How does WBTB work?

So i've realised that i haven't done WBTB for ages and coincidence has it that i've been in a long dry spell. I forgot that almost all of my LDs involved WBTB.
I have a question on how WBTB seems to be so effective..

How does WBTB work? Some say that it makes your awareness carry over to your dreams, but how would it carry over in the first place?

your first cycle is typically 90 minutes deep sleep first then lighter sleep and then finally 5 min or so of REM (unless you shift it to the next cycle with supplements)
you next cycle is typically 90 minutes deep sleep first then lighter sleep and finally about 10 min or so of REM (there is a chance you could lucid during this time, but if your not waking after every cycle you have now been asleep for 170min when it begins and have only 10 min left)
your next cycle may or may not be as long you now have much deep sleep but lets say it was 90 minutes and the last 25 min was REM
the next cycle the one you would like to aim for is maybe 90 minutes with possibly over 30 min of REM

so what if you slept thru the first 3 cycles and half of the fourth one, and awoke 5 and 1/4 hours from initial sleep cycle beginning
you are now only about 10-15 minutes away from that 30+ minutes of REM you set your intention and return to sleep

this is the best cycle to target unless you have subsequent ones those are all good too (but would require you to get at least 7+ hours of sleep total for 5th cycle)

now asleep your cycle begins in only 10-15 minutes and your intention only had to last that long
if you had set the same intention at bedtime and made it to this cycle your intention would have been over 300 minutes old (3.5 x 90 minute cycles)

so it works by bringing your night work up close and personal to prime Lucid Dream time.

In this image I have drawn a yellow line for where to target (this image supposes even better target for 4th REM period than I suggested)

Attachment 9326

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cooleymd

your first cycle is typically 90 minutes deep sleep first then lighter sleep and then finally 5 min or so of REM (unless you shift it to the next cycle with supplements)
you next cycle is typically 90 minutes deep sleep first then lighter sleep and finally about 10 min or so of REM (there is a chance you could lucid during this time, but if your not waking after every cycle you have now been asleep for 170min when it begins and have only 10 min left)
your next cycle may or may not be as long you now have much deep sleep but lets say it was 90 minutes and the last 25 min was REM
the next cycle the one you would like to aim for is maybe 90 minutes with possibly over 30 min of REM

so what if you slept thru the first 3 cycles and half of the fourth one, and awoke 5 and 1/4 hours from initial sleep cycle beginning
you are now only about 10-15 minutes away from that 30+ minutes of REM you set your intention and return to sleep

this is the best cycle to target unless you have subsequent ones those are all good too (but would require you to get at least 7+ hours of sleep total for 5th cycle)

now asleep your cycle begins in only 10-15 minutes and your intention only had to last that long
if you had set the same intention at bedtime and made it to this cycle your intention would have been over 300 minutes old (3.5 x 90 minute cycles)

so it works by bringing your night work up close and personal to prime Lucid Dream time.

In this image I have drawn a yellow line for where to target (this image supposes even better target for 4th REM period than I suggested)

Attachment 9326

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Thanks for the detailed info. I'll aim for somewhere between the 5-6 hours and see what happens.

one good way could be to use the 3rd dream to target the fourth

go to bed but drink lots of water and tell yourself 'I will wake after my dreams' as your mantra
(you might wake up after the second or even the first dream tho)

then when you wake after the dream (hopefully the third one) try to recall it for quite a while and in detail

then stay up a bit to skip over the near hour of time you expected to return to deep/light sleep to be closer to the REM

maybe during this period mostly keep your eyes closed and visualize your last several recalled dreams and something weird that happened in them. As you remember the weird part visualize yourself becoming lucid (keep your legs crossed funny or something to be a bit uncomfortable and not fall asleep right away). Do this for all the dreams you can remember each time imagining recognizing the weird event, imagining becoming lucid, imagining doing a reality check, imagining telling yourself this is a dream, imagining doing a stabilization technique, and then choosing a dreamscape specific dream goal (based on that dream). Next you begin your new mantra saying to yourself like 'I will become Lucid' or whatever and then uncross your legs / roll over / get comfortable and fall asleep with your intention and plans fresh in your mind. You might also try to dream of something specific like if your grand parents are no longer around imagine in the dream they will be coming over to see you.

This way you set up an impossible event, or a chosen dreamscape to recognize, you have an intention to recognize it and test and stabilize and form a plan :)