Thread: Is it possible that some people just can't Lucid Dream?

As well, I have classes coming up and I'm scared that I won't be able to practice ld'ing during the week.

Well, how does one remain motivated after so many nights of failure? Like, each day, I tell myself that I will do it tonight, but part of me doubts, what is so different about this night and it'll just end up the same.

I'd say you're too invested, the best results come when you see LD practice as a thing you have to do, going at WILD with a 'This is the Night!' attitude will only hinder you. Someone fittingly described WILDing as 'meditating yourself to sleep' and you don't meditate while pumped for meditation.

Originally Posted by KNightNox

I'd say you're too invested, the best results come when you see LD practice as a thing you have to do, going at WILD with a 'This is the Night!' attitude will only hinder you. Someone fittingly described WILDing as 'meditating yourself to sleep' and you don't meditate while pumped for meditation.

Too invested? But one needs to be motivated, right?

Like we know some people are naturals, but is it possible that some people can't just do it? I've been trying for 6 months and I wonder that it might be me.

Yeah, I wonder if anybody can do it.
I am not sure too.

I try to get lucid for 4 years now. I got a lot of advice over and over again.

" Take a break!" " You are doing to much" " You are not doing enough" Do this and that, whatever I´ve done was wrong

I try to find my own way, somehow.

Anyways, I saw a lot of people fail. So how can we be sure that everybody can lucid dream?

Originally Posted by Noldor

Yeah, I wonder if anybody can do it.
I am not sure too.

I try to get lucid for 4 years now. I got a lot of advice over and over again.

" Take a break!" " You are doing to much" " You are not doing enough" Do this and that, whatever I´ve done was wrong

I try to find my own way, somehow.

Anyways, I saw a lot of people fail. So how can we be sure that everybody can lucid dream?

The ones who've started a workbook in one of the DVA classes (Intro, DILD, etc.) and who have stayed with the practice have pretty much all gotten a lucid dream. I can't think of one who hasn't. It's a great way to stay motivated and get individual feedback on your practice.

The place to start with is your dream recall. How is it?

Originally Posted by FryingMan

The ones who've started a workbook in one of the DVA classes (Intro, DILD, etc.) and who have stayed with the practice have pretty much all gotten a lucid dream. I can't think of one who hasn't. It's a great way to stay motivated and get individual feedback on your practice.

The place to start with is your dream recall. How is it?

2 -3 Dreams each night.

Originally Posted by Noldor

2 -3 Dreams each night.

And how vivid in terms of your presence & awareness (feeling like "I'm really here!") are your dreams, typically? What has your practice regimen been (night & day) for various periods over those 4 years?

Originally Posted by Noldor

...So how can we be sure that everybody can lucid dream?

Well, we can't be sure.

LD'ing, being an activity that runs counter to your brain and body's natural order (aka, being awake while you are asleep), is something that a few people might not be able to learn. In order to LD consistently, you must effectively do some serious rewiring of physical sleep and consciousness routines that have been firmly established in your brain since birth; this rewiring is difficult most of the time, and occasionally might just be impossible.

So I would agree that, if you have been diligently and sincerely working to have a LD for four years now, there is an excellent chance that the ability may be out of reach for you. By "diligently and sincerely," I mean that, in addition to trying techniques, you have worked regularly and with sincere focus on developing all the fundamentals (self-awareness, memory, expectation/intention), you have learned and practiced MILD for at least six months, you have kept a dream journal, you made a sincere attempt to LD at least once a week for the full four years, and LD'ing was forefront in your thoughts for at least some part of each of your waking days.

I don't know what you've tried to date, but if it included the things I listed above, four years is a very long time to be attempting unsuccessfully to LD; it could be time to move on to something else. However, if your practice has been sporadic or unfocused, or if you didn't spend enough time on a single valid technique (like MILD), or perhaps -- and I wouldn't blame you for this -- you approach your LD attempts with a negative or disheartened attitude, there may be a chance that, should you start all over again, you might just find your way to lucidity... but if you should decide to start over, I would give it several months, rather than several years.

Oh, and for what its worth, I too get a little annoyed when people (including myself, I'll admit) toss out general advice like "Take a break!" " You are doing to much" " You are not doing enough," etc, without really looking into what it is that you're missing in your practice. If you can't LD after all that time, there is probably something specific you are missing, and, say, taking a break does nothing to lead you to that something. So who knows? Maybe your four years of failure is based less on your natural ability than it is on a consistent string of poor advice!

tl;dr: We cannot be sure that everyone can LD; there may be some people whose brains simply will not allow the necessary rewiring to accommodate being awake while asleep. But to be sure you are in that small minority of people naturally unable to LD, look back at your years of attempts, and be sure you have pushed all the buttons required to truly confirm that your brain is not interested in being adjusted. If you've included the fundamentals in your practice, and have done your techniques and daywork with sincerity and consistence, then, after four years, it may be time to leave LD'ing behind.

Originally Posted by Noldor

Yeah, I wonder if anybody can do it.
I am not sure too.

I try to get lucid for 4 years now. I got a lot of advice over and over again.

" Take a break!" " You are doing to much" " You are not doing enough" Do this and that, whatever I´ve done was wrong

I try to find my own way, somehow.

Anyways, I saw a lot of people fail. So how can we be sure that everybody can lucid dream?

Nobody knows if "everyone can lucid dream", although many will say that they do know.

You have to bear in mind also that what people say that they can do and what people write on the internet is not to be taken at face value. Agnosticism is healthy, in my opinion. I suspect that comparatively very few people can actually lucid dream - it's a small minority, in my opinion and experience, although the hustings would declare otherwise.

Regarding your own 'struggle' - it took me three weeks of trying* to start having short lucids (1-2 seconds) at which I would immediately wake up. After six years of this (!!) and no improvement, I gave up in disgust. I didn't believe in it any more. About three weeks later, without even trying, BANG! I had my first lucid (of more than 1-2 seconds), which lasted about 60-75 seconds.

I'm not saying that my experience is any sort of template that applies to anyone else. I'm just putting it in the mix.

Good luck with your endeavours.

*Looking at one's hands (Castaneda technique).

Originally Posted by Oneiro

Nobody knows if "everyone can lucid dream", although many will say that they do know.

You have to bear in mind also that what people say that they can do and what people write on the internet is not to be taken at face value. Agnosticism is healthy, in my opinion. I suspect that comparatively very few people can actually lucid dream - it's a small minority, in my opinion and experience, although the hustings would declare otherwise.

Regarding your own 'struggle' - it took me three weeks of trying* to start having short lucids (1-2 seconds) at which I would immediately wake up. After six years of this (!!) and no improvement, I gave up in disgust. I didn't believe in it any more. About three weeks later, without even trying, BANG! I had my first lucid (of more than 1-2 seconds), which lasted about 60-75 seconds.

I wouldn't say your six years of effort were "without even trying," assuming a regular practice. Practitioners often mistakenly describe lucid dreams as "random" or "without trying" when they occur during a relaxation phase (or after "giving up"), following a period of perhaps intense effort. It shows that the effort did work, and that you just needed to give it time (or to be a bit more relaxed). And it shows the benefits of keeping a relaxed mindset. Wanting something too much can cause (subconscious perhaps) anxiety, and anxiety is known to be bad for dreaming. There is no doubt that lucid dreaming is a demanding practice, and calls for immense patience and delicate balancing between many factors, among those being intensity and relaxation.