Short Lucids

I know there have been a ton of posts on this but I am having a very hard time staying asleep when I become lucid. I cant understand what makes me wake up so fast. I have tried every technique that I know and it will work until I stop doing it.

Then, after a few seconds, everything fades to black and I am just lying in bed with my eyes closed, not wanting to accept that fact that I have awaken. I have only once been able to go back to sleep and jump right into lucidity and that was great but that one only lasted about 3 seconds.

I tend to get bored very quickly and want to explore my surroundings or do a predetermined task. I find that my lucid dreaming mind is very similar to being intoxicated in waking life. I tend to act more on impulse and do not have much concentration. Perhaps concentration is the key to longer lucid dreams?

What frustrates me so much is that my first lucid was very long and vivid. The dream lasted so long that I was afraid of oversleeping and being late for work. I was actually trying to wake up and the dream turned into a FA.

Someone has suggested that if you become lucid late in the REM cycle your LD's will tend be shorter than if you become lucid at the beginning of a REM. Maybe I should try WBTB method more often and try wake between REM cycles. I have not had much success with WBTB and it is very irritating to wake up in the middle of the night. I tend to say to heck with it all I just want to sleep because I have to get up for work in X-amount of hours.

I guess my lucid dreams will become longer with practice but when I only have 2 or 3 LD's in a month, progress seems very slow. Any input will be greatly appreciated.

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Originally Posted by Xanous

Then, after a few seconds, everything fades to black and I am just lying in bed with my eyes closed, not wanting to accept that fact that I have awaken.[/b]

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Always check if it's a false awakening, you could be wrong - they are very convincing!

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Originally Posted by Xanous

I tend to act more on impulse and do not have much concentration. Perhaps concentration is the key to longer lucid dreams?[/b]

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I think you're right there, this could mean you're more likely to stabilise lucidity if your concentration is high enough. Keep reminding yourself that it is a dream, or stabilise the dream first, like Billybob's thread (I forgot what its called) of increasing vividness.

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Originally Posted by Xanous

What frustrates me so much is that my first lucid was very long and vivid.[/b]

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There! This could be the reason^^ - you want it to be the same as the first time, but because it doesn't always end up like it, you lose confidence. Or, perhaps you are expecting the dream to last - perhaps you are making assumptions that it will be long. This can possibly lead to worrying so much that you actually wake up. Most dreams involve their happenings by expectation, so the more you wake up early in the dream, the more you might be expecting this to happen.

I have been having the same problems as you - very short lucids. And no joke, last night I had a lucid dream, and it was longer than usual. I was not worrying about how long it would last either, that could be the reason for it.

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Originally Posted by Xanous

Someone has suggested that if you become lucid late in the REM cycle your LD's will tend be shorter than if you become lucid at the beginning of a REM. Maybe I should try WBTB method more often and try wake between REM cycles. I have not had much success with WBTB and it is very irritating to wake up in the middle of the night. I tend to say to heck with it all I just want to sleep because I have to get up for work in X-amount of hours.[/b]

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REM cycles are hard to learn, I wouldn't go too far into that, as they can change. And you might not get enough sleep if you wake up so often. Also, don't do a WBTB if you get up for work in the morning - you need your sleep. :D And if you do, do it after 5-6 hours of sleep, when there is longer REM periods. Well, do what you think is best.

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Originally Posted by Xanous

I guess my lucid dreams will become longer with practice but when I only have 2 or 3 LD's in a month, progress seems very slow. Any input will be greatly appreciated.
[/b]

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Everyone learns at different rates, you will only get better. You sound like you are doing better than me, stop worrying - it may be the reason why you are waking! :D

hmm... very helpfull really!

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Originally Posted by Xanous

hmm... very helpfull really!
[/b]

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I hope so! :wink:

I have like 2 lucid dreams a week. However, I have the same problem you're having right now. I usually wake up after 3 - 10 seconds after realizing it's a dream.

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There! This could be the reason^^ - you want it to be the same as the first time, but because it doesn't always end up like it, you lose confidence. Or, perhaps you are expecting the dream to last - perhaps you are making assumptions that it will be long. This can possibly lead to worrying so much that you actually wake up. Most dreams involve their happenings by expectation, so the more you wake up early in the dream, the more you might be expecting this to happen.
[/b]

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I think this might be it! I usually assume that I will wake up in a moment or so. Even though I look at the floor, I try to spin, rub my hands, etc. I'll try this too. I think this has a lot to do with it. One time when I was lucid (it lasted for 30 seconds, wooow!), I didn't worry about waking up. I just got through a mirror. However, after a while, I worried about waking up, and so I did. So yeah, I think it has a lot to do with it. :)

Yeah I think that's it as well. As soon as I worry about waking up I start to wake up. I have been trying to imprint in my mind that the next time I am lucid I will not worry about waking up and I will just enjoy the dream and be completely immersed in the dream while I continue to tell myself that I am dreaming. The question is, how do you NOT think about something? Perhaps this where a type of active meditiation technique would come in handy. But how do you balance that without losing lucidity? Hmm... I'll just have to see next time I am lucid.

