Lucid Dreaming Clarifications

First off, hello! I'm extremely new to lucid dreaming and the concept (I just started researching it today!) I'm looking for some clarification. I read the beginner pages but still need some clearing up.

So, how exactly can I WILD without waking up in the middle of the night?
I'm a student, and I need my rest (although right now I have break!) Is there any way to WILD without waking up at say 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning?

How long does it usually take before someone experiences their first lucid dream?
The concept of lucid dreaming and actually experiencing it seems phenomenal, but how long does it usually take for someone to be able to lucid dream? A week? A month?

Are you able to lucid dream multiple times per week?
I can't wait to learn how to lucid dream properly, as it lets me explore my creativity in a hands-on way. But from my user experiences I've been reading, people have said they've only experienced a few in ~5 years?? Is it possible to lucid dream multiple times a week/every night? Is there anything unhealthy tied with lucid dreaming a lot?

In the best way you can, how can you describe a lucid dream?
Does it feel very real, except for the supernatural things you can do? Usually my normal dreams lack depth to them, but is lucid dreaming different in perception? Also, is perception perceived the same IWL then a lucid dream?

Can you use LD's to help overcome fears?
Such as if someone is scared of rollercoasters, but decides to try them in a LD, will it possibly help them with rollercoasters in real life?

How long do LD's usually last?
Can they last upwards of ~15 minutes?

Does WILD inflict sleep paralysis/scary figures?
Seriously-this kinda scares me, haha.

For now these are my questions, and I can't wait to here your responses. Thanks so much!

Welcome.

1. WILD necessarily entails waking up at some point. In brief, the idea is that you wake up just before an REM sleep cycle and then, with your newfound awareness gained from waking up, you transition back into dreaming keeping your awareness up. You can lucid dream without waking up, but that's an entirely different technique called MILD.

2. Varies. Some get it their first day, others can wait months. Really just a case of keeping at it. You may encounter prolonged dry spells, as well.

3. Theoretically, you can lucid dream as many times as you regularly dream. It's unlikely to be that often, though. Even if you lucid dream on command, I'd still give yourself some "ordinary" sleep more often than not.

4. For me, its like being at your most alert and intelligent, with absolute unwavering confidence. There's a massive adrenaline rush once I become lucid and combined with the above I fell utterly amazing. The realisation that you're in what is a essentially a perfectly immersive virtual world of your own devising is wonderful. Generally speaking, it will fell real. The awareness alone tends to give lucids more depth than regulars. Perception is often the same as in waking life, except enhanced. You can get some weird and wonderful ways of seeing the world on occasion.

5. Tend to be quite short when you're first starting (the excitement alone when it works often shakes you awake). As you get used to it, its easier to control these feelings and lucids can go on for hours theoretically. Same as a normal dream in that one regard, I suppose. Dream control can help you lengthen them, as well.

6. No, but being aware during REM atonia (a perfectly normal function of the body which occurs everytime you sleep. Usually you're mind is asleep during this part.) can often be mistaken for it. In a way, you sort of want this, since its a good guide post to indicate you're on the way to a lucid dream. As for the scary figures, they only appear if you expect them to and even if they do show, they're not worth wasting the effort of being afraid of on. Nothing more than another signpost at best.

Hope that was helpful (and accurate! Off to sleep, myself, you see). Happy dreaming and good night.

Thanks so much! This was really informative :) happy dreaming!

WILD
What is wrong with waking for just 5 minutes? Go to sleep 5 minutes earlier. :P Quite easy. Or you can wake up just 30 minutes before you usually wake up instead of 3 AM or 4 AM.

First Lucid
Depends. I got mine the first time I tried and then completely forgot about LDing for a year and when I booted up again it took me 45 days.

Lucid Consistency
I am able to lucid about 6 times a week right now, but I have had over 30 in a week before and am trying to get past my old consistency of 10/week. Depends on the person how long you will get here, consistency, stress levels, experience, and many other factors.

Describing a lucid
WILD
Laying down... laying down... laying down. Walking in a park... wait.

DILD
Look around you right now, where you are sitting, realize that it is a dream. ;)

Time LDs can last
Depends on who you are. My wife, for instance, never had any problems with "premature evacuation" of a lucid due to "over excitement", and I think that this is because she wasn't told about it. The end of your dreams is usually when you are the most aware though, so this is the most likely place to become lucid (also, you have had more time to survey the area and come to the conclusion that people don't usually fly in chairs), so they might be short because of that, the end of the dream. They can be upwards of 45 minutes if you believe they depend only on REM. all night if you believe in NREM dreams and REM dreams. or longer if you believe in time dilation. They usually will last a minute or so I would say. Mine are somewhere near 7 minutes on average, but this morning I was laying down for a WILD and appeared randomly in my hallway, prepared to teleport away to complete some goals and woke up. So... yeah, it just depends.

WILD-SP-Rem Atonia
honestly I don't know, I would have told you before that it does not, but the more I lucid dream, the more I have this. If you hold your breath, you will almost instantly break out of it, and if you close your eyes you won't see anything scary. Also, you can generally just close your eyes and go back to sleep for an easy WILD. There is really no reason to fear this easy to break or springboard off of thing. Of course, I would say that my nightmares and lucid nightmares are far more terrifying than anything that I have experienced in SP.

Here is a podcast I made for people just starting out.
http://www.dreamviews.com/dreamviews...e-told-me.html

It points out other frequently asked questions and laughs at them... I mean answers them. :P
Seriously though, welcome to DV. Asking questions is a good way to start. I recommend checking out all the different sections around here and leisurely perusing, as this can easily lead to a lucid dream (or a dream about dreamviews, those are funny), get involved in some conversations, don't wake up a necro thread or you will be necroed, and just all around find something fun to engage yourself in. Remember that when looking to lucid dream, if the work isn't fun, then you are doing it wrong.

1. You have to be awake. Any time will do;

2. There is no 'usual': any time from a day or so to 6 years or more;

3. Yes, sometimes;

4. There's a visual difference, but trying to describe it just produces inanities;

5. Yes, but it may take decades;

6. Usually just a few seconds;

7. No more than other so-called techniques.

Thanks for the thorough response!