Thread: Could lucid dreaming be dangerous?

Could you please explain how your mind tries to stop you from becoming lucid?

Not really, As there are quite a few people who can do it naturally. Also, I've never heard of anybody being harmed in any way by Lucid dreaming, either physically or mentally. The only way I can think of that would make it dangerous is if you use it as a form of escapism. But that would be your own fault.

Apparently the logic center of your brain shuts off when you sleep so thats why your not lucid all the time and why sometimes its hard becoming lucid. Doing different practices like RCing during the day and being more aware througout the day will help you be aware in the dream world, which would make you lucid. There's no harm in lucid dreaming what-so-ever, unless you loose sleep from a lot of WBTB's, which would also be your own fault.

In the various books I've read, it's mentioned that if you cannot tell your waking life from dreams, or if you can't tell fantasies from reality, i.e., if you have an actual mental illness such as schizophrenia or some type of delusional disorder, it's not a good idea to get into LDing, but for everyone else, there is nothing at all to fear. I don't think this at all means recalling some little thing and not being sure if it happened in waking life or in a dream; I don't think that's unusual or any cause for alarm. (I just started Patricia Garfield's book, and she points out that if we're not ready for a certain thing to happen, it won't happen, so there are built-in safeguards, too.)

Okay, thanks everyone. On to lucid dreaming!

Originally Posted by MJMax

Could LDing be dangerous?

Yes, it could.

Elaborate?

Well, If sp, somehow, didnt kick in, and you became lucid and jumped out of a window, you would die if you were high enough. because sp is there so that when your dreaming, you wont get hurt, so it paralyses your real body so that you only move your dream body. so if sp didnt kick in, your body would be awake, therefor if you move your arm in your ld, your rl arm would move. get it?

That would be the same for a non-lucid dream, correct?

@ ldwithadhd: Wouldn't that just be sleep walking?

Originally Posted by MJMax

That would be the same for a non-lucid dream, correct?

Correct. You don't suddenly lose SP just because you're lucid. The only time you would lose SP is if you went in to dream-states very suddenly after sleeping or if you had some kind of strange illness.

Check out the Wikipedia page on sleepwalking--evidently sleepwalking has nothing to do with dreaming or lucid dreaming. If you are lucid in a dream, you know you are dreaming and you can even know the location of your actual body. If you are indeed dreaming, there should be mighty little chance of your being out of bed (given that sleepwalking is not done while dreaming). I won't promise you you won't jump out of a window while walking in your sleep (though I certainly hope and trust you never will do this), but I don't think jumping out of a window while actually dreaming is something we need to worry about. (When I have walked in my sleep, it's while I'm thinking things like "I need to get to rehearsal" or "I need to go see my neighbor," and I set off. Never while walking in my sleep have I thought, "I need to jump out the window.") But if you feel uncomfortable about exploring lucid dreaming, maybe your gut is telling you this isn't the right time. There's nothing wrong with that. Actually, I'm now dimly recalling a fellow on NPR dreaming that his hotel was on fire and so jumping out a window and hurting himself. That seems to contradict the idea that you aren't dreaming while sleepwalking, so either he was confused or I am misremembering it or both. Anyway, it would seem to me that being lucid would actually reduce your chances of doing that kind of thing, not increase them.

Originally Posted by MJMax

Elaborate?

It's as dangerous like the ocean.

Originally Posted by MJMax

Although, what could possibly be dangerous in a dream?

Stick with this theory.

Really the only thing that could end up harming you were to end up sleepwalking. And it has the same, or less risk of harming you as it would in a normal dream.