insomnias role in becoming lucid

Ive been a member a long time but stopped logging in after that hacker issue or whatever a year ago or so. Anyway...ive been trying to lucid dream/obe for a year now. And i know i need to try a dream journal to help with recall but i have issues getting to sleep period. I never can get to sleep. Ive tried staying up late, going to bed early, sleeping pills, stretching all my muscles as long as i can untill they become weak and relaxed, ive tried a heating pad on my back. Its really hard to sleep. My mind used to race all the time but ive been able to tone that down. Now i just lay there in bed, unable to fall asleep, much less become lucid. Its agrivating because my wife can fall asleep within 10 minutes. What Can i do to get to sleep? Im desperate to fall asleep. And i really want to become lucid. Any tips?

I know how you feel. Personally, I think having a week of regular normal and quality sleep is way harder than lucid dreaming, at least for me. It really kills your progress in so many ways, not to mention the other problems in your life that insomnia causes. Who wants to bother with lucid dreaming when you can't even have a normal week of rest -.-

You can try and read this article which offers great tips on healthy sleep. Remember, consistency is the key, and avoid if possible using pills, they're not very good for medium/long-term usage.

I will definately read through that article and thanks for the reply. Last night i tried using some binural beats and a heating pad on my back. I would get really close to complete relaxation but the track would always end right at that point and id have to start over. For a while it felt like my body wasnt even there. But ive noticed that my throat bothers me constantly. I always feel like i just ate an entire bag of skittles. And my saliva is sticky...i keep trying to swallow and it distracts me haha maybe thats an odd issue...anyway i appreciate the reply

I have this problem, but what seems to work for me is forcing myself to me completely still and day dream. Otherwise I, like you said, lay there completely unable to sleep. But day dreaming is quite fun, and I usually fall asleep quicker and without realizing it. Plus it can help with dream incubation. I had insomnia over a year, and after trying every single thing possible and this seems the most effective.

Yeah, i try really hard to stay completely still. Its pretty tough alot of the time. When i start day dreaming it gets my mind running too much. I try to just let my eyes stop seeing...and focus on the black and let it form images on its own. Of course none of this ever works for me haha, ive tried all kinds of things.

i can only sleep on my chest with 1 pillow

Thats usually how i sleep also, on my stomach, i absolutely can not fall asleep on my back for some reason

It's impossible for me too. If you're still looking for tips to get to sleep, then maybe you should try and look for the cause of the insomnia. Most the time there's an underlying problem, and when that's fixed you'll feel a lot better and you'll sleep easier as well. There are quite a few different causes such as depression, restless legs syndrome, stress etc. Those are the only that come to mind right now but I'm sure there are more. Look it up and think about anything that might be causing it. Hope this helps :)

Youre so right mystical, i definately stress alot...im only 25 and im starting to get a ton of grey hair lol, i should definately look into reasons for insomnia, thanks for the tip...ive been listening to binural beats more often and i seem to be remembering my dreams more...lol they seem a little twisted at times but i guess everyone has those once in a while

Yeah I generally find that if Im having a bad time then my sleeping is off. Like this week I've had a bit of a depressing time so my sleeping pattern has gone out of the window. But yeah, controlling the cause of the insomnia is definitely THE MOST effective method. Actually starting to LD helped me feel a lot better and since Christmas, with the exception of the past week and a few odd days, I've felt really good and had a lot of good nights of sleep. I have no idea how I went for a year with pretty much 3 or 4 hours sleep each night XD

Anyway if you have any more questions Im sure I can help. I'll try at least :D

Your so right, honestly i havent had a good nights sleep in years...i literally wake up tired. If i woke up at 9am id be tired by 11am...but still i know i couldnt sleep if i tried. Its so agrivating...ill admit i stay up late...for certain reasons, but id love to get some good sleep. As well as a lucid dream, im a smoker and ive always thought that was the reason im always so tired...probally but do you think my crap sleep patterns are more likelyto be the cause?

It's likely. If you're tired, a good thing to do is get 15 minutes of sunshine and some fresh air. Going for a short walk or doing some easy physical activity helps too. These things will help wake you up during the day if you need it. Another thing is stay away from caffeine. I try not to have any at all because even if you're tired and need some to stay awake, then you definitely won't be able to sleep with it.

Well what helps me is I take melatonin pills, which is naturally made in your body so it's not a chemical, that stuff knocks me out in ten minutes. Also, I have a WILD technique that is somewhat of a brain exercise which lulls me into a sleep without me realizing it sometimes and also can be used to lucid dream. PM me if you what the details of it.

Thank you ladies, i do have a problem with caffiene and i know i do, i drink mountain dew ALL the time, rarely anything else, i occasionally drink a monster energy drink...maybe some water if im at work and i pass the fountain...i really do have an issue with it. But the reason i drink it so much is because i get extremely painful migraine headaches without caffiene, ill admit i do drink way too much, and i could probally have 1 or 2 in the morning or early afternoon and that would be enough. Im just so used to it. Deaddollkitty, ill be messaging you right after i finish this post, it sounds good to me. Ive read here and there about seratonin (sp?) And melatonin but im not extremely certain about all of it. Ill assume melatonin is the chemical produced when you begin to sleep? Hell...ill look it up haha

At the moment I'm trying a zinc and magnesium supplement to help with insomnia. I always wake at 2am and can't get back to sleep, then I normally get up and turn on the laptop, drink tea, and end up falling back into bed at about 5am, with fitful sleep til about 10am.

What I've decided to do, instead of getting up, is keep my mp3 player next to the bed, along with a couple of mindfulness meditation tracks. When I wake up at 2am, I put the mp3 on and listen to the tracks.

I take the zinc (15mg) and magnesium (300mg) an hour before bed.

I've only just started this routine so I'll keep you posted on whether it helps deal with insomnia.

Let me know how it goes with those supplements after youve had some time to adjust. Im really thinking abut melatonin, i may go buy some soon. I usually stay asleep if i can actually get to sleep

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Originally Posted by DavidGT650R

Let me know how it goes with those supplements after youve had some time to adjust. Im really thinking abut melatonin, i may go buy some soon. I usually stay asleep if i can actually get to sleep

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Will do. Regards the melatonin, I forgot to mention that I'm also eating a bowl of ready brek an hour before bed. Oats are jam-packed with melatonin, and ready brek is fortified with b6 and b12. Plus, the hot milk and carbs will help greatly with sleep.

I think ill just try to take some melatonin pills haha seems alot easier

Just wanted to let everyone know i got lucid last night for about 15 seconds and i think i started an obe and bailed because it was scary as hell, i posted the story in another thread, melatonin pills seem to help

None of the above techniques have worked to rid me of insomnia. melatonin looks great though, I'll give it a try.

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Originally Posted by velmwend

None of the above techniques have worked to rid me of insomnia. melatonin looks great though, I'll give it a try.

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You should give it a shot. Ive been taking it for 3 nighs now and i had a very short lucid dream last night followed by a WILD that i bailed on cause it freaked me out. I cant say the melatonin did it, but i think it might have helped.