# Lucid Dreaming > Dream Control >  >  Best thing to do when lucid? Nothing.

## Pyramis

::huh::  This may sound like the lamest advice you've ever heard, but bear with me for a moment.

Believe it or not, living out your wildest fantasies in living detail gets old after a while. When you wake up, you face the fact that all those sexy situations basically amount to masturbation. All those amazing conversations are just _you_ talking to yourself. Sure, you gain access to creative and inventive parts of your consciousness that you don't normally connect to -- and don't get me wrong, that is wonderful and important! -- but you're still running up against the limits of your own mind.

It's time to go further.

The best part is, it's simple: *Do nothing*.

I mean it. Do nothing. As soon as the lucid dream stabilizes around you, using whatever techniques you've learned to accomplish that, resist the temptation to create some new fantasy. Instead, just ignore whatever people or events are moving around you, battling for your attention. No matter how fascinating, intriguing, scary or repulsive the dream gets, just ignore it with calm dispassion. You're a lucid dreamer. Nothing can harm you. Likewise, _nothing can interest you_.

People will approach you with beautiful things to look at, delicious foods to taste, dangerous weapons to murder you with, or eyes to fall in love with. Pay them no mind.

Instead, will them away (if you can do so without distraction), and just sit down calmly wherever you are. What I like to do at this point is look at the ground or the bench or wherever you're sitting. Reach out and touch it. Run your fingers over it. Feel how real it is. Notice how you can feel every tendon in your hand as you touch it. Knock on it. Notice how the sound vibrates through it in exactly the right way. When you're nice and calm, look up. If you're outside, look at the trees. Notice how they sway so gently in the wind and how the light dapples through them in exactly the right way. Listen. You'll probably hear birds somewhere. You might see one or a few gliding up in the sky, making their way somewhere. You may hear the sound of distant traffic. You may see a jet plane high in the sky.

By now, after a few moments of calm, _detached_ observation of _basic details_ in the fabric of the world around you, you'll notice that it has become perfectly and utterly *real*. There is no sense of fuzzy dreaminess, no detectable difference between the world you're seeing and what you normally refer to as the waking world. Try your reality tests. They'll pass.

What you do at this point is up to you. Explore the world. Smell the flowers. Embrace the miracle of sensation. I tend to ponder my waking life and realize things that have forever changed the way I see the waking world. Sometimes I'm visited by people who identify themselves as higher beings and teach me things about the universe, sometimes forcefully. You may find it difficult to wake up from this state. Try not to be afraid. You will eventually.

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## maxy126

wow nice descriptions but first ld ill do this and have some lucid sex  :smiley:

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## kaeraz

I've been wanting to try this for awhile actually, but mostly so situations will come to me rather than myself having to create them. I like your ideas about making everything very real, but I'm wondering if that's just because you're an expert at dream control.

Do you find after you do nothing and stabilize your dream that your dream remains very realistic afterwards even if you decide to go off and do something? I imagine that's why the dream turns fuzzy in the first place is because you're concentrating on events happening rather than the scenery around you. 

Please let me know and nice advice!

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## Pyramis

I've shared this idea with newbie lucid dreamers and they've had similarly realistic results, so I don't think I have any particular expertise here.

It's a good theory you suggest that the realism kicks in because I'm concentrating on the scenery. However, it generally still holds even when I turn my attention to the dream content. It doesn't always hold -- like if I get caught up again in some dream plot. But there are certain kinds of experiences that actually reinforce the realism, like what I mentioned about contact with dream-teachers.

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## DNK

> you'll notice that it has become perfectly and utterly *real*. There is no sense of fuzzy dreaminess, no detectable difference between the world you're seeing and what you normally refer to as the waking world. Try your reality tests. They'll pass.



How real is real here?

Excessive lucidity almost scares me. I like to know when I'm dreaming and when I'm not.

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## slayer

That's actually a great idea to do nothing. Just sit back and watch what your dreams does. Look at what your brain is making infront of you.

And you wouldn't have to worry about accidently doing something to wake yourself up.

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## ZmillA

How is that any more "real" than regular LD-ing. Waits for "but bu it feels just like real life" Dont get me wrong it sounds very interesting but when you say stuff like "light shining through leaves in just the right way" dont you mean "light shining through leaves in just the way that looks right to me"?

