My parents took me to a dream/meditation therapist when I was 8 or so for nightmares. He taught me to lucid dream and it has been a benefit ever since. Except, I just haven't been able to fly like I used to in my teens & twenties. In my forties now, I am lucky if I can get some gliding lift from running on a slope anymore.I used to rise from earth all the way past LEO. Sigh.
What has helped me stimulate higher consciousness is drinking a half cup of coffee right as I go to bed. Caffeine does not amp me out like most, but it does make the dreams more vivid & memorable.
This is entirely hearsay but I've also heard that eating a banana before sleep can stimulate more vivid dreams. I'm going to do some reading tomorrow to see what exactly this is meant to be based on.
Quick search results are lots of claims of eating foods high in tryptophan to raise serotonin with little research results included.
However, the NIH research suggests(which I am more inclined to trust over commercial sites):
Sunlight, happiness, exercise and diet. Fatigue even reduces amino acids that may inhibit absorption of serotonin. As for the diet part:
For me, flying begins with high jumping while controlling my movement in air. I start by jumping 6 feet, then again and achieving 15-20 feet, then eventually over a house. After jumping over the house is when I start to change my lateral velocity while in air, and begin to control my speed of descent as well. Eventually, I jump about 100 feet in the air, start moving sideways at the peak of my jump, and slow down my descent as I get close to the ground, the point where I'm flying directly over the ground at a decent speed.
Once I get there, I have complete control and can fly however I want as fast as I want. I've never been able to hold on for more than a minute or so though before I wake up.
Hahaha, most of my flying is leaping off/out of whatever I'm standing on/in. Usually immediately after I become lucid. Could get interesting if I did psychedelics lol
The only times I've had trouble telling the difference is immediately after waking up. Especially after the false awakening lucid nightmares mentioned below. Turning the lights on and walking around for a minute is enough to dispel any doubt. Dreams are a different reality, and being so familiar with this one its easy to figure out when you're "home"
So, no harm in accidentally trying to fly in reality. Except looking weird.