by Gabe

Created on: February 20, 2010

Lucid dreaming is achieved through being able to control ones thoughts and emotions. Then, it is easy to see how when one's thoughts and emotions get out of hand they cause a lucid dream to float back into a normal one. This is a challenge for many lucid dreamers who find themselves lucid and flying one moment and in the next, lost and drifting of the dreamscape.

A loss of control in a lucid dream relates to a loss of control in a certain aspect of life. Since dreams almost directly mirror real life circumstances, aside from the fact that most of them are absurd, you can see how your normal everyday reactions to people and situations cause you to give up your control of your mind. The environment , in a sense, becomes your controlling factor. This has a lot to do with the strength and power of your prefrontal cortex, which you use to actively make decisions.

Through meditation you can learn to monitor your thoughts and emotions. By monitoring the thoughts and emotions that arise with yourself, you become aware of these thoughts instead of being controlled by them. You become more conscious. You become a passive observer. From this seat you will more easily be able to control dream life and ordinary life.

Even though ideally, you want to be in complete control of your dreams, there will have to be some loss of control in order to let your lucid dreams progress. The problem is being aware of this loss of control. It must be a willing surrender instead of being taken over and influenced from the outside. For example, while in the middle of a lucid dream, if you want any sort of surprise to happen, you will have to give up control in order for new events to arise out of the dreamscape.

Balance is the key to lucid dreaming. This balance can be achieved through becoming completely aware of your mind, knowing that this is the cause of all the situations that arise in your life. One you are aware of the thoughts that go through your mind, and can thus separate yourself from the emotions they produce, you will gain greater control in dreams. Also, to enjoy your lucid dreaming experience you need to let go, to let the elements of the dream take you where they wish, to allow some of the influences to draw you into new adventures.

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