My "first" LD and a couple of questions

[Btwonu]

Hello! I've heard about LD's before and I've actually experienced couple of them years ago (I'm 20 now), but I don't remember them very clearly as it's been long time. For this reason, I'm not going to go into much detail with my old dreams. My concern are my dreams right now. My old Lucid Dreams have all been unintentional, I've heard of people trying to make themselves dream them, but I have always been discouraged by the things people said on the internet like: "It took me 3 yrs to ld 1st time", etc. The other day (28th), a friend of mine send me some lucid dream post on another site. This time it got more of my attention, I searched for forums and stuff, found out about Reality Checks and whatnot. I did RC's like trying to push my hand through the other one (at the same time counting my fingers), looking at a clock, away, then at the clock again to see if time changes quickly and while doing those I was really concentrating over the fact that I was awake, I sometimes touched walls or objects near me, thinking about how I am in the real world while doing the RC's. Usually I don't dream often (at least I don't remember) so, sometime before going to bed, I started thinking: "I will dream this night", I actually managed to get myself pretty confident about this. I was thinking "Everything is in my head, with the right mindset I should be able to 'force' myself to dream". I also read couple of more pointers for beginners, for example that it's good to have an idea of what you're going to do when you're lucid. I'm not going to go into much detail with this, but I decided to think about a girl I knew a long time ago and try to take her home with me The other idea I had was to try flying again (as I've done it before, not on purpose, though). I got in bed, watching some clips on my laptop (I usually don't go to sleep in a quiet place, read that maybe this could be a problem, I'll ask you guys about this again, below). I tried to relax my body as much as I can. There was one point I think I went into sleep paralysis for like a second (I sometimes hear voices and stuff when semi-asleep, read that this is normal so I tried to just relax and not panic) I had couple of dreams that night, first ones - I couldn't figure out they're dreams. Not going to go into much detail with them (I remember only the first one anyway), but basicly I was running from a female cop and she shot me dead. I'm not sure if I woke up before it happened to me or not, but at one point I got into a dream that was placed in my old classroom, with classmates around me (the girl I was talking about above is an ex classmate of mine). As I was doing mostly during the day, I tried to look at my hand and push one through the other, but for some reason this didn't work. I started looking for a clock and I found a laptop. Checked the time, looked away, looked at the time again and like 30mins to 1 hour had passed, did it again and 2-3 hours had passed. At one point the clock was moving very fast in front of me, without looking away, and at another - it got some really confusing numbers not really resembling a normal clock anymore. This is when it hit me - I did it. I was in a dream and everything looked even more real than I expected. First thing to cross my mind after that was to find my girl, suddenly everyone was taking a test in there, only me standing still (no one payed attention to me, though, I even got to her, licked her neck or something and took her with me, in front of everybody ) When I took her outside of the room (in the school corridor) I realized, I don't know how to get home. I had read some things before going to sleep about changing the scenery in a dream (like spinning around, going inside tv screen, opening a portal, etc) So first thing that came to my mind from here was to open my portal. I think I felt kind of unsure if this will work, though. Tried opening it with my hands like I was casting some spell, but I couldn't. Something like a blue magic started to appear from my hands (I really gave it my all, trying to push it out of my hands). It comes as no surprise to me that the portal that KIND OF started to appear was looking similar to the portals in Diablo 2, as I've played it a lot and this is the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear portal. I think something fell down from the 5-10cm "portal" I was able to open, like a battery or something, but the memory is kinda blurry. After not being able to take my classmate home, I tried to fly for a bit. I entered my classroom and did 1-2 circles in the air. It was a very brief flight. I guess this sums up my memory of it all. There are couple of questions I have, hope you guys can answer some of them for me: -It felt really great that I was able to do this on the first night I tried, how often do you think I will be able to do this ? I want to try LDing on a regular basis. I've read that most people do it 3-4 times a week ? -Are there any negative effects ? Also - positive ? -Is it REALLY important that you sleep in a quiet place, as I mentioned above I'm not really used to sleep without watching a movie or something (I was able to LD on 28th with noise - on, i was NOT able to LD on 29, with no noise in the room) -I read that trying TOO hard can have negative effect (meaning I won't LD), could this be one of the reasons I couldn't do it 2nd day in a row and what could be some other reasons ? -Is it easy to loose the feeling of how you fall into LD ? I'm afraid of the possibility to not being able to do it again for a long period of time (or never).

