Can you fully control your dreams?

[-RA-]

Online its a very big thing called Lucid Dreaming. I would be skeptical of a lot of the claims online, as its very hard to directly prove, but i can remember dreams that i have had before where i suddenly realized i was dreaming and was able to alter my dream accordingly (only for very short times though). I am skeptical of some of the descriptions of Lucid dreaming though, such as this one from Stephen LaBerge, Ph.D, "There is a state of consciousness in which any human being could experience anything imaginable. Each of us holds within us infinite possibilities. How many of us ever have the opportunity to taste even a hint of them? If we speak of our fantasies of wider vistas of life, we talk of our "dreams." In our dreams, we are free. A man in a dungeon can dream he is a king in a castle, and while he dreams, it is so."

To me it all sounds a bit new-age. If that description was true that would mean that people should much prefer the 'dreaming reality' to the real reality we live in as in a dream you have no constraints and could do pretty much anything, even brake the laws of physics. Apparently people who master Lucid Dreaming can find ordinary life boring, which causes them to want to stay in their dreams, and they become withdrawn from society.

If we really could make dreams as real to us as when awake, and so were able to do anything we want in our dreams (as a lot of people claim), then i can see why they would want to!

what are peoples thoughts on this, are its effects overexaggerated, or is there some truth behind it? I would imagine that there are constraints on what you can dream but i can't think why.

some interesting papers on Lucid dreaming;

http://lucidity.best.vwh.net/NL53.ResearchPastFuture.html
http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200422/000020042204A0674103.php
http://www.lucidity.com/SleepAndCognition.html
http://www.lucidity.com/slbbs/index.html

 

[zoobyshoe]

Most everyone has had a lucid dream or two and I have read accounts of people who have a great deal of control over their dreams. Total control is probably limited to people who practice some strict life discipline such as Tibetan monks, and the like.

 

[G01]

Most everyone has had a lucid dream or two and I have read accounts of people who have a great deal of control over their dreams. Total control is probably limited to people who practice some strict life discipline such as Tibetan monks, and the like.

Didn't Feynman talk about trying to achieve Lucid dreaming states in Surely Your Joking?

 

[Mk]

I lucid dream every night. Not that big a deal, although full control is a rarity.

 

[Art]

Talking of dreams anybody know what people who were born blind 'see' in their dreams?

 

[Chi Meson]

As far as I can manage, I can recognize being in a dream, but before I can "control" it, I tend to wake up. I can imagine that such control of lucid dreams is valid, to a point. A lot of new agers tend to claim lots of powers that are totally unverifiable at best (totally bogus more frequently).

Did you guys know that I can sense the emotions of trees? I can! This hickory here has been depressed ever since that great elm died in the year we call 1948. Now this elm lived over three miles away from the hickory, but they were in direct communication through the aquifer which acts as a conduit of information via roots etc etc etc etc etc.

I wish I were making that one up!

 

[Mallignamius]

To me it all sounds a bit new-age. If that description was true that would mean that people should much prefer the 'dreaming reality' to the real reality we live in as in a dream you have no constraints and could do pretty much anything, even brake the laws of physics. Apparently people who master Lucid Dreaming can find ordinary life boring, which causes them to want to stay in their dreams, and they become withdrawn from society.

Living in a dream is no substitute for discovering real people, real minds.

 

[-RA-]

As far as I can manage, I can recognize being in a dream, but before I can "control" it, I tend to wake up.

Thats the problem that I have with gaining control over my actions in dreams. As soon as i realize its a dream I think of myself asleep in bed, and as soon as i think of that, I will always wake up. I presume with practise you could learn to realize you are dreaming without thinking about your where your actual body is, which seems to be what wakes people up from lucid dreams; when they think about where they 'actually' are.

 

[hypatia]

Did you guys know that I can sense the emotions of trees? I can! This hickory here has been depressed ever since that great elm died in the year we call 1948. Now this elm lived over three miles away from the hickory, but they were in direct communication through the aquifer which acts as a conduit of information via roots etc etc etc etc etc.

I wish I were making that one up!

I sense trees too. I have known about trees pretty much all my life. They can be very moody, and yes they remember for a very long time.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Didn't Feynman talk about trying to achieve Lucid dreaming states in Surely Your Joking?

I goggled "feynman lucid dream" and found the whole story quoted here"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Paranoid/Feynman

 

[JasonRox]

I've had control of some dreams before. I seem to get better and better as time goes. Years ago I couldn't control them at all.

