Overcoming Nightmares

By: Jerry A. Greene

If we only knew that our nightmares where dreams, while they were happening, they would cease to be nightmares! Looking for dream-signs, even in the worst scenarios, can help you to conquer your bad dreams..

Some of Our Worst Experiences
Contrary to most lucid dreams, nightmares (and sometimes false-awakenings) can be some of the worst experiences we have in the dream state. A lot of times these "night-terrors" occur during the middle of the night, while our sleep cycle is filled with more deep sleep rather than REM (rapid eye movement). Because of this, we tend to get woken up with such a fright, that it is hard to go back to sleep. I know that for myself, I had many nightmares when I was younger and could not close my eyes again (for the rest of the night) without having a "bad feeling" come over me like I was falling, or some "demon" was looming over me in shadows.

Of course we know, after we wake up, that they were just dreams. It's the same problem that prevents us from having lucid dreams to begin with. We're so wrapped up in fear (emotions are controlling our thoughts) that we forget to question reality and the dream becomes real to us.

If you have read "Best Times for a Lucid Dream", you may realize that because of the fact that most bad dreams happen during the middle of the night, that it may be rather difficult to turn one into a lucid dream. It's just not the time of the evening when most lucid dreams happen, but it is still possible! Especially if you have just woken from a nightmare. Your mind may be racing as you try to fall asleep again, but you need to focus on recognizing dream-signs. Most likely, the situation that scared you to begin with, is filled with dream-signs!. As I had mentioned before, it is sometimes hard to fall back to sleep after a nightmare. Sometimes, one of the reasons it is, is that you tend to go RIGHT BACK into a dream without having any real "rest" before then next REM period. In a way, this is prime time to enter a lucid dream from the waking state. You can read more about overcoming nightmares from the waking state in "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming" by Dr. Stephen LaBerge. The acronym he uses for entering a dream, directly from the waking state, is WILD, or "Wake Induced Lucid Dream". I myself, have not had a great deal of success with WILD's, but Dr. LaBerge claims to have a great deal of his lucid dreams from WILD's, so you may want to experiment with them.

You need to remember that nightmares, just like other dreams, are in fact JUST DREAMS. They can be overcome, no matter how scary they may seem at the time. With a willingness to try and relax, and to put some time into thinking about what the dream means for you, can be of a great help to your well-being.