Thread: Hello - I felt I must post

Hi Richard, sorry to hear about your depression and anxiety. But you might be on to a very good thing if you've achieved lucidity.

I would recommend reading Steven LaBege's book Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming.... get this... whether you intend to persude lucid dreaming further or not (!) and here's why...

Basically in order to understand what lucid dreaming IS, it's necessary to first examine exactly what consciousness itself is (most people never really think about this). And what you learn is that dreaming and waking life are very much the same thing.... data from the senses is carried to the brain, which constructs a sort of CGI Matrix world duplicating your surroundings. That's how it works when we're awake anyway.. when we're sleeping on the other hand... the exact same mechanisms are at work, constructing a simulacrum world in your mind... except there's no realtime data coming in from the senses... so it's free to improvise.

What this MEANS is... that dreaming is in its own way just as real as waking existence, but you're in contact with your subconscious to a much stronger degree. So in a sense it's actually MORE real than waking life... in which the subconscious is hidden away and you have little contact with it at all.

In the book, LaBerge discusses many ways to use lucid dreaming to better your life... to confront fears in a safe environment (what happens in a dream is only a dream, and as long as you understand this you can face any fear this way). Upon reading the book you'll develop a strong understanding that dreams are a way to understand yourself better... to come to terms with what might be going on down inside. When lucid, people can replay nightmares but without the fear... and if you ask a nightmare creature who it is or why it's in your dream it will often become human and tell you things.... become a helper rather than a monster.

Ok, Im rambling... but my point is this... even if you DON'T pursue lucidity, a better understanding of consciousness helps you to understand the extent to which our fears and anxieties can be dealt with through belief (if you believe it's so, then in a dream it is so). And dreams are a great way to practice that belief. A dream is a safe place to confront fears and try things you might not be comfortable trying in waking life, and when it starts to work in dreams, it boosts your confidence. Lucid dreaming can make you feel wonderful.. whereas regular non-lucid dreaming often results in weird dreams that make you feel bad for the rest of the day, or even nightmares.

But it sounds like you were lucid and had a bad experience anyway... I'd say that's because you were a bit frightened of the experience. Understanding exactly what dreaming and lucidity are (and what consciousness itself truly is) can take away that fear and anxiety.

Of course I can't guarantee it would work for you. But all I'm recommending is that you buy the book and give it a read... it really opened my eyes and I find myself constantly re-reading parts of it. It's more heavily marked up and dog-eared than any other book I own. And I must say, I was a bit angry upon discovering this wealth of information that it isn't taught in school!!