I am a Lucid Dreamer
Commanding the Subconscious Mind
What if you could control exactly who you were and what you were capable of? You might say that at this moment you already have such an ability, but then why do you dislike certain foods or only hang out with certain people? Why is your hair like that and how come you don’t wear something else? We are who we are based off of what we’re used to and what we’re comfortable with (especially if being comfortable means fitting in with others). The truth is, we are very controlled in our lives. Our friends, family, and even initial goals flood our lives, restricting us from doing anything “outside” of what we’re expected to do. Well, perhaps there’s a way to change that.
Almost four years ago, I posted a thread dealing with communication between the conscious and subconscious mind. I gave a series of steps and hints that allowed for people to see that in order to get something accross to their subconscious mind, they must word it correctly. Well, I’ve decided that I want to word most of that thread differently and perhaps offer a more stable approach at commanding the subconscious. What I am about to discuss does in fact deal with lucidity (for you can command yourself to become lucid), but it also pertains to everything else in life–from your wants/needs to your personality.
So, lets continue from here on out with the basis that you want to have the ability to lucid dream. Of course, your initial response to wanting to have a lucid dream is just that–you think about how badly you want a lucid dream! You might even shout “I want to have a lucid dream!”. Now, let’s think about what you’re saying and how that actually affects your subconscious mind. When you express how much you want something, all you’re really doing is causing yourself to want it more (I know this sounds obvious, but bare with me). Why is this bad? Well, you don’t want to “want” a lucid dream, you want to “have” a lucid dream. Fortifying the notion that you want something will only cause you to obsess over it more and eventually beat yourself up when you don’t get what you want.
Think of a high school crush for instance. Let’s say you’re really into that hot popular boy/girl that doesn’t even know you exist. You think about them all the time and even fantasize for a brief moment what it would be like to actually date them. You continue to hype them up so much in your head that all other things seem to not matter anymore. Then, one day, that person happens to stand behind you in the lunch line, just waiting for somebody to talk to them. Since you’re so hyped up, you begin to feel terrified when you even consider talking to her. What will you say? How will it turn out? These are things you didn’t even consider because you were too busy wanting her–so instead of spending your lunch period getting to know her, you avoid saying anything and stand in silence as you wait for your food.
You really have to be careful when you think about what it is you’re trying to shoot for in life–lucid dreaming included. It’s very easy to get stuck on wanting a lucid dream, as opposed to actually having one. So, what should you think about, then? Should you say “I will have a lucid dream”? Well, no. Saying that you will have one gives your subconscious mind the perception that whatever it is that you want (ie lucid dreaming), you don’t have the capability to have one now, but will in the future. When will you have one? At that point, not even your subconscious would know. Instead of focusing on wills and wants, what you should be considering is something much more concrete.
I went to see a hypnotherapist a few months ago for a phobia that I had. This phobia was a bit dabilitating and I felt as if I had no other way to resolve it. So I went to see this hypnotherapist and the first thing he asks me is how I have gone about trying to resolve my phobia. I responded with saying that I had told myself that my phobia wasn’t something harmful and it was merely in my head. The hypnotherapist laughed and simply said, “Why would you try and convince yourself that your phobia isn’t harmful when you could just change yourself to stop fearing it?” Of course, I thought this was much easier said than done, but kept listening to the guy nonetheless. He took out a sheet of paper and a pen and told me that he was about to give me the two most important words that anybody could say to themselves. He wrote something down and handed the paper over. Written in big letters, it said “I am”. He then told me to write several sentences, all starting with “I am”, and leading into something that I want to change about myself–one of which he recommended being “I am confident and free to live my life happily.”
So, how does this have anything to do with lucid dreaming? Well, think about it. You are who you make yourself as. Every single thought that you think of is filtered through your subconscious. Your subconscious wants to help you–it wants to give you everything that you need in order to stabilise your life and hopefully make you happy. If you say you want something, it’s going to allow you to really want something. If you say you hate something, you’re going to form a strong connection of hatred towards that thing. Think about it–haven’t you ever met somebody for the first time and judged them based off of their behavior and then using that judgement for every subsequent time that you see them? Perhaps that person was having a bad day when you first met them, and from there on out you considered them as an asshole–when really they could be the most generous person around. Your subconscious will give you exactly what you ask for, you just have to know how to ask for it.
Still don’t know how to ask for a lucid dream? Well, here are some that I’ve used: I am able to have a lucid dream; I am going to have a lucid dream tonight; I am lucid. The idea is that you want to tell your subconscious who you are. You don’t want to allow it to base it off of the wrong thing and give you undesirable results (like blowing your chances for that hotty at school). Think of your subconscious as a computer and you as the programmer. It will only do what you ask of it, and it’ll do it verbatim. All you have to do is find out what to say and hammer that thought in over and over until it becomes a part of you.
The usage of “I am” can be utilized anywhere and everywhere. It can turn you into an entirely new person and make life paths that were once invisible, visible. It’s important to know who you are, but it’s even more important to figure out and decide who you’ll become. Since my sessions with that hypnotherapist, I’ve really come to find that my life has completely changed for the better. I’m happier, healthier, and I know exactly where I’m headed. My name is Ben, and I am a lucid dreamer.
) and I AM a Lucid Dreamer, and therefore I AM going to have a lucid dream tonight.
