Thread: For those that practice ADA how long did it take until it "clicked"

Great question. I found that true "all day awareness" is something still eludes me. The description of the technique (from Puffin I believe?) as "sporadic awareness" rings truest for me.

I'd describe my turning point as being when I took advantage of the natural ebb and flow of awareness. Throughout the day, awareness inevitably slips. The key for me was to really notice when awareness had dropped and then mentally jolt myself, demanding immediate proof from myself that I was not dreaming. Typically, this came from answering questions like:

• How did I get here?
• Does what I'm doing make sense?
• Does my body feel right?
• Does the world I'm inhabiting make sense?

That's how things clicked from the awareness side. The other side of things is intent. Having very specific lucid goals and participating in things like Task of the Month gave me a huge leap forward. Awareness and intent are quite complementary and it's to your advantage to build both simultaneously.

Congratulations on your success so far, particularly with the recall!

for me.. it was one week i guess. after 1 week i started to get more LD by questioning reality.

It took me about 2 months for ADA to actually "click". Before that, i'd find it really mentally exhausting, even though i was dedicated to doing it. But after about two months, idk what happened, it all just felt right and it started becoming part of my lifestyle. I think it greatly had something to do with me thinking of it as an extension of my senses rather than an activity i had to try hard to actively engage in.

ADA seems a vague and broad concept...but i don't doubt it's effective. How do you do it?


i had 4 dilds after a specially intensive day* on RCing, and critical questions like « is there anything dreamlike here?», « where was i 30 min ago ? » and so on. also many times i like to imagine i'm dreaming when i'm not ( this later technique seems to get me motivated and sometimes it's strange cause i get a gut feeling i'll be lucid tonight ).


Try do do it differently in a more creative or unusal way, i dont know, may be it creates a greater impact on your subconscious. i feel its very easy to turn ADA into a meaningless routine when it should be fun, creative and never, never boring. also it should not be effortfull.

*Boom ! 4 DILDS ! - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Originally Posted by VagalTone

ADA seems a vague and broad concept...but i don't doubt it's effective. How do you do it?


i had 4 dilds after a specially intensive day* on RCing, and critical questions like « is there anything dreamlike here?», « where was i 30 min ago ? » and so on. also many times i like to imagine i'm dreaming when i'm not ( this later technique seems to get me motivated and sometimes it's strange cause i get a gut feeling i'll be lucid tonight ).


Try do do it differently in a more creative or unusal way, i dont know, may be it creates a greater impact on your subconscious. i feel its very easy to turn ADA into a meaningless routine when it should be fun, creative and never, never boring. also it should not be effortfull.

*Boom ! 4 DILDS ! - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

I pay attention to the most obvious senses depending on what I am doing. If I'm walking I pay attention to what I am seeing, the sensation of my feet moving and hitting the ground, the breeze if there is one, etc. If I am typing I pay attention to the feeling of hitting the keys and the sounds. Stuff like that. I just started doing what CanisLucidus does when he realizes he was unaware. Once I realize it, I ask myself if I am dreaming and do some reality checks to make sure.

Originally Posted by paigeyemps

It took me about 2 months for ADA to actually "click". Before that, i'd find it really mentally exhausting, even though i was dedicated to doing it. But after about two months, idk what happened, it all just felt right and it started becoming part of my lifestyle. I think it greatly had something to do with me thinking of it as an extension of my senses rather than an activity i had to try hard to actively engage in.

How do you do ADA if you don't mind me asking.

