is flying easy?

My understanding is that what happens in a lucid dream is mostly dependent on your expectations — that is, what you believe will happen.

In other words, if you think you’ll fly when you try to, it’ll be more likely that you actually will. Likewise, if you think a terrifying monster will be hiding under your bed, when you look, there probably will be.

Learning to use your expectations properly is also commonly reported as a good method to alter the dream environment and perform such tasks as summoning objects/people. For example, if you want to talk to a friend, tell yourself that they’re behind you, and when you turn around, it’s probable that you will see them. For me, summoning objects works best using a similar technique; I simply reach for the object behind me or out of my field of vision and expect to grab onto what I’m looking for.

Agreeing with Onerionaut, everything that you expect to happen in a lucid dream, will happen. With few exceptions, I have been able to summon people by telling myself that I will find them in a room or around a corner. I have also been able to summon objects.

I have not been able to fly very well, usually I wind up hovering at about ten to fifteen meters above the ground, with the ability to “coast” around at a fixed height. Once, and only once, I jumped out of a window in a skyscraper and flew above the clouds. That was only once, unfortunately. It was massively enjoyable for me, and I hope to one day try it again.

To give anecdotal advice:
Flying was the absolute first thing I did in my first LD. I mean that extremely literally actually. Upon realizing it was a dream, I was so excited that I jumped into the air and flew several hundred yards out over ocean waters. I simply didn’t even think twice about it. It came as easily as running (in real life, we all know running in a dream can get wonky :tongue: )
So the moral is to just go for it. It REALLY is that easy.

In my case, it wasn’t that I expected to fly, per se, but more that I simply had no doubts that I could. That’s how I fly normally now. I jump out a window or off a ledge knowing that there’s no way I’ll fail.

Going to have to go with Oneironaut here, expectation is everything in dreams.
However, I tend to have a problem with flying…and all dream control aspects, but flying in particular. It’s been an uphill climb to do anything (aside from teleportation/landscape changes, which come fairly naturally to me for whatever reason), and whenever I succeed in something I failed in, it’s exhilarating. This is especially the case in flying, I’ve tried it so, so many times, mostly to fail. I’ll get part of the way there, swooping, making large bounding leaps, but I’ve only really succeeded once or twice. I did once, where it was true flight, which was great, and another, more interesting method. I started spinning to stabilize the dream, and took off. I raced upwards vertically, still spinning, and I ended up stalling a little towards the upper atmosphere and then waking up. Either way, it was great, and having to work for it and finally doing it made it that much sweeter.

I, for one, find it difficult. However, I have been able to glide over large distances. You might try try spinning around and imagining a skyscraper or mountain to jump off.

Even short flights can be exhilarating, good luck. :wink:

Lately I have been pondering about the possibility that people who find it very hard to fly in dreams are scared of heights.

Please tell me if you find it easy but you are also scared of heights/falling down.

Most people that ask me how to fly and say that they find it hard it’s because they fall down as soon as they try to start flying.

Maybe it would be a good idea to face this fear.

In the end its only as hard as you make it.
I’ve been a lucid dreaming well over half my lifetime and still have a little trouble with flight from time to time. Sad but true…
:om:

It’s hard for me to fly in dreams, and I’m scared of heights, so, there might be something behind that, tggtt.

I don’t find it easy at all. The only time I flied in a dream was unvolontary, and not lucid.
The thing is I cannot just lift of the ground, even in LDs. I think it doesn’t make sense for my brain.
Next time, I want to try skydiving to start flying, it might be more effective.

Ima free spirit so i just jump out the window

Well, I’ve never tried to fly in a lucid dream, (because I’ve only had one and it only lasted a few seconds) and I’m not sure if this counts, but I have flown effortlessly several times in normal dreams. And I’m afraid of falling.

Thank you very much LotusFlowerBomb and Doubt.

That wasn’t a hypothesis that I was expecting to be real, but there’s no counterexample yet.

In NDs we may be absent minded and do crazy things without pondering about them.
And also, we may feel powerful and without any fear in some dreams, so there could be counterexamples to my thought.

Well I do have mixed feeling about height and falling.

When it comes to flying in dreams I have no problems at all. I can fly however I want. Even the earliest dreams that I do remember is about flying. I’ve always loved it and I almost always fly in my lucid dreams.

But there is another part of the story. In waking life I have a plan to skydive and such things to do as much I will be able. Of course I do have some healthy fear, I guess. Tall buildings never caused any problem and neither sitting on the edge of them didn’t made me feel fear. Here’s the significant: BUT in non lucid dreams I would from time to time dream that I am climbing a mountain or a ladder and magically the mountain or the ladder would tilt clockwise and I would be hanging only on my hands holding barely, causing me to feel panic, fear of falling which I don’t really like.

But in lucid dreams I can’t feel, or at least I didn’t felt greater freedom then when I’m flying… :content:

Flying for me has become easy. I got a little bored of it, because I could not fly as fast, and as high as I wanted (moving upwards seemed to be a problem for me). and I did it in almost every LD. I experimented with a few different ways of flying, to see if they could solve my issues, and make flying fun for me again.

Recently I learned how to grow wings and now I fly with them all the time. I don’t rely on them totally for flying, but I use them as sort of an add-on, to help control it a little better. Moving upwards definitely isn’t a problem anymore. :smile: As for fun? YES!

It was easy for me right from the first LD. In fact I spontaneously started flying and then
realized that it is LD as you cannot fly in RL.

Flying is as easy as simply thinking, “i think i’ll fly right now”.

And fun? Ohhhhhh yeah!

When I can’t fly I just jump off a large building or cliff. I use the momentum I gain downwards and redirect it.

Like I said earlier, perhaps people who find it hard to fly are also scared of heights.
I don’t think that someone who is scared of heights would like to try your technique, still, thanks for the suggestion.

This is actually how I do my pseudo-flying in dreams. Despite my fear of heights, I have no problem with them in dreams. It doesn’t end up well, usually (me clumsily swooping around and staying low), but it works. Ironically enough, the one time I was scared of heights in a dream was in an ND where I could fly, which did hamper my ability to fly, which is probably relevant to the discussion.

NO. Flying is too easy for me, in fact I have the difficulty of keeping grounded…
So perhaps, as strange as it seems, you guys who have difficulty in flying, may in fact be more grounded in real life, which is a good thing really. And I’m envious of that.

There is some truth to the fact that I fly by the seat of my pants, literally. I think it really carries over to the dream state too.