Thread: Adam's Guide to Attaining Lucidity

NEW: Adam's guide to attaining lucidity.

The Theory

Right, this is an adaptation of the above technique, which people might still have some joy with, hence still leaving it there but I found my lucid dreams were not frequent enough and still relied on me staying still, and relying on an element of DILD too much, which whilst it is good for frequent lucid dreamers, it does not give you that guarantee that you will have a lucid dream.

This is not rocket science, neither is it complicated. In fact it is very simple, and I am pretty sure you all will think it’s nothing new – But it works for me! So far 100% success rate over the 3 nights I tried it! So if it can help you, and bring back the confidence, get you out of a dry spell, or give you your first lucid dream then great!!!

I have trialled this new, improved technique for 3 days now, noticing an increase in the frequency of lucid dreams, vividness of normal dreams and almost an LD at will attitude has been installed, which is great for lucid dreaming. If you can get this positive ‘can do’ attitude that’s almost 50% of the job done!

My new technique, takes elements from the WILD technique, so includes WBTB and also includes some MILD/DEILD and DILD. I will stress that I have adapted this for me, and works with my body clock, so you may need to change slightly for yourself, I will try help here if you want to discuss tailoring for your needs. But based on the key points below, you should be able to achieve what I have.

I am of the belief that the quicker you slip back into a dream from waking the more chance you will have of inducing a lucid dream. With the WILD technique you are advised to stay up for around 30 minutes, which varies depending on the guide. WBTB typically is around the same time, if not longer sometimes up to an hour. As for DEILD you don’t really need to wake and get out of bed, you just try fall back to sleep as soon as you notice you are awake. MILD can be done at any point when awake, either before going to sleep or as part of a WBTB/WILD. And DILD is just naturally inducing lucid dreaming whilst sleeping. My technique includes all of these and squished into one full technique, which is why I think I have had so much success. Because if the WILD part fails, you can be pretty sure the DILD will kick in. With the help from MILD. (Damn this is getting complicated now, back to simple stuff).

It is an easy technique, you don’t have to be an LD master, good at WILDs or even attempted lucid dreaming before, you just need to have faith, and confidence and I am sure good things will happen. I am not claiming to have reinvented the wheel, more turned the wheel from round to spherical. I have added a new dynamic approach to existing techniques.

Anyway, enough of my talk lets move onto the good stuff!

The Technique
The important stuff: Okay I ask you have a regular sleep pattern getting plenty of sleep, and by plenty I mean between 7 and 8 hours a night. I will try best to explain the steps I take each night when trying this out! Also any bad attitude towards lucid dreaming, or lack of confidence, or an “I can’t” attitude stops at the door, now take off your shoes, and enter with a smile and know you ARE going to lucid dream, here goes!

I get to bed between 10:30pm and 11pm. This gives me around 5 and half hours sleep. I set my alarm for 4:30 am. I don’t do anything when going to sleep, no MILD or anything. I don’t really even think about lucid dreaming, except for the fact that I know, I will be lucid dreaming in no time. I just go to bed to sleep. I leave my PC running too.

Points to consider: Your longest REM period is in the morning, after about 5-6 hours sleep; this is where you have your most success. I get up just after 5 hours sleep, but don’t get up any sooner than that.

Get up at 4:30 when the alarm goes off, put on my large smile because I know in less than 30 minutes I will be lucid dreaming, jump onto dream views, read a couple of posts, send the odd sleepy PM, and spend about 5/10 minutes on there MAX. I then take a toilet break get some water and go back to the pc and look at and think about my dream scene (see dream scenes below) and get into bed. Important I am not up for more than 15 minutes!!! I try keep this to 10 though where possible. I like to make sure my eyes are exposed to the light too, enough to wake me.

Points to consider: You need to be awake, but not so much so that you cannot get back to sleep easily. You need to find the right balance which works for you. You might not get it right first time, so I would say take 5/7 minutes first off, and then if this doesn’t work extend or reduce this time that you are awake.

There is not set way for you to lye when going back to sleep, just however you are comfortable, I sleep almost like the recovery position, because that for me is the most comfortable way to sleep.

Points to consider: You might be too awake here, but don’t worry about it. You will be asleep sooner than you think. Just make sure you are comfortable, the room is dark, and you are feeling happy and confident, about your successful lucid dreams!

This is the tricky part. Having been up and about you need to fall back to sleep as soon as you can. Your body will be tired and ready to rest some more, and since you have only been up for a few minutes your mind will be active enough and your body tired. The exposure to bright light and DV forum should impose enough thoughts in your head to get you going along with the thoughts of your dream scene.

What I try here is a MILD/WILD combo. I keep my eyes shut, my body still, and think about dream scenarios and my dream scene, I let my mind work on the scenery on its own, like it would in a lucid dream but I take control of where I go if that makes sense. So I almost ‘pretend’ I am lucid really. Thinking to myself “when I am sleeping, I will know it and I will be doing this” Think about the dream you want to be having, because when we become lucid to begin with our mind puts us where it wants us to be, whether that is in a forest, city, or anywhere. Of course when we are lucid we can change this.