I guess I wont knock it before I try it, but in the end, it to is just your mind making the scene.

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## slayer

> I guess I wont knock it before I try it, but in the end, it to is just your mind making the scene.



That's exactly it. Let your mind do the controlling, not you controlling the mind.

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## Siddhartha

I like the idea!

I got a LD last night on my first real attempt and the thing that was the most fascinating was actually to just observe the world and see how extremely realistic it was. Unfortunately i got distracted by sex and lost my lucidity. 

Next time I plan to basically do what u described. NOTHING. Just focus on remaining lucid and witness the world around me. Study its details, study the sensations in my body, how the world feel etc. Would be cool to try and meditate in the dream, though I think it could lead to losing lucidity quite easy, worth a try though.

Definitely gonna try this next time, if i can resist the distractions.

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## DNK

Sex is so distracting. To be born without it...

I actually got a rare LD last night and used it to try this. It was in the middle of a rather heated stand off with the police, but I managed to ignore that, sit down, and meditate. Unfortunately, I'm so accustomed to closing my eyes when I do that that I did so in the dream and quickly lost lucidity, so I didn't really notice much.

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## apachama

I would love to read your dream journal, sounds like it could be an intriguing read.

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## LobbyDonut

People keep talking about sex. Is that really what people do in dreams? I can think of so many cooler things to do in a dream.

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## Abra

It's fun to practice this in real life as well, y'know? Just ignore everything inner, and focus on what's outside of you, detatched. The world makes so much more sense that way.

In a dream, I find this increases clarity and memory.

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## weldp

i partially agree with this concept. sometimes i just stop and look at the sky or the landscape. it's amazing what your mind can create. i will wake up much more relaxed if i just take it easy and admire the scenery. i still like to fly over my landscapes though.

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## archdreamer

I tend to agree. Examining the detail of the dreamscape does increase clarity, in my experience.

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## Patrick

Crazy. I was just thinking of this today.

I was thinking, lucids get so crazy and hectic, why not just relax, and stabilise the dreamscape, and find a beautiful, quiet place to sit down and meditate, or enjoy the peacefulness? I've made this my new objective for my next lucid.

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## WolfeDreamer531

Yeah Im definitely going to try this tonight/tomorrow morning. I usually always rush into doing things and end up w/ blurry LDs. So Im going to try to stabilize my dream next time

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## DNK

> I would love to read your dream journal, sounds like it could be an intriguing read.



Mine or the OPs? OP: yeah, that would certainly be interesting.




> People keep talking about sex. Is that really what people do in dreams? I can think of so many cooler things to do in a dream.



I like to do things in dreams that I don't get to do in reality...  :Sad: 


 :tongue2: 




> It's fun to practice this in real life as well, y'know? Just ignore everything inner, and focus on what's outside of you, detatched. The world makes so much more sense that way.



Quite true. For whatever reasons, I can't do it often though. It's like LDing, buggered if I can figure it out. Whenever I try, I get distracted and forget about it.

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## Leixor

> This may sound like the lamest advice you've ever heard, but bear with me for a moment.
> The best part is, it's simple: *Do nothing*.



THAT is AWESOME. And you painted the picture extremely well. Awesome.

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## ChaybaChayba

Isn't this the same as meditation in dreams, like they do in dream yoga? Anyway, good idea and good read!

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## supreme

*I do this often....I just sit and survey everything.*  :smiley:

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## Iamerik

You worded that very well.

I've been thinking about doing something like this for a long time already, but I always get tempted to do something else.  :tongue2: 

I'll do my best in my next lucid and post the results here if I succeed!

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## Misbijoux

It gets boring, though. I've tried it. It's woderful to just sit there and soak everything up, but it really gets boring. Kind of like waking life. If you live a groundhog day, everyday, it's boring. When I'm lucid, I want to do stuff, not just sit there and soak things in, you know? I do that every day. I want to live, even if it's just in a lucid dream.

