Lucidity--Is it something you have to be "born with"?

Hey everyone!

I've been trying to LD for the past two weeks off and on (after discovering the movie Inception, LOL). I've come to the realization that maybe I just don't have the ability in me, or I just don't have the skills necessary. I've tried some WILD techniques with no success. The mind awake, body asleep concept seemed logical, I had no problems keeping my body still, but it was my eyes that killed it. I just couldn't keep from looking at hypnagogics or looking around in my imagined dreamscape. One question I had was: Is everyone born with the ability to LD? Or is it just a lucky few?

Any help would be appreciated.

Gavin

Everyone is born with this ability. Everyone can do it, they just need some practice. So don't give up and keep practicing.
Your concept of WILD doesn't seem to be entirely right. One has to fall asleep in order to enter a dream and THEN retain their awareness as soon as they enter the dream.

Do you have dreams you recall? I know some folk cannot dream at all due to a medical issue (I'm sure someone with knowledge of this will be here soon). It's my guess someone with that condition will never be able to LD. Also I assume that anyone with some degree of recall should be able to LD.

WILD can be easy for some, difficult for others. For me, it's next to impossible to do, so I don't waste my time pursuing WILDs. It's different for everyone.

And two weeks is nothing.

Hi Gavin, first off lucidity is just an aspect of awareness. If you have awareness you can also have lucid awareness. Its just a case of doing what YOU need to do to get to a place where you can find your lucidity. Having said that some people find it easier than others.

Im one of those people that has really really struggled to get lucid. Almost 15 years in fact. I dont know anyone else who has been as consistently useless as me trying to get lucid. I guess im a 4th dan black-belt master at not getting lucid, one of the best. I still struggle actually, but when it does come wow is it amazing.

Oh by the way, you WERE lucid when you were watching hypnogogic images. That statement might not fit in with other peoples definitions of 'lucidity', but id say you are pretty much a natural. From that state of being aware of hypnogogic imagery as you are relaxed physically is just a short step and jump to some really funky stuff.

Yeah you are a natural.

Keep a dream journal for a while. This actually improves WILD as well as DILD. It's an indirect chain of cause-and-effect but it's very important:

1. When you set your intent and develop the habit to write a dream journal, you will recall more dreams.
2. When you recall more dreams, you will wake up naturally and frequently every night (about every 90 minutes).
3. As you wake and sleep more frequently, you become familiar with the transitional states between wake and sleep.
4. As you become familiar with the transitional states, you can retain consciousness through them.
5. Maintaining consciousness through the transitional state leads to lucid dreams.

In other words, if you start with a pure WILD technique, your body is probably never in the right state. You can reach relaxation but it's not just about relaxation. That's probably why you suspect you aren't "born with" it, but I assure you that you can. There's a sleepy/dreamy state that only occurs at a certain sweet spot of brain waves, body rest, and previous sleep. The best way to find this sweet spot is to wake up naturally after 5-6 hours of sleep and remain awake for a while but do not become too alert or concerned with the day to come. A dream journal is the ideal practice to achieve that regularly.

In the same way, other DILD-centric practices can have the side-effect of helping WILD, just becoming familiar with the gray areas between wake and sleep. Actually, I would recommend starting with a DILD system and experiment with WILD on the side. That seems to be the way that most successful WILDers start out. But it you really want to isolate WILD, I think a dream journal is a powerful tool that you can't skip.

i dont know but i guess we are all born with it ( different degrees) but throughout our growth we are conditioned to disregard the dream world, and in general our curiosity and open-mindedness seems to decrease a lot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bobblehat

Do you have dreams you recall? I know some folk cannot dream at all due to a medical issue (I'm sure someone with knowledge of this will be here soon). It's my guess someone with that condition will never be able to LD. Also I assume that anyone with some degree of recall should be able to LD.

WILD can be easy for some, difficult for others. For me, it's next to impossible to do, so I don't waste my time pursuing WILDs. It's different for everyone.

And two weeks is nothing.

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Oh yes, I can recall dreams, some quite vividly in fact, although they blur with time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by oldbill

Hi Gavin, first off lucidity is just an aspect of awareness. If you have awareness you can also have lucid awareness. Its just a case of doing what YOU need to do to get to a place where you can find your lucidity. Having said that some people find it easier than others.

Im one of those people that has really really struggled to get lucid. Almost 15 years in fact. I dont know anyone else who has been as consistently useless as me trying to get lucid. I guess im a 4th dan black-belt master at not getting lucid, one of the best. I still struggle actually, but when it does come wow is it amazing.

