dilemma. please help.

[bluezone]

Let's see. I have been studying lucid dream induction very intently for exactly 10 years. It is sad to say, however, that I still to this day haven't been able to master it. I was wondering if I could get some peoples' input on the subject at hand (IE: induction tips and tricks and ways around some of the observations I have made) Some of the reasons why I haven't probably been able to master this technique are as follows: 1. When I am asleep, somehow my mind actually believes what is happening is actually plausable in reality(I never have had a very concrete grip on reality to begin with). I have no ability to distinguish between reality or fantasy until the moment I actually wake up. I guess what I am trying to say is that the actual act of 'coming to the realization within the dreamstate' is the problem. 2. I purchased the Novadreamer a few years ago and practiced faithfully by the book, with little results, mainly because I had gotten into the habit of pulling it off my face subconsciously because it was restricting my natural sleep 'squirming' patterns. I have to squirm in my sleep. I get stiff if I lay still. I attempted to taylor the padding on the device, replacing the rather stiff foam behind the circuit board with a soft pillow which i made myself. I still can't seem to keep it on my face when I sleep, however, and it gets frustraiting. 3. Also, it is very difficult for me to attain focus once I drift further and further from conscious state. I have attention deficit disorder at a pretty severe level. I don't want to say that this is an excuse. My goal is to say that A.D.D. poses no obstruction to my ability to lucid dream, when I finally do learn the process. I have absolutely no problem whatsoever remembering my dreams, they are quite vivid, and just about every day I get the chance to write them down as short stories. But they are in no way as realistic as waking reality, and I have absolutely no control over what I dream, or even my own actions within the dreamstates. I am looking for some advice from those who have struggled to learn as I have, not necessarily from those who can do this naturaly, simply because those who are naturally gifted in something most of the time do not know exactly 'how' they do it. Those who struggle to learn from scratch generally go through step by step proceedures to teach themselves. This is why I do not teach in the subjects that I, myself, am gifted in; Because I don't know how "I do it, I just do." I am looking foward to some input. Thanks so very much, and sorry I made this so lengthy.

[Seeker]

Welcome!!! The way I first learned was by recognizing dreamsigns. 10 years!! You are persistant!

[bluezone]

Thanks for your welcome. I have tried the dreamsigns technique, still trying. So far no results. My roomate had a great idea: She said to write what I wanted to dream about on a tiny piece of paper and stick it in my pillow. I thought for sure that incubating in this way would work. No results. As far as the persistance goes, it is one of my creepier strengths. When I want to accomplish something, I can be quite stubborn.

[Tjhands]

With semi-abstract topics like this, it's impossible to give concrete, step-by-step, no-fail directions, but you know that already. I can relate to your failure to recognize dreamsigns; even though I've been lucid dreaming for years, I still miss some VERY obvious ones, and kick myself in the morning. LOL You've probably already tried this, but ........on a weekend, or some other time when you don't care whether you miss a few hours sleep, set your alarm for 1 or 2am. When it goes off, turn on the light, and do some task that requires mental alertness (reading is best for me) for a half hour. Set your alarm for an hour later. When it goes off again, turn the light on, read, and again set it for an hour later, and go back to sleep. Repeat this until you have to get up. Hopefully during one of these sleep sessions, you'll have some lucidity or at least something akin to it. I think that by waking up multiple times in one night, it maximizes the chances of lucidity by confusing the brain as to whether it is sleeping or awake. I've found this to be the most effective way of inducing lucidity. I hope this helps you, and I commend your resolve! Email me if you have any other questions that you think I may be able to help with!

[CT]

Wow, 10 years, you're really persistent. I cant really help you because I myself am trying hard, but as of yet I too keep failing in getting lucid (only been a couple of times). WILD'ing might be something you should try if you havent yet, it might just work when you're as persistant as you!

[Ev]

You should definitely try WILD for it's the most sure way to get high lucidity dreams.

[bluezone]

Thank you all for your input. I will admit that these days I haven't had much time to practice, but on my days off, i do what I can. I have several books by Steven LaBerge. I consider "Exploring the world of Lucid Dreaming" a very good resource book. I believe the problem these days is that I rarely get any sleep to begin with, so when I finally do get some, I become comatose for a few hours. Still, on my 'nights' (graveyard shift) off, I HAVE tried the method of waking up for an hour and reading, then going back to sleep. I have yet to try the suggestion tjhands suggested about waking up every other hour or so. Well, todays another day, so I have another chance. I will try not to think too hard about it. I just woke up, so I will probably be online checking out more posts tonight. Thanks for your input.

[Lowercase Society]

Originally posted by bluezone 2. I purchased the Novadreamer a few years ago and practiced faithfully by the book, with little results, mainly because I had gotten into the habit of pulling it off my face subconsciously because it was restricting my natural sleep 'squirming' patterns. I have to squirm in my sleep. I get stiff if I lay still. I attempted to taylor the padding on the device, replacing the rather stiff foam behind the circuit board with a soft pillow which i made myself. I still can't seem to keep it on my face when I sleep, however, and it gets frustraiting. Well...i disagree with this! No offence, but i believe you can do it yourself, and develope your own techniques and use the ones that work for you! and btw, you are pretty persistant! i respect that