Why does it take no practice at all for some ppl

I have a friend who doesn't do any techniques, rc's, ADA. He just read about it somehwere. And after reading it that night he went to sleep instantly had a lucid dream and now he is a regular lucid dreamer, he lucid dreams like every night without doing anything awake or before sleeping. He only does sometimes say to himself before sleep that he is going to be at this place and that works too. And for me I still just had a couple of lucids in a couple of months, and I couldn't even control those perfectly. So how can he have so many lucids?

I discovered a few days ago that my brother is a natural lucid dreamer or so he claimed, I can believe it but how he does it is a mystery for me. One of the things I noticed is that depending on your will and how much you believe in yourself that you are capable of doing a LD help you actually achieve it, there was a specific day that I was really inspired to LD and I kept thinking about it all day ... after sleeping I had a lucid dream.

Some people just make stuff up to look cool. They figure you can not prove them wrong.

Good point Sivason....I believe there are naturals, and those of us who work at it. Never heard of anyone else who read and can do it w/o practice. Not to say it can't happen but I would really question the person to see if his definition of lucid dreaming is valid and credible.

Unless you've been having lucid dreams since you were a kid, it's close to impossible to have them frequently without any practice at all. I've been lucid dreaming for two years and I need to put my all to it to have a few lucids a month, and even so I go through dry spells now and then... Of course it's different for everyone, but for most of us it's practice and intention that translates to lucids. Don't be discouraged! :)

I know people would like to LD nightly, as would I. And to a beginner it seems like a lot of practice for a small return. Probably why few stick with it. But I look at it like a vacation...I don't get one every day. Only relatively few great memories. But if I had even one really really cool LD once a month (like my most memorable ones) it would be worth it.

If true the guy probably already had naturally excellent Dream recall and experienced very vivid Dreams, with this combination it takes very little effort to get Lucid.

I had them two things naturally and took to LDing like a duck to water as soon as I read about them, having my first on the third night of trying.
It took me quite a lot of practice though to start getting them every night but I was getting a few a week from the very beginning.

Maybe this guy's just even luckier than I was with it.

This, I think, is your answer, Blackhole:

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Originally Posted by sivason

Some people just make stuff up to look cool. They figure you can not prove them wrong.

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I can't tell you how many times in my life I have had people tell me -- usually days after they learned from me that LD'ing existed -- that they were suddenly expert at LD'ing. A few pointed questions on my part invariably confirmed that the claimants had fabricated their success in an odd effort, I can only assume, to impress. I never knew why they did it, or whether they believed their own tales (nor did I ever ask; it was much easier for me to let them have their story). On more charitable days I wondered if maybe things were more innocent: that sometimes people just misunderstood what exactly LD'ing is, and assembled some, say, vivid dream memories that confirmed, as far as they knew, that they were LD'ing.

Since you know how hard it is to LD, Blackhole, because you've been there, I suggest that you take the claims of Instant Experts with a grain of salt: Sure, your friend might be a miracle of consciousness, perhaps even the next step in evolution, and is indeed an instant expert at lucid dreaming... or else he's just pulling your leg (and possibly his own).

Thanks, everyone for the replies.
He actually doesn't remember his lucid dreams. I ask him right after he is awake if he can tell me about his lucid dream. He says that he doesn't remember, but he said to me that he lucid dreams every night so he should remember his lucid dreams, right?
But as some of you guys said he is probably lying.

Let me ask you a different question. Why do you think effort is absolutely necessary? Lucid dreaming is as hard as you make it for yourself. An essential part of LDing is the right mindset. And people who know about LDs without knowing how supposedly difficult it is to achieve them might have the perfect mindset. Confidence also greatly helps lucidity. If people don´t even think about the possibility to not get lucid, then what´s supposed to stop them from gaining it?

I´ve abandoned all active effort to become lucid (besides daily dream journaling if that counts) and yet I can still become lucid about once a week on average.

Now about those people who claim to have achieved nightly lucidity. Well, liars on the internet undoubtedly exist, but they are usually the exception instead of the rule. If there is a repeating pattern of uninformed beginners gaining constant lucidity, then there might be a reason for that.

What if he isn't lying? Would it really be the better situation?

Let's assume that there are people who get easy result without trying. At a first look it might be tempting to believe that this is how we would like to have it as well.
Get rich without effort, be born good looking with nice genes, get validation and admiration by others because you fit the standards of society or as discussed in this thread, get lucid dreams without trying.

I just read a book called "David and Goliath" by Malcolm Gladwell and the title was choosed to show the biggest misconception and myth about advantage that exists.
The reason most people think that David was admirable, was because he beat the giant even though he had an disadvantage. And that is true in theory, but in practise what really happened was that David got leverage to become better, smarter. And finding that reason for improvement is the true advantage.

Back to topic. What point is it in experiencing a lucid dream when you can't appreciate it? This is the the biggest problem for people who get things easy, they can't appreciate it and take it for granted. Just look at (some) spoiled rich kids, or even celebrities who got famous too fast etc.

My point is that if you aren't a natural or a person who get things easy, be proud! Because you then got leverage and a reason to enjoy a process or a journey that is so much more fullfilling than just the result alone. You also gain understanding in a way that people who get it easy wont care about pursuing.

Just think about how boring our life and even the universe itself would be if it only was a start and a beginning. Big BANG! Big Shrunk! The End.
You get born! Then you instantly die! The End. One big expansion and contraction in an instant.

The joy is in the experience, it exists in the now, and the now is NOW! :meditate:

I have read alot of philosphical books right now so I might have got a little too wo-wo in this post, but I hope you got the main message.

But if not, here is a video that touch on the same subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvqeABNbAs4

Enjoy! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rothgar

I know people would like to LD nightly, as would I. And to a beginner it seems like a lot of practice for a small return. Probably why few stick with it. But I look at it like a vacation...I don't get one every day. Only relatively few great memories. But if I had even one really really cool LD once a month (like my most memorable ones) it would be worth it.

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I think even remembering cool non lucid dreams is worth it, maybe I didn't become lucid this last weekend but I had a well worth remembering non lucid for my efforts, and while during the week I had a lucid I also had a non lucid that was equally good :)

I just hope I can finish the monthly task before time runs out tho. My dreams are filling themselves with clues to do the chosen seed task, I keep tripping over gardening stuff in dreams, still not enough.

I am reminded a buddy who read about LDing and had a LD in the month after it. It took me a full year. So what makes a person consistent at LDing? I wonder..

His trick was complete isolation. Being in a closed environment like a prison might help. He also has tendencies of Egomania that I equate to his ability to LD. He set his goal to LD and that became his only mission until he had an LD. This has granted me success in the past within about a week's span. Unfortunately, some LDs grant the dreamer a sense of accomplishment. And in my case, self-doubt, that I will be able to produce one of these again. So shortly after having one LD I usually equate it to dumb luck and literally say to myself; I will not have a lucid dream any time soon. I am a once per month guy.

Even my friend who can produce an LD in his first week of hearing about it. Fails to achieve his goal to produce LDs at will. My own dreams are "finally" after 4 years of obsession becoming slightly more frequent. But there seems to be literally no link in my activities and LDs almost seem random. I just assume that I did something right when I manage to recall having a LD. I'm a once per month guy :P

But I do not want to be a once per month LD'er... I want to be a 5 times a night LDer.. I wanted this for years. If there's a trick or secret I really wish to know. I can't think of anything that I want to work harder at.

Expect more posts from me in the LDing section of the forum. I hope to tame this beast.