How do you stay focused on lucid dreaming?

[ToukieToucan]

So I've had periods where I was close to a big lucid dream and periods where I just dont have the interest or focus for lucid dreaming (mostly each unfocused period is around 2-4 weeks and picks up again after that.). Are there any helpful tips to stay focused and interested on lucid dreaming?

[ParanoidLlama]

I can really relate to you. Even now, I'm not really dream journaling very well. But of course, there are ways to help this. The only thing to do is to have faith. But faith can be a difficult thing to hold on to, because it involves believing in something that you can't be completely sure will happen. If you're unsure that a good lucid dream will come through DILD, then try to have a good lucid dream from WILD. Unlike DILD, WILD has a 100% of success if you do everything right. If you get a taste of a good lucid dream once, it might motivate you to continue DILD practices so you'll be able to regularly have them. Another option is reading the dream journals from experienced lucid dreamers on the forums. I always get fired up inside when reading those amazing LDs >.<. No one will make you consistently practice for lucid dreams. There are things that can encourage you to do so, but the only one who can definitely make you practice it is you. If you're still in doubt, think about this: You spend about a third of your life asleep. Why should you continue to be unconscious while sleeping?

[robertcox88]

Just do WBTB's and DJ. It's not even a matter of staying focused... it's just a cause and effect thing. I WBTB often so I lucid dream... I dream and I journal. The reward is Lucid dreaming. If you don't do those things, then you probably won't LD... that the motivation right there. Of course that's my experience, but it seems to be a common one. I'm not planning on WBTB tonight... therefore I'm assuming I won't have a Lucid. Can I have one? Sure I don't need to WBTB to lucid... but the chances increase like 10X if I do WBTB. You can try different things and see what works for you. If LDing isn't motivating enough, then I don't know how you are really supposed to keep the motivation going because that's the whole goal isn't it?

[Gr8God]

You're not doing yourself justice by doing one technique for 1 weeks then switching to another because you didn't see any results, it's a lifestyle to continually perfect lucid dreaming. But if you want to know what keeps me focused or better word "motivated" it would be the thought that tonight I will have a lucid dream and it will be well worth the concentration, practice and focus put in to make it happen.

[JShadow]

I highly recommend waking up after 5 hours of sleep and taking 6mg galantamine and 300 mg choline, staying up for 45 min to an hour, then going back to bed either for a WILD or MILD. You'll likely have multiple LDs that night.

[ryzaack]

If you get a taste of a good lucid dream once, it might motivate you to continue DILD practices so you'll be able to regularly have them. This is so true. I got a taste of what a lucid dream feels like about a week ago. Ever since I meditate and try to WILD whenever I have free time. I get off work at 5PM, and by 5:30PM I'm usually in my bed already relaxing and preparing to taste more. In the past, I used to 'practice' once or twice PER MONTH, simply didn't have motivation and was always like "I'll do it tomorrow" - like it was an obligation. Now, I can't wait to get home to start...

[martakartus]

We've all been through this really. I have the biggest swings in motivation and it's mainly because I know no one in person who's interested in the matter. It'd help me a lot to be able to talk about this to someone in person regularly, but that's not happening right now, so I hold on to something else. I hold on to the fact that this makes me feel special, like I can add something to my life that most people don't appreciate. It may sound silly, but that right there is my main motivation. Just keep at it and try not to slack too much for too long, just think that the future 'you' will probably be thankful if you take advantage of your time. This has happened to me. I've found myself slacking for months at a time, then out of nowhere I get motivated again and I am upset with myself for having "wasted" those months. I hope all of this doesn't sound like a lot of crap

[FryingMan]

Just keep at it and try not to slack too much for too long, just think that the future 'you' will probably be thankful if you take advantage of your time. This has happened to me. I've found myself slacking for months at a time, then out of nowhere I get motivated again and I am upset with myself for having "wasted" those months. I hope all of this doesn't sound like a lot of crap This is probably the biggest one for me. I'm older than the average forum member, so I have less time to waste. I have little trouble avoiding "breaks." I will dial down the intensity of day work depending on life situations, but never to zero. The time will pass anyway, wouldn't you rather have it pass by buiding your dreaming abilities higher and higher every day? Once you establish a mindful lifestyle you don't feel like going back to zombie-mode. It can take months to really get it going but once you're there dreaming of all sorts will really take off.

