Facing Fears in LD's?

[electricdeer]

While thinking about what to do in my next ld, i thought, why not face a fear? Or perhaps, seek out some type of monster in an ld, and face it? I'm thinking about making this my next lucid goal. I was wondering if me knowing that an ld is an ld is enough for me to be able to face anything the dreamworld can throw at me. But before i give it a shot, i was wanting to hear about other people's experiences with the same type of ld goal. What was a fear that you faced in an ld? Was it hard to face it? Did you fail or succeed in facing your fear? How did the outcome make you feel? Just anything you can think of about the experience. Please discuss. Any and all input will be greatly appreciated!

[Thunal]

I can't really think of having a great fear. Except for roller coasters, which I might want to overcome...
Anyways, I think I'd go to a DC, and ask him 'Hey, would you like to go to a roller coaster that will scare the living shit out of us and relief me from my fear of them?'. I'd expect him to answer positively and overcome my fear XD

Or I'd die trying

[Robert Waggoner]

ElectricDeer,

When you become consciously aware in the dream, and begin to go around, look for areas of unhappiness or anger. For example, you might see people arguing, or you might see a caged angry animal. Instead of avoiding them, go to them, knowing this is a lucid dream.

At that point, you have a few choices. You could feel the anger and argument and then consciously project love, compassion and understanding on it. Normally, at that point, the images will change to something more loving, like from an angry lion to a small bunny.

You could ask the dream figure, "What does this argument symbolically represent?" And if the answer is not helpful, then yell it out to the awareness behind the dream, "Hey dream, what does this represent?!" Normally, you will then get an answer.

You can also completely accept the figure and the anger. By accept, I mean recognize it as a projected portion of yourself. Often when this is done successfully, something amazing happens. I won't tell you, since I do not want to 'suggest' what you might experience. But if you try this, please let me know what happens.

Good luck,

Robert

[Xero]

Hey ElectricDeer. I don't want to discourage you from this idea at all - it seems like a pretty good one. I think I'll try it at some point to, but as you said all input is welcome I should warn you that from my own experiance with LDs, when I came across something bad it was easier and more likely I'd loose control of the dream. Doing this can be pretty scarey if you ain't prepared for it. I'd reccomend being sure that you'll be able to remember it's a dream and keep in control so as to avoid a bad experiance.

But, that's just me. I more or less consistently dream in nightmares so I guess I'm pretty prone to it. But the idea of using lucid dreams to help overcome fears is an excellent one, and I hope you come back and tell us how it goes.

Good luck!

[electricdeer]

Thanks everybody for the input! And thanks Robert, i guess i could search my dreams for areas of conflict (i'll lurk the shadows ). I guess if i look for areas that are dark or shadowy, i'll find something that requires bravery to face. And thanks for the warning Xero, it makes since that it would be easier to lose control when fear is involved. I guess that one of the things i want to test is how strongly do i believe that a dream is just a dream and no harm can come to me while being lucid. I'll be sure to post my results whenever i give this a shot.

Thanks again everybody, and if anyone else has any input, feel free to post it.

[Riku]

I know in my first 10-or-so lucid dreams I couldn't have pulled that off, I was never assured enough of being in a dream. These days my lucid dreams are literally like I've woken up inside the dream, my head is clear. Now I think I could manage facing something terrifying, and be safe in knowing that it's only a dream.

If you feel you know the lucid experience well by now, electricdeer, and are always sure you're dreaming, I won't hold you back.