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## supreme

*one time i really just sat there in my bedroom and took a real good look
around. It was my bedroom all right, but when i stopped to look i noticed
things were a little off. For instance...no curtains on the windows...or 
little trinkets were absent or the color was wrong....weird stuff like that,
that you wouldnt notice right away if you took off immediately. Once i look
around tho, then ill do something more interesting, Ill not waste an LD
sitting around for long when i can be flying!*  :smiley:

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## DNK

I'd imagine an important part of this would be learning to appreciate the simpler things, a deeper connection with personal reality and experience and understanding. Certainly, for the average person, sitting and staring at the world around them can get them antsy in a hurry.

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## EEclips3

Why sit when you can explore? Some people don't get a second chance to lucid dream. It would be a waste to just sit it out.

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## Patrick

> Why sit when you can explore? Some people don't get a second chance to lucid dream. It would be a waste to just sit it out.



Well, obviously you wouldn't do this on your first few lucids. Once you're more experienced, doing nothing in a lucid is a form of exploration, really.

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## supreme

> Well, obviously you wouldn't do this on your first few lucids. Once you're more experienced, doing nothing in a lucid is a form of exploration, really.



*haha Pensive Patrick....I love that name!! 

Anyway youre 100&#37; correct!! You can see some crazy shit
in your LDs if you just stop and take the time to look around. 
Dont try and summon stuff either, just take a look-see whats
already there. And no matter how crazy or weird it is, it is
something your mind has created! And sure its cool to feel
the warmth of the sand on your feet or to feel the dream
sand flow out of your hands and also see every grain of the
sand as well as in reality....or a piece of wood or something.
But the weird, crazy shit is even more interesting! Hell you 
might even see two grasshoppers talking to one another!
I saw a rabbit walk by me under the water the other night
in a LD while i was immobile under the water.
I didnt think that up as far as i know, but i guess i must
have unconsciously done!*   ::D:

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## Patrick

> *haha Pensive Patrick....I love that name!! 
> 
> *



Well thanks, but I don't  :tongue2: 

I thought it up when I was still an idiot.

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## Dreamer 316

I think it would be good to do nothing maybe on the odd occasion.

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## Websters Prophet

Sounds like a good way to have a crazy long lucid dream too.

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## slayer

By "nothing," it should mean to not control the dream in anyway possible. Just walk around or sit at a bench or something.

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## RunflaCruiser

> People keep talking about sex. Is that really what people do in dreams? I can think of so many cooler things to do in a dream.



Maybe if you figure out what sex you are it would be cool for you too.

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## curious dreamer 27

I tried this and it was one of my favorite LD's yet. I stared at the grass, and was amazed at how real it was when I ran my hands through it. The sky was the prettiest blue. Everything was just very bright and vivid. I look forward to going to sleep tonight so I can do it again!!

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## OnTheHorizon

I think LD's might be a way of finding the meaning of life? Think about it. Why is it so real. Why does it leave some people with a deeper meaningof their lives? I havn't yet been able to LD so please tell me about your experience of finding the meaning of life.

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## apachama

> Maybe if you figure out what sex you are it would be cool for you too.



Sex in dreams is okay. Its a treat or an indulgence. 

Experiencing great visualisation, going into deeper parts of consciousness or exploring your personality through dreaming is work. Its valuable and has an effect on your life. 

Sex in dreams is basically masturbation. We all masturbate, but its hardly a hobby. Dream working on the other hand is a hobby thats very valuable.

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## carolann1975

Hi, I have been trying to lucid dream for a long time now, mainly because I have alot of nightmares and they make me feel like shit when I wake up!  :tongue2: 

But, due to tips I have read on the net, I have actually started to get the hang of it. I figured out I was dreaming once when I jumped and I went really high, also when I looked through a view finder in a camera it was really dark looking, and when I has talking to someone on the phone they sound really distant.       ::banana:: 

Problem is, that even though I figure out I'm dreaming, I can't control it. I try to will things away, and for other things to emerge in their place, but it's not happening.  I have noticed alot of people on this page talking about doing nothing and enjoying it. But what if I want to get anyway from it if it's horrible?

Can anyone help?       ::?:

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## Expatasapien

> How real is real here?
> 
> Excessive lucidity almost scares me. I like to know when I'm dreaming and when I'm not.



