What am I doing wrong?

**Ndm** · 05-09-2011 03:04 AM

Hey guys. Well, first of all, I'd like to thank you for dedicating some of your time on me.

Okay so here is my problem. I started trying to lucid dream like in December 2010. At that time, I was in vacations. I had my first lucid dream (short, but it was a lucid dream) 4 days after I started trying. Had a good recall (about 2 dreams per night without even trying). Yes, it was amazing.

As I entered school, I stopped having lucid dreams (and dreams in general, I had a horrible dream recall). I decided to make a dream journal, on my iPod touch. I improved my recall I suppose, now I normally either remember 2 dreams or a really long vivid one. Sometimes, I don't really know why, I can recall over 5. Well, the point is that I think I've had like 4 lucid dreams in 3 months. Which is quite frustrating. I do over 60 reality checks a day (yes, I count them with my watch. My reality check is looking at my hands, it only failed once). I think about lucid dreaming quite alot, and I'm really excited to finally be able to control my dreams regularly.

All my past LD's have been DILD's, one of them an accidental WBTB. I've tried WILD lots of times, but I can only get to feeling like I'm 'spinning', then I get stuck there.

I tried WBTB'ing for over a week, really decided to have lucid dreams. But had 0. And waking up at 4:00 am was simply too much effort for so little reward.

What else can I do, apart from doing plenty of RC's during the day, and remembering 2 dreams a night?

Thanks alot.

Uhm as a side point, I'm pretty sure the stress that causes school could be not helping me. I'm 16 years old, I want to study medicine, so school marks are pretty important for me. Plus I ALWAYS get nervous for ANY test except biology (were I feel finally confident ). I normally feel really cold, I get all pale, my heart beats fast, and my stomach hurts everytime I'm about to recieve a mark. I've been able to control it partially by deep slow breathing, and concentrating on something else; or simply telling myself that its just a mark, if it is bad, I can always get a better one for the next test. But it still sucks. And it stresses me quite alot.

**rvbfreak** · 05-09-2011 03:40 AM

I tried WBTB'ing for over a week, really decided to have lucid dreams. But had 0. And waking up at 4:00 am was simply too much effort for so little reward.

That mindset gets you nowhere. Just saying. You are what you think, and you are what you repeatedly do (Aristotle). Try being confident.

To be honest, school is probably the big factor here. I usually never have lucids on school nights, since I wake up at 6:40. What I have noticed is that every LD i've had has been around sometime I can think and function properly. Not 4AM, but 8/9 AM to 10/11 PM.
Anyway, just be confident that you can do it and you will. Trust me, I've tried.

EDIT: just saw your P.S.
MAybe use that as an RC? Are you nervous in your dreams, or do you feel calm and relaxed? My guess is the latter.

**Ndm** · 05-09-2011 04:15 AM

Thanks for your answer. No, I feel alright on dreams. Since I was a kid Ive had problems with controlling myself and relaxing when about to recieve a mark (If the teacher says at the beginning of the class that she will give us the tests by the end of the class, Ill pretty much learn nothing from her class. And after she gives us the tests, even if I had a bad mark, I immediately relax, feel comfortable, etc. It used to be worst

**rvbfreak** · 05-10-2011 03:25 AM

The nervousness most likely has some effect on your dreams. If it really bugs you that much, I'd recommend seeing a therapist (one time is fine, but you can always go more) and get help to overcome the problem.

**faceonmars** · 05-10-2011 03:39 AM

Try visualizing a relaxing scenario. It should be relaxing, as an exciting or dangerous scenario would be counterproductive to sleep. The Secondary Visual Cortex is the section of our brain that functions during visualization and dreaming. This is not theory but a scientific fact. One of the first things our brains do upon entering deep sleep is begin non-REM dreaming, so by using visualization you are stimulating the same area of your brain as when you are dreaming and if you can do that you should be able to coax more lucid dreaming experiences.

Good luck!