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I've had just a couple of brief lucids, but they were while I was on holiday. Since I've been back at work, I've had no success at all.
One problem is that I know I'm not getting enough sleep, but family life really makes that impossible.
I get a bit closer at weekends when I can sleep in a bit, but still no joy.
I still have good dream recall, but I don't RC that much.
Any advice as to what to do?
You can tailor techniques to fit you. Don't bend yourself over to accommodate a demanding RC schedule along with work. There are other techniques that don't require time during the day, such as MILD which only takes a few minutes before bed and when you wake up during the night.
You can also make time to lucid dream. Like lie-ins at the weekend, napping, WBTB. There are definitely options available to busy-bees as well as slackers. Just mind you don't mentally exhaust yourself. Trying too hard hurts your chances too.
How much sleep are you getting? You can lucid dream in the first or second REM period which is basically just 2-3 hours.
I usually get my longest lucid dreams in the early REM so it is possible to get enjoyable dreams early as well. :)
But the best advice I can give you is to fall asleep peacefully, well atleast make sure that you don't fall asleep with a stressed mind.
Because that will give stressful dreams that is hard to remember and difficult to be aware of, because they don't make sense.
And if you are stressed you need to make sure that you fall asleep with a blank mind, like meditate yourself to sleep.
Repeat a mantra aloud that doesn't make sense that you can't analyse like "humbalum" or "alumbadedum", it's not a joke I do this each night and the reason is that I want to decrease the activity of the ego. Then as thoughts keep coming in like "what am I gonig to do tomorrow?" or "Man I really need to sort "x" out" etc.
Just direct your awareness back to the mantra and have your primary focus on the mantra and and just observe what happens. :meditate:
After some time you will feel like you would rather just be quiet and enjoy the silence rather than repeating the mantra, now your mind is very calm and you can start imagine a dreamscene or something and you will slowly and steady begin to fall asleep.
If you think this is a stressful activity to do, you have much things on your mind, because this meditation is not a practise of doing something, it's a practise of doing nothing! And if you get stressed of doing nothing because your mind is used to be active at all times, well you clearly need to relax. :content:
In my experience a peaceful mind gives me peaceful dreams that is easier to be aware of, like walking on a big field and I am just listening to the birds and suddenly realize "Hey what am I doing? oh.. right it's a dream". Or I get a very vivid normal dream adventure in general which is always fun. :)
If there is sleep there is an oppurtunity for lucid dreaming. ;)
Sweet dreams! :dreaming:
Thanks for those ideas. I generally get about 6-7 hours at best during the week.
I've tried WBTB, but always just end up falling asleep. I think maybe I haven't stayed awake long enough though.
I know WILD is difficult to do, but I now find I always get a very itchy face when I try that - I don't know why, but it is really off-putting for that technique. I used to get the onset of SP quite easily, but nothing seems to happen when I try that now, probably because of the distraction.
I think the main problem might be that subconsciously I may have persuaded myself that it's difficult to LD. I got to thinking that an RC was something you had to do once you become partially aware, and that almost seems a catch-22.
I've not given up, so maybe MILD is the best way to go.
The best way to kill your ability to lucid dream is to think it's hard.
Unless you suffer from a sleep disorder you won't experience sleep paralysis during a WILD, what people usually talk of as being SP is just the experience of consciously falling asleep. Check out the http://www.dreamviews.com/f156/ for guidance.Quote:
I used to get the onset of SP quite easily, but nothing seems to happen when I try that now, probably because of the distraction
As for WBTB difficulties, mental discipline!
Hmm I think you interpreted my little rundown as a MILD or WILD method. I would like to say that it's none of that although that it is both at the same time is more closely to the truth. My intent of the post was just to show you the importance of not falling asleep stressed and and a way for you to avoid it.
I see now though that it can easily be interpreted as a method. :content:
But anyway the best approach is to not have the goal of lucidity at all. (Well this is the best approach according to my experience, there are no facts.)
I like to see myself as a scientist and this way letting go of ego. Instead of having lucidity or vivid dreams or good dream recall as a goal, I have it as a hypothesis.
MILD is supposed to give me a lucid dream they say ok.. (read about it and only see it as your plan of an experiment), then go to bed and perform the MILD.
No lucid dream? Ok no worries I am just a scientist so I don't get discouraged, instead I look at what I did and what happend.
- Hmm I went to bed early and I got many vivid dreams, is it plausible to say that my intent of being aware of my dream was what caused the vivid dream experience?
probably.. but it is more safe to say that an early bedtime leads to, more dream activity and more awareness because of the brain system (I will not go into details here).
Result: Going to bed earlier leads to more awareness because .... and that gives a better chance for lucidity because....
And now you learn and can let your ego in to be happy for the knowledge you obtained, instead of just: Ahh I got not lucid dream, lucid dreaming is hard blabla...
:smartie: