Comment Re:Lucid Dreaming (Score 1) 114
Takes ages to master and what works with one person does not work with the next. So far there is no reason to believe that every person at every stage of life can even learn to dream like that. Plus you need to be able to embrace your dreams, so if you start up with bad nightmares your brain has even less incentive to dwell on those.
Once you do master it, it's a swell way to spend a night. It's not like you have complete control like a movie director but you can nudge it and even avoid themes that you do not want to dream. It's somewhat odd when you notice you are dreaming because you are speaking with dead people and can actively choose to continue the dream.
I learned lucid dreaming by the time I was 18 when it was still: "Don't be ridiculous. You cannot control dreams." and haven't had what felt like a nightmare since. Got burned at the stake for not knowing when to keep my mouth shut the other night and noticed it was totally unreal since my brain could not find a memory of pain strong enough. I can feel pain in dreams so I suppose my memory just links to past experiences. It's like watching a really well done movie - you are experiencing the scene and still deep down you know it is not real without having to vocalize the thought. More intense, of course, but that is the general idea.
What worked for me was trying to remember my dreams as often as possible but even so it took years.