The unexplained
Can you control your dreams?
SouthernComforts · 06/03/2018 23:29
This seemed as good a section as any for this..
Can anyone else control what happens in their dreams? I can change mine if I'm not enjoying them, or wake myself up to end them, and also go back into them and carry on if I go back to sleep quickly.
Only musing because I was having a pretty creepy one last night and can remember thinking 'right, that's enough of that' and waking myself up, then 'choosing' a different dream as I fell back to sleep.
If only I had such useful skills whilst awake 
SpikeGilesSandwich · 06/03/2018 23:32
My DH reckons he can do this and claims I'm weird because I can't. 
I've never heard of it before, maybe everyone else can do it and I am the weird one... 
Smidge001 · 06/03/2018 23:33
I can choose to wake myself up during a dream if I don't like it. It was a skill I learned as a teenager i think. I remember trying to make myself wake up and really struggling (literally using all my muscle power to try to force my eyes to open!), but once I'd managed to do it for the first time, I've been able to do so ever since.
Not sure I can change events in my dreams on demand though.
SouthernComforts · 06/03/2018 23:37
Interesting!
I had recurring nightmares when I was young so I wonder if I 'taught' myself how to do it for that reason. I don't have nightmares any more because like last night I can just stop them.
okilydokily · 06/03/2018 23:37
I can, but it only happens about once every couple of years! It takes a lot of mental and physical effort to change the outcome of the dream or wake myself up. It's really exhilarating and bizarre when it happens: pretty cool feeling like you can control events like that. And I've managed to wake myself up and then have a nice dream instead (usually when the nightmare i was in was a recurring one and I knew what was about to happen). The sensation when it happens is like deja vu but stronger.
SpikeGilesSandwich · 06/03/2018 23:39
It's not looking good for me so far...
I hate when DH is right!
beardybeardy · 06/03/2018 23:41
I can wake myself up from bad dreams, I use all my strength to move an arm or leg to wake myself up, when I wake it's usually just from a very slight movement although I n my dream it feels like a huge movement.
I can sometimes change what's happening on a dream but maybe I'm half awake when I do that.
My DH thinks I'm weird.
Squishysquirmy · 06/03/2018 23:48
Yes, sometimes.
It's called lucid dreaming and is easier to do when you're a child / teenager for some reason.
I can't do it as much as I used to, but it's bloody brilliant when I can!
Squishysquirmy · 06/03/2018 23:50
It's more like a very realistic, immersive day dream when I do it (but at night). I often rewind and redo bits in the dream as well.
notmenope · 06/03/2018 23:58
Yes, I can do this! I have found my weird odd people. Never found anyone else who can.
ncsunday · 07/03/2018 00:00
I can't, however I have watched a YouTube vid on it. I get really scared that it'll somehow make me get sleep paralysis. Anyone ever heard of that? It sounds awful.
Dementedswan · 07/03/2018 00:06
I used to do that as a child/teen and carry on the story line night after night.
As an adult sometimes I can still do that when I'm completely relaxed and stress free. Unfortunately that's rare.
I really used to look forward to bed.
elefunk · 07/03/2018 00:44
I can't wake myself up, but I can 'tone down' the scare factor if it's getting too much. It's weird, sometimes it feels very real and scary and I can just stop, and change it so the bad guy's chasing me a for a hug. (Terrible example, but you get the idea...)
My DSis says she has complete control in dreams, which I find a bit freaky.
Usedaname01 · 08/03/2018 19:01
I'm pretty sure I can, not all the time but sometimes. I think it's when I'm starting to wake up because I can kind of tell that I'm laying down and I can control what I'm doing in the dream. If a dream becomes too ridiculous I end up saying "this is a dream" or "I'm dreaming" and immediately after I wake up. Thing is i dont remember most my dreams by the end of the day, less it was something really specific. Like today i know i had a dream like this where i could control myself. God knows what it was about though. I wouldn't say anyone is weird for not experiencing this, I'd say I'm the weird one. Dreams are defiently weird things, my brother doesn't dream in colour, he can see colour perfectly when he's awake though.
AccidentallyRunToWindsor · 10/03/2018 19:06
All the time.
I wake myself up if it's going badly if it's scary. I'm conscious that I am dreaming too and can make decisions and rationalise decisions.
Doesn't everyone?
LetsGoBitches · 10/03/2018 19:15
My DH and one dd can do this. They have adventures and fly about etc.
I get twisted up in the sheets and duvet and have horrible dreams about being crushed and have often died in my dreams without being able to change anything!
I read somewhere that lucid dreaming is a Buddhist practice for entering into the Bardo... that is being able to choose your next reincarnation with mindfulness after you die and is a very highly regarded skill!
You’re very lucky to have this skill... it’s rare.
tinyradish · 10/03/2018 19:20
Yes I do the same as you. As someone else mentioned, I end up rewinding bits in my dream when I don't like what's happening. Sometimes rewinding the same bit over & over over because I can't get it right. Then it becomes very frustration & I'll make myself wake up. I'd love to learn how to control them more!
ShovingLeopard · 10/03/2018 19:22
I can do it. It's great, I haven't had a nightmare for years and years because of it.
flapjackfairy · 10/03/2018 19:22
I have always been able to do this and thought it was perfectly normal !
pimlicolife · 10/03/2018 19:24
I can if I actively think about it before I go to sleep. I used to do it a lot when I was a kid/younger but now I'm often half asleep as I get into bed so it doesn't cross my mind 
pimlicolife · 10/03/2018 19:25
On the downside I also get sleep paralysis so it's not all good!
KochabRising · 10/03/2018 19:28
Sometimes. It’s very patchy though - it seems to me that it happens when you’re in a different stage of dreaming and it’s very easy to wake yourself up. It happens more to me if I’m left alone (no snoring dh!) and having a very rare lie in :)
I’d love to be able to get better at it. I feel like there’s a lot of resistance within the dream then I wake up. I wonder if you can train yourself?
Also have sleep paralysis
SparrowandNightingale · 10/03/2018 19:38
I can do this. As others have mentioned I would have awful nightmares as a child and learnt I could control the dreams enough to hide and then wake up. I can chose a dream, change a dream and rewind dreams and I quite agree with the frustration of getting stuck on a loop trying to perfect a dream or a detail.
My DB and I would talk to each other in our sleep when we were kids. Mum said that was a bit freaky.
I sleep very lightly which might explain why I can do this.
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