Thread: SSILD early worked twice but not working anymore

So I tried to use SSILD and the first few nights were great, i got two near Lucids, heard music and my imagination unfolded into sensation and visuals

But nothing since and its been two weeks, I dont know what Im doing wrong, never achived a LD btw

Hey Allonzey123,

I'm happy to hear you're still at it. One thing that is good to have with lucid dreaming - especially as a beginner - is patience. Some people are more fortunate in that they are able to lucid dream at will naturally. Most of us, myself included, have to put in work to learn how to do it. I've been doing this for a year and several months and still feel like a beginner and like I'm learning.

Even in Stephen Laberge's Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming he says it can take people up to several months to learn how to lucid dream properly. If you think SSILD is the right method for you then I would stick with it and give it more time.

If you'd like more specific help, try writing out in as much detail as possible the process you are personally performing with SSILD and how it goes and how it feels throughout each stage. It would be possible for members here to have an insight into what you're doing and where they can help.

For example, if I wrote to get some help from others I would write something like, I'm working on MILD but having no LDs. I have developed high dream recall and remember multiple dreams per night (a prerequisite for lucid dreaming is to remember at least one dream a night. You probably already know this.) I try to follow the method as closely as possible. I perform reality checks every day and try to imbue them with meaning, I do WBTB(wake back to bed), do something dream related and then get back in bed and go through the steps but I'm still having no lucid dreams yet.


They might ask questions like are you waking up at an ideal time for your body to go back into a REM phase? Have you worked that out?

That might seem like a lot of text, but the more you write the more information members can glean about your specific situation. I don't have much experience with SSILD, but I'm sure some other members do.

Good luck!

Okay some details

my sleep cycle is a bit fuzzy but im trying to fix them, but I have usually 2+ dreams a night, i tend to classify fragments as a word of barely anything resembling even a scene.

I usually wake up several times in the night naturally, at least twice.

I have a drink of water or chocolate milk then head back to sleep.

When i do SSILD i do hvae trouble completing it as i drift off easily, which is a good thing?

Ive notice my thoughts become foggy and a 'weight' on my mind when i do this now

Thanks for writing out some more information. It sounds like you already have a few great elements present for lucid dreaming. That you wake up naturally and remember waking several times during the night is great. I know this isn't SSILD, but since you have those brief awakenings where you're still tired in the night you could DEILD. When you have these awakenings you could possibly slip back into a dream and hang onto awareness so that when the dream forms you're already lucid. It's just a thought.

Drifting off can be a good thing. I think it's a matter of keeping your awareness activated a bit more. How many minutes do you think you are up before you get back in bed? You wrote, "I have a drink of water or chocolate milk then head back to sleep." How long are you out of bed for? If it's not quite 5-10 minutes, maybe you can try spending just a little bit more time out of bed so you won't feel so foggily sleepy so intensely.
If you haven't tried, maybe spend a few minutes a few times a day cementing your intent to remain aware for the proper amount of times throughout the SSILD cycles. I hope this helps! Some other members may have some good input here where I fall short or simply don't think of some things.

If you can think of any other relevant details of your sleep, dreams, awakenings, etc., feel free to include those as well. You can do this! Don't give up and stick with it.

Oh, one more thing. Frustration can be a big hindrance to getting lucid. Try to think of each attempt as a step towards lucidity and something to be thankful for. I know this feeling as I have been there, but it does nothing to help.

I have considered DEILD but i dont wanna seem like someone who jumps from technique to technique you know?

I have considered that as well

That is understandable. What I generally read and hear is to give each method at least a few weeks to a month to get acquainted with it. There is also nothing wrong with working on two methods contemporaneously. Some do it with good success! Just something to keep in mind for the future if it's not overwhelming in any way

Yeah, Im probably gonna switch to another method, SSILD nearly worked twice but never since, so I think i should take that as a sign to try ore active methods?

Like my dream memory is pretty decent (even if the dreams seem brief) I still typically get more than one a night, today was either 3 or 4.

I do wanna note i suffer from ADHD just to tell you if that needs to be known for suggestions

What is SSILD?

Originally Posted by Xanous

What is SSILD?

sensory initiated lucid dream

basically a technique involving the senses, it nearly worked twice for me but never since, that was three weeks ago and im still angry bout it, so im here to ask for help as to why

and yes im incredibly frustarted, i just want this to work, that was my light in the tunne and it got snatched away from me
ive been trying for 4 months and MILD never fucking worked

Oh right I remember that now. I tend to think of it as MILD.

