break loose.

I've got the website on one hand telling me that everything is normal and that all I have to do is remember that it's not real and it will go away. No, that doesn't work for me. Nothing does. Then there's the other hand, with my mother and father telling me to see a pastor because they think the devil is trying to get me and that toying with dreams has opened some sort of gateway.

Now that sounds like the fuckest baloney shit I've ever heard, but I'm not going to completely rule it out.

NO. Seriously. This is not fun, it is not pretty, it is not entertaining in the slightest bit and I want out - by any means necessary. I can't deal with this bullshit right now. I'm not bashing the site, and I'm not saying I wouldn't love to stick around for years to come to read people's stories and things like that, but I dread going to sleep.

Stay off the forums for a while and read to get your mind off lucid dreaming so your mind wont be filled with all this stuff. Reading usually helps me fall asleep before bed too, and sometimes i have a related dream that night.

Thanks for the tip. Fortunately for me, the university canceled classes today because of snow.

Just try not to think about lucid dreaming like thefieldsofdawn said try reading. It may help.
Also i heard that drinking alcohol will weaken your chances of having a lucid or kill your dream recall. Something along those lines.

Lucid dream interest is about controlling your dream experience, not simply gaining lucidity. It is important to know you have the power to create whatever you need, even non-lucid dreaming. I wouldn't want to dream lucidly all the time. It seems to me that some of your issues with lucidity come from a fear of lucidity. Maybe it makes you feel a little out of control. Learning to not have lucid dreams is a power, too. What do you feel is in your best interest? Consider stating some affirmation to yourself before sleep (e.g. "I have uneventful dreams") to ease your mind. When you wake up from dreaming, if you state such an intention, take note of your dreams. They will probably have been regular dreams. Hope this helps!

I agree with others here who say to avoid thinking/reading/writing anything regarding lucid dreaming, sleeping, dreaming in general, and reality checks. Another thing to do that has worked well for me when I awake in SP and see/sense an evil presense is to:

1)recognize that it is simply SP and that you should just relax and imagine you enjoy the experience. then

2)imagine you are somewhere peaceful and calm. I like to imagine laying on the sand in the beach watching the ocean. Imagine being there and feeling the warm sand. What will likely happen is that you will enter into a dream on that beach that is peaceful.

You could also try telling yourself that you fear nothing and truly believe it when u say it to yourself over and over b4 you sleep. It may help to eliminate any thought of fear or nightmares because when you think about those things (and you seem to be consumed by those thoughts) you are going to have nightmares when you dream.

Good luck, I hope you figure things out.

And btw... it's not the devil or something evil for real so don't worry about it.

"It's not the devil or something evil"

Don't tell my mother that! :D

It very well could be a fear of lucidity. Being lucid is really like being an another world or another dimension. Who knows what is lurking around each corner? And it is not what is actually there, but it is the actual question itself that sends me into nightmares I would think. The most beautiful and the most gruesome things could be present, and I believe that this virtue combined with my somewhat pessimistic nature and the fact that I usually see bad in things before I see good is what leads to all the negative things I experience.

Last night I kept telling myself before sleep that it was just nonsense things that were scaring me and that I was person far too mature and strong to be afraid these apparitions in my dreams. I was sort of pins and needles all night, but no dream recall of anything bad, and I got my regular amount of sleep.

I'm still extremely fascinated by lucid dreaming and wish I was the sort of person to take to things so quickly. The loss of sleep right now just doesn't fit with my schedule. If I said or made it seem as if I never wanted to experiment again, I was being hasty. I will definitely resume when my schedule is more permitting. Thanks for all these tips, fellows. It really seems to be working.

I think you still haven't gotten after the anxiousness associated with being in this new world and not knowing what to do, etc. If you are worried, stressed, whatever you wanna call it even the smallest bad thoughts can often ruin the dreamscape. I noticed recently I entered this disco-style looking LD and trying to decide what to do, I had the smallest, most vague negative thought and then turned around and ended up making a frankenstein come chase after me.

