Changing the Scene
At some point you will probably want to go to a different place than where you happen to be, from a lucid dreaming perspective going somewhere else or changing the place where you are really aren’t any different.
Any door can lead to a different country, location or even a different world. The most common dream control techniques to take you a different place are similar to the methods described to find a particular object inside a drawer, or particular person inside a room.
Doors
Stand in front of a closed door and take a moment to clearly imagine what is going to be on the other side. If you are walking into a desert, prepare yourself to see vast sandy expanses, to feel the grainy sand filled wind blowing against your face and the warm sun beating down on you. Once you have a clear picture in mind, open the door and step through.
A good trick to improve the effectiveness of this method can be to imagine a corridor between two places, so rather than a single door, you have one to leave the place you are now, and then a second to take you where you want to go. This helps to overcome any perception of incompatibility between the two locations you might have, plus all the while you are walking along the corridor with your destination in mind is time spent building your expectation to find it on the other side of the second door.
Mirrors & Portals
These are alternative options which work on the same principles as above. Portals can be created, using magic, technology or perhaps they already exist at certain places in your dream world. Really the door technique is just a special case of the more general idea of using a portal, it just happens to have a door frame around it.
Mirrors in dreams are interesting objects in their own right. They often do not show an accurate reflection of our physical bodies, many people experience them showing distorted reflections, continually changing what they show or showing no reflection at all. If you step into a mirror to change location you may find the place you end up in isn’t quite as expected, but if you want to go someone random, or are exploring what your subconscious mind is like they are a great option.
Planes / Trains and Automobiles
A very straightforward technique for controlling the location of your dream, is to take a traditional mode of transportation to get there. Walk your dreamself to an airport or train station, look up at the boards to find your chosen destination and get on-board. The different stages in this approach give plenty of time for your expectation to build and reinforce itself, plus we already know that these vehicles take us to a different place so the concept is very well defined in our minds, meaning it is likely to be consistent and effective in almost any dream situation.
Teleportation & Environment Transformation
They might not seem like at it first, but these are actually two sides of the same coin. In both cases the entire surroundings of your dreamself instantaneously change.
Rapidly spinning your body is one of the most popular techniques for achieving this effect. As your spin faster the environment around you starts to blur, then as you slow down you will usually find a brand new place takes form in front of you.
These kind of approaches are the most difficult methods for taking yourself to a new place, as they create massive instability in your dream. This can have the effect of making you lose lucidity or accidently waking yourself up. While it might not be first on your list for dream control techniques to learn, it is definitely useful as it will work even when you find yourself somewhere with no doors or mirrors around.
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