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I never really see this subject on DV, and I have rarely seen it discussed.
I think it might be the main reason why some people, me included are having a tough time having an LD, even though we believe we are following the techniques correctly.
When are the best times to have an LD?
Could anyone explain the REM cycle, when it starts to when it finishes, and at what times is it best or possible to enter an LD?
TL;DR When does REM occur in the night, and what times should we set our alarms for?
Early morning..or the last hours or cycle of your sleep.
(Based on what i know, please tell me if Im wrong)
An average person who sleeps 9 hrs a night will at least have 6 sleep cycles. 1 sleep cycle = 60 to 90 minutes. A sleep cycle basically consists of an NREM (deep sleep) at the beginning, that lasts 60+ minutes, and REM (dreaming state) which usually takes place at the end of each cycle (last 10 mins or so). As you go through your 1st sleep cycle to your last, the duration of these periods changes. REM phase gets longer as you go through these cycles. Basically, the more hours you sleep, the longer REM time you get.
People can hardly remember the dreams they had right after sleeping because their REM cycle at that time was very short. Otherwise is true: dreams in the morning are the most vivid and memorable because they occurred in a much longer REM period.
Hm. This would explain my failures each night. I wake up naturally at 4-5am, and do a WBTB. I always thought it would be a great way to go back to a dream more awake. It seems I must have just had a REM cycle, so I missed it.
So the best way to WILD/WBTB etc is to try and wake up just before the REM, or an hour or so after falling asleep/back asleep?
That would be hard to do, does anyone know how to train yourself to do that?
You could always set an alarm. If you consistently wake up at 5am after a vivid dream, set an alarm for 4:30. You should know immediately if the alarm wakes you from a dream. Just smack the alarm clock, and re-enter the dream, lucid. If you don't want to annoy other people, you could set a vibrating alarm on a cell phone and put it under your pillow or in your sock.
The best time for me is 5.5 hours after sleeping. For most people it is somewhere between 5-7 hours after sleeping. The more you sleep, the longer your REM cycles as the night goes on.
Hm.. okay, yeah I find that I wake up briefly at around 7-8am and then have the longest dream of the night. Maybe if I set my phone alarm for half an hour before I usually wake up, I would fall asleep just in time to be in the dream?
Now I just need to pinpoint when I do actually wake up then. Or I could just keep trying the time that I have already figured out, which is around 4-5am.