The term ‘Dream Control’ is used to mean a few different things depending on who’s using it and the context. Some people simply use it as a synonym for lucid dreaming; this makes sense after all the whole point of becoming lucid is controlling your dreams. Other times it used to refer to the practice of incubating a specific dream i.e. you are controlling the content of your dream.

However in the lucid dreaming community, dream control usually means the skills and techniques for controlling the different aspects of your dream once you become lucid. This is what this page is here to talk about.

How is Dream Control different to Lucidity?

The concept of dream control can be a bit tricky to get your head round, particularly if you haven’t had many (or any) lucid experiences. Some people assume that as soon as you realise you are inside a dream, you can do and control anything you want. Technically this is true, there are almost no limits to what is possible, but you might find it isn’t quite that easy.

The first hurdle most people face is a sudden rush of excitement at finally becoming lucid that causes your body to produce a load of adrenaline which jolts you awake. The next thing to watch out for is the exact opposite, you can get so involved with exploring this new world, that you start to drift along with the plot of your dream and before you know it lucidity has slipped away and you’re back in a regular dream. You won’t even realise this has happened until you next wake up, and think ‘Hey I was lucid, what happened!’

To tackle these two threats to your lucidity we come to the first technique of dream control: Dream Stabilization

Dream Control Techniques

So now your dream is stable, you are faced with the question; ‘Now I’m lucid, what do I want to do?’

No matter what your answer to this question above is, unless you are very lucky, you are unlikely to find yourself already in exactly the situation you want. That means you will need to manipulate one or more of the following aspects of your dream. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but covers the main areas you are most likely to want to play with.

Although the ability to control these different aspects will vary from person to person, some are generally seen as easier than others. According to what people usually find, the list below is arranged in increasing order of difficulty.

• Self Control (including Flying)
• Summoning Objects & Dream Characters
• Changing the Scene
• Form and Perspective

Take a look at each of the pages above on the different aspects of dream control for a more detailed understanding of some of your options, or if you just want a quick summary to get started, here are three basic dream control methods that are useful in a wide variety of situations.

Call for what you want

This is the brute force approach to dream control. If simply asking for or willing the change to your dream isn’t working, you can make your command more forceful by shouting it out. The more general your call, the more room you give your mind to weave the request into your existing dream and so the more likely it is to work. i.e. ‘I need a car’ will be easier to create by this method than ‘I need a convertible red Ferrari, with cream leather seats and alloy wheels’.

Using Magic

The biggest problem with dream control is that you usually want to do things that can’t be done in real life, create objects from nothing, have particular people suddenly appear in front of you, fly off into the sky etc. Magic is a good way to understand how such ‘impossible’ things can be made to happen within a conceptual framework that your mind is already familiar with.

Spells, potions, magic wands, anything you have grown up with the association through books, tv and films as being able to do whatever impossible task you want to accomplish will make it easier to add into your dream than using the brute force approach.

Using Technology

There is a famous quote by British science fiction author, Arthur C. Clarke; ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic’. In dream control this couldn’t be more true. Exactly the same principles as with magic apply to using advanced technology too. You can create objects from nothing, teleport instantly to another location, and so on.

Both the magic and technology options automatically take care of the first two principles of dream control. Whichever option you find easier to imagine and is more consistent with your existing dream will be the most effective choice.