This is my number 1 problem whenever I lucid dream: things are too dark.

**MJMax** · 01-25-2012 08:21 PM

Has anybody experienced this, and any tips on overcoming it? Read below if you want details.
(I tend to write a lot of details, haha)

I haven't been trying that much recently to have lucid dreams, but on the occasions that I DO actually achieve it (if I think of trying a WILD or something after waking up too early), I have this problem.

Frequently, my lucid dreams start in my house. I often have false awakening too that are the start of my lucidity, and I wake up in my bed while dreaming. So of course, I want to get to somewhere cool. So I go outside.

90% of the time when I go outside, it's dark out. This just annoys me. I want to be able to to see and enjoy what's going on. And when it's dark out, I'm much more likely to wake up, because the darkness of night sometimes fades to the darkness of a fading dream.

Generally, my lucid dreams don't become stable until it's light out. And that's a hard thing to accomplish. Sometimes I waste lots of the precious time of the lucid dream trying to make it magically turn from day to night.

I've tried a lot of techniques, such as shutting the door to the outside, picturing that it's day out, and then opening it, which sometimes works, but it's still very difficult. It might have to do with belief that it will happen?

Something funny happened last night/this morning actually, haha. In a semi-LD, I had just turned on a light in a room, and it seemed to work fine. A minute later, in another room, it was dark, and I thought, Wait a minute, lights usually don't work well in dreams! And just like that, light switches failed me.

My posts always seem to get really long on this sight. So I'll stop now, has anybody else experienced or overcome this? Thanks.

**blakethegrea** · 01-26-2012 05:26 AM

funny that you said that after you thought about how light switches don't really work, they didn't but its not a coincidence. lucid dreams are mind games and its all about finding out how to control the game. For me I realised that if I just think 'I'm dreaming and this thing I want to do is going to work and its going to be really cool'. And that works for me but you need to find what works for you,maybe just for an example get a clock and imagine that the clock is speeding really fast. Imagine the clock controls the dayligh and such.

**fOrceez** · 01-26-2012 05:39 AM

Try some clapping sensors

also, you're probably expecting it to be dark each time you get lucid, making a placebo affect. You can just try different types of dream control. If you can't change the environment, then work around it, by doing stuff such as giving yourself some glasses that'll change the contrast level or contact lenses.

**dms111** · 01-26-2012 06:08 AM

I frequently experience this problem, especially when the dream begins in my house. My method for dealing with it is simply turning around. Turn around expecting to see the sunrise. Don't just expect it to just be light out. Focus on seeing the sun. After one, two, or three turns the sun shows up and when I switch my focus back to the environment around me there is light all around.

**Fiddog** · 01-26-2012 06:32 AM

Ya it seems like when I think of something scary it pops up and I get freaked out. Then sometimes I have trouble zooming in on first and third person. It's like opposite magnets it's hard to get them to compromise... It sucks...

**RebelSeven** · 01-26-2012 07:36 AM

I have a very simple method that works best when you think as little as possible about it.

Take off your sunglasses silly!

That is all.

**yuppie11975** · 01-26-2012 10:27 AM

Yeah, whenever it's dark, I just click my fingers, and it's it's light!

**Treboreous** · 01-26-2012 04:28 PM

I have only had three short lucid dreams so far. The third, and longest so far went very dark at one point. I yelled out at the top of my lungs “I need more light”. All of a sudden a mountain range appeared with the sun starting to come up over them. It did start to get lighter, unfortunately my wife then shook me awake to get ready for work. As I said, I am a new guy, but it may be worth giving it a try.