Thread: When should I start LDing?

I have started keeping a dream journal over this week and can remember 2-3 dreams a night (1 being very clear, 2 or 3 being a bit short in terms of memory) which has totaled to about 11 dreams. I've been having trouble trying to remember to reality check, so I'm not sure when I should start to attempt methods. I'm a little afraid to do them because I have a bit of a fear of the dark which is why I keep my TV on before I go to bed (which has an auto-sleep after 90 or so minutes).

Hi

I'm also fairly new to LDing, but just started having a lot of success.

As far as remembering to RC, what worked for me is putting stickers on all of the light switches in my house.

The morning hours seem to be the best time to attempt (plus it's not dark! ) - like 2 hours before you would normally wake up. I've had a lot of success telling myself, as I fall back asleep, "I will remember that I'm dreaming."

Originally Posted by MoonageDaydream

Hi

I'm also fairly new to LDing, but just started having a lot of success.

As far as remembering to RC, what worked for me is putting stickers on all of the light switches in my house.

The morning hours seem to be the best time to attempt (plus it's not dark! ) - like 2 hours before you would normally wake up. I've had a lot of success telling myself, as I fall back asleep, "I will remember that I'm dreaming."

seems like it would work considering I naturally wake up an hour or two early anyways. But idk if TV really does anything because I just simply keep it on for the noise and let the sleep timer do its work.

Originally Posted by MoonageDaydream

The morning hours seem to be the best time to attempt. I've had a lot of success telling myself, as I fall back asleep, "I will remember that I'm dreaming."

I agree, that works best for me, too. Or if I accidently wake up about 3-4 hours after going to bed. I try to gain some degree of conciousness, the more the better - but only so much I can still fall back asleep! - and mantra myself into a LD. I still have little experience, but sometimes I nearly expect it to work, and thrice it did. Other times I think something like "yeah, let's give it a shot" and it did not work. When in the correct mood I almost instantly get vivid dream fragments when I close my eyes and lie down relaxed. The same as when you fall asleep in the evening with the tv still running. This seems to be my best time to try it. Two of my four LDs so far were with conciousness active almost the instant the dream started. I was awake and concious, but very tired and "dreamy".

Take that with a healthy grain of salt though, as four LDs is not an amount to make any assumptions with. The "ok why not try to LD, if it won't work I'll just sleep" attemps all went down the drain though.

So... Does having a tv on itself have any detrimental effects while using techniques? Even if it's not really being merely acknowledged?

When attempting WILD in the morning: for me, every bit of distraction is bad. My body has multiple ways to distract me on it's own (swallow reflex, itching, twitching...) and I think its easier for me to convince my body to sleep when it is absolutely dark and when I hear just about nothing. But I guess that differs wildly from person to person.

It's not a matter of how good your recall is, when to start LDing - you start right away going for LDs normally, and keeping a journal is just one among many other "techniques". Go through your journal and see, what your dreamsigns are - recurring themes. You can set the intention of recognizing them as such, best while falling asleep after going to bed. You can also do that in the day, though. Tell yourself, that when you dream of x, you make a RC, and realize, that you are dreaming. If you come across them in real life - do a RC.

To help you perform the RCs in your dreams, when you notice a dream-sign or something weird and become lucid from it, you can use your prospective memory (MILD). For example decide on three or more cues in real life (irl) for the day - something like opening the fridge, waiting at a red light - whatever happens often - and do a RC, every time it shows up. Next day choose three other items/cues and so on. Also always do a RC, when something unusual or even bizarre happens irl. But really mean it seriously - question reality - I recommend the nose-pinch by the way.

And then there are a lot of other things you can do in the daytime in order to get lucid in the dream (DILD).
But your tv will disturb you giving suggestions and affirmations and repeating mantras when going to sleep, and that is not helping. If you want to use wake-back-to-bed (WBTB), which is one of the most useful things to do, you are also having to fall back asleep after getting up, having slept 4 hours or so before. Perfect time to do techniques.
What are you afraid of in the dark?

Originally Posted by StephL

It's not a matter of how good your recall is, when to start LDing - you start right away going for LDs normally, and keeping a journal is just one among many other "techniques". Go through your journal and see, what your dreamsigns are - recurring themes. You can set the intention of recognizing them as such, best while falling asleep after going to bed. You can also do that in the day, though. Tell yourself, that when you dream of x, you make a RC, and realize, that you are dreaming. If you come across them in real life - do a RC.

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Wow.. that was a lot of useful information.... thanks a ton! I seem to never be able to find a dream sign. Usually I can piece together what happened in the dream but the settings are really random. I've had them in pretty much different settings every time. I've been in my house a couple times, but usually they are in one place and only one place for each like space in one dream, a gym in another, or a park, and in school for only one time. I also seem to forget doing the Pre-Dreamsign LDs (I'd like to call them I guess) like when you don't know what your dreamsigns are so you just do it every time you go into a car or through a door etc.

Originally Posted by StephL

And then there are a lot of other things you can do in the daytime in order to get lucid in the dream (DILD).
But your tv will disturb you giving suggestions and affirmations and repeating mantras when going to sleep, and that is not helping. If you want to use wake-back-to-bed (WBTB), which is one of the most useful things to do, you are also having to fall back asleep after getting up, having slept 4 hours or so before. Perfect time to do techniques.
What are you afraid of in the dark?

I guess from watching scary movies as a child it kind of scarred my mind. I'll try going with the TV out... maybe it will help, but I don't really pay attention to it anyways. Probably the noise makes mantra more difficult because I don't seem too focused when I'm going back to bed.