How vital to LD is a sleep schedule?

[MichiganDreamer]

just wondering how crucial it is to having a consistent sleep schedule is to developing lucid dreaming skills? I know, I can hear everybody screaming at their computers, tablets, and smartphones. Of COURSE a sleep schedule is important, right? Let me explain why I'm asking what would seem a pretty obvious question. I am terrible at keeping to a regular sleep schedule. Oh when I sleep it is a normal period of time, it is just that sometimes I go into nocturnal phases and it takes quite some time to get back to the diurnal schedule of the rest of society. If I try to set a sleep schedule, say, 10pm-7am for example, if it takes to long to get to sleep I either don't get up at 7am or if do but my body insists upon a nap at some point keeping my schedule thrown off. Or I'll get so bored laying there after going down, the boredom not inducing sleep, that I will eventually just get back up. I've tried things like melatonin and valerian root to little to no avail. Anything I've tried hasn't been necessarily in the context of developing LD skills, I've tried to get on a consistent schedule because I know it's generally best. But what about consistency, or lack thereof, in the context of LD? I would think that a regular schedule would be pretty important for techniques like WBTB, but what about other techniques? The technique I am finding easiest to work on is DILD. I do reality checks, work on becoming aware when I realize I've slipped into autopilot, things like that to increase my chances that something in a dream will trigger lucidity. And I have had some progress. I just wondered how worried I need to be as to whether or not a less than consistent schedule for sleep might adversely effect my LD skill development?

[ThreeCat]

Just do whatever you can. Do you not have a consistent schedule at your job? It will cause more problems for dream recall than lucidity per se (I would imagine, anyway) but if you are falling to sleep exhausted, both of these will suffer. I would really try to be consistent with the schedule (since it seems to be a "you" problem rather than an issue with world circumstances). If you have not worldly concerns (no job, and you "ain't got shit to do"), then I think you can sleep when you want. What you don't want to do is try to stay awake so you can do this or that. Go to sleep when you are gently tired. Learn some relaxation techniques. Do some meditation. Take a hot bath a couple hours before bed. All of that can assist in falling asleep.

[FryingMan]

I think a regular schedule is pretty important for LDing practice. In those times where I've maintained a strict to-bed and out-of-bed times for several weeks in a row, my recall went way up and so did my lucid frequency. It's much easier to fall back asleep after a brief WBTB when your body thinks it should still be asleep, and you can catch some great LDs as your body is waking up when it "knows" the time that you should be waking up. If your body is off balance all the time then I think you are generally more tired and being tired makes recall harder which makes lucidity harder.

[FOATL]

Dude, no worries....i do shift work, and I lucid dream. I work days one week, afternoons the next week, then midnites.....week after week. My advice would be like these other gentlemen have said....do what u can... Practice your recall everytime you wake up, no matter what time u go to sleep.... Meditate for 10 minutes everyday when you come home from work..... plan in advance when you think you will be able to get in some good dream work.....

[MichiganDreamer]

Probably would be easier if I had work or school or something I always had to do during the day to keep a consistent sleep schedules. I'll probably have less frustration if I don't try to force myself to keep a certain schedule. And developing LD skills will probably be easier if I'm not frustrated.

[Yuusha]

I have noticed that I seem to have a much better success rate with lucid dreaming If I go to bed early, preferably before midnight - and if I go to bed very late I tend to not have much success at all. Is this normal?

[ThreeCat]

@Yuusha: if you are very tired, there is less chance that you will awake during the night, inhibiting recall (and overall awareness). So I think your experience is normal.

[FryingMan]

^^ Agree...when very tired, the dullness that the dream state imposes on self-awareness can be overpowering. I find it harder to form really coherent, strong intent when very tired (and fall asleep more quickly). When very tired, I either ignore or don't give much thought to dream goals.

[Yuusha]

Yeah, for me it is usually like this: Early to bed: *when I go to bed, I am sleepy, but not exhausted *I always wake up 5-6 hours after falling asleep without fail, and dream recall is fantastic (usually 3-4 fairly vivid dreams) *I fall asleep again, and this can take anything from 10 minutes to an hour *I experience at least one False Awakening, and often become lucid *I wake up with a smile, not only because I became lucid, but also because I wake up fairly early Late to bed: *I feel drained of energy, and crash soon after going to bed *Î wake up 6-7 hours after falling asleep, with poor dream recall and don't bother trying to write down any dreams at all *I fall asleep pretty much instantly *I wake up one or two hours later without remembering any lucidity whatsoever, and at a very late time ...so yeah, the first scenario definitely seems more ideal. xD

[MichiganDreamer]

^^ Agree...when very tired, the dullness that the dream state imposes on self-awareness can be overpowering. I find it harder to form really coherent, strong intent when very tired (and fall asleep more quickly). When very tired, I either ignore or don't give much thought to dream goals. It's probably when I am really tired that I become a dream journal slacker. Or just really cozy under the blankets and not wanting to face the cooler air. lol I've found recently that I'll wake up during the night, assuming that's when I'm sleeping, and not be a good girl about journaling what I just dreamed. It will occur to me that I should, but I'm tired, and comfortable, and wind up going back to sleep without journaling. Which of course doesn't do recall any favors. I may ponder the dream for a bit which would be better than nothing, but certainly not as good as journaling.

[ageofthunder]

Very important, I find it. Once your body has a system going it gets accustom to it and when things change up it kind of throws things out of whack. For the past few weeks, I've been going to bed a various times (ranging from 11pm to 12am) I wouldn't remember a dang thing I dreamt that night, and the day I started going to bed at my regular time, 10pm (yesterday) I remember a LOT of the dreams I had that night. Although it may be different for some, I think for everyone a schedule is good, not just for LDing but for your health in general.