Hello again Robert,
I have been having a lot of success with lucid dreaming and have taken your advice in experimenting on my own. I had two lucid dreams last night in which I experienced 4 very different reactions from dream figures, and I’m sure the variety extends far beyond that. Although I am currently having a good time, I seem to be becoming less reliant on looking at my hands and simply become lucid. In fact, in the lucid dreams where I have looked at my hands, it has become increasingly harder to distinguish my dream hands from my waking hands and closer inspection is required with each lucid dream. I am becoming concerned that this will only continue and spread to other aspects of dreaming, and that I may start to lucid dream every night. Is it possible to become lucid, only to be convinced that the dream is reality based on its vividness? As well, if I decide I do not like the effect lucid dreaming so frequently is having on my waking life, is there a way to pump the breaks and make lucidity less frequent, or maybe give into the dream once lucidity occurs? Thanks.
Hi A.M.,
In lucid dreaming, we see that the mind creates with amazing detail. Therefore seeing your hands in a lucid dream and marveling at their detailed apparent reality does not seem surprising at all. This is why good lucid dreamers develop “reality checks” to confirm their state (dreaming or waking). For example, a good lucid dreamer will question this and decide to jump in the air — if they float, then they are dreaming! Or they might pull their finger, and if it grows, then they are dreaming.
I want to encourage you to do reality checks (if you have this concern about whether you dream or not). In those rare instances when you might be walking along and think, ‘Oh this seems dreamy’ — then do a reality check. If you jump up and gravity brings you down with a ‘thud’, then you have basically confirmed that you are in waking physical reality. By approaching this thoughtfully and rationally, then you will see that you can resolve your doubts or concerns.
As I mention in my book, lucid dreaming reflects the mind. That is why it is a wonderful way for personal growth and exploration. However, if you focus on ‘fears’ then you will call them forth. And if you focus on ‘goals’, then you will call them forth. It helps for each person to see how their mind ‘reflects’ the issues that they then experience in the lucid dream.
To your final question — If you do not wish to lucid dream, then do not focus on lucid dreaming. Like a plant that does not get water or any attention, it will wither and disappear.