Really getting frustrated

I've been doing all the RC's for a week now and ADA for maybe 5 days.I know it hasn't been long but I was really thinking last night i would finally achieve lucidity because of all the effort to ADA i did yesterday and if you read my dream journal you would know i should have noticed i was dreaming. As you can guess i didn't get lucid :mad:. Anyways how can i keep excited and not get stressed over it? I know stress is bad when trying to lucid so i can really use some help and tips. Thanks in advance!

Hello Apos10!

I would suggest that you take a break for a few days, and also scale back your ADA practice. Stress is the ultimate dream killer. You don't want to make the practice of lucid dreaming into work, its supposed to be fun :)

By the sound of it, you've only just recently begun practicing (correct me if I am wrong!), and so don't beat yourself about missed opportunities! It took me nearly 4 months to have my first lucid when I joined this site, and I felt very much the way you did at times. I stuck with it, kept my determination up, and now I've had tons of LD's. I've been at it for over 7 years and I still wake up finding that I missed a prime opportunity.

Try to set smaller, incremental goals. Trying for an LD after practicing for a few days is not impossible, just a harder goal to achieve. Take it step by step, let your mind learn and adjust to the new information you are feeding it, and it will come!

Thanks for the advice i think i will scale back at the ADA cause i find myself getting upset when i don't keep the awareness but i think i am trying too hard. Thanks again!

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Originally Posted by Apos10

Thanks for the advice i think i will scale back at the ADA cause i find myself getting upset when i don't keep the awareness but i think i am trying too hard.

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You might try the mindset that is used in meditation: It's okay to lose it and then catch yourself and come back to it—in fact, that's almost the point. The more times you find that you lost awareness and bring yourself back, the better you gradually become at avoiding losing it in the first place. Kind of like how when learning to walk, you sort of have to fall a few times in order to learn how to not fall.

I'll tell you a little bit about my story, and it may help you feel better.

I had never heard of lucid dreaming until I looked up something having to do with dream interpretation. Somehow lucid dreaming was brought up...and I instantly knew that was something I had to learn how to do. I immediately found Dreamviews and started reading and practicing all the things they suggested. I kept a dream journal, did RCs, listed my dream signs, etc. Every night before going to bed I told myself I would recognize my dream signs. I did this for a month.

Time after time my dreams signs showed up in my dream, and I completely failed to recognize them. Each morning I got more and more frustrated. Finally after a month of doing this I got so frustrated that I decided that I would never be able to lucid dream. In fact, I was suddenly very sure that lucid dreaming wasn't even a real thing. All those people on Dreamviews were just making all this stuff up trying to impress each other (yes, I do feel bad about thinking that, haha).

So I decided to give up and not think about it again.

That night I had my first lucid dream....and it was a good one.

I really think it may have been that I went to bed with no stress or anxiety about lucid dreaming. I had been doing everything right. But I had let myself get overly stressed about it.

I'm not saying you need to quit what you are doing and give up. But just not try to rush it. It will happen when you are ready. I think too much pressure can have a negative effect. You have a whole lifetime of dreaming ahead of you. If it takes you a few more weeks...or months, you will still have a whole lot of lucid adventures ahead of you.

Good luck!