Originally Posted by
FryingMan
I think it's great, by the way, that the new DILD class members are actively participating on each other's pages. Making lucid buddies to help keep each other motivated and giving each other challenges and support is very helpful! The several Parisians may even make a goal to meet up (perhaps for a few boules at Berthillon on Ile St. Louis? Best ice cream ever!) J'ai etudie Francais cinque ans dans l'ecole, mais oublie presque tout!
I find that I can remain mindful during non-taxing activities most of the time after working on it (on and off) for a few years now. It's the 1) conversations, and 2) intellectual work situations where I frequently lose it. So yes, it's the times where you tend to go on autopilot where you need to put the most effort. It takes time, but eventually your brain will start to notice, more and more, when you've lost it and give you a little nudge, "hey, it's time to come back now! Attention is pretty darned good with me. It's the reflection where I'm lacking much of the time. So that's more of my focus these days.
Something else to all the new class members: setting concrete goals is really important (this is also from LaBerge). When our brain's goal-seeking center is active, it can really help get you lucid (and achieve other goals as well). For example: my "average" LD rate is about 1 LD per 5-6 days. But at the last 10 days of February I set a goal to have 10 LDs. I ended up having 6, 6 LDs/10 days is really good for me. I had set really strong intention and made this a very important goal for me. Intention, focus, goals, these are another aspect of LD practice, just as important in many ways as the "big 3" (attention/awareness, critical reflection, and recall/memory).