Thread: Stabilization Techniques?

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There are so many different techniques and basically it's up to you to see what you like most/ what works best. I usually start my LDs by rubbing my hands and paying close attention to what it feels like (this works amazingly well without much effort! ). In my last LD for instance I was sitting on the floor of a shop and I paid very close attention to the texture and structure of the PVC floor with its different stripes and its cold, rubbery feeling. Basically paying close attention to any sensation whatsoever will help greatly!

I touch everything and as benni said, pay attention to the feelings.

To effectively stabilize, you need to stimulate one of your senses. One of the most effective senses, and also the easiest one to stimulate in a dream, has to be touch. Touch objects, but don't just touch them - feel the texture, really open up your sense of touch and analyze the object.

Other senses work just as well - you just need to stimulate them. If you can, try to get two senses working - the more the merrier.

The first thing I do, is eat something. The sense of taste if extremely powerful to me, because we don't use it as often as the other senses. A pit fall is to engage senses in a panic, hoping that the dream will stabilize. You have to just be calm and aware of the feelings. Of course, everything takes practice. Meditation in waking life helps too.

Same as everybody had already said, touch something and concentrate on the feeeling.

I feel that the stabilization rule is only a thing because we believe it to be so. Why should the dream become "unstable" simply because we've become lucid, other than the fact that we expect it to be as such? We don't have to stabilize our non-lucids to stay in them.

Of course, in the same way, stabilization techniques work because we are taught that they will indeed make the dream more stable. It's like a double-edged placebo effect.

Originally Posted by LolaTheLoner

I feel that the stabilization rule is only a thing because we believe it to be so. Why should the dream become "unstable" simply because we've become lucid, other than the fact that we expect it to be as such? We don't have to stabilize our non-lucids to stay in them.

Of course, in the same way, stabilization techniques work because we are taught that they will indeed make the dream more stable. It's like a double-edged placebo effect.

Exactly, like last night I had my second lucid dream which lasted for an hour and I completely forgot to do any stabilisation, yet i was still in the dream and still lucid.

I'm quite bad at stabilising my dreams (because I simply forget to do it) but hand-rubbing has worked for me very well in the past. Next LD I will remember to stabilise! =D

Which seems to be a pattern in this thread. Good luck! =]

Originally Posted by LolaTheLoner

I feel that the stabilization rule is only a thing because we believe it to be so. Why should the dream become "unstable" simply because we've become lucid, other than the fact that we expect it to be as such? We don't have to stabilize our non-lucids to stay in them.

Of course, in the same way, stabilization techniques work because we are taught that they will indeed make the dream more stable. It's like a double-edged placebo effect.

I had initial instability in my lucid dreams before reading about it anywhere. In retrospect I think it was caused by overexcitement at becoming lucid.

Instability (in my experience) is caused by becoming aware of the physical body. By focusing on things in the dream, you shift your consciousness away from your physical body and onto the dreaming world. It isn't an imaginary thing, although I can imagine that it would be possible to think oneself into instability due to the expectation of it.

You don't have to stabilize your NLDs because you aren't aware that you're dreaming, so you think you only exist in the dream world.

Originally Posted by Sibyline

I had initial instability in my lucid dreams before reading about it anywhere. In retrospect I think it was caused by overexcitement at becoming lucid.

Instability (in my experience) is caused by becoming aware of the physical body. By focusing on things in the dream, you shift your consciousness away from your physical body and onto the dreaming world. It isn't an imaginary thing, although I can imagine that it would be possible to think oneself into instability due to the expectation of it.

You don't have to stabilize your NLDs because you aren't aware that you're dreaming, so you think you only exist in the dream world.

Yes, I agree with this. I do not obsess in my LDs about waking up, yet my longest LD to date is about 5 minutes. I have goals and plans and I'm confidently focused only on those and the dream environment, yet I start working on them then *poof* all of a sudden I'm fading to awake in bed, going "aw, dang, wasn't ready for that to end." I think (and sivason mentions this as well) in the beginning many LDers only get lucid when being really really close to waking up. This means early LDs dreams may tend to have a sort of time-limit on them that no amount of stabilization can help. Now this is generalizing of course, and I have also experienced on a few occasions things like postponing a fade to grey by spinning (but only for a few more seconds and it didn't work the second time), and saving lucidity (but not the dream necessarily) by doing an RC.

I tend to think that even working within this "time limit" the dream can be extended by those who are good at focusing on the dream body and the dream environment. In one LD I faded quickly from what felt to be a rock-solid stable lucid dream to waking when I started to perform a behind-the-back summon of a DC, and in retrospect I think my attention shifted inwards away from the dream environment and to the goal I wanted to perform, and that brought my awareness back to my sleeping body.

I have resolved to remember in the future to maintain touch and visual engagement with the dream body / dream scene while performing dream control tasks, I hope that will help!

My first couple ones being an adult were soo stable - years ago - and now I do have problems.
But I also think, it is not purely imaginary.
Need to experiment further - enjoyed reading and looking forward to further insights!

What has worked for me (when I remember to stabilize) initially was looking at my hands in detail, every hair, crease and imperfection.

I have been working lately on using the environment more and more. Touching and just interacting with the environment. I have also tried verbal commands such as shouting "focus" in your dream.

One thing that really destabilizes my dreams and kicks me out quick is what others have said on here, thinking about dreaming, your dream body and what to do next. Thinking about waking life always makes me spiral out. Also over excitement tends to do it. It seems when I am constantly on the move without thinking about it too in depth are when I manage to remain lucid the longest.

Yes I tend to "stand in place" for dream control like summoning and that's when I have woken the most. In fact I don't remember ever losing a dream when "on the move". By life-long habit when walking we're focused on our surroundings (e.g., to detect and avoid obstacles). Maintaining an "on the move" mentality even while standing still in the dream is probably very important!

