Why I Cannot Go Lucid

[Third Eye]

After months of experimenting with different techniques to induce a lucid dream and failing, I realized that my biggest problem is when I dream, I am so convinced that what I am experiencing is real that I don't even think to question if I'm dreaming or not. I remember just the other night I dreamnt I was a female in the military, on the battlefield (I am a guy in real life) and I was hiding under a big truck because the Vietnamese were coming to kill me. Now I didn't even think to tell myself "Hello! Your dreaming!" I just go along with it. Is there anyway to heighten my awareness whilst dreaming so that I can attain lucidity? I could use all the advice I could get!

[Pyrofan1]

just keep doing reality checks in the day

[FreeOne]

find your dreamsign and when ever you encounter it in real life ask yourself if you are dreaming and do a rc. ask yourself how it would be possible for you to be dreaming at that moment. try remembering back what you were doing an hour ago. hope this helped

[flight]

I would say reality checks do them as often as you can and try to keep lucid dreaming on your mind, by incresing your awareness in the day time which you get better at over time and questioning things you see, to see if they make sense.

[pepsi_blue_fan]

I'm too lazy to do RCs myself lol. I would just try to WILD as best as I can lol

[zoo york is cool]

After months of experimenting with different techniques to induce a lucid dream and failing, I realized that my biggest problem is when I dream, I am so convinced that what I am experiencing is real that I don't even think to question if I'm dreaming or not. I remember just the other night I dreamnt I was a female in the military, on the battlefield (I am a guy in real life) and I was hiding under a big truck because the Vietnamese were coming to kill me. Now I didn't even think to tell myself "Hello! Your dreaming!" I just go along with it. Is there anyway to heighten my awareness whilst dreaming so that I can attain lucidity? I could use all the advice I could get! [/b] well everytime something odd or strange happens in life/dream do a reality check. it also to ask yourself, "if i was dreaming, what would be different?". try the techniques over. good luck.

[Third Eye]

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to start doing RC throughout the days, maybe I'll start recording my dreams in a DJ like I used to. What are some good techniques for RCs? Should I look at my hands and ask if I'm dreaming? Or plug my nose to see if I could breathe still?

[Casualtie]

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to start doing RC throughout the days, maybe I'll start recording my dreams in a DJ like I used to.[/b] A dream journal should dramatically increase how vivid your dreams are. It'll make it easier for you to spot things that may trigger the fact that your dreaming. I have had some dreams that are so vivid that I immediately recognize I'm dreaming, just because I know I've never before seen the environment I'm in. This has recently started happening quite often since I've gotten back into my dream journal. For about a month or so, I slowed down on my dream journal and rarely every updated it. Around the same time I was only able to remember a few dreams a week. What are some good techniques for RCs? Should I look at my hands and ask if I'm dreaming? Or plug my nose to see if I could breathe still? [/b] Those two seem to be the most popular. I don't have any personal experience in the hand technique, but I can say that the nose plug technique has worked great for me. It's never come out negative in dream like I imagine the hand technique may do sometimes. Try looking at clock or a phrase on something and check back to see if they've changed at all. That seems to work pretty well two. Good luck

[JaphyR]

Keep in mind that rc's are hit-or-miss. You can look down and see a perfectly normal hand, think you're not dreaming, then plug your nose and breathe easily. That's why it's good to think of it as a reality survey, trying a series of checks. The real question is "Is this a dream world or the waking world?", not "Are my hands normal?" I've had good, consistent luck lately by trying to press the index finger of one hand through the palm of the other hand. It works well; every time I've tried it in a dream, I've gone right through the palm, and it cracks me up. Also, it works sometimes even when I can't see my hands in the dream. Lying in bed in the dark, you can try it as well, even though you can't see your hands. Do you understand the difference between personal dreamsigns and rc's?

[Don Juan]

Here is a technique that I first learned about from Stephen Laberge. I copied this from one of my earlier posts for you here. Here is the easy reality check, a ticket to ride if you will. Go to a document program such as word and type in letters as large as you can that will still fit on a buisness card size piece of paper the following: Is this a dream? Also do not use any weird fonts like gothic. It needs to be easily readable. Cut this to the size of a buisness card or print it on one. As you may or may not know the written word in dreams is one of those things that does not remain a constant. When seeing something written in a dream if one looks away then looks back there is a very high percentage (95% or so) that it will not say the same thing. So during your waking hours simply take out this simple cue, read it, flip it over and if it says the same thing then you are not dreaming! You must do this multiple times a day every time that you think of the subject. Whip the card out and really really ask yourself if you are dreaming. Turn the card over and look at the blank side for a moment then turn it back over. This seems silly at first but when you do this really ask yourself if you might in fact be dreaming. Analyze and really think if you might be. Our dreams often are manifestations of our waking life. If one incorporates a cue such as this during their awake life enough it will manifest itself in their dreams, One day (or night) you will flip that card over in your dream and pow! It will not be what you are expecting and you will become lucid. This has worked for me when I was first getting into this subject 15 years ago. Also you might try resting from the subject for a few days. Sometimes we try too hard and it may inhibit your abilities. You might be surprised at what a difference this can make. I have done this before when not having much success and BOOM spontaneous LD! Hope this might help!

[Third Eye]

I like your idea Don Juan, very interesting. I bought a dream journal last night and ate some chocolate before I went to bed and in the middle of the night I woke up from a very vivid dream and scribbled down key words and ideas in to my DJ. When I was about to drift off again, I saw myself in a dream scene, I knew I was dreaming but I had very little control. I remember in the dream I was spinning around and I saw a white german shepard laying in a street. I then looked over to see a line of people waiting to get into this building and I said hello to a man with long hair. It was strange, I knew I was dreaming but I felt I had NO control, so I just went along with it. The DJ has def. increased dream recall, I also walk up from a very vivid dream today while napping. I also had more chocolate before the nap. I hear chocolate works wonders! Thanks for all the advice and help guys!

[Don Juan]

Chocolate? Wow I hadn't heard about this before! I will have to have a big cup of hot chocolate and snuggle with the wife tonight! I have heard that chocolate has compounds that resemble cannabanoids. Maybe this is why it has an effect on dreams. It is also a good idea to record what you eat the night before in your dream journal. Also I am beginning to think that biorythyms might play a part. I have a chart at home where you can track the peak cycles of your physical, emotional, and intellectual rythyms. If I can locate a similar chart I will try and post it. It is highly likely that this will be found to correspond with an increase in the odds of LD. Only by tracking ones personal biorythyms and providing feedback to the site will this theory be validated or disputed. I will see what I can dig up as it would be a fun experiment for all of us to try. I haven't done this yet myself by the way so we will be in completely uncharted waters! Oh and by the way I have heard that the DV buisness cards have "are you dreaming?" on them. This would work perfectly with the technique that I described. P.S. Whenever I eat pizza it makes my dreams very vivid. I was told by a pharmacist once that it was because of the processed cheese. So I am going to have a grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of cocoa tonight! Cheers!