Advice for a Beginner?

So, basically, I've been having lucid dreams just about my whole life; and I've gotten quite a lot of control over them. I also have pretty good dream recall. However, I'm not very good at getting myself to have an LD; generally it "just happens"; and while it happens relatively often, I'd like to have a little bit more control over it.

I've been thinking about why I mightn't become lucid, and these are my thoughts--
1. The dream is so normal as to be nearly indistinguishable from the waking world. Last night I dreamed about going to a used bookstore; and the dream did not have anything out of the ordinary until I had nearly woken up, at which point I found a secret passage. Naturally I did not become lucid. (Another interesting aspect of this one, completely off-topic, is that during this dream I was able to read the text on the spines of the books quite easily.)

2. The dream might be too violent or fast-paced for me to have time to think about whether it is a dream. A typical one of this genre might be the one where I dreamed about being the last of a few survivors on Earth after a plague of doppelgangers pretty much took over. The entire dream, which spanned about two days dream-time, consisted of fighting for my life while watching other survivors die around me; I woke up at the point where I died, not yet having realized it was a dream.

3. The dream is too random. This is typical of the dreams I have when I first fall asleep, which consist mostly of disconnected thoughts and images and might not even be properly called dreams. I do realize that I'm falling asleep when this happens, and that my mind is becoming rather hazy and dream-ish, for lack of a better word; but I've never been able to resolve these disconnected images into a proper dream world.

I've been reading over the topics discussed in these forums but am not quite sure where to start... what would be your suggestions for increasing the probablility that I'll become lucid in any given dream?

Definatly make a dream journal, also try doing reality checks constantly throughout your day. It's usually for about not how strange the dream is, but me remembering that I should do a reality check and then I become lucid. Try becomming used to doing reality checks through the day and you'll find that it follows you into your dreams... Good luck ;)

Gotcha on the dream journal thing--I'm doing that already. The reality checks are a good idea, though.

Hehe. Did one just now. Nope, not dreaming :)

Like your #2, I find that my dreams tend to be too fast pace to remember to do a RC. I find that in real life I do RC’s mostly when I’m holding still for a long time, or waiting for something. For example, if I’m playing a video game and there’s a long loading screen I’ll usually do a RC on the words appearing on the screen. Unfortunately, I have not found a way yet to introduce a dream scenario were I’m holding still long enough to remember to do a RC.

Dream journals are useful - they improve your recall as you write the dream down and if you look at your dreams over the period of a few months you will notice certain patterns, dream signs and other things that will help you become lucid.

Another important thing is: raise your awareness of your daily life. Dont take anything forgranted. If something unusual happens, dont just make a theory on why it happened, but rather make a reality check and then think about it.


Taking vitamins before bed and sleeping more than 8 hours is also beneficial for lucidity