Devastated

I have been trying have a lucid dream for 4 weeks now. And I'm Devastated I still didn't have one. I'm not gonna give up, I just wanna be a lucid dreamer. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I have been keeping a dream journal for 4 weeks now. There are some days I can remember 3-5 Dreams, other days I just can't remember anything at all, so it's always different. I've tried to WBTB method several times but I couldn't remember anything at all. I do reality checks all the time (at school, at home,..) I do like 20-30 Reality checks throughout the day. I refuse to do WILD because I don't wanna have Sleep Paralysis. I have no idea why there are days I can remember loads of dreams and why there are days I can't remember anything at all. Everynight I try to have a lucid dream (sometimes I try to perform WBTB method) but either It didn't work or I couldn't remember anything. Everynight I'm so confident I'm gonna have.. I have a pro lucid dreamer on skype, he already had loads of LD's. He' been giving me tips, but so far I didn't have one yet ):. Can anyone help me out? I really wanna have lucid dreams. I would do anything for it (except WILD lol). Can anyone pls give me tips/help me? :c -Crash

Damn, seriously is there no way you can take a liking to sleep paralysis? It happens every single night without fail, and it is necessary to stop sleep walking. So whilst paralysed, you're not in a 'dodgy' special state.

I'm only saying this because my preferred induction technique is WILD. Otherwise I fail too much.

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Originally Posted by Wolfwood

Damn, seriously is there no way you can take a liking to sleep paralysis? It happens every single night without fail, and it is necessary to stop sleep walking. So whilst paralysed, you're not in a 'dodgy' special state.

I'm only saying this because my preferred induction technique is WILD. Otherwise I fail too much.

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Well what do you experience with sleep paralysis? Loud bangs, hallucinations of beings in your room? Pressure on your chest/choking feeling?
I'm afraid if I try WILD I'll be too afraid to try Lucid dreaming again.

Personally, if I lay there attempting sleep paralysis from waking consciousness, then I experience a buzzing, electrical sound.....as if objects are zooming past me at a ridiculous speed. I see flashing lights like colourful lightning. And a massive wave of relaxation comes over me. I don't feel any physical pressure because I'm not, initially, attempting to move. But, when I try to induce a dream through 'rolling to the side', I feel like I can't move at all....except for eyes and finger tips. This is partly the point - when I continue attempting, I'll roll off my bed (but that's only my 'dream body'). I'll now be in a lucid dream or OBE. Depends how you classify.

If I have a bad dream, however, and then wake up suddenly in sleep paralysis, sometimes I will see these horrific entities that have carried over from the dream. Because I am shocked, I try to move instinctively and attack or get away from what I see - this is when you feel like you're stuck down by some magical power. Mostly because you're in a shocked, irrational state though.

The point is that from a waking state, nothing negative has ever happened. I've only failed during that state because of sheer excitement when the paralysis occurred - it was quite surreal in itself. An amazing experience when induced voluntarily. ^_^

Okay so I won't see any entities while I'm using sleep paralysis to induce a lucid dream? o:

From my opinion, I wouldn't say so. It's difficult to say.

I'm sure most anecdotal reports of entities during sleep paralysis, where people feel like they've been abducted and experimented on, or are bound by some magical force, come from transferring from the dream world to sleep paralysis (where people mistakenly think they're awake because they're conscious). 'Waking' in sleep paralysis is really just becoming conscious in a partial dream. So what they see is still dream-based.

I've woken up in sleep paralysis to some disgusting clown-face right in front of my eyes. I went mental and tried to headbutt it, but couldn't move. I was sure that I was awake, but after a lot of force I broke free and then the clown-face disappeared. What I perceived was still the dream world.

So, I think the point to remember when doing it from induction is that as soon as you get those buzzing sounds and flashing lightning, then you're beginning to 'transfer' to the dreamworld. When they subside, and you open your eyes, what you see is a partial dream. 99% of the time, it will be your room exactly how it 'feels' to you. Unless you have some massive unconscious belief in there being a monster in the closet, I doubt you'll see anything when free of intense fear and negative emotion.

Though if you want to break free of sleep paralysis quickly, then rapidly blink. Or, if you take control of your breathing and do it faster than it is naturally (which is very slow during this time), then you'll wake up. Honestly though, I reckon you'll thoroughly enjoy the experience from induction.

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Originally Posted by Crashyy

Well what do you experience with sleep paralysis? Loud bangs, hallucinations of beings in your room? Pressure on your chest/choking feeling?
I'm afraid if I try WILD I'll be too afraid to try Lucid dreaming again.

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Have you tried sleeping on your side or some other position instead of your back?

Theres been times I've woke up on my back and almost immediately gone into SP
with my eyes open, which creates some pretty scary looking hallucinations at
whatever im looking at, so i know exactly what you're talking about.

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Originally Posted by Johnny87

Have you tried sleeping on your side or some other position instead of your back?

Theres been times I've woke up on my back and almost immediately gone into SP
with my eyes open, which creates some pretty scary looking hallucinations at
whatever im looking at, so i know exactly what you're talking about.

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Yeah, I always sleep on my sides. Cause I will probably get sleep paralysis when I'm laying on my back.
That's what I do to prevent it xD.

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Originally Posted by Crashyy

Yeah, I always sleep on my sides. Cause I will probably get sleep paralysis when I'm laying on my back.
That's what I do to prevent it xD.

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Well you could try a sleepmask then if you intend on sleeping on your back.

Only thing you can really do is just keep telling yourself whatever you hear or see isnt
real, and that it happens every night. Although I'm not a fan of SP either so i know how
hard that can be.