I think you should give it another chance since it can take a while to overcome this stuff. Hell, I still have TONS of lucid nightmares but I started to turn them toward my liking. You can play the hero, fight back, talk to them, ignore and start doing something else, etc. It's really up to you if you want to stop just ignore my post. I honestly think I could give you some tips to get it working in your favour but once again it's your choice and would take some time.

Btw, no offence but your mother is definitely wrong. LDs have been studied scientifically so the majority of these "supernatural" explanations can be ruled out. Have people ever thought that not all negative consequences have to be a result of the devil and maybe it's just your mind. Having thoughts like that if anything probably just makes it worse since you remember that and it's likely to arise in your dream in the near future. Btw, I'm in my last semester and all that as well and have more than enough time to do whatever I enjoy... I never understood people's problem with that. I mean honestly it doesn't take 24 hours a day to study even if you are aiming for 4s but I guess it all comes down to time management. I can understand how poor sleep could get in the way though.

I would not ignore any post or any advice in a thread that I started. I'm taking it all into consideration.

It is not an issue of time management - the problems lies solely in lack of sleep only because I've not been able to sleep. Like I said, the problem seems to be lessening.

I would really intend to turn these nightmares around. Unfortunately, the antagonist for me is something invisible, something I can't talk to or reason with easily unless I could possibly conjure a face to represent it.

I almost regret telling my family about my sleep problems because as you aptly pointed out, it only allows that evil to pervade the dream world even more. Even if it was true evil that was making my life difficult right now, I don't really know if that is scarier than having the issue just be my own mind. So I agree with you on the supernatural aspect of the discussion. Really, I agree with you on all points.

When you are in Sleep Paralysis close your eyes. If you want to get out of it, here is what I do, ( I do this because I go into sleep paralysis in the morning and I don't want anyone to wake me while I am in it ). I focus on my hand. Relax, notice that you are indeed awake and try to move your fingers then your hand. I exit it right away, it is still hard to move because of the partial paralysis but you can move and the images and stuff go away.


Other options.. Laugh at it, it is your mind doing this to you. There is nothing to fear but fear itself, it's all fake in this.


WILD- http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ad.php?t=66238


Make the noises associate with something else.. if it is screams make it a crazy laughter

if it's whispers make it whispers from your GF/crush

I have been doing this but only in the morning, it's not as bad in the morning because it's not dark out but it still is a little frightening.

I always have these bad dreams when I wake up in the middle of the night/early morning and immediately go back to sleep. I never have them when I sleep solidly through. Could these be considered mini WILDs, as paralysis is involved with them but only in the sense that I can somewhat feel the sensation before I fall asleep and then once I'm asleep and I "wake up" I am fully paralyzed in the dream?

I've successfully done WBTB many times as well as DILD with limited success but nearly all LDs have ended in misery. I can honestly say I have never had any desire to use the WILD technique.

My sleeping is back on track at this point. I did have a strange occurrence last night. I was in the process of falling asleep. I was experiencing the color patterns moving around as well as bits of dialogue from a few people. My friend was talking about something, his face was starting to materialize out of the blackness, and he suddenly stopped mid sentence to say "duh duh duh duh duh duh..." I found this extremely weird for him and I snapped back to full attention to find it was a hammering noise outside (not sure what it was at 1 AM in the morning). Is it possible to have one limb in full paralysis but not the rest of the body? My arm was feeling very strange at this point, like paralysis had just ended for it. Another question: these bits of dialogue, accompanied by the formation of faces and scenes in the mind's eye...is this what we call HI, or is HI something that you encounter further down the WILD road?

That should be HI since it's signalling that the dream is just about to start. Just later, more vivid imagery. You were probably super close to entering an LD cause that always happens to me right before and then the shapes, voices, etc. all start to come together and form the bigger picture.

I've had full nights of undisturbed sleep for the past several nights. Finally.
Last night something strange happened. I woke up (time unknown) in the middle of the night and found my iPod was beside me, turned on at maximum volume, and the earbuds were removed from my ears. It was playing so loud I could make out the song.

