Thread: Tell me what you would tell yourself if you had to start it all over!

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

WBTB. If there's one thing I'd have told myself starting out, it would have been to do a proper WBTB.

I read about WBTB in Laberge, but it sounded so miserable I didn't even bother attempting it. But I finally wound up trying it by accident and it is the single most important change I have ever made to my lucid dreaming practices.

WBTB is now something I view as almost essential for my practices. I can have lucids without WBTB, but they are extremely rare.

CL,
I know that WBTB varies between individuals...I remember you telling me in one of my post that maybe I need to stay up longer. This has made a tremendous difference! I have found out that staying up at least 1 hour increases my chances for lucidity. I used to make my WBTB extremely short (maybe just enough time to run to the bathroom and say a few mantras and go directly back to bed). With your advise, I found out that may brain was still too tired and I couldn't stay awake. I use to be so worried that I wouldn't be able to get back to bed during a long WBTB! I also remember reading in someone else's thread not to worry about how long it may take you to go back to sleep. This advise was the one thing that broke an eight week dry spell for me with one of the most vivid and controllable WILD's I ever had.

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

WBTB. If there's one thing I'd have told myself starting out, it would have been to do a proper WBTB.

I read about WBTB in Laberge, but it sounded so miserable I didn't even bother attempting it. But I finally wound up trying it by accident and it is the single most important change I have ever made to my lucid dreaming practices.

WBTB is now something I view as almost essential for my practices. I can have lucids without WBTB, but they are extremely rare.

So I'm not sure if this was by coincident or I was due for a lucid dream, but CanisLucidis' words really registered with me and made me rethink how I do WBTB, I also read the Laberge stuff which was quite interesting and I recommend anyone who has hopes for lucid dreaming to read it.

-I usually wake up, go to the bathroom, then go back to sleep(3-10 minutes)

-Last night I woke up about 4-5 hours after initial sleep and stayed up for 30 minutes, went to bed and quickly had what I think may have been a WILD.

Thanks CanisLucidis, I too found WBTBs to be kind of a hassle, and now I will give it more effort.

The dream
To The Man, Whom I Killed and Never Met - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Originally Posted by EmptyBucket

So I'm not sure if this was by coincident or I was due for a lucid dream, but CanisLucidis' words really registered with me and made me rethink how I do WBTB, I also read the Laberge stuff which was quite interesting and I recommend anyone who has hopes for lucid dreaming to read it.

-I usually wake up, go to the bathroom, then go back to sleep(3-10 minutes)

-Last night I woke up about 4-5 hours after initial sleep and stayed up for 30 minutes, went to bed and quickly had what I think may have been a WILD.

Thanks CanisLucidis, I too found WBTBs to be kind of a hassle, and now I will give it more effort.

The dream
To The Man, Whom I Killed and Never Met - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

I am a big supporter of WBTB as well. If you feel like 30 minutes is too long to stay up, try waking yourself up by holding your breath (get your blood flowing), doing math of some sort, trying to do a simple run through something like the presidents, states, verses, video games, etc. anything that gets your mind going.

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

WBTB. If there's one thing I'd have told myself starting out, it would have been to do a proper WBTB.

I read about WBTB in Laberge, but it sounded so miserable I didn't even bother attempting it. But I finally wound up trying it by accident and it is the single most important change I have ever made to my lucid dreaming practices.

WBTB is now something I view as almost essential for my practices. I can have lucids without WBTB, but they are extremely rare.

WBTB is the single most powerful way to lucidity. No wonder that dreams were more respected in our ancient byphasic sleep society,

This discussion has really made me think I need to pay more attention to WBTB and spend effort to find my sweet spot. I fell asleep unconsciously last night during a WILD attempt, I most likely didn't get myself alert enough. I have this concern that I won't make it back to sleep since I have traditionally become alert fairly quickly. I think though as the novelty and initial super-obsessive excitement of LDing practice wears off, the background level of alertness reduces and WBTB may take more of an active effort. And don't forget getting enough sleep and a regular sleep schedule.

-Stay positive, I don't think this can be stressed enough. You've had LDs before, you will have them again.

-Try adding in SSILD cycles, these seem to really help me.

-You want RC's to become a habit, but not a mindless one. Really make sure you're questioning, or when it happens in the dream you may not do your reality check correctly and you might miss an opportunity to become lucid. A nose plug does no good if you're already expecting a particular outcome.

-Drag yourself out of bed when you wake up during the night to write notes about your dreams, even when you only remember a tiny fragment and it's the last thing you feel like doing. You'll thank yourself when dream memories come flooding back as you write.

Originally Posted by amiana

-Stay positive, I don't think this can be stressed enough. You've had LDs before, you will have them again.

-Try adding in SSILD cycles, these seem to really help me.