Lucid Dreaming can get more real than waking life. I always talk about it in terms of resolution, thats essentially what it is. and the resolution can expand beyond the threshold of regular experience...as for why? My best hunch is that it is because all the sens data bypasses a need for input. Imagine for instance watching a streaming film on a low bandwidth connection Vs. watching a film that resides on your computer HDD. The one on your HDD will run more easily, and because it doesn't need to be piped through a bottlenecked channel of input it can run at a higher resolution.Similarly I think that because the sense data comes direct and doesn't need to be piped through the natural input pathways it is no longer limited to the constraints of those input channels. ....which is interesting because it suggests that the brain has greater ability to experience than the senses can provide for.

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## Quark

Sound interesting to say the least. But then again, I could just sit in a real-life field, and observe the birds fluttering around the polluted landscape, the crisp packets scintillating the raging sun, and the chavs and chavettes causing havoc to the unsuspecting public.

Then again, the dream world is without such. I'll give it a try.

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## Quark

> Lucid Dreaming can get more real than waking life. I always talk about it in terms of resolution, thats essentially what it is. and the resolution can expand beyond the threshold of regular experience...as for why? My best hunch is that it is because all the sens data bypasses a need for input. Imagine for instance watching a streaming film on a low bandwidth connection Vs. watching a film that resides on your computer HDD. The one on your HDD will run more easily, and because it doesn't need to be piped through a bottlenecked channel of input it can run at a higher resolution.Similarly I think that because the sense data comes direct and doesn't need to be piped through the natural input pathways it is no longer limited to the constraints of those input channels. ....which is interesting because it suggests that the brain has greater ability to experience than the senses can provide for.



If what we know of the world is from the input of our senses, then how could a dream world ever be more realistic than the real world? I can see in some respect that if I had slightly impaired vision, and I then put on glasses, the world would look more 'realistic', i.e. clearer. Thus, in a dream world, your mind obviously has the capabilities to bring the surroundings into greater focus, but other than that I cannot fathom any greater realism. This is what you mean, right?

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## Expatasapien

There are other possibilities however which I failed to mention such as the possibility that preexisting biases in perception either sway or dominate the individual conception of reality creating the perception that things are appearing at a higher resolution when really it is only that more attention is being payed to some classes of ephemera over others. what I mean is that it could be the case that some things are being increased in resolution at the cost of others, this would constitute a change in contrast but not a change in resolution, not the same thing as a pure increase in resolution.

Honestly however I have payed very close attention and I don't believe the ladder to be the case...but then how would I ever know? there isn't any way to tell. All I can do is try to keep everything in balance, concentrate remain centered and impartial and try to understand what is going on so I can help it happen with more quality.

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## Misbijoux

> Lucid Dreaming can get more *real* than waking life. I always talk about it in terms of resolution, thats essentially what it is. and the resolution can expand beyond the threshold of regular experience...as for why? My best hunch is that it is because all the sens data bypasses a need for input. Imagine for instance watching a streaming film on a low bandwidth connection Vs. watching a film that resides on your computer HDD. The one on your HDD will run more easily, and because it doesn't need to be piped through a bottlenecked channel of input it can run at a higher resolution.Similarly I think that because the sense data comes direct and doesn't need to be piped through the natural input pathways it is no longer limited to the constraints of those input channels. ....which is interesting because it suggests that the brain has greater ability to experience than the senses can provide for.



I think this is a great description, and I agree with it, only I wouldn't say it's more _real_ than waking life. I'd describe it as more _clearer_ than waking life.

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## Expatasapien

> If what we know of the world is from the input of our senses, then how could a dream world ever be more realistic than the real world? I can see in some respect that if I had slightly impaired vision, and I then put on glasses, the world would look more 'realistic', i.e. clearer. Thus, in a dream world, your mind obviously has the capabilities to bring the surroundings into greater focus, but other than that I cannot fathom any greater realism. This is what you mean, right?





This is exactly what I mean. But you have missed it on a certain point, all we know is not from the senses, and the senses are not the only path to knowledge, they are merely inputs. the mind cross references everything that comes from them and analyzes  the patterns which share common structures in search for symmetry.

this is called pattern recognition. Much of what we call "comprehension" is part of a latent effect of understanding what our senses do.

you see in order for the brain to interpret anything that comes from the senses it MUST comprehend what they are doing, why , and what it's function must be in relation to this. the brain's job is to interpret symmetries in variable contexts, so this latent ability may also be applied to self pattern recognition, what this means is that the brain understands what the purpose of the sense is well enough to actually model them with greater clarity than the senses themselves can ever produce. The result (if you are not locked into experiential preconceptions) can be a steep increase in total resolution of experience within a lucid dream.

get it?