I went to bed with it on, but it was turned low and I switched it off before going to sleep. I can understand it being at max volume, maybe I just put weight on the button, and the earbuds probably just fell out if I rolled over, but I don't understand how it turned on, it's one of the second generation shuffles that has a tiny switch that is recessed inward. It takes a fingernail to turn it on....

Ghost fingernails.

You said your antagonist is something invisible. Next time you have lucid nightmare, you may try to find something which is very "out-of-place". Chances are it is what you need.

After a solid week of nothing, I had another false awakening.

Waking up in bed = almost instant lucidity (dreamsign?) = instant fear = not fun.

But there is a pattern to this madness. It seems that every time I sleep on my stomach there is a FA to be had, without exception. I waited a full week to try this, and it was proven last night.

It was only slightly nightmarish. I woke up, on my stomach as usual. I could tell this wasn't right somehow. Suddenly, as is the always case with becoming lucid in my false awakenings, I heard a loud click, as if lucidity literally clicks with me. I could move this time, no paralysis. I could hear the sound of someone cutting paper beside my bed, and I could hear the strips falling onto the floor. My roommate responded to my voice after several attempts. Somewhat reassured, I closed my eyes and instantly paralysis took over and I was back asleep (IE unconscious, I remember seeing black and then having no memory of thereafter).

I had a host of non-lucid dreams last night. These took place in strange homes and buildings, nothing that would cause me to question my reality.

I had a lucid nightmare last night. I "woke up" sitting in the passenger seat of a car. Within about 2 seconds I saw a bright flash before my eyes, heard a loud click, and I was lucid. I was excited at first because I was finally lucid somewhere not in my room (which always means a nightmare for me). Unfortunately, I couldn't open my mouth, and my lower half was paralyzed (the only reason I deem this a nightmare).

This freaked me out because it was like my mouth was magneted shut - I could barely get my lips to part before they would be pulled closed again. I made myself calm down and try to materialize one of my friends in the driver seat - nothing. Anyway, the car started to drive along a moonlight road with a lake immediately off the right side of the road. I had no control over the direction of the car, but I could control the speed, which seemed to be directly related to how tense my body was and how hard I was "breathing." I used my hands to lean out the window. I could feel wind on my forehead and on my hands, but not on my mouth. My mouth and chin were numb like when I go to the dentist. I banged my hands around, hitting the dashboard, etc. which led to very slight dull pain on my palms. At the end of the dream, the lakeside path turned into a flat straight road with green grass on either side. It was extremely foggy so I couldn't see far in any direction - like a foggy Salisbury plain, I guess. Just nothingness in all directions. I woke up randomly.

I look at this as progress. I had this lucid without trying, and it wasn't very terrifying like some of the last ones I have had.

Honestly I'm too lazy to post much on this forum but if you wanna talk on msn I can probably help you out alot. I've been having the same problem as you over the last while and have gotten better at controlling it. I still got screwed over last night for some reason though ugh lol.

Find another hobby to try.

This would be relevant if I was actually trying to have these kinds of dreams. That's the problem - I'm not trying. It just happens.

Try posting in another thread. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by Jorge

Find another hobby to try.

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With all due respect, it's probably a good idea to read the first post before posting in a thread.

Now... Noodle... hey I really feel for you. It sounds like you could possibly have a sleep disorder. I don't know much about sleep disorders so can't really help terribly much on that front. But I can say this...

I see you live in the Bible Belt. No offence, but if you lived in India your mother would be a Hindu, or if you had lived in Denmark in the time of the Vikings she'd believe in Wotan and Thor, or if you lived in Central Africa you'd be thinking it was the great Juju up the mountain coming to get you in your sleep. The point is, in all likelihood there are no gods, ghosts, demons or evil spirits. Personally I think you can safely rule this out as the explanation. It is more likely that you are just like the other 6 billion people on the planet who all have a brain that has evolved in a manner such that we often experience a phenomenon known as Hypnagogia and Sleep Paralysis.

Feel free to PM if you wish. I'm more than happy to answer any questions you may have and it would be a particular pleasure to help rescue you from the delusion that is religion having experienced immeasurable joy and liberation from escaping it myself.

