I cant get into a lucid dream

Ok so I probably haven't given it enough time considering my first try was only last night, but I've watched numerous youtube videos and seen lots of tutorials and now I'm just confused. I get that you have to go into sleep paralysis first but then what? Do you lay awake waiting for the dream to come or do you fall asleep and hope that you notice your hands or something? I don't want it to be by chance because I don't want to spend my night waiting for something to happen and then be really tired the next morning. Anybody know which one it it/works best?
Thanks

If you were to fall asleep/unconscious and then realize that you're dreaming, that's a DILD. The goal of a WILD is to stay conscious through the whole thing, starting with sleep paralysis, then the dream formation. In other words, you're supposed to stay "awake", but that's probably not the right word. You actually want your body to fall asleep, but keep your mind awake by ignoring all aspects of your physical body and relaxing as much as you can. If you end up in a location different than your bed, you probably won't even need to do an RC because you're aware of the fact that you just tried a WILD. You might also end up in your bed, in a dream, and think you've failed, but that's why it's important to do a reality check.

Be sure to try your WILDs after sleeping for 4-6 hours, instead of right when you get into bed - if you try it before sleeping, it's next to impossible because you're not in REM, the period of sleep when dreams are formed. You can also try during a nap, 4-6 hours after waking up in the morning. Everyone's different, so you'll have to find the time that's right for you, in terms of how frequently you can get into sleep paralysis at a given time. For me, I can't ever get sleep paralysis at night, but it's easy during a nap in the daytime.

Hope that cleared some things up; if you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Oh, and welcome to the Dreamviews forum! :welcome:

The WILD method you are describing there is just one of the methods used to achieve a lucid dream. It can be tiring if you have a busy schedule. If you do, you might be better of with a DILD, which relies on awareness of the enviroment during your daily life, and that carries into dreams, making you lucid in them when you see something that should not be. This requires no messing up your sleep schedule by waking up in the middle of a night or trying to force yourself to stay "awake" thrgouhout sleep paralysis. Though, results can be more inconsistent.

Oh, and it's not exactly easy. Some people do take months to get lucid dreams. Most people only a few weeks. Keep trying, you'll get there. And while you're at it, read some of the tutorials here on DV, they probably have more insight than a random YT video.

Thankyou so much but I cant seem to manage it because I know I'm in my bed and nothing has changed. I did have a false awakening about a year ago and that felt so unbelievably real, so I thought LDs were supposed to be like this but I can still feel my bed around me. So is there a chance I am in a LD but just not realised it?

The term lucid dream refers to you knowing that you are in a dream, nothing more. These dreams can be blurry or very vivid. These dreams can be ones where you can control what happens and they can be ones where you can't. You just know you are dreming. As you gain more skill in the art of lucid dreaming, you will find ways that can increase vividness and control for you. You should first try to get LDs on a semi regular basis though.

Ah ok well I've already tried 4 times since 6.00 this morning and I think I did it once but that may have been my imagination because it didn't quite feel real but now I know that sometimes they don't. Thanks :D

There's always a chance you could in an in LD after a WILD attempt. As for other times, I've entered a few false awakenings after normal (non-lucid) dreams, but didn't end up catching them because I didn't bother doing a reality check. In this case, I was either too tired to move (it was very realistic tiredness, even though I was in a dream), or too lazy because I thought I was really awake. That's why it's important to do an RC whenever you wake up, especially after trying a WILD. :)

Ah ok, I've also written things on my hands to help with reality checks, not looking forward to having something like 8 fingers on one hand though :S

Be sure to use the nose-plug RC along with any others you may be doing, as it's probably the most reliable one out there. I often couple a finger-count check with it, because sometimes my hands look completely normal. For being in a dream, having hands that look perfectly normal is even weirder than having 8 fingers! :P

But I thought you couldn't try to move in case you "awoke" your body?

Well, reality checking shouldn't be done when you're trying a WILD, because you want to fool your body into falling asleep. You should definitely RC any other time, like when you think you might be in a dream, or once you're finished the WILD attempt. You want to do a couple checks to make sure you're not dreaming, or are dreaming.

Ah ok. So for a DILD you do reality checks and for a WILD you don't or not many. Cool thanks for all your help :)

Your suppose to do the RCs after you do the WILD and think you are in a dream or think you failed.

Yep, that's right! Feel free to post or send me a PM if you have any other questions.

Right got it! I'll try both and see which works best, I hope it's the DILD because then I don't have to lay in bed half awake :) Thanks people :D

I had LD in the past but this site really helps in understanding how they can be achieved. I read lots of advice and the tutorials while in bed on my iPad, that same night I realized I may be dreaming, I did a RC and bang ! It's right there a very lucid controllable dream. I didn.t have one for a week after that but that's good considering it had been months before I joined DV. My tip is make LD be on your mind when you go to sleep, so research tips, read forums, have a few LD tips on twitter etc etc while laid in bed. Also, during the day, take in more of the beautiful scenery you may not normally do, these may turn up in a dream and you'll remember it. Do your RT,s during the day too. More importantly, believing you can LD is important. Tc.

Hey dude, I understand you want these things to happen quick haha, as do we all at first :) but lucid dreaming takes TIME man, lots and lots of time and practice. Its all about routine. Reality checks, and Dream Journals. Make sure you're doing RC's, even during WILD's. It's very very easy to forget you are lucid dreaming, and drift off into deep "not knowing you're dreaming" dreaming. If I remember correctly it took me about 3 months of dream recording to get my first lucid DEILD. It takes dedication, and my advice to you.. is stick with it. It takes time, but it's worth it in the end :)

The RCs shouldn't just be routine; you should really question if you're dreaming or not, look around, think about how you got to where you're standing... The more mindful you are, the better. :) Mindfulness and consciousness within the dream, along with an RC, is what will cause lucidity.