Virtually Lucid

Okay, this may seem like a weird post but I’ve been thinking about this stuff a lot, lately.   I think about it a lot anyway, but more so lately.  In the end, this is about the tricks I use to (when it works) help keep the pain away

I had my first lucid dream when I was about six years old.  I’ve only had about five or six in my life that I recall.  And they all happened before I started taking medication of any kind.  During this period of my life (before the age of about 35) I didn’t take much more than the occasional aspirin.   For those of you who aren’t familiar with lucid dreaming, it’s when you become aware that you’re dreaming and you can choose the direction of the dream.  The problem is, the experience is so exciting you often wake yourself up; so you need to take care to remain calm while still enjoying the action.  It’s almost like virtual reality.  

Lucid dreaming can be self-taught, and it’s worth it.  Imagine going places and doing things that in reality will never likely happen.   Flying dreams usually precede lucid dreaming; so if you dream you are flying, chances are good you will slip into lucid dreaming.  But how can you train yourself to dream those kinds of dreams?  There are a number of ways, and I forgot most though there are good books out on the subject.  However, the best way I have found was this:  No one questions their consciousness while awake (unless you have a mental health challenge…but not always then, of course) because what’s the point?  You know you are awake unless trauma has occurred, then sometimes, no, you don’t.  But try this sometime.  Question your consciousness during the day.  Ask yourself “Am I awake or dreaming?”  The reason for doing this is because if you do it a few times a day for a few weeks, eventually, you may start to question consciousness while you are sleeping and when that happens, the act of questioning it can throw you in a lucid dream.  Then watch out, because you will be in the ride of your life.  But be careful; too much excitement will wake you!

The thing about being lucid when I am sleeping is for me, also about keeping my conscious self out of my pain-ridden body while awake.  It’s not easy sometimes, and when I do manage to leave my body for a precious few minutes, I am most grateful.   So it’s about being able to control consciousness whether awake or asleep.  Like meditation.   Sometimes I try to tell myself that if I work on it, I can train my body to interpret the pain as pleasure.  That would be a good trick.  I think the best I can do is leave my body for short periods of time. 

Maybe I could travel the world that way.   There are plenty of pictures on the Internet so trying to imagine a city, a jungle, the ocean…shouldn’t be difficult.  Hold the image.  Fly away.  Or, I could get a virtual reality device.  I don’t know why those aren’t readily available by now.  Fly, fly, away.