Do Dreams Empower Your Life?

**Nickolai** · 04-21-2011 06:07 PM

My Dream Theory

I would like to reach to you for help if you do not mind?

I am very interested in a specific subject and need help from experienced lucid dreamers or persons who have experiences with dreams in general.

Basically I need help to understand if you have experienced or can relate to the statements put forth in theory 1 or theory 2.

If you have please leave a comment short or long.

If you have not it would be nice to get your feedback on what you think about the humble theories put forth.
Every contribution will be of great value for like-minded people ☺

So what do I have on my mind?

I am currently grappling with two theories that broadly speaking emphasises
- The effects of emotions created in dreams and their impact on our waken life
Theory 1 emphases that emotions from dreams affects our waken life.
Theory 2 builds of on the assumptions of theory 1 and emphasis the ability to use conscious created emotions from dreams to fulfil a personal goal(s).

Theory 1:
“Conscious or lucid dreams affects the waken emotions which consciously affects the mental state and emotions of our waken life”

Theory 2:
“We can consciously create dreams that creates specific emotions that support a desired waken mental-state. These consciously created emotions can empower us to act out a desired waken behaviour in order to fulfil a personal goal(s)“

Explanation and understanding of Theory 1
In the following I will explain the theory 1 by giving a humble example from my own experience.
I myself have often experience woken up form a positive dream or a negative dream, that I could remember but had no control of, and felt either a positive or negative mood depending on the dream.

The after-effects of the negative dream have been that I had to focus my thought on my waken state or life by remembering my current waken life situation, e.g. what activities I am currently doing at day to day basis, my relationships to friends and family or other aspects of my life, in order to get rid of the negative emotions still residing in my thoughts and feelings.

I have feel that negative emotions carried from my dream state into my waken life affects my normally positive attitude to life in the first hour upon awakening form a nights sleep. I am only consciously aware of this maximum 45-60 min. after I wake up. The faster I shift my mental focus the faster the negative emotions from my dreams disappear.

Thus I feel that negative emotions from conscious or lucid dreams affects my ability to think positive about a negative waken life problem.
As an example I could have had a fierce discussion with my partner that has not been resolved. At the moment I wake form my negative dream the emotions of this dream is actually making my negative feelings, from my waken life situation, worse than the actually is.

On the contrary I have experienced how a positive dream affects me. I feel a positive mood and the feeling of being energised and ready for the day with a positive attitude independently of my current life situation is overall negative or positive.
So if I have worrying problems in my waken life a positive dream can energise me with positive emotions and vice versa -if I have a positive life situation and wake up with positive emotions, from my dream I feel even more positive and motivated to gets started with the day.

Explanation and understanding of Theory 2
Regarding theory 2 I am currently not able to put forward personal empirical evidence that it is possible to: “consciously create dreams that creates specific emotions that support a desired waken mental-state and that these consciously created emotions can empower us to act out a desired waken behaviour in order to fulfil a personal goal(s).

At the moment I have not developed the skills to consciously take control of my dream aka. lucid dream. But I am sure you have!
I am therefore interested to hear your stories and experiences relating to one of the above theories especially theory 2.

Despite I do not have personal empirical data on this I would suggest that fields as the personal development movement and coaching movements are to some extent evidence for how creations of emotions are able to change human behaviour in our waken life. I do not have sources other than the general ideas that are prevailing in our societies today.

Assumptions regarding theory formulation
In order to put forward these humble theories I would like you to understand what assumptions they are build on. Below you will see a list of personal assumptions that the theories take point of departure in.

• Humans are able to lucid dream
• Human emotions/mental-state are controlling our behaviours
• Emotions in our dreams, lucid or not, affects our waken behaviour
• Emotions created in dreams are more or just as affect-full as emotions created in the waken state.
• The emotions developed/created in the conscious dream state will manifest in increased motivation and confidence of our abilities to act out the behaviours that will result in reaching our personal goal(s). This is based on my personal experience of both a positive mood and a negative mood thus affecting my emotion in waken life and in some instances been the basis of my day to day decision making.
• I will have to have a clear idea of how I am able to reach my personal goal. The method of attaining my personal goals will have to be explicit and known to me.

So what do you think about the theories put forth?

Kind regards
Nickolai from Denmark

**Sacred Arboretum** · 04-24-2011 04:21 AM

I only have one problem with this, and that is that "waken" should be "waking"

Anyway, I have had some experiences relating to your first theory. I have woken up feeling extremely angry at my brother because of something ridiculous that happened in a dream. I was mad at him for like two days before it wore off... it was just pure anger that prevented me from focusing on what was really going on.

I have also had beautiful dreams that made me feel incredible. I couldn't stop thinking about it when I woke up because the feeling had carried over and I felt so good; so happy and full of hope.

I hadn't thought about your second theory though, but I think you're completely right. Say you're lucid: you can actually obtain/act out your goal, which would already work wonders for motivation as well as bring other details to light that you may not have thought about or would like to give a "lucid test run." And then if you wake up right from this dream you can immediately set to work planning/practicing/training/brainstorming while in the best possible mental/emotional state!

So I give you a thumbs up for excellence and I hope this project yields much wisdom!

!

**concusion** · 04-26-2011 04:57 AM

Back when I was in High School I used to have dreams once in a while where I was acting as a couple with a girl and having those "butterflies" in the dream that caused me to wake up and think different about that person. Has happened to me on a couple occasions. Never really turned into anything nor did I explore it further.