Some Beginner Questions

[Duffles]

Hello all, This is my first post on these forums, but I have tried lucid dreaming before. Once I started college I had taken a long break from lucid dreaming because I couldn't keep a stable sleeping schedule. But now I am back to lucid dreaming and I've found that I am plagued with all the problems of a beginner, not to say I ever got anywhere the first time I tried lucid dreaming, I've only done it a couple times. So instead of making a bunch of threads for each of my questions, I'll post all of them here. Some things to note is I have been keeping a regular dream journal, and I've been doing reality checks and randomly asking myself if I'm dreaming during the day since I've started trying to lucid dream again. I would really appreciate an experienced lucid dreamer's advice on these questions. Thanks. Most of my dreams I am not in a body, I'm either overlooking my own body in the third person, or my perspective is above the whole dream and I'm watching whats happening from afar and when I am in my body its like everything is scripted, there's no thought of what or why things are happening, everything is just moving, even myself. How do I realize its a dream when I don't have a body to do reality checks? And is it normal to feel like things are just going through the motion in a dream? I've been practicing asking myself where I just was and where I'm going and doing reality checks for about a week now. The last time I tried to lucid dream I was doing them for months and I still wasn't getting anywhere. The only lucid dream I consider a genuine lucid dream, was when my pet cat had just died and he showed up in a dream and I realized that he had died, which I'm pretty sure wasn't because of reality checks. Any advice? Over the course of my life I've had around 7 dreams in which I realized I was dreaming, but only to the extent that I wanted to wake up ( they were all nightmares, and I wanted to escape what was chasing me ). Whenever these happen I don't even stop to think about it more, I just realize I'm dreaming and then immediately wake myself up. Is there any advice to give me that will help me stop and think about it a bit more? Whenever I keep a regular sleep schedule, during the course of my sleep I wake up naturally around 4-6 times, which I assume are after a REM cycle because I can remember clearly what I had just dreamed about. Instead of doing DILD should I consider other techniques? And which would be best for my situation?

[gab]

Hi and welcome to Dreamviews! Sorry for the late reply. Yes, dream journal is important, as it tells your mind that dreaming and remembering them is important to you. Reality checks - it's important to do them meaningfully. Not just go through the motion absentmindedly. We need to really believe that we could be in a dream at that moment, and the RC will work for the same reason. Because then in a dream, we just do RC, but nothing happens. When in a non-lucid dream, this belief, the "wow, this could be a dream" gives us some awareness and that may trigger an urge to RC. In all my life, I have never seen my body in a non-lucid. Untill I saw my hands come into my view, right after I got an idea "wow, this is a dream" and I RCd. So we don't have to worry how our non-lucids look or feel like. When you get awareness from practice, everything will be there where it's suppose to. To not wake yourself up from nightmares. Here is my advise. Think about it during day. Know, that it's your dream. What you think, that's what will happen. Practice it. Imagine you just got lucid and you see something scary. Now think/say to it something like this: "I know you are a good guy and I love you". Or "oh look at that cute bunny", while looking at the monster. Make up your own words, but the idea should be that you are not scared, because you know it's just a dream and you can change anything you don't like. All you have to do is have a thought. Believe it or not (I suggest believe, hahah), but those thoughts of yours WILL work. So instead of waking yourself up, change the dream. RCs don't get us lucid. It's the feeling or thought or belief that we could be dreaming at any moment. That "wow" moment, when we stop doing what we doing, look around and expect something to happen, because we could be in a dream. This wow moment can come at any time. When we see something strange, when we do something common, or at any random time or many other occasions. (sorry bout your cat, btw) When you wake up naturaly, you can aim for both, DILD and WILD. If you have time for a WBTB, which can last from minutes to hours, you can go for a WILD. If not, you can go for a DILD. And if yo go for a WILD and don't get lucid, you still have a better chance for a DILD, just because you were thinking about it. Here are some links you can compare to your practice and see what you could do differently. Check them out and then please post any more questions you have. Will be happy to answer. happy dreams Induction Methods and Techniques DILD, WILD and RCs http://www.dreamviews.com/dild/13212...ods-dilds.html WILD WILD by sageous

[Duffles]

Hey, sorry for the late reply. Thanks for all the amazing advice, I just had a dream in which I realized I was dreaming but I immediately tried to wake myself up. It was almost like I thought waking myself up was a way to confirm that I was dreaming, basically a reality check. Ahhhh it's pretty frustrating but at least its some progress, I did realize I was dreaming. I'll continue to work on it! Thanks!

[gab]

Hey, sorry for the late reply. Thanks for all the amazing advice, I just had a dream in which I realized I was dreaming but I immediately tried to wake myself up. It was almost like I thought waking myself up was a way to confirm that I was dreaming, basically a reality check. Ahhhh it's pretty frustrating but at least its some progress, I did realize I was dreaming. I'll continue to work on it! Thanks! That is a lucid dream

[Duffles]

Well, I've had dozens of experiences like that, but I still can't make myself really stop and think about what it means for it to be a dream before I wake myself up. Its almost like a instinct I've developed for whenever I become lucid in a dream; I wake myself up. Its kind of annoying. I think I've only had 1 lucid dream in which I actually realized I was dreaming and didn't immediately wake up ( I punched a wall and it exploded and then did the matrix dodge while a couple of guys were shooting at me, ).