The millionth tread by a frustrated beginner

[wandering]

Ok, here comes the whining: I've been writing a dream journal for 4 months, doing ADA and MILD techniques for several months too; suppose I am not getting enough sleep though and am kind of stressed out - have only had a few low-quality lucids and 1 perfect, detailed WILD I had on going to bed (which took me 2 hours of meditation or so).. and guess what.. I fell asleep afterwards and forgot most of what happened.. After that WILD I forgot I'm like.. f**k this sh*t.. So, um, any advice? A symphatising pat on the back or something?

[Chetan]

set an alarm 5 hrs later Before going to sleep now before going to sleep Imagine that you are in a dream and do things that you like to do in dream do everything you ever wanted to do.Keep doing and keep reminding yourself that you are dreaming and drift of to sleep OR say I am dreaming like 200 to 300 times while you are counting 1 I am dreaming like this repeat this step after you wake up in middle of night. when you wake up in middle of night make sure your mind is not groggy be awake!!! You will drift of to sleep eventually just try to relax. remember the key is confidence and motivation

[Puffin]

Stress and lack of sleep can really hurt your recall; I'm actually swimming in schoolwork right now and I'm always worrying about something, so my recall is suffering equally. Keeping up confidence is important because half the battle is getting that mindset. Recall is just as important for LDs as it is for regular dreams, so don't worry if you forgot a WILD - I've forgotten lucid dreams too, one of which was a WILD. Also, maybe instead of being aware all day, try doing it in smaller amounts, sporadically? It might take some of the stress off; I have a tutorial for it in my signature if you wanted to have a look.

[apiks]

Be persistent and keep trying. You will get to it one point or another. Eat a banana and drink some milk if you can 30 min. before bed and try to get atleast 8 hours sleep during a night. When you go to bed think of this - You are going to bed to relax and stop stress. So what I mean is that you need to stop thinking about the daily life. Completely disregard it unless it messes with you during the night cycle somehow. Don't think of all the stressful things during the day and keep it low and simple and think of the good parts about it. There's always another face from a think. For example work - Why do you work? You work because you sustain yourself and buy yourself stuff that you desire. Same with school. Supposed to help you in future. Think of the good part about things when trying to get to sleep. Another part is that you act like you CAN and HAVE done lucid dreaming your whole life. Trying to mimic that behaviour will make your brain adapt to it. Do some breathing exercises during mediation and stop thinking of anything if possible. For me I think of a vacuum cleaner that is cleaning you brain and mind. When I do it it makes my brain hurt for a little but it goes away as soon as I stop and the result is no thoughts at all. If you just cannot get yourself ridden of the extra thoughts, then let them flush away for as long as necessary. Put yourself with the intent of Lucid Dreaming but do not think too hard about it. Let yourself drift away and accept it. Like with SpyGuy's excellent guide, give in in order to get. It will come naturaly. It's like releasing the bird. It will come back to you if you have nurtured it well and fittingly. Alternatively you can try some other techniques like DILD and DEILD and maybe some others. There are some techniques that work better for one person than for another one so experiment until you get results. Also keep in mind what you eat before bed. Do not eat energy provider foods as they will keep you from going asleep and don't strain your body too much. Just let it happen. If it doesn't work, just keep trying with more mental affirmations. People Lucid Dream from time to time but they don't remember them most of the time so don't loose faith if you do not remember your dreams. Just keep trying and stay confident. Also do not forget to Reality Check always. Reality checks and Dream Journals are a must for Lucid Dreamers most of the time. As for the quality of the dreams, well you can try taking some Lucid Dreaming aids that supposedly help make dreams vivid. We have a section especially for Lucid Aids so you can check it out there and research the thing you have decided to take online. You can also try to search in Google for foods and drinks that help the inducement of Dreams. If you have any questions whatsoever, PM me in Bulgarian if you prefer (due to me being of the same nationality and can speak Bulgarian) and I will try to answer to the best of my abilities.

