I always feel obligated to post a contrarian point, since I think only people who A: succeed at training and B: have a great experience actually post, whereas all those who don't succeed or have a "meh" experience don't actually post, and these people may be the majority.
I naturally LD with some frequency, especially if the room is a bit too cold. In that case, I'll LD for days in a row at a time, and, well, here's a hint: my reaction is to go turn up the heat.
I think what people are reporting is like riding a roller coaster. It's great fun the first time, and still fun occasionally, but reading about LD being a "life changing experience" is like reading about riding a roller coaster being a life changing experience. Maybe it feels like it the first time, but... no, it really isn't. Well, I will concede that there probably is a small set of people for whom it might be important for some psychological reasons, but in general I doubt it. (Same is true for roller coasters, someone who is afraid of them may see it as a big deal that they got over their fear, but in general, it's not a lifechanger.)
On the other hand, I have to admit that I am also fairly creative and do have a strong sense of self, so perhaps I'm just jaded.
I really doubt it's useful for training though. The brain naturally "practices" (some think that's what dreaming is), and I think all the LD experience is doing is observing stuff that happens anyhow; I doubt the observation actually adds that much.
(Oh, and if you do have problems with recurring nightmares, LD is definitely worth pursuing. In my experience, the best approach once you know you are dreaming is to just let the scary thing happen; if you're scared of heights, fall, if you're chased by the monster, let it eat you, etc. Nothing bad can happen, and eventually your brain will work it out. My dreams are routinely filled with imagery that could be scary in the "wrong context" now, but it's never a problem anymore.)
I can see your point, but training is very important at the mind level. Many athletes use it when they can't physically train.
Anyway, I don't have the data but I guess 80% of results are still from physical training, although adding that 20% for free wouldn't be bad. I'm going to try it.
Comments
I always feel obligated to post a contrarian point, since I think only people who A: succeed at training and B: have a great experience actually post, whereas all those who don't succeed or have a "meh" experience don't actually post, and these people may be the majority.
I naturally LD with some frequency, especially if the room is a bit too cold. In that case, I'll LD for days in a row at a time, and, well, here's a hint: my reaction is to go turn up the heat.
I think what people are reporting is like riding a roller coaster. It's great fun the first time, and still fun occasionally, but reading about LD being a "life changing experience" is like reading about riding a roller coaster being a life changing experience. Maybe it feels like it the first time, but... no, it really isn't. Well, I will concede that there probably is a small set of people for whom it might be important for some psychological reasons, but in general I doubt it. (Same is true for roller coasters, someone who is afraid of them may see it as a big deal that they got over their fear, but in general, it's not a lifechanger.)
On the other hand, I have to admit that I am also fairly creative and do have a strong sense of self, so perhaps I'm just jaded.
I really doubt it's useful for training though. The brain naturally "practices" (some think that's what dreaming is), and I think all the LD experience is doing is observing stuff that happens anyhow; I doubt the observation actually adds that much.
(Oh, and if you do have problems with recurring nightmares, LD is definitely worth pursuing. In my experience, the best approach once you know you are dreaming is to just let the scary thing happen; if you're scared of heights, fall, if you're chased by the monster, let it eat you, etc. Nothing bad can happen, and eventually your brain will work it out. My dreams are routinely filled with imagery that could be scary in the "wrong context" now, but it's never a problem anymore.)
I can see your point, but training is very important at the mind level. Many athletes use it when they can't physically train.
Anyway, I don't have the data but I guess 80% of results are still from physical training, although adding that 20% for free wouldn't be bad. I'm going to try it.