People who can control their dreams - what is it like?

I've gotten there a few times, and in my semi-dream state I did a bunch of work and cleaned my house. So imagine my disappointment when I woke up and none of that was actually done 😔

I learned about lucid dreaming from an old book I found when I was 18, and I began practicing. Because flying has been my passion since I was 5, I focused on that.

At first, I would run and take long leaps, like I was in low gravity. After a few weeks, one leap would keep me about 6 feet above the ground until I wanted to drop back down. I’d remain vertical with my arms relaxed at my sides, and just lean a bit for direction. About a year after I began flying every night, I could lay down and then close my eyes while making one push off the ground with my right foot and I’d be immediately at tree line. I loved flying through my neighborhood and the city, hovering over streets, visiting the houses of my friends, sometimes popping in to see them.

My dreams were in real time, so it was late at night and they were almost always asleep. It felt like an out of body experience.

I’d learned from the book how to make recurring dream threats your friend, and I befriended the wolves that had terrified my dream life at least once a week for over ten years. It was an incredibly empowering experience.

After a few years, I was in a lost time in life, and my dream flying reflected how out of control I was. By then, every time I laid my head on my pillow, my right foot reflexively tapped and I was off. But now, I was shooting straight up faster than a rocket and zipping beyond the moon in just a few seconds. I started panicking that I’d “lose my earth tether” and never be able to find my way back. I believed that I needed to return to my body in order to wake up. So now going to sleep was a threat in my mind. It took weeks to de-condition myself to stop flying.

In retrospect, I should have taken control, but my day life had really gone off the deep end and I think this is how it manifested. I haven’t practiced lucid dreaming or flying since I was 28, but I miss that exhilaration of zooming at tree line in a place I loved.

The more control I have, the more likely I am to wake up, which is pretty annoying. Although, on the flip side, waking up through choice to avoid bad dreams is how I originally developed the skill of lucid dreaming. Noticing the signs of waking up and choosing to stay asleep is kind of a weird thing to do too, but it can lead to sleep paralysis.

However in any case, the level of control I have varies. Often, I am able to fly from danger or decide something didn't happen and try again. More rarely I know there are no consequences to any of my actions and can completely control space, time and narrative. It's odd knowing it's a dream, but it still feels real. Though, still with a dream brain memory and dream logic, I'm not necessarily thinking as sensibly as I would do when awake.

I don't have nightmares any more, last one was when I was a kid and I drop-kicked some shadow monster person, just weird dreams where my brain will chip in a go "hang on that's not how it works", equally I don't have ultimate control like I consciously decide what I dream about it's usually just life with the weird filter turned on.

It's a skill like any other, so it's going to differ depending on you. But, B. It feels like being a wizard or demigod of some sort.

It always reminded me of those stories (like, D&D/myth type stuff) where a godling of some sort is fairly vulnerable most of the time, until they get onto their own home plane, where they become fully omnipotent again. Kinda a "you don't want to fuck with me here" sort of thing.

Probably colored by the fact I had my first one as a child, and used it to stop a nightmare in progress, which was very memorable.

I've never had full control, but there have been many times I've realized I'm dreaming, nudged the dream in a preferred direction and then swiftly let my consciousness over the dream fade so it could continue without interruption.

The more control I exert on my dreams, the more likely I am to consciously blink and actually blink myself awake. Gentle nudges in the direction I want to dream is the only path for me.

I've only managed it once, flying around a featureless void, exulting in the feeling of control. Then a fistfight, again with a featureless opponent. It felt like controlling the dream to that extent and not waking up took a lot of brain power

It rarely happened but usually it goes like this: something bad or undesirable happens; it could be a nightmare but that’s rare, and the only instance where i get “control” of my dream is when i know what’s going to happen and i can stop it. Anyhow, by failing to prevent the undesirable outcome I basically sort of become aware and return to the point where the undesirable outcome was almost happening, again and again until I either wake up or prevent it.

I can’t say I can control what I dream but occasionally I’m aware that I’m dreaming and then I feel like I’m much more in control of the situation because I know nothing bad can really happen.

Once, and only once, the dream ended with me deciding to enter the mystic portal and me subsequently finding myself standing alone in the hallway of a Hampton Inn in Salt Lake City at 3:00am.

I was in my jammies. No socks, no room key, no phone. I contemplated many options to get myself out of the situation, but they were all objectively bad. The only high point of the experience is that the breakfast bar hadn't opened in the lobby, so this remains something shared between only me and the night clerk. Neither of us were happy, but she was wearing more clothing.

My main takeaways for hotel stays and dreams:
-jammies must have pockets
-jammies must have full coverage
-spare key cards are in the pockets
-never enter the mystic portal that you summoned

Mystic portals: never again

The term is 'lucid dreaming' and it's great. Most times I'm on autopilot, but once I become 'aware', I'm usually flying around like superman. I avoid getting sexual because those tend to wake me up lol

Like playing a video game with God mode on.

Unfortunately the more things I alter in the dream the more likely I am to wake myself up.

Uhm if I do a lot I feel tired , wake up groggy. Is fun in general. My nightmares are super manageable but I still like to sit back and let my brain do its thing is less taxing for me and more fun and unexpected. I haven't manage not dreaming on purpose, I wonder if that's possible.

Edit: just realised that you ask about tales and reading. I can't read very well in my dreams , when I read is all weird and even numbers look kind of off, so I haven't being able to do that not that I have tried very hard. Lmao uhm I guess I am able to consistently do magic in my dreams and dream different scenario in fantasy worlds like harry potter , lord of the ring or song of ice and fire. If I am reading something IRL I can go through it again in my head and watch it like a movie if I really want to. I don't like flying and wet dreams are extra fun too (ﾉ´∀｀*)

It's wonderful. You can fly, summon stuff, Do anything your brain can imagine

It's the only safe refuge in this world of sour tears

You have to go with the flow as too much distribution and excitement wakes you up. Seems the biggest focus is keeping awareness but not too much. Best thing that works for me is to expect what you want in the next location and travel there. You also figure out how to force yourself awake if you get an unpleasant dream.

It's like stepping into a strange alien world, that is also (somehow) 100% safe... but the few times i have reached this world, it vanishes seconds later (feels like it is because increased brain activity of the awareness) so it is also a very fragile and precious state (for me).

Lucid dreams? Generally I explore and try to stay lucid without waking up. It's impossible to read in a dream, more than a sentence or so, and numbers don't work either - that is actually one of the ways you can realize it's a dream.

Floating is nice, but usually I try not to control much just explore. It's really nice to just be somewhere other than real life.

One time I did try to meditate while lucid dreaming and it scared the living hell out of me, felt like if I let go of "self" while in the dream I'd lose everything that is me, or just die.

Absolute dream slut too, cannot believe so few here say (admit?) they are doing that.

It's shit. The fun in dreaming is in experiencing the absurd, that's why I don't change my dreams even when I'm aware it's a dream (unless there's a particularly good oportunity to do so).

Torono spok lala, Torono spok lala, Torono spok lala, Torono spok lala, Torono spok lala, Torono spok lala, Torono spok lala.

EDIT: Probably "toorono spok lara".

I don't remember the last time I had an actual dream at night. I just black out and wake up in the morning.