Is there a way to control dreams?
 

I googled for this topic and all got was lucid dreaming.
But lucid dreaming is just about memorizing dreams and then knowing that it's just a dream.

I want to know if there are any methods to control what you're going to dream about. Maybe dream about a girl :biggrin:

I believe there is a way to dream about what you want to. I remember in my psychology class the teacher told us about it, we were going to learn the next week, but then a strike went on, and when we came back the module got cancelled.......... so essentially this post is useless :(.

Dream about a certain girl? So I sense angst? :P

lol, I'm used to that "angst" as you say it :lolsign:

Well, if you think about something right before you fall asleep, chances are that your dream is about it, that's scientifically proven.

Yeah, you can have lucid dreams.
However, I personally have never really managed to have them. Aside from the fact that I almost never remember my dreams anyways, I can have the recognition that I am in a dream, but nonetheless, everything is still out of my control. I guess my subconscious mind is more powerful than my conscious mind.
However, I hear that is the first step to it. Recognition that it is a dream.
I think something that might be helpful would be to also have some sort of stimulus which keeps you slightly in tune with the real world, thus keepig you slightly conscious.

I enjoy my dreams as-is, even though I know in the back of my mind that I'm in a dream 99% of the time. This affects some of the stuff I do in them, like "Oh well it's a dream anyway, may as well enjoy it" or "I don't care if this is a dream, I'm playing Mother 3/Kingdom Hearts 2/some new Pokemon game and it's AWESOME".

If I wanna full-on lucid-dream, the technique I use for it is thinking "I will control my dreams" over and over until it repeats all by itself while I fall asleep, and it works. It also gets easier the more nights you do it.

Lucid dreaming is realizing that you're dreaming while you're doing it. (Then remembering it when you wake up..) However you can go further than just realizing you're dreaming. You can go as far as controlling your dreams with enough practice.

http://www.dreamviews.com/ is a good site to get started.

Sure is. I remember I wanted to test an idea of mine. I basically told my conscious over and over again if you realize that you are dreaming, try to control it. As soon as my conscious gets aware enough to realize that a dream is a dream, I’m actual able to control everything in it, down right to drawing whatever environment I want to be in. I can only do it while lucid dreaming, and when things get too intense I wake up. I can’t control what I initially dream about it, only increase its chances by thinking about it a lot.

I agree. When I was younger, I used to have nightmares that would have me tossing and turning and sometimes falling out the bed. I've learned to "daydream" before I go to bed, even when I'm really tired. I usually end up dreaming about what I was daydreaming. However, there are some instances where my daydreams were replaced with other dreams.

I suppose the site is enough proof that there has been moderate success in dream manipulation but the field itself is still highly experimental. I haven't read all of the stuff but I suppose there might be tremendous advantage/disadvatange if we can learn to control dreams.

Dreams are said refelctions of ourselves anyway so I guess how we think affects our dreams. Sometimes I'd prefer them that way since it may allow us an introspective view of ourselves.

When I was a child I managed to "ban" quite a frequent nightmare by self-controlling my mind.

I just continue my dreams sometimes after waking up for a few minutes. I do that by thinking about the story of the dream (but you mustn't go into details since you'll be fully awake then).

Other than that I have dreams when I think about something very often during daytime. Maybe the best method.

The farthest I've come to controlling my own dreams is knowing I was within the dream. Trying to force my actions or alter the world around me was impossible for me. It required too much conscious effort, and I knew that if I tried harder that I would wake up.

The reason I realized I was dreaming is actually kind of sad. What happened was, in the dream, I had found a CD Player I was looking for, and it was in perfect shape. I quickly realize that this could not truly be occurring, simply on the basis that nothing ever goes my way. Sad, isn't it? I could not accept good fortune :( It was at that point I realized I was within a dream. I tried to summon some things into existence but couldn't.

Maybe I'll be better at it another day.

I've done it once or twice, like when I screamed at someone to shut the fuck up (IRL and in-dream), but in general, I'd be afraid to control my dreams.


