7 Things You Shouldn’t Ever Do in a Dream

YES! You did it, you managed to do that lucid dream thing, you know, when you’re dreaming, and can suddenly become aware of yourself! You can do anything you want in those dreams, have magical powers, move things with your mind, ride a flying bike, fish while sitting on a small cloud...

Awesome. BUT... Yes, unfortunately, there’s a ‘but’. No matter how epic the world of dreams may seem, there are a few things you might want to avoid. You’re in a house, but you’re not sure if you’re dreaming or not.

There’s a road, a thick forest behind it, and this house... hmm. The house is old but very neat and clean. Now you’re standing in a long hallway. To your left, there’s a beautiful, retro-looking living room. Why not check it out?

The sunlight’s gently seeping through the curtains, it looks magical: red vintage sofas, a thick green rug, a coffee table, two big bookcases, an old piano in the corner, plants near the windows... Hmm, who waters those if no one lives here? Never mind, hey, check out this standing mirror right next to the piano. Slowly, step by step, you start walking toward it, wondering what you’re going to see...

And, stop right there! The first rule of lucid dreaming is to try to avoid doing activities that make you feel too emotional. The mirror might reflect a different and pretty distorted version of yourself. You might not like what you see.

What if it’s someone else looking back at you, or you realize your hands are unnaturally long, your face is unrecognizable or there’s someone standing behind you? A mirror in a dream is definitely the worst way to find that out, so try to resist this temptation. Once you’re a lucid dream pro, you can give it a try.

You move on, checking out other things in the house. Suddenly, a thought pops into your mind. If this is a dream... Where’s your real body? No, don’t go down that road! Try not to think about your body.

If you do, you risk losing focus, the house will vanish, and you’ll wake up. Once you’re in a lucid dream, you should try to pay attention to your surroundings. Anything else, especially thinking of yourself lying in bed... Bye-bye, better luck next time!

Okay, you’re still in the house, focused on the things in the living room, not on your body. Time to move on, check out some of the other... Wait. Stop. You suddenly become very aware that you’re in a creepy old house all by yourself. Why did you go in, what were you thinking?

You start to feel extremely uncomfortable. What if s-s-s-someone lives here? So far, you’ve only been in the living room. You turn around and go back to the hall. Okay, the door you came in through is still there, but there are some wooden stairs over there. You can’t quite see where they lead to... Did it suddenly get a bit darker, is the sun going down? Aaargh!

All of your biggest fears start popping up in your head. You suddenly hear snakes hissing, and... is that the sound of some giant animal, a dinosaur maybe? Oh no, is there a chicken in here too? Your biggest phobias are all gathered in one place!

The ground starts to shake, and you panic and turn around to flee. Oh no, the door’s gone! You take a step, and fall into a bottomless pit... which brings me to the second thing to avoid.

Try not to think about things that scare you or make you feel uncomfortable. We’re all curious about scary scenarios, but your subconscious controls your dreams, and it knows all your suppressed fears, one tiny detail can escalate quickly, and turn a nice lucid dream into a nightmare. Or even wake you up. Might not be such a bad thing!

So, you bring your focus back to the nice things in the house, and the darkness disappears. Okay, good, the door’s back too. You walk outside, back to the main road... it’s a beautiful day!

Oh! Is that your old high school friend? Great, you were just thinking about her the other day, that’ll be a great chance to chat. Stop right there!

When it comes to lucid dreaming, the fewer real-life places, or people, the better. Lucid dreaming can make you feel like... it’s all real. It’s not like you’re going to wake up and think you actually talked to that person, but your subconscious will memorize how you felt about it. That can be a bit confusing if you end up meeting her in real life.

Lucid dreams can create fake memories, which can lead to all sorts of real-world issues. So, the house, the road, the thick forest next to it... did your mind come up with that all by itself? Of course! Giraffes aren’t usually so tall their heads poke through the clouds, you can’t normally fly up to pick an apple from that top branch, and elephants don’t really wear awesome necklaces and earrings. Your dreamland doesn’t have any limits!

Hey! Enjoy it while you’re there. If you don’t, you might end up inside a boring dream where you slept through your alarm, again. You could even have a lucid nightmare. Or maybe they’re the same thing!

If you get too excited right away, your lucid dream could finish too quickly. Yes, lucid dreaming is like the best VR simulation ever, so duh... That’s why you want to make it last.

Sure, you can fly, see an epic waterfall, have magical powers, slide down a rainbow, enjoy a tropical paradise with coconuts and palms... But, wait, wait, wait. Relax and try to stabilize your dream before you jump into any of that stuff. Start it off slowly with things that are more normal, like a road, house, meadow, ooh hey, look! Cute little rabbits and a deer! Much better to start your dream off that way.

It takes some time to become skilled enough to do all those crazy things without waking up. You want it to be amazing, and not just... meh, boring or frustrating, or worst of all: end too soon. But, also, keep moving, don’t aimlessly wander around. Forest, road, house, blah blah blah... Sounds interesting at first, but eventually, you should move on to more fun things. Make a plan.

In lucid dreams, time goes slower than it does in reality so: use. It. Well. Don’t try too hard to control everything in your dream. First off, that takes a lot of practice, and second, let some things surprise you. Hopefully not some phobias hidden in the dark corners of your subconscious...

Keep your eyes open in the dream. How else are you going to see all the wonders of the dream world? Closing your eyes a lot can be a sign to your body that you want to wake up. It’s helpful when you’re stuck in a bad dream and can’t make those scary creatures go away. But, if you’re in a good place...

Don’t spend too much time in your dreams, lucid or regular ones. They all happen during your REM (rapid eye movement) sleep phase. In non-REM sleep, your eye movements, heart rate, and brain waves gradually slow down. And, then, BAM!!, REM-phase comes around, and your brain starts having fun!

More than half the world’s experienced lucid dreams at least once, but few people can actually control them. Maybe that’s not a bad thing, because knowing there’s a place where you can do literally anything you imagine... Phew. You might start to lose touch with reality!

But, when you’re there, don’t leave anything on your bucket list. How about flying? You’re at the top of a high mountain, and thick fluffy clouds are all around you. Where’s the ground? You look down.

Wahoo! In your dream, you’re not afraid of heights! You feel the adrenaline pumping through your body... go for it, jump, spread your wings. Oh, by the way, you now have wings!

Or what if, like me, you want to swim deep down into the ocean? You’re on a small boat, you take a few deep breaths, feel the crisp air penetrating your lungs. One final inhale, you crouch down and, splash! The best part is when you’re dreaming, the salt-water doesn’t sting your eyes!