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## Expatasapien

> I think this is a great description, and I agree with it, only I wouldn't say it's more _real_ than waking life. I'd describe it as more _clearer_ than waking life.





Yes of course you are right that was a slip on my part, in fact probably "Resolute" is best because it does appear to be a question of resolution.

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## Eonnn

> Hi, I have been trying to lucid dream for a long time now, mainly because I have alot of nightmares and they make me feel like shit when I wake up! 
> 
> But, due to tips I have read on the net, I have actually started to get the hang of it. I figured out I was dreaming once when I jumped and I went really high, also when I looked through a view finder in a camera it was really dark looking, and when I has talking to someone on the phone they sound really distant. 
> 
> Problem is, that even though I figure out I'm dreaming, I can't control it. I try to will things away, and for other things to emerge in their place, but it's not happening. I have noticed alot of people on this page talking about doing nothing and enjoying it. But what if I want to get anyway from it if it's horrible?
> 
> Can anyone help?



Have you tried any other lucid powers or is it just manifesting/demanifesting that you've tried? that can be a tricky power to use... sometimes you need to wave your hand in front of you or make something manifest behind you or close your eyes because the mind has trouble manifesting/demanifesting something visually right in front of your very own eyes. I would suggest next time close your eyes and visualise where you want to be, imagine you are there and can sense the environment around you, then open your eyes. Alternatively, you could imagine the environment behind a closed door, and when you open the door you can walk on through into a different reality.

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## Quark

> This is exactly what I mean. But you have missed it on a certain point, all we know is not from the senses, and the senses are not the only path to knowledge, they are merely inputs. the mind cross references everything that comes from them and analyzes  the patterns which share common structures in search for symmetry.
> 
> this is called pattern recognition. Much of what we call "comprehension" is part of a latent effect of understanding what our senses do.
> 
> you see in order for the brain to interpret anything that comes from the senses it MUST comprehend what they are doing, why , and what it's function must be in relation to this. the brain's job is to interpret symmetries in variable contexts, so this latent ability may also be applied to self pattern recognition, what this means is that the brain understands what the purpose of the sense is well enough to actually model them with greater clarity than the senses themselves can ever produce. The result (if you are not locked into experiential preconceptions) can be a steep increase in total resolution of experience within a lucid dream.
> 
> get it?



I think I do. I understand the brain's capabilities in striving for recognition and modeling realistic mental constructs. Obviously this helps to cut down on processing times, and therefore decreases recognition and comprehension latencies. Understandably, if this did not occur, then it would be like incessantly perceiving the world as a new born child. However, this model that it constructs is not, therefore, real. It seems that what you're saying, is that the brain attempts to make things that are perceived more 'perfect' (symmetrical, logical, patterned, aligned), and thus not more realistic? Am I far off? lol.

So, in a dream these 'perfect' constructs are projected to define the fabric of the dream world. Ultimately then, the dreams are not more 'real' so to speak, but just more 'perfect'.

I could just be chatting a load of crap. But I'm interested in your reply.

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## DNK

> Lucid Dreaming can get more real than waking life. I always talk about it in terms of resolution, thats essentially what it is. and the resolution can expand beyond the threshold of regular experience...as for why? My best hunch is that it is because all the sens data bypasses a need for input. Imagine for instance watching a streaming film on a low bandwidth connection Vs. watching a film that resides on your computer HDD. The one on your HDD will run more easily, and because it doesn't need to be piped through a bottlenecked channel of input it can run at a higher resolution.Similarly I think that because the sense data comes direct and doesn't need to be piped through the natural input pathways it is no longer limited to the constraints of those input channels. ....which is interesting because it suggests that the brain has greater ability to experience than the senses can provide for.



Yes, I have thought this as well, although obviously have not fully experienced it yet.

