 Originally Posted by DragonSword
Some of you may remember I posted this a few months ago. I've tried everything.
What, exactly, have you tried, and for how long? If you describe your current practice, in great detail, what you do every day, and every night, in order to promote dream recall and lucidity, then perhaps we can help.
Maybe what you need to do is to keep a "waking journal" while you're waiting to recall dreams for your dream journal, describe what you do all during the day, at what tines etc., what do you at night time, during the night, how you wake, how often you wake, what's on your mind as you wake, and so forth. Writing out a waking day's memory journal in the evening can also be a great stimulation to recall. Recalling dreams is basically no different than recalling what you did during the day, both are a review of recent memories.
Have you read LaBerge's ETWOLD and ACILD? Have you followed ACILD to the letter, every single point of every exercise, in order? And done it for a significant amount of time at full effort (several months at least)? If not, there's the place to start.
If you haven't yet, you should try reading through the thread Ctharlie started about mindfulness, and read the references there. The books about mindfulness practice and the Dream Yoga books there are very interesting, and enough of a different approach from the typical "western scientific" literature on lucid dreaming that perhaps something there will resonate with you more strongly.
In particular, B. Allanc Wallace's "Dreaming Yourself Awake: Lucid Dreaming and Tibetan Dream Yoga for Insight and Transformation" is a well-written introduction to Dream Yoga and seeks to synthesize the western and eastern approaches to lucid dreaming practice.
In many ways, success in lucid dreaming, dream recall, (or any discipline which requires effort [and most do], like musical instruments) is a self-fulfilling prophecy: you must really truly desire it with all your heart, and you must never let anything get in your way, and work diligently past any and all obstacles.
Realize that it is not simply a destination (recalling dreams every night, having a particular lucid dreaming frequency), but a life journey: of personal self-discovery, focusing on your self-awareness, memory, and how you sleep and dream.
edit; let me add that negative feelings and dream performance anxiety tend to exist in a vicious self-fulfilling cycle. You need to break out of the negative mindset. Looking forwards to results without putting any pressure on yourself in the meantime, while maintaining the full-on practice, is the way to go.
Mindfulness and meditation practice have benefits for waking life -- they're sort of a "have your cake and eat it, too" thing. Practicing them without putting pressure on yourself that they must yield dreaming results will absolutely yield those dreaming results as a side effect. One of the absolute best ways to lead a fulfilling and happy dream life is to have a happy and fulfilling waking life.
Why don't you start (or continue) a workbook in either the intro or DILD class, and put at least an abbreviated version of a day memory journal and LD practice journal there. Maintaining a journal related to dreaming every day and posting it there as proof to yourself that you're doing the work and making the effort can be a great way to break the dreaming logjam. Having the willpower to do something like that is essential in building a dreaming practice.
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