[Memm]

Congrats on entering the LD world! Have a cookie. It felt really great that I was able to do this on the first night I tried, how often do you think I will be able to do this ? I want to try LDing on a regular basis. I've read that most people do it 3-4 times a week ? Personally I think it depends on effort and lifestyle, by effort I mean persistence without making a big deal out of it and by lifestyle I'm talking more psychological; decent amount of sleep, routine helps, being self-aware etc... To wit when I first started LDing I hit the 3 times a week mark easily but later on I had other life issues and a lot less motivation so that brought it down to 0 quite quickly, perhaps if you pass some sort of plateau it stays with you, I think that's possible. -Are there any negative effects ? Also - positive ? Can't think of anything negative. xD Is it REALLY important that you sleep in a quiet place, as I mentioned above I'm not really used to sleep without watching a movie or something (I was able to LD on 28th with noise - on, i was NOT able to LD on 29, with no noise in the room) The noise probably just kept you a little more conscious which makes it easier to LD, but too much noise and it's difficult to stabilise the dream, sometimes you start hearing "outside" noises inside the dream and it wakes you up. I read that trying TOO hard can have negative effect (meaning I won't LD), could this be one of the reasons I couldn't do it 2nd day in a row and what could be some other reasons ? Trying too hard in anything has a negative effect, for one it makes you more tense and stressed which just makes you perform even worse; clear and calm mind is the best mind. Is it easy to lose the feeling of how you fall into LD ? I'm afraid of the possibility to not being able to do it again for a long period of time (or never). Worrying about it is part of trying too hard. =P One other thing, thinking that you have to "go somewhere" to do something is a common newbie mistake (or even a pro mistake), it's a dream, do whatever, wherever, if you start searching for other locations out of fear / worry you make it more difficult for yourself.

[Btwonu]

Thank you for the feedback! I guess I really have to just let myself go, it's just that I'm not the calmest person on the inside (meaning I don't usually show signs of worries at all to anyone around me, but I sometimes worry TOO much for pretty much everything in my daily life). I'm motivated to start working on that, and I'm sure I can progress pretty fast with the right mindset, I just hope I can manage to LD often enough so I can "practice" on my control inside the dream, etc.

[Memm]

Dream control / stabilisation is mostly experience, the more LDs you have the calmer and more in control you'll be, it might even affect your waking life positively too, just give it some time. It's like riding a bicycle, you might freak out at first and need some training wheels but eventually it's like walking.

[robertcox88]

Hmm interesting enough I had an LD on the first night of seeing something about LDing. Someone on another message board mentioned a routine they do before they go to sleep to enhance the chances of LDing so I decided to do it that night... Low and behold it worked and I had a Lucid. This was the first time I had ever done anything like that. I had a couple lucids before but I had never made any effort nor did I think about dreaming at all before I went to sleep. I think time has an amazing effect... I posted something just the other day about falling asleep in my dream as I am becoming more aware of the strangeness in the dream (leading to lucidity) and it happened to another member of this forum that same night he read it. It's amazing what the mind latches onto and the effect it can have! That was over a month ago and I have only had 1 lucid since then and those few other times where I felt something was strange and either fell asleep or just woke up... so don't be disappointed if something similar happens.

[Btwonu]

The other day I was able to have one more LD ! I don't really know if I was awake or not, or dreaming that I was awake, but I felt like I was on the verge of entering a LD. At one point I think I went through sleep paralysis, given by the voices I was hearing, but my only thought then was to relax and not panic. The dream itself felt like it was 4-5 seconds. I just remember I had to quickly look at my hand (as I do in my reality checks, wasn't a clock this time) and the moment I did, everything got very real, just like the last time. I guess I couldn't hold it long enough this time though, so the duration was really short.