Oh by the way, you WERE lucid when you were watching hypnogogic images. That statement might not fit in with other peoples definitions of 'lucidity', but id say you are pretty much a natural. From that state of being aware of hypnogogic imagery as you are relaxed physically is just a short step and jump to some really funky stuff.

Yeah you are a natural.

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Thank you for the vote of confidence!

At one point when i was trying to WILD, I lay there really still while listening to binaural beats that were supposed to induce lucid dreams, when my arms fell asleep, not like from lack of blood - they were at my sides. They kinda felt like they were floating, and like they weren't there on the blankets. I don't know what caused me to do this, but I sorta "willed" my arms to raise up. They FELT like they were rising up. I know they weren't REALLY rising up, or else I would've felt it, but it felt really interesting. So I started making them do other things - I found it helps to "picture" myself doing these things in my mind's eye. After a while, nothing else was happening, so I said "heck with inducing WILDs" and got up, but when i did, my arms felt really heavy for a second, and then they felt really light. Now probably some off you will scoff at me for saying this, but here goes: MY ARMS STARTED FLOATING IN REAL LIFE! I say to myself "I wonder if I can control this." I lowered one of my arms. Not like lowered, as in used muscles directly, but like consciously told my brain to lower it. After a while, the ability went away, but I HAVE linked it to listening to binaural beats while laying still.

I hope you'll believe this TRUE story.

Gavin

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sisyphus

Keep a dream journal for a while. This actually improves WILD as well as DILD. It's an indirect chain of cause-and-effect but it's very important:

1. When you set your intent and develop the habit to write a dream journal, you will recall more dreams.
2. When you recall more dreams, you will wake up naturally and frequently every night (about every 90 minutes).
3. As you wake and sleep more frequently, you become familiar with the transitional states between wake and sleep.
4. As you become familiar with the transitional states, you can retain consciousness through them.
5. Maintaining consciousness through the transitional state leads to lucid dreams.

In other words, if you start with a pure WILD technique, your body is probably never in the right state. You can reach relaxation but it's not just about relaxation. That's probably why you suspect you aren't "born with" it, but I assure you that you can. There's a sleepy/dreamy state that only occurs at a certain sweet spot of brain waves, body rest, and previous sleep. The best way to find this sweet spot is to wake up naturally after 5-6 hours of sleep and remain awake for a while but do not become too alert or concerned with the day to come. A dream journal is the ideal practice to achieve that regularly.

In the same way, other DILD-centric practices can have the side-effect of helping WILD, just becoming familiar with the gray areas between wake and sleep. Actually, I would recommend starting with a DILD system and experiment with WILD on the side. That seems to be the way that most successful WILDers start out. But it you really want to isolate WILD, I think a dream journal is a powerful tool that you can't skip.

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Thank you for the very detailed reply!

I have been keeping a dream journal, although it's hard because i don't remember any dreams some nights.

And I am a deep sleeper, so I never wake up naturally during the night. It has to be a loud noise or something.

I will take your steps to heart!

Gavin

Some lucky people are born with it, but majority of people have to work for it.

If you never had a LD before, I would suggest you start with DILD. It's just easier to start with. At the same time, you can read a WILD (sageous) tutorial and start practicing. You can also check out his class in DVA. Good luck.

DILD stands for Dream Induced Lucid Dream, right? The kind where you have to practice reality checks?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GavinLowe

Hey everyone!

I've been trying to LD for the past two weeks off and on (after discovering the movie Inception, LOL). I've come to the realization that maybe I just don't have the ability in me, or I just don't have the skills necessary. I've tried some WILD techniques with no success. The mind awake, body asleep concept seemed logical, I had no problems keeping my body still, but it was my eyes that killed it. I just couldn't keep from looking at hypnagogics or looking around in my imagined dreamscape. One question I had was: Is everyone born with the ability to LD? Or is it just a lucky few?


Any help would be appreciated.

Gavin

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i have been trying on and off for 2 to 3 years, not a single lucid dream

Sometimes I wonder if one needs to be born with it. In January I had four, very short DILDs, and in February, only 1 DEILD. If I'm doing this calculating correctly, I've only had an 11% success rate so far. I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere with these, now. This very low number saddens me, to be honest, because I want to understand myself better and to experience some kind of catharsis. How am I supposed to experience either if I'm failing?