Finally seem to be consistent- my technique
Hello!
Thought I'd make this thread in case it could help anyone. This could possibly help with some people who are in the same situation that I've been in for the last 4+ years- you can lucid dream, but not every night. It seemed to happen more by chance than anything, and only on average maybe once every 2-3 weeks.
The method I've been using is just a small refinement of WBTB and MILD. Each of the 6 times this week that I've used this method, I've had lucid dreams (several each night, though very short since I can't seem to get control of prolonging them at the moment). Before that, I've tried countless methods for years. The only noticeable pattern for me was that often, trying a new method could be exciting enough to get me lucid the first time, but only the first time. I had never lucid dreamed more than 2 nights in a row before (which was rare to begin with). The only other thing that seemed to work was unexpectedly being awoken and going back to sleep, but it didn't work when I set my alarm clock each night- would get bored of it and go right back to sleep.
My main dream goal is to one day create an entire anime in my mind, with pre-written and memorized scripts. Could take years, but it could be worth it, even if I'm the only one who gets to see it.
This is really exciting for me because being able to be consistent is the groundwork for being able to master your dreams. Without consistency, you'll never develop enough opportunities or experience to understand how to control your dreams (other than reading about the theoretical aspect of dream control).
So here's the method:
1. Set alarm for 5-6 hours
2. Wake up and stay awake until you feel like it would take at least 10+ minutes to fall back asleep. Typically, this means 40 minutes to an hour. You will just know when you've crossed that threshold by assessing how you feel. Just play a video game, read a book, or do whatever in this time period. But when you are ready to fall back asleep, think of nothing but lucid dreaming. Be so focused on it that falling back asleep doesn't come so easy.
3. Fall back asleep. What will happen is that your mind is that it will form unfocused, random thoughts typical of when you fall asleep, but they won't be vivid at first. However, since you're in your REM period, you will eventually notice that they turn into dreams. I just like to think of it as hallucinations. A scene may be a thought and then suddenly turn into feeling like you are really there. It can be shocking and wake you up, but the best way to prevent that is to expect it and deliberately choose to stay calm and collected. I suppose this is when the body is falling asleep, while your mind is awake.
The main factor in all of this is probably the amount of time spent awake. Maybe I had been doing WBTB wrong because I could lucid after being awake for only a few minutes sometimes, but it seems now that the only way of being consistent is just to stay up for a longer time. Maybe that's what all the WBTB guides had been saying, but I just never did it correctly? lol
My next ambition is to get good at summoning people (mainly anime characters), but while I've had successes, it has been ridiculously difficult for me. At least now I can get a chance to figure it out every night.