It is interesting if you think of the brain in terms of muscle control. If you never really use your muscles, coordinating large amounts of muscle activity at once is difficult for the brain. If, however, you train at this, over time your ability to coordinate many muscles and send commands increases significantly, basically allowing you to increase the nuance and complexity of your activity as well as the throughput of your brain-muscle control. It's possible the same could happen between the various parts of the brain involved in the experience of the physical world, and that they could come to have a higher processing rate than the senses could possibly deliver on... yet (cybernetics, of course, could change this).



What's just as interesting as the resolution is the reality or coherence of the experience. Again, at first this could be very weak - the spatial aspect of the dream and its level of simulation might constantly shift of be inappropriate - but over time it also could be expanded and improved upon, to the point of nearly mimicking reality. It seems obvious that the brain can at least mimic the vividness and clarity of sensation, but getting it to mimic the more subtle but basic aspects of "objectivity" would be interesting, just to see how close to reality it could get in that sense.

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## carolann1975

> Have you tried any other lucid powers or is it just manifesting/demanifesting that you've tried? that can be a tricky power to use... sometimes you need to wave your hand in front of you or make something manifest behind you or close your eyes because the mind has trouble manifesting/demanifesting something visually right in front of your very own eyes. I would suggest next time close your eyes and visualise where you want to be, imagine you are there and can sense the environment around you, then open your eyes. Alternatively, you could imagine the environment behind a closed door, and when you open the door you can walk on through into a different reality.




Thanks, I might try the door thingy. I have tried squeezing  my eyes shut and willing things to change, but doesnt work. I might try it again but keep them closed for longer, though. But the door idea sounds like an interesting option. Now I just need to try and get into a lucid dream again! I can only get the hang of it sometimes! Oh well i will keep practicing.

thanks

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## Graech

That seems like a great idea! I think I'll try it in my next LD.

Also, though, there were a few things that I thought of while reading a couple of posts here:
First of all, I read DNK's post, "I like to know when I'm dreaming and when I'm not." I've always thought (at least subconsciously, without putting a name on the idea) that this is the true 'sixth sense,' the sense of knowing when one is awake. If you think about it for a while, you'll realize that you instinctively know when your awake, there's no question about it. Unfortunately, it doesn't work to let you know when you're _not_ awake, in fact that's what makes lucid dreaming so difficult.

The second idea is a bit more on topic. I always find it interesting when someone says, for example when slayer wrote, "Look at what your brain is making infront of you." I'm not saying that anything stupid was said, but instead that it seems strange is that _you_ can look at what _your_ brain/mind is creating in front of you when, theoretically, you are the mind, and therefore you are looking at what you are doing without actually doing or seeing it. Sort of like the saying, "Let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing." In fact, it adds another layer to this idea, where you are only one part of your being, and can only be that one part. In that assumption, would it not be to far a stretch to assume that there are other parts of your being watching at the same time, and other parts of your being, that watch when you create? I think I might make another thread devoted solely to this topic...

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## Mr. Pig

Sorry if I'm interrupting a conversation, but I wanted to post my thoughts about this.  For a while, I've had a lucid dream maybe every one or two months.  One of the coolest things I've done is had a super power.  You get this happy feeling no matter what your power is.  I usually don't even remember my powers and sometimes never even get the chance to know what they are, but I still get that feeling.

I might try this idea sometime after my next LD, (i haven't flied in a while).  It sounds kinda scary though.

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## WakataDreamer

Doing nothing seems like it could be a truly rewarding experience. I will try it after I perfect my flying (that's a bit more important to me, no offence).

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## carolann1975

> That seems like a great idea! I think I'll try it in my next LD.
> 
> Also, though, there were a few things that I thought of while reading a couple of posts here:
> First of all, I read DNK's post, "I like to know when I'm dreaming and when I'm not." I've always thought (at least subconsciously, without putting a name on the idea) that this is the true 'sixth sense,' the sense of knowing when one is awake. If you think about it for a while, you'll realize that you instinctively know when your awake, there's no question about it. Unfortunately, it doesn't work to let you know when you're _not_ awake, in fact that's what makes lucid dreaming so difficult.
> 
> The second idea is a bit more on topic. I always find it interesting when someone says, for example when slayer wrote, "Look at what your brain is making infront of you." I'm not saying that anything stupid was said, but instead that it seems strange is that _you_ can look at what _your_ brain/mind is creating in front of you when, theoretically, you are the mind, and therefore you are looking at what you are doing without actually doing or seeing it. Sort of like the saying, "Let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing." In fact, it adds another layer to this idea, where you are only one part of your being, and can only be that one part. In that assumption, would it not be to far a stretch to assume that there are other parts of your being watching at the same time, and other parts of your being, that watch when you create? I think I might make another thread devoted solely to this topic...