Note to self: in next LD: stay on the move, no matter what: while summoning, thinking about goals, just keep walking and don't stop, and see how long the dream can be maintained! Yet don't form the idea that "the dream will end if I stop", want to avoid that absolutely.

On "what to do next" I've read that having concrete, short-term goals aids stabilization, like "see what's around that next corner". But I woke up once while in the middle of forming just such a short-term goal list. However, I was standing still at the time (and engaged in a female encounter).

I have had the impression several times now - if I concentrate on touch of my dream-body - I come back in contact with the real one - like last night.
Patting myself down and trying to full-body-contact a wall.
Somehow this tends to excite me in not helpful ways as well - very low threshold there, when lucid..redface.gif
Next LD will be walking about and only looking at stuff - maybe vocalizing something on top - or even start singing it.

Originally Posted by StephL

I have had the impression several times now - if I concentrate on touch of my dream-body - I come back in contact with the real one - like last night.
Patting myself down and trying to full-body-contact a wall.
Somehow this tends to excite me in not helpful ways as well - very low threshold there, when lucid..redface.gif
Next LD will be walking about and only looking at stuff - maybe vocalizing something on top - or even start singing it.

Hmm. I find pretty much the opposite: the pat-down brings me more into the dream -- instead of just a floating head, I have a whole body there. The times I've done it I've felt very well-grounded in the dream. Any sort of dream body (looking at hands, stomping feet) seems to establish me very well in the dream scene. You could try stomping your feet or doing a silly little dance where you quickly pick up alternate knees if the other stuff is too, uh, stimulating . Part of this process though is finding what works for you.

Really really looking though is amazing and I think helps as well. Running your hands over things while looking, too.

Next for me in addition to really looking and touching is setting mini goals and seeing how far for how long I can hold the dream. "What's over there...."

Originally Posted by WhiteWind

The first thing I do, is eat something. The sense of taste if extremely powerful to me, because we don't use it as often as the other senses.

I have just started adding taste to my visualization exercises. In my next LD I plan on having a dream candy cane in my dream back pocket so I can just take it out and keep it in my mouth to continuously taste it. This serves 2 purposes, 1. to help stabilize my dream and 2. So I can eat consequence free candy (which I avoid in RL)

Originally Posted by FryingMan

Hmm. I find pretty much the opposite: the pat-down brings me more into the dream -- instead of just a floating head, I have a whole body there. The times I've done it I've felt very well-grounded in the dream. Any sort of dream body (looking at hands, stomping feet) seems to establish me very well in the dream scene. You could try stomping your feet or doing a silly little dance where you quickly pick up alternate knees if the other stuff is too, uh, stimulating . Part of this process though is finding what works for you.

Really really looking though is amazing and I think helps as well. Running your hands over things while looking, too.

Next for me in addition to really looking and touching is setting mini goals and seeing how far for how long I can hold the dream. "What's over there...."

Doing a little dance sounds actually fantastic to me - it involves the whole body and you could add singing to it.
These are things, your body cannot do, your real one - while feel it maybe starts to do?
Maybe not for starters, but in between?

I will walk about and look at things around me for starters, I hope - maybe intermittently my hands..
Too much dream-body touch draws me back, intuitively .

Originally Posted by Tygar

I have just started adding taste to my visualization exercises. In my next LD I plan on having a dream candy cane in my dream back pocket so I can just take it out and keep it in my mouth to continuously taste it. This serves 2 purposes, 1. to help stabilize my dream and 2. So I can eat consequence free candy (which I avoid in RL)

Hahahaa - guiltless indulgence of sweets!!
Now that is something I should have known about as a teenager!!
I can pretty much eat what I want these days - or I want, what I can eat, don't know.





One main point should be avoiding the panic to do this and that at once, to not loose the dream - which then makes you loose it. Maybe I underestimate that factor.

Originally Posted by StephL

One main point should be avoiding the panic to do this and that at once, to not loose the dream - which then makes you loose it. Maybe I underestimate that factor.

Us advanced beginners (low intermediates?) have a conundrum: we don't have the frequency or the skills at all the LD styles yet to be able to successfully "not care" if a dream ends or not, thus tending to hasten the end of the dream: catch-22. The BrandonBoss's and his peers are good enough at LDing to be able to reliably DEILD back in (in a long chain), or just do another WILD or catch another DILD later in the night. Thus they don't have so much of a hidden fear of the dream ending, and thus their dreams tend to be longer!

Some LDs come already stable (relatively few in my experience so far), most come a bit "dizzy" that require immediate stabilization / engagement, which works wonders. Just a hand-rub for a short while is enough for things to settle down, get into the dream, and to get to the more solid stabilization techs we're talking about. Hand-rub / nose pinch is a great way to start.

Steph, I think I know a technique which can help you. Try thinking of your dream body as a second body on top of the physical one. Use that image to perform dancing and voices that you aren't able to produce in ur own limited physical body. You can try seperating immediately from the waking and go into a dream OBE-style. Or transform the dream body into something completely unrecognizable from ur original waking body. This way you won't associate it with ur waking life. Which (perhaps) is the primary cause for waking up from what I understand you are saying in ur posts. Good luck.

You can obviously see that my method includes disassociation with ur waking body. It is purely a mental contruct to remove your mental link of placing consciousness in the body. Which i suspect is the cause for ur awakenings that are contrary to what most people experience when they focus on sensory experience.

(ofc.... I must confess i suspected that placing ur consciousness in the dream environment would remove the obstacle of assocation with waking bodies. But that is perhaps a deeper seed of awareness that has potential for disassociation..)

Wow, what a mouthful. Good luck , once again. Cheers.