How I Broke My Lucid Slump!

so i was in a wicked long lucid slump. several months, no lucids. i knew it was all about confidence, but it's hard to get confidence when you're not having any lucids. so i concentrated really hard, started doing a lot more RC's, and made sure to log on here occasionally (because if nothing else, it gets the idea of LD'ing in your mind). what happened? nothing.

you probably know why... i was trying TOO hard, which puts stress on your mind. and the mind doesn't work well under stress (i know i'm breaking new ground here, ha). so i STOPPED thinking about it ENTIRELY. if it came into my head, fine. but i just stopped worrying about it. but HERE's what i did differently in this slump.

i told myself that the VERY NEXT LD i had, i would INSTANTLY become very confident in my abilities again. i told myself, "you have the ability to turn 1 lucid into another, then another, and so on." i told myself that over and over.

SO, when i finally had a LD, about 3 weeks later, i was thrilled, but i also knew i was going to be more confident. it totally worked, and i've had several since then. i know it's not rocket science, but i really think that preparing yourself for your "future confidence" helps. i hope that makes sense, if not, let me know and i can try to explain better.

Thanks for sharing Uter!

http://www.become.com/pocketchange/uter.jpg

Now make with the Joy Joy (mit iodine!)
Awesome avatar!

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Originally Posted by fleeee1

so i was in a wicked long lucid slump. several months, no lucids. i knew it was all about confidence, but it's hard to get confidence when you're not having any lucids. so i concentrated really hard, started doing a lot more RC's, and made sure to log on here occasionally (because if nothing else, it gets the idea of LD'ing in your mind). what happened? nothing.

you probably know why... i was trying TOO hard, which puts stress on your mind. and the mind doesn't work well under stress (i know i'm breaking new ground here, ha). so i STOPPED thinking about it ENTIRELY. if it came into my head, fine. but i just stopped worrying about it. but HERE's what i did differently in this slump.

i told myself that the VERY NEXT LD i had, i would INSTANTLY become very confident in my abilities again. i told myself, "you have the ability to turn 1 lucid into another, then another, and so on." i told myself that over and over.

SO, when i finally had a LD, about 3 weeks later, i was thrilled, but i also knew i was going to be more confident. it totally worked, and i've had several since then. i know it's not rocket science, but i really think that preparing yourself for your "future confidence" helps. i hope that makes sense, if not, let me know and i can try to explain better.[/b]

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maybe i could try it thanx

That actually sounds like something really good to do, even if you're only in a slump short time. I usually try that same thing when I hit those dry periods. That first LD after a break really does feel so great.

woo hoo! i just came to see how many reads i had on this post. 69! that's gotta be a sign, baby. yes, i'm 5 years old.

Hello fleeee1.

I think your on to something. Just by keeping LD's in your mind dose help the potential of becoming lucid. For me being on DV's alone stimulates my all around awareness. My dream recall is up I have more dreams in general and I start to LD, even though they only last for a few seconds, I always wake during a LD for some reason.

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you probably know why... i was trying TOO hard, which puts stress on your mind. and the mind doesn't work well under stress (i know i'm breaking new ground here, ha). so i STOPPED thinking about it ENTIRELY. if it came into my head, fine. but i just stopped worrying about it.[/b]

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You're exactly right. Not many people try to just stop and watch how their mind is constantly wandering and dwelling on things. This is a concept used in meditation called "mindfulness." Basically, you learn to be aware of your mental processes and to understand how your mind distracts you from the present moment. I think the reason why we have such bad short-term memory in dreams is because instead of being in the present moment, we're caught up in something that happened in the past or something we'd like to do. If you understand what types of things bring you away from mindfulness (which is really our natural state of mind...or should be haha), it might be easier to recognize them when they are manifested as dreams. Here's an example: the other day I was distracted by this hot girl and that night she appeared in a dream, and she worked as a dream sign. Sadly, I got too exited and woke up :(
I hope this helps!