8 Simple Steps to Cure a Phobia in a Lucid Dream Overnight (Literally!)

In this article, I’ll show you an 8-Step process for ridding yourself of a phobia in a lucid dream.  8 Steps may seem like a LOT to keep in mind while trying to maintain the dream state and keep control of the dream. Don’t let this scare you off.  When you’ve finished reading this article, if you don’t come away from it with a sense of “I could do this!” then I haven’t done my job as a teacher.

Make sure to read the disclaimer at the bottom of this article prior to using this process for yourself.

What is a phobia?

In order to make sense of how to Cure a Phobia in a lucid dream, we first need to understand what a Phobia really is.  A phobia, to define it simply, is an irrational fear of something.  By irrational, I mean a fear which is so overpowering that it makes a person unable to do something or be somewhere.  I’ve heard several people refer to “anxiety” or “fear of something” in terms of phobia.  This isn’t quite accurate.  Let me use the example of flying in an airplane to illustrate the difference.

If you are faced with the prospect of getting on an airplane, and are able to motivate yourself to get on the plane, that is not a phobia.  That is anxiety about flying, or possibly fear of flying.

With a phobia, however, the subject of the Phobia (which I’l refer to hereafter as X) is something that no matter how much you WANT to do X, or how much you NEED to do X, it simply won’t happen.  A person with a phobia of flying will NOT get on that plane short of someone pulling a Mr. T and drugging him/her into unconsciousness and then being strapped in to the plane.  Better hope that he/she doesn’t wake up on the flight, or all hell could break loose.

As promised, the point of this article is to introduce you to an 8-step process whereby you, as an experienced lucid dreamer, can rid yourself of an irrational fear of X.

Here are the steps: (again, don’t let this scare you)

  1. Close your Dream Eyes.
  2. Announce an intention to see a symbol representing your current phobia/irrational fear of X.
  3. Open your dream eyes and study the symbol from every possible angle until you have an intimate understanding of the symbol and how it’s put together and what it looks like.
  4. Ask the symbol how it would need to change inorder for you to be unafraid of X any longer, in the appropriate circumstances and contexts.
  5. Tell the symbol to make those changes.
  6. Ask again to make sure there are no further changes that need to be made.  Make any changes that are left.
  7. Once the symbol is changed, take the symbol back into yourself.
  8. Allow the changes to permeate through your body and mind.

Of course, I’ll explain each step in enough detail to make sense.

1. Close Your Dream Eyes

This step is as easy at it sounds. In the lucid dream, just close your eyes.

2. Announce the intention to see a symbol which represents your current phobia of X.

For this step, it’s enough to simply say aloud “When I open my eyes, I want to see a symbol which represents my current phobia of X.  This can be similar to conjuring up a dream character except now you’re keeping intentionally vague and letting your Subconscious Mind control what the symbol is that shows up.

3. Open  your eyes and study the symbol.

For this, open  your dream eyes. Look at whatever is there that wasn’t there before. Don’t try to analyze or understand it.  Your Subconscious Mind knows a lot more than you do about the phobia.  Your only job is to get to know that symbol by seeing it from each possible angle. Your job is to understand what the symbol looks like in intimate detail, but not what it MEANS.

4. Once you have a good understanding of how the symbol looks, ask it directly how it would need to change in order for you to be unafraid of X any longer.

Just ask the symbol, “What about you need to be changed so I’ll no longer be afraid of X like I am now. I understand that being mindful of X in certain contexts is appropriate. But how would you need to change so I’m not afraid of X in contexts Idon’t need to be afraid?”  Then, wait for the answer.  The answer(s) will come to you in any of several possible ways.  Pay close attention to what answers you get about changes that need to be made.  If you have ask if the answer is real or something YOU came up with, then simply ask for clarification to make sure.

5. Once those changes are known, tell the symbol to make those changes to itself, and give it permission to do so.

At this point, the symbol may seem to take on a life of its own This means the process is working.

6. Once those changes are made, ask the symbol if there are any changes that are left which need to be made to make the process complete.

If there are any changes left to be made, have the symbol make them to finish up the change process.

7. Once the symbol is changed, take the symbol back into yourself.

Once the symbol is changed as it needs to be, literally take the symbol back into your dream body so it can integrate back into you.  This can be done in any way which seems appropriate for you to get it integrated.  If the symbol is a person, a simple hug could work, so the person melts into you.  If the symbol is an abstract image, you can reach out and grab it and pull it into yourself.  Or you can just walk right into the symbol and through it like walking through a fog.  The options here are limited only by your imagination.

8. Allow the changes to permeate through your body and mind.

For this final step, the changes you make will cause a sort of “ripple effect” in your body and mind. A good way to describe this is by way of example. Imagine a completed jigsaw puzzle, which represents the whole YOU.  Now, imagine you take out a single piece of the puzzle.  This is like seeing the original symbol.  Now, imagine that you change the shape of that particular piece of the puzzle like you did with changing the symbol.  When you re-integrate the symbol, it’s much like putting that new puzzle piece back in the spot you pulled it from.  Since it’s a new shape, the pieces around it have to also change shape so the new piece can fit where it belongs.  The ripple effect comes about because as those pieces alter and adjust, the pieces around THOSE PIECES must also change to accommodate the changes each piece has to make.  So changing that one piece has far-reaching implications for the entire puzzle.

