Thread: Coming back after a while, could use some advice (DILD)

Originally Posted by DarkestDarkness

My way of getting myself to do reality checks while awake tends to be by setting an intention to remember to check under specific circumstances/signs and also whenever anything particularly unusual happens, like a synchronicity and such other things. Even so, I actually have a universally poor time actively getting myself to do RCing whilst dreaming even when it's actively on my mind during a waking day; I kind of know why and I'm just saying this so you know the context of my experience.

I think if you've had some success with this before, then getting back into it shouldn't prove to be too much of an issue for you. Think about what did work about your previous experiences, and with regards to what didn't work, see those times as something that are unknowns right now, rather than as previous hard failures or anything like that. Sometimes things that didn't work before can then start working on fresh attempts. That said, if something like WILD really wasn't good at all for you because of messing with your sleep, then it's also totally fine to avoid it.

Although lucidity is rare for me, on average my lucid moments in dreams have gotten progressively longer, so I think that this will just generally improve as you journal both your lucid and non-lucid dreams. It might not be very noticeable in the short term unless you're getting to do a lot of practise work around it. There's still variation in the length of my lucidity, to be sure, but my very first lucid dreams were incredibly brief compared to most I have had more recently. Over the years I have felt myself to become more and more present in my non-lucid dreams, which is probably part of it for me too.

Thank you so much for all the help!
regarding these "specific circumstances", could you give some examples of good moments for doing a RC? Can examples even be given in this case, or is it something really subjective?

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Originally Posted by Tiktaalik

Welcome back.

Having short lucid dreams can be frustrating, but it’s best not to dwell on it too much. The trick I’ve found is to not worry about the dream ending and they tend to last longer. Easier said than done I know. Have a few dream goals in mind so when you get lucid you have something to put your focus on instead of worrying about the dream ending. Pursuing and achieving dream goals is also a good way to maintain your enthusiasm. Start with a simple, quick to achieve goal and that way even if you’re lucid is short you’ll have achieved something.

Like DarkestDarkness, I tend to focus on dream signs as RC triggers. I’m not referring simply to recurring dream elements and themes, though those are good opportunities as well, I tend to aim for broader signs, that are sometimes subtle but more abundant. Signs such as strange oddities, or things out of the ordinary. Dramatic, emotional and amazing moments I find are good as well. Study your dream journal for these signs and then set an intention in the morning to spot them and RC as soon as you pick up on one. Treat it like a game and count how many you spotted at the end of each day. If you only spotted three, aim for five or more the next day.

Even if you hit your RC target for the day don’t have the mindset that that’s it until tomorrow, the nighttime is where you need to re-set your intention again, to perform RCs when ever you spot these dream signs. Waking up briefly after 5-6 hours of sleep and re-setting this intention to perform an RC in the near future and going back to sleep I find helps a lot as well.

Just be patient, experiment and don’t get discouraged if you’re not seeing results. Enjoy your none lucid dreams and see every bit of progress as a success. You’ll get there again!

Thank you for the words of encouragement! I was wondering, what if most of my dreams are set in places where I don't visit frequently IRL, doing things I don't really do, and with people that I don't see often? Most of my dreams are either set in places I don't go to regularly, and the dream characters are either IRL people whom I don't talk to on a regular basis or fictional characters. Doesn't it get harder when you don't have frequent settings/characters?