Back from a break and need advice

[Santoryu]

Hey guys, I had decided to take a break from attempting to lucid dream after losing motivation for LD'ing as I was unable to get anywhere close to experiencing a LD after a year of trying to. But I want to get back into it and would really appreciate it if you guys could help me get back on the right track.

[bb316]

Welcome back Santoryu! I also got back into lucid dreaming about a month ago. I had some success before I lost motivation two years ago. For the first two weeks to a month i would simply work on my dream recall. Rigorously keep a dream journal, this is the foundation of LDing. Then I would try a mix between MILD and DILD these methods work for me extremely well with a WBTB. The MILD portion for me is simply mantras. Here are some great DILD articles: http://www.dreamviews.com/induction-...kingyoshi.html Puffin's DILD Guide - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views Good Luck!

[L4xord]

Yes, in my experience you must always have a dream journal. Simply keeping a dream journal and doing nothing will give you a great chance at LDing. Then when you use a technique like MILD after using a journal, it's simply a matter of time until your first LD.

[Santoryu]

Thanks for the tips. I managed to remember two dreams yesterday in average detail and during my break I only recalled about 4 dreams so it seems promising. I just hope I can keep my recall up. I'm probably gonna try ADA as I had tried it some time before but wasn't really putting in much effort that time. I'll be sure to put enough effort in this time.

[Amiana]

I'm also back to LDing after taking a break for a few months. It took me many weeks of frustration before I realized I had to just listen to myself and not try to force it if the motivation isn't there. Find something that gets you excited to put the work in again. Relive old lucid dreams. Try a new technique, get a new lucid dreaming book, spend a lot of time on DV!

[FryingMan]

Yes, DJ is key. Make the effort to recall dreams every time you wake up. ADA is good but at the very least establish regular RCs. Really work on the RCs, don't be lazy, *do not assume you are awake!*. Really spend effort to figure out what your state is (if the conclusion is that you're awake, don't say or think "I'm awake", or "I'm not dreaming," just go right on to the mantra part about remembering to recognize you're dreaming the next time you're dreaming). Eventually this habit will leak into your dreams and you'll become lucid. MILD is not "mantra induction of lucid dreaming," it is "mnemonic induction of lucid dreaming," it is a prospective memory based technique. It is more than just a mantra. You need to recall a dream, visualize a dreamsign in the dream, and see yourself becoming lucid in the dream. You need to set a prospective memory target for yourself to recognize that you're dreaming the next time you're dreaming. As such, MILD for good success requires a fairly good prospective memory. You can do exercises in WL to improve your prospective memory. At first I could barely recall the 4 targets of the day. Now I set myself 8-12 targets (4 at a time) throughout the day, and as soon as I realize I hit/miss a target I set a new target. My two DILDs came on days with very active PM exercises (more than 10 targets considered). I think keeping the goal-seeking center of the brain active throughout the day helps with achieving MILDs. Also, consistency is key. Read DV for motivation. It took me a full month of solid every day and night effort to get to my first DILD (via MILD, becoming lucid felt just like a prospective memory target "firing"). Then my second DILD came 1 week later, which came from MILD + a bit of critical faculty (in the dream recognizing a scenario as being dream-like). With continued effort I believe the frequency will keep going up, so that's very motivating! I read somewhere and it's become my favorite saying: the only difference between those who can LD regularly that those who cannot is that those who can didn't give up in the beginning. And be honest with the effort and time investment, unless you're spending real effort throughout the day, every day, setting intention, doing (high quality effortful) RCs, reading about the various techniques, getting advice from experienced LDers, you're not really "trying to LD." "Effortful study", honest self-evaluation with the help of experts, and regular practice is the key to improvement in any field, including LD.