Thread: Lucid dreaming = scary?

Lucid dreaming is NOT scary! Would YOU be scared of infinite power?! Thought not!

Originally Posted by Ryuinfinity

Lucid dreaming is NOT scary! Would YOU be scared of infinite power?! Thought not!

You know, I think there was a man with similar ambitions to yours. Adolf? Adolf something...

My question, to be more poignant, was does it significantly alter your ability to dream, such that dreaming becomes a waking state and that you become sleep deprived? I've also read posts about people who are concious during a nightmare but do not have the state of mind to convince themselves that it is not real, and they therefore suffer through the nightmare conciously and are able to recall it upon waking.

Originally Posted by drporcelain

You know, I think there was a man with similar ambitions to yours. Adolf? Adolf something...

You know, the problem is that LDS AREN'T REAL! Even if I did do evil things in my LDs (which I don't) then no one real would be hurt.

Lucid dreams do not sleep deprive you. They are completely natural. There is nothing wrong with lucid dreaming. If you have one, you are not crazy. They are not real. It's all in your head. If you do not want to lucid dream, you are missing out on a lot of fun. If you think they are scary, you are probably thimking of SP. I have never went into SP counsiously, because I am too scared.

There has been some threads about this, actually! But they're hard to find.

I just want to let you know that there's nothing to worry about. LDing is only different from your normal dreaming in that you are aware that you are dreaming. You don't even need to have control of your dream even if you're lucid, and it can be easy to lose that lucidity if you don't like knowing you are dreaming.

It could be that until you understand that nothing life-threatening is going to happen, your recall will be affected; confidence is a major key in gaining better recall. If you're afraid or worried at all, it could hinder your success.

You should be completely comfortable with the idea of lucid dreaming before you move on. I recommend going back and reading everything on the main site if you haven't already. If you're still worried even after that, try reading Stephen LaBerge's "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming".

I'm sure more experienced members can give a better reply. Good luck!

Lucid dreams are alot of things, they are certainly not scary.

Thanks! That helps a lot!, I will definitely go back and re-read the main sight.

I have another question that is not really related to my first.
When I was a child I distinctly remember a lot of my dreams; what I was doing or thinking or seeing. But I don't think it ever occured to me that I was dreaming, I was just there and seeing everything that was happening. These are not LDs right?

An example:
I had a lot of dreams about water. In one of them, I'm walking along a sort of rock wall, but its made of tide pools and it was only about a foot wide. It stretched into the entirity of the ocean and I just kept walking.

Well, I remember alot of my childhood dreams. (Although im not even fully OUT of my childhood anyway) Im not sure if they were lucid for you. Were you in control of them?

No, I don't think I was in control of them. A lot of them I can still picture very vividly, but only bits and pieces. But I guess that's unrelated to being in a state of lucidity. Hm.

If you weren't aware you were dreaming, then you weren't Lucid. Control comes later with practice. In fact, control has nothing to do with it; It's a separate skill. You can have 0% control and be 100% conscious of the dream state.

Hmm I see.

I suppose experiencing Sleep Paralysis for the first time could be scary but the lucid dreams themselves, no. Not any scarier than a regular dream. More likely less scary.

...i wouldnt want infinite power ^_-.

But yeah, only thing that creeps me out is the loud rining noise in my ear when WILDing. SP doesn't bother me none

I have been fascinated by the idea of lucid dreaming ever since I was 13 years old (for almost 14 years now), and the thought never scared me... but for some reason, ever since I had this weird experience on Monday night, the thought of doing it freaks me out!

It's weird because I have ALWAYS wanted to have a lucid dream, but never have... and now, I'm sort of scared to have one. However, even though I'm scared, I still really want to have one, so I've been doing reality checks throughout the day today, and am planning on continuing to do them every day, trying to increase my awareness.

I want to have one sooooo badly. I think I'm just afraid that I won't be able to wake up, or that I'll experience sleep paralysis or something...

Originally Posted by venusflesh

I want to have one sooooo badly. I think I'm just afraid because I'm scared I won't be able to wake up, or I'm scared I'll experience sleep paralysis or s something...