[cooleymd]

First thing to cross my mind after that was to find my girl ...no one payed attention to me, though, I even got to her, licked her neck or something and took her with me, in front of everybody ... -Is it REALLY important that you sleep in a quiet place Sounds like the classic mistake of needing privacy even tho you didn't need it to lick her neck Lets say you fall asleep and find yourself sitting in an isle seat at church, there are a lot of women in the front row on one side all crying, and some guy in a suit looking terrified like his life is about to end. Suddenly you notice motion behind you as you turn your head you see some old guy walking with the hottest most beautiful chick you ever saw... Suddenly it occurs to you that your dreaming and you want to cut in on the groom... You grab the bride... you grab your cell phone you try to book a honeymoon suite at the Hilton, you hijack the limousine you hand the driver several hundred dollars to floor it... The elevator just won't get to the penthouse fast enough... you wake up (DOH!) rewind... next time try the middle of the isle (its a lot easier to get to) you found your girl, lucky you (too bad you thought you had to take her home, but realized you didn't need to do this for a neck lick), next time try this trick hold your hand out behind you, as if your walking along and waiting for her to catch up with you "come on honey hurry up..." think/Expect/BELIEVE she will take your hand, you feel her take your hand, turn and she is there (I have yet to remember to try this trick in a lucid except one where I was going to do it but couldn't get stable) also I sleep with white noise to help me fall asleep, noise might wake you up, but white noise won't, tho I once dreamed (non-lucid) that I was caught in a torrential down pour (white noise was rain/storm) as you exit from sleep sometimes your dream is influenced by what you hear. I only seem to lucid dream on non work nights (not working the next day) usually 0-3 times per weekend for the last few months. 3 - 4 times a week would be someone with a lot of skill (/luck) only about 1/3 of my dreams are more than a few minutes, but some are 15 minutes

[GetDreaming]

Sounds like the classic mistake of needing privacy even tho you didn't need it to lick her neck Lets say you fall asleep and find yourself sitting in an isle seat at church, there are a lot of women in the front row on one side all crying, and some guy in a suit looking terrified like his life is about to end. Suddenly you notice motion behind you as you turn your head you see some old guy walking with the hottest most beautiful chick you ever saw... Suddenly it occurs to you that your dreaming and you want to cut in on the groom... You grab the bride... you grab your cell phone you try to book a honeymoon suite at the Hilton, you hijack the limousine you hand the driver several hundred dollars to floor it... The elevator just won't get to the penthouse fast enough... you wake up (DOH!) rewind... next time try the middle of the isle (its a lot easier to get to) you found your girl, lucky you (too bad you thought you had to take her home, but realized you didn't need to do this for a neck lick), next time try this trick hold your hand out behind you, as if your walking along and waiting for her to catch up with you "come on honey hurry up..." think/Expect/BELIEVE she will take your hand, you feel her take your hand, turn and she is there (I have yet to remember to try this trick in a lucid except one where I was going to do it but couldn't get stable) also I sleep with white noise to help me fall asleep, noise might wake you up, but white noise won't, tho I once dreamed (non-lucid) that I was caught in a torrential down pour (white noise was rain/storm) as you exit from sleep sometimes your dream is influenced by what you hear. I only seem to lucid dream on non work nights (not working the next day) usually 0-3 times per weekend for the last few months. 3 - 4 times a week would be someone with a lot of skill (/luck) only about 1/3 of my dreams are more than a few minutes, but some are 15 minutes This is so true. I have only a few lucids under my belt but I can say that my setting was never a worry once I realized I was dreaming if you know what I mean... Social barriers do not exist in your dreaming world!

[cooleymd]

Social barriers do not exist in your dreaming world! Well once I was in a dream and the dream police showed up, there were two of them, one of them said "You're going to have to come with us!", I looked at him like wtf you have got to be kidding. I reached out my right arm and put it on his left shoulder, then I reached out my left hand and put it on the side of his head. Then I separated my hands. I will never forget the quote of the surviving dream cop "I'm very sorry sir, but you're still going to have to come with me"... at least he changed his pronoun... after the gun battle, I did destabilize but I survived the void and returned to a similar dream scape crimes against dreamanity my azz... It was my most epic Lucid yet lasting near to 20 minutes in all, I flew, was bullet proof, shrank / grew, summoned DCs (hundreds of them), issued all sorts of commands. Point is you might have a conscience in your dream, just hope you're better armed then it is, facing an armed opponent I didn't want to risk a behind the back gun summon at point blank range, fortunately there was a headless dream cop who didn't seem to need his gun...