Question for experienced LDers

This is something that's been around my mind for a while and I'm still far from figuring out myself, so here we go.

Say that, when you're learning lucid dreaming, you rely mostly on DEILDs (for instance, although any other "wake induced" technique would do). You may have a random DILD now and then but you need to start the lucid from the waking state most of the time. After months and years of experience, do you still need to reach for the lucid dreams or does it ever come to a point where most of your lucids are DILDs without needing to "look for" them?

In my experience, I have to make a conscious effort to achieve the state of Lucidity. If I go to sleep at night with my mind set on having a lucid dream then I will have a lucid dream. Regardless of what method I use. I have also been in situations inside the dream where I make the decision between having a lucid dream or not depending on what I'm going to do the day after. For example: an exam at 8 a.m. in the morning... Not so ideal to be lucid dreaming the night before. At least not for me. Having an intense LD can be disruptive to my focus. It is a very mild state of dissociation.

To answer your question strictly, I would say it depends. You can practice self-awareness over a long period and develop a higher awareness in NLDs which can lead to many DILDs, but you can also perfect DEILDs at the same time, granting you far more lucid dreams that way.

Can you just practice self-awareness and have DILDS relatively often? Certainly. I spend way too much time physically training and reading philosophy, so I am literally exhausted when I go to sleep, making lucid dreaming techniques often not worth the effort, but I still get LDs because of my self-awareness routines, which I consider a part of my daily training overall; not just for dreams, but for my overall constitution. This, coupled with my love of NLD study in general is more than enough to generate regular LDs and a general dream awareness even in NLDs.

Basically, work on awareness first and foremost consistently, and use your techniques when you feel up to it. That's my opinion, anyhow.