Using Lucid Dreaming to Overcome Nightmares

July 27th, 2007

This article is part of the series Mastering the Art of Lucid Dreaming. If this is your first visit to the site, I recommend starting at the beginning of the series.

Lucid dreaming may be used quite effectively to overcome nightmares and to uncover the underlying source of recurring dreams. Nightmares are generated by the fears of our unconscious mind and by situations that cause us stress in our daily lives. Often, upon awakening we wonder why we reacted with such irrational fear to very simple dream events that wouldn't seem frightening to us at all in waking life. On other occasions, the events of our dreams are so terrifying we question why our unconscious mind would place us in such a horrific situation. When you become lucid within your dreams, you'll be able to control your reactions and can choose when, where, and how to confront your fears.

If you find yourself in a frightening situation while dreaming, the first step to overcoming your fear is to reaffirm to yourself that it is just a dream and you are in control. Because our fear often gains the upper hand, when a nightmare scenario occurs even experienced lucid dreamers sometimes find it difficult to maintain control of all the elements of the dream. At first, focus your efforts on maintaining control over your own actions and reactions. This in itself can be a tricky task. It may require a concerted effort just to keep yourself from running away.

Developing the skill to stand your ground and objectively evaluate the dream scene while in a frightful situation will take time. Have patience, and don't chide yourself later if you were unable to prevent your dream self from running away. Simply reaffirm to yourself that you are in control of your dreams, and use positive self-talk to encourage your dream self to remain calm next time. It may help to review your dream journal in the morning and analyze the contents of the dream to determine which part of it prompted the fear and what that particular thing may represent in waking life.

Once you're able to prevent your dream self from running away from frightening situations, you can employ various methods to turn your nightmares into positive learning experiences. If you're being chased, turn and face your pursuer and ask it why it is chasing you and what it wants. If you encounter something frightening, ask yourself what it represents and why you fear it, or command your dream guide to appear and provide an explanation.

If you find yourself in a frightful confrontation and cannot gain enough control over the dream environment to bring the confrontation to a complete halt, you can also choose to stand and fight your dream opponent. While the alternative — determining the true underlying nature of the nightmare — is obviously preferable, it also can be empowering to overcome obstacles and challenges within your dreams. When faced with such a situation, remember the skills you've acquired thus far. You have the ability to change the dream environment and alter the setting to something more to your advantage. You also have the ability to call into existence any object you desire. Be creative and improvise. Be flexible and do your best to use these techniques in a way that will ultimately allow you to question your dream opponent to discover what he, she, or it represents in waking life.

Keep in mind that your unconscious mind often creates what it expects, and frequently uses your fears to construct the dream setting. Whenever there is uncertainty in a dream environment, your own fears will fill in the blanks. If you expect to encounter a fearful situation, your mind will quickly compose it for you in order to fulfill those expectations. Always remember you have control over your dreams. Reaffirm to yourself that nothing in your dreams can harm you and you have no reason to be afraid. Though you'll inevitably still have nightmares on occasion, you'll gradually overcome your fears as you become more confident in your abilities to manipulate and control your dream environment.

Stay tuned for the next article in the series, which will describe how to analyze your dreams to uncover their true meaning.