Thread: Does flying really ever get easier?

I don't know why, but for some reason, flying in a LD, is one of the hardest things I have ever attempt, and still cannot do properly.

I haven't had a lucid dream in a while, but I did have a very lengthy one this morning. I must have spent a good 15 minutes trying to fly in it. At first, I was just terrible, as if I had never flown in a dream before. Jump up very high, and drop. After a while, I finally got some confidence, and I was moving around in the air. Though uncontrollably. I was about 100 feet off the ground... I felt this was enough space, but I was wrong. As soon as I got a good amount of speed, I took a sharp noise dive straight into the ground. Though it wasn't painful. This is something I have accustomed myself to, and actually love the feeling of free fall that comes along with it. But yeah... I never really got it down.

Some lucids it just comes easier than others. Some just seem impossible. I question the practicing of flying. Yes practice makes perfect... in a stable physical reality where we can learn cause and effect, or fine tune our muscles for physical activity.

Yes, lucid flying can improve with practice. When it comes to any kind of dream control, our greatest obstacle is doubting that we can do it, and telling ourselves that we have difficulties doing this. You said yourself that you managed to move around in the air after getting some confidence. That's what you need to do it, confidence. Just work on that. Many other lucid dreamers can fly in their dreams, so why shouldn't you be able to?

I actually find that I most of my dreams, how good I am at flying depends on how good I am supposed to be in my dreams. Often I find myself flying for the first time, like I have finally learnt how to in real life. Other times I'm a seasoned pro. It almost always makes me lucid though. I am amazing at lucid flight.

Practice will help a lot, but let's face it: most people don't get a lot of time to practice, so when you have the chance to fly you want to do it right.

You might want to try some different techniques, I found that switching to superman flight gave me a lot of speed but lousy control, flapping my arms is extremely slow, but great for precision, and gliding is somewhere in between. There are so many techniques: do the superman thing, sprout wings, equip a jet pack or even take that My Little Pony out of your pocket and ride it over the rainbows (though lacking in testosterone this would be one hell of a dream). There's bound to be a style that suits you. You can work out the occasional nosedive with some practice.

Good luck

edit: Since you've already got long lucids I'm ignoring the whole confidence thing, I guess you already know that by now.

Yeah, I already knew a lot of that... even tried some of it, with limited success. For example, I can use a jet pack, but not be able to control it.

What I'm really saying that, is the difficulty of flying seems to vary from lucid to lucid. It's not like in real life where you practice something, and slowly get better and better at it. In my dreams it's sort of like "well here goes nothing, I hope this works" and it either does or it doesn't. If it doesn't, I can slowly adjust and get within the dream. When the dreams ends, the process seems to repeat in the next dream.

I think I am still too bound to physical reality in my dreams. When I flap my arms, the motion feels so unnatural, I'm pretty much subconsciously thinking that trying to use my arms to fly is impossible.

I'm just really looking for assurance from someone who can just fly at will very easily anytime anywhere within a lucid a dream.

Originally Posted by blade5x

I'm just really looking for assurance from someone who can just fly at will very easily anytime anywhere within a lucid a dream.

I'll be your assurance bro. The very first time I had a lucid dream, I took off flying with complete control of steering, speed, reaction time, etc.

I was at work in the dream and I simply put both my fists up above my head and took off through the roof as if it weren't there.

I think a lot of this has to do with my being naive almost to the point of being childlike. What I mean is, I believe that everything is possible everywhere and that just because we see something or believe something, that doesn't necessarily make it true no matter how much evidence is stacked supporting said theory.

For example, since I was a child, I've been trying to levitate objects in real life even though most people would think that is absurd and impossible, i continue to confidently try it.

It's all about going back to the childlike naiveness where not all the "laws of physics" are set in stone and you will believe anything that you hear.

Being naive doesn't necessarily make you ignorant either. Many of the greatest scholars believed anything was possible and some even became scholars because of their beliefs that were perceived as idiotic and naive at the time.

The Wright Brothers? No one thought that a huge piece of metal with wings would be able to fly with people in it, but they accomplished it.

