Long dry spell, help?

I feel like 2011 has been a huge failure for me, regarding lucid dreaming. I haven't been lucid much, my recall sucks, and my average LD/month went down from 4.5 a month to 0.5 a month =/, in fact, for the first time since I got into lucid dreaming (September 2009) I went a complete month (September 2011) without a single lucid dream.
I need advice from anyone, because I'm getting really frustrated. I haven't had much time to put into lucid dreaming (just started first year of University), but I want to get back into lucid dreaming =[, any tips and suggestions are greatly appreciated

What techniuqes are you trying, you may need to find one more suited to your schedule. E.G: SAT, as opposed to ADA.
I've had three month dry spells, so don't worry :)
I think it has more to do with your current life style, and the fact that you're just getting back into it.

How often do you write in your dream journal? How many dreams can you recall? I'm guessing the stress from your university could be affecting your dreaaming.

Look at what has changed this year. What makes this year different from last year? There is a lot of stress that accompanies your first year at uni. Maybe that has something to do with it.

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Originally Posted by Robot_Butler

Look at what has changed this year. What makes this year different from last year? There is a lot of stress that accompanies your first year at uni. Maybe that has something to do with it.

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Definitely second this. I remember my first year at my current school. My first quarter was especially terrifying -- I was taking math, physics and chemistry. I was secretly very afraid that I would flunk out in the very first quarter. I was also working part-time. I had my longest dry spell ever, about a month, and I wondered if I'd lost my ability to LD altogether.

I think the first thing you need to do is to accept that you have had a big change in your life and that it's okay that it affected you recall and lucids. Once you really adjust to this change it'll all start coming back, so don't get too upset about it. All you really need to do is get back into your old habits as far as what you did to LD before.

Just go back to the basics for now. Work on your recall first, and don't think about how many lucids you have or don't have. Focus on recall, keep a DJ, and once that starts coming back, really focus on LDing again. Keep reaffirming that it will all come back to you--you're just a bit out of practice, that's all. Hang in there. :)

Just be patient man. Lucid dreaming takes a lot of patience and dedication. But a good thing to do sometimes is to just take a little break from it, just let your mind clear and come back fresh and stoked to have some good lucid dreams. It's pefrectly fine to just take a little time off. It would probably actually help you, if you don't want to do that then like I said just keep at it and you will get lucid. Try not to get discouraged about it, if you feel that you aren't getting lucid enough then just remind yourself, " I have gotten lucid before, I can do it again, there is no way I can't". Having that kind of attitude will really help because it re affirms that you have the ability. Everyone goes through some dry spell every once in a while, it's just a part of practicing lucid dreaming. So yeah either just take a break or just keep at it man!

Good luck!

Thank you all for the positive responses, I'm taking in a little bit of everything you told me :). For now I'll focus on getting my recall, and accept that it will take me a while to get back to having 1LD/week. I guess it is true, its definitely the stress of University (and it started in the 2nd term of Grade 12) but I'll just have to get used to it. This morning I was finally able to recall one short dream, and 2 fragments, that's something (:

If you are getting a lot of stress from school then it might be best to take a small break so you can focus on upcoming tests or assignments. You need to put your education first even though it isn't as fun haha

Good luck!

Again, thank you everyone for your advice :), this morning I was able to break the dryspell with a nice WILD. I woke up at 3 in the morning to review anatomy, and went back to bed at 4, and eventually SP hit me, and well, it went on from there :)

You likely just need to find a new plateau to graze on and then jump over and go into new abysses of the mind. Lucid dreaming may be cool, but is hardly the only mental toy or tool available.

:)