I was wondering if anyone had any tips for overcoming fear of becoming lucid, or ideas of why it might scare me in the first place. The few times I've managed to become lucid in dreams they've only lasted a few seconds and suddenly I get scared and it turns into a lucid nightmare that I wake up from. I'm not the type of person to get freaked out by things like that and I'm normally very calm in all states. I can't figure out what it is that is scaring me.
I've sometimes thought about aspects of lucid dreaming that make me a little apprehensive, but they are not what I would call fear. Mostly what I mean is I wonder about things like, "If I have a lucid dream and try to know something you can't possibly know, like someone's address, or a mathematical solution, or a foreign word or phrase, what happens?" I sometimes worry that if I have a lucid dream, I'll find myself stressed-out about what to populate the dream with. Like, will I have to manufacture every little bitty detail of the dream reality with deliberate conscious attention, or will it sort of form up around me -- and if it does, am I then really exercising actual lucid control? I guess maybe all lucid dreams are a hybrid: you can focus on and control the macro events in the dream, but micro events might be subconscious until and unless you decide to focus on them to change them. (Like, the sky would by default be blue, unless you decided to change it; or the cars on the highway would be random models, unless you decided to say they should all be Ferraris.) I think that the best solution is to just consciously RELAX and allow yourself to accept that whatever happens is whatever happens. Deal with it as it occurs. Remember that nothing has true meaning or importance in the universe, and you can always try again another time if this time doesn't work out. Ultimate peace, baby! It begins with letting go! -Jeffrey
I think it's perfectly natural to have a slight apprehension about lucid dreaming. You are after all tapping into a great form of inner power. There's that struggle between the reality of the waking world and the reality of the dreamtime. I guess it would be like walking through the woods one day to discover suddenly that you can completely change everything by will alone. It would be a bit unsettling. Maybe it's just a matter of taking some baby steps until your psyche/spirit is ready to accept this new power. Good luck
I don't think the simile is apt, there, Pear... specifically because if you start being able to change reality in your dream, there is little to fear because you already know that it's a dream. You can just remind yourself that nothing is lost if you screw it up -- you could start again if need be. My biggest fear about lucid dreaming is the possibility that I might find them too difficult to control to my satisfaction. But then I just remind myself that it's all about peace and pleasure and relaxation and freedom and suddenly "it's all good." (I don't mean to give the impression that I have lucid dreams all the time. Still workin' on it. What I mean is when I start feeling nervous about them I just remind myself what the real purpose is.) -Jeffrey
I'm sorry to disagree with some of these posts but I have to point out to people who haven't LD'd yet that you have little to no control over what you can do/make happen in a lucid. I'm speaking for the vast majority of people who LD regularly, I've never heard of full control, the ability to change the enviroment people in an LD at will (although you can fool the mind, try open a closed door to change reality etc). Remember that the reason you are in a lucid is that your brain has woken up whilst your body is still paraylised, your brain knows it should be receiving input from your senses and as it cannot corrects the situation by recreating reality. If you can change the world around you in the waking world then your brain won't have any trouble in an LD. For the rest of us non super hero types the brain is very reluctant to let you totally break the natural laws it knows operate in the real world. This translates into people being unable to fly (I have great difficulty) walk through walls (I can but its like walking through glue). The lower (closer to normal dreaming) your lucid dream is the more your brain is able to accept you doing mad stuff. Higher lucids are far better than than lower (IMO) but your brain is more engaged (awake) and so less able to accept you breaking the natural laws. Intrestingly this sort of flips when you get into states beyond a high lucid, ultra lucids or what people call out of body or astral projection. In these states extra abilites come as standard and your mind is running at least double the efficency and awareness of your waking state. As for the fear, Its natural, but remember this is not like dropping strong acid or anything, you don't spend 12 hrs thinking I'm not sure if I should have done this? An LD will last from a few seconds to 20 minuites, if you have fear I'd take a leaf out of some of the astral projectors that I have respect for like Anne Varnes and Robert Munroe. They would say that when you project your traveling in your light body, nothing can harm you in this form. You might not accept the reality of Astral projection but if you take this view with your I think it will strengthen your mind against anything your might be worried about. I like Lucid Nightmares they are cool :sunglasse I do wake up when my fear level gets too high but I always curse myself when my eyes spring open in bed and I try to get back into the LD.