What you need to do now is almost let your dream become more real and this is where the WILD part comes in – you need to get into the transitional period from pretending you are dreaming to actually dreaming. Some people may experience hypnotic images or sounds, some people may experience sleep paralysis, this is normal, but won’t always happen, at least didn’t always for me. Sometimes I would just wake up in the dream being lucid right away! Other times I would fall to sleep, then become lucid during the dream after remembering I had only just gone back to sleep so must be dreaming now.

It is all about getting the messages in your brain whilst you are awake enough to do so, but sleepy enough to get to sleep quick enough to remember them.

Remember be confident you are going to LD, keep repeating to yourself in your head that you will remember you are dreaming, and that you just went back to bed – you will get into the dream. Remembering your scene you selected, and whether you get right into a dream from going to bed (WILD). Or you realise shortly after falling back to sleep that you must be dreaming because you just went back to sleep (DEILD/DILD) you will have success. I think that’s why this works so well for me, because if my WILD attempt fails, I can rely on my subconscious to remember that I need to realise I am dreaming.

That’s pretty much it, simple eh? Nothing new, no rocked science involved. But so far the results personally for me speak for them self! I was rubbish at wild, and my DEILD/DILDs were not frequent enough for me. Maybe it is just the reaffirmation of lucid dreaming and the confidence that I will lucid dream which is making them happen so often? I don’t know, all I know is this works great for me, so hope it does for you too!

Key points to remember:

-Positive attitude! This IS going to work for you!
-Regular sleep pattern
-Don’t stay up too long!
-Don’t get up too early, aim for 5 and a half to 6 hours sleep before waking.
-Enjoy you lucid dreams!

Dream Scenes:

This is just another easy way to implant thoughts into your head about sceneries and creating this image for you to pretend to lucid dream. It helps embed this lucid message in your subconscious – You can create your own dream scenes to use, but here are a couple of mine.

Beach: http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/7183/beachzz1.jpg

City: http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/166/cityua1.jpg

Park: http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/6370/parkma3.jpg

Forest: http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/8821/forestcb2.jpg

Okay, so this is the end...

Good luck and I hope this works for you. You might not slip right into the dream you were thinking about before you sleep, but this method has been perfect for me and am very happy with the results.

Happy to answer any questions you might have.

Adam.

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I have also left this here for people who have trouble with WBTB and getting back to sleep.

Adam's guide to the DEILD technique

Hey guys, I have been wanting to post this for a while but been testing it on myself first for a few mornings, with mixed results so wanted to share with you and maybe with your help and experience we can adapt this to make it work better for others. Its something I used to do quite a bit - before even knowing it was called the DEILD technique. Anyway, this is my take on it and the steps I do to achieve lucidity.

The Theory

Okay, when ever I have achieved multiple lucid dreams, I tend to find I am always lying on my back, in fact most of my lucid dreams are when I am on my back. Also, they almost always seem to be in the morning, not half way through the night, added to this, my recall is at its best in the morning when I am in my longer REM cycle. So this got me thinking about induction techniques.

The WILD works by staying awake for 30 minutes or so then slipping back into sleep. I think this is too long and for me, is a hard technique to master, and often you can loose your motivation when you are lying for 30/40 minutes and still not achieve it.

I am of the belief that the quicker you slip back into a dream from waking the more chance you will have of inducing a lucid dream so I propose this technique for people to try and report back on with their results.

This will be going into a mini guide I am putting together but this technique I want to test first before I complete the guide so you guys are my guinea pigs :p

The DEILD Technique

The idea is that, when you very first awake in the mornings do your very best not to open your eyes, neither should you move at all. Keep the thoughts of your dream you have just awoken from fresh in your mind and slowly roll onto your back. Most people will find lying on their back to sleep quite uncomfortable, but since you only just awoke you should be okay falling right back to sleep.

So you have rolled onto your back and keep the images and memories of the last dream you had in your mind and think about what you would have done if you became lucid and carry the dream on in your thoughts from the point you woke up and imagine what you would have done if you stayed sleeping and were lucid. So as you are doing this you will in some occasions notice that your mind will wander from the dream scenario, and as long as it is not thoughts of what you are going to have for breakfast or your day ahead just go with them, don't fight it as this will only make you more awake. So what ever your mind tries to do just go with it, but keep the thoughts of what you would do if you were in control of this.

You should find you fall asleep pretty quickly, I normally manage to do this within a minute of waking up. And with mixed success has become lucid. Please give this a try and let me know what your results are.

(Pre)Requisites

Okay there are a few things you need to consider before trying this, these might change based on your successes but for me the following I have found is important.

- Make sure you have a regular sleep pattern! So sleeping 11pm till 8am or something, try to make this regular, I know some people have work, and other commitments, but if you can keep a regular sleep pattern of what works for you. Try not to get too tired, as I find my lucid dreams are better after a lot of rest and within light sleep.