Does nobody read Lovecraft anymore?

I'm a lucid dreamer, I didn't practise or anything it just comes naturally. It doesn't happen all the time either, only in a "deep dream" as I call them I can control what's going on. What happens is i'll start to dream something then i'll realise that i'm dreaming and walk around in my dream saying "hey this is a dream and you're in it." and if I see people I hate I can just shout abuse at them, kinda like therapy =p. Sometimes I can control what's going on and who's in a dream but not all the time. When I have a lucid dream it feels real at the time, so one time I was dreaming I was in my room and I was just about to jump out of my window to fly and I said "Hey, better not do that just incase this is actually real". It was weird.

I tend to remember my dreams very clearly too, I remember the one I had last night in good detail. My dreams are also very strange too, my old journal on gff had loads of crazy dream explanations in I might have to start writing about them again.

As someone has already said, you can control it once you realise you are dreaming. But by the time I realise it, I've got like 20 seconds before I wake up.

About a girl, you say? *wink wink nudge nudge... I see you like rainy mornings.

Lucid dreams are the answer for you. When you know you're dreaming then you also can control the dream! Many times I'm doing this by checking if I can do weird things like magic or flying. Then, in almost every dream, I can control the dream & what happens in it.

If you do know how to control dreams, can it be transferred to the real world? I mean...has anybody like lost their mind?
I'm afraid if I kill or hurt myself in a dream, I never wake up again... :(

Of course you can wake up again ..you're only dreaming!;)

yeah in very rare cases I am a lucid dreamer (I can only remember when it happened once) once I recalled that I was "dreaming" and wondered if I CAN DIE while sleeping so I actually tried commiting suicide by jumping off a cliff or something. Unfortunately everytime I tried this I always ended up waking up before I hit the ground. So I dont think you can really kill yourself in a dream (though I did hurt myself and nothing happened to me). I should try a completely different method...maybe committing hari kari or something but that doesnt click in my mind while I am sleeping.

UNFORTUNATELY I usually only control my dreams during nightmares (which I hardly ever have any anymore...).

There was an Ed episode that dealt with this. And yes, in that episode it only worked once he realized it was a dream. However, I cannot remember the method he used to have said dream.

This is what i heard that you need to do before you want to dream lucid. Is proven that it works, but i ought to try it out.

Everyday, write down everything you can remember from your last dream on a paper. Do that every day. Read trough it before you go to sleep. Daydream a bit over it...

And while you fall asleep you should get a message: Hey, you're dreaming! And from that point you can control your dreams.

I don't quite often dream lucid, but it's happening more frequently the last few months. Last time i dreamed lucid was... i believe 3 days ago.

Anyways, it's cool do dream lucid cuz you can do whatever you want!

I don't think there is a way to modify your dreams in ways you want them to be. But, why bother messing with them? How do you know that what you attempt may or may not have negative effects? It's like asking, "Is there a way to control what parts of the cookie rise in the oven?" Maybe there is, but why bother messing with it!

But other than that, dreams are purely based on what you do in your daily activities. If you've been losing family or something, your dreams will most likely be about them 80% of the time. It's not as random as people mostly perceive them to be.

Very true. I do that quite often, and that's usually the case.

I've never been able to control my dreams. I've tried and practiced to be able to do some degree of lucid dreaming but it never works.

But maybe that's for the best. Because if you can control your dreams and do whatever you wish.. why would a person ever wish to wake up? They could just go back to sleep everytime they wake. Bury themseleves in thier fantasies and never face the real world.

Im in control of my waking thoughts, so I prefer to explore when my mind is free to wander. When I really need to though, I can almost always control my dreams.

When I was quite young, I realized that these nightmares I were having were in _my_ head, they were _mine_. Surely then I could control them. With time I managed to rather well. On occasion, my dreams retaliate or rebel against my control, manipulating other aspects to keep the dream a bad one. Pretty rare though, maybe once every few months.

The only other dreams I can't manipulate are foresight.