[ShadowOfSelf]

All that in 4 months? Dude, it took me ONE YEAR to have an LD, 6 months later I had maybe 3 lucids, then 3 months later like 6, now it seems every week-2weeks Im having one. Practise it. Persist at it. Perfect it.

[Spyguy]

Be persistent and keep trying. You will get to it one point or another. Eat a banana and drink some milk if you can 30 min. before bed and try to get atleast 8 hours sleep during a night. When you go to bed think of this - You are going to bed to relax and stop stress. So what I mean is that you need to stop thinking about the daily life. Completely disregard it unless it messes with you during the night cycle somehow. Don't think of all the stressful things during the day and keep it low and simple and think of the good parts about it. There's always another face from a think. For example work - Why do you work? You work because you sustain yourself and buy yourself stuff that you desire. Same with school. Supposed to help you in future. Think of the good part about things when trying to get to sleep. Another part is that you act like you CAN and HAVE done lucid dreaming your whole life. Trying to mimic that behaviour will make your brain adapt to it. Do some breathing exercises during mediation and stop thinking of anything if possible. For me I think of a vacuum cleaner that is cleaning you brain and mind. When I do it it makes my brain hurt for a little but it goes away as soon as I stop and the result is no thoughts at all. If you just cannot get yourself ridden of the extra thoughts, then let them flush away for as long as necessary. Put yourself with the intent of Lucid Dreaming but do not think too hard about it. Let yourself drift away and accept it. Like with SpyGuy's excellent guide, give in in order to get. It will come naturaly. It's like releasing the bird. It will come back to you if you have nurtured it well and fittingly. Alternatively you can try some other techniques like DILD and DEILD and maybe some others. There are some techniques that work better for one person than for another one so experiment until you get results. Also keep in mind what you eat before bed. Do not eat energy provider foods as they will keep you from going asleep and don't strain your body too much. Just let it happen. If it doesn't work, just keep trying with more mental affirmations. People Lucid Dream from time to time but they don't remember them most of the time so don't loose faith if you do not remember your dreams. Just keep trying and stay confident. Also do not forget to Reality Check always. Reality checks and Dream Journals are a must for Lucid Dreamers most of the time. As for the quality of the dreams, well you can try taking some Lucid Dreaming aids that supposedly help make dreams vivid. We have a section especially for Lucid Aids so you can check it out there and research the thing you have decided to take online. You can also try to search in Google for foods and drinks that help the inducement of Dreams. If you have any questions whatsoever, PM me in Bulgarian if you prefer (due to me being of the same nationality and can speak Bulgarian) and I will try to answer to the best of my abilities. I am truly honoured that you linked to my thread and referred to it as excellent Yes, I agree with what you and the others have said. Everyone can have lucids. Everyone willing to put in some time and effort WILL have lucids. Just stay calm, keep practicing. Choose a technique that you like, you might need to stick with it for a while. And then keep going. Keep believing. There are enough people who had to spend years before getting a single lucid. But they kept going and believing. And now they have nightly lucids of mind-blowing quality. You can do it, and if there is anything you need to know, ask the people on this forum, we're here to help eachother Don't give up, it might take a long time, but the result is well worth it. And don't chose techniques that you don't like just for their effectiveness. Make sure it suits you and your way of life, because you might need to stick with it for a while, and you don't want to kill your motivation by chosing the wrong technique. Good luck!

[melanieb]

A period of time before sleeping to let go off all those thoughts and stresses might not be a bad idea. You say you are stressed. Perhaps an hour before sleep, pick a spot that you can find relaxing and allow your mind to let go of the thoughts of the day. If necessary, write out your stresses and what needs to be done in a list. This helps organize thoughts, prioritize them, and then categorize them as "dealt with" so they can be released for the night. Doing stuff like this helps even without trying to dream. A mind at peace should find diversion easier to achieve. I think the experts have weighed in on this already, I need add nothing more.

[wandering]

Thanks a lot (-: The guides are quite interesting! Puffin, isn't your technique a simplified All Day Awareness+RCs?

