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

Seriously, I am 100% sure many, if not all of you here who LD often wish you had something to say to your past self about where you SHOULD HAVE started, or other some such grievance that would have saved you days, weeks, or even months on your journey to having your first lucid dream. I have honestly gotten nowhere in mine, so anything you have to save will be much appreciated.

Note: I am not looking for links of any kind(Unless they help you phase out what you want to say). All I want is a subjective account of what you should have done to get there faster. Also, any advice that DID speed up the process is welcome.

I would start first with increasing my dream recall and with that practising all day awareness and questioning reality time to time. Then i would try to program my mind everytime when something you consider weird doing reality check like if you see something in corner of eye or if your in new situation that doesnt usually happen to you. Also learning to wake up after every dream this come usually when your dream recall becomes better. Each time when your about to fall asleep think only about being lucid in a dream works kinda like mantra.

Sounds like a lot. But if a Lucid Dreamer says so, I'm sure it must be true! Thanks!

One thing that really made a difference: a (proper) WBTB.

ADA has been very helpful too.

Work towards good recall. And perseverance is key.

I would just scream " ALL DAY AWARENESS" over and over and over.

1. Take dreams seriously - write them down!
2. Make sure you get several hours of high quality deep sleep in the first part of the night - no tossing and turning while thinking and speculating for an hour before falling asleep. Drink a sedating tea (based on e.g. california poppy, catnip, lemon balm, lavender, St. Johns Wort) before bedtime.
3. Get up after several hours of deep sleep, ingest a B6-tablet, or drink an (highly concentrated) infusion of something sharpening the mind (e.g. peppermint, mugwort, green tea), and go back to sleep.

1.Record your dreams everyday.
2.1 week later start to analyze your dreamsigns .
3.Do reality check everyday according to your most happened dreamsign .
4.Few weeks later ( still need to record dreams ), you will find out you're a lucid dreamer.
5.Repeat step 3 and again and again.
KEY: ALWAYS NEED TO BE MOTIVATED
ALWAYS NEED TO RECORD YOUR DREAMS
ALWAYS NEED TO DO REALITY CHECKS
ALWAYS THINK THAT LUCID DREAMING IS AWESOME AND EXTRAORDINARY, AND USEFUL TOO
BE PERSISTENCE
BE CREATIVE
BE CONFIDENCE
BE REMARKABLE

There isn't a "silver bullet" here...it takes a number of factors coming together. You have to be in the mood to LD. Some days I am too tired or maybe sick. WBTB is pretty much needed by me. I wake up at 5:30 for a bathroom break and usually LD within the hour. I have to WANT it but not obsess over it. And doing RC's or ADA that day is important. But do not stress if it doesnt occur that day...usually in 3 or 4 days I have one.

Ha...I just realized its like wooing your lover to have sex with you....you have to do all the right things, but sometimes she just isnt in the mood. But keep it up and eventually she is and IF you did things right it works out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rothgar

Ha...I just realized its like wooing your lover to have sex with you....you have to do all the right things, but sometimes she just isnt in the mood. But keep it up and eventually she is and IF you did things right it works out.

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And if you do things right, it will get to the point where your lover will have sex with you up to seven times a night.

:)

Easily, the main thing I'd tell myself is to not slack. Don't get lazy and unmotivated with it. That was definitely a pitfall for me multiple times, one I'm now trying harder to overcome. Motivation is key! Also, don't be afraid to experiment with multiple techniques. Reality check like you mean it. :sleepmeditate2:

I'm starting to see patterns

If I had started over:

-Don't cloud your head with TOO much information
-Recall is important
-When you get lucid, take it slow and don't rush to your desires(unless you want your dreams to fade)

-Develop consistency in some direction
-Don't try a new technique every night
-But also have fun and try techniques that interest you
-Start building self-awareness
-Prioritize mental reality checks over physical reality checks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EmptyBucket

If I had started over:

-Don't cloud your head with TOO much information
-Recall is important
-When you get lucid, take it slow and don't rush to your desires(unless you want your dreams to fade)

-Develop consistency in some direction
-Don't try a new technique every night
-But also have fun and try techniques that interest you
-Start building self-awareness
-Prioritize mental reality checks over physical reality checks

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What is this "mental reality check" you speak of? (I probably know, just never in that wording. But seriously, what you do mean?

I myself am just now emerging from the dizzying "information Hoover/Vortex" around LD after diving in about 9 weeks ago.

1) I would read LaBerge all over again from the start right at the beginning, no change there. ETWOLD and ACILD. Focus on MILD, not WILD, LaBerge is less helpful for WILD IMO.

2) Recall, recall, recall, that's where LDs come from. Love your dreams, non-lucids included. Always strive to remember more and longer sequences and more details. Always. No change there.

3) MILD and Reflection/Intention got me my first LDs and some great vivid NDs. Expectation is the key. No change there.

4) Have a strong / complex goal other than simply to LD, something always to reach for. That drives the path to improvement.

5) Avoid all negative/problem threads. Anything with "I can't" or "I'm having problems with" should be avoided at all costs. Don't poison your positive expectation that your LDs will be long, enjoyable, vivid, and with good control right from the start.

6) Focus on the right mentors. I think Sageous in his WILD class is where to focus reading energies and understanding what he has to say in terms of long term LD training strategy. Read his stuff until you "get it." Find some other DV members who LD a lot but didn't start too long ago and hit them up for LD training tactical advice, you can get good practical advice from people who just themselves started recently. This thread you've started is a great example of doing this, well done!

yost, you're still having trouble?
Does DV still have that adoption program going on?
Regardless, maybe I can help...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by yost

What is this "mental reality check" you speak of? (I probably know, just never in that wording. But seriously, what you do mean?

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Well, it's just like practicing self-awareness, so when I would do a reality check

Instead I ask myself(mentally)
-Where am I?
-What am I doing?
-What were 3 places I was before this?

Nothing fancy, but I recommend it.

Amiana, be forewarned... you'll be tempted to start smoking a particular green herb again right around the time you finally get into a groove and start becoming lucid once a week. Don't do it, it will completely trash your dream recall, throw you into a long dry spell and make you start all over again. Lucid dreaming is much more fun.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sloth

yost, you're still having trouble?
Does DV still have that adoption program going on?
Regardless, maybe I can help...

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I've pretty much done the opposite to most of this advice leading to now 6 months of nothing. I'm surprised you're the only one who noticed. Also, what is this "adoption program"?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by amiana

Amiana, be forewarned... you'll be tempted to start smoking a particular green herb again right around the time you finally get into a groove and start becoming lucid once a week. Don't do it, it will completely trash your dream recall, throw you into a long dry spell and make you start all over again. Lucid dreaming is much more fun.

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i find that usually if i don't smoke the good stuff for about 3 hours before going to bed i can still recall my dreams. other times i smoke all day up to when i go to sleep and still remember a nice dream. it's hard to tell but i think smoking does affect dream recall differently for different people. i've had people agree with me and had some say that it doesn't affect their dreams at all.

I'm glad for all of your answers. I have set a 45 minute timer on my phone to remind to about reality checks. So far I do MILD before bed and RC's. Is there anything else I should add on?

^^ Set intention before sleep, things like:
+ I have interesting and meaningful dreams
+ I remember my dreams
+ I wake up after every dream, remain still, and record it

And setting intention for particular goals or incubating particular dream scenes (just visualize what you want to dream about).

-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.

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. :)