Getting back to lucid dreaming

[MHT]

Hey guys, so far I haven't had any lucid dreams. I got into lucid dreaming about 1,5 years ago. I was preety motivated at first but after I got disappointed several times my motivation dropped. In the beginning I tried several techniques like ADA, WBTB, SSILD, MILD, DEILD... Unfortunately it didn't work. I got less interested in lucid dreams because of that and I wondered if I'd really be able to lucid dream. I didn't gave up on lucid dreaming entirely but I didn't gave too much effort to lucid dreaming. Well I'd like to get back into lucid dreaming now. I really want to experience a lucid dream soon in order to increase my motivation again. First of all I have to tell you one problem I have when I'm lying in my bed. I'm used to think about several things or imagine things while I'm lying in my bed. I'm feeling kind of uneasy if I don't do that. Because of that techniques like MILD are a bit difficult because I rather think about stuff instead of thinking "I'll have a lucid dream tonight" the whole time. The first time I stopped MILDing I was really happy that I could thing about stuff again. I think that's one of the major problems I have with lucid dreaming. But for now I definitely want to get back to lucid dreaming bacause I'll have enough time to sleep for the next few months. Do you know how I can solve the probleme I described above? Furthermore, what should I do now in order to increase my chances of lucid dreaming. I'm really tired of dream journaling. I did about 200 entrys and my memorys about dreams didn't increase too much. There were times where I didn't remember any dreams even though I was dream journaling. Do you have any ideas or any hints how I can get to lucid dreaming with motivation. I want to experience my first lucid dream soon in order to increase my motivation Unfortunately I don't have the enourmos motivation that you have when you first get into lucid dreaming so I can't work with that. I'm really looking forward to your replys.

[justme]

I also think a lot while falling asleep so doing any repeating "I will have a lucid dream" before I fall asleep doesn't really work. It also takes me a good hour or so to fall asleep. I usually stick with dream journals and reality checks. Just thinking about dreams helps too like being on here). You don't have to have too much motivation. Just think about dreams everyday, make dream journal entries, and be patient. Good luck!

[Hukif]

You started with the wrong techniques... the hard ones. Either way, MILD isn't all about mantras. Its "Mnemonic" not "Mantra" for the M. If you have to think of things and imagine them, then imagine yourself in a dream and how you will become lucid. Incubation/MILD right there! Think outside the box, use what is already at your disposal and then change the techniques to fit your dreaming not the other way around. Also, if you DJ with the thought of it being a chore of course it will not help at all. If you don't like to, then just think about your dreams upon waking and just take short notes, much easier, less time and reliving a cool dream isn't all that bad right? You want dreams to be "good" things to remember, not "chores" that you would rather forget in order to not DJ "200 entries".

[SinisterDezz]

I know you are tired of dream journals, but it's honestly a key component to keeping up dream recall and being able to carry awareness into your dreams. As far as MILD goes, I don't really use it tbh. I find that it's not a very effective inducer. Sure, it works SOME of the time, but it's not reliable. And reliable is what you need. You need the highest chance for an LD that you can get. Extreme dedication is one of the things you need for lucid dreaming. For me, personally, if lucid dreaming isn't the ABSOLUTELY PRIORITY in my life, then I will only have 2-3 per week. If I do center my life around awareness and creativity, then I get that sweet average of 10-15 per week. And for motivation, just think of all the possibilities there are with LDing. Think about when you get really good. Think about your goals. Think about the fact that when you start doing this for a while and have constant LDs, that the realism is almost EQUAL TO THAT OF THE REAL WORLD. If that doesn't work for you, music is always a good motivator. Hell, it's a good motivator no matter what you are trying to accomplish in life. Goals always keep you on track, so I would suggest writing down some thought out goals that you really want to accomplish. Keep these goals reasonable though. Don't try to take huge steps when you aren't ready. I know many of my friends were disappointed with LDing because of all the effort it takes to really start getting into the good stuff. But when you do get to that good stuff, it's life changing. It will change your perspective of life. Lucid dreaming is 99% motivation and skill, and 1% luck.

