Thread: Been trying forever

I know I already welcomed you, but welcome again!

First of all, don't stress about it. As you've already discovered, you may find that you have better recall (and perhaps even a better chance at a lucid dream) if you are relaxed and not trying too hard. Stress is a dream killer -- with regards to both recall and lucid dreaming.

Second, don't give up. Just because a method hasn't worked yet, doesn't mean that it won't ever. Some people try for a long time before they find what works for them -- it may be a combination of methods, or something that you come up with on your own.

Third, I would suggest trying WBTB in combination with MILD. Make sure you wake up after you've slept 4-6 hours (whether by auto-suggestion before you go to bed, or with an alarm clock). Then journal any dream you can remember, and stay up for 30-60 minutes, keeping your mind on lucid dreaming during that time. Reading DV forums is an excellent way to do this, IMHO. You might also want to have a soda or chocolate bar -- something with just a little caffiene to help keep your mind active.

Then when you go back to bed, proceed with the MILD technique you've already been practicing. This method works very well for me. If I have the time to do this consistently, it will usually result in 2-3 LDs a week.

Good luck!

Hey indianinks, sorry to hear about your frustrations.

TygrHawk pretty much covered it all though. I'll only add that I emphasize the dream journal. If adhered to religiously, iit can improve recall AND lucidity soooo much.

Good luck, and yeah, don't stress it too much man!

I'm convinced that learning to dream lucidly at will or even on a regular basis can probably take a lifetime if not a few years to accomplish, at least for me this seems to be the case.

Therefore, one has the need to feel that they are accomplishing something in the meantime, while they are working on becoming skilled at lucid dreaming.

The dream journal mentioned by OpheliaBlue can be a great help in this effort as one can begin to see improvements in their dream recall and get a sense of accomplishment in being able to remember their dreams, in addition to being able to learn a lot about oneself in the process.

By keeping a dream journal and keeping track of the number of dreams you remember each month you will at least feel like you are accomplishing something, which can help you keep going striving toward the ultiimate goal of becoming lucid in your dreams.

Good luck.

Also just to add, when you wake up. DONT MOVE MUCH.I dont know why, but it makes you forget your dream(s) quickly.

I use to have problems with recall also, but once I read to not move when I wake up, I started recalling them much better and more quickly.

So keep your Dream Journal like under your pillow or something, so that its in quick and easy access without you moving much.As well as easy access, you'll be able to Write them down much quicker before you forget.

Thanks everyone. I tried what Wayne reccomended last night...and it didn't work. Before I went to bed I told myself like maybe 2 times, "I need to wake up in 5 hours." The weird thing is that I like woke up with a start 4.5 hours later. Then I remembered my dream from before. Of course being the dolt that I am, I was too lazy to get up and write it down, so I plan to take Kastro's advice and put my journal under my pillow. Also I was too tired to get up and get online (I have dial up so it's a pain), so instead I thought about the forums and things I had read on lucid dreaming. Then I vaguely remembered I had to MILD, but I didn't really do it, and I drifted in and out of consciousness for half and hour, and then when I saw 6:32 on the clock I decided I could go to sleep. So long pointless story short, it didn't work.

I plan to try and keep my journal a little better though, because I do agree with everyone that it is an important part of lucidity.

One thing that really bothers me is that I was able to tell myself to wake up with only two reminders, but I can get lucid when I remind myself endlessly. So, unless I get a new reccomendation to try, I plan to try to remind myself to lucid the way I reminded myself to wake up, and then try WBTB with MILD, like what Wayne reccomended. But I can't decide if I should do the full MILD after I wake up, or if I should just do a watered down version of MILD.

Again thanks to everyone.

Originally posted by indianinks
The weird thing is that I like woke up with a start 4.5 hours later.

Actually, that's not so weird. Sleep cycles are generally about 90 minutes, so that means that you woke up after exactly 3 sleep cycles -- the closest you could get to your suggestion without interrupting a sleep cycle.

Now you've got to work on that laziness. But I'm not one to talk -- I haven't been very good about journaling either.

But like I said before, don't give up! I think it shows progress that your mind obeyed your suggestion to wake up, and that you did remember your dream -- even if you didn't write it down. Keep it up!

Im not sure if anyone said this or not, but sometimes taking breaks can induce lucid dreams. Im not really sure why this is so. Say you try really hard for like 3-4 weeks and still nothing, then take a couple of days off. Anyway good luck