Good lucid supplements for a beginner?

**Jesslet** · 11-27-2014 08:28 PM

Hey guys, I'm fairly new to lucid dreaming but I've been putting in a lot of practice over the past few months so I'd love for some success pretty soon - which is what brought me here.

I'm wondering what some of the more experienced dreamers would recommend for a beginner (if anything?). I've heard that vitamins B6 and B12 can help with vividness (which would be of help as my dreams always seem like they are just bits and pieces, never an entire 'plot'), as well as Galantamine and a few others.

Of the lucid aids, what would you recommend for a beginner? And it would be better if they were easily obtained at a local drug store or something, and dosage/timing advice would be appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

**FriendlyFace** · 11-28-2014 06:23 AM

B vitamins, melatonin/5-htp (I recommend 5-htp in the long term, although melatonin will have more pronounced immediate effects), magnesium, ginkgo biloba, and whatever herbs you can grow that will help you out (there are tons). No screens for 2 hours before bed.

You can get most of those from your local drug store, but ~4 cloves of garlic and/or a proverbial ton of fresh ginger, which is cheap from the supermarket, will also help.

45 minutes of (real) meditation before bed will also help enormously.

Also, if you smoke marijuana, stop smoking marijuana.

**FryingMan** · 11-28-2014 12:16 PM

Hi Jesslet,
I'd actually recommend beginners generally stay away from supplements. Supplements are just that, a little "boost" to an already reasonably-well-established personal LD practice. They in no way replace the core practices of day work and night work. When you mix in the effects of supplements, it can create a tangled picture, clouding the conclusions of what practices are effective for you, and which less effective.

If you've been working for a few months with no results, probably the best place to start with is a complete, detailed description of everything you've done and do on a regular basis. A great place to do that is in the DVA section of these forums, in either the Intro class or the DILD class (I'm a co-teacher in the latter). The DVA teachers are ready to assist you to help you diagnose your practice, and to suggest adjustments and reading material / other resources that can be useful for you. In the early months, a great emphasis should be placed on building solid dream recall habits, and starting to experiment with daytime awareness exercises and nighttime approaches like WBTB and MILD.

That being said: which supplements you try depends on how you sleep and what your overall health and nutrition are like. If you're not deficient in any vitamin or mineral, most vitamin/herb supplements may not make much of a difference.

The supplements that pretty universally produce profound vivid dreams (and lucidity for those with who follow a LD practice routine) are galantamine combined with various forms of choline.

The "bible" for lucid dreaming supplements (describing how they work in the brain and how to take them for maximum dreaming effects) is: "Advanced Lucid Dreaming: The Power of Supplements" by Thomas Yuschak. I recommend every dreaming supplement user read this book first before taking anything.

And remember: always start with single supplements before trying combinations, and with each supplement always start with minimal dosages before building up to higher doses.