Which method? Where to start?

Hey all!

So I'm trying to attain lucidity, but I don't know where to start. I hear about ld a year or two ago, and I would try to ld off and on. Now, I'm serious. But where should I start? I've been trying to do RCs but I often forget. Also, I don't want to look like a wierdo in public by looking at my palms for 10 seconds lol. I am trying to keep a dream journal, but I can't always remember to use it.

Also, does what we do before we go to bed affect the way we dream? I spend at least a good hour and a half reading the Lord of the Rings and praying/reading the Bible before I go to bed. Could I somehow incorporate that into my reality checks? Because by the time I am done with that hour and a half of reading and praying, it is really late and I feel exhausted. Would that be a good time to WILD?

Any suggestions would be helpful. I hope to be lucid dreaming by the end of the summer!

Start with DILD.
Have a look through this tutorial http://www.dreamviews.com/induction-...cid-dream.html

It's best to steer away from WILD until you've had a few lucid dreams, so you know what to expect.

Welcome

I would check out all the threads that are linked in there as well as my personal favorites:
http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...technique.html
http://www.dreamviews.com/induction-...d-secrets.html

When going through tutorials you might see the same things written over and over, but that is really good for getting something to sink into your mind (as you know from reading the Bible ;))

And Woah! My two favorite books! I love them so much! :D I wouldn't recommend incorporating anything into reading your Bible because you want to be focused on God during that time, and hearing from him. But when reading LOTR, you can keep repeating "am I dreaming?" and imagining what it would be like if you were in the book either starting a dream or realizing that you are dreaming. This will give you some good practice with dream incubation and will be a sort of way to set your intention before bed.

Even if you go to bed late, you will start in NREM, and it isn't a prime place to WILD. You want to be physically tired, but mentally awake. If you stay up too late, you are mentally tired as well and that will make you lose consciousness easier. I would recommend WILDing after a WBTB or a micro WBTB. It sounds like you have a very set sleep schedule (which is great for LDing) and if you incorporate waking up every couple hours (I would recommend naturally) you will increase awareness in dreams and get tons of WILD attempts.

If you have any questions you can ask in here or single out a Dream Guide here. We love to help. :)

Also, listen to DutchRaptor, he is wise. :D

I use the method of visually focusing all day and when I am going to bed so I become aware when I dream.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BrandonBoss

But when reading LOTR, you can keep repeating "am I dreaming?" and imagining what it would be like if you were in the book either starting a dream or realizing that you are dreaming. This will give you some good practice with dream incubation and will be a sort of way to set your intention before bed.

---

Yup this is a great way of ensuring a reality check in dream. I do this with almost every form of entertainment, Books, tv, and especially games like skyrim where you can see your character moving through the world. It also has the added benefit in that often dreams are centered on the books you have just read or the movie you just saw, so you are not only practicing your habit of reality checking but also increasing the likelihood of being in a situation which will turn you lucid.

I am kind of unsure when it comes to recommend a starter technique to a beginner, because there is a big dilemma that needs to be explained:
First of all what will get you success and learn FAST is something you don't even want, which is why BIG success is only for the few who actually do it.
And the dilemma is to tell you or not, because most people's egos are not prepared to hear the hard truth.
First of all this principle applies to success with everything, I will use pick up as an analogy because I got experience of this too.

FAILURE leads to success. With the right mindset of course.

Most people that are new want to find the BEST technique that gives most result and fast. And what I described above is the fastest and most efficent way to attain that goal. But do people want to fail over and over? NO..

You might wonder why I say that you will fail over and over that doesn't seem very motivating right?
Well lucid dreaming is (just like pick up) not lined up fact and science and just like every girl wont like you when you approach for whatever reason, every night wont be a lucid night. And this is what makes most people stop and say that lucid dreaming wasn't for me (or pick up wasn't for me). And sure you will have some successes here and there, but if you want to freaking master it, you need to fail and learn. The journey to mastery is all that I am focusing on here.

So in the long run what technique you choose doesn't really matter, the only think that matters is your mindset to the technique.

If you can practise DILD and fail over and over but enjoys the technique because you find it fun, then that's the technique for you.
But if you can WILD and fail over and over and still enjoy the practise itself because it's fun, then that's the technique for you.

However DILD is an indirect technique so you are not as much in control of the induction and it's random result compared to the WILD. Which is probably why it is recommended to beginners, so that they actually start and continue their journey.
WILD is a direct technique that puts you in FULL control of the induction but also more pressure on your mind compared to the DILD.

I practised DILD for a long time (4 years) well some WILD techniques here and there, but most of my result was DILDs. And I then developed a mindset to love the long process and learning and the practise more rather than the result and now it was easier to practise WILD.

So if I would recommend a technique for a beginner (based on my experience) I would recommend meditation.
Because meditation teaches you the mindset of not judging yourself, letting yourself let go of thoughts and just do the right thing, and feel at peace.
When the right mindset is established you can do whatever technique you want and succeed, because you can enjoy the long run.

Practise non stop for 6-20 years HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY FAIL?

This is becoming a kind of a long post but I want to show you an analogy of picking up girls to show you how this makes us arrive at MEDITATION as the answer to all of your problems.

At first you start out by not even daring to go up to a girl. And you have to fail over and over until you no longer are affected by rejection or being judged, by both yourself and people around, but mostly yourself!
And then the pick up gurus tell you to go in direct (showing your intentions, taking full control) by saying "Hey you were cute so I just had to talk to you" but this is a big step for you and you are not really ready. So you start out by using indirect techniques (not having clear intentions), this makes some girls think of you as a weirdo (becuase they wonder what the F you are doing), but some girls starts to pick you up but this is more of a numbers game and luck, but it is good for you to learn the mindset of making small progress and loving the process. This usually takes a year to develop and internalise.
And now you feel more confident and can start do direct game and no longer care if you fail, AND BOM now you can learn and since you behave like a successful alpha male (not being needy, being a leader ready take risks, you talk to many girls which is mirrorred in your personality so you show that you got abundnace etc.) the girls actually starts to get attracted to you. By now you realize that the biggest enemy was your own ego and if you would like to help another newbie, like you used to be, you now got the experience that suggest that the best thing from the beginning would be to just FAIL horribly over and over, but still continue because failures are lessons and lessons leads to learning and growth.

Try to think like this process in lucid dreaming as well!

So now you wonder, why meditation? Because it is easy to tell someone to just go out and fail and love the process blablabla.
But to actually do it, is hard. And it is supposed to be hard otherwise everyone would do it! The difficulty is the reason to why it is great!

However meditation: Meditation -- A Beginner's Practical Guide - YouTube

Makes it easier for the mind! Believe me it's like shutting off your judging mind and your problems don't seem like problems anymore. It's great way to fall asleep as well. ;)

I used this off-topic example to show that success is the same for whatever you do.

Good luck and happy failures! ;)

Quote:

---

I use the method of visually focusing all day and when I am going to bed so I become aware when I dream.

---

How is this done?

But otherwise, thank you for all of your tips! I will try incorporating my reading time into my lucid dreaming. And more importantly, I'll keep on trying, even when times look tough. I got a few entries in my personal dream journal today :D