Originally Posted by Xanous

What is SSILD?

Hey Xanous, here is an explanation and tutorial you can read about SSILD if you're interested.

Just a suggestion, feeling angry and very frustrated will work against you. I have felt frustration before and it always seems to block the lucid dreams from occurring. Lying there attempting to do this and getting frustrated never helps. I have heard this from others several times as well. One thing that helps tide me over until a lucid dream happens is to try and enjoy the ride and the non-lucid dreams that happen in the process. See how high you can get your awareness and detail in the non-lucids. That can be cool to witness and it brings you closer to having more vivid lucids too.

You mentioned you did MILD for a while. I have some questions.

1.) Did you always combine MILD with WBTB? If so, for how long did you stay up before going back to sleep?

2.) Did you do the prospective memory training consistently?

3.) If you did reality checks with the prospective memory training, did you feel like you meant it while performing them? Meant it as in did you feel like you were really questioning whether or not you were dreaming?

4.) When you were going to sleep and repeating the steps for MILD, would the thought of remembering to realize you're dreaming be the last thing on your mind before drifting to sleep? Literally the last thing you can remember? Whenever this technique has worked for me, it has been the last thing on my mind before falling back to sleep.

MILD has a high success rate for a lot of lucid dreamers, but it's not for everyone, of course. I'm asking these questions to see where there is potential room for improvement on working with this technique before you give up on it.

As far as having ADHD, doing some attention training exercises like meditation could be helpful to you for keeping your mind on the task at hand.

Originally Posted by zelcrow

Just a suggestion, feeling angry and very frustrated will work against you. I have felt frustration before and it always seems to block the lucid dreams from occurring. Lying there attempting to do this and getting frustrated never helps. I have heard this from others several times as well. One thing that helps tide me over until a lucid dream happens is to try and enjoy the ride and the non-lucid dreams that happen in the process. See how high you can get your awareness and detail in the non-lucids. That can be cool to witness and it brings you closer to having more vivid lucids too.

You mentioned you did MILD for a while. I have some questions.

1.) Did you always combine MILD with WBTB? If so, for how long did you stay up before going back to sleep?

2.) Did you do the prospective memory training consistently?

3.) If you did reality checks with the prospective memory training, did you feel like you meant it while performing them? Meant it as in did you feel like you were really questioning whether or not you were dreaming?

4.) When you were going to sleep and repeating the steps for MILD, would the thought of remembering to realize you're dreaming be the last thing on your mind before drifting to sleep? Literally the last thing you can remember? Whenever this technique has worked for me, it has been the last thing on my mind before falling back to sleep.

MILD has a high success rate for a lot of lucid dreamers, but it's not for everyone, of course. I'm asking these questions to see where there is potential room for improvement on working with this technique before you give up on it.

As far as having ADHD, doing some attention training exercises like meditation could be helpful to you for keeping your mind on the task at hand.

Issue is telling me not to be frustrated doesnt help as i will still get frustrated, its in my personality due to poor life experiences.

I cant really answer most of thses questions, no didnt do prospective memory training, i didn't care for it in the book

I never understood the concept of 'feel like it' that also ties into my other issue of MILD is that i cannot comprehend the concept of intention.

I cannot do MILD as my last thought, doing it keeps me awake

there is also the fact i have a bunch of other neurosises outside of adhd, ocd, bipolar, autism and anxiety are all i know i have.

Originally Posted by Allonzey123

Issue is telling me not to be frustrated doesnt help as i will still get frustrated, its in my personality due to poor life experiences.

I cant really answer most of thses questions, no didnt do prospective memory training, i didn't care for it in the book

I never understood the concept of 'feel like it' that also ties into my other issue of MILD is that i cannot comprehend the concept of intention.

I cannot do MILD as my last thought, doing it keeps me awake

there is also the fact i have a bunch of other neurosises outside of adhd, ocd, bipolar, autism and anxiety are all i know i have.

I understand that merely telling someone not to get frustrated is not an antidote. But since you are aware that you have a tendency to get frustrated, you can work with that awareness to try and curb it. If you want to get lucid, it will make things easier if you try to figure out a plan of some sort that won't frustrate you as much like trying a different method, limiting your attempts to a certain number of times per week, etc. Even though it's in your personality to feel that way, you could change this, at least slowly over time. I only say that so you don't sell yourself short on this and give up before trying by thinking, oh, well, I'm doomed to get frustrated and there's nothing I can do.