I wish you all the best,
Dreamqueen

Is it strange to enjoy nightmares? Im sure if mine were re-ocurring I would begin to not like them like most, but I only have them occasionally and I actually like NMs...Im sorry that you are having this problem. . .

I wouldn't say that it is strange for someone to enjoy their nightmares. Probably uncommon, but not strange. Thanks for all of the input.

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Originally Posted by Advantageous Noodle

I wouldn't say that it is strange for someone to enjoy their nightmares. Probably uncommon, but not strange. Thanks for all of the input.

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Personally i like nightmares, Fear is a good dream sign
and there entertaining to a extent

God is not your problem, i have no problems with lucid dreaming and i am a strong believer. it sounds to me like you should go see a docter or try to get your mind off lucid dreaming?

tbh, i think you need to calm down and think about this rationally
Mabe try to control your dreams and turn your nightmares into pleasant ones

if you awake in sp or go into sp, just try turn it into a dream
go look at all the WILD tuts, mabe that will help

A few posts prior to this I confirmed that I knew my problem was nothing supernatural. A few posts before that I also confirmed my sleep was back on track and I actually turned a nightmare into a non-nightmare lucid dream. Rational thinking was what stopped me from going insane and failing my classes from exhaustion.

Don't be deceived. I too am a firm believer.

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Originally Posted by Advantageous Noodle

A few posts prior to this I confirmed that I knew my problem was nothing supernatural. A few posts before that I also confirmed my sleep was back on track and I actually turned a nightmare into a non-nightmare lucid dream. Rational thinking was what stopped me from going insane and failing my classes from exhaustion.

Don't be deceived. I too am a firm believer.

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Thats good to hear!, btw that anime owns :P

Yeh, it really does. Too bad it's so short.

I've been called a real-life, half white half mexican, slightly younger, slightly less pasty L on several occasions. So after that, I had to watch it!

Sorry to hear about the nightmares. That's too bad, I don't think dreams should be a negative experience for anyone :(

If I were you, I would try autosuggestion, though in this scenario obviously you'd be using it to ensure non-lucidity. Actually, it would most likely mean just not remembering your dreams, so even if you do become lucid and have some horrible nightmare, you won't be able to remember it.

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Originally Posted by Advantageous Noodle

I'm being sucked face first onto my bed while my chairs are sliding around the room with a demon face in my television.

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I am an atheist in my waking life, but in my dreams, I become all kinds of things. I used to have horrifying demonic nightmares, and the thing that turned the dreams into bliss every time was calling out to God/Jesus/Holy Spirit and using the power of God/Jesus/Holy Spirit against the evil. You have to really mean it. God always came in and whipped ass, and I felt peace as a result of that every time I tried it.

I didn't think I'd be posting in this thread ever again. But here we go again - all the old rules apply. But there are a couple of new ones.

1. It doesn't have to occur in the daylight morning hours anymore, meaning that I don't get a good night's rest anymore, which is why I'm currently here writing this. I feel like going to get a milkshake.

2. Vibrations. Everything is vibrations. When I try to move, vibrations that just get worse and worse. This is like Dream Zero with crazy vibrating chairs. That much at least is forever planted in my mind as nightmarish now. As dumb of a scenario as the chairs thing sounds, I will never be able to shake that.

3. Originally I believed it was lying facing down that caused this. That was always my favorite way to sleep, so comfortable - but I had to abandon it. It led to this kind of event, and when I quit sleeping that way it seemed to stop.


I fell asleep briefly somewhere around 1:30 - 2:00 AM. I know I wasn't asleep long because I was listening to my iPod and only a couple of songs had played. I woke up because my arm was bothering me - it was all tingly and asleep even though I hadn't been lying on it. I shook off the paralysis and it didn't seem to be coming back. I turned off the iPod.

The next thing I know I'm standing in pitch blackness. Or maybe I am lying down, but it really feels like standing. I tried to move a little and there was this horrible vibration of me and various objects, mainly chairs and things I know are kept in my room. It just intensified if I struggled.

