Thread: How do I make my dreams last longer?

Ok, I get it. I've been practicing for like 3 months so it should work wonders, lol. So for supplements, I think I'm going to get galantamine from that company you mentioned, as well as something called "Acetylcholine Brain Food with Alpha GPC Choline" from this company called Natural Stacks. They have good reviews and seem legit so hopefully that'll prove to help. I guess I'll try them one at a time first, then combine them if I'm not seeing results. If that doesn't work then I guess it's back to square one.

I'm a little hesitant when it comes to supplements but honestly I don't see many natural ways of overcoming this. Hope it works out but I'm down for more solutions lol.

Originally Posted by Lokoloi

Ok, I get it. I've been practicing for like 3 months so it should work wonders, lol. So for supplements, I think I'm going to get galantamine from that company you mentioned, as well as something called "Acetylcholine Brain Food with Alpha GPC Choline" from this company called Natural Stacks. They have good reviews and seem legit so hopefully that'll prove to help. I guess I'll try them one at a time first, then combine them if I'm not seeing results. If that doesn't work then I guess it's back to square one.

I'm a little hesitant when it comes to supplements but honestly I don't see many natural ways of overcoming this. Hope it works out but I'm down for more solutions lol.

1. I would definitely be careful about combining the supplements. That's a lot, one blocks the breaking down of choline, the other boosts choline levels in the brain. Together, they are synergistic.

Definitely research before combining. Personally? I wouldn't even do that at all. I would pick 1 only. (Edit: Although for the record, I have taken both once without harm - at minimal doses).

2. With only 3 months of practice, I think this is not something that can't be overcome with natural methods. 3 months is nothing, really. It can take easily 6 months to have a stable lucid dream. Now, if you were someone who lucid dreamed regularly, and then had this happen (which is what I assumed when I first responded - my mistake there), then I would be more concerned about the pattern. As it is? Being this new, this is not unusual. You're just in the beginning phases of developing awareness and the ability to stay in the dream.

Given that information, I would personally recommend continuing practice as you have been. You've made progress by just getting lucid - even if you've been struggling with staying in the dream. I would add in exercises that target intention setting. Mantras, visualizing stabilizing the dream, visualize staying in the dream, write out a dream journal entry as if you got lucid and effectively stabilized. Work on your ability to maintain calm and emotional detachment in all situations. Etc.

You can try galantamine, it's a great substance when used in moderation, however, keep in mind - it's not going to help you much if you're missing the foundational skills. It's really good to build up a natural foundation for lucid dreaming FIRST, before using a short cut. Plus it's very possible that it won't solve the problem, as the problem may not actually be a pattern, but just that you're still developing basic skills.

Well I guess I should specify again, lol. I've been practicing lucid dreaming for like 3-4 years now, haha. It's only until 3 months ago that I started actually making progress for some reason. It just started working. So, to cut down on frustration for failed attempts, if I just think, "Well, I've only been trying for 3 months" instead of three years, then it doesn't hurt as much.
"You're just in the beginning phases of developing awareness and the ability to stay in the dream." Despite my hundreds of attempts, this is true, haha.

See, conceptually, it makes sense too. Even though I learned a lot throughout my 3-4 year journey, For some reason, I just couldn't get lucid at all. I tried so many methods for different periods of time. I was meditating, Dream journaling, RCing, the whole shebang, and still, maybe an accidental lucid once every 3 or four months if I was lucky. In 2020 though, I started to make some progress. After I got two LDs in the same week using the same technique, I thought I had finally surpassed that block, but I was wrong because I didn't get another lucid after 4 more months of trying. Every now and then, like 1-6 months, I'd get a random lucid that i wasn't prepared for.

Then, out of nowhere, I decided to try WILD again. I hadn't dream journaled, meditated, or reality checked in a while(and still dont). For some reason, I just knew what to do this time. It's not like I didn't before, but I did the whole process and it worked. I then replicated the success the night after, something that never happened before. Ever since then, I guess 4 months ago now, It's only been about 2 weeks in between lucids. It's now that everything I learned in those past years can be put to use, and so that's why I say 3 months ago. So yeah, "(which is what I assumed when I first responded - my mistake there)" no, technically you were right lmao

I still agree with the basic premise though. "It can take easily 6 months to have a stable lucid dream" is probably still true. I was just saying stuff about combining because in that thread i was talking about earlier, everyone was saying they were combining galantamine with choline or Alpha GPC so I was like "I guess it's the move".