[MHT]

I also think a lot while falling asleep so doing any repeating "I will have a lucid dream" before I fall asleep doesn't really work. It also takes me a good hour or so to fall asleep. I usually stick with dream journals and reality checks. Just thinking about dreams helps too like being on here). You don't have to have too much motivation. Just think about dreams everyday, make dream journal entries, and be patient. Good luck! Ok, I think I'll definitely do RC's again but I'm not too sure about dream journal entries though. You started with the wrong techniques... the hard ones. Well I did lots of techniques and all of them were the hard ones? I thought that depends on oneself wether the techniques are hard or not. So can you tell me some techniques that are easy and efficient? Either way, MILD isn't all about mantras. Its "Mnemonic" not "Mantra" for the M. If you have to think of things and imagine them, then imagine yourself in a dream and how you will become lucid. Incubation/MILD right there! Think outside the box, use what is already at your disposal and then change the techniques to fit your dreaming not the other way around. I also did that, I just forgot to mention that. I still rather think about other stuff and it was a bit hard to fall asleep while imagining about draming so I sticked with Mantras instead of that. I'll try that again though. Also, if you DJ with the thought of it being a chore of course it will not help at all. If you don't like to, then just think about your dreams upon waking and just take short notes, much easier, less time and reliving a cool dream isn't all that bad right? You want dreams to be "good" things to remember, not "chores" that you would rather forget in order to not DJ "200 entries". It just got annoying after some time because there were time where I didn't remember any dreams in a row and it felt like it didn't improve my DR a lot. Of coure I also had to sacrifice time to write down my entrys. Because of that I lost interest in DJ. On top of that a lot of my dreams were rather vague and they weren't really vivid. I really enjoyed long vivid ones though, they appeared just too rarely. From now on I'll at least take notes again. I know you are tired of dream journals, but it's honestly a key component to keeping up dream recall and being able to carry awareness into your dreams. I wonder if that's true for me. About two hundreds entrys didn't improve my DR or my awareness. DR and Awareness were sometimes better and sometimes worse but it didn't felt like it would improve permanently if I'd go on doing that. Yesterday I didn't write an entry and I still remembered two dream. Two dreams are rather good for me. Extreme dedication is one of the things you need for lucid dreaming. For me, personally, if lucid dreaming isn't the ABSOLUTELY PRIORITY in my life, then I will only have 2-3 per week. If I do center my life around awareness and creativity, then I get that sweet average of 10-15 per week. Wow I'd be happy if I'd just experience my first lucid dream. I wonder if I really want to center my life about lucid dreaming the whole time. It's rather difficult after not experiencing one for months. And for motivation, just think of all the possibilities there are with LDing. Think about when you get really good. Think about your goals. Think about the fact that when you start doing this for a while and have constant LDs, that the realism is almost EQUAL TO THAT OF THE REAL WORLD. If that doesn't work for you, music is always a good motivator. Hell, it's a good motivator no matter what you are trying to accomplish in life. Goals always keep you on track, so I would suggest writing down some thought out goals that you really want to accomplish. Keep these goals reasonable though. Don't try to take huge steps when you aren't ready. I know many of my friends were disappointed with LDing because of all the effort it takes to really start getting into the good stuff. But when you do get to that good stuff, it's life changing. It will change your perspective of life. Lucid dreaming is 99% motivation and skill, and 1% luck. Unfortunately after some time started to think that it's rather unlikely to achieve my goals. I think that was a fatal mistake. I'll try to motivate myself again. Thanks for all of your replys. I'll do RC, WBTB and maybe SSILD or another technique for now. I'll also take notes about my dreams and I'll try to get excited about lucid dreaming again. I hope that'll work. If you have any further suggestions or ideas please share them with me.

[Hukif]

ADA/SSILD are hard ones. ADA for obvious reasons and SSILD because its an aglomeration of nearly everything else. WBTB spiced with MILD/DILD/WILD techniques, only missing an EILD somewhere in between. Anyway, easiest ones are MILD/DEILD techniques. But yes you are right, it depends on the dreamer. Also, how were your dreams during no-journal vs journal times? You may say there were some bad nights of no recall, but bear in mind most people go with 0 recall for months/years at a time. Did it really not improve in general? Also did you try playing with your entries? Like, based on the short description you have to journal search for videos or images related to the theme and see if it sparks something. It is fun and makes journaling less stressful too; stress is always bad for lucids. Oh and if you want to, could give you an analysis if you have enough journal entries here or any other online source about what techniques could work based off your dreams.

