Both beginners and experienced practitioners sometimes have trouble understanding what makes an ordinary dream different from a lucid dream. This difficulty relates directly to how you handle the objects and events within a lucid dream. You might wonder: how do you know if you’re lucid dreaming? Or perhaps you’ve asked yourself how to know if you’re lucid dreaming. Some people even want to figure out how to tell if you’re lucid dreaming for sure.
The deeper you sink into the phase state, the more stable the objects within it become and the easier they are to control. For example, you can alter them, shrink or enlarge them, or change their color, among many other possibilities.
So, if you’ve fallen deeply asleep and entered a lucid dream, its laws become just as consistent as those of the real world. At this point, it becomes challenging to determine whether you’re dreaming or already awake and living your actual life.
All techniques that allow you to control the storyline of a dream share one common feature: they are all based on bypassing the principle that the longer you remain in the phase, the stronger your sensations get. For example, if you’re not sure you’re dreaming, try one of these techniques, and if it works, then you know you’re in a lucid dream. Depth of sleep is as critical a criterion as stability. When you’re asleep but your brain is active, your consciousness operates somewhat differently, and it focuses on sensations. If you can convince yourself that you are feeling different sensations, you can change the space around you.
For instance, let’s say you’re in a lucid dream holding an apple. You can look at it, feel its texture, and even smell it. These sensations make the object feel real, and you clearly understand what’s in your hand. However, if you close your eyes, you can quickly influence your current reality. It might not work the first time, so you need practice. With your eyes closed, one sense is gone: you no longer see the apple. This makes it easier to convince your brain that you’re actually holding a pear or an orange. After some time, when you open your eyes, you’ll be holding not the apple, but another fruit whose reality you’ve managed to persuade yourself of.
There’s another test you can perform to determine which type of dream you’re in. Simply place the apple on a table—or any surface, even the floor. Now close your eyes and convince yourself that the apple isn’t actually there. Imagine only a clean surface in front of you. If you’re in a lucid dream, whatever you convince yourself of will actually happen. In this case, when you open your eyes, the object will have disappeared because your sensations shut off. You can no longer see or feel the apple, making it easy to imagine it’s gone. Your memory alone holds it in place, and you can learn how to manipulate your memory.
The same logic applies if you find yourself in a nightmare. You can use quick techniques to remove frightening elements from your surroundings. Over time, you’ll learn to replace them with pleasant ones. Gradually, you can change everything, including your body—adding wings or gills, for example, so you can move in unconventional ways and defy the laws of the real world.
You can use various techniques to circumvent this rule. The stability of the space in a lucid dream can be altered. The key is to choose the method that suits you best and that you can execute with the most success.
The only thing that sets a lucid dream apart from a normal dream is that if you’re having a normal dream, you can’t realize yourself within it and, therefore, can’t influence the environment. But if you’ve managed to enter a lucid dream, then you have full control over what’s happening. You can change small details or your entire surroundings. Conversely, a normal dream simply unfolds on its own. If something bad happens in it, you can only wake up from fear (or a sudden movement), whereas when something bad happens in a lucid dream, you can change it into something good.
By understanding the nuances of controlling the space in lucid dreams, you unlock colossal potential for self-healing, self-analysis, and personal growth (and maybe a bit of fun as well).
FAQ
Why is it sometimes difficult to distinguish a normal dream from a lucid dream?
Because in a deep lucid dream, the environment becomes stable and realistic, making it hard to determine whether you’re dreaming or awake.
How can you test if you’re in a lucid dream?
Try changing certain elements of the dream (like transforming an apple into another fruit). If you succeed, you’re in a lucid dream.
What role do sensations play in a lucid dream?
Sensations are crucial. By controlling what you feel, you can convince your mind of a new reality and alter the dream environment accordingly.
How does controlling space differ between a normal dream and a lucid dream?
In a normal dream, events unfold without your control. In a lucid dream, you can influence and modify anything you like, from objects to your own body.
What are the benefits of learning to manage space in lucid dreams?
Mastering these techniques opens up great potential for self-healing, personal development, introspection, and even enjoyable experiences.
