100+ Days, Barely any Progress

I have been trying to attain the ability to lucid dream regularly for a couple of years now. Along the way, I had a bunch of them, although none of them was really that great. I'm the type of person who easily gets nervous and excited, so all these dreams ended prematurely, and I didn't get to really enjoy any of them.

A good 3 months ago, though, I finally decided to take things more seriously. I started recording my dreams and reality checking regularly. I also decided to try use the MILD induction technique, which worked a couple of times.

However, even though I have been keeping at it for a damn while now (I have recorded my dreams for more than 100 days straight!), I have barely had any progress.

I do realize this takes time, but the fact that I'm barely seeing any progress is kinda disappointing. Which is why I'm here, asking for your suggestions.
Is there something else I should do? What I have been doing has pretty much become a habit. Is there some other habit I should introduce to the mix?

Thanks!

Hello! First of all im not an expert on lucid dreaming and nothing close, but something that has really helped me a lot to have more lucid dreams lately its being more AWARE in my waking life, not being in that auto pilot mode. I ask myself very often if i am dremaing, but you really have to mean it, but not only that, also recalling where was i before and before and before, and of course, i do this more often when i notice something weird in my waking life. I have been getting lucid just being more AWARE lately , without trying any of those induction technique (MILD WILD etc). This has helped me a lot to be more aware on my dreams(because of my awareness in my waking life) and knowing when it is a dream. Just last night i had a very vivid lucid dream without any of those induction technique like mild wild etc. just noticed weird and uncommun stuff(people, places, sequences) Anyway, i know there are people with a lot of experience and can help you more with this, but i wanted to say what has been working for me. Good luck!

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Originally Posted by Malfunction

What I have been doing has pretty much become a habit. Is there some other habit I should introduce to the mix?

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Glad you decided to go for it again:) I don't know how much is a bunch, but first ones are usually short, because most everybody gets excited. :)

I don't want to jump to conclusions, but if RCs and awareness training becomes a habit, you may be doing them absentmindedly, which is a risk, when you do them often and see no results. That way they are useless.

If you want to stick with MILD, you could re-read the tutorials. Here is a collection of all that you need for DILDs (RCs, mantras, awareness technique, recall and state of mind). Check it out and see, if there is anything you could add to your practice.

You could also join or read through the classes in DV academy to see, if there is something you would like to do, or just to get some ideas for MILD. (WILD class by sageous has a great explanation of awareness training in his lesson #1 that's great for MILDs also).

Think of some things you would love to do in a lucid and write it in your DJ, daydream about it, play it out. Get excited about lucid dreaming. Read threads like 1000 things to do in LD; How do you fly?; and similar. Please ask, if you have any question. Happy dreams:)

@Marciano999: Yeah, from my experience, awareness is the most important thing in attaining lucidity. Now that I think about it, I may have been a little bit careless with that as of lately. Thanks for the tip!

@gab: The habit part was more referring to the daily dream recording. I do believe, however, that my MILD practicing has been going on auto-pilot. Thanks for that link though, I'll check it out!

During weekends,
You should try using WBTB by setting it on an hourly interval (after one 3 hours interval of course).
Unless you really have rotten luck you will have at least an LD that night.

1.) Find common dream signs, and do a RC whenever you experience them, or something similar to them.
2.) Program yourself to... do a RC whenever you [fill in the blank], and make a long list of these. You fill in the blank with common activities from your waking life. Example: When you leave your house, when you enter your house, when you park your car, when you meet a new person, etc. etc. I used to have about 20 of these when I was really obsessed with lucid dreaming years ago. I can tell you that 90% of my DILDs resulted from these particular RCs.

Combine #1 and #2.

Also, try this: http://www.dreamviews.com/f79/jakobs...hnique-118963/

Thanks guys.

Jakob, about how much lucid dreams did you average a week with all these RCs? I know this is completely differs from one person to another, but I want to have an idea of what to expect.

If you attempt a WILD try this little trick : Visualize the last dream you can recall whether it was 2 minutes ago or a few days before. It helps my get lucid. We visualize and dream in the same area of our big human brain. Good luck to you!:shadewink:

Try mixing things up. Make a date to have a lucid dream. Set aside a specific day, and really hit it from all angles. Sleep somewhere different, like on the couch. Set an alarm for the middle of the night for a WBTB. Eat a special midnight snack you think will help. Make your goal specific and immediate, instead of general.

