Thread: Any advice? Anything at all? It would help...A LOT! :)

HI Sarah!

Well you have begun a dream journal. You will see your dream recall improve.
There are many techniques that you can try. The Tutorials have them all!

Before you try the more in depth techniques, try something that worked for me as a beginner.

When you go to bed.
Repeat this;
I am going to remember to recognize that I am dreaming. Sometimes repeating that time & time again until you fall asleep is all that you mind requires for it to wake itself in a dream.
There is no BIG secret behind Lucid dreaming. It is a state of mind and thought process.

Definitely do what Howetzer said. Also, be a bit more patient, there is no hurry. The thing is that unless you are a total natural, you aren't going to get lucid every night and recall all your dreams in four days. I am also a beginner, and have been going at this for 3 weeks. Still, I don't remember dreams every night, even though I am getting better and better constantly, and have had 2 LDs (which I didn't recall, just knew they happened). my first DJ entries were only a couple sentences. my last couple entries were about 5 times as long. You seem like you really want to do this, so just work at it and you WILL get better, and where it comes to Dream recall, it so will get better very quickly, I have gone from recalling dreams once every few months to every couple nights in just 3 weeks. Practice really does make perfect when it comes to Lucid Dreaming. 8)

Hey Sarah dont worry. Day 4 and you seam to be on the right track. I've been at it for about a year and I've only had 2 in which I woke up instantly (but only recently have I started getting really serious about this, keeping a dream journal, trying some of the methods etc).

Dont get discouraged though just because it has taken me a year. My natural dream recall is not good (I could remember maybe 1 or 2 dreams every couple months before I started keeping a journal - and they were always very hazy). SO I'm sure you'll have better luck than me

Just keep at it, and read some of the posts in the tutorial section: http://www.dreamviews.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=16

Thanks for all the encouragement. I will try saying that to myself as i fall asleep. I've just been doing it in my head so far, but maybe outloud will make a difference!

I've also read about using music to make your dreams, even not LDs, more vivid so maybe doing that will help my DR.

hey atomik, read about your improved dream recall. congrats! 8)

~Sarah~

i'v been at this for about three days ,and i have a grat recall evin befour the jurnal,and i can wizualise great becous i'v been doing something that needs lots of concetration and wizualising,if in ur case ur bad at this,u shod make ur sailf beleve that ur gonna master this soon,like i did,i'm just waiting for a LD 8)

many ppl die early becous they beleve they are gonna die for example when they are 65 yeas old,so if u beleve in ur sailf u can do this

Tried the classical music and got nothing. Maybe I didn't play it loud enough. haha. tonight I'm going to try saying "I will remember to recognize I'm dreaming" outloud with no music, then I'll try both. Then just the music alone. Jeez, i feel like I'm experimenting on myself. Haha.

Originally posted by Sarah
Tried the classical music and got nothing. Maybe I didn't play it loud enough. haha. tonight I'm going to try saying "I will remember to recognize I'm dreaming" outloud with no music, then I'll try both. Then just the music alone. Jeez, i feel like I'm experimenting on myself. Haha.

I suggest no other distractions. And dont say it out loud either. This will keep you too conscious. You will never fall asleep talking out loud.
And with any music you may not be able to wholeheartedly put forth all your thought towards what you are suggesting to yourself.

You bring up a good point. But, different things work for different people. So I think I'm going to try a little experiment. Making myself the constant variable and 'distractions' or 'aids' the ever-changing variable. I think that maybe if I try something different each night I can see what works best (The only problem being thta I've heard you have to stay with one technique for a long time for it to work ). it'll take a lot of nights to do it all individually so it's the only variable. Tonight I'm going to try WILD, although I have to admit, I'm a little scared what with all the talk about voices , etc. But, it's worth a try.

It's just so confusing, all of it. It's hard for me to imagine it because every time I have dreams they're presented in the "movie format" so instead of being me, I'm watching myself walk around from above . Even though to some extent it feels like I'm doing the movements. It's hard to explain but all I know is it seems like it's hindering me in becoming lucid because I can't 'be' myself. Do any of you have this problem? If so, how did you get over it?

Anyways, we'll see what happens with WILD tonight. So, Howetzer, what works best for you?

Originally posted by Sarah
You bring up a good point. But, different things work for different people. So I think I'm going to try a little experiment. Making myself the constant variable and 'distractions' or 'aids' the ever-changing variable. I think that maybe if I try something different each night I can see what works best (The only problem being thta I've heard you have to stay with one technique for a long time for it to work ). it'll take a lot of nights to do it all individually so it's the only variable. Tonight I'm going to try WILD, although I have to admit, I'm a little scared what with all the talk about voices , etc. But, it's worth a try.

It's just so confusing, all of it. It's hard for me to imagine it because every time I have dreams they're presented in the "movie format" so instead of being me, I'm watching myself walk around from above . Even though to some extent it feels like I'm doing the movements. It's hard to explain but all I know is it seems like it's hindering me in becoming lucid because I can't 'be' myself. Do any of you have this problem? If so, how did you get over it?

Anyways, we'll see what happens with WILD tonight. So, Howetzer, what works best for you?

I hope you find one that works for you.
"What works for me?" Using the technique I pointed out in my first post. repetition of a phrase. I switch it up depending on situations. For example. You should consider pondering the thought that you realize you are in a dream when you see yourself watching one.
I know this scenario, and it does make achieving lucidity a step more difficult. But certainly achievable.

It is not meant to be too confusing. I know there are so many ways to go about this.

