How to Defuse a Nightmare

Ali Wentworth

Have you ever wished you could control your dreams? Dylan Tuccillo and Jared Zeizel are the authors of "A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming," and they say anyone can do it.

"Lucid dreaming is just a dream in which you realize that you're dreaming," Jared explains. "It's a way to sort of steer your dreams in the direction you want," Dylan adds. "Witness them like you're witnessing this waking life."

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So how do we do it? If there's something you would like to dream about (the guys say the most popular lucid dreams are about flying and sex), practice "dream incubation." When you're falling asleep, keep the image in your mind and say, "I will go back" to this dream, Dylan advises.

It's also possible to practice remembering your dream after it occurs. "Wake up slowly and motionlessly," Jared explains. "Think about what the experience was like, and then when you do get up, quickly grab a dream journal and start writing down anything you remember, even if it's just fragments."

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Everyone knows how real a nightmare can seem, but lucid dreamers are able to recognize a bad dream and defuse it so they can wake up anxiety-free. "One of the best things you can do is ... talk to the nightmare or give the nightmare a hug, and sometimes it will vanish, because then you're taking its fearful power away," Jared says. "Or you can just revert to throwing a fireball at it."

To find out the guys' No. 1 advice for people who are having recurring nightmares, check out this episode of "Daily Shot."