Thread: Practicing self-awareness and SSILD for 10 weeks

Actually, nose RC is one of the more reliable RCs out there. But there are no foolproof RCs, and to decrease the chances of the nose pinch RC failing (not being able to breathe through pinched nose in a dream) you should make sure you breathe in and out at least 3 times, and expect to be able to breathe, because as you know, expecting something to happen in the dream world will make it happen.

Also, what do you think about checking the clock on your phone as an RC? I think this RC could even make you lucid before you check the time, because for people who always have their phone with them like I do, once you're in a dream and can't find your phone, your awareness suddenly spikes up and you start asking questions that make it obvious you're dreaming.

p.s. I too forget to stabilize the dream, had too many lucids end prematurely because I forgot to stabilize them, it sucks >_<

So yaya, would you say it's more of a recall technique or a lucid one?

Thank you very much dear Mimi! that really helps!

Originally Posted by Kxngoliver

So yaya, would you say it's more of a recall technique or a lucid one?

to really know if SSILD is a LD method or recall technique, I practiced SSILD alone for 2 months (some months ago) and it mostly helped me in dream recall and it didn't give me much LD. so i count it as a way to boost the dream recall and its clarity.

i think SSILD is a good LD technique for those who can do WILD easily. also it can be a LD method if we combine it with ADA and other DILD methods.

i hope it helped!

Originally Posted by mimihigurashi

Actually, nose RC is one of the more reliable RCs out there. But there are no foolproof RCs, and to decrease the chances of the nose pinch RC failing (not being able to breathe through pinched nose in a dream) you should make sure you breathe in and out at least 3 times, and expect to be able to breathe, because as you know, expecting something to happen in the dream world will make it happen.

When I RC during the day, I try to get the feel of a negative RC indicative of dreaming. So now that I had my first LD and recently, the image of my left hand in all its funky glory is burned into memory. I usually pause, close my eyes and take a few paced breaths to visualize how it looked, then proceed with the hand RC. I also follow it up with a nose pinch, and I do much the same thing though I've yet to do that in a dream. However after taking a few breaths it gives me a good feel for the breath and then I don't over-exaggerate breathing while pinching my nose.

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

When I RC during the day, I try to get the feel of a negative RC indicative of dreaming. So now that I had my first LD and recently, the image of my left hand in all its funky glory is burned into memory. I usually pause, close my eyes and take a few paced breaths to visualize how it looked, then proceed with the hand RC. I also follow it up with a nose pinch, and I do much the same thing though I've yet to do that in a dream. However after taking a few breaths it gives me a good feel for the breath and then I don't over-exaggerate breathing while pinching my nose.

Be careful with closing your eyes though, if it becomes a habit you might do it in dreams, and many people find that if they close their eyes while dreaming, they wake up, or the dream fades.

Didn't know that! Now I'm thinking do I ever remember closing my eyes in a dream? I can't remember ever doing that! Good point.

summery of week 9=

- number of LD= 3

i do RC every night in my dreams....some of them fail to show me that i am dreaming (like before) (i did RC, 4 times last night but they were normal as waking life).

but the new problem is that even if the RCs show me that i am dreaming, i don't believe that i am dreaming. for example, i read something in dream and it changed to something else but then i told to myself= oh come on....that's impossible i be dreaming.... then i woke up....

this is the most stupid thing that can happen while practicing DILD.

so to really believe that i might be dreaming, i am going to extend my dream yoga practicing time (i mean the dream yoga which is about thinking we are dreaming even if we are awake during the day) so it would be easier to accept that i am dreaming while RCing.

I am looking up on you. Your persistence is exemplary. Bravo! and keep it up! (a little bit envious )

oh! thank you very much, Gyalogos!

but....i may want to give up this method after these 10 weeks. because although everything is going fine with this method but my dreams are going to be very realistic and no RC works inside my dreams (90% of the times). in these 9 weeks, i had more than 20 dreams which i RCed inside them and they failed to show me i am dreaming or not.

so i practice DILD and i become aware in dreams that something is wrong and i RC but...they can't tell me the truth. sometimes i ignore the result of the RC too even if they successfully works for me.

RCs like nose plugging, staring at objects to see if they change, looking at my hands, reading something from my hand, they all couldn't tell me i was dreaming....

what's the point of practicing DILD if it doesn't work well when you are close to have LD?