- Don't use an alarm! Its important that you only wake up when you body tells you to wake up. So for me I usually have to be up at 7am for work. If I make sure I get at least 8 hours sleep that gives me the opportunity when I awaken early enough to try this. So when you first naturally wake up, try remain as still as possible with your eyes shut thinking about the dream only.


- Follow your mind! When you are first awake, your mind will be fresh with the dream you awoken from, don't fight these thoughts and think about getting up, instead keep them fresh, and keep with them, and carry on the dream in your mind. If you mind wanders, as it invariably will, then go with it, and slip back into the dream and sleep.

Good luck, and I hope this works for you. You might not slip right into the dream you were thinking about before you slip back into sleep, but this method has been pretty reliable to me and now I feel after trying to perfect it, getting the views and experiences of you guys trying it, maybe I can adapt it and publish a complete guide

Thank you for your time.
Adam.

Sounds cool. Im gonna try it out tommorow morning and lets hope it works! (Fingers crossed).

Thats a pretty awesome guide Adam! I'll add it to the FAQ since it looks really good and it all fits together! We need to talk about this more in our PM's or on MSN Nice one mate

I'll definately try this out tonight.

Great guide, if it works, I'll send you a dollar over paypal xD.

Edit: Oh hey: SBTD, Straight back to Dream.

My problem is that when I wake up, I want to go up to take a leak.
got an idea what I can do?

Originally Posted by dodobird

My problem is that when I wake up, I want to go up to take a leak.
got an idea what I can do?

Bucket + tubing? =P

And I use this lots of the time. I find its often best to skip back a while in dream time when doing this though. If you miss jumping straight back in (its often a narrow window) Simply relax and try to recall your dream. Whenever you get to a point you wish something else had happened or you had been lucid so you could have done something different, Concentrate on what had happened. Its quite easy to throw together a makeshift VILD like this.

Originally Posted by dodobird

My problem is that when I wake up, I want to go up to take a leak.
got an idea what I can do?

Maybe set your alarm for 5am and take a pee, then when you naturally wake up at 8 or 9 you shouldn't need to go again?

"January 11th


Dream Recall Improvement


Using Adam's technique I could recall 6 dreams a night!!! I can't say for sure that it was only due to his technique, but after trying other techniques, this one seems to be the best so far in dream recall. Here is a short summary of each dream:

1. first wake up (04:30am):
   1. A woman keeps calling me on my cellphone, she wants to know what time is the concert going to be;
   2. My neighbors dog barks outside, I go to the window to look outside, but all I could see was my computer (Windows) desktop;
2. second wake up (07:00am):
   1. I was posting something at DV's forums;
   2. Someone knocks on the front door, I go check, and there is nobody there;
   3. I go on errands and a couple is running naked aound the supermarket/mall;
   4. I wake up, turn off the air-conditioner (I know this was a dream, because when I actually woke up the air-conditioner was on)

Thanks Adam!!"

This seems like an interesting technique! I'm going to be using it in my WBTB's from now on.

One question though. When I return to bed, should I be vizualising/thinking about my dream scene until I fall asleep?

Because last night when I tried this I had some trouble falling back to sleep and had to let my mind wander off eventually. I don't know, maybe I was focusing too much on the dream scene or something? Or it could have been that I was just up for too long (I think I was up around 20 minutes)

*Shrug*

Well initially yes, think about it, but should your mind wander let it, but make sure you stay with it, and make sure you stay awake with it or you will just fall to sleep

Alright, thanks man.

I randomly woke up around 4 hours after going to bed tonight and decided to give this another go.

I stayed up for about 10 minutes, then went back to bed daydreaming about my dream scene. I was dead tired so I passed out quick as hell. Good thing was that I had a Dild!
Bad thing was that I was so stressed about completing my LD goal that I woke up when I tried to teleport. Oh well, hopefully i'll learn from this mistake.

Awesome work, glad it helped in someway

Ok, so it's been some time since I've gotten myself together to attempt any special techniques, but I have a feeling I'm ready to get back on the horse, so I am gonna start out by stabilizing my sleep patterns. Does 23:00/24:00 -> 7:00 sound alright?

edit: wow I just took a look through this thread. That's some wonderful english I had going for myself back in 2007. Goddamn.

This shall be my guide, Yes, definitely!

Tried this last night and it was interesting. I went to bed at 11 PM and set my alarm for 5 AM. I woke up at 3:30 though, and had to go to the bathroom. Then I fell back asleep, and woke up from my alarm. I went over to my computer, and came and read this thread over again, and took a look at some of the dream scene pictures. After about 5 minutes, I went to the bathroom again, and then back to bed. I must have fallen asleep though. I woke up and checked my clock, and it was 5:30. I felt awake enough at the end of my waking up, but I guess I really wasn't that awake.

Hey, Adam, I don't know if you will still be active on this thread, but I thought it would do no harm to ask anyway. Why do you believe it is best not trying anything when going to bed for the first time in the night? And why do you stay awake for such a small amount of time (you said no more than 15 minutes)? Do you have any theories about why these may be helping you?

Real quick, will I experience sleep paralysis while doing this? Or do I just fall asleep as I normally would?