Einstein? Who would ever think such an absurd notion that space and time is a fabric in itself? Before that, time couldn't even really be physically conceived of, it just "was", it was just that thing that existed and allowed things to exist over and over in different states.

So basically, it all comes down to dissolving these rules pounded into your brain that the majority of society accepts without question. It may sound absurd but you can actually believe that we are not truly bound by gravity, even if you never prove it, you just have to believe it for it to be possible in a dream, proof is not a necessity in the dream world.

So be naive my friend.

It's harder for some than for others, but I have achieved it. It was easier for me than for most because I have always had a belief in the supernatural and things beyond my understanding and control that I just have to respect.

But what really gave me the final push into become childishly naive was pot. The things I thought about while under the influence were ridiculous yet creative, and I would accept them no matter how absurd they seemed. I'm not telling you to become a pothead, I'm just saying that occasional marijuana use certainly helped me take the final leap into believing that anything is possible regardless of what society has programmed me to believe.

Trust me my friend, if you combine the naiveness of a child with the knowledge of an adult, you have a person who is truly capable of much more than an adult that has no naiveness or a child who has no knowledge.

Peace,

The Pacifist

Yea it gets super easy. Like second nature. Its not as exhilarating as it was at the beginning so enjoy your first flights.
When I first tried it I just put my hands at my side and blasted up slowly like a rocket, then woke up.
I just fly everywhere now. I don't even wake up easily anymore. I find summoning people hard though.
For reference on how long it could take someone, I've had around 40 lucid dreams total and each and everyone was unique in its one way.

all I have to say is there is always a little bit of doubt in you, even in lucid dreams...That's what you need to get rid of my friend..

I have trouble with it too. I wish I had some feeling in real life that I could relate flying too. Like I think if I went skydiving, I would find flying easier.

Originally Posted by blade5x

I don't know why, but for some reason, flying in a LD, is one of the hardest things I have ever attempt, and still cannot do properly.

I haven't had a lucid dream in a while, but I did have a very lengthy one this morning. I must have spent a good 15 minutes trying to fly in it. At first, I was just terrible, as if I had never flown in a dream before. Jump up very high, and drop. After a while, I finally got some confidence, and I was moving around in the air. Though uncontrollably. I was about 100 feet off the ground... I felt this was enough space, but I was wrong. As soon as I got a good amount of speed, I took a sharp noise dive straight into the ground. Though it wasn't painful. This is something I have accustomed myself to, and actually love the feeling of free fall that comes along with it. But yeah... I never really got it down.

Some lucids it just comes easier than others. Some just seem impossible. I question the practicing of flying. Yes practice makes perfect... in a stable physical reality where we can learn cause and effect, or fine tune our muscles for physical activity.

Anything you want to do in a lucid, just imagine yourself doing it. Your dream is what you are imagining, so just imagine what you want to do. But do it with near effortlessness. You don't want to use too much strain. Finding that balance is what it's all about.

i had an ld last night (2nd of the summer! wee), and i found it easier than
my last dream that i flew in.

in mine, there is sorta like a technique to doing it.
run a little, jump, put out my hands, know that im going somewhere and to be smooth.

thought i cant get much above head level. i dont know if i want to really.

how is it in birds eye view?

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

Anything you want to do in a lucid, just imagine yourself doing it. Your dream is what you are imagining, so just imagine what you want to do. But do it with near effortlessness. You don't want to use too much strain. Finding that balance is what it's all about.

I think I know what you are talking about, but my lucids lose a sense of realism when I do that. I'm not exactly sure why, but it may have to do with the dream becoming more like a day dream... I'll have to see.

every lucid dream i've ever had i've been able to fly effortlessly. when i was around 9 or 10 i had my first lucid dream before i even heard of them, and as soon as i realized i was dreaming i flew really high up and explored until it faded away. and the second time i just flew at a high speed and plowed through buildings and houses.
but the only advice i can give you is just do it. don't even think about it, and fly. sorry but this is the best i can do. maybe you're just thinking about flying too much instead of just doing it. i don't know, maybe some can and some can't, and it may be different for you, but i never thought twice before i flew. it was never like "okay i'm going to try to fly" because "trying" implies that you might fail.

i hope this helps, and best of luck!

