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For all of you on the forum that can induce LDs at will every night, can you please tell me the exact mental process that takes place before and as you're going to sleep?
I've had a bunch of LDs, but they seem to happen haphazardly even though I try techniques. Out of 3 - 4 days that I try a MILD or something, It'll only work out of 1 of the days. I can't differentiate what I do differently between the days where I DO have LDs and where I don't.
Well, for the people who have them often, they often RC automatically because they can 'sense' that is is a dream. Theres this weird feeling and its a sure give away.
Otherwise, its their own version of the well know techniques. I speak for myself here but I think this applies for most: you end up developeding your own methods. Its usually pretty close to something that already exists but it just... works for you. It'll normally develop over time as you see what works and what doesn't.
I did a writeup of what I do to get lucid (well, semi-lucid anyways). it can be found here if you're interested. Although, i'm not sure how much help it'll be.
Thanks for the input. I barely understand your sub-topic but I know what you're trying to say. It's sort of like "You shouldn't concentrate on staying lucid, you should get busy doing something fun and that in itself will keep lucidity stable", but I need help on just BECOMING lucid any time I want. I need more people posting in here though, I KNOW there are tons of people on here that have had 200 - 300 LDs and know things from experience. You guys MUST know the right "mental process" or something close to it.
It's really quite weird for me. On nights where I am totally and emotionally wanting to experience an LD, I sometimes don't. On nights where I "sort of want one" I end up having one, or sometimes, it just happens by a fluke. I'm not sure the right type of emotions I should anchor before I have one, or what I should really be thinking about. I know Laberge has LDs at WILL - 4 to 5 per night, but I don't quite understand his MILD process. It sounds very boring, and it doesn't strike me wanting to have an LD. Seems more like a technical exercise.
This is sort of my process...
As I'm going to sleep, I do a breathing exercise 10 times which is a set of *1 count inhale, 4 counts hold, 2 counts exhale.* It really relaxes my mind and allows me to free up the day's thoughts and concentrate on doing intentions.
Then I move onto intentions (which I got from MILD). I say things with my inner dialogue about 10 - 20 times. Among these are Present tense affirmations such as...
-"I'm realizing that I'm dreaming in my dreams tonight."
-"I'm recording my dreams the moment I wake up."
-"I'm flying upon becoming lucid."
After that, I visualize myself having an LD and having tons of fun, flying, talking to DCs, controlling the dream environment - as to build up an emotional response to basically get myself going "This is going to be awesome!"
And even after all that, I sometimes don't have an LD. I just don't understand. Is it about beliefs? Confidence? Emotional response?
I too could use help in this department.
No, Its not that. Your technique is just unrelliable. If you want to be 100% sure youll have a LD do a WILD/DEILD/FILD or something simmilar.Quote:
Originally Posted by lvlindless
"And even after all that, I sometimes don't have an LD. I just don't understand. Is it about beliefs? Confidence? Emotional response?"
I have logged over 300 LDs in eight years. That sounds like a lot, but I still sometimes wish it was more. I used to feel the kind of frustration you express, but then I realized that the frustration was keeping me stuck. So, I gave up on trying to have LDs at will. It just wasn't going to happen as an act of my own will. Once I accepted that fact, I could relax and enjoy whatever the dream gods decided to gift me. And I try to enjoy my nonlucid dreams as much as my lucids. It's real important not to become obsessive about this. That was hard at the beginning.
I have done everything I could possibly imagine in my lucids, indulged all my appetites and fantasies. Now it's about exploring consciousness. I find that the process of entering a dream from wakefulness, which for me is accompanied by intense vibratory experiences and roaring noises, is a kind of incarnation experience--a birth from a formless state into a form, my dream self. I can follow it step by step; first, a vague sensation of existence, then an awareness of a "self" hanging in a void, then the appearance of my body sense, and finally the development of content around me, the dream scene. Lately I have been able to move back and forth between the form state and the formless, without waking up. This doesn't sound too exciting, I suppose, but it's pretty cool.
Once I'm fully in the dream I abandon myself. I try not to control the dream, only to be aware. This past Saturday one dream took me on a trip around the world in 10 seconds. I got caught in the "dream stream". It's like the jet stream, only a lot faster. I've never moved so fast. The wind just picked me up and whirled me around the earth, yet I could see everything go by. Whew!
When the dream begins to fade or I begin to fade, I dream spin, which invariably restores the scene. I can go on like that for a long time. I wake myself when I'm tired. After I'm awake, I make a brief note in my journal, but then I forget it. I don't cling to it. I don't obsess over the experience. It's only a dream, after all. There will be others. They're all different, all unique.
Almost all of my LDs are WILD type. I have had only 2 true DILDs, and those were very early on. I came into lucid dreaming through the out-of-body experience world. After about 25 OBEs I learned that they are, in effect, the same as WILDs. WILDing is almost instinctive now. But I have never been very good at recognizing the dream state when I'm nonlucid in it. I've done all the exercises, MILD technique, dreamsign awareness; I've owned and destroyed four Novadreamers. I've attended Laberge's retreat twice. Still, I have had no success at having DILDs. I still work at it, but without the frustration.
I plan my lucid dreaming for Saturday and Sunday mornings, when I can sleep late. I go to bed about 9 pm. I set my alarm for 3 am. I awaken and read for an hour. Lately, because I am older (60), I take a dose of galantamine, which stimulates REM sleep. It's good for my failing memory, too. I go back to bed when my eyes are drowsy. I begin WILDing at about 6 am, and can go on until 2 pm if I choose to and have the time.
I know it's hard, but try not to take this LD business too seriously. It's life that counts.
For me its always been about being able to realise the dreams, not needing to RC or inducing LDs. It's hard to explain, it's just something i do, when I'm dreaming i know i am, sometimes i will go with it, other times i will take over. This is not every night however, sometimes i wont even remember dreams, which is weird because i usually remember up to about 4/5 a night.
I recently however have been having an LD within a dream, if that makes sence? So been dreaming, and in my dream going to sleep and saying i want to LD and then doing it lol - hard to explain really... I think the more pressure you put on yourself the harder it will be, and i dont agree with getting all your daily thoughts out before sleeping, i tend to find the more i have on my mine, the more i dream and realise this... But that might just be me?
For me, I simply intend to lucid dream, and refuse to stay awake until I do. By ten or eleven hours of sleep, I've almost always had at least one lucid dream. Of course, I can't use this every day, since I can't sleep in except on weekends, but when I do, it seems to always work unless something disturbs my sleep. I tried it on spring break, and I got at least eight lucid dreams, and was only without success on a couple nights when I couldn't try it properly.