Hello and welcome to the DILD class! You already have a great start on lucid dreaming practice, I think that you should just keep doing what you're doing. A few comments:
Usually it takes quite some time for me to fall asleep - I would say on average 45min (sometimes 30 but sometimes 90)
I go to sleep very regularly at about 22:00 and wake up naturally at about 7:00 or 8:00.
I cannot take naps during the day as I just cannot fall asleep.
When I do the WBTB I don't even get up because I naturally need a long time before being able to fall asleep and don't want to wake up too much (also I'm lazy and tired xD)
For me, the middle of the night wakings are the time when I can get (hours long) insomnia. I fall asleep pretty fast at bedtime most nights unless I'm highly stressed. But once I started noticing middle-of-the-night wakings through intention (in order to recall dreams and perform WILD/MILD), especially when doing SSILD or MILD around 5-6 hours of sleep, I would frequently lie awake for hours. In the end I taught myself relaxation, and discovered that I was holding tension in many places in my face (eyes, jaw). In short, I recommend looking seriously into resources that teach you how to relax yourself and not dwell on pesky thoughts that keep you awake. Sitting meditation is one way to do this. In fact, you can think of relaxation for falling back to sleep as a form of meditation. For LD practice, being able to wake up and fall back asleep a few times per night can be very advantageous. It's also good for general health as well! It's generally preferable to notice wakings through intention than to set alarms, alarms can be too jarring, we're conditioned to wake up fully with them, and they can blast away all dream memories.
It's normal for most LDs to be short in the beginning. Most of my LDs are under 5 minutes, but they're still really fun. I think some people inflate the length of their dreams. If you started paying attention to *every little detail* in waking life, 5 minutes would start to seem like a pretty long time!
WILD has never worked for me
I empathize completely, I've hardly ever had WILDs (other than DEILDs). I think many people mistake start-of-dream DILDs with WILDs. In a true WILD, there is no discontinuity of awareness into the dream, and pretty much every time I've observed the start of a dream as it formed (which is a trip and really awesome), I experienced a discontinuity/disorientation and wasn't quite sure how I got there. But WILDs are great to practice, they require discipline and focus, visualization, etc., that are valuable in other aspects of LDing. Expert LDers choose the approach to match the conditions of how they feel. For example: you just notice a waking: first step, try to DEILD, doesn't work? then try to WILD. Doesn't work (after some predetermined time) or doesn't "feel right?") Aim for sleep to get a DILD.
After doing my finals at school seeing my now former classmates has become a dream sign but I am unable to make myself do an RC whenever I see them.
This touches on an important topic: training yourself to live "tuned in," paying attention, not living life "on autopilot." With your dreaming background, you've probably realized at least somewhat that *at any conscious moment, you could be dreaming*. Maintaining this mindfulness in waking life, especially with distracting activities that demand your attention, is perfect practice for lucid dreaming. It takes time, be patient, but do you best to try to pay attention to life, waking or dreaming. The more you're present, paying attention, participating in waking life, the more it will happen in your dreams. The more you do it, the more you want to keep doing it, and the more you'll feel "not right" if you're zoned out and in a dull state of mind.
As for stabilization and goals, I recommend rehearsing the "I just got lucid!" moment when awake: see yourself getting lucid in a dream, then: slow down, take a breath, be calm, look around, rub your hands, pat your body if you like (I do this when I remember), recite a mantra that helps you with dream goals, realize the truth of the situation (that you're awake in a dream taking place in your mind).
The balance that you practice during the day to pay attention to your mind and what's going on while it's happening is perfect practice for maintaining the balance of participating in the dream while maintaining the knowledge that it is a dream (in other words, holding on to your lucidity). This is a delicate balance that takes a long time to progress in, but it's worth the effort.
Let us know if you have any other questions, and use your workbook here like you have started to to keep track of your progress and to stay motivated and hold yourself accountable to your goals. Welcome and have great dreams!
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