No, if you can't fly naturally, you're just not a flier.

It's something you're born with, not everyone can lucid dream.


sorry scrub

This might sound silly, but play FPS games. Especially ones with jetpacks. You'll learn what it looks like to fly from the first person perspective. This will make it easier.

it shouldnt really be that hard to do anything in a dream, its a dream, before going to sleep try mnemonic induction, tell urself that u can fly and in your dream jus jump and expect to be flying, or use the spinning technique and picture urself flying through a cloud or something

Flying is hard for me in most dreams; like you described, I often lift off the ground momentarily before losing the lightness and falling down again. In my childhood, I dreamed of flying without inhibitions or doubt. However, I'd never tried flying in a lucid dream until yesterday, and it worked pretty well.

The dream started as a non-lucid one, and I was standing in my back yard. I looked up into the sky like I do in real life sometimes, just daydreaming, and I got an intense feeling of lightness, like I do in real life. It's the kind of feeling that makes me just want to take off into that twilight sky so that I half-believe I could. Well, I half-believed it here, still unaware that I was dreaming, and I almost consciously said to myself, "Well, let's see if we can." And with that, I was effortlessly floating off the ground, and I realized that I was dreaming. It was one of the most exhilerating lucid experiences I've had, and I continued to fly until I wanted to stop and pursue other activities.

Maybe if you're looking for a real-life reference for how flight feels, you could just imagine how it would feel. For me, it helps to look at a wide-open sky, especially at twilight. But what may work for me may not necessarily work for anyone else, so you just have to find what gives you that sensation of lightness. I wouldn't recommend jumping off of a building, but maybe riding rollercoasters or simply being at a high elevation could give you some points of reference.

Originally Posted by blade5x

I don't know why, but for some reason, flying in a LD, is one of the hardest things I have ever attempt, and still cannot do properly.

I haven't had a lucid dream in a while, but I did have a very lengthy one this morning. I must have spent a good 15 minutes trying to fly in it. At first, I was just terrible, as if I had never flown in a dream before. Jump up very high, and drop. After a while, I finally got some confidence, and I was moving around in the air. Though uncontrollably. I was about 100 feet off the ground... I felt this was enough space, but I was wrong. As soon as I got a good amount of speed, I took a sharp noise dive straight into the ground. Though it wasn't painful. This is something I have accustomed myself to, and actually love the feeling of free fall that comes along with it. But yeah... I never really got it down.

Wow, that sucks.

I remember the first time I ever flew in a LD. It was a flawless motion; I looked at my friend in the dream and said "watch this" before running, jumping into the air, and feeling myself go straight up. I looked down and started to go forward, flying fast. The last part of the dream was me flying in back towards my friend, and doing an almost peter-pan like glide onto the ground.

What's important to consider though is that I really, truly wanted to fly, and because of that, flying was a very natural motion for me, almost as natural as walking. If you don't really want to fly while in an LD, try something you really want to do, even if it's something you could probably do in RL.

After a while, I finally got some confidence, and I was moving around in the air. Though uncontrollably. I was about 100 feet off the ground... I felt this was enough space, but I was wrong. As soon as I got a good amount of speed, I took a sharp noise dive straight into the ground.

I have the same problem sometimes. It's a matter of controlling the hight. Sometimes I won't be able to keep from going down, though I usually have a harder time not going too high. Try this: grab a stick or some other simple object and tilt it up, down, and to the sides to steer. It works suprisingly well for me. For an example:

Spoiler for Excerpt from Dream Journal:

I went through the door without looking back and used some sort of flying machine to get further away. It was pretty simple, long and with narrow wings (similar to the one in the 9-27-07 dream, but longer). I had a hard time getting more than a few feet above the ground at first, and had to be very careful not to run into people. The streets were crowded, and although I wasn't going high, I was going very fast! Eventually I was high enough to see more than the panicked faces of people leaping out of the way. I still felt that I needed to go a bit higher. Unfortunately, I was flying just below some kind of metal contraption that had a horizontal bar every few feet. I was able to go higher, but I could tell that it wouldn't be fast enough to get between the bars. I simply coasted at the same level until I was more secure with how to operate the flying machine, then jerked it up and just barely made it through.