Why can't you answer the questions? It is fine if you can't. I'm just wondering why.

For MILD, my understanding is that developing and utilizing prospective memory is an integral part of the method so it likely needs to be included for success. If this doesn't sit well with you - and it seems not to - then another method is better to pursue. Unfortunately, you cannot expect this method to work if you aren't generally following the guidelines of it. If you don't understand intention, aren't doing reality checks or prospective memory, I'm not sure of what you were doing that would fall under the method of MILD at all. Before you get frustrated, try to wrap your mind around and understand these methods before you spend a lot of time doing them and then get frustrated and angry.

As far as I know, bipolar disorder, ocd and autism should not prevent you from having lucid dreams.

For feeling reality checks, it can help to try to really question whether or not you're dreaming. Think about it. When you're dreaming you don't know you're dreaming. You take it to be something experienced here in waking life until you're awake and realize otherwise.

Originally Posted by zelcrow

I understand that merely telling someone not to get frustrated is not an antidote. But since you are aware that you have a tendency to get frustrated, you can work with that awareness to try and curb it. If you want to get lucid, it will make things easier if you try to figure out a plan of some sort that won't frustrate you as much like trying a different method, limiting your attempts to a certain number of times per week, etc. Even though it's in your personality to feel that way, you could change this, at least slowly over time. I only say that so you don't sell yourself short on this and give up before trying by thinking, oh, well, I'm doomed to get frustrated and there's nothing I can do.

Why can't you answer the questions? It is fine if you can't. I'm just wondering why.

For MILD, my understanding is that developing and utilizing prospective memory is an integral part of the method so it likely needs to be included for success. If this doesn't sit well with you - and it seems not to - then another method is better to pursue. Unfortunately, you cannot expect this method to work if you aren't generally following the guidelines of it. If you don't understand intention, aren't doing reality checks or prospective memory, I'm not sure of what you were doing that would fall under the method of MILD at all. Before you get frustrated, try to wrap your mind around and understand these methods before you spend a lot of time doing them and then get frustrated and angry.

As far as I know, bipolar disorder, ocd and autism should not prevent you from having lucid dreams.

For feeling reality checks, it can help to try to really question whether or not you're dreaming. Think about it. When you're dreaming you don't know you're dreaming. You take it to be something experienced here in waking life until you're awake and realize otherwise.

I did do reality checks ,to the point i would feel sick from doing them (literally), i did every night try and tell myself 'i am going to lucid dream', nothing ever happened, plus im a cynic due to my bad life experiences so thats prob counteracting my mild by me being getting mad at things not working or being full of doubt.

For 'feeling' i try and replay what i did in the last few minutes, is that good enough?

MY issue is that a lot of techniques seem to want to 'instantly come to conciousness and remember to stay still', issue is that isnt me or how I work
I legit cant exactly say how long im concious when i get out of bed, was it a minute? instant? half an hour? im a super groggy sleeper so im not sure if deild would work as i would probably be moving around before the thinking part turns on.

Im sorry to vent but it feels like all my biological habits dont want me to be lucid and it feels like none of the techniques would help me due to my neurosis and part of that is why i cant figure out why SSILD ever fucking worked after those two near attempts and its driving me to tears and rage (literally)

To be frank, if you want to have more success I think a change in attitude will be necessary.

Most of us aren't natural lucid dreamers and have to be dedicated and put in work. If you're in tears and rage (and I'm sorry you're going through that) you might want to reconsider trying to lucid dream or your whole approach to lucid dreaming if it is making you unhappy.

Originally Posted by zelcrow

To be frank, if you want to have more success I think a change in attitude will be necessary.

Most of us aren't natural lucid dreamers and have to be dedicated and put in work. If you're in tears and rage (and I'm sorry you're going through that) you might want to reconsider trying to lucid dream or your whole approach to lucid dreaming if it is making you unhappy.

I probably agree somewhat, but im not sure how i could change it without getting the things under control and why did i have those near lucids like three weeks ago then? i havnt changed much since then.

had at liest 4 dreams today so thats good, probably 6 or more tbh

I think your first few nights were good you weren't expecting the technique to not work for you because you hadn't yet experienced evidence that the technique wouldn't work. Expecting the technique to not work makes it less effective. When expecting the technique to not work, it's more likely that if a dream is entered without losing consciousness, the dream will be about the technique not working, which makes it more difficult to identify the dream.

