Just had my first (momentary) lucid in months! Next steps?

Hey guys,

So a couple nights ago, after doing a lot of research on lucid dreaming, I happened to actually get lucid for a second during a dream! Coincidence? Not sure.

You can read the whole thing in my DJ; it's my most recent dream. Essentially, I was wandering through a forest stealthily with a rifle, when suddenly a huge bear (one of my dream signs) stepped out from the foliage. It was at that moment that I realized I was dreaming, and got really excited. But I knew that the dream was going to collapse, so I tried running in circles (spin?) to stabilize it but I lost it.

Is this really what the "spin" technique is? Or am I mistaking it for something else? Just making sure -- I know I'm a real newb to lucid dreaming; I've only got 3 or so under my belt and the earlier ones happened when I was much younger.

Regarding the instability, the proper thing to do is to stay calm (somehow), right? I know I'll have a hard time with this just because I'm very excited about lucids in general, and because I hope to make them part of my lifestyle.

Also, I'm really hoping to take advantage of having a recent lucid in order to have more. Besides journaling everything and doing frequent reality checks, what do you guys recommend?

Thanks,
Jelly

Hey Jellyd0nut,

Congrats on the lucid! It's fairly common to wake up fairly quickly during your first few lucid dreams, especially from excitement. But after you have had a couple, you start to get used to the feeling of being lucid and can control your excitement much easier. Still, it doesn't hurt to stabilize the dream. I still occasionally have some lucid dreams that end prematurely because I forgot to stabilize.

I believe the spin technique just means that you stand with your arms out and rotate, much like a ballerina or a figure skater. However, spinning isn't the only method for stabilization (in fact, in my experience it's one of the least reliable, as it can fairly often cause False Awakenings). Other methods include rubbing your hands together, focusing attention on one particular element of the dream, and doing verbal commands like "Stabilize now!". Sometimes even just performing RCs can help to stabilize the dream. You can read more about Dream Stabilization here: Dream Stabilization and Clarity Tutorial - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

As for what to do next, it sounds like you're definitely on the right track if you're recognizing your dream signs. One thing I would suggest is to use your current lucid experience (even if it just seemed like a little bit) to set your intention for your next one. As you lie down to sleep, replay the dream in your head, and act out what you would've done if you hadn't woken up. Try adding a couple stabilization methods in the reenactment to reinforce the concept of stabilizing your dream. Other than that, it sounds like you're definitely on your way to having your next (hopefully longer) lucid.

Hey spellbee2,

Thank you! It's so exciting to finally be able to do it again. Sadly, the past couple nights have been almost completely devoid of memory, but I'll keep trying!

The replay with stabilization idea is brilliant. I'll definitely have to try that; I'll let you know if/how it goes. Thanks for the info about stabilization, that's good to know.

I found it interesting that I managed to have a lucid after a night of research and enthusiasm. In my experience I've found that most of my dreams don't correlate to my conscious thought, so that "coincidence" was rather surprising.

Thanks again,
Jelly

Hey,

Well over the past two weeks I've had 3 lucid experiences, 2 of which were failures. The focusing on an element technique is what worked perfectly for me when I finally stabilized for the first time (see First Lucid Experience w/ Stabilization Ever in my dream journal for the whole description). I simply remembered mid-dream that I was trying to get lucid, got lucid, then started to lose control, so I stared at a microwave and took in its every detail. This worked perfectly, and I was able to wander the dream world freely for the first time in... forever! It's really quite interesting how the dream world can display details invisible to the normal eye.

Lately, I've been having some problems with RC's screwing up my lucidity (noticed my dream sign a couple of times; RC told me I was in reality), but I hope to fix it soon.

Thanks again for the help!

My $0.02: don't think of any dreaming experience as a "failure." All dreams are awesome. LDing is a mental discipline, and maintaining a positive attitude, embracing and loving all your dreams, lucid or not, fosters progress and a closer relationship with your dreams, which in turn produces more vivid, present dreams, which are the precursor to lucidity.

What to do? Work on the fundamentals! Pay attention to your waking life and dreaming life, recall and reflect upon your experiences, as I write here.

will get better! Great job.

....aaaand just like that I got another! This time it's DILD as usual but no dream signs were involved.

I was getting chased by a green orb at a party and it was going to kill me if it touched me, so I got scared and ran. Then I thought "Seriously? It's just a stupid green ball. I mean, look." And it hit my arm and deflated like a balloon. Somewhere in the midst of that I realized I was dreaming, and then I proceeded to try talking (something I hadn't done before in a lucid). So then I went over to one of my friends and (sadly, my recall is faltering) I asked him some question and he responded with some sort of yo mama comeback... such a witty subconscious :cheeky:

But yeah, I have to give the credit to you guys for the tips and the motivation. Thanks again!