Thread: Step Out Of The Plot

Have you discovered techniques for stabilizing the dream yet?

The first thing to do when you realize you're dreaming is a couple of reality checks. I generally use a nose pinch (try to breathe whole holding it shut with mouth closed) and trying to push a finger through the palm of my other hand. As soon as you do something like this in a dream you'll find that you can indeed breathe, and if you persist for a moment with the proper intent, your finger will go right through your palm. This confirms that you are definitely dreaming to your complete satisfaction, and greatly strengthens your lucidity. Then you can use a stabilization technique. The one I prefer is to run my hands over any surfaces near me and feel their texture. Sometimes in a dream there is no surface near you, so in that case I run them over my own body (assuming I have one). Activasting different senses like this in a dream also strengthens your connection to the dream and makes it become more 'real' for you. Things become much clearer and seem more solid and real.

I practice for this while in bed - I'll say my mantra for a while, and then actually run my hands over myself and anything nearby, paying attention to textures or smoothness or any other features you can notice. By this point, having already gotten myself to become initially lucid in dreams fairly regularly, I changed my mantra to "I go lucid, reality check. and stabilize". Later I added whatever I wanted to accomplish in the dream, for instance "I go lucid, reality check, stabilize, and walk through a wall" or whatever my current goal might be.

One nice stabilization trick that worked wonders for me was when I 'woke up' in my bedroom but it didn't look quite right, and I was hearing a song, the lyrics of which told me to punch out the window and then to eat the glass on the floor. Normally I would do no such thing of course, but a couple of quick RCs confirmed I was indeed dreaming, plus the room just wasn't right- the window was way too small. So I punched the glass out, reached outside, and felt the brick which was very rough, just as it should have been. That really strengthened my connection to the dream. Then it told me to eat some glass, so I picked some up off the floor and it felt like flat pieces of clear licorice, which is actually what it felt like as I chewed it too. It had no flavor. But that really pushed clarity and stability over the top and led to what I consider my highest l level lucid dream yet.

Originally Posted by Darkmatters

Have you discovered techniques for stabilizing the dream yet?

Very helpful post.

I have discovered a few stabilization techniques, including the ones you mentioned, and I have been practicing them constantly...during the day...as if I was in a dream. I just have not had the chance to do anything that focused in my few LDs. I guess the whole thing is just still too new. I feel as though an initial stabilization has to come....I think it's just around the corner. At this point I tend to react to lucidity with too much excitement instead of stopping to take stock of things. i'm just going to be diligent about establishing the intent to stabilize during my many daytime state checks.

I like that mantra. Last night I ended up with "my dream, my control". Of course, I never really got into a classic lucid dream scenario last night as my lucidity kind of took another form.

I am fully engaged in this process now and I am extremely appreciative of all the help I am getting here.