Thread: Any tips on achieving layer 4?

I have been LDing for 1 year and I still haven't had a 4th layer lucid dream. Is it normal? I just get the 3rd layer ones where it's still fuzzy and you don't have complete control, not the ones that seem like reality and are really vivid and conscious. I started lucid dreaming because of the layer 4 stories I heard about where people can fly very well, and enjoy flying and things like that. I reaaaaly wish I could get one soon, so if you have any tips you can respond and I'll appreciate it.

How many LDs have you had? How many times have you tried flying? Layers have nothing to so with it.I have flown in a "layer zero" dream. Someone told me that I should only be able to do it in dreams, but I said no I've been practicing.

I have the exact same problem..That i dont remember my dream body acting my dreams,but i think this is all about awareness..About the flving thing i fly in my low lucidity dreams..I hope i wont have those problems at the future because i am pretty new to LDing and you wont have problems too..

You should be able to fly in all lucid dreams. The only thing stopping you is you. Check out the cusp or lucid Max's guide to dream control. They are a big help. I used to struggle flying, but then I drank a red bull and started being able to get the flying feeling. Also you can try jumping off of something really high. I flew a car into the sky and jumped out, I started flying before I hit the ground. I used this because I have sky dove before and I knew the feelings.

There is tutorials on all sorts of dream control around here. If you stabilize in a dream you should be able to think clearly. How do you stabilize?

Sometimes in the moment when you induce the lucidity and you realize that you are dreaming, you are perfectly sober and the dream is as real and vivid as reality.

But then it can get completely unstable and hazy because either you or your subconscious or both! ... Starts to focus on many different things which makes the dream a layer 2 dream. So it is a good idea to plan what you want to do beforehand so that both your subconscious and you are in that mindset as you attain lucidity.

Another alternative is to wake yourself up, chain the dream and return to the dream. This activates the systems of the brains that governs logical thinking (aminergic system) and leave the system active for a little period of time as you go back to the dream. However if you don't follow the first advice and let your mind wander within the dream it can once again get back to a layer 2 stage.

So to control your mind is key, but that should be obvious because what you experience in a dream is the representation of the mind.

Good luck!

Try stabilizing the dream before you do anything. Sometimes you become lucid at the end of a REM period which may make your dreams more fuzzy, therefore making you less lucid.

Tip: stop believing in "layers". WTF? Lucidity is a continuum. There are no "layers".

Care to elaborate cmind? I agree that the layers are quite ridiculous. It says that control = awareness, which is very untrue.

I use this all the time:

once you are level three, stop and focus your awareness on your dream body, and then take in EVERYTHING. How does it feel? Is it blurry or clear? Focus on feeling; sight will come naturally. Then you will become fully aware, and able to experience the dream exactly how you would waking life (that includes pain, so be careful...).

It is best to say to yourself before you sleep that when you become lvl 3 you will do this, but you WILL forget a couple of times or do it improperly. But don't get discouraged. Also, to keep lvl 4 you will need to be constantly aware much like a WILD.

Hope this helps...

All of this is just dream stabilization, it is not complex. But like cmind said layers are just a guideline, and more accurately, lucidity is a continuum. The best thing to do is to take some tips, but don't overthink it...

When I saw you were talking about layers I thought you were referring to something similar in the film Inception. There are no layers as such, just differing levels of clarity, realism and control. When you first realise, try stabilising (i.e touch items/objects around you, smell the air, feel the clothes on your skin etc.) Should that still not suffice your standards whilst stabilising try shouting "Increase clarity" Or whichever area you feel less sure of within the dream and that should even things out I'm not saying that layers thing your using is wrong because if it helps you to lucid dream then I'm not going to go against that Best of luck

~DJ

Some tutorials refer to degrees/levels of awareness in LD as layer.

So if someone just starting out with LDing reads that tutorial first, he picks up that lingo. Nothing wrong with that, except that it may confuse some who don't know what OP is talking about.

Forget about layers. Study the stabilisation tutorials in the dream control sub-forum.

Find or create a mirror in a lucid. Clear out any strange gunk in your dreambody eyes and then you will have lucids that are more realistic than waking reality.

As marine Recon said, stabalize and take note of your souroundings, feel objects, etc.

Thanks for all the tips guys. They are helping a lot. I'll try all of these methods when possible