Thanks! yeah, i tried repeating that phrase to myself last night with nothing else right before I fell asleep and i ended up having a very detailed dream at aorund 6 in the morning that i remembered well when i woke up. So even if it won't help me realize I'm dreaming, it might help my dream recall enough so that lucid dreams will be easier to get once I'm ready to start experimenting.

I woke up this morning from my dream and i was SO happy I could remember. it was such a fun feeling, that fleeting feeling right before i think I've forgotten but i held onto it long enough and wrote it all in my dream journal so even if it wasn't lucid, it was nice to remember a dream again, and so vivid! haha, we'll see what happens next!

Hi Sarah:

Be encouraged. You are making a good progress so give it time to take effect.
Read the Tutorials and see which of the techniques appeals to you. Meanwhile, just keep doing the reality checks. Write up your dreams in a journal and visualize yourself realizing you're dreaming in one of the dreams. A good way of doing this is to visualize yourself walking around in the dream repeating "I'm dreaming!"

Originally posted by ZenVortex
Hi Sarah:

Be encouraged. You are making a good progress so give it time to take effect.
Read the Tutorials and see which of the techniques appeals to you. Meanwhile, just keep doing the reality checks. Write up your dreams in a journal and visualize yourself realizing you're dreaming in one of the dreams. A good way of doing this is to visualize yourself walking around in the dream repeating "I'm dreaming!"

Good point.
Visualizing tends to be overlooked most of the time. But taken into the context of a dream scene it is rather prudent.
Like an imprint on the memory/brain.

Agreed. Dreamscene visualization may be more important than is generally realized. The subconscious responds more readily to images than words, so repeatedly hammering home images of being lucid in a dream may be a good thing to do. In fact, I've been thinking about ramping up my own dreamscene visualizations to where I am absorbed in daydreaming a lot of the time. What do you think?

Originally posted by ZenVortex
Agreed. Dreamscene visualization may be more important than is generally realized. The subconscious responds more readily to images than words, so repeatedly hammering home images of being lucid in a dream may be a good thing to do. In fact, I've been thinking about ramping up my own dreamscene visualizations to where I am absorbed in daydreaming a lot of the time. What do you think?

It would most likely be more effective than any audio or CD. As agreed.

Sounds like an amazing idea. Would help me a lot atleast. Had another vivid dream last night. Remembered it around lunch time when it just suddenly came ot me that I had a dream and then I remembered it all. Haha. I find that setting my goal at dream recall improvement is less frustrating than going straight to LD's. It's nice, just remembering my dreams finally. Haha.

P.S.- renamed the topic. I think it's more suitable for what this thread is turning out to be.

hey Howetzer, when you said repeat to yourself i will remember to recognise i am dreaming do you mean to repeat it in your head or outloud

I think he means in your head, I've found that outloud (after getting his advice) it really is too much of a distraction.

WOW! it's been a while since I posted, sorry. But I've got awesome news! my dream recall has improved from 1 dream in 2 weeks to sometimes a dream every night of the week. YAY!

That and I have found that instead of repeating in my head or counting before i fall asleep, imagining myself 'in' a dream helps to bring about more dreams more. I am hoping eventually it will also help me realize I'm dreaming because of the way i dream, I'll remember more. Haha. Things are looking up!

For dream recalling, I always start with getting into a comfortable position in the bed, and then repeating the sentence "I'll wake up after a dream and remember it" half-loud and then gradually silent-ing it down (sry for my bad english) until it's only a voice in my head, and if my thoughts wander away (always) I say it once or twice more loud.
I think it helps me becouse I can concentrate on one thing this way.

And I agree, even though I didn't have an LD yet, just recalling my dreams is soo good. Last night I kissed a girl underwater, when I woke up, I could almost fell her lips

Originally posted by sleeper boy
hey Howetzer, when you said repeat to yourself i will remember to recognise i am dreaming do you mean to repeat it in your head or outloud

Sorry so late.
And Sarah was right. I meant in your head. As she pointed out, vocally it can be distracting out loud!

Dreams are just too much fun for our own good!

Originally posted by qzole
And I agree, even though I didn't have an LD yet, just recalling my dreams is soo good. Last night I kissed a girl underwater, when I woke up, I could almost feel her lips *

Haha, I only wish I had dreams like yours. And the great thing about a dream is you'll never run out of breath so you don't have to come up. Haha, was that creepy? sorry. Lol, anyways, yeah, that does sound better because I do find that sometimes I just forget about saying it in my head before I fall asleep and I wake up and I'm like, "Sarah, get it in gear." haha. I'll try it!

On the same note, yesterday I had a dream that kind of left the same physical imprint as your kiss. In my dream, I was biting the dead skin off my finger nail area and when I woke up it still felt like I had just bitten it. Pretty nifty!

So, since my DR is getting better and my DJ is helping me think about dreams more, I was wondering how to even go baout LDing. I mean, there are tons of ways, I've read all the tutorials but there just doesn't seem to be one that works for me. I find myself waking up in the morning at around by my Dad and being able to remember a dream I literally was just in the middle of, so it's recent. Then when I wake up I get really frustrated because I think, "I could have just had an LD only I didn't... why?!"

How do I get an LD near the morning when I remember my dreams the best? Because with WILD, you have to wake up and everything but I'm not really into that until summer starts and I don't really need to worry about sleep. But even WILD confuses me. I've never been able to ente sleep paralysis and Ive tried WILD. What's wrong?! AHHH! Severly frustrated. HELP!