[SinisterDezz]

Ok, I think I'll definitely do RC's again but I'm not too sure about dream journal entries though. Well I did lots of techniques and all of them were the hard ones? I thought that depends on oneself wether the techniques are hard or not. So can you tell me some techniques that are easy and efficient? I also did that, I just forgot to mention that. I still rather think about other stuff and it was a bit hard to fall asleep while imagining about draming so I sticked with Mantras instead of that. I'll try that again though. It just got annoying after some time because there were time where I didn't remember any dreams in a row and it felt like it didn't improve my DR a lot. Of coure I also had to sacrifice time to write down my entrys. Because of that I lost interest in DJ. On top of that a lot of my dreams were rather vague and they weren't really vivid. I really enjoyed long vivid ones though, they appeared just too rarely. From now on I'll at least take notes again. I wonder if that's true for me. About two hundreds entrys didn't improve my DR or my awareness. DR and Awareness were sometimes better and sometimes worse but it didn't felt like it would improve permanently if I'd go on doing that. Yesterday I didn't write an entry and I still remembered two dream. Two dreams are rather good for me. Wow I'd be happy if I'd just experience my first lucid dream. I wonder if I really want to center my life about lucid dreaming the whole time. It's rather difficult after not experiencing one for months. Unfortunately after some time started to think that it's rather unlikely to achieve my goals. I think that was a fatal mistake. I'll try to motivate myself again. Thanks for all of your replys. I'll do RC, WBTB and maybe SSILD or another technique for now. I'll also take notes about my dreams and I'll try to get excited about lucid dreaming again. I hope that'll work. If you have any further suggestions or ideas please share them with me. Wow, you are one of the first people that I have seen DJ and that didn't help. And with 200 entries, I would expect more to happen. Very interesting.

[ccrinbama]

Have you tried reading over your DJ before you go to sleep? The act of keeping a DJ is helpful for me, but what REALLY kicks things into gear is going back and reading past entries. It feels like I'm priming my mind for an LD. And trying to force yourself to be excited about it seems pretty dangerous. Instead of trying to be excited about the process, try to focus on whatever the original reason was for you wanting to get into LDI in the first place. And also, don't be discouraged by not working on it for so long. I've gone over a year without touching a DJ, on at least two occasions, but I find that as long as I come back with the will to both improve and carry out basic acts of diligence, I can always get back on the boat, and pick up from where I left off.

[Wolfdog]

I'm just going to say a healthy sleep habit is fundamental in improving dream recall. I've seen from personal experience that, even if I were to journal every day, if one night I sleep very late, dream recall decreases. It's also decisive when practicing for lucid dreaming purposes. After getting a continuous set of days of optimal sleep time, it's so much easier and natural to wake up many times during the night to journal dreams, practice WBTB or any other induction methods. In addition, concentration and awareness vastly increases, there's a notable reduction in stress levels, and one's overall health just benefits from it. Basically, an optimal sleep schedule increases one's opportunities to lucid dream nightly by a billion times. It's just so beneficial. Balance is also a very influential factor when lucid dreaming. I tend to leave one or two days to just completely relax from anything lucid dreaming or dreaming related just to clear my head and do something else. I find it that when I return to practice the next day or two, my mind is so refreshed and open to new ideas that you find a new aspect of lucid dreaming you hadn't noticed before. If you let stress build up in you, your possibilities for lucid dreaming will greatly reduce. On the topic of motivation, understand it's just a feeling, and like anything else in this world, it doesn't last forever. Nothing ever stays the same, and even after you get motivated again note that it will decrease again as time passes. That doesn't mean you shouldn't use it, it's an awesome emotional boost to have that gives us that extra push to help us reach success. But, if you'e going to depend on it, then don't be surprised if the number of lucid dreams are not showing. We must do even if we feel no motivation at all, because practice and action alone is what will ultimately get us to our goals. Many people wait for something outside of them that will move them to achievement, when in fact it's what we do, our actions, what will actually get us there. That's just how I feel about motivation. It's a helpful aid when it's there, but once it's gone, we move on and continue practicing.