I am starting to think it takes more than just pure awareness to know that you are lucid. Yes, awareness means you remember them more and is more vivid but a good dose of questioning reality of your landscape needs to be done as well to ingrain it in the mind better. These past months I've been being aware or atleast trying to be aware but didn't really start questioning my surroundings though I am aware of them. I am trying to say that I think awareness by it's self doesn't equal to lucidity, it simply means you take in more details of the landscape and remember more that happens but someone that is both aware and makes a habit of questioning if they are in a dream or not will trigger lucidity more often than just plain awareness without questioning. This is just my theory based from my own experience. Since I've been practicing ADA I've felt much more sensory input in the dream state like myself walking or touching something and remembered more details. I am sure that if I had questioned what I was doing I would have been aware enough to come to the conclusion I was dreaming at that point but I didn't on the other hand doing a blind reality check is questioning without awareness. You need to be aware enough for it to "click" that you are dreaming. Without either one then you won't have a great chance lucidity. I am going to combine ADA with questioning myself on what is happening around me more and see what happens. I could be totally wrong about this but based on what the few people that posted on this thread has said. It makes sense to me.

Originally Posted by Daredevilpwn

I just started doing what CanisLucidus does when he realizes he was unaware. Once I realize it, I ask myself if I am dreaming and do some reality checks to make sure.

This is in fact a very good idea. I also do it, but is quite a challenge. If we stay unaware for more than 10 minutes, there is of course a great chance we will be while dreaming too.

Originally Posted by Daredevilpwn

I am going to combine ADA with questioning myself on what is happening around me more and see what happens. I could be totally wrong about this but based on what the few people that posted on this thread has said. It makes sense to me.

I feel ADA without critical questioning is very incomplete. I like to combine ADA + critical questioning + prospective memory. As i said in my dream journal, for instance, if am walking i count 30 footsteps with my right foot, then shift my attention to my feelings and check unusual feelings, then check my environment or my memory.

Then i start again but change to my left foot, and RC again after 30 foosteps. Whenever i pass trough doorways i start from zero and shift to left or right foot.

When i am quiet ( not walking ) i like to count 10 respiratory cycles. When i am studying i use an alarm clock.

Then, sometimes i pretend i am dreaming and try to look at my surroundings with the same interest and energy, and think of my plan.

Then again, sometimes i also suggest to myself « next time im dreaming...». Well, combining ADA with prospective memory with RCing with autosugestion can be tiring

This is much Paul Tholey's combined technique, which according to this article is very promising

6 Best Scientifically Tested Techniques for Lucid Dreaming | dream studies portal


Remembering to do these things and keeping it funnny and creative is the hardest part. However, if its effective for you, it really doesn't matter. You achieve lucid dreaming and perhaps lucid living with the same technique.

If you're trying to get an estimate on how long it takes people for their minds to "click" for ADA and using it as an expectation on when it should work for you, the whole endeavor will fail miserably.

All Day Awareness is about gradually increasing awareness in the things we take for granted (the ability to hear our footsteps when talking to someone else, hearing our fingers constantly hitting the keyboard as we type, etc.).

Everyone is different, but unless you're just making the thread just for curiosity, it's about what you put into it that can make you get progress faster or slower than someone else. Things like:

-Being able to recall your dreams in the first place is a good start
-Being motivated to set a schedule or a reasonable time range to sleep
-Learning ways to access the suggestive state of your subconscious to have more likelihood of lucid dreams

All of this and more contributes towards how fast it "clicks." I stated in a previous thread with a question about the right mindset for a DILD being a progressive and practical mindset where you're honest of yourself and not trying to fake your emotions into thinking you're doing well (which ADA is really aiming for, even though it can branch out for other lucid induction techniques). There's so many factors that makes one person "click" faster than the other, someone else might have to work harder for it, and some just can do it easy without putting effort.

But one things for sure, working towards it is always better than just being a natural in my opinion. Anyway, all day awareness, at least when I did it and dream yoga techniques, I wasn't lucid frequently, but I was definitely able to recall more content in my dreams. I was able to record my emotions, how I reacted to certain dream characters, dream environments, etc. I think being able to recall that you were aware is the most important step rather than being concerned on when you might "click."

Because chances are, you were lucid, but because of how you slept, your mind was too groggy or too exhausted for you to try and recall if you were potentially aware in your dreams. You as an individual just has to focus on working towards it, even if you go through constant relapses in motivation or consistency. You may have get a lucky lucid from getting closure with other people's insights, but it doesn't mean your subconscious is going to always use that to constantly "click."

