Is rubbing hands or spinning more reliable?

Hey all,

I have been attempting lucid dreaming for about 2 months and in this time I have had 11 lucid dreams with the last 5 being within a 2 week period. I feel like I am getting the hang of inducing them but my problem is that mine are all really short, like 10-20 seconds. At first I would try rubbing my hands for a few seconds but they would be numb so I would stop. Now i really dont even try a stabilization technique. I have a few questions:
1) Is a stabilization technique necessary for a beginner lucid dreamer to make the dream longer?
2) Which stabilization (if any) do you use?
3) how long do you do the technique for before continuing the dream?

Help is greatly appreciated,

Thanks

1) Yes, but some persons have less problem with the stabilization
2)I had the same problem but then I read about this technique: http://www.dreamviews.com/f14/close-...3/#post1916463 and was the only one that worked for me, but after I used it the others techniques started working fine for me.
3)Depends of how stable was the dream before I started the stabilization, sometimes I dont even stabilize :D

I suggest that you read this Dream Stabilization and Clarity Tutorial - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views and good luck with this, I know how bad is when you finally get lucid but then you lose the dream :cheeky:

Ha yea I've had 12 lucids now (1 last night) but haven't been able to accomplish anything. How many attempts did it take for the stabilization techniques to work for you?

In my experiences, rubbing my hands together works much better than spinning. In fact, spinning has been known to wake me up. I only rub my hands together briefly, and it usually does the trick; I try to focus on the sensation I'd feel if I were really rubbing my hands together. Also, examining and focusing on my hands works to increase the vividness.

It does sound like you need to find a good stabalization technique that works for you, maybe something that's not spinning or rubbing your hands together. Good luck on your dreaming endeavors! :)

1) It looks like my LDs became unstable when I stopped paying attention to the dream plot (i.e. thinking too much because of my excitement), rushed into things and/or tried to force the dream with no sense. It used to happen more frequently when I learned to induce LDs.
2) When necessary, I use to feel my weight by standing on tiptoes, jumping or just moving around. If I'm able to feel my dream body normally I go on by interacting with the dreamscape, i.e. feeling some textures with my fingertips, taking things with my hands and feeling their weight, etc. Basically I "take a walk", looking for the next place I want to explore, or if I have any goal, and so forth.
3) I think the dream continues regardless I realized it's a dream.

I used for the first time the Close Your Eyes technique in my 17th LD, and after that the other started working. If you have some DEILD knowledge worths to try, what worked a little for me before the Close Your Eyes technique was stare at my hand and look carefully at the details while keep saying ''I will not wake up'' but this just increased the duration and the vividness of the dream.

The one that works best for me is the one where you rub your hands together, I don't worry much about stabilization not working any more, I've used it so much now that it's pretty reliable for me.. And the more I trust it the more it'll work.
I used to have trouble when I closed my eyes, I would be afraid that I would open my real life eyes when I tried to open them. I don't have trouble with that anymore though. So when I stabilize I usually just try to think of the best thing that would work for me to really pay attention to my senses at that specific moment, it may vary too. If I have like a flower in my hand for some reason at that moment I'll smell it and pay attention to it's vivid colors, and that's usually enough to make my dream last quite a lot longer. It's mostly improvising for me most of the time.

I would say rubbing your hands has a higher success rate for most people.

1.) Yes, it definitely is.
2.) I use the spinning and hand rubbing technique both. I also just stop for a second and see what's around me. What do I smell, taste, hear, see, touch, etc? It helps me get more aware and make things more vivid.
3.) 15 seconds - a minute I would say.

Rubbing your hands only stabilizes your dream body. It doesn't do much for stabilizing your surroundings because the entirety of your focus is on your hands.

Spinning, in theory, should be a good balance between focusing on your body and your surroundings. But in practice it's often disorienting. If you want to spin, don't spin so fast you start to lose focus on your surroundings and get dizzy. Really, any intense physical activity will help to stabilize things. Sprinting, running, flying.