Changing technics is not giving up persistence. Sometimes I simply turn off from LD. You are changing, and not on a hectic way (like every week), and I like this attitude.

Originally Posted by yaya

but the new problem is that even if the RCs show me that i am dreaming, i don't believe that i am dreaming. for example, i read something in dream and it changed to something else but then i told to myself= oh come on....that's impossible i be dreaming.... then i woke up....

That really does sound problematic. Maybe you don't fully accept the fact that you could be dreaming at any moment during waking life? I know it's easy to say "yeah, yeah I could be dreaming (but I'm probably not)" but do you really believe that? You must really believe it. I used to think I believed it too, until I had dreams that were incredibly real-life like, which convinced me that you can never, ever know 100% that you are dreaming, no matter how awake you feel and how realistic everything feels, you COULD be dreaming at ANY moment. That's something to really contemplate and fully try to understand and accept, beyond the fake, superficial level mentioned earlier.

p.s. it's great that you're doing RCs in dreams, I do them a lot in waking life and still never did one in a dream.. If I do get suspicious in a dream that I might be dreaming though, I quickly become lucid, without being skeptical and having to do multiple RCs. Maybe you should try new RCs? I don't know, I've never heard of doing so many RCs and still not becoming lucid..

Yaya, I think the technique is fine. It seems like you are only missing a small element here. What that element is, I'm not sure, but the fact that you are RCing so frequently in dreams is a great sign. I wonder if making some affirmations before relaxing into SSILD will help bring the point home in dream. You may just need to heighten your awareness pre-dream.

You might also practice becoming lucid during the day (imagining how you will become lucid, what RC you will use, what the dream sign will be). You might just incubate something helpful.

thank you very much guys! you make me confident!

and yes...you are right about my mistakes...actually i did RC every 5 minutes which made the practice less effective. so i think it is better to examine my environment and my state plus doing RC only every 1 hour. maybe it can add more depth to my DILD practice.

as i didn't have any night time practice, i am going to do LD incubation and affirmations while SSILD too!

let's see how it will work!

MILD sounds like a good add on to SSILD. I just hope your brain doesn't become too active that you'll stay awake.

summery of week 10=

i have done what i told the last time in this thread and it gave me better result. i think the number of RC is not important but its quality is very important.
doing RC and holding self-awareness for 2 minutes every 1 hour was better than doing RC alone every 5 minutes.

although i only had one short LD in this week, but at least in all of my dreams, i come to release that something is wrong. last night, i had a dream and i knew it was not normal and i sat on a chair and thought why it is not normal for 5 minutes. as i didn't RC so i didn't become lucid but i am already satisfies that at least i am not like a zombie in my dreams.

as these 10 weeks was not enough for DILD, i am going to do another 10 weeks of DILD. I have killed a lot of time in those 10 weeks on finding a balanced formula of doing RC+self-awareness and i think i have a better formula now after many trials and errors.

That's a lot of dedication, yaya. This all going to pay off soon, I'm sure. Great job!

summery of week 11=

I did RC+self awareness every hour and whenever i remembered to do. Every section, it took me 2 minutes.

result= I had 4 LDs in this week i never had such a result!!!!

the key for me was WBTB. if i did a proper WBTB (30 mins) + some affirmations (such as: i will RC in my dreams) then i had a guaranteed LD.

but if i eliminated WBTB, then i was doomed to fail.

Nice, looks like you've found your magic formula so to say lol, good for you!

Originally Posted by yaya

summery of week 11=

I did RC+self awareness every hour and whenever i remembered to do. Every section, it took me 2 minutes.

result= I had 4 LDs in this week i never had such a result!!!!

the key for me was WBTB. if i did a proper WBTB (30 mins) + some affirmations (such as: i will RC in my dreams) then i had a guaranteed LD.

but if i eliminated WBTB, then i was doomed to fail.

This. I think many LDers make the mistake of trying to LD at the wrong time, at bedtime or even during the day. You should be trying to LD during your late REM periods, at least until experience starts getting you DILDs regardless of REM period/nighttime awakenings. This is one of biggest problems in how we teach lucid dreaming. Beginners forego supposedly 'advanced' techniques and only RC during the day to induce lucid dreams when that alone will only yield DILDs with experience. The most effective approach is some kind of state awareness combined with techniques to raise general dream awareness (see Sensei's guides), ie. building dream recall, WBTB, microWBTB, MILD, SSILD.