Being a groggy sleeper is ideal for DEILD. Also, if you move around while groggy and are still groggy, then that moving around doesn't wake you up. There's a variety of ways to DEILD, so if one way doesn't work, you can try another way. Given your adhd, doing something while falling/staying asleep that doesn't involve a lot of constant attention would be easier to do. Maybe doing reality checks periodically while falling asleep would work. Use a reality check you are certain would work if you were dreaming and after waking up, do it every 30 secs or so while falling asleep or more often if you comfortable doing this. Once the reality check works your dreaming.

If DEILD doesn't work, you can try out DILD. Just try learning from previous dreams what the experience of dreaming is like to the point where in the future, you know you're dreaming when you experience it.

Originally Posted by dolphin

I think your first few nights were good you weren't expecting the technique to not work for you because you hadn't yet experienced evidence that the technique wouldn't work. Expecting the technique to not work makes it less effective. When expecting the technique to not work, it's more likely that if a dream is entered without losing consciousness, the dream will be about the technique not working, which makes it more difficult to identify the dream.

Being a groggy sleeper is ideal for DEILD. Also, if you move around while groggy and are still groggy, then that moving around doesn't wake you up. There's a variety of ways to DEILD, so if one way doesn't work, you can try another way. Given your adhd, doing something while falling/staying asleep that doesn't involve a lot of constant attention would be easier to do. Maybe doing reality checks periodically while falling asleep would work. Use a reality check you are certain would work if you were dreaming and after waking up, do it every 30 secs or so while falling asleep or more often if you comfortable doing this. Once the reality check works your dreaming.

If DEILD doesn't work, you can try out DILD. Just try learning from previous dreams what the experience of dreaming is like to the point where in the future, you know you're dreaming when you experience it.

I must say that, I'm in similar boat, SSILD worked perfectly for a year, I was getting over 20 lucid dreams per month and suddenly stopped working, I still search for why it doesn't work anymore. But before that I have another question, sometimes while doing the cycles I get an explosion of hypnagogia and I wonder do I need to continue with ssild or switch to WILD/VILD instead?

Originally Posted by michael79

sometimes while doing the cycles I get an explosion of hypnagogia and I wonder do I need to continue with ssild or switch to WILD/VILD instead?

Both ways can work or not work. Keep in mind that it's possible to dream about experiencing hypnagogia. Because of this, experiencing hypnagogia is a good time to do a reality check. For SSILD to work as entry technique or reality check without doing anything else, the resulting dream would have to be change enough from non-dream sleep to be identified as a dream. For this reason, I think switching to WILD/VILD or doing some other reality check would be more effective as they tend to be more active ways of changing the dream. That said, there's no perfect entry technique or reality check. If you experienced an explosion of hypnogogia and tried changing to WILD/VILD and doing other reality checks but weren't able to enter a dream or change the dream enough, I don't think there's anything different you can do to actively enter the dream.

Originally Posted by dolphin

Both ways can work or not work. Keep in mind that it's possible to dream about experiencing hypnagogia. Because of this, experiencing hypnagogia is a good time to do a reality check. For SSILD to work as entry technique or reality check without doing anything else, the resulting dream would have to be change enough from non-dream sleep to be identified as a dream. For this reason, I think switching to WILD/VILD or doing some other reality check would be more effective as they tend to be more active ways of changing the dream. That said, there's no perfect entry technique or reality check. If you experienced an explosion of hypnogogia and tried changing to WILD/VILD and doing other reality checks but weren't able to enter a dream or change the dream enough, I don't think there's anything different you can do to actively enter the dream.

Hello, Im interested in swapping to WILD or DEILD, seems my dream memory is back on the rise since im having 3-4 today.

What are the best guides in your opinion on getting both of those? and how do i not be a pessimmist/cynic for this because i have not had a good life, i cant help but think of negative things or brush off success and NO i cannot remove this personality trait.
thats the reason i want more active techniques that ignore the subconcious because MILD has Never EVER WORKED for me and it pisses me off that people suggest it.

To OP

You can try to take vitamin b6 25mg before bed and after 4-5 hours to try SSILD, it will give you a boost of awareness.

I like obe4u's dield technique. https://obe4u.com/how-to-lucid-dream/