Is Lucidity Like LOVE?

[DoubleHelix]

In that the more you long for it and pursue it, the less likely you are to experience it? I know it's only been a month now, and I've had some pretty surprising success with plain-Jane dream recall, but, I'm growing concerned that the more I pursue this goal, the less likely it is to just "happen" for me. I've managed to recall and make into a journal, ten dreams so far. Each one has gotten progressively longer and more detailed. Despite night-time mantras of "I will realize I am dreaming", I've yet to experience even a trace of lucidity. Any advice from the more experienced? If it matters, I'm 60 years old, in very good health, and have a well-developed ability to suggest to myself a time to wake up, which I can nail practically to the minute. That was why I was hoping the aforementioned mantra would produce results. So far, no joy... Thanks in advance. Frank

[Hebdomeros]

LDing comes fairly easy to me and I practice all day awareness, asking questions all the time about where I am what I'm doing etc. Try meditation. Try acting as though life were a dream (Yoga Nidra technique) because really what separates dreaming awareness and life awareness, (figure that out and attain lucidity)

[JoannaB]

Different people attain lucidity at different pace. Some people have lucids very quickly upon learning of them, but those of us less lucky it takes some effort and may take a while. Yes, there is such a thing as trying too hard, but also there may be other reasons. One thing to consider is whether any lifestyle changes are in order. Sometimes such things as adjusting one's sleep schedule to be more regular, eating more healthy, exercise, etc can have an effect on one's chance to succeed. The main things to work on aside from dream era all include awareness and memory. So in waking life improving one's awareness: paying more attention, getting rid of autopilot of mundane tasks, paying attention when one's location and circumstances change, remembering regularly what it is one did in the last fifteen minutes, etc. Also a trick from Stephen LaBerge's book: every day have a few things that one is looking for and supposed to not miss, for example "every time I open a door, every time I see a red car, and every time I hear laughter" -- look out for those for a day, if you are like me, it is harder than it seems. Another thing is that you need to increase your dream recall even further: keep working on it. The better the dream recall, the more likely one is to remember lots of details from dreams including from lucid dreams. Working on improving one's memory (there are many ways of doing that) is also important especially since in dreams memory is limited usually, and yet it is crucial to lucid dreaming, among other things one needs to remember to recognize a dream, remember what is normal and what is odd, and also remember one's goals for lucid dreams. I myself struggle with lucid dream practice and am much better at theory than at practice, still I am improving. I recently installed an app on my phone that chimes a bell at random intervals during the day to remind me to be mindful. Best!

[AnotherDreamer]

My experience with pursuing lucid dreams has been quite the opposite of pursuing love. The more I pursue them and the more effort I put into having them, the more LDs I tend to have. What works for me, and I think it might work well for you also because of your "well-developed ability to suggest to myself a time to wake up", is taking that mental-suggestion to another level. I do the same exact mantra that you mentioned, every night. When it hasn't worked for awhile and I really want to have a lucid dream I will do what might be described as a super mantra. I will act like a child at play, imagining that I am a witch of some sort. I will perform a sacred ceremony and use candles and maybe even chants for lucidity. I usually make it up as I go, just doing what feels right. I will continue this ceremony until my body is bursting with those awesome tingly sensations and I reach a state of mind where I am almost certain that I will have a lucid dream. The ceremonial aspect helps to strengthen my mental suggestion and my intention to have a lucid dream, more so than simply reciting a mantra a couple of times. In any case, it sounds as though you are on a good path towards attaining lucidity and I hope you see results soon!

[DoubleHelix]

Hebdomeros: LD comes easily to some, and that is a blessing. I'm jealous! I have been a practicing Buddhist for approximately ten years. I consider myself to be reasonably good at meditation, but I'm not sure how to exploit that ability and bring it to bear on instigating lucidity. JoannaB: I'm sure you are right. People learn at different rates and have unique brain chemistry, backgrounds, experiences, and life issues. I think it best that I not turn this into a contest with myself...that seems like an invitation to failure. My sleep routine may have some wiggle room for adjustment. I've been exploring this site and have read about the higher incidence of LD occurrence at well-timed naps. I have much to learn about sleep/dream physiology generally, and my own personal sleep cycles. I do note that I have a tendency to wake at pretty much the same time (around 4:40 am) on those nights when I do have a successful dream recall, such as this morning. That makes eleven since March 22. I'm averaging one DJ entry every three days, which is AMAZING considering that until I made the affirmative decision to try to lucid dream, I had recalled fewer than one dream per YEAR! My diet as a Buddhist is quite healthy. I almost NEVER eat meat. I do eat chicken, turkey, fish and egg whites for protein. I eat a great deal of whole grains, and far more fruits, veggies and nuts than the average American, so I'm pretty good there. Although I plan on waiting a while longer, I am considering supplements. I see no harm in the helpful vitamins, and I'm considering obtaining some Calea zacatechichi which I would encapsulate myself. I ordered Stephen LaBerge's book from Amazon. I'm expecting it on Friday, so I'm excited about that. FWIW, the app that you mention, I've had on all my devices since my Buddhist teacher mentioned it to the class many years ago. It is called Mindfulness Bell. AnotherDreamer: Interesting technique. Makes sense, too. If the frequency of use of a mantra has resulted in desensitization such that it no longer is effective, it's time to shake it up a bit. I don't think I've reached that point yet. I'm a raw Noobie! Thanks to all! Frank

[Sensei]

As anotherdreamer said, the amount of effort I put in = to the amount of success, to a point. If I ever get stressed about it then the scales are tipped. You are only at about a month. It took me about 2 months to achieve a single lucid. It is hard to suggest something to your mind if it doesn't have any memory of this in past. The more LDs you have, the easier it is to LD. At first you are kind of reaching for something that you don't even know what it is like, you just hope that you stumble across it. After you get one, it gets a little easier, and so on and so forth.