Getting back into Lucid Dreaming?

Hey everyone

I've made a fair few posts on this site last year, but after a while I really started to lag behind in my mission to lucid dream, partially because of a lack of success which led to a lack of confidence, and because of Depression, which has now significantly improved. During that time my dream recall decreased, but I could still remember a dream if I tried hard enough. i'm determined to get back into it now, and am wondering if anyone has any pointers on how to take a fresh approach to the subject, that might lead to doing well this time. Previously I had been quite fastidious with reality checks and dream journalling but had had no real success. Any advice on how to bounce back after this dry spell?

Thanks
Liolar

Order some supplements, Galantamine + Choline are the best.

Also do MILD and WBTB.

I'm guessing you've done your reshearch on lucid dreaming and you practiced it before.

Just apply what you know.

But most importantly; improve your dream recall and do regular reality checks; and meditate (opinional but will have a huge impact of your ld sucess)

Hi Liolar!

You have to build up from the foundations:

+ in order to dream you have to be asleep. Getting enough high quality sleep *on a regular basis* will do absolute wonders for dreaming. Getting enough high quality sleep on a regular schedule (same to-sleep and wake-up times every day) sounds so easy, but in our hectic lives it's one of the hardest things to do. Do NOT discount the importance of this step! It is the difference between "just ok" dreams and "OMG I NEVER WANT TO WAKE UP AGAIN THAT WAS SO AMAZING" dreams.

The following things you can do simultaneously:

+ build strong dream recall. The dreaming experience is so much more rewarding when you remember multiple dreams per night with great clarity, on average. Non-lucids carry you over in between lucids. We all dream non-lucidly every night without even trying, so it's the smallest step you can do in this hobby to just start noticing and remembering them. It's the biggest bang for the buck, and will keep you entertained and waking up with a smile on your face for the rest of your life. I have written up my approach to building dream recall, there's a link to it in my signature.

+ day work: build daytime awareness & practice access to memory. Simply: pay attention to yourself and your experiences/life. Be present in the now. Know that there are multiple states of consciousness: waking and dreaming, and keep in the back of your mind the notion that you want to know which one you're in at all times. RCs, critical reflection, etc. are great, too, and described in great detail in works like LaBerge's Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. For memory, throughout the day stop and try to remember what you were doing 15 minutes ago. At the end of the day run through the day's events before bed. There are many forms of daytime awareness you can practice: formal sit-down meditation, mindfulness, etc., but at its most basic it's just learning to pay attention and continually bring yourself back to attention after zoning out.

+ night work: set intention to remember dreams, notice night-time wakings, to be lucid in dreams. Perform MILD, WILD, DEILD, alarm-DEILD, WBTB, and recall dreams (I prefer to just take quick notes at night and write the full journal in the morning)

+ don't quit! In 1, 2, 5, 10 years, where do you want to be WRT dreaming? I want to be in the place where I reap the benefits of having diligently built all the fundamentals over that time. The time will pass anyway whether you do the work or not, the choice is up to you!