Hi, I'm Bert. Haven't seen my situation anywhere, and I need help please.

[bigv4me]

First, thanks in advance for your assistance. This looks like a great community, and I hope someone knows enough to figure out my problem and can help me. From everything I've read, my issue is somewhat of a rarity. Over a month ago, after hearing about lucid dreaming for the first time and discovering several Lucidity Institute articles, on that very first night I had a lucid dream, albeit for only a few moments. Two nights later, without really trying, I had another lucid dream and this one lasted for what seemed like several minutes--what an amazing experience! I was completely aware and able to do exactly what I wanted. I even remembered to rub my hands together to prolong my lucidity. However, since that 2nd lucid dream, for 30 straight nights--absolutely nothing! Not only have I not been lucid, I can't even recall a single dream. My dream journal sits unused and entirely blank. I began reading just about everything I could find related to lucid dreaming, and I determined to take all the steps necessary to effect future lucid experiences (journal, dream recall, reality checks, various -ILDs, etc.). I go to bed at the same time, and sleep 7-9 hours each night, always focused on inducing lucid dreaming, but to no avail. I would sincerely appreciate any advice or input. What has gone wrong? Am I missing something very basic? Again, thanks in advance for your assistance.

[bigv4me]

By the way, this is the coolest lucid dreaming website I've found: very accessible and user friendly. With all the knowledgeable people here I'm sure I'll find someone who can help. But if not, this still looks like a great place to meet some new friends who share a common interest.

[Original Poster]

That's normal, just keep at it.

[ShadowOfSelf]

Read your DJ before bed for some motivation. Wake up between 4-7 hours, go toilet get a drink, write down a dream if it comes to you, then go back to sleep. It helps, I guess by breaking the night up into two parts instead of one long one that you have to try and remember in the morning.

[bigv4me]

Ok, thanks Omniscient Dei and ShadowOfSelf. It just seems strange that LDing came so easily to me without even trying, but now I can't even recall a dream. I can't really study my journal because it's completely blank, not even a snippet of recall. I feel like I've tried just about everything -- I'm even willing to pay someone for private lessons over the web, if there is such a thing.

[bigv4me]

Sorry, that should be Omnis Dei (darn spell-correct).

[ryman]

i wouldn't suggest paying for private lessons over the web, or even pay for lessons at all. Like shadow said try breaking the night up into two parts, wake up 4 maybe 6 hours after you go to bed and when you wake up try to remember as much as possible, once you've remembered all you can get out of bed write it down and do something to keep your brain busy for a couple min, then go back to bed. Even if you don't remember any dreams the first few times of doing this it's fine, over time you will start to remember more. Also, some foods help with dream recall and make dreams more vivid. Check out the lucid aid section which is located in the attaining lucidity section, should be easy to find from there. One more thing, do you smoke weed? I have no problem with that if you do but it is very bad for dream recall.

[bigv4me]

Thanks for your input, ryman. I'll definitely try what you suggest. As for weed, no, I do not smoke, nor do I drink alcohol before bedtime. I do take a rather strong med for migraines, but I was taking that when I had my previous lucid dreams, so I don't suppose it adversely impacts lucid dreaming or recall (who knows? perhaps it does). Hopefully the food recommendation you provided will help--thanks again.

[ryman]

No problem, let me know how it works out and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

[GreyBeard]

I'm fairly new to this, but have been going through a similar experience. I started actively trying to LD about 6 weeks ago. I managed a few short lucids in the first month. My dream recall was getting really good. Then about two weeks ago, everything came to a halt. I went from remembering 12-18 dreams a week to remembering fragments of 2-3. This all started after I went on a fishing trip with my buddies. Lots of drinking involved. Also a little extra stress at work. I'm assuming these are what has killed my dreaming. I have a nice long relaxing weekend coming up so I'm hoping to get some extra sleep and get my recall back. Best of luck to you and try to stay stress free.

[Freda]

Try some techniques like WILD. You might not succed at first, but your mind will be set on lucid dreaming and therefore more succesful.

[delgado722]

Try to be confident that you will dream and remember your dreams. The only time I ever dream or remember is on weekends when I get plenty of sleep. I'll go to bed at about 10:00 or 11:00 and get up at 8:00 or 9:00. Like you, when I get 7-9 hours of sleep, nothing happens. If you ever have time, do this. Go to sleep for 8 hours, and don't wake up to an alarm or anything. Before you go to bed, tell your self that you will wake up instinctively. When you wake up, lie in your bed and imagine yourself dreaming and realizing your dreaming. Eventually, you will be dreaming and you should eventually become lucid. It works for me.

[kaze]

Hm, I have a few tips for dream recall that might help. I usually have bouts where I can't recall a thing (I'm in one right now actually). Whenever this happens it usually helps for me to say something like "I will remember my dreams in the morning" out loud. I usually end up remembering something, even if it's just a fragment. I don't know if you've read about this or encountered it yet, but another thing that really helps my recall is getting back into the position I woke up in. I’ll think about what I dreamed about last night and usually that is enough for me to get at least one scene back, and I'm able to pull it all back from there. Also, when it comes to the dream journal, try not to leave it blank. Even if you don't remember anything, write down "nothing" because it seems to prove to yourself that even though you aren’t recalling, you're still putting forth the effort to try just by writing something in the journal. These are just a few things that seem to work well for me when I hit dry times. Hope this helps!

[Arch]

Moved to Attaining Lucidity

[Mydera]

Hey Bert, I'm new to this site too I've never actually had any lucid dreams, but I do have a suggestion for your dream recall! Try taking vitamin B6. I know it sounds crazy that something as simple as a vitamin would help, but it really does. I take a vitamin that has 104% of your daily recommended B6 intake. I noticed after a week of starting this, I could suddenly recall anywhere from 2 -6 dreams a night. When I stopped taking it for a while, I couldn't remember my dreams. I started taking it again about three weeks ago, and once again I could recall my dreams so much better after just a week. I mentioned it to a friend when she was having trouble a couple weeks ago remembering her dreams. She started taking a vitamin with b6 in it, though I'm not sure how much b6 hers has in it, and she had success as well after about a week. She still can't remember all her dreams like I do, but she doesn't write them down either. I really think that once you have even just fragments, you need to write them down to improve your recall. When you start writing them down in the morning, your brain starts remembering them the next night because it's expecting to have to recall them when you wake up. Also, if your worried about the migraine medicine being the problem, maybe you could sleep longer on a weekend or something? Personally, I get really sleepy when I take medicines, and I sleep too deeply to dream. If I go back to sleep after I wake up feeling rested, that usually helps me sleep lightly enough to dream. I hope that helps!