You don't need to worry about sleep paralysis. It's not like it's permenant, and it can't hurt you. It can be a bit unnerving at first, but just try to think of it as a unique experience. If it happens, just go back to sleep, and it will be gone when you next wake up.

I experienced sleep paralysis a few times including this morning and it was so cool, I hope to duplicate the experience tonight. a) You are aware of what it is and that it is a natural stage of sleep and b) you may be on your way to a dream that is lucid from the start. I have read here where people think it is scary, but I welcome it. Weird yes (in a good way), scary no. Your body experiences sleep paralysis every night when you dream, you just don't realize it. If it didn't, you could seriosly hurt yourself or others by physically acting out your dream. This is a disorder known as REM Behavior Disorder. Now there is also a disorder known as Sleep Paralysis Disorder, where you remain paralyzed after becoming semi-awake. But that is a disorder you would already have regardless of whether your were LDing or not.

I can see how one could think of lucid dreaming as being scary (mainly because of its bizarre nature) but in reality it is anything but.:3

As for sleep paralysis that logically is a scary concept to a lot of people but after the first few experiences with it I'm sure you'll find it exciting instead of frightening.

Originally Posted by venusflesh

I want to have one sooooo badly. I think I'm just afraid that I won't be able to wake up, or that I'll experience sleep paralysis or something...

Try not to worry about those types of things; SP isn't that bad and at most it'll last 30-60 seconds also I think that not being able to wake up isn't a possibility as you'll probably be distressed enough to make sure that won't happen(no need to mention that it probably can't happen).

No, it won't hurt your body and I think that because you are worried about that, that is preventing your recall. Recall is killed by stress.

Well I can sure see a scary side to the whole idea of lucid dreaming. Witnessing some very creepy scary stuff for example... (The Shinning sort of stuff ya know? "Dany... Dany, come and play with US" )

I guess the type of mind/imagination you have is an important factor..
Also, the amount of control one has over his own mind is very capital. If you dont have a good discipline over your mind (imagination, thoughts, passions, emotions) you might quickly find yourself in dark places within your dream.. Basically, in your lucid dreams, your mind is way more powerfull or "in control" than in waking life.... So you better have it tamed..

An example --> LD : You are walking in a jungle. Suddenly you remember your intense fear of snakes... The thought rushes through your mind... You try to ignore the thought.. trying desperately to convince yourself you didnt' go there..... Too late... OMG Look on the ground !!!!

know what I mean ?

Even if you know its not actually real (the snake for example) & it can't harm you what difference does it make? LD's can be as realistic as our real life... that snake will look real as hell and if you are the type of person that is scared even of the snakes in movies and tv... well then you'll be hell of a lot more scared in your LD.

This is what scares me with LD's... pretty much the same thing that scares me with psychedelic drugs... The fact that you are very very very close to your imagination... and that may or may not be such a good thing.. is your imagination a domesticated animal? Mine is a wild force of nature.... so i'm in trouble usually !

Peace to you fellow dreamers

Lucid Dreaming is only scary if you allow it to be. Once you become knowledgeable about it, your fears should go away. I actually have an E-Book I can send you, called "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming.", which is basically a step-by-step guide to help you learn Lucid Dreaming, and should answer many of your questions, including wondering if its scary or dangerous (as in making you Sleep Deprived). You can also buy the book off of Amazon.com for like $6. I bought another copy because I gave mine to a friend. Its really worth having, and is rather cheap.

Well as far as nightmares go, the best way to experience them is Lucid. The people you have heard of that stay afraid even though they are Lucid, are either inexperienced with such things, or having a low level of Lucidity.

Once you are confident that nothing at all can harm you, nightmares can actually be very fun to face. One of my favorite things to do actually.

Most times when I'm Lucid and see any kind of danger, I generally throw myself in harms way just for the fun of it. last night for instance, I was about to let a zombie make a meal of me. But I then remembered I wanted to try biting off my own fingers. So I focused on that instead.

Good Luck, and welcome to Dream Views.

LDs rare really fun. It gives you such a buzz when you wake up and relize that you had one. Dont be scared, be excited!!

good luck