Dream control: Why you can't, and possibly how you can!
What is Dream Control?
Dream control is a a dreamers ability to manipulate and alter their dream at will. To alter one's own speed or to change the dream world's weather. To alter the course of the dream's story or to veer off it all together. There are few things an individual cannot do with complete dream control. And, because of it's potential, dream control has become the holy grail of lucid dreaming but it can be very difficult to attain for some. But why?
Why you can't
Unfortunately, it is impossible to determine why some individuals have trouble controlling their lucid dreams while others find it easy. This is because the dream world is a very subjective and personal place inside our minds that no one else can access. However, most lucid dreamers agree that the majority of failures stem from one thing above all else; expectations.
Why you can't part 2: Doubts and Expectations
Our expectations and doubts control every thing in our dreams. It affects how dream characters will react to our presence and how it will feel to be punched in the face. Unfortunately, waking life has instilled into our minds a multitude of expectations about how the real world and the dream world should operate that aren't entirely conducive of dream control. These expectations are both conscious and subconscious, some of which can altered with ease and others which require weeks of practice to overcome.
How you can: Crushing Doubt and Rewriting Expectations
Eliminating our doubts and changing our expectations can be a difficult and time consuming task. For many, it is hard to convince their brain to believe something contrary to it's own preconceptions. The best advice anyone can give is to continue practicing in-dream. During these practicing sessions you should remain calm and focused on your task. Do not worry about prior failures or the uncertainty of the future. Only concentrate on the task and remain confident in your abilities. With any luck you'll succeed, though it can take awhile.
This method is focused on using brute force and a lot of willpower to convince the brain that anything is possible in a dream. However, it isn't the only way to achieve total dream control.
How you can part 2: Trickery
For some changing dream expectations is either too hard or too time consuming, which is fine because some find it easier to work with their expectations instead of against them. Instead of trying to convince the brain to believe that everything is permitted in a dream, these individuals convince their brain that what they are trying to do obeys their expectations instead of contradicting them.
For instance, imagine my brain believes that human-based flight is impossible. I'll exclaim that “of course it is” but that's why I'm wearing rocket boots, remember?
Or imagine that my guns never work in my dreams. I'll reassure myself that of course they don't because I always forget to turn off the safety. Now with the safety off, my weapon should work perfectly.
Notice how in the examples provided, my brain's expectations weren't contradicted, they were explained away as being irrelevant.
This method relies on trickery and subversion to coax your brain into doing what you want.
To be continued?
(This is a redo of a thread I made a few weeks ago but didn't come around to finishing. I hope that it's okay that I posted it and, if it isn't, feel free to delete it admins. I would suggest however, that it is different enough from my previous thread to deserve to live :D)