It's gradual, and I know it gets painful at times, but it definitely is worth it. And it's also about doing that and learning other techniques gradually as well. There are times where you just won't be in the conditions to have more chances of lucidity based on the fundamentals of ADA. There are times where you just have to place faith in MILDs, there are times where you just want to make a short alarm to wake you up to perform a DEILD (if you keep your eyes closed and are still aware of it), or any other method of induction.

ADA is a good foundation, but you shouldn't stop there. Aim for flexibility, and to do that, you have to go through things one step at a time. Your mind will gradually acknowledge how its going to do this and that. Add feedback to your reactions with ADA, acknowledge them, tell yourself things like:

"I am feeling more aware of my ability to hear smaller sounds."

"I am feeling more aware of my emotions when touching a ball"

Any kind of feedback like that is going to help you. When you're practicing ADA, acknowledge the things you're doing (it doesn't have to be everything), and add feedback. Say it in your head or say it aloud if you want. It's about getting your mind to conform to a certain process, and when you understand how to control the suggestibility by doing that, you'll have better chances at "clicking" faster and potentially "clicking" consistently.

Thank you Link for replying. I am not asking to make an estimate on when it will click for me but out of curiosity. I feel like that my progress has been slow even after months of doing ADA and I figured that I must have been missing a very big part of the "puzzle" so to speak but now I believe I found it. ADA + Questioning instead of just ADA. And thanks for the article VagalTone.

I've tried this in school sometimes but I get zoned out a little bit and can't hear the teacher talking, or someone I'm talking to

The counting method vagaltone does has proven to be really effective. Usually I am mostly aware when I am walking and I tend to zone out more when I am idle. With the counting method though, I am more in the moment more often than before using whatever I am counting (be it breaths or footsteps) as an anchor for my awareness to stay here and now.

Nice you found it helpful Being quiet is more dificult for me too ( perhaps because we start engaging our mind and forget everything else ), but it's easier if we can get still to meditate 2-5 minutes a couple of times a day ( we will notice more often when we are lost in thoughts). Alarm clocks are very useful too. You can set it to vibrate, nobody will notice .

Originally Posted by VagalTone

I feel ADA without critical questioning is very incomplete. I like to combine ADA + critical questioning + prospective memory.

It looks like you've been reading Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming with that terminology :p

I completely agree with you on this though. If I'm practicing ADA, I feel like the critical questioning is a part of the process. How can you be aware if you're not aware of which state of consciousness you're in?

Hi ! today i was googling about meditation news and found this interesting article about a technique combining breathing with walking.

Dr. Andrew Weil: Breathwalking: A Meditative Exercise

I agree with you. ADA will allow you to notice a lot more in your dreams, but there is little point to that if you don't ask yourself (conciously or unconciously) whether what you are noticing makes sense.

Yup. Agreed. After doing critical questioning for about 7 days I have gotten lucid! I noticed something odd about my reflection (I had two reflections, a male and female one). But it was short lived unfortunately. But I won't go into much detail. Just wanted to let those that read this that this is definitely the piece of the puzzle I was missing.

Originally Posted by Daredevilpwn

Yup. Agreed. After doing critical questioning for about 7 days I have gotten lucid! I noticed something odd about my reflection (I had two reflections, a male and female one). But it was short lived unfortunately. But I won't go into much detail. Just wanted to let those that read this that this is definitely the piece of the puzzle I was missing.

That's great news, Daredevilpwn! Congratulations on the lucid. I'm really glad to hear that the combined approach is working so well for you.

Once this sense of skepticism, awareness, and critical questioning infuses your natural thought processes, you find yourself having DILDs much more regularly. Once you are thinking this way, it matters far less that you're not aware 100% of the time. You're only human, and those moments where awareness slips are perfect for critical questioning to enter the picture.

This takes a real commitment to put into practice, so your hard work made it happen. I'm very happy for you! Great work!