ozoneocean
Nightmares can't rule me any longer, but dreams can still go bad… They're just sneakier about it.
-instead of the typical crap like something coming to get you, or not being able to move or speak when something bad is happening, they're more subtle like a vague bad feeling about something that just makes you really unhappy, or a sense of urgency because there's something you haven't finished and need to in a hurry, or a sense of failure because you've already lost at something or failed at it.
You can still change those, but since they're so sneaky you don't always realise how.

Hmm… now that you mention it, I do recall a similar dream that got me years ago. I was staying with my girlfriend and I had to be at work tomorrow morning. She lived over an hour away from my work and I had to commute between the places by taking a train and a bus. My dream that night was of me going to work, taking that route and realizing I was late for work. There were absolutely no telltale signs that it was a dream. My girlfriend commented that I looked really stressed as I slept.

Those are one sneaky buggers.

None the less, I have a good control over my dreams and I honestly recommend people to try and take over theirs. Trust me. You won't regret it.

a famous psychologist said that to tell that you are in a dream, all you have to do is stare at something, then look away. Wait a few seconds. Now look back at it. If it has changed, then you are dreaming. I think this is called the “theory of inconsistency” or something like that.


on a lighter note, i once tried to wake myself up while in a dream. Suddenly i was in my bed, and it was morning. Then I looked at my TV set and realized that my VCR was orange, and i was like “Aw, damnit!” ;3.

Sometimes i can control my dreams at will. Other times…no, but i am aware that i am dreaming. But i can wake myself up at will. Unless i dream i wake up but i'm still dreaming XP

how does one go about realizing it's a dream?

Ochitsukanai
I've done this a few times! It usually happens when I'm having a dream about high school or when I'm having one of those “I signed up for a class but somehow never attended and there's no way to drop or pass it now!” dreams.

Even though anything is possible, though, all I think is “I'm dreaming!? THEN I CAN FLY!” And then I take off and phase through the roof of whatever building I'm in. Using this ability for anything other than flying does not occur to me. o_o

I used to do the SAME thing with my LDs, except I'd be like “Woo I'm a witch!” and fly on a broom instead. xD

Hah! That's a constant ability in dreams for me these days: flying.
I'm not always aware I'm dreaming though, it's just a natural ability that I have and know how to use, like walking. And I don't really “fly” like superman or whatever, I sort of float… or swim? It's like I'm lighter than air, but just as solid as usual, if I get up high enough I can glide a good long way before I land again, but it takes a lot of work to get up there. It's amazing how 100% real it seems. O_O

Of course it is real in some respects, since even though you appear to experience real outside world around you (when awake), you don't. You're brain just interprets all sorts of different sensory inputs and reconstructs them to create the reality for you in your brain, inside your head. Dreams are the same reality as far as you are concerned, experienced in the same way, they just bypass the first step - They don't need the external sensory input, they just run off a virtual one that has all the same feedbacks as the real thing pretty much.

I can force myself to wake up or not to wake up as long as I'm aware I'm dreaming. Not too long ago, I've had a really bad week and lots of dreams which all would have ended with me being dead if I hadn't been like “Oh lol, this dream is stupid, I'm gonna wake up now”. Sometimes I regret it though. I've heard it's impossible to die in your dreams (which makes sense in a way), so it would be interesting to see how far these dreams can go.

A few weeks ago I had the greatest nonsensical dream ever - for me, anyway - and even though I was 100% aware it wasn't real, I kept telling myself: “No, this is awesome, don't wake up now.” I love these kinds of dreams, it's like watching myself doing weird things that'd never happen in real life. xD

I used to be able to but for a while I stopped and now I can't anymore. I guess it's one of those things that if you don't use it you lose it.

Havin some control of your dream in my opinion is minor astral projection!!!
=D

i dont control em, and really,i dont think i want to. there are a few exceptions. you know, ya hate to see a member of your family fall to harm,or anything like that.
but personally, i dont have many of those anymore. all the other ones i like to have. they give me a sense of something extreme i wouldnt feel while awake, unless something very unfortunate happened. and if i could control them, i fear i might loose the experience.

It is a rare occasion indeed when I dream. It is even rarer that I am aware of it.

That being said, I have never been able to consciously control my dream world, though once when I was little, in, like, preschool, I gave it a try. The dream involved someone (I think it was my PreK teacher) ruling the world and making up lots of silly rules (like having to wear cheese on your head). I figured out I was dreaming and immediately set about trying to get people to stop following the silly rules by informing them that I'm dreaming.

…They all just gave me weird looks, and continued on their merry way. :(

I generally have at least marginal control over my dreams.

I find that if I focus on something just right before I go to sleep, my following dreams will be about that something.


I also don't tend to have a lot of nightmares. I used to, but then I started fighting back (in my dreams). I once had this reaccuring dream that a monster was chasing me all over my house. I'd wake up terrified. I had this dream for ages when I was a kid. Then one night instead of running in terror from the monster, I turned on it and split its head with an axe.

Never had that dream again :D

So now, instead of nightmares, I tend to hunt monsters and slay them :D

If I don't like how a dream ends, I'll rewing and change it slightly. That's the extent of my lucid dreaming.

I'm no good at lucid dreaming. I'm too open to suggestion.

According to my husband, while I'm asleep/dreaming I can still keep up with menial tasks like folding laundry and answer yes/no questions. I hate it when he has me fold the laundry in my sleep. I feel so unrested when I get up.

He also says that if he whispers to me while I'm sleeping and says, for example, “3:47am. Chop chop,” that I'll wake up at 3:47am. But if he says, “Walk it off, champ,” I'll sleep an hour later than usual.