Reverse Psychology?

:? I was invited over to my friends house the other day to play games with him and beating him like crazy (25-3 kills in halo...that was his best game...) And of course there was plenty of friendly ribbing going on, but his best one was, "I may be terrible at halo but at least I've had lucids" :| He really has had them, three consecutive nights. I figured my talking about it is what triggered him to have lucids, what's interesting is he says that after he started trying to do RCs and induce them he's been having increasing difficulty with them.

His situation got me to thinking if I should try to just go to sleep without trying to do any techniques. I did it last night, and while I did have a dream about reading an IM post from Sythix, nothing else came back to me.

I'm wondering if perhaps I should try a little reverse psychology? I've constantly told myself that tonight I will have a lucid dream. Should I instead tell myself something like, "you're an idiot to even try and LD mom said that this was just a waste of time and that dreaming keeps you up at night...etc." You see it's like when I tell my concious mind something my sleeping mind does the opposite, so if I tried the opposite would I get a positive effect? Or is it impossible to fool my brain like that when it knows I have ulterior motives. The motive to try and actually induce a lucid.

What do you think?

I think it's a good idea, since it's worked for me, more than once. :wink:

Well, I'd simply made it a point to go to bed without thinking about it. I've never had to try to convince myself that it wasn't going to happen, but, in theory, I see how that could work.

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Well, I'd simply made it a point to go to bed without thinking about it.[/b]

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I think that's what is really happening here. You have nothing to fear as far as not becoming lucid, while he does because he has conditioned himself that way.

The most important thing is not to get uptight about it. Convincing yourself that you WILL have a lucid dream should be a simple acknowledgement of the truth; not a desperate plea. It is hard to explain. I would suggest starting off by saying "sometime soon I will become lucid, probably tonight, and the frequency will increase dramatically after that". The important thing is to not really care when you wake up unsuccessful. Be glad you have knowledge of lucidity and what you can achieve; because your ability to induce lucids at will is not far away.

Truly believing you will become lucid is simple...it is the idea that is not. You believe you have convinced yourself when you are in fact programming defeat. Know you will have a lucid dream, then relax and think of something else. Eventually it will work, and then your urgency will subside.

Edit: Btw Halo rules. It is one of the few distractions I actually take part in.

At the same time, take more interest in the other aspects of your dreaming (if you haven't, already). Start up a dream journal and start working on your recall. Get into the fundamentals of dreaming while not spending your energy on trying to induce lucidity. I would figure that, the more you start looking at your dreams, the more familiar you will become, with the experience., and lucidity will probably just happen, naturally.

oh, I've been working on one[DJ] for a while now, finally decided it was long enough to post. http://www.dreamviews.com/forum/inde...howtopic=42897 It's all there if anyone wants to see it.

Yes, I can understand that I've been really pushing myself to get lucid. I've just had so many "close-but-not-quite-lucid dreams. I want to get lucid really bad. When you get a dream where you have the power to call the dawn...you can't imagine what a full lucid could do. Not that it's the only thing that's come out of the research, I've learned a lot of stuff from dreaming that makes life a lot more interesting to live through. It's just getting lucid is my big goal right now as far as this hobby is concerned.

I'll try not to stress it too much. I am curious though, what about WILD and such? By using a technique aren't you thinking about it? WILD for instance, instead of thinking of it as a way to induce a dream should I just consider it a different form of relaxation. I talked with Sythix about WILD, he thinks I might be able to do it, and he had the trance induced thing that I've been doing that is very very effective at getting me into good SP. I found a kind of feeling that I associate with dreaming, like the inside of your skull is vibrating and you loose your body and you get daydreamish stuff that you can't really control. I know that there have been dreams that come after that time, I've even had a wake induced non lucid where I had control and knew I was dreaming but it was hazy and I feel sure that it wasn't full lucidity if it was even worthy to be called that.

I know WILDs are not really recommended for people who are starting out, the only reason that I decided to do it is because Sythix talked to me about it and it sounded interesting and that I might have some kind of chance with it. Should I not work on WILD so much? or should I combine it with my previous techniques? Before I started trying to WILD I was using a MILD/WBTB technique that let me recall at most 3 dreams a night with good length and sharp clarity. Since using WILD I've been fortunate to remember anything.

I'm sorry that I have so many questions and problems but there isn't really anyone else out there who can help me with these kinds of things. I have a strong desire to overcome difficulties and pursue my goal, I'm only worried that such an attitude hinders me more than helps me in this situation. I'm grateful for all your advice so far and would even more appreciate help with these issues.

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I am curious though, what about WILD and such? By using a technique aren't you thinking about it? WILD for instance, instead of thinking of it as a way to induce a dream should I just consider it a different form of relaxation.[/b]

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There is always a level of thought that one cannot escape, but it is so small in WILDs that you don't even notice it. You can think of WILDs anyway you choose if it makes relaxing easier. I started out attempting OBEs (this was way before I even heard of WILDs and lucids) so I became proficient at turning my mind off. When I discovered that WILDs and OBEs are probably the same thing (LDs) I tried WILD and it was easy because I no longer had to think of nothing, but I simply follow the HI.

What I usually do is put my conscious mind in a "little corner" I have reserved for it in my subconscious. I then let the dream take over. WILDs take practice. I managed it in two days, but like I said I had been practicing Meditation for years. The biggest thing with WILDs is to not expect results at first, or even for months. Your excitement at seeing a live dream will jolt you every time. I usually do them at the start of the night, but many would advise against it.

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should I combine it with my previous techniques? Before I started trying to WILD I was using a MILD/WBTB technique that let me recall at most 3 dreams a night with good length and sharp clarity. Since using WILD I've been fortunate to remember anything.[/b]

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I would. I would try every method that can be combined effectively. Do reality checks all day, live in the moment for as much of the day as you can manage, try to WILD before sleep. When you have worn yourself out tryin to WILD, then make the MILD suggestion and just fall asleep. If it is your thing, then do the WBTB. I personally hate waking up early :)

The above may not work for you....and yet you may find one method that works well with another. The most important thing though has been said already by Oneironaut. I had not thought of it this way, but it is true...if you put your focus on your dreams perhaps your attachment with LDs will become passive enough to allow for them, as an added bonus your dream recall will increase...etc. I like to think of the dream world as MY world. The more I do this, the more I control it, the more I understand it, and best of all, the less I understand it :P