Now the flying was a lot easier. I decided I liked the flying machine, because for once I didn't feel like I was going to accidently go too high. It kept me at the same level, and was very efficient (once one figured out how the heck to manipulate it). I got the information that this was used by elves. I soared away from civilization and found myself in a kind of dessert/mountain wilderness. There was a mountain (or mountains) that formed a sort of open circle area in the center, which I went to and decided to go higher. By now I had mastered the flying device, and decided I didn't need it anymore. I flew just as easily on my own

It's like learning how to ride a bike you keep on practicing and you will get better.

Last night's dream: I tell the people I am with that I am dreaming,they ask me how I know. I tell them that I am obviously dreaming because Ican fly. I start to levitate then they say I am only on my tiptoes. I look down and sure enough I am. I say no really and finally get off the ground. The problem I had at first was just flight correction. If I tried to correct to the left I would fly off to the left, same with the right. After a short period I just told myself it was easy and sure enough it was.(which is my advice if you are having difficulties). The problem I had with flight was that a wolfe kept chasing me. It bit my ankle and pulled me down then we had a fight but I was not scared. I ripped his jaw apart but he just came back to life and bit my hand. and I woke up. I decided that instead of trying to kill him I would try to befriend him(because i do not know what he symbolizes). I will try tonight and update you guys on the effectiveness of this approach.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Befriending him would definitely be an interesting experience. I have no idea what he might symbolize, it's probably different for every person.

I've always been able to fly in dreams, but I don't do the superman thing, or flap my arms. I just kind of move through the dream in the air. Basically, my perspective just moves around through the dream when I fly, with my body attached. I control the flying with my thoughts. Like, expect to go up and you will, or expect to turn left and you will. What my body is doing is irrelevant to flight.

I always fly everwhere when i LD!! Sometimes i have difficulties getting
off the ground but i just get around that by climbing something and
jumping off into the air, and that gets me going again, or i should say
flying....anyway it always works for me!

Originally Posted by blade5x

I don't know why, but for some reason, flying in a LD, is one of the hardest things I have ever attempt, and still cannot do properly.

I haven't had a lucid dream in a while, but I did have a very lengthy one this morning. I must have spent a good 15 minutes trying to fly in it. At first, I was just terrible, as if I had never flown in a dream before. Jump up very high, and drop. After a while, I finally got some confidence, and I was moving around in the air. Though uncontrollably. I was about 100 feet off the ground... I felt this was enough space, but I was wrong. As soon as I got a good amount of speed, I took a sharp noise dive straight into the ground. Though it wasn't painful. This is something I have accustomed myself to, and actually love the feeling of free fall that comes along with it. But yeah... I never really got it down.

Some lucids it just comes easier than others. Some just seem impossible. I question the practicing of flying. Yes practice makes perfect... in a stable physical reality where we can learn cause and effect, or fine tune our muscles for physical activity.

Flying does get easier. The first time i tried it i could only manage hovering a few feet above the ground. But in my most recent LD i was flying above the sea with total confidence. But the most freekish thing happened. As i was flying A herd of King sized whales appeared from the sea i was so struck with horror that i lost the ability to fly. Each whale was like 2 miles long!!!!. Anyway just as i was falling towards the sea a whale erupted below me and i was literally in it's mouth but it was so big that i flew out again before it got the chance to eat me. Every now and again i lost the power to fly and a whale would have a go at me.
The size of that thing was incredible
I thought whales were herbivores??

I'd like to make an update... it definitely is getting easier. I'm finding a slow hover flight up to 100 feet or so pretty easy now. Superman flight is still difficult, though I have not practiced much. If I am up above the clouds, superman speed flight is no problem, it's just at the lower altitudes that's still proving to be difficult.