Classic Misunderstandings About Clear Dreaming
Filed Under General
We spend a third of our lives asleep, and half of that is spent dreaming. So, the argument goes, lucid dreaming is the way to reclaim those house “lost” to idle dreams. Experts in dream research, however, have never suggested that ordinary dreams are a waste of time. Rather, lucid dreams can be seen as opportunities to deepen the work that is already being done in our usual nightly adventures in dreamworld.
Clear dreaming is the art of being aware in the dream state. Even though many assume that lucid dreaming means you can control your dream, this is actually only a wish of beginner lucid dreamers. Rather, dream control is best achieved as self-control: learning to modulate emotions, attention, and intentionality in the dream. It is especially difficult to control your emotions in the lucid dream state, because fears and other intense feelings quickly come to the fore in lucid dreams.
That’s why there is so much focus on dream control: in order to defend against these powerful emotions. Lucid dreaming scholars, such as cognitive psychologists and psychotherapists, recommend that consciousness in the dream is directed towards these emotional calling cards, rather than against. No wonder dream control sounds so tempting! Lucidity is a special ability in dreams, but it can be easily applied to keep us from truth as easy as it can show us new truths. Many cultures use conscious dreaming as a healing practice, and harnessing the emotional substrate of the dream is a key part of the training. To sum it up, focusing on self-control is the best way to learn about the gift of awareness during dreams.
