Thread: Still no trace of LD's, am I missing something?

I've finally decided to register here on DreamViews, so Hello!

For a long time now I haven't had really any success in getting lucid. It should only take one thought about lucid dreaming to become conscious/aware during a dream, or to remember to reality check. Either way, it's one simple thought. During the day I RC frequently whenever I remember to and whenever I have a thought about lucid dreaming. I observe what is in front of me, what I'm doing, look for dream signs of anything strange, etc. However when I am dreaming, I have none of those thoughts, like my mind is so narrowed to focusing on what is happening at the moment for any other thoughts.

I'm sure some people will find this annoying since this is probably the most common thing that everyone has at first. But I've been trying to LD for the past two years and am still stuck with this "problem" (although I've been more determined than ever this past month). Is it because my awareness is too low? I'm starting to think that lucid dreaming isn't really for everyone, even though I don't see why not.

Also, my dream recall is good (normally at least 3 dreams per night), so I don't think that is the problem. I also have been meaning to use the DEILD method, only every time I remember not to move I become uncomfortable in some way and it eventually steals my focus and I end up moving.
If someone could help me out/give me some advice, that would be great.

Welcome, RastaPasta.

How serious are you when you perform reality checks?
In order for RC's to be effective you need to honestly believe that you could be dreaming.
I have had dreams where I have gone through all kinds of hectic crap and messed things up bigtime, then wished for myself "if only this were a dream, so I could wake up - but things are so vivid that it must be waking life" - and then I woke up right after that!
So even if you are "sure" that you are awake, you should still double-check it very thoroughly, because you often assume that you are awake even in dreams.
Then, after you have made sure that you are awake, try to get a feel for exactly what waking life is like, and how it is different from your dreams, and ask yourself question like "why am I here?", "how do I know that I am awake right now?", "what was I doing a moment ago?" and so on - and really try to answer them.
You could even pretend that waking life is a vivid lucid dream (lucid dreams can actually be as vivid as waking life, sometimes even more vivid than that, so this is an entirely realistic imagination), and get a foretaste of what it is going to be like when you finally are in a lucid dream.

I have had very vivid False Awakenings that have been insanely convincing (I even felt my bare feet on the hard floor, but I could tell that I was dreaming, because my bed had suddenly been rotated 90° to the left for absolutely no reason at all, and there was a mysterious television at my feet), so it is especially important to check your state right after you wake up.

One trick that I often used in the beginning of my "LD career" (I have no idea why I don't do it more often nowadays) was that I tried to turn on my bedlamp every morning, and if it didn't function, then it was a strong indication that I was dreaming - of course, it could have stopped working in waking life as well, but if it didn't work then I made sure to be super-alert and really check if I could be dreaming.

In any case, don't get too hung up on techniques - yes, they are helpful in many ways, but in the end all that really matters about lucid dreaming is that you want to bring with you your critical thinking into the dreamworld.
And that's the purpose of Reality Checks - to practice your ability to honestly question your current surroundings.

Sounds like you have the same issue as me, it's really quite annoying. Thing is I didn't always have this problem, when I first stated LDing, DILDs were laughably easy, I realised I was dreaming several times a week back then. After I took a break from LDing and came back to it that "ability" was lost. I'm still not 100% sure what it was, but probably I was just a lot more in tune with my surroundings / mind several years ago than I am now, I was quite introverted and generally spent more time in my head, in a book or just sitting around thinking, I think that sort of self-awareness helps tremendously.

Unfortunately these days it's the opposite, I do more "outside" things, lose my focus a lot and become unaware if I forget to be mindful, in this current state I doubt I can get a DILD because it's something that needs to be natural, 8 years ago I was so self-aware I didn't even think about it, it was just the way I was. Now mindfulness is something I have to work on or it disappears. I think DILDs are difficult until mindfulness is more ingrained than not.

But fear not because WILDing isn't that hard, I really suggest you give SSILD / WILD a good shot, it won't interfere with mindfulness / DILD work but you'll get at least a couple of LDs a week if you put in a tiny bit of effort.

You can also try training up your prospective memory (remembering that you wanted to do something, pick 3 things in the morning you want to notice during the day and then practice until you don't miss them when they happen) and that may produce good results for MILD.


I know your frustration with DILDing, but it's not the only way to LD, more people have success with simple WBTB + MILD / SSILD / WILD than trying to build up their awareness / RCing.

I wonder, why do you expect those thoughts to happen in dreams? Your brain isn't functioning like in waking, so such complex thought (Yes, I consider that complex) wouldn't really happen. Laurelindo gives good advice regarding RCs, quantity vs quality here I believe.

And yes, as he said the technique is not really that important; different things work for different people so if you feel stuck with one, try with a new one and discard the parts of each technique that seems useless to you and keep the ones that are helpful.

I went without any induced lucid for 8 years of trying and trying, bet you can't beat that lol

^ Yeah, you won't have thoughts like that and then become lucid because of it - it happens the other way around. You become lucid, and then you're able to think more rationally and do RCs etc. But that doesn't mean you can or should stop doing RCs in waking life - on the contrary, you need to do something to keep yourself thinking about dreams and lucidity and questioning your state frequently. It'snot the thoughts that carry through, it's the constant state questioning that accompanies them.

You won't be having much logical thought in the average dream. You pretty much have to either ingrain a certain RC or behavior so it's just second nature to you (no thinking required), or (the easier option) increase your wakefulness before dreaming. Have you tried WBTB much? When I first started trying to LD, I thought people were crazy to get up in the middle of the night, but then I tried it and it really helps wake your brain up. Then you may get a hint of rational thinking in a later dream. Throw in some SSILD with it and your odds go through the roof.