[Puffin]

Thanks a lot (-: The guides are quite interesting! Puffin, isn't your technique a simplified All Day Awareness+RCs? Happy to help. All Day Awareness was published months after my own technique. It is just another variation of awareness, as is mine.

[OneiroMoon]

Puffin's technique (SAT) is what gave me my first lucid dreams, so I highly recommend it! have only had a few low-quality lucids and 1 perfect, detailed WILD I had on going to bed (which took me 2 hours of meditation or so).. and guess what.. I fell asleep afterwards and forgot most of what happened.. Are you still practising the WILD method? If so, do you sleep for some hours before attempting (WBTB)? Have you tried to WILD during naps? This makes WILDing much easier and faster than without previous sleep. Plus, you'll most likely feel more refreshed when you wake up from your WILDs, which makes it easier to write in your dream journal instead of just going back to sleep again.

[Chetan]

Hope this video helps you. Lucid Dreaming Subliminal Induction - Part 1 - YouTube

[wandering]

Have you tried to WILD during naps? This makes WILDing much easier and faster than without previous sleep. Plus, you'll most likely feel more refreshed when you wake up from your WILDs, which makes it easier to write in your dream journal instead of just going back to sleep again. I should probably do that, thanks

[chase]

Were your lucids caused by DILD? What are your dream signs? How often do you reality check? Do you lay still after awaking? These are all useful things to attempt if you haven't already.

[wandering]

I do all of these things.. noticing dreamsigns, quality RCs, and yes, all except one were DILDs. Suppose the other guys are right though, you just have to stick with it for a while until you get results..

[Rothman]

I had my first lucid dream 15 years ago. After that I started researching and reading everything I could. I tried for years...seriously, years with no luck besides a few at random. I had my first High lucid in 2004 by pure chance. I have been fighting since the high lucid to have another lucid dream. It was the most amazing experience I have ever had, shear exstacy that is just not at all possible in waking life. I realized that I was stressing myself too much about having a lucid dream that it was just not happening. Your thinking that it's not working or not going to work is building a mental barrier and preventing you from becoming lucid. I work all sorts of crazy hours and definitely don't sleep enough or regularly enough. But I am now having LD's much more often in spite of that. After I realized that stressing myself over it was not helping I took a different approach. I continued doing several RC's every day but I did them as if it was just a natural thing to do like eating or drinking and not giving it a second thought. I listen to my dream journal (voice recorder) every night while laying in bed. I fall asleep while meditating so to speak using the MILD tecnique Stephen Laberge outline. I also wake up after 5 or so hours of sleep and fall asleep using Mild. All whilenot stressing over whether or not it will happen. I have been having great success by trying more but stressing far less about it. I had 3 LD's last night alone which is a personal best for me. Mental blocks are your biggest enemy, you have to break down those barriers and just know that you can and will have success.

[kel]

try the FILD - finger induced lucid dream , it worked wonders for me back in the day when I was a beginner. Its best to wake up to something 5-6 hours after you fell asleep and practise realizing you are awake without moving a muscle, or opening your eyes. the second you realize it and you havent moved try tapping a piano with a finger of yours, but dont actually move your finger, just pretend you are doing the motion. within 15 seconds, I started my vibrations, to maybe SP, and 15 seconds later if I open my eyes after i feel my body fall asleep TA DA - in a dream. this worked for me, because I lived at home and often awoke in the middle of the night, or perhaps I set my internal alarm to wake me up after a few hours of sleep. For you, you could use some sort of alarm that just goes off once without needing it to be pushed, and you can train your body that every time you hear that alarm to just be concious and asleep still not moving. Its kind of like tricking your body into thinking you never woke up, if you dont get any sensations of wakefulness. a vibrating alarm would work too, or maybe some cool finger alarm which turns off by a simple click - no work on your part. this is a no fail for me.. just gotta train yourself to realize you are awake in your bed before moving with or without the help of an external apparatus !