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Originally Posted by Malfunction

Thanks guys.

Jakob, about how much lucid dreams did you average a week with all these RCs? I know this is completely differs from one person to another, but I want to have an idea of what to expect.

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Well, if you count only "nights", then it would be on average 4 nights per week. But sometimes there were 3 or 4 different lucid dreams during the night, so yeah, the number was extraordinarily high. Then again, I was really obsessed with lucid dreaming at the time (many years ago), doing everything I could to be lucid. I really did all of those RCs, about 20 different ones everytime a certain activity was involved. I even had a sheet of paper on the wall in my room, with "RC NOW" written on it, to remind me to do a RC whenever I enter my room. I also recorded every single dream by hand in my dream journal, and then the dreamsigns below it. This brings me back to one of my most memorable "beginner" lucid dreams. Here it is:

It is morning, I am in my room getting dressed, getting ready for school. I have to be at the bus stop at around 07:30 AM. As I am getting dressed, I take a look at my digital cable box/receiver, to see what time it is -- it reads 07:15. "Damn, I have to hurry!", I think to myself. A few moments later I look at it again: 07:05. "Wtf!?" I feel confused, but the confusion is slightly turning into very positive excitement, as I look at the box again, expecting the numbers to change drastically once again. I look at it - 07:18. I am already completely lucid and filled with joy and excitement, but I do it once again for fun -- 07:32.

I smile, take a deep breath, and start rubbing my hands together. I take a look around, everything is perfectly real. I go to the living room to see if my parents are there. Yes, they are there. I tell my dad "Hey, this is a dream, I am sleeping right now, do you believe me?" He smiles and says "I don't know, are you sure?" I tell him "Yeah, 100%. This is a dream, I just verified it on my cable box, the numbers kept changing like crazy." He tells me "Wow that's nice."

After this short conversation I decide to go outside, to see what it is like. I go down the stairs, laughing to myself at the whole thing, just the feeling of being in another world yet at the same time lying in bed makes me happy. This was also one of my first "very" lucid dreams. I come down the stairs, but somehow I am not able to open the door. I think to myself I'll just walk through it, so I close my eyes, focus, and walk through it. Now I'm outside in front of the house. I am completely in awe with the vividness of the environment, especially the color of the leaves on trees. The "green" color is breathtaking. It it also slightly raining, and somewhat windy. I am breathing in the wind and finding it unbelievable that it can feel that real.

I take a couple of steps forward, and stand in the middle of the street. I spread my arms out, take a deep breath, and jump in the air attempting to fly. As I take off from the ground, and start moving forward through the air, I feel a very strong gust of wind on my face, and breathe it in, then start breathing faster and faster. The feeling is indescribable. Then I start flapping my arms like a bird, and a few seconds later I wake up.

This is a short, yet one of my most memorable lucid dreams. It was maybe the third or fourth lucid dream I ever had, and one of my best "beginner" LDs.

So yeah... dream journaling like crazy, reality testing like crazy, and of course, getting quality sleep. Get those three things right, and you'll be a lucid dreamer.

Best wishes,
Jakob

All I can do is share. So, this is what I did the nights before my best lucid dreams.

1. During the day, I had focused intensely and completely, on the lucid state. In other words, the feeling, impression, atmosphere, of the lucid state all wrapped into a single perception in waking life. Focus on this for as long as you like.:sunflower:

2. Play out old dreams in my head as if I am back in the dream, going as far as acting out individual parts myself. :panic:

3. Before falling asleep, recall the days events, the weeks events, the years events, and any other occurrence of thought arising and dismissing. Every dream in recent memory is recalled. :cantsleep:

4. Speak mantra while focusing on dream state.:meditate:

5. For peaceful sleep, as I am falling to sleep I imagine I am doing one of a few things: flying through the air, flying through space, swimming in water, crawling on/through soil, any other fluid-like movement.:angel:

These precepts of dreaming were shown to me by my dream guide as a six year old child. Somehow the knowledge came to me naturally long before I learned academically. These are the basis of almost any technique of lucid dreaming. I hope this is of some help. Its the first time Ive ever shared it so enjoy!

:banana: