Thread: Help!

Originally Posted by Catcat123

I would love to be lucid in my dreams, but I can't ever get to sleep on time. . Last night I tried to sleep at 8:30, but I didn't fall asleep 'till 11:30! I know I need practice becoming lucid and doing reality checks in my dreams, but what will I do if I only get two dreams per night? Help, please?

It's hard to ascertain what the problem is seeing as your post is quite vague. Do you have trouble falling asleep or merely getting to bed at a decent hour? And as to your concern about getting two dreams, you dream throughout your REM cycles so the number of dreams you have on a nightly basis are many, it's remembering those dreams which can be a task in itself. Dream journal's are a great way to kickstart an aspiring LD'er waking dream recall. In addition to that, when you immediately wake up...don't move, just lie there and pull as many memories from the dream(s) you just had. Once you have enough sufficient memories about those dreams, get up and immediately write/type out what you can recall from your dreams. If you'd like to start a dream journal online, we have an online dream journal here at Dream Views that you can personalize and make your own. Hope this helps. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Trouble falling sleep or getting into bed? Sometimes it's both, sometimes just the first, and sometimes it's both because of the first.

I get into bed and I relax all my muscles and try to calm my breathing, and I twiddle my thumbs, and I count sheep, and everything but I'm never tired enough to aactually fall asleep. When I get almost to the point of sleep I get excited that I'm almost asleep, and I wake up again.
Sometimes I'm simply restless and I get up and walk around to get rid of some energy, or I wait for it it wear off. Usually, though, I prop myself up on my elbow and read until my eyes are watering.
And still other times I just can't fall asleep and I get so frustrated that I cry and pound my pillow and I hit my forehead and everything, and sometimes I just give up tyring to fall asleep and I sneak upstairs to watch TV or something of the sort.

I have a real problem! My whole family can fall asleep in five minutes, but since two years ago, probably, it's been taking me about an hour or two. What I really need is a way to fix my problem, not an essay about why I have it. Any suggestions?

Try slowing your breaths down (this will slown your heartbeat down, making you drowsy) in addition to lying as still as possible in bed. Shouldn't take you long to fall asleep if you're doing these two things. Movement period will keep you awake. Also don't focus on falling asleep...try focusing on your breaths, your heartbeat or even try thinking of illogical thoughts or bursts of light behind your eyelids. It's been my experience that focusing on these things tend to speed up the transition into sleep.

Thank you, I'll try it tonight!