Lucid Dreaming to Overcome Nightmares
If your normal dreams are haunted by nightmares, it is sometimes a sign of conflict within you that is trying to work its way out. It is important to keep in mind that characters in a nightmare are just that, characters.
Many persons have found relief from their nightmares by confronting the character that makes you feel threatened. Start a dialog with them and allow the dream to develop into a lucid dream.
Below you will find a list of some of the things you could ask when you confront your dream character. It is not intended to be an all inclusive list but should give you are start on coming up with your own questions. Simply re-write some of these so that you can find out why or how this character is haunting you.
"Who are you?"
"Who am I?"
"Why are you here?"
"Why are you acting the way you are?"
"What do you have to tell me?"
"Why is this happening?"
"What do you want from me?"
"What questions do you have to ask me?"
"What do I most need to know?"
"What can I do for you?"
"What can you do for me?"
Conversing with Dream Characters
1. Practice imaginary dialogues in the waking state - Chose a recent dream in which you had an unpleasant encounter with a dream character. Visualize yourself talking to them, and initiated a dialogue using the above questions or any of your own. Don't let critical thoughts interrupt the flow, such as "I'm just making this up," or "This is silly." Terminate the dialogue when it runs out of energy or when you have your resolution. Evaluate what you did right or would do differently next time.
2. Set your intention - Set the goal for yourself that the next time you have a disturbing encounter with a dream character, you will become lucid and engage the character in dialogue.
3. Converse with problem dream figures - When you encounter anyone with whom you have a conflict, ask yourself whether or not you are dreaming. If you find that you are, stay and face the character, and begin a dialogue with one of the opening questions above. Listen to the character's responses and try and address their problems as well as your own. See if you can make friends or reach a
resolution. Wake yourself up while you still remember the dream clearly and write it down.
4. Evaluate the dialogue - Ask yourself if you achieved the best result you could, or how you could improve it next time.
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