Originally Posted by Lokoloi

I thought that's what I was doing. As soon as I enter the dream i begin stabilizing myself but the dream ends before I can finish, I guess. I'm stimulating all my senses and usually my sense of touch doesn't really do much for me.

Maybe we're thinking in the wrong direction then and perhaps the problem is of the opposite nature. Because if that's the case, do you think it's possible that you're almost trying too hard and therefore waking yourself up without realising? Because stabilisation is kind of like rousing of awareness and it may be that you're actually pushing yourself awake... I really can't say, I'm not you and I'm not in your dreams after all, but maybe something to think about.

Originally Posted by Lokoloi

I think the stuff i bought wasn't really 8mg tablets of galantamine. It was probably closer to a tablet with 8mg of something that just so happened to include galantamine.)

It's worth mentioning two things here. One, supplements and their effect really do vary from person to person, very much like any prescription medication. Two, almost everything that's a tablet, pill or capsule is mostly a bulking agent rather than the actual medication/supplement; only a very small part of them are the actual active component that "matters". The bulking agents are more formally known to be excipients.

Originally Posted by Lokoloi

Well I guess I should specify again, lol. I've been practicing lucid dreaming for like 3-4 years now, haha. It's only until 3 months ago that I started actually making progress for some reason. It just started working. So, to cut down on frustration for failed attempts, if I just think, "Well, I've only been trying for 3 months" instead of three years, then it doesn't hurt as much.

I still agree with the basic premise though. I was just saying stuff about combining because in that thread i was talking about earlier, everyone was saying they were combining galantamine with choline or Alpha GPC so I was like "I guess it's the move".

Like Hilary says, caution with supplements is a good idea, especially if you're thinking of combining anything, do a lot of research and start small with whatever you do. As I just said after all, different people have different reactions to things, so don't expect anything, positive or negative, just be cautious about it.

As for practise of lucid dreaming, I've been actively thinking and trying things for the purpose of lucid dreaming for almost ten years now and I've seen very little "success" in that sense, though I feel I may be an anomaly in that respect. However, the practise has greatly improved my appreciation of all the other aspects of dreaming too. In that many years, I have found no quick or long-term solution for a lack of lucidity. You have obviously had some good success in the last 3 months. 15 lucid dreams in 3 months is more lucid dreams than I've had in 3 years.

Please pardon me if I'm making an assumption, but I think you may be looking too much into the "next step" of the journey so to speak. You can appreciate that brief lucidity is still something over no lucidity. And you can feel confident that you're not doing so badly.

Originally Posted by DarkestDarkness

Please pardon me if I'm making an assumption, but I think you may be looking too much into the "next step" of the journey so to speak. You can appreciate that brief lucidity is still something over no lucidity. And you can feel confident that you're not doing so badly.

That's actually kinda spot on. The way I see it, there's at least 2 phases every lucid dreamer goes through: the achievement phase, characterized by just trying to attain lucidity, and the exploration phase, characterized by being able to achieve lucidity whenever desired, with a main focus on exploring what dreams have to offer. For the vast majority of the 3-4 years, I was in the achievement phase. as of the last 3-4 months, I'm in this weird transitional state that i thought would only last a couple of dreams. In terms of getting lucid, I'm pretty confident that getting into a lucid won't be much of a problem in the coming weeks. However, I'm still not in a place where I can experiment with and explore the potential of my dreams just yet. As I'm writing this, I'm thinking there might be 3 phases. I'm not worried about achieving lucidity for the most part, but I can't really explore just yet. I don't have the freedom that I imagine explorers to have... Now that I can achieve lucidity, I suppose my main goal now is to learn to maintain it, to stabilize myself within the dream. (maybe call it the Stabilization Phase)

Originally Posted by DarkestDarkness

do you think it's possible that you're almost trying too hard and therefore waking yourself up without realising? Because stabilisation is kind of like rousing of awareness and it may be that you're actually pushing yourself awake...

Definitely something to think about. Maybe I should just try to enjoy the fleeting experience, kinda like life. Maybe you're right, and maybe I am trying too hard. Every time I get into a dream, I'm focused solely on stabilizing myself, but maybe that's the wrong approach. Maybe, if I go exploring the dream, then the stability will come naturally. Now that I think of it, the hurry to stabilize does stress me out. I wanna make the most of the experience, so I thought that stabilizing first would be a good idea. But so far, it's just yielded basically the same dream every time, me in my room trying to stabilize when the dream just ends when I could have been lookin around tryna do stuff.