Am I done for?

[acehigh]

Hi, I have visited this site a little while ago, and found some useful information. The only thing is, that none of it really worked for me. I've tried countless times, various methods. The thing is about 4 to 5 years ago I used to constantly have perfect lucid dreams EVERY night! Its just that something happened, and i don't know what it is, but I cannot have a lucid dream anymore. Hardly ever do i even remember dreams, until recently i've had one every once in awhile. I used to go to a site called spiritonline.com awhile back. Thats when I first started getting them and wanted to look into it. Every piece of information on this site I can tell you works, I just know... I mean, i guess you guys know what im talking about it. You can feel the way your body will react.., well I just dont get to that point anymore. I can remember to 100% what it feels like in each stage, but just can't get there anymore. I hope my 4am writing makes sense. Im going to head off to bed to "try again". Wish me luck. By the way, is there anyone that has been having THIS long of a dry spell or this harsh of one. I mean theres nothing I can do abuot it. My life, daily habits, eating, etc, has changed probably 100 times for me to try and sleep right. Nothing has been working. The only thing im thinking of trying next is buying a pair of those lucid dream goggles.

[King and God]

Look in this thread: http://www.dreamviews.com/forum/viewtopic....t=25323&start=0 I haven't tried it myself, but sounds like a good way to have lucid dreams easier.

[mongreloctopus]

Start over as if though you have never experienced a lucid dream before, and go through all of the steps that the beginner would go through.

[Leo Volont]

Well, this is what we can infer from a great many instances in which the Higher Dream Mind has attempted to curtail Lucid Dreaming, mostly through False Awakenings, and that is that the Mind seriously objects to Lucid Dreaming when pushed past a certain point or degree. There is an area in which Lucid Dreaming is allowed and even encouraged by the Higher Dream Mind, and that is where Lucid Dreaming helps in integrating the Waking Self's sense of Civilized Morality into the more Instintive Dream Self that tends to lean more toward the Primitive. Lucid Dreaming helps to bring up the Dreaming Self to a higher level. The Spiritual Ambitions of the Waking Self can be introduced to the Dreaming Self through Lucid Dreaming. But then Lucid Dreaming can be destructive to the Dreaming Process when Lucid Dreaming is effective in convincing the Dreamer that his or her Dreams are Unreal and thus Unimportant. Lucid Dreaming is damaging to Dreaming when the Lucid Dreamer overrides the Higher Mind's Agenda and instead imposes a Silly and Aimless Control -- Hijacking whatever purpose in Life that Dreams are supposed to exercise and foster. Dreams can only operate effectively when the Dreamer is convinced that they are real. Now, yes, some highly advanced SPIRITUAL Lucid Dreamers have gotten to the point Philosophically where they regard Lucid Dreams as REAL -- to them a Subjective Reality is as Real as Objective Reality, and so they continue to experience their Lucid Dreams with all of the seriousness that they would invest in Real Life situations. But most Lucid Dreamers are MATERIALISTIC and when they have a Lucid Dream, their assumption is that the experience is Unreal, imaginary, from the Subconscious Mind, arbitrary neuron brain cells firing... and so they fall into dismissive behaviors. Becoming Lucid ruins their Dreams. These Materialists either fail to treat the Dream with the importance it deserves, or they step in and override the Dream Material with Control Elements that in most cases probably frustrate the Mind's actual intent and purpose in Dreaming. The Lucid Dreamer can continue Lucid Dreaming to a point, but only until the Higher Mind is able to establish a mechanism to blocks Lucid Dreaming. You are not the first. There have been more than a few Lucid Dreamers -- skilled experts in Lucid Dreaming -- who have written in to complain that their Minds have suddenly stepped in to cut them off. Well, good. You Materialists went to War with your own Minds. You wanted to stifle your Higher Mind with a Control from your little Conscious Mind. You wanted to become like your own personal God. What did you think was going to happen when you went to War with your own Mind, but that you would be the loser in the end. Did you suppose that Ordinary Dreaming, though people do it five or six times a night, every night of their lives, that it was so trivial and useless that it could be diverted away from its ordinary patterns and aggendas for the fun of Lucid Dreaming, and that one could continuously interrupt such normal and scheduled processes and behaviors without some pathology eventually creeping in? So before one can damage one's mental and spiritual health by dismissing, diverting, and destroying healthy dreaming althogether, the Higher Mind steps in and learns how to simply prevent Lucid Dreaming. The Waking Self is permanently barred from interchanging with the Dream Self. since the Waking Self overstepped his bounds, he is even prevented in a large extent in even having a decent degree of dream recall. Perhaps the problem originally arose because ... remember how I said that Lucid Dreaming should be a Civilizing Influence on the Dream Self. But what if the Lucid Dreamer only wants to be even more Barbaric than usual. What if the Lucid Dreamer wants to make the Dream Self even worse. What if the Higher Dream Mind sees the materialistic hedonistic Waking Self as a Bad Influence? One will never Win a War against one's own Higher Mind. You must get some insight into whatever Agenda the Higher Mind has and you must Partner Up with that Agenda. One must join with God and join with the Angels, because there is simply no odds in fighting against them.