-You want RC's to become a habit, but not a mindless one. Really make sure you're questioning, or when it happens in the dream you may not do your reality check correctly and you might miss an opportunity to become lucid. A nose plug does no good if you're already expecting a particular outcome.

-Drag yourself out of bed when you wake up during the night to write notes about your dreams, even when you only remember a tiny fragment and it's the last thing you feel like doing. You'll thank yourself when dream memories come flooding back as you write.

Excellent advice! The more you put into your DJ the more you get out of it. Especially about what mental techniques you use, how often, etc. This is invaluable stuff: a record of what gets YOU lucid!

About forcing yourself to get up and journal: Just the other night I forced myself to reach for my phone (voice recorder app is my choice for journaling, transcribing later in the day, I find I get way more detail this way) when what I wanted to do was just turn over and go back to sleep, after all, I only remembered a measely fragment. Halfway through rolling over to reach for my phone BOOM! two entire dreams came back to me instantly. I just froze there half-turned over and recalled the dreams, it was really an amazing moment. We lose dream detail so quickly, recording it right away is the absolute best thing to boost recall.

Go to DV and read Lebarge. I spent about 2 months wasting time on YouTube and a few other "get lucid quick" schemes.

Other than that, I haven't had many problems. Kept persevering, trying to lucid each night.

Originally Posted by BrandonBoss

Go to DV and read Lebarge. I spent about 2 months wasting time on YouTube and a few other "get lucid quick" schemes.

Other than that, I haven't had many problems. Kept persevering, trying to lucid each night.

This. And in particular on DV here, go to the DVA and sign up for the courses: at least both the DILD and the WILD courses where you can get quick and relevant feedback from experienced LDers.

Originally Posted by BrandonBoss

Go to DV and read Lebarge. I spent about 2 months wasting time on YouTube and a few other "get lucid quick" schemes.

Other than that, I haven't had many problems. Kept persevering, trying to lucid each night.

Brandon,

Let's also add (if not stated already) to PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THE NAME OF YOUR DREAM CHARACTERS!!! Last night I ask my DC what was his name. He stated, "My name is Brandon...Brandon Boss...and yours?" I thought he was trying to get smart with me by saying his last name was BOSS...WTF!!!!!

Originally Posted by bemistaken

Brandon,

Let's also add (if not stated already) to PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THE NAME OF YOUR DREAM CHARACTERS!!! Last night I ask my DC what was his name. He stated, "My name is Brandon...Brandon Boss...and yours?" I thought he was trying to get smart with me by saying his last name was BOSS...WTF!!!!!

That is awesome! I love when I pop in people's dreams. Be nice to dream me... I am getting pretty strong.

That is awesome! I love when I pop in people's dreams. Be nice to dream me... I am getting pretty strong.

Brandon,

How could I be so stupid and not put this together! Please come back to me! I promise I will be nice! If you come back to my dream, I promise I will tell you my name!!!

Originally Posted by bemistaken

Brandon,

Let's also add (if not stated already) to PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THE NAME OF YOUR DREAM CHARACTERS!!! Last night I ask my DC what was his name. He stated, "My name is Brandon...Brandon Boss...and yours?" I thought he was trying to get smart with me by saying his last name was BOSS...WTF!!!!!

Good advice. Now that you mention it, my DCs who aren't "real people" tend to have weird borderline unpronounceable names.

What I would tell myself though is not to put so much stress on myself to reality check and such. It makes the whole process too much like work... I'm not saying there's anything wrong with those methods and I still do it from time to time, but when it start to feel like a chore something is probably wrong. I've had more success over the past month with putting my mind toward dreaming and lucidity as I fall back asleep during the night, than all the reality checking I did over the past few months. I naturally wake up a lot and I haven't been timing it or really trying to get my mind working but sometimes I will check my phone, email, message board replies, etc (edit to add: jot down my dreams or at least notes) and then go back to sleep and "try" to WILD which I'm really horrible at, but it has seemed to help my DILD. Best results have happened on my days off or when I go to bed early, after about 6-8 hours of sleep.

Also watch out for celebrities? Recently David Duchovny, Lamorne Morris, Neil Patrick Harris, Cobie Smulders, and Britney Spears have appeared in my dreams. I also remember seeing Reginald VelJohnson and one of the Olsen twins in dreams a long time ago. Funny how I never seem to grasp how odd that is until I wake up.

Originally Posted by BrandonBoss

Go to DV and read Lebarge. I spent about 2 months wasting time on YouTube and a few other "get lucid quick" schemes.

Other than that, I haven't had many problems. Kept persevering, trying to lucid each night.

You wasted two months? I wasted six on DV doing everything BUT the techniques I knew worked for every other beginner. Jeez, I'm so dumb.

