Thread: I just can't do it

Zaephr posted a great link. The idea of setting intent is exactly what I have come to realize after years of practice, trying different things, and noting what seems to work.

What I am finding is training your mind isnt easy...and probably everyone is different when it comes to figuring out how to get more lucids. But many seem to agree intent is critical.

Intent cant be forced by will...that is counter productive. As the article on intent said...it is desiring and also knowing you will have a lucid. LaBerge said it is like deciding you want to wake up at a particular time....that same mechanism works for lucid dreaming.

But I also think other things come into play. Dream signs for me are the second critical component. Usually I set intent, but it isnt until a dream sign occurs that I become lucid. It is the combination of the two. If I intend to LD, then when a dream sign occurs I realize I am dreaming because intent sets my mind in a mode where I am on the lookout for a dream. Both are critical.

This is what I have learned and am now focusing on these two components. For me this works. Others may travel a different path. There is no silver bullet or one size fits all because everyone is unique. Learning to LD is an individual journey, with your fellow oneironauts telling about their journeys...and sometimes you pick up a puzzle piece that works for you...although you might have to tweek it a bit.

It is harder and harder for me to tell new people to be patient as I get lucid more and more often. However, I can say one thing. With little to no stress, lots of dream recall in my past, confidence, and really nothing else in my life but 40 hours of work, it took me 45 days to have a lucid dream. So with all that stuff, I imagine it would take longer.

You definitely seem stressed, you say "I am not stressed... I am about to snap" this I found amusing, due to stress defined is:
Mental strain or pressure

I have never met anyone that is bad at lucid dreaming, only those that do not enjoy the practice. If you enjoy what you are doing to achieve a lucid dream, then lucid dreaming is still the goal, but not the only prize. Find what you enjoy practicing and do that. Also, not all RCs are physical, I would recommend still doing them at school, just try to use telekinesis or something similar. Here is my favorite thread to give to people about deciding whether or not you want to continue lding.

http://www.dreamviews.com/dreamviews...e-told-me.html

What a great thread! Lots of awesome thoughts from everyone. You keep mentioning quitting, as has been already suggest I would encourage you to 'take a break' over quitting. I actually experienced my first lucid after a couple weeks of not even trying (basically I was on a break). Is lucid dreaming something that takes a good bit of work? Yes. But it's a fickle and random thing and you really never know when it's going to happen. Don't let it stress you out. Let the act of dream journalling and attempting to become lucid become a relaxing and fun part of your day, like any other hobby. As they say, enjoy the journey just as much as the destination (if not more)!

Originally Posted by dreambright

I have tried to lucid dream for about a month now and all that happens is I stay awake for about 1 hour go to sleep and don't even remember any dreams at all, I have a very stressful life and I think that lucid dreaming would help me out, but no its making my life even more stressful I just don't get it, I must be doing something wrong, NO I have researched and researched and researched found out I was doing what I was supposed to do on a lucid dream Wake back to bed: Failed, FILD: Failed, MILD: Failed, WILD: Failed, I JUST CAN'T DO IT!!!!!

hi.
i've been "trying" (on and off) to LD for 2 years now, so don't you even dare giving up before me

Have you ever experienced that you have thought you have woken up, but then realized that it was actually a dream - in other words, a False Awakening?
You can take advantage of those kinds of dreams by always assuming that you have got a dream like that every time you wake up, and really ask yourself if your awakenings might be dreams like that.

I used to practice this kind of thing a lot some time ago, so that the very first thing on my mind every single awakening was that those awakenings could be a dream.
I would actually catch about 1-2 dreams like that every week when I did that.

Also, it can be a great inspiration to watch lucid dreaming videos with people like Stephen LaBerge and Robert Waggoner;
like these ones, for example:

NTF - Stephen LaBerge 1
Lucid dreaming techniques, Stephen LaBerge
Robert Waggoner - "Lucid Dreaming gateway to self development and healing" lecture

There is also a video of a very long seminar (more than 5 hours!!!) with Stephen LaBerge in my signature.

I have been trying to lucid dream for about a year and a half now, achieving only 3-4 pre-lucids (Where you dream that you are lucid but you aren't conscious), but I haven't given up. Just keep trying and eventually you will succeed, don't expect intent results and no matter what a website or person says, THERE IS NO SHORTCUTS, practice is key. The best advice I have to give is, if you can't keep trying without instant success, you need to re-think your path to lucid dreaming.

Originally Posted by TicTacoToe

I have been trying to lucid dream for about a year and a half now, achieving only 3-4 pre-lucids (Where you dream that you are lucid but you aren't conscious), but I haven't given up. Just keep trying and eventually you will succeed, don't expect intent results and no matter what a website or person says, THERE IS NO SHORTCUTS, practice is key. The best advice I have to give is, if you can't keep trying without instant success, you need to re-think your path to lucid dreaming.

Oh, dude, hilarious story.
I was in some kind of mall and pretty sure I was lucid. I went to some apothecary to buy lucidity pills (as sort of stabilization technique, I've read about it on this forum), and threw them in. After I left the shop to check the rest of the mall, I lost lucidity . I walk along the mall, non-lucid, and few seconds later the apothecary (is that what you call them?) comes out and literally shouts at me "LUCID! LUCID!"

I think that was the dumbest thing ever- not becoming lucid after being shouted at to become lucid