How to Control Your Dreams
© Eugenp | Dreamstime
Learn how to control your dreams, and you could solve major problems in your life while you sleep, stop nightmares before they get too scary, travel to places you’ve never been, unleash your subconscious creativity, and imagine conversations with famous people you have never met.
I hear you snickering….so, I could dream up a….um….conversation with a famous movie star anytime I want (giggle)? Well, maybe – if that’s all you really wanted to achieve. But you could do so much more!
It is possible to develop the ability to forge your own dreams, to decide what will happen next, and to create a world into which you can escape or experiment without actually leaving your own home. It’s not easy, however. Controlling your dreams is a journey that follows a pretty specific map of steps but the benefits can be life-changing.
© How to Control Your Dreams
Three Steps to Dream Control
Dream Recall
Did you know that everyone dreams but not everyone remembers their dreams. Everyone has a different level of dream recall – the ability to remember a dream upon waking. I have very vivid dream recall and have since I was a child. I can describe very specific details from my dreams months and years after they happened. To me, dreams are like books I’ve read. My husband, on the other hand, cannot think of a time when he ever had a dream. Both levels of dream recall are normal but if he and I were both starting out at the same time trying to learn how to control our dreams, we’d be starting at two different phases of development. Strong dream recall is one of the foundational stones of being able to control your own dreams.
Makes sense, right? If you don’t remember your dreams, how would you even know if you had control within one?
Awareness/Lucid Dreaming
Once dream recall is established, the next phase in knowing how to control your dreams is to become aware of being in a dream. Just as with dream recall, some people have the ability to know that they’re dreaming while still in the dream and some do not. Even if you already have this skill, you might not have it all of the time. There may be times you realize you are dreaming and other times where you wake up from a dream thinking it was absolutely real for a few minutes. To get to the next phase, you need to be able to increase your dream awareness.
Being aware of your dream state is also called lucid dreaming.
Dream Control
Once awareness is established, the next step is to actually control what happens in your dreams. This can include creating or changing the environment, controlling your actions in your dreams or bringing in or removing other people or objects. I have, at times, been able to get myself out of what appears to be a dangerous situation in a dream by hovering out of harm’s way. Yes, hovering – not flying. Although being able to fly in one’s dream is very common, I actually float in place. I can float inches off the ground or miles off the ground as needed. The feeling of being able to remove myself from trouble by just lifting off the ground is incredibly powerful. Anytime anyone asks what superpower I’d like to have in real life it’s that one because I know first-hand what it feels like!
Once you learn how to control your dreams, you can use that additional semi-conscious brain-time to work through challenges you are experiencing in your life. If, for example, you have an upcoming presentation to give and public speaking makes you very nervous, you can rehearse your presentation in your dream without fear of failing. The experience will feel life-like and give you the added confidence you need to be successful when the real presentation comes up.
Put yourself in new, unique situations and expand your learning potential. Imagine yourself in Paris, sipping coffee at a table outside a small cafe. Build up the will power to start a new exercise program. Imagine yourself thinner and healthier and carry that feeling with you throughout the day.
Those prone to nightmares have had some success using dream control to cure their night terrors because as their awareness of being in a dream improves and their ability to influence what takes place in a dream becomes stronger, they can change the circumstances of the nightmare in their favor.
See the guide that can teach you to lucid dream in 7 days: Lucid Dreaming Guide
We all have the potential to do more with our lives. Learning how to control your dreams can be like unlocking the gate that has held you back from achieving your full potential.
