Blacking out

[horsebucket]

I dont do any techniques to have lucid dreams they just happen the odd time about once a week so it pisses me off when I wake up the minute I get in one. My biggest problem when I find myself in a lucid dream is I can never keep the dream going. It always goes black and I wake up. My best trick is to never stop moving and keep looking around. Usually when I find myself in a lucid dream I just start running and never stare at one place for more than a second. The best thing I can do is jump in a car or a motor bike because for some reason the changing scenery keeps the dream going. Flying has the same effect. Its when I stop and examine something that it blacks out. I read one of Carlos Castanedas books and he gives a technique to keep it going and hes not bullshitting. It works. You look at your hands then look away real quick then look again and look away and he says never keep your attention fixed on one spot. Makes me wonder how much of the other things he says are true.

[Chris182t]

I've heard another technique that works well is spinning. It's something to do with the feel of the movement that keeps you focused on the dream Also, aswel as staring at your hands you can stare at the ground to keep yourself lucid.

[Citizen]

Besides just staring at your hands, try rubbing them together. The "friction" will keep your mind focused on the tangible items around you and that helps the scenery stay solid... or so I've heard...

[Redrivertears]

Hey there, In my experience, the thing that keeps you 'in the dream' is immersion in the various dreamsensations. Seeing what's there to be seen, hearing what's there to be heard, feeling what's there to be felt, tasting what's there to be tasted, smelling what's there to be smelled. The more you immerse yourself into the dream, the more it will become solid and vivid and stay stable. The reverse is also true, the quickest way to wake up is to cut yourself off from all dreamsensations. Ignore them, don't pay attention to them, sit down, close your eyes, and you'll generally wake up in no time at all. That's often why lucidity can cause dreams to fade or black out. Because you're so busy thinking about your dreamgoals, fixating on your dreamcontrol and what not, that you're withdrawing your attention from the dream itself. Techniques such as spinning or handrubbing are based on the fact that when it happens, you create new dreamsensations and bring your attention back to them. Personally I don't use spinning or handrubbing that much. I prefer to just quickly focus my attention on all the dreamsensations when I feel the dream fading. I'd look around me, I'd try to touch things to feel them, I'd try to listen to sounds and smell if there's a scent. These things almost always cause the dream to extend for me. Just my 2 dreamcents, -Redrivertears-

[horsebucket]

I'm gonna try that reddriver. Another technique I invented which works better than all the other ones I do is half convincing myself the dream is real. Its something about realizing its a dream that makes me wake up so when I pretend its real the dream keeps going for much longer. I had one dream that I kept going for about 20 minutes like that. I've never had to try to wake up. It takes all my effort not to wake up. Another trick I found out is when the dream does black out don't move a muscle otherwise you'll wake up. Instead just stay still and after a few minutes the dream comes back. Usually its the exact same scenery that I was in before I blacked out.