***Disclaimer *** I have NEVER done this process with anyone.  However, my growing experience as a hypnotist leads me to believe this would work beautifully in a lucid dream.  As I do not have any phobias that I am yet aware of, I cannot test this for myself.

 

Light Level During Lucid Dreams

I’ve noticed that in all of my lucid dreams, the dream scenes I find myself in are usually dark.  Dimly light rooms, outside at night. that sort of thing.

My non-lucid “regular” dreams are more brightly lit.  If you’re familiar with Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), I think it may be a submodality or reality strategy thing.  I’m not certain  yet.

Another quirk of most (not all) my lucid dreams is that other characters seem to disappear or just become irrelavent.  For example, in my Deep Trance Identification dream, as soon as I became lucid, the other people in the pub seemed to not matter anymore.  Their voices faded into the background. In the majority of my lucid dreams, though, people just disappear completely. Or I’ll find myself in environments where people just aren’t there to begin with.

I’m curious.  What sorts of patterns have YOU noticed across your lucid dreams that differ from your regular dreams?

A New Kind of Reality Check With Lucid Dreaming

In my most recent lucid dream, I “stumbled” on a new kind of reality check which seemed to work well for me.  I really suck at the whole “look at a watch” or “read a sign”.  That’s mainly because in my dreams, text and numbers don’t chance unless I will them to change.

This “new”  technique basically involves foregoing trying to condition yourself to look for passive clues about the possibility that you’re dreaming.  Instead, the technique involves just trying to control the environment directly.  If it works, I’m dreaming.  If not, at worst I look like a crazy idiot standing there straining myself trying to mentally lift  cars or buildings 🙂  I’ll describe what I mean by way of a dream of mine.

My most recent lucid dream was on January 21.  I’ve been pondering that experience since my last lucid dream prior to that was four and a half years before that.

“I was awake early that morning waiting for someone to come pick me up so we could go to work. We were delivering stuff for Sears Home Delivery at that time.  I had awoken, gotten ready for work, and sat on the couch, waiting for my coworker to get there. I knew I had about 30-45 minutes left to wait based on the time.  So I lied down on the couch waiting. I decided to have a quick nap.  Eyes shut.  Breathing Normal.

Well, I’m still laying on the couch, and I open my eyes and get up, and start walking around.  I walk back into the bedroom.  My wife is laying in bed, asleep.  I have an uneasy feeling this entire time.  I suddenly begin to wonder, while standing in the dark bedroom, if I’m possibly dreaming.  As soon as I have that thought, I start to get excited.  But, my sense of self-control kicks in.  As usual, I can feel that tiny subtle voice in the back of my head automatically keeping me calm.

I suddenly decide that if I am indeed dreaming, I should be able to control the dream environment (since that would mean I have the awareness that is a requirement for lucidity).

I look down and see an unsharpened #2 pencil on the floor.  I hold out my hand, like when Sylar levitated all the pieces of broken glass after Peter turned invisible. I then begin willing the pencil to lift.  After what seemed like a good 2-3 second long eternity of mental strain, the pencil jumps up into my hand. I’m Dreaming!

I then spend the next few minutes walking around.  Just perfecting and playing around with my new found dream-telekinesis.

Then, I eventually find may way back to the living room.

I’m standing in front of the couch, and decide that this is the perfect change to give lucid dream sex another effort.

I look at the empty couch and decide to conjur up a beautiful woman to have sex with.  Since my mental list of women to have sex with in my lucid dreamscape is long and extensive, I decide to trust my subconscious.  Remembering from past experience that I seem to have the best successes with conjuring up dream characters if I don’t try to witness the actual process, I turn so the couch is behind me and I declare “When I turn around, there will be a beautiful naked woman there for me to get frisky with.”

I turn around, and my wife is there, on the couch, stark naked.  Her feet are on the couch and she’s crouched on the couch.  I walk up to her, reach down, grab her and lift her off the couch, and suddenly I’m naked.  We go at it  like we’d never done it before.

At some point, I feel like I could actually reach a climax with her in my dream.  As this happens, a growing realization begins creeping over and and growing…a sense that I am running out of time before my coworker calls to let me know he’ll be coming around the corner.

Just as I am about to finish, the phone rings and I am awake.”

To recap, I tested the idea that I was dreaming by mentally willing the pencil to fly into my hand.  It did.

I realize this dream isn’t a perfect example of that technique, because for whatever reason I already had the growing “hunch” that I might be dreaming.  I’m not aware of anything in that dream which would have tripped my awareness alarm.  I think that, for me, the best bet is to build in anchors like I did for prolonging the dream.  But this time, I’ll build in anchors that will be like little reality checking machines that my subconscious can run (which seems to be what happened in my dream).  I’ll just trust my subconscious to bring that awaerness to me as needed.

If you’re like me and have problems with “normal” reality checking, give this a go and see what comes out of it for you.  Just go throughout your day trying to move shit with your mind. With enough repetitions of doing this, it should eventually spill over into your dream.