[MHT]

Sorry for my late reply, I didn't have time to answer before. Also, how were your dreams during no-journal vs journal times? You may say there were some bad nights of no recall, but bear in mind most people go with 0 recall for months/years at a time. Did it really not improve in general? Also did you try playing with your entries? Like, based on the short description you have to journal search for videos or images related to the theme and see if it sparks something. It is fun and makes journaling less stressful too; stress is always bad for lucids. Well I think when I stopped my dream journal my motivation/ interest was decreasing. I remembered more dreams during my journal time but that's likely because I didn't really try to remember my dreams too often after i stopped my dream journal. I wouldn't say that it didn't improve in general. There were just a lot dream memorys which were just fractions of dreams and they didn't fell vivid. When I had vivid, interesting dreams it was a preety cool and statisfying experience thoug. In my opinion it just didn't improve enough over such a long amount of time to be statisfying. You know I read people remembering at least 2 dreams each night and I'm already lucky if I remember 1 long and at least a bit vivid dream every 2 nights. I think I didn't 'play' with my entries so far. Might do that in the future. I'm also thinking about having a real dream journal because I don't want to turn on my computer so early in the morning. Maybe that'll help me too. Oh and if you want to, could give you an analysis if you have enough journal entries here or any other online source about what techniques could work based off your dreams. Unfortunately I think I can't do that. I'm no native english speaker so my entrys aren't written in english (I'm German). Thanks for your offer though. And with 200 entries, I would expect more to happen. Yeah me too. Kinda disappointing. Have you tried reading over your DJ before you go to sleep? The act of keeping a DJ is helpful for me, but what REALLY kicks things into gear is going back and reading past entries. It feels like I'm priming my mind for an LD. Well I did that but not before I go to sleep. I didn't do that too often because of the lack of vivid, long and exciting dreams. Reading short boring entrys wasn't too exciting. And also, don't be discouraged by not working on it for so long. I've gone over a year without touching a DJ, on at least two occasions, but I find that as long as I come back with the will to both improve and carry out basic acts of diligence, I can always get back on the boat, and pick up from where I left off. Yeah but I think the sooner I'm able to lucid dream (reguarlly ?!) the better becaus sleep has a lot of things to offer if your a lucid dreamer. If I stop for one year that amount of sleeping time feels a bit wasted. I'm just going to say a healthy sleep habit is fundamental in improving dream recall. I've seen from personal experience that, even if I were to journal every day, if one night I sleep very late, dream recall decreases. It's also decisive when practicing for lucid dreaming purposes. After getting a continuous set of days of optimal sleep time, it's so much easier and natural to wake up many times during the night to journal dreams, practice WBTB or any other induction methods. In addition, concentration and awareness vastly increases, there's a notable reduction in stress levels, and one's overall health just benefits from it. Basically, an optimal sleep schedule increases one's opportunities to lucid dream nightly by a billion times. It's just so beneficial. I go to bed about every time between 11 pm to 11.30 pm. I don't wake up at the same time each morning though. Except for now because I don't have school for one and a half month. I noticed some problems about sleeping longer. First of all I'm not as tired as I'm usually are when i go to sleep. Likely because I don't have school for now. The worse problem is that I wake up at about 6.30.am to 7.am. When I wake up at that time it feels like I won't be able to sleep again. Is there any way to be able to sleep for a longer amount of time? And what is an optimal sleep schedule in your opinion. Should I sleep each night 8 hours? I wonder if I'd be able to do that. Please tell me this sleep schedule. Balance is also a very influential factor when lucid dreaming. I tend to leave one or two days to just completely relax from anything lucid dreaming or dreaming related just to clear my head and do something else. I find it that when I return to practice the next day or two, my mind is so refreshed and open to new ideas that you find a new aspect of lucid dreaming you hadn't noticed before. If you let stress build up in you, your possibilities for lucid dreaming will greatly reduce. I think I need more time to clear my mind than one or two times. I alway used to think about stuff while I'm lying in me bed. It seems like I'm more sensible at that time and I'm able to make difficult decisions. When I don't have to think of such matters I just imagine some things or think about stuff. I wonder if I could combine that with an induction technique. On the topic of motivation, understand it's just a feeling, and like anything else in this world, it doesn't last forever. Nothing ever stays the same, and even after you get motivated again note that it will decrease again as time passes. That doesn't mean you shouldn't use it, it's an awesome emotional boost to have that gives us that extra push to help us reach success. But, if you'e going to depend on it, then don't be surprised if the number of lucid dreams are not showing. We must do even if we feel no motivation at all, because practice and action alone is what will ultimately get us to our goals. OK I won't use my lack of motivation as an excuse again. Thanks for all of your replys I really appreciate it.

[Rothgar]

One big reason to journal is to identify your dream signs, and internalize them. Then when you encounter them in the dream your mind will say "hey, this is like what happens in my dreams" and hopefully you become lucid. Works great for me. If you can identify your dream signs and internalize without journalling you are probably ok w/o one.