Recurring Lucid Dreaming

[rothalion]

I have these dreams and it is not so much that I am extending the dream but that I am placed back in a familiar place. This may be the wrong board for this question. Large buildings are always a part of the dream. Large imposing structures that I must navigate through. There is typically a threat of doom involved, and I am usually trying to protect a small group of people. Sometimes I am returned, while dreaming, to a place after weeks, months or years. I can work within the dream but being sent back to a place already visited always creates a sense of dread for me. The scenario is never repeated since I change it according to my current 'mood'. Why am sent back to these places repeatedly? I tried to solve this over the last few days having been sent repeatedly to a certain building, and a certain 'atmosphere'. I tried to move out of the scene but I am not able to completly exit yet I can move within it. I have used LD since I was a child and can move with great freedom in my dreams but these uncontrollable reoccurring settings drive me nuts. Even if the dream is benevolent it is often the case that the 'place' is not. I can smell it and taste it...is this type of reoccurance common? I also suffer with HSP Hypnogogic Sleep Paralyisis.

[Death-Wuad]

Weird, I would suggest attempting to change the scene by spinning. If you keep appearing in this scene, maybe there is something you need to do in it? You could also try dream incubation; try meditating on another scene you want to be in before you go to bed. Welcome to the forums anyway.

[Placebo]

Welcome from me too Rothalion Your problem is not all that unlike a menacing nightmare creature that you have trouble stopping, and as such is linked so your state of mind Since you have had this recurring dream a few times, I imagine that you have a certain amount of fear and expectation to have this sort of dream by now. And dream control is all about belief and willpower, as I'm sure you already know Expectation and fear tend to translate to belief that it will happen to you again. The subconscious is a funny thing this way To break the recurrence of the dream you would need to somehow downplay the subconscious interest and expectation of the dream. I'm guessing that to do this you will need to confront the reason for the fear in the dream. Perhaps if you firstly stop taking on the role of hero in this dream. Its a dream, and needs no heros since nobody is able to truly die anyway. Stand up to the dream in some way. Perhaps transform yourself into a giant that overshadows the buildings and crush them? Just a thought As a side note, tibetan dream yogis often practiced a tradition of asking a menacing creature for a gift, should you confront it successfully. In this case, its a situation and feeling .. but perhaps you could pick up a gift from the rubble of the buildings? Perhaps I'm talking drivel... just my thoughts [EDIT] Having hypnagogic imagery and sleep paralysis is perfectly normal... or is there something else to HSP I'm not understanding?

[rothalion]

Thank you. I have lost the only three people I held dear in my life, in the last nine months. I promised each that I would keep the others safe... I failed they are all dead. I promised my father to keep my mother safe, my grandfather to keep my grandmother safe, and so on...my grandmother died... she died ...I failed...my father he died 13 years ago keeps haunting my sleep recrimintating me during these dreams. He attacks me in these HSP's I am afraid to sleep. What did he want me to do?

[Placebo]

Aah.. man.. that sucks. Sorry doesn't cut it I guess....! In my opinion, your grandfather, for example, is not the real deal. He is simply your guilt causing you extra grief Perhaps another explanation of O'nus' term 'free association' and the way your memory and mind works, might help you understand here... Your brain is a big jumble of well organised associations. These associations in your waking life draw from your experiences, and you make sense of them as best you can. However in your dreams, your inhibitions to 'silly' thoughts/associations are much higher. So for example, if you dont like the colour red, because it means danger and blood to you, then you'll find that a gruesome dream incorporates a good deal of red. And seeing red in the dream increases the chance of it turning into a gruesome dream. Thats the basic nature of dreams, IMHO. In your case, you are harbouring a great deal of guilt. And that guilt is associated with the ones you love(d). As such, you personify them in eg. your grandfather. Try to remember that its not really your grandfather, its your own guilt. And it needs to be dealt with. Confronting it in your dreams tends to be great therapy for this. and vice versa. If you find a way to forgive yourself, then you will find your nightmares should subside. You can see it as a two sided thing. You can either deal with it in real life, or in the dream world. Both seem effective Best of luck, and let us know if you need more advice ... whatever we can do...