Any improvements on my lucid dreaming 'habits'? Is WBTB better when used more than once per night?

Hello guys. I've been practising lucid dreaming on and off ever since February/March last year, and have had a bit of success, most of it being from between January and now. Anyway, I've decided to come back to lucid dream practising after I stopped at the end of February this year, and I'm getting back into the swing of things, although I'd appreciate some advice from any more experienced dreamers here regarding whether my technique is good enough and if I could improve it.


What I am focusing on is getting back into the normal LDing habits, but spreading the individual habits out so that I start them again more slowly. For example, when I was practising lucid dreaming before, I used to reality check roughly twice an hour by plugging my nose and imagining that I can breathe through it, then trying to push my finger through my palm and really intending for it to go through, as well as trying to recall what I was doing a few minutes ago and how I got to where I was now.


In addition to that, I always set an alarm for 3:30am after I'd fallen asleep by 10:30pm to wake me up in order to perform WBTB and WILD. Needless to say, the WILD never worked, but the WBTB may have helped me with my dream recall, although I couldn't tell. At the moment, I'm RCing roughly once an hour using the reality check mechanisms I mentioned earlier, and using a mantra for MILD before I go to sleep to help my subconscious try to become aware of me wanting to have a lucid dream! I'm also waking up at 3:30am to do WBTB. At the end of the week, I'll start maybe trying WILD or another technique during my WBTB to improve my chances of lucidity.


The mantra, by the way, is: "While I am dreaming, I will realise I'm dreaming."


Previously, the only lucid dreams I've had were random lucids that happened when I'd given up, and they happened about a week after I gave up, and I've also had a few LDs from unpredictable and accidental DEILD 'attempts' where I'd woken up in the middle of the night and just happened to not lose all awareness when falling back asleep immediately. That's why I'd like to learn how to become at least sort of successful at having DILDs, because the reason I'm doing all of these practises and techniques ISN'T to have the occasional random LD once I've become bored of practising LDing!


It seems to me that a lot of people manage to get at least one lucid dream every 2 weeks or so after practising lucid dreaming using the techniques and habits I mentioned above, but I've never managed to achieve even a single lucid dream! Keeping in mind, at the start, I went for 4 months practising, and there were NO DILDs! I know practising lucid dreaming isn't ALL about the end result, but for me, and probably most people, that is the grand prize I want at the end of it all!


I have noticed one thing that I seem to get better at after longer periods of practise: my dream recall. Also, when I tried to incorporate awareness techniques into my LD routine for a short period of time, I managed to recall a LOT more little details from my dreams! Sadly, I found that for me, the awareness techniques were unbearably difficult to keep up, what with noticing EVERY LITTLE DETAIL that happens, so I can't really effectively use them as a means of improving dream recall or lucidity in dreams.


I know that was a lot to read, but if you have read everything, could you tell me if I'm doing anything wrong with my techniques? Also, I'd like to know (like the thread title says) whether performing WBTB multiple times per night is more effective than just once. I've heard of 'how to lucid dream' guides saying that it improves dream recall if you can wake up a few times in the middle of the night to write down your dreams, but that's not exactly the same as WBTB.

Thank you!

Generally people say to have a mantra that is in the present rather than in the future because if you think "I am going to realize I am dreaming" then even if the though gets through in a dream, you are waiting on a future time to LD. It would be good to change it, mine is "I am dreaming" and if ever the thought pops in my head in a dream, you can see how this would help.

I do multiple WBTBs each night and I think that it helps a lot!

usually there is no "random lucid dreams" you have your awareness and recall high, but stress can inhibit lucid dreams. So when people give up on lucid dreaming, the stress goes away and your awareness is still there for a while. This leads people to think that "not doing anything" is what gets them a lucid. I would recommend finding a perfect amount of working on LDing and not stressing about it.

I would recommend reading some of this stuff:
http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...technique.html
http://www.dreamviews.com/general-lu...s-secrets.html
http://www.dreamviews.com/dreamviews...ng-sensei.html

Thanks for your help! I read through your links, and I'll try the MILD visualisation technique tonight! Also, I'm changing my mantra after you pointing out its flaw...how did I NOT notice that! Anyway, it'll obviously help improve my chances of becoming lucid a little bit! I think I'll probably try waking up a second time for WBTB tonight too, only for the fact that it means I can write my dreams down even more and get even more time to practise MILD!

generally when waking in the middle of the night it is good to just write down some simple tags.

Remember that lucid dreaming, like sports, requires practice (you'll hear Sensei use that analogy a bunch if you watch those videos). Slow, steady practice is better than intense, sporadic practice. It's better to do slightly less each day than to do too much and end up taking weeks or months off at a time.

The lucid living with Sensei video series was great motivation for me. Part of why they were so successful was that they were released every day or couple of days so that I had something to look forward to each day and I didn't get too much information at once. Consider watching them at a similar rate as they were released.

Meditating 5-10 minutes a day, every day, is another great tool. Helps with lucid dreaming as well as other aspects of life. Remember though that meditation is a practice also and the same sort of idea as lucid dreaming. 5 minutes every day is much better than 40 minutes once a week.

Assuming you are recalling dreams, when you are non-lucid, you are aware of the dream. When you are lucid, you are not only aware of the dream, but you remember it's a dream. That's why you're recall improved, but lucidity didn't as a result of the awareness practices.

Your lack of regard for the importance of memory in lucid dreaming practice is also underscored by your thinking that MILD will improve your awareness. MILD is not an awareness technique. The purpose of MILD is to improve your in-dream memory. This is done by increasing your intention which makes what you want more important so it's easier to remember that you're dreaming.

I suggest you change your mantra to "While I am dreaming, I will remember I'm dreaming". Once you have enough intention to lucid dream upon falling asleep, your subconscious memory of it will become important enough that the concept of dreaming will enter your dreams. If you then remember what the concept of dreaming is, remember it's time to do a reality check, remember what a failed reality check is, and remember what a failed reality check means, you will become lucid.

This thread is great motivation. I started two nights ago with the same mantra that Sensei used, "I'm dreaming", but after reading through Dolphin's post I realize now that I like ''I remember I'm dreaming" more. I was just thinking that I was going to start meditating, and thought I'd ask which type of meditation you guys would recommend for lucid dreaming. But then I realized after typing it up that is the wrong way to approach this -too result oriented. This is something Mastermind mentioned earlier, not to worry so much about the destination but the process and the work that goes into it. So tomorrow I look forward to the beginning of my dive into the field of meditation. This analogy can also be made towards your efforts for lucid dreaming. Just do the day work and work on your awareness - get to know the process and feel the passion behind it, a heightened sense of awareness is a beautiful thing. Great thread.

Yes, it is like a sport or working out. It is not a project, it is a process. When you can have anything you want at a word, the journey is the reward.

Thanks for all the help guys! I'll be using a mantra including something about remembering that I'm dreaming from now on, seeing as I understand your logic behind it, and I'll also watch and listen to Sensei's videos!

I can totally relate to Liam12345677; though I've had 7 LDs, it's been over several months and a lot of effort. I'm going to change my mantra to your "remember" suggestion. I do recall dreams, have read a lot on DV and used the buddy system last month with Naiya, which was terrific but still, not lucid. Thanks for your help.