Really is right that you need a goal. That way you'll keep yourself busy. Which will make you worry less about waking up. We'll be able to prolong our dreams, it's just a matter of practice and belief.

Guys, don't think about it at all, have your mind on something else - trust yourself, ignore the doubts, enjoy the experience, become powerful!

Whoohooo! You people were right! I just had a LD that was so long I had time to get bored with the scene. You can view my DJ if you wish. For me the trick was not to worry about waking so much but be immersed in the dream yet lucid. I had to quit trying to stay dreaming and let the dream itself continue on its own. Everytime I started to think about waking I would feel the dream slipping away. I just had to push that thought out of my mind and focus on something else in the dream. Like one point I thought about waking then I saw a car and said wow look at that car and studied every detail as it passed by. I totaly forgot about waking and the dream continued. I did this about 3 or 4 times in the dream and periodicaly thought my lucidity was slipping so had to keep telling myself "You are dreaming".
:bowdown: Anyway thank you for the advice.

I just gained a few skill points in Lucid Dreaming. LOL :)

Sounds great, good work! Happy for ya! :)

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Whoohooo! You people were right! I just had a LD that was so long I had time to get bored with the scene. You can view my DJ if you wish. For me the trick was not to worry about waking so much but be immersed in the dream yet lucid. I had to quit trying to stay dreaming and let the dream itself continue on its own. Everytime I started to think about waking I would feel the dream slipping away. I just had to push that thought out of my mind and focus on something else in the dream. Like one point I thought about waking then I saw a car and said wow look at that car and studied every detail as it passed by. I totaly forgot about waking and the dream continued. I did this about 3 or 4 times in the dream and periodicaly thought my lucidity was slipping so had to keep telling myself "You are dreaming".
Anyway thank you for the advice.

I just gained a few skill points in Lucid Dreaming. LOL [/b]

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Yeah, it works for me too. I've broken my old record. Now my longest lucid dream is around 2.5 minutes! Wow!

To avoid acting on impulse think of what you want to accomplish in a LD just before going to bed. Dont dwell on it, just briefly recall a few things. This way as you become lucid it is very likely that you will actually do some of the things you want instead of going around flying, exploring or having sex.


It is possible to extend your LDs if you reenter them after waking up. This can easily double or triple your LD time.

And it doesnt matter when during a REM session you become lucid - if you happen to become lucid in the beginning the LD will shift and twist out of your control like a mechanical bull. Becoming lucid at the end of REM means you will have faded images, and the dream will naturally end (unless you know how to reenter it :P )

My longest lucids started in the middle of a dream or after a false awakening.


BTW, as really said, always check if you are truly awake. Dreams dont just want to end, and even if you wake up, you may easily fall asleep within a couple minutes.

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Originally Posted by Dice

Yeah, it works for me too. I've broken my old record. Now my longest lucid dream is around 2.5 minutes! Wow!
[/b]

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how do you know how long a dream was? some dreams feel like hours!

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Originally Posted by Dice

To avoid acting on impulse think of what you want to accomplish in a LD just before going to bed. Dont dwell on it, just briefly recall a few things. This way as you become lucid it is very likely that you will actually do some of the things you want instead of going around flying, exploring or having sex.
It is possible to extend your LDs if you reenter them after waking up. This can easily double or triple your LD time.

And it doesnt matter when during a REM session you become lucid - if you happen to become lucid in the beginning the LD will shift and twist out of your control like a mechanical bull. Becoming lucid at the end of REM means you will have faded images, and the dream will naturally end (unless you know how to reenter it :P )

My longest lucids started in the middle of a dream or after a false awakening.
BTW, as really said, always check if you are truly awake. Dreams dont just want to end, and even if you wake up, you may easily fall asleep within a couple minutes.
[/b]

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I have awaken from lucidity and gone back to sleep thinking about my LD and found myself in a dream and became lucid again. I usually do have lucid goals but sometimes I forget. Until I have more control I am content just exploring my reality.

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how do you know how long a dream was? some dreams feel like hours![/b]

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Because it felt like it was that long. I'm not sure. It could've been 4 minutes aswell. Maybe 5. Maybe 6. I'm not able to tell the 'true' amount of minutes that the lucid dream lasted.