Regular dreams?!

So last night was my third attempt at lucid dreaming. Now, I know that lucid dreaming will not happen just overnight. But I am having just regular dreams. There is nothing out of the ordinary. Two nights ago I had a dream that I was laying out by the pool with a friend and my ex just watching other people in the pool taking pictures. Then last night I had a dream that I was at Subway, stood in line for an hour as they continued to mess my order up (I was so frustrated). I've been making sure to do reality checks and I even wrote the word "dream" on my hand so that I was able to see it within my dream, to no avail. While laying in bed, I make sure to repeat until I fall asleep, "I am dreaming". Yet for the past three nights, I have been waking up at around 5am like clockwork. And I've been making sure to write my dreams down as much as I can recall. Is there a certain time of day that would be better for practicing? What other techniques can I try? And how long did it take you before you had your first lucid dream (this question is for those whom lucid dreaming did not come naturally)?

It is different for everyone. Some people are naturals, and will have LDs straight after reading about them, some people work for months, or years to achieve it! Are you keeping a dream journal? Are you practicing any methods? Such as all day awareness, reality checks, etc - all this will help you get lucid.

I had one lucid dream that I can remember from a very long time ago as a young kid, and one brief moment of lucidity in April, but I really started focusing on learning to LD at the beginning of June. I had my first proper LD 18 days later. I have been doing the following:

- Dream Journal
- RCs
- MILD
- Somehow invoking SP more often
- All Day Awareness
- Reading a LOT about LDing
- Reading an LDing book before bed

all of which has helped me progress greatly. My first proper LD was what would be categorised as a WILD, as I found myself in SP and managed to enter a dream from there.

Thanks y'all. I have been keeping a dream journal, doing reality checks whenever I think of them, and reading a ton about lucid dreaming whenever I get the chance.

Time it takes is different for everyone else. My original goal was straight forward Astral Projection and a lot of my early failing rate in LDing was simply I was focusing on that and didnt take LD for anything all after reading about it back in the mid-1980s as a kid. Eventually I started training my mind, and using my memory to either LD or have dreams that were meaningful. The key is too keep reading/researching the topic. Keep a deep journal. Do reality checks I guess...just make sure no one is looking (people will think you're strange if they see you looking in the mirror asking yourself if you're dreaming lol). Keep a strong focus on LDing when you go to bed repeating to yourself and maybe even visualing through your eyelids of LDing when you're on the wake/sleep boarder. One of the reasons I think I can LD easily or if not LD have semi-LD or vivid realistic meaningful dreams is because of memory. I have a surperb memory. So practice memory techniques so that you rememebr most of your dreams when you wake up so if you do LD you're just not forgetting it and it makes your mind sharper during dreaming. Practice reading theather plays and memorizing the scenes, spelling words, numbers, song lyrics, and stuff. Stay away from video games before bed. Also study up on Astral Projection. Robert Monroe wrote some good books about the topic back in the 1970s/80s.

And most of all take it serious. Look at it as an art. Every art takes time too learn and accomplish. But if you do it that way...you'll succeed. Dont look at it as a "Im going too LD so I can have sex in my dreams hahaha" Look at it seriously...like a painter wanting to learn how to paint so he could paint beauty of the world on canvaas. Want to LD for a real reason (like getting over a fear in your dreams, talking to someone that might be deceased, etc).

And again give it time. It takes times...we get use to doing one thing and it takes time to reprogram our minds to go another way. In this case one gets use to just unconscious boring nonsense dreams without even thinking about it so when you starting concluding you can take those dreams and learn from them or make them to your own control it takes getting use too.

I really appreciate your detailed reply.

I am actually studying art and know what you mean about it taking some time. I guess I'm just really excited to be able to lucid dream...eventually. It's funny though because from what I've seen on different sites are that the first thing people were wanting to do (besides fly) is have sex. That thought never really occurred to me. I was more thinking along the lines of figuring out more about myself and of course have fun with being able to do non-real things.

Last night I did not have a lucid dream, but I do remember the Subway restaurant being very clear instead of me just knowing I was at Subway. So maybe that's a start? And plus, another part of my dream I had blonde hair. I am a brunette, but I did bleach the underside of my hair and then put a blue coloring in it. But in the dream, majority of my hair was blonde and just the very undertone of it was blue. I wish now that i would've been able to recognize it as some sort of dream sign.

But I will give it a rest tonight, I believe. I will just focus on remembering what I dream of and making sure to write it down in my dream journal.

Excellent outlook on it. Keep a dream journal, and log the non-lucid dreams you feel are important or have a meaning. If they are vivid but non lucid. They might have a meaning you'll figure out later or be the forrunner to lucid dreams. It takes time honestly and doesnt happen everynight once you can/know how/semi-master the art of Lucid Dreaming. Its just one of those things you're aren't going to do the first night you learn about LDing (unless you're lucky, or you're born with that ablity where I have read people whom have been lucid dreaming some everynight since they were like two years old). So just give it time, patience, practice. Keep reading up on the subject. There's been a lot of information written about this topic, and the Astral Projection topic over the last forty years.

It sounds as if you are dedicated, keep up the good work and you will LD in no time!

It seems you have good dream recall. Keep at it and it will come.