I think that is rather an interesting thought. I know what DNK means about watching what your brain creates in front of you. It's it feels like you are only part of your brain and you just exerience what the brain shows you. Because I am still in the early stages of getting to grip with LD, it's like I'm still not in control. I think in order to gain some kind of control, I need to just let things happen and watch them. Like letting my deeper part of my mind show me stuff, and get to know it better. Like some sort of deeper level of communication. Maybe thats whats makes all these people have a feeling of a  more complete-ness in waking life? I don't really know, I am just rambling now. But this could be an interesting topic for all of us to talk about. I'm up for the new thread.  xx    :wink2:

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## WakataDreamer

Actually, I don't think that "gaining control" and "just letting things happen" mean the same thing.

...

Control is the absence of randomness, the absence of things "just happening." 

 :tongue2:

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## Patrick

> Control is the absence of randomness, the absence of things "just happening."



Well, not always. If you're in control of your lucidity, and your consciousness, you can still just sit and watch things happen around you. You would technically be in control of your lucidity - just not the surroundings.

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## Ivi942

I just realised I do that a lot in reality  ::D:  I just sit down somewhere - I don't really care where, and day dream about stuff - I get great Ideas from that  ::roll::  I'll try that in my next lucid. Or maybe before I sleep, looking at what things my mind shows me when I close my eyes... though I think I do that a lot when I try to fall asleep already XD

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## Pyramis

> How real is real here?
> 
> Excessive lucidity almost scares me. I like to know when I'm dreaming and when I'm not.



When I successfully pull off the Do Nothing technique, the dream becomes so clear and real that I truly can't tell that I'm dreaming anymore. I suppose it's what you're calling excessive lucidity. Yes, it can be scary.






> I think LD's might be a way of finding the meaning of life? Think about it. Why is it so real. Why does it leave some people with a deeper meaningof their lives? I havn't yet been able to LD so please tell me about your experience of finding the meaning of life.



Do Nothing dreams have taught me a lot about the "meaning of life". It's hard to describe this without sounding cliche. I think the experience speaks for itself. You're in a dream and you Do Nothing until it stabilizes into a world indistinguishable from waking reality. What does this say about waking reality? Neither is more "real" than the other. We simply experience two general kinds of existence in this universe, which we name 'waking' and 'dreaming'. Both are opportunities to learn: how to create fulfilling experiences, how to develop will power, how to understand our relationship to others.

So on the subject of discovering the "meaning of life", I'll add to my original suggestion about Do Nothing... Once you're sitting still and quiet in your lucid dream, ponder on your waking life and see what insights occur to you.

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## apachama

I tried doing nothing a while back, I almost forgot I tried and I should have done it for longer. But it was rewarding to stop and feel a table and find that it felt exactly as it does in normnal life.

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## Ivi942

I tried doing that in a dream but It didn't work out  ::embarrassed::  here's the link where I posted it: http://dreamviews.com/community/show...0&postcount=12

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## Soccer3188

Before I do this im gonna try and fly

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## Supernova

Sounds more like _dreaming_ to me.

I mean, it's not, but it's on a similar track.

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## whiterain

> Lucid Dreaming can get more real than waking life. I always talk about it in terms of resolution, thats essentially what it is. and the resolution can expand beyond the threshold of regular experience...as for why? My best hunch is that it is because all the sens data bypasses a need for input. Imagine for instance watching a streaming film on a low bandwidth connection Vs. watching a film that resides on your computer HDD. The one on your HDD will run more easily, and because it doesn't need to be piped through a bottlenecked channel of input it can run at a higher resolution.Similarly I think that because the sense data comes direct and doesn't need to be piped through the natural input pathways it is no longer limited to the constraints of those input channels. ....which is interesting because it suggests that the brain has greater ability to experience than the senses can provide for.



great explanation. its like not having the restriction of using eyes and you can have conscious attention on multiple items in the scene at the same time.

also some of my best lucids have been from just sitting back and observing. once when stood on top of a diving board in a diving contest in a river in a town, and once in a park and the trees just kind of parted to reveal the lake which i floated up over.great thread

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## Navtyr

Paying no attention to people sounds interesting. I have recently had my first longer full control lucid. I've analised the dream later and realised that even further stabilization and not minding what DC wanted me to do would be even better. I shall try to get total control, thanks for the post.

