Having trouble with lucid dreaming?

Hey everyone I just joined this site a minute ago. I started reading up on lucid dreaming again about 3 or 4 days ago. I really want it to work because I kind of remember having one a long time ago. (I'm 19) The feeling, from what I can remember at least, was great. I started doing reality checks yesterday. I do them at least 10 or 11 times, I look at my palms then try to pass two fingers through them. Then I look around my room and tell myself I'm not dreaming. Yesterday before I went to bed I put on binaural beats and in my head I kept saying "The next time I'm dreaming, I will remember I'm dreaming". I tried to visualize anything at the same time, me flying or whatever but it was hard as hell to do. I think I was too eager too fall asleep because my mind just wouldn't shut up. I went to sleep at 1 and for some reason I woke up at 6. I remembered being in a car with my dad speeding to pick up my sister or something, and then he poked my face and I told him don't touch me, then I woke up. He doesn't abuse me or anything, I don't talk to him much so I just thought it was random. I don't recall a lot of my dreams, which is why I'm starting to practice. I'm not a light sleeper either. What did I do wrong? I think it's hard for me to visualize while going to sleep because it keeps me up longer. Usually I don't think about much before I go to sleep. Do I have to visualize before I go to bed? I've been smoking weed on and off for about 2 years but I since I read that it might hinder my ability to lucid dream I decided to stop until I've really tried this out. I want to better my dream recall as well which I've been reading all about. Any advice you guys have will be greatly appreciated.

Hi there and welcome to DV! :) I would suggest you begin by keeping a dream journal and reading about different techniques to induce lucid dreams. DILD is great for beginners and can be combined with other techniques as well.

Here are some links to help you out:

How to effectively dream journal

If you like, you can journal your dreams here:

New dream journal entry

A quick overview of main techniques:

Induction Techniques

Also, we have the DV academy where we offer different classes on how to lucid dream. Feel free to browse the syllabous or sign up for a class here:

DV Academy

Have fun and see you around! :)

For dream recall, you want to keep a dream journal. If you're not a light sleeper, it may be helpful to wake yourself up in the middle of the night and write down some dreams then.


Make sure you are doing RCs correctly. Always honestly ask yourself if you're dreaming when you are doing one. Also, its helpful to have more than one just in case one fails during a dream.


I'll be honest, its probably going to take you anywhere between 1 and 5 weeks to start getting lucids. Don't be discouraged, though. Always remember how cool it would be to be able to have lucid dreams often.

i stopped smoking weed and it has improved my life and dreaming a whole lot more. smoking pot is fun sometimes but lucid dreaming is like a trip thats 500 times better. its like going to space.Anyways i naturally get lucid by actions that are no way possible in real life not some trick, social norms and scientific norms let me know im dreaming not some inception bullshit. i think youre expecting results too soon, you cant get ripped or rich in 3 days just because you want to. give it more time and try different methods for months and your 8 hours of sleep each night will be productive. hope i helped. but yea give up weed itll make you better off in life, save it for ocassions

There are two big problems that I feel I've spotted. The first is that you haven't built up your dream recall well enough yet. Don't try and reach lucidity just yet because you're just going to end up having one and not remember it. You need to remember as many dreams as you possibly can if you're going to LD. Focus on that before you do anything else.

Second, not everyone has a lucid dream the night after they hear about it. In fact, most people don't. It can take weeks or months or even years (though that is extremely rare) before you have your first one. I'm not telling you not to try and to stop reading up on it--I'm just telling you that not having a LD so soon is not abnormal.

Remember, start journalling your dreams now. You don't have to remember five a night; in fact, I'd say you're okay to go if you remember only one to two per night (but these CANNOT be dream fragments, they have to be mostly whole!), though some people would disagree with me.

I've never been good at remembering dreams. I usually remember fragments, why is that? What if I don't remember the whole dream, will I be able to lucid dream sooner or later?

We have lucid dreamers here that have started with little or no recall and slowly worked their way up to both better recall and lucidity. There really is no rule that can determine if you are going to have a lucid dream sooner or later. However, it helps a great deal to be positive about it, review and choose induction techniques and practice them consistently.

Here's more on recall:

Dream recall compendium

Also, this is another thread with quick tips on recall:

My recall is sketchy

Good luck! :)