Can't Stabilize!

[quiktaco]

For the last month, I've had 8 lucid dreams. Averaging one about every 3-5 days! However, I can't get any to last longer than about 30 seconds. (one did, but don't know how - about 3-4 minutes) I've been trying everything I can to find some way to stabilize, and remain Lucid, but I've had no success. I need to find something that works. I really thought one technique was going to work. It seemed like a solid Lucid. I got all the dream characters our of my area, and closed doors (with telekinesis - never done that before in a LD), and was in the room alone, and was going to really work on anything I could to keep in the dream, without distractions. And after 30 seconds, I fell out of it, and woke up - real awakening. I need some advise, I feel like I've tried all the standard techniques, but nothing seems to keep me in for very long. I'm not getting excited, and I instantly RC and Stabilize, so getting to that point, and remembering to do it, isn't a problem. It's just that nothing seems to work. Please Help!

[Arch]

If you have read the guide: Dream Stabilization and Clarity Tutorial - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views Then I suggest you just practice! It is truly the best way.

[quiktaco]

If you have read the guide: Dream Stabilization and Clarity Tutorial - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views Then I suggest you just practice! It is truly the best way. I've read it probably 4 times, as well as one this morning. I guess practice is the only way? There's got to be something else, so other technique I could try.

[USA]

If you keep waking up, you should try to DEILD.

[quiktaco]

If you keep waking up, you should try to DEILD. I think I probably should. I'm kind of afraid to though, because I don't want to forget my previous dreams. I've become VERY disciplined at keeping my dream journal. But I guess the only point to the journal, is so I can become, and remember my Lucid Experiences. I've done a DEILD once, but it was quite a while ago...a few years. I might have to try it again. I'm pretty sure I could do it without too much problem. I just don't want to forget my previous dreams if I just fall back asleep though.

[Buddy]

Try to engage any and all of your senses as much as possible. Just stop wherever you are once you're lucid and examine the world around you. Feel your body, smell the air, listen to what's going on around you. Even taste if you're in the appropriate setting (My favorite!). Just gain awarness of your surroundings and immerse yourself in the dream world. I generally don't focus too much on what "technique" I'm using since that tends to cloud the actual goal...at least in my experiences.

[quiktaco]

Try to engage any and all of your senses as much as possible. Just stop wherever you are once you're lucid and examine the world around you. Feel your body, smell the air, listen to what's going on around you. Even taste if you're in the appropriate setting (My favorite!). Just gain awarness of your surroundings and immerse yourself in the dream world. I generally don't focus too much on what "technique" I'm using since that tends to cloud the actual goal...at least in my experiences. Thanks, that sounds like a slant on the Anchoring/ Stabilizing Technique that is written about. I'll just have to try some of these things, or combinations of, so I can find what works for me. Thanks.

[sleepygnome]

Hi, I haven't read any of the articles on here, and I'm a bit unfamiliar with the lingo, so forgive me if I say something obvious... I have found that if I focus on any one thing for too long, everything on the edges of my vision gets cloudy and I lose control of the dream. So my advice is to constantly look around you, and maybe try to be in a place with lots of dream characters. That's how I finally got control of a sex dream...do it in public!

[Arch]

Thanks, that sounds like a slant on the Anchoring/ Stabilizing Technique that is written about. I'll just have to try some of these things, or combinations of, so I can find what works for me. Thanks. Yeah because they are all roughly about the same thing, getting a feel for the dream world, like I said practice to find what works best for you and not being excited is key to staying in a dream. You should use the DEILD method to renter a dream if you are having issues. Happy Dreams

[lawilahd]

Oddly enough, I was and still somewhat am having a similar problem, I went through a period where every LD I had ended when I became lucid and treid stabilizing the traditional way, turns out i was too focused on the fear of waking up and it was causing me to wake up prematurely even with stabilization. You need to have confidence in yourself and go with the flow, but stabilize too, not religiously but maybe try casually stabilizing

[ClearView]

This is not your standard technique, but it should do the job. It worked well for me, and it should work for you! Reflex-Stabilization/ ^Clearview

[Naiya]

Rub your hands together and/or touch some objects in the dream. It always works for me! Also, you can try saying out loud "this dream will last a long time!" or if the visuals fade try saying "clarity now!" Good luck.

[Mancon]

Try to engage any and all of your senses as much as possible. Yeah, this is exactly what I do. Works like a charm!

[Avalanche]

Engaging all your senses as much as you can and as fast as you can can be hard. You either destabilize before you can do it, or there simply isn't anything making noise or that you are willing to taste about. Try clapping your hands in front of your eyes, and then licking you hands. That's 4 senses down in about a second. Seeing your hands, hearing the sound, feeling them clap, and then tasting them. If you want you can also smell them, but I find my hands never have a particular smell or anything strong, so it's kinda useless.

[Pinger]

Most peoples problems are believing that waking up is the end of lucid dreaming for that session. But thanks too a DEILD chains, your first wakening can just be the begginning of a long night of lucid dreaming =D

[Graves]

I find stimulating raw senses generates the best results as you concentrate on high-dosages of whatever it is you're experiencing. E.g. slamming your head into a wall; the impact gives a really profound sense of feeling.