[Zoth]

We've all been through this really. I have the biggest swings in motivation and it's mainly because I know no one in person who's interested in the matter. It'd help me a lot to be able to talk about this to someone in person regularly, but that's not happening right now, so I hold on to something else. I hold on to the fact that this makes me feel special, like I can add something to my life that most people don't appreciate. Two events that derailed lucid dreaming research: - Mr. Freud didn't get a copy of a famous lucid dreaming book at the time. - Money got diverted to sleep disorder research. I seriously believe that if the above 2 situations weren't the case, we'd be nowadays dealing with a deep integration of lucid dreaming in our culture, especially when you consider that our main issue about it is the fact that we seriously lack research on the matter. You can literally count through your fingers the amount of relevant papers published each year. Now, if lucid dreaming was some kind of VR videogame, sales would go through the roof....but the idea that people have of dreams (fleeting memories of random occurrences) greatly undermines the value they give when people like us try to explain them the kind of experience they're missing. We're just ahead of our time! Else like you said motivation would be an easier thing to come, as loads of people like us would be practicing lucid dreaming (or who knows, we'd be in a kind of EILD state of things ). PS: beautiful reply FryingMan ^^

[robertcox88]

I find it hard to do WBTB now that I have been having Lucids without them. I don't have them that often, maybe once or twice a week, but WBTB just isn't enjoyable at all. I'd have a lot more Lucids if I did them... but it's just not worth it. If I had LD people around me and we motivated each other it would be different... Sounds weak to me, but it's the truth.

[ryzaack]

My personal update: Been experiencing SP so much lately that I've gotten supper confused of what it actually is, is SP lucid dreaming, or are we literally awake just unable to move our bodies? There are many opinions on this matter. I know the body-lock-part is natural but I want an answer for the awareness part? Was I really looking around my room last night, when it hit me at 3am, unable to move, or was that a lucid dream and my eyes were actually closed? If it's a dream, it's so realistic that I now find lucid dreaming a bit... not scary but, startling... If someone could give me a clue about all this I'd be really grateful. -ryzaack

[TravisE]

My personal update: Been experiencing SP so much lately that I've gotten supper confused of what it actually is, is SP lucid dreaming, or are we literally awake just unable to move our bodies? There are many opinions on this matter. I know the body-lock-part is natural but I want an answer for the awareness part? Was I really looking around my room last night, when it hit me at 3am, unable to move, or was that a lucid dream and my eyes were actually closed? If it's a dream, it's so realistic that I now find lucid dreaming a bit... not scary but, startling... If someone could give me a clue about all this I'd be really grateful. It can be either, or even both! It's possible to be awake but briefly in REM atonia (i.e., paralyzed), but it's also possible for dreams to realistically simulate the episodes once you've experienced them. And to add to the confusion, it's not uncommon to have hypnagogic hallucinations during actual episodes, such that you can literally be seeing your real room from your real eyes, but with dream imagery overlaid onto it.

[ryzaack]

It can be either, or even both! It's possible to be awake but briefly in REM atonia (i.e., paralyzed), but it's also possible for dreams to realistically simulate the episodes once you've experienced them. And to add to the confusion, it's not uncommon to have hypnagogic hallucinations during actual episodes, such that you can literally be seeing your real room from your real eyes, but with dream imagery overlaid onto it. Hey Travis. Thank you for taking the time to reply to my questions! Some time ago I totally thought that when SP hits me that I'm awake just experiencing the paralysis, and when the paranoia feeling starts to increase I do my best to wake up and I do. Dozens of times I experienced that. But lately - the hallucinations started coming in, I open my eyes during SP, I see paranormal stuff happening in my room, I hear VERY STRONG sounds, like music, or chatter, radio-like signals etc - I now believe these were lucid dreams, since I'm pretty sure my bed sheets didn't fly up in the air by themselves. - the part where you explained 'dream imagery overlaid onto it'. Please read the last post in THIS THREAD, where I explain what just happened to me 20 minutes ago.