I've had SP a couple of times and I didn't experience any hallucinations, not even sounds. So it's really different for everyone. It takes like 5 seconds and goes away, it's not that bad.

Things you should be careful of. Im still VERY inexperienced, so others probably know better, but ive read a lot about LDs and this is what I learned

-First and foremost YOU NEED TO FALL ASLEEP, so if you are too excited you will keep yourself up and before you know it you will fall asleep, exhausted (very frustrating, if there is one thing that I am experienced in, it is failing LDs)
-If trying a MILD, make sure you know what your dream signs are, go through your dream journal, do not only know them, but have a reaction, like a reality check
-When doing reality checks, you must be entertaining the possibility that you could actually be in a dream, or else it will just become a habit and the RC wont work in a dream
-Follow up on your RCs, after doing one, think "I could not breathe through my nose when I pinched it, therefore I am not dreaming, therefore this isnt a lucid dream". If you dont do this, when a RC works in a dream, you wont realise, you will just continue on with the dream

Hope I helped

I know it might be hard after 4 weeks of trying. I bet your faith in lucid dreaming has dropped (for not really seeing any results), which could cause the state you're in. To get lucid you must truly believe that you will become lucid. Repeat a mantra before you go to sleep, (Just thinking/saying doesn't do much. You must put much thought on it.). I really believe that your first lucid dream is behind the corner, just keep doing what you're doing. ;)
BTW, if you question yourself on why your doing it. Just remember your motives, what you want to do in a lucid dream. Also don't worry if you can't remember your dreams always. I only remember about one dream a week (depends), but still I achieve lucid dreams weekly and remember them.

Wow o: I thought you need to remember like 3-5 dreams each night to remember your lucid dream if you have one. It's so cool you remember 1 dream a week and you still achieve lucid dreams :D. My faith in lucid dreaming has dropped a bit, but I'm not giving up, I will have a lucid dream someday xD

I've only had SP once and I felt a mild numbness of my legs and arms.

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Originally Posted by Metallicuh

I've only had SP once and I felt a mild numbness of my legs and arms.

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Did you have SP when you woke up from a dream? Or did you use SP to get into a lucid dream?

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Originally Posted by Crashyy

Wow o: I thought you need to remember like 3-5 dreams each night to remember your lucid dream if you have one. It's so cool you remember 1 dream a week and you still achieve lucid dreams :D. My faith in lucid dreaming has dropped a bit, but I'm not giving up, I will have a lucid dream someday xD

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It's different when you lucid dream....Compare drinking a lot of alcohol/not drinking any alcohol to normal dreams/lucid dreams.

When you drink a lot of alcohol, you become less aware and the your memory of the night before suffers. Without alcohol, you're quite aware of the present moment and the unfolding events, such that in the morning you remember the night before.

Normal dreams are like getting slaughtered on alcohol, the efficiency of your memory is pretty poor. Whilst lucid dreams are like a sober mind... you remember easily because your awareness is so much greater. You're aware at the moments your system is encoding memory traces.

You'll do it soon. If not, then before you give up, you should try the SP transition method.

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Originally Posted by Wolfwood

It's different when you lucid dream....Compare drinking a lot of alcohol/not drinking any alcohol to normal dreams/lucid dreams.

When you drink a lot of alcohol, you become less aware and the your memory of the night before suffers. Without alcohol, you're quite aware of the present moment and the unfolding events, such that in the morning you remember the night before.

Normal dreams are like getting slaughtered on alcohol, the efficiency of your memory is pretty poor. Whilst lucid dreams are like a sober mind... you remember easily because your awareness is so much greater. You're aware at the moments your system is encoding memory traces.

You'll do it soon. If not, then before you give up, you should try the SP transition method.

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Alright, If I don't get a lucid dream by MILD/Reality checks/WBTB after a while. I'll try Wild then ;p

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Originally Posted by Crashyy

Wow o: I thought you need to remember like 3-5 dreams each night to remember your lucid dream if you have one. It's so cool you remember 1 dream a week and you still achieve lucid dreams

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You don't need to remember your dreams to have the ability to lucid dream. You need to remember them, so when you have a lucid, you remember that one too.

SP- it can get intense, or you may feel close to nothing. Some people see and hear things, some people don't, or not always. So don't worry about SP. The sensations you can get - like flying through space at very high speed - are highly enjoyable.

But there are other methods, that you don't experience SP. DILD is one of them. Check it out in DV Wiki and also in the Academy. There is a bunch of great classes.

Best thing you can do, is read up as much as you can, so if you experience something, it won't come as a surprise and you will be able to keep your cool. Happy dreams:)

4 weeks huh?

It took me 2 years to get lucid.

Try using a mantra and meditating, also if you have time on your hand trying setting up your alarm to wake you up at night for WBTB.
If you can waste a full night and sleep on the day you can also set it on an hourly interval so you can get lots of dreams.

Crashyy I was the same way with SP at first.. Afraid of what could happen, if something scared be terribly, etc. Eventually I realized that I was literally being "afraid of fear itself", I read up some on SP and decided to roll with it.. While I havent had a intentional WILD yet I've only tried 4-6 times. Yesterday I unintentionally entered SP it was a bit strange but what happen to me was that I would "Blink" in and out of dreams, sometimes in the same dreamscape other times it wasn't and in between the Dream World and Real World I heard a loud steady tone, and my heart beating louder then I've ever heard it :P.. It was actually kind of cool and invigorating making me want to master LDs just that much more.