Thinking about lucid dreaming too much I don't know what I need to do.

Hello, I'm new here, not new to lucid dreaming, I've never had a "true" lucid dream in my opinion but I'm familliar with the topic for years and tried it before.

I would be happy for some help.
I've been practicing for a month and few weeks now, and I don't know what to focus and learn, I'm thinking like there is so much to learn and not sure
in which order and what the process i should take. I'm read alot about lucid dreaming.

The one think that bothers me, is that I can't stop criticizing and thinking about it. I don't know what to do, I want to lucid dream, I have my goals, but I can't feel my exicted, as if I don't have intention, even though I do. I just think I need something I can grab on.

1. Im maintaning a dream journal. If I wake during the night, I will write key words which I can translate in the morning, when I write my dreams. Before I go to sleep I copy those dreams to my computer. I have found already dream signs in my dreams, and have decent recall - up to 3-5 dreams a day, even though they are never vivid or close to some sort of sensation as in real life (they do rarely). I will remember them as images, or brief very short "clips/segments", and even when I'm finding myself I'm lucid, it's still my "ego" in dream, I dont get rush of clarity and "being" in the dream as im in real life.

2. Im practicing awareness during the day and do reality checks (watch and count my fingers, and plug my noise to see if i can breath).

3. Before sleeping, I relax myself, my muscles, until i feel comfortable, and then I keep telling myself some kind of mantra - I don't know which one to focus, about what to think, If I want to remember my dreams, I will say something like "I will remember my dreams when i wake up", but in the same time, I also want to produce lucid dreams, so i might say something as "next time i will see "X" i will be lucid", "my next dream will be lucid", it might be stupid but i know the intention is strong, and im not sure what to say each night.

4. I'm having hard time visualizing, If i want to focus on a person for example, I will lose track of his face, what cloths he is wearing, i can't be "stable" when imagining.

5. I'm not sure how often i should try induction techniques, I've tried a couple of times MILD and I also wake up naturally at night sometimes, but having trouble going back to sleep, my own thinking about dreams will keep me awake. I feel like have the tools but I don't know what to do with it, as if, I often I should try to lucid dream, WBTB and such.

6. The only one thing I don't do is meditation, and once again, tons of way to do it. would be a simple meditation for relaxing would be enough?

Sorry for bad english, hopefully you get the idea of what I'm feeling. I'm not frustated, I like dreaming, I feel that I advance and become better each night. but maybe I am over thinking, or need a peaceful place. maybe I should go back to the basics. A certain guide would help?

The best to describe would be, how to accept my thoughts and my experience about dreaming, and not thinking "beyond".

Thank you in advance.

1) The "rush" doesn't happen to everyone. I, for example, have to shout to the dream "Clarity now!" occasionally. However, it could also be that you are only achieving partial lucidity, in which case I recommend that you try looking very closely at your hands in the dream to convince your mind to generate the detail. Try doing simple math to improve reasoning.

2) What you're doing here is excellent. If you don't really like to do RC's (i know i don't), try http://www.dreamviews.com/induction-...kingyoshi.html. This is the method I've been using for over a year, and I now get 4-5 LDs per week. The first three days are the hardest, but it gets easier after that.

3) Try combining mantras. Also, say them in present tense. The mantra i use is "I have long, lucid, and memorable dreams every night". If you get distracted, don't worry, just go back to repeating your mantra until you fall asleep.

4) you don't have to be particularly good at visualizing to do MILD. Just keep doing it to the best of your abilities, and you will slowly improve. Rome wasn't built in a day.

5) for someone who has only been lding for a month or so, i recommend you stick with MILD. A well-done case of MILD makes WBTB completely unnecessary, and if you do wake up at night, just try counting breaths until you fall asleep.

6) for meditation, a zen self-awareness meditation should do the trick. You basically try to become aware of everything you're thinking of. Once again, it gets easier with practice.

And finally, don't lose heart. I know that its confusing, but once you find a method that "feels right", stick with it and you will have success.

Maybe try to focus more on a smaller tasks that you want to achieve in LDs. Focus on one each night, the same one till you accomplish it.

I think you're obsessing about it a bit and you are possibly burning out. I was in a similar situation a few months ago, where I was reading books, researching, thinking about LD and doing RC all day long, yet nothing happened.
I was trying several different techniques each night and that was affecting the quality of my sleep.

We need to remember that it takes time for the brain to learn new skills. You wouldn't read a book once and expect to remember the majority of the words in it. You wouldn't go for a 20 minute jog and then expect to run a marathon.

Honestly, the best thing I did for my LD was to stop trying for a while. All I did was to tell myself I would have a great LD every night before going to bed - and nothing else. I had no LD for quite a while, but it gave me time to think and see where I was going wrong. It gave me time to rekindle my desire to LD. Then I randomly had a DILD and since then I have started working towards LD again, but this time I have a different approach.

I am more selective in regards to what technique I want to try - and I will stick with one technique for a long time. I try not to stress about it if I don't have a LD, because I accept that it is perfectly normal - although highly frustrating - not to have LD every night of the week.

In regards to meditation - I practice mindfulness and this has helped me to be more present in the moment in my everyday life. But also, when I do become lucid now, I don't rush anymore, I don't get overwhelmed by excitement and I am able to keep calm and keep the dream going.

Hope you find my advice useful - keep reading this forum, it's a gold mine for LD!

Don't stress. The seed has been sown. Stop digging it up and messing about with it. If you leave it alone and try to nuture it rather than force it, it WILL grow. Just chill. Like the fella said above, forget about it for a while and come back to it later just be persistent and constant in your intention. Don't burn your self out. Try to make an effort you can sustain over time, that might mean just doing one thing everyday to move in that direction. I don't think it particularly matters what that thing is, just as long as what ever you do is to ultimately reach the goal of LD. Be patient. What your trying to achieve has long term implications and will be life changing. You have the rest of eternity to achieve your goals. There is no rush.

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Originally Posted by DreamLord1

1) The "rush" doesn't happen to everyone. I, for example, have to shout to the dream "Clarity now!" occasionally. However, it could also be that you are only achieving partial lucidity, in which case I recommend that you try looking very closely at your hands in the dream to convince your mind to generate the detail. Try doing simple math to improve reasoning.

2) What you're doing here is excellent. If you don't really like to do RC's (i know i don't), try http://www.dreamviews.com/induction-...kingyoshi.html. This is the method I've been using for over a year, and I now get 4-5 LDs per week. The first three days are the hardest, but it gets easier after that.

3) Try combining mantras. Also, say them in present tense. The mantra i use is "I have long, lucid, and memorable dreams every night". If you get distracted, don't worry, just go back to repeating your mantra until you fall asleep.

4) you don't have to be particularly good at visualizing to do MILD. Just keep doing it to the best of your abilities, and you will slowly improve. Rome wasn't built in a day.

5) for someone who has only been lding for a month or so, i recommend you stick with MILD. A well-done case of MILD makes WBTB completely unnecessary, and if you do wake up at night, just try counting breaths until you fall asleep.

6) for meditation, a zen self-awareness meditation should do the trick. You basically try to become aware of everything you're thinking of. Once again, it gets easier with practice.

And finally, don't lose heart. I know that its confusing, but once you find a method that "feels right", stick with it and you will have success.

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You really think WBTB would be Completely Unnecessary? I would rethink your statement man, WBTB increases lucidity chance by a ton and has always given me very vivid easily remembered dreams.
Maybe give WBTB another chance?