WBTB Your views and how you do it.

So I have read on various websites and watched videos that the WBTB technique is the best beginner technique so I just wanted to know your opinion, has it worked for you? after how long? and what do you do in the time while awake before you go back to bed, I'm asking this because the last time I tried it I went on the computer probably a bad idea but I read and watched videos about lucid dreaming and after half an hour I couldn't fall back to sleep, I'm hoping to attempt it again soon, this time I will just read a book or something but what are your views and what helps you?

Hello,

To start off, I would stay away from the computer because it screws with melatonin or some chemical, and it will keep you awake. I tried the same thing and same thing happened, couldn't fall alseep lol.

When I first started off I didn't see much good success because I kept them so short(30 seconds), this may work better for other people but recently I had a lucid when i got out of bed, went to the bathroom, did 10 jumping jacks, went back to bed, lasting about 5 minutes in all.

If anything at all they should help recall if you don't get lucid, which is progress towards getting lucid.

^Just my experience, hopefully it helps.

WBTB by itself isn't really considered a full technique, but it pairs well with DILD/WILD and their sub-types. Anyways, WBTB is very useful and I suggest everyone to attempt it every night if they can. Usually, you want to wake up 4-6 hours after your initial sleep, but it really depends on yourself, so you'll need to do some trial and error to get the right time. Same goes for how long you should stay up for the WBTB. What I usually do is just go to the bathroom and drink a glass of water and just have my mind on lucid dreaming. Try to avoid any lights or computers as that will make your mind too awake to fall asleep.

When I first go to bed I don't find it easy to get to sleep, however if I wake up through the night (which I most usually do) I can get back to sleep very very easy. For this, I can't stay awake long for WBTB or I won't sleep again. I tend to set an alarm for 2 hours before getting up, jot down any dreams I have or think about them, I might get out of bed and straight back in again. Overall I'll stay awake about 5-10 mins keeping my mind on dreams before going to sleep again. If I naturally wake during the night I cancel the alarm and use that as the WBTB, which is the more common case.

I find it improves my recall but not much else, though that's half the battle anyway so I'm happy to do it.

As the others have said, stay away from any sort of bright lights or screens, it messes with your brains hormones to keep you sleepy. Also, WBTB is a technique to be used as others, to augment them and complement them, not just to be used alone. A good way to do WBTB is to try and train yourself to do it naturally. After every dream you have, you wake up briefly but most people don't remember it. You can, using mantras, get yourself to properly wake up after every dream. This can help with recall as well. All I tend to do for a WBTB is write down my dreams I've woken up from, and then read through a couple of my older ones, so that I keep my mind focused on the topic of dreaming, then head back to sleep.