What is Dream Control?
I still hear people confusing a few terms which, I hope, will become better understood by the general population: lucid dreaming, vivid dreaming, and dream control. True, all three of these can occur at the same time, but none of them have to overlap.
Lucid Dreaming is knowing that you're dreaming while you are in a dream. That's it. Dream vividness is the quality of your perceptions while in a dream, how clearly you see, hear, maybe even touch, smell or taste. Usually, vivid dreams are better recalled upon awakening. But if a dream is very vivid, perhaps with heightened emotions (be it joy or fear or whatever), this does not mean that you necessarily knew it was a dream while it was happening. Dream Control refers to the ability to either control your own body or the environment with volition (what some people call will-power). Dream Control exists along a continuum, and someone may find that they can run away from a pursuer but they cannot stop the pursuer from chasing them. Or, you may be able to change night to day but you can't stop the cats from multiplying. Usually (stressing the word usually) lucid dreams involve a greater degree of control of the environment and the self's ability to maneuver in spatial dimensions than in non-lucid dreams. However, results may vary. And some non-lucid dreams can certainly display a great amount of so-called "control" even though the dreamer does not recognize they are in a dream. To increase vividness, I like to say things throughout my dream like "Increase Vividness Now!" or "Increase Lucidity Now!" (I got this idea from the episode of Seinfeld where George Castanza's father was using a calming mantra: "Serenity Now!") Other lucid dreamers employ the same tactics. Any stabilization technique will also increase vividness, and usually dream control. Rubbing your hands together or spinning around work very well. |