Like all my lucid dreams, I could just barely open my mouth but could not speak. I've experienced the vibration before - other times I was very clearly awake, lying in my bed (face down, no less) and I could even see the faint glint of light from another room through my eyelids.

Anyway, I was freed from this dream or whatever it was at 3:05 AM. How fitting - the time that when, according to some sources, demons emerge to have their ways with us. But we all know thats bullshiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

So now I have to ask: Is this the beginning of a WILD? This vibration always seems to occur in some form, usually a quick snap when I go from non-lucid to lucid, and is over. The paralysis too always occurs in an actual dream: sometimes it's just my mouth that doesn't work, sometimes I'm completely paralyzed. But they're always dreams - I can see my surroundings. This time I was likely still in the "here and now" of being in my own real life bed (not to be confused with the dream bed, where nightmares occur). If this was a WILD, then would that make all of my other experiences WILDS with the "dreams" occurring with them actually being hallucinations?

I've never wanted to WILD and I've never really tried it. Having this be a WILD does come to me as a success because I do not want to be doing this, especially without trying. I find it odd to be a WILD considering so many people are trying it and failing. It seems like there are such strict guidelines and many little details to doing that. I also never thought hallucinations would be so clear cut like an actual dream, if we can consider dreams to be very clear at all.

If any of this is contradictory or just runs together, I apologize. I'm trying to get all these details down and I'm a little tired.

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Originally Posted by deepsleep

Also i heard that drinking alcohol will weaken your chances of having a lucid or kill your dream recall. Something along those lines.

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Yes, become an alcoholic, that might solve all your problems ;)

Actually, I usually dream more after drinking alcohol and it has no effect on lessening my dream recall.

I might be wrong but it sounds like you have a lot of negative thoughts in your subconcious that have been as a result of influence by others. Think rationally (which you seem to be doing pretty well) and think for yourself.

Use "reverse MILD". Chant something like "everything I see during the night is real". That way you won't become lucid.

This my friend will help u instantly....
Drink alcohol before going to bed.A few beers should do the trick.

No thanks guy, I don't drink and I especially don't have the money to spend on beer.

Sounds to me like you might want to look into yoga and/or deep breathing exercises. Your sleep problems seem to me to be stress related and treating the stress in a homeopathic way might be the solution. I would worry less about LD and concentrate on balance (spirit, body, energy) . IMHO

OH MY GOD! how can you say him to drink alcohol? It's a joke or what?
If you give an advice then do it right! it's like "hey nobody loves you? you must take drugs...they are peeerfeeect"

advantageous noodle...
it's strange, you have a strange problem...
but, do that, try transform these nightmares in pleasant dreams, think rational, remember that nothing can hurt you.
try for example, closing your eyes..what happen?


I hope you can beat them!

!bye

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Originally Posted by Mariano

OH MY GOD! how can you say him to drink alcohol? It's a joke or what?
If you give an advice then do it right! it's like "hey nobody loves you? you must take drugs...they are peeerfeeect"

advantageous noodle...
it's strange, you have a strange problem...
but, do that, try transform these nightmares in pleasant dreams, think rational, remember that nothing can hurt you.
try for example, closing your eyes..what happen?


I hope you can beat them!

!bye

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It works..Also he already said he wont drink alcohol.
I realize we are very different but try to keep an open mind...

Drinking alcohol it's not a way to have an open mind....
There are safers ways to help...when drinking alcohol you are harming yourself, and is innecesary to say to somebody "hey, drink alcohol, it's solves all of your problems"....

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Originally Posted by Mariano

Drinking alcohol it's not a way to have an open mind....
There are safers ways to help...when drinking alcohol you are harming yourself, and is innecesary to say to somebody "hey, drink alcohol, it's solves all of your problems"....

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i never said drinking alcohol is being open minded...being open minded would be if u have negative ideas about drinking alcohol keep em to yourself....
Anyway this is my last comment about this.Peace :D

C'mon guys. Let's just be friends.

I wouldn't drink, but I appreciate the advice nonetheless.

The problem is not going away but I'm dealing with it much better. I really just dug this old thread because I wanted to know if I was WILDing or not.