 

[Moonbear]

Oh, what's the fun in controlling your dreams? That's too much like being awake. It's much more fun to have bizarre, surprise endings.

 

[JasonRox]

Oh, what's the fun in controlling your dreams? That's too much like being awake. It's much more fun to have bizarre, surprise endings.

Well, if it's a girl you like...

 

[Math Jeans]

Generally when I realize that I'm dreaming and gain full control of my dreams...I tend to try to wake up. lol. However, there have also been dreams where I had partial control over them and I truly believed in the false reality that I was dreaming and was able to play as a person in that world (usually when I have those dreams I want to hit the person who wakes me up).

What I hate most is when you're dreaming and have enough control to do certain things, and wake up right before something good happens. Meh.

 

[G01]

I goggled "feynman lucid dream" and found the whole story quoted here"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Paranoid/Feynman

Cool! It's amazing how Feynman continues to surprise, huh?

 

[mgb_phys]

Debugging dreams are common when you have been concentrating on code for a few days. You know there is something wrong in the dream, step back and change it, then go back into the dream, all without waking up.

 

[makethings]

You can never fully control your dreams. The reason for this is you can never die in your dreams. You tend to wake up a split second moment before you do.

 

[JasonRox]

You can never fully control your dreams. The reason for this is you can never die in your dreams. You tend to wake up a split second moment before you do.

I died, so I have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[Math Jeans]

You can never fully control your dreams. The reason for this is you can never die in your dreams. You tend to wake up a split second moment before you do.

Your deams are dictated by whatever you are thinking. What if you dream that you die? In that case, your dream would not be black, but probably a false afterlife that is whatever you think.

 

[makethings]

I only wanted to see if people would go to bed and kill themselves in their dreams and then come back here and post it.

Whether you die voluntarily or not in your dream may suggest a lack of fear of death, with the possibility of suicidal tendencies. Are either of you suicidal?

 

[NeoDevin]

I remember one dream where I died, and then I woke up, and it seemed very real for a few seconds, And then I had this crazy theory, something along the lines of the theory of quantum immortality, except that when you die, your consciousness goes back in time to some indeterminate point in the past, and you wake up from it as if from a dream...

Ok, so I know that doesn't make too much sense, but I was still half asleep at the time, and it had felt very real.

 

[christianna21]

i can completely control my dreams whenever i want to. it comes easy to me because when i was young i would get nightmares often, and would wake up terrified. i was always tired and had trouble focusing throughout the day because i was was too tired to sleep. eventually i decided that i would just remember that i was asleep and start "day dreaming while i was sleeping." it wasn't until i was older that i found out most people can't control their dreams, or remember their dreams at all. the easiest way to start controlling dreams is to first master recognizing when you are dreaming. once you know when you're dreaming as you're asleep, start practicing remembering your dreams. the easiest way to do this is to tell yourself before falling asleep that you are going to remember your dream tonight. the easiest times to remeber a previous dream is any time you wake up iether during the night or in the morning, and right as you're about to fall asleep the following night. keep a clear mind during these times. Recognise any emotions you may be feeling weather its fear, anxiety, peace, or anger and ask yourself why you are feeling this way. Ask yourself what you were dreaming about. Practice this over and over again and soon your brain will answer you and you will begin to remember. after you are able to recognize that you're dreaming, and you can recall your dreams, you are ready to start controlling. it will come like second nature at this point, since you are already "becoming one with your dreams" and beginning to understand your dreams. by learning the first two steps, you may also start to understand what your dreams mean to you, if anything at all. you will become a dream master. don't worry controlling dreams doesn't take any more effort that uncontrolled dreaming. you will still sleep for the same amount of time (unless you purposefully force yourself awake), and you will still be refreshed in the morning. Anybody can do this, just stay patient and know that it is definitely possible the most important thing to do is to trust your sences, stay open, calm and let your subconscious mind leak into the forefront of your brain. best of luck!:)

 

[Chronos]

I dreamed I was dreaming I was dreaming . . . It was bizzare. I 'woke up' from my dreamed dream realizing I was still dreaming - I was fabulously wealth. Limousine, mansion, sipping cognac with dozens of scantily clad super models on a beach . . . I woke up again very disappointed.

 

[mugaliens]

Mostly. Not the initial idea or the setting. But once I'm in it, I'm usually pushing it in the direction I'd like to see it go.