[Ev]

Leo, some of your ideas are very nice, yes, thinking that lucid dreams are real indeed helps. Responding to LDs seriously *may* help. However, your attitude towards other members of this site and practically preaching does not help your agenda... At the moment you seem like an old man who shakes his fist saying "All you kids dont know how to lucid dream correctly!" You grossly oversimplify the way people at this forum experience their lucid dreams. You cant step in their shoes and experience their LDs... They in turn cant appreciate your spirituality. The idea of a Higher mind is intriguing, but have you ever considered the idea of an *Equal* mind? On topic I've went through a thing very similar to what you experience. Here's my story: 2 summers ago I was lucidly dreaming like crazy. A couple suggestion MP3s, special mindset, great techniques all ensured that I gained anywhere from 1-2 natural lucid dreams each night for over a month. I've reentered those 1-2 LDs many times over and achieved very nice results... I justly assumed a title of "lucid dream god"... All I can say is that was awesome... However in my lucid glory I also abandoned traditional techniques in favor of my new advanced techniques, I didnt bother writing down normal dreams, only noting lucid ones. Furthermore I made a pact with my body allowing 6 hours for restful sleep followed by hours of dedicated dreaming. Pretty much I started to take this ability forgranted. But the summer ended and I went to college, new enviroment, lack of quality sleep, higher stress levels, crappier food... On top of that I stopped taking vitamins. A terrible dry spell started... That in turn ruined my confidence in my LDing ability and pretty much everything went on downhill from then on... It took me monts to realize that I've inflicted this dry spell upon myself by thinking that I cant effectively LD, not practicing techniques, not adapting to the situation and not taking vitamins... Laziness also played an important role in that... If you will analyze your situation and start thinking that you can LD and dream again, it is very likely that you will. Just start slowly and dont think that everythng will come back at once, expect it to build up slowly ...

[Abstract Fire]

I have to agree with Ev, no offence, Leo.

[ModestMouse]

Leo, there is only one mind. Even a fool knows that.

[Scruffy]

Really, ModestMouse, you're no better than Leo. You seem to think you're right, and everyone else is wrong. At lest Leo backs his opinion up. I think that motivation is quite possibly one of the most important factors in lucid dreaming. Eating right, having the right sleep patters, knowing the techniques and theories, dream recall; it all helps. But if you don't really want it and work for it, it won't happen. Since you say you're dream recall has dropped to almost nil, start there. Get yourself to remembering about 2 dreams a night. Then give the LD basics a try: MILD, DILD, and the like. Get yourself into the habit of doing frequent reality checks. Take a minute to meditate and relax before going to sleep. That, at least, should give you something to start from. Sometimes, though, you might have to just stop trying completely before you can start again. Just take a week or two, and forget about dreaming. Just focus on relaxing and reducing stress. Whatever you do, good luck. Oh, and one last thing. Do you wake up to an alarm, or do you allow your sleep cycles to wake you up? I've had to wake up to an alarm this quarter, and it has absolutely killed my LDing and dream recall. Waking up naturally is so much better for dreaming.

[acehigh]

You know I was thinking an alarm could be the cause of it. I have in the past few years started using an alarm more frequently, but even before I still had to wake up for school by my parents yelling and screaming at me. I can still somewhat remember dreams but only hours after I wake up and only like one or two sentences someone will say. One thing I was wondering is if it is possible to sleep for a reasonably amount of time and only have one continuous dream? I believe i've had a couple of these back when I could dream properly. Also, is it possible to have the same dream, but a continuation of a dream multiple nights in a row. I remember when I was a kid. Im not sure if I was still in preschool or just out of, but for about a month I kept having the same dream about preschool. Everyone was in it, but it would keep continuing. Not every night, but once every few nights. I remember at the end of the dreams sometimes it was like i was saying goodbye until the next dream. Pretty cool. I remember after the last one, all I remember is that I knew it was my last one. I forget why, i mean im still suprised I remember that from when I was probably only 4 or 5. These weren't lucid dreams, but these astonished me the most. ....well... i had a somewhat continuation of a dream even earlier until the time i was about 11 or 12, but i dont have near enough time to address that now. Anyways, im sorry about putting a few threads into a reply. They probably weren't relevant but they were just what I was thinking at the time. I understand what I think everyone was pretty much saying that I exausted all my "lucid dream power", or abused it. I mean that pretty much makes sense because now when I go into a dream I think of it as not real trying to pull off an LD. Im not sure how im going to overcome that.

[ModestMouse]

Scruffy, I'm just playing with Leo. I mean no harm, I just choose not to back up foolish statements with metaphysical garbage rambling. I'm not directing anything at anyone but Leo. I'd never put someone down just to make myself feel better -- as Leo so often chooses to do. Originally posted by Scruffy Really, ModestMouse, you're no better than Leo. You seem to think you're right, and everyone else is wrong. At lest Leo backs his opinion up.