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Originally Posted by Advantageous Noodle

C'mon guys. Let's just be friends.

I wouldn't drink, but I appreciate the advice nonetheless.

The problem is not going away but I'm dealing with it much better. I really just dug this old thread because I wanted to know if I was WILDing or not.

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Glad to know that everything is better. As for WILDing, far as I know, it just involves you saying "1.... (message).... 2....(message)" where message is whatever you want it to be such as "I'm dreaming or I'll remember my dream" until you see the images and hear the sounds in which case you're close to LDing :)

Fight the nightmere
don't avoid it /wink

I could never put alcohol into my system or smoke anything because I have heart disease.

I really don't want to WILD or anything like that. I don't even want night time lucid dreams. Though I love being out and about at night, something about darkness just unnerves me when it comes to sleep.

I just want to go to sleep and not know whats what until I wake up in the morning. I wish to reserve lucid dreams for daytime naps, where I always remember dreams.

i'm not really all that religious...
but Buddha once said, "there are no bad dreams"

what do you all think that means?

i think it means that there are some minor psychological/dream issues that could be worked out in dreams. using lucidity to an advantage. waking up from a nightmare only temporarily relieves a problem in a dream. this nightmareing recurring is good evidence that you need to solve your problems. fight fire with fire, and find a way to use lucidity to work out your nightmares.

if your "nightmare" is a dream character for example, stop. shakes hands, hug, befriend it. i'm dead serious it helped me once.

Focus the majority of your attention on something new.

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Originally Posted by Advantageous Noodle

Right, first of all, I know that the reason for this forum's existence is to help people become lucid. It has fulfilled that purpose for me. Now I need help to never become lucid again, or more realistically, as few occurrences as possible.

WTF, right? No, not WTF.

I must be a special person or something, since I'm apparently the only one who is not having fun with this little experiment. I've been becoming lucid many times in the past months. Every time I become lucid, bam - nightmare. Anytime I wake up in the middle of the night and go back to sleep -> sleep paralysis and BAM. Nightmare. Wake up, still in paralysis - wait, what do you know? No I'm not awake, it's still a nightmare! I'm being sucked face first onto my bed while my chairs are sliding around the room with a demon face in my television.

I have classes, very hard classes right now. I have recombinant DNA lab in exactly five hours and I can't go to sleep because every time I fall asleep it's like SP takes five seconds to fully set in, I start seeing flashes of light, hearing noises, and suddenly I'm awake again. Then I'm freaking out because I'm really not sure if I am or not and I know that if I'm not then in three to five seconds of asking that question...all hell is going to break loose.

I've got the website on one hand telling me that everything is normal and that all I have to do is remember that it's not real and it will go away. No, that doesn't work for me. Nothing does. Then there's the other hand, with my mother and father telling me to see a pastor because they think the devil is trying to get me and that toying with dreams has opened some sort of gateway.

Now that sounds like the fuckest baloney shit I've ever heard, but I'm not going to completely rule it out.

NO. Seriously. This is not fun, it is not pretty, it is not entertaining in the slightest bit and I want out - by any means necessary. I can't deal with this bullshit right now. I'm not bashing the site, and I'm not saying I wouldn't love to stick around for years to come to read people's stories and things like that, but I dread going to sleep.

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I think i can help. But not in the way you might want. I've been able to be lucid since I was very young, maybe 3 or 4 years old. I had nightmares lucid or not. Many times when i was aware i was dreaming i'd have nightmares, but the knowledge it wasn't real did help a bit. However, i was sick of the dreams, so i learned to control it. This is what I'm asking you to do...try to control your dreams. When you are having a nightmare stay calm...fear, stress and anxiety trigger nightmares. Keep dark thoughts at bay. Think about something you like..something that makes you happy. It could be sex, or a pretty feild with rainbows and deer and flowers (hey..its better than being scared hehe). If this doesn't work and you just want out of the dream, imagine opening your eyes. Try really hard to open your eyes. Don't panic...believe you will wake up. I've done this many times and it sometimes results in false awakenings but it also often works.