The Mirror Experiment in Real Life

Looking into a mirror is pretty harmless. You might realize you're having a bad hair day or that you've got bags under your eyes. In a real mirror, that's about the worst thing that can happen. But mirrors in dreams are completely different. Something as simple as your reflection can be downright terrifying.

The mirror experiment has been a popular idea for some time now. In fact, it's one of the first things people think about doing inside of a lucid dream. This idea became popular thanks to a wide variety of movies and TV shows. Many stories have given us a glimpse into the way that a dream mirror can go wrong. You might look into the mirror and see someone you don't recognize or something terrifying staring back at you.

But why do dream mirrors create such a strange reaction? Unlike a real mirror, which shows your reflection, a dream mirror displays your unconscious self-image. In other words, it shows you how you view yourself. For some people, that unconscious representation is a total upgrade. You might view yourself as smarter, stronger, and better looking than you actually are. But that's not true for everyone. The majority of people see something completely different from what they were expecting, and that can be weird or even scary.

Now I know it's tempting to find out what your unconscious thinks of you, but stay away from mirrors in your lucid dreams. The mirror experiment seems like a great learning experience on the surface, but it rarely ever turns out the way you expect. So do yourself a favor and steer clear.

Negative Nightmares

When you've entered your dreamscape, all your emotions will get more intense. They'll transform into something sensory and visual. If you're happy, for example, your dream might be filled with things that are positive and uplifting. You'll run into your favorite people, walk through your favorite places, and you might even eat your favorite foods.

But what happens if you begin a lucid dream feeling negative? Just like any positive emotion changes your dream, negative emotions have the same effect. In other words, if you're stressed out, your dreamscape might become a nightmare. Negative emotions like fear, anger, and anxiety are the most problematic, and they can completely ruin a lucid dream.

They not only hurt the quality of your sleep, but these emotions also surround you with things that scare you or stress you out. Remember that your brain is amplifying all of your emotions, so any little bit of anger is going to take over your dream. So before you lucid dream, just make sure you're in a positive state of mind. If you find yourself stuck in a rut, do something to lift your spirits. You might enjoy your favorite hobby or set aside some time for peaceful meditation. Anything works as long as it puts you in a better mood before you fall asleep, so that way your next lucid dream won't spiral into a nightmare.

Flying Right Away

Flying may be the part of lucid dreaming that you're looking forward to the most. For most people, it is number one on the checklist. But I got a bit of bad news for you. Even in a lucid dream, flying isn't always easy.

Here's the problem: your brain knows that you can't fly. You may be in the middle of a lucid dream, but your brain still relies on some basic instincts. For example, if someone throws a ball at you, you'll expect it to hit you, right? It's just basic physics. A ball in motion stays in motion until it strikes another object—in this case, you. Your brain has this memorized at a very basic level, so deep down, it knows how the world works.

So even in a dream, the laws of physics might still apply. But when you're trying to fly, physics is your enemy because, as a human being, you shouldn't be flying—you should be falling. The moment your brain realizes what should be happening, you might start plummeting toward the ground. A bad fall in a lucid dream can be a jarring experience, so much so that you get scared of falling again, and that just makes you less motivated to lucid dream in the future.

So just don't make the mistake of trying to fly too soon. I know it sounds amazing to take off like a rocket and soar among the clouds, and you will someday. Most experienced lucid dreamers do fly on a regular basis, but it does take practice. Your brain has to get used to those major differences between dreams and reality. At first, you might practice by bending the laws of physics in different, smaller ways. You could pass your hand through the side of a building or simply move your own dream body around the world. Eventually, your brain will realize that dream physics don't work the same way as real physics, and once that happens, you can start flying without risking a bad fall.

Replacing Reality

Many people revisit real places in their dreams. They transport themselves to their school or to their office, and they surround themselves with people they interact with on a daily basis. Since you're in a dream, it's fun to bend the rules in your usual stomping grounds. But bending reality comes with a price.

If you revisit a real place, your brain will retain that memory. In the future, whenever you think about your office, you'll remember normal memories like sitting at your desk and talking with your co-workers. But you might also remember dream memories like riding an elephant through your hallway, and that leaves your brain totally confused. It'll struggle to separate real memories from fake ones, and sooner or later, you'll be asking yourself, "Did that memory really happen, or was it just part of a dream?"

Luckily, there's an easy way to make sure these fake memories don't infiltrate your brain. Instead of copying reality, just try to differentiate your dream world from your real world. That way, any time you think back on a memory, you'll know whether or not it actually happened.

Wander Aimlessly

Consistent lucid dreams aren't something you have by accident; they're intentional. They're something you have to be conscious of, and it works the same way inside your dreams. If you just sit back and watch your dreams unfold, nothing's gonna happen. You're going to feel disappointed, and you probably won't lucid dream again.

The key to good lucid dreams is a powerful imagination. You have to be thinking about new ideas, creating new objects, and envisioning new environments every time you dream. Of course, that kind of imagination takes time to develop, but you'll never get there if you're just wandering around aimlessly.

If that's all you do, your lucid dreams won't get better. You're going to be stuck with short, empty dreams, and you'll wonder why you can't have those amazing, immersive environments that you hear other people talking about. Most of the time, empty dreams come from one bad habit, and that's not using your dream time wisely. So just make sure you're being intentional in your dreams. Challenge yourself to create and reinvent because the more you work on your imagination, the more fulfilling your lucid dreams will be.

Stable Spinning

Do you get so excited about lucid dreaming that you wake yourself up? If you do, you might have tried a few different stabilization techniques. Stabilization techniques are designed to keep you calm, aware, and clear-headed inside your lucid dream. A couple of popular examples are reality checks or staring at your hands, both of which help your conscious mind to stay in control.

But one stabilization technique ruins more dreams than any other, especially for new dreamers. This technique is called spinning, and that's really all it is. You stand in one place and you spin in circles. You're probably wondering how does spinning help you stay in a lucid dream. Much like touching your hands, spinning is a way to connect your brain to your physical body. That connection should stimulate your consciousness, which keeps you awake and aware inside your dream.

But spinning tends to do more damage than anything else. Even experienced dreamers find that spinning ruins their dreamscape. Imagine your brain is putting together a dream environment. Your next goal is to stabilize or enhance that environment, right? But instead of helping you discover more details, spinning is going to destabilize your environment, and that just puts you in a really tough position. If you can't quickly imagine something new, then you'll end up falling right out of your dream. So if you're new to lucid dreaming, you might want to try something simpler; otherwise, you might spin away your own dream world.

Closing Your Eyes

One thing ends a lucid dream faster than anything on this list, and that's closing your eyes. If you intentionally close your eyes during a lucid dream, you'll wake up almost instantly. It's just that simple. You might have created an elaborate fantasy world; you might be in the middle of an amazing experience, but the best lucid dreams can disappear in the blink of an eye—literally. So avoid intentionally closing your eyes during a lucid dream.

If it's unintentional, then don't worry about it. For example, even though you're in a dream world, your eyes might still blink automatically. This rarely has any effect on your lucid dream, but closing your eyes is a different story. As soon as those eyelids shut, your dream will almost always be over.

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