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## Flamingtaco69

I don't think anyone can really put their mind around this, but even reality, is just a thought. So in essence, so what if you spent your entire life lucid dreaming, if you somehow can't tell the difference between the "real" world and the dream world. It's all the same.

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## thomulf

> This may sound like the lamest advice you've ever heard, but bear with me for a moment.
> 
> Believe it or not, living out your wildest fantasies in living detail gets old after a while. When you wake up, you face the fact that all those sexy situations basically amount to masturbation. All those amazing conversations are just _you_ talking to yourself. Sure, you gain access to creative and inventive parts of your consciousness that you don't normally connect to -- and don't get me wrong, that is wonderful and important! -- but you're still running up against the limits of your own mind.
> 
> It's time to go further.
> 
> The best part is, it's simple: *Do nothing*.



 so true man. Plus, its really a requirement if youplan on doing anything else before waking up. Also, if you always do stuff, it won't seem real and exhilarating anymore. every now and then you just have to watch and *stay still* for a while.

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## thomulf

> I think that is rather an interesting thought. I know what DNK means about watching what your brain creates in front of you. It's it feels like you are only part of your brain and you just exerience what the brain shows you. Because I am still in the early stages of getting to grip with LD, it's like I'm still not in control. I think in order to gain some kind of control, I need to just let things happen and watch them. Like letting my deeper part of my mind show me stuff, and get to know it better. Like some sort of deeper level of communication. Maybe thats whats makes all these people have a feeling of a  more complete-ness in waking life? I don't really know, I am just rambling now. But this could be an interesting topic for all of us to talk about. I'm up for the new thread.  xx



 There's a sad thing about control.

The more control you have, the blander the dream becomes.

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## a_dreamer

> There's a sad thing about control.
> 
> The more control you have, the blander the dream becomes.



amen to that, and this sounds like a wonderful idea. I'm going to try this next. (after i fly high, and resolve some unfinished business with people / person)

And that's an awesome Hydralisk Avatar

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## Samael

Interesting concept. I'll have to try it out sometime.

Except that I have all of these other dream goals that I want to try out...  :Cheeky:

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## Blacklight

I'm doing this tonight.

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## dakotahnok

*Ill try this tonight. That is if im not by walmart*

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## Brunor2

I shall try this tonight, too.

I'll give feedback.

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## InsaneInThBrain

i did this the other night on my couch after a false awakening. i was just sitting on the couch levitating different things and then walked around to see what else i could levitate. didn't do much in that dream at all but it was more vivid because i was just kinda sittin back and looking at everything .

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## fautzo

boy i remember my last ld i just decided to mess with people and i found it kinda funner than all that supernatural stuff. I felt kinda like i was in the matrix

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## fautzo

oh oops wrong thread

yea i did nothing because my memory was erased in my first ld and i actually found it really boring.

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## Brunor2

Got lucid last night, but I forgot about it  :Sad: 
I'll do it tonight.

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## menelvagor

Another user mentioned "dream. Yoga" - do you have any knowledge or experience woth dream yoga or was this just your own idea? I've just begun my own conquest into the lucid dreaming min, but the most logical place I can imagine to start would be exactly what you suggest, calming and observing the minds parameters, build. My experience from the simple up to the extravagent. Yousaid whatss been on my mind recently, nice to know another person is on the same page

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## Samael

I tried this a couple nights ago here. I made the mistake of closing my eyes, and I almost destabilized the dream entirely. Maybe I should have gone that route; the results might have been interesting.

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## onyxfyre

Great idea!
normally, i would go "woohoo! lucid dream! i need to fly now!"
but no! you need to sit there and pay attention to every single detail of your enviorment. that takes it from just feeling like your being hung in the air to feeling like a airplane. i need to try that.

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## Blacklight

Tried it multiple times but was never able to sit down more then 10 seconds without being distracted by... various activities

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