Let’s do the math: we sleep a third of our lifetimes away, and slightly less are dreams. So, the argument goes, lucid dreaming is the way to reclaim those house “lost” to idle dreams. But lucid dreaming scholars would never claim that ordinary dreams are unimportant. Rather, lucid dreams can be seen as opportunities to deepen the work that is already being done in our usual nightly adventures in dreamworld.

lucid dreaming is the art of being aware in the dream state. Even though many assume that lucid dreaming means you can control your dream, this is actually only a wish of beginner lucid dreamers. Rather, dream control is best achieved as self-control: learning to modulate emotions, attention, and intentionality in the dream. It is especially difficult to control your emotions in the lucid dream state, because fears and other intense feelings quickly come to the fore in lucid dreams.

So most of the talk about “dream control” is actually in defense of these strong emotions. Scholars of dream science suggest that being aware in dreams is an opportunity to face fully those strong emotions that appear in the dream, instead of using awareness to shut the emotions down. No wonder dream control sounds so tempting! Awareness is a powerful force, but it can easily be used in defense of self-knowledge. Many cultures use lucid dreaming as a healing practice, and harnessing the emotional substrate of the dream is a key part of the training. To sum it up, focusing on self-control is the best way to learn about the gift of awareness during dreams.

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