[quiktaco]

I finally stabilized the other night! I kept engaged in the dream, while I clapped my hands and slapped my cheeks. I didn't feel the slaps to my cheeks though, but I was finally able to stay in the dream for over 5 minutes! Before this, my longest was about 1 minutes, and usually averaged about 20 seconds at the most. I think the key was keeping engaged in the dream, and not ignoring the dream world to focus on my hands or something. That just caused the dream world to fade, and end up in the inevitable waking. As for DEILD, I've tried it a number of times from all of these, but I always seem to be too awake, and can never re-enter a dream. I'll just lay there for quite a while, then give up, and write in my DJ. How long should a DEILD take to re-enter? Should it be within a 10 seconds to a minute, or should I give it ten minutes or something. I usually will lay there for about 5 minutes before I give up, but I've only been able to get it to work once, and that was a really long time ago.

[Buddy]

I've managed to do it once; It took less than 30 seconds. I had the advantage of knowing I was about to wake up and was able to remember to keep still and not open my eyes for more than a second or two though. It should work as long as you can imagine the last few minutes of the dream while laying there.

[Qwer]

I had the same problem, my first 14 lucids were like 30 seconds. But I found something that works extremely well for me, rubbing my hands together (like to make heat) and shouting out dream stabilize. And another one I think is real good is drop to the floor and lick it (taste), rub your face in it (feel), smell it, look at it (see all the details), and listen to all the sounds around you. This gets you thinking and feeling your dream body. And while doing this you can also shout dream stabilize. And if your vision goes funny then say out loud hd vision!! Hope this helps

[Graves]

@Qwer & Quiktaco (and anyone else who's interested) Hear me out before you dismiss this. You seem to be connected with your hands/the sense of touch, which is good.. but try hitting a few walls or something as hard as you can next time you're lucid. In fact, do the worst thing you can think of in terms of physical pain. You might find you're insanely stable as a result, like I do whenever I try it. My theory behind it being the best stabilisation method is this: You know when you hurt yourself and all you can think about is how it feels? Well utilising that for lucid stability is extremely useful, because you're forced to focus on the sense of touch. It takes a little while until you can muster the courage to ''damage'' your dream body as you're afraid of the end result, but once you overcome that you open up a whole new gateway into experiencing things. Personally I like to do outrageous things like smacking walls with all my might and slamming my head into fencing and such; it gives me a very vivid perception of touch, thereby grounding me into a world in which the ''pain'' I feel doesn't actually exist, meaning I can continue to do it until I'm extremely stable and then walk away like nothing happened.

[quiktaco]

@Qwer & Quiktaco Hear me out before you dismiss this. You seem to be connected with your hands/the sense of touch, which is good.. but try hitting a few walls or something as hard as you can though next time you're lucid. In fact, do the worst thing you can think of in terms of physical pain. You might find you're insanely stable as a result, like I do whenever I try it. I'm not opposed to that. I see that as engaging the surroundings, on top of engaging other senses. Sounds like a good idea. I did slap my cheeks, which helped stabilize, but I actually didn't feel a thing. I found it very strange that I didn't feel anything, but it seemed to work none the less.

[Graves]

I did slap my cheeks, which helped stabilize, but I actually didn't feel a thing. I don't really feel pain when I do my thing, but at the same time I do, if you get what I mean? I can feel the impact and extremity of what's happening but it doesn't actually hurt me.

[fOrceez]

I think I probably should. I'm kind of afraid to though, because I don't want to forget my previous dreams. I've become VERY disciplined at keeping my dream journal. But I guess the only point to the journal, is so I can become, and remember my Lucid Experiences. I've done a DEILD once, but it was quite a while ago...a few years. I might have to try it again. I'm pretty sure I could do it without too much problem. I just don't want to forget my previous dreams if I just fall back asleep though. From personal experience with DEILD, you don't forget your dream at all. I mean, you go through nights where you recall multiple dreams in one sitting, don't you? What difference should it make? As for stabalisation, how fast do you fall out of the lucid dream? If it's almost instantly, practicing is the only way. If you have a more than 10 seconds, then just stand there and look around. Maybe focus on looking at one thing. THEN rub your hands while looking at them. After that, don't go flying straight away, still take maybe another 5-10 seconds touching stuff in the dream. THEN go doing whatever you please

[quiktaco]

Unfortunately, it's basically instant when I fall out of a Lucid. So I guess I've just got to practice more.

[Avalanche]

No matter what you do, I hear that the more you get lucid, the less your mind resists or tried to bring you back to wakefulness. It's like many things in life- the more you do it the easier it becomes. There are ways to make it easier, but just doing it works too. Eventually you will get into one where you have time to stabilize. My lucid dreams so far have been quite short, and I struggled to get them stable, but I think they are lasting longer than when I first started out. Actually, they definitely are longer. My first was literally about 2 seconds lucidity, and the crappest lucidity ever, the next were like 5 seconds and 6 seconds, again, tunnel vision and vibrations throughout. Then last night I had another two, both were about 10 seconds, ok clarity but the vibrations were still there.