I would walk into young Infinityjester's room and tell him there is a world outside of your video games that is scary and beautiful. Start paying attention to it now for it will save you many relationships with people that can really help you in life.

What's important is that we're all here now. And if there is time to waste, it should be on wbtb.

@Bemistaken
That would be pretty good proof of a shared dream. :S I try to ask most DCs their names, I want them all to be more consistent.

@Yost
That is sad. I wish the best of luck to you in keeping with those, 6 months is a lot of wasted LD time.

@Nyxcc
Yes, like a big happy family we are here. I do love it here. WBTB is king. I always remember that from Oceandrop's poll.

My problem is that I share a room with my little brother and he's very sensitive to light when sleeping. I think reading would be good for me, but that might not be an option. Either way, I learned about LD'ing 4 years ago, and boy have I learned a lot since then. I can give accurate advice down to some details, yet I have very, very little experience. 4 Years is a lot of wasted time. But in my defense, I had no idea where to look in fourth grade.

Okay. That book will be opened soon!

All the mentions of WBTB on this thread made me realize I've been slacking on mine lately. I did a real one this morning, stayed up for an hour and did some dream yoga and mantra... and what do you know, I got lucid!

I love this site.

Hmm... I have never done a WBTB that was more than 10 minutes long. I usually have a hard time going back to sleep, even if I was only up for 10 minutes, but from what I am reading in this thread it definitely sounds worth it to try a 20-30 minute WBTB.

Originally Posted by yost

My problem is that I share a room with my little brother and he's very sensitive to light when sleeping. I think reading would be good for me, but that might not be an option.

I have to avoid bothering my wife, so it's the same issue here. I wander in the dark to another room and then take my WBTB from there. If you've got an unused room or bathroom you can get to, that's a good spot. Try it out! It's totally going to work!

Originally Posted by EmptyBucket

So I'm not sure if this was by coincident or I was due for a lucid dream, but CanisLucidis' words really registered with me and made me rethink how I do WBTB, I also read the Laberge stuff which was quite interesting and I recommend anyone who has hopes for lucid dreaming to read it.

EmptyBucket, that is so awesome! I love reading that you and Amiana both hit LDs from a good, solid WBTB! Okay, I'm now determined to get to bed on time so I can hit a serious WBTB and LD.

Love it. You guys have got me super excited now. I feel like so many of the lucids I have come from the excitement I build up visiting DreamViews during the day and being exposed to good ideas and success stories from all of you excellent dreamers out there.

Originally Posted by BrandonBoss

I am a big supporter of WBTB as well. If you feel like 30 minutes is too long to stay up, try waking yourself up by holding your breath (get your blood flowing), doing math of some sort, trying to do a simple run through something like the presidents, states, verses, video games, etc. anything that gets your mind going.

Boss, it seems like you always have some new great idea I've never considered or even heard of. Nice! I've never tried holding my breath before. I have done the video games one, and I found Myst to be particularly well-suited for lucid dream induction!

Originally Posted by ber5897

Hmm... I have never done a WBTB that was more than 10 minutes long. I usually have a hard time going back to sleep, even if I was only up for 10 minutes, but from what I am reading in this thread it definitely sounds worth it to try a 20-30 minute WBTB.

Definitely give it a try so you can seek out that interval which is right for you. A super-effective WBTB may be longer than you think. Laberge's studies on this topic showed that a WBTB of 30 minutes was good, and an hour was even better!
Wakefulness Makes Lucidity More Likely

This thread is awesome! So much enthusiasm here, it is contagious! You guys are fantastic!

Originally Posted by NyxCC

This thread is awesome! So much enthusiasm here, it is contagious! You guys are fantastic!

Your response give me the same feels as when I get upvoted on Reddit. Thank you. And I'll have you know I've been doing RC's pretty often(as often as I can remember, my phone's not been reliable) for the last two days! I'm excited too!

You can do it yost! WBTB is an incredibly awesome help to LDing as you can already see from all of the comments! I prefer drinking water before bed to wake me up instead of an alarm.

I think that you have to find that sweet spot between spending so much time that you get burned out and spending too little time to get consistent. It helps to find an aspect that you really enjoy and then mix in the things you don't enjoy as much.

I highly recommend the podcasts on DV...so much good stuff on them. You said no links in your OP so if interested you can find the link in CanisLucidus' signature a few posts back. Episode 2 of the recent series starts off talking about WBTB and Episode 3 talks about how overlooking WBTB is a common mistake (but there are others outlined in this great episode!).

If I had anything to do all over again, it would have to be:

-staying patient and enjoying the quiet time while getting back to sleep during a WBTB and when attempting a WILD
-staying patient when becoming lucid, recall my goals and remind myself that I am dreaming (so I can stay lucid)




Per your request below:
http://www.dreamviews.com/dreamviews-podcast/
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