Beginner Questions

I know you guys probably hear this all the time and get tired of answering it, and for that I apologize.

First off I was wondering exactly how much control you have when you get completely lucid. Can you literally decide "Oh I wanna go fishing for...zebras... in Uzbekistan," and then you're there?

The one lucid experience I have had accidentally was very short. I walked through a door and was surprised so I decided to try walking through the wall. I made it through a wall and then realized I wasn't awake at all. As soon as I realized I was dreamin' I realized that I wasn't in pain (a huge deal for someone suffering from 2 different chronic pain conditions). This blew me away so much that I woke up shaking.

I want to be able to achieve it again very much for personal therapy. It would be nice if I could be able to do whatever I want while asleep. Being disabled I am unable to do a lot of things I wish I could...if I could gain lucidity it would be like giving me back the youth I never had. Sorry this was so long -_-

Well a couple of ways to gain more control is to do reality checks in your dream. This will help you realize more and more that you're dreaming and give you better control.

And also just getting to any area and go fishing could take some practice... But it doesn't for everybody.

You could use the absence of pain as a dream sign.
There are a lot of different methods for changing the dream scene.
Picturing something on the other side of a door and then going through it works for some people. Thinking that something will be there when you turn around works. You just have to mess around and see what is most reliable for you.

As these guys have said, yea you can really manipulate the dream to mind-boggling degrees. You've gotta have a bit of confidence to get things like that to happen. But if I wanted to go zebra fishing in Uzbekistan I would've opened a door expecting Uzbekistan to be on the other side, walked around looking for a lake, found it, and asked the DCs present how the zebra were biting.

I always get really excited when I hear about really practical uses for lucid dreaming. I'd really like to see it progressing for use in therapy of people with both mental and physical problems, who could greatly benefit from the ability to LD. If you learn the skill, you can get that same feeling multiple times a week, while simultaneously doing whatever in the world you want to do. Let me know if you need any help attaining this, I'm glad you joined DV because I think you're going to like lucid dreaming a LOT ;)

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Originally Posted by Shift

As these guys have said, yea you can really manipulate the dream to mind-boggling degrees. You've gotta have a bit of confidence to get things like that to happen. But if I wanted to go zebra fishing in Uzbekistan I would've opened a door expecting Uzbekistan to be on the other side, walked around looking for a lake, found it, and asked the DCs present how the zebra were biting.

I always get really excited when I hear about really practical uses for lucid dreaming. I'd really like to see it progressing for use in therapy of people with both mental and physical problems, who could greatly benefit from the ability to LD. If you learn the skill, you can get that same feeling multiple times a week, while simultaneously doing whatever in the world you want to do. Let me know if you need any help attaining this, I'm glad you joined DV because I think you're going to like lucid dreaming a LOT ;)

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Thanks for the explanation, I can't wait to be able to dream more often. For me it is a lot more than just being able to act out fantasies and do what I want. The feeling of no pain is....more than I could ever describe to someone who hasn't had pain constantly for 9 years. It was better than any drug, any amount of therapy; it made me cry when I woke up :\

Welcome to Dreamviews, Mentor. I'm sorry to hear about your condition. I hope you definitely get better at lucid dreaming soon! You'll like it quite a great deal! :D

Your first couple of lucid dreams are always short, that's just how it is. They get longer with time though, I've had lucid dreams that I was bored in because I couldn't think of anything else to do :P

Some people get good enough at contorlling their dreams that they can do anythign that they want instantly. I don't practice that kind of control, so I've never done it myself.