Thread: The Curse of Spinning

ive tried it twice and it made me lose lucidity both.

i had my first LD which i triggered on purpose last night , during my short but exciting LD when i was realising i was about to wake up i used the hand rubbing one first, then the second time i used the spinning and it both worked very well.

I dont know what your using the spinning technique for. From what Ive read (in books and internet) spinning is used to either keep the dream going and stop yourself from waking up or to spin a new dream and be someplace different. I personally dont beleive in the spinning technique in either case. I have used it quite a few times with mixed results. Ive lost dreams (its hard for me to lose lucidity once I have it, dont want to brag, I swear) just as many times with it as without it. What I mean by losing the dream is everything goes black and the "theme" or place is gone.

I believe the spinning technique is a placebo for some, and for the skeptics, causes even more harm and they lose what they are trying to gain. If you believe something is going to do what it is suppost to do, atleast when we are talking things of the mind (like dreams), than it most likely will. If you dont believe you will get mixed to negative results.

Being lucid, your dream control, etc. all have to do with your intentions and your mind set. Im reminded of a quote from Star War's Yoda, "Do or do not. There is no try." Ive read alot of threads about telekinesis and other types of dream powers, and what people believe is needed in order to control them. They believe in this philosophy, and inorder to have great control, you shouldn't have any doubts. Keeping yourself lucid and keeping the dream are no different. It all has to do with your mind and what you believe at the time. If you believe that if you wave your hand you will stay lucid than you will. If you believe you spin that you will stay lucid than you will. Dont be discouraged if spinning doesnt work. Just know that your thoughts and your mind will be able to work through every difficulty, and that you can be lucid with a thought.

These are just my thoughts. I encourage everyone to find their own path. Good luck to all. Have a great day.

Yeah "Do Or Do Not There Is No Try" is a good way of putting it.

I have had the Spinning
1. Increase Dream Length.
2. Increase Vividness.
3. Change Dream Scene.

It's a random tool.

I tried it once and had a false awakening. Then I went into another dream scene. I think you have to say "The next scene will be a dream" or something to stay lucid? I think I'll try that next time and see what happens.

Twice, once lucid, once ND*, worked both times.

*I've recenlty been re-reading my old dream journals from many years ago before I'd even heard of the spinning tech. In one of them, in a ND that I'd named 'Reality Roulette', I was trying to get away from someone who was harassing me and I started spinning, to my surprise many different versions of the same room flashed before my eyes as I span, each one the same but with different funiture, decorations, people etc. when I stopped the person I was trying to get away from was gone

Cusp, If one person can do it then it is possible for it to work everytime, the only barrier is doubt.

I must agree, spinning does not work for me, i spun in a lucid dream and i just lost lucidity instantly, i was so annoyed over it.

Originally Posted by Lucid Seeker

I must agree, spinning does not work for me, i spun in a lucid dream and i just lost lucidity instantly, i was so annoyed over it.

Hmmm? Spinning seems to work for no one hahaha guess I am the needle in the haystack >_> how fast are you guys spinning? Like mad fast or slow? I go really fast so everything warps around me this usually has various effects, but it has never caused me to lose lucidity or end a dream though.

When I tried to spin for the first(and last) time my dream ended. To stabilize a dream I prefer to look at my surroundings slowly while touching/feeling whatever I can.

I suppose spinning could have some nice effects when everything is stable, otherwise it's just a dream killer.

It's just one of many LD techniques - if it works for you use it, if not, simply drop it. Like you said just a waste of your time - no need to dwell on it.
I should also mention that I have had many successful uses of this technique and had similar results posted by others here.
Coming up with accurate statistics of working vs not is just added waste to your time.

I tried it and thought that the dream was fading...so I did the opposite. I just stood way still and visualized my body energy field and just felt it flow throughout the dream world. It energized me, and I went back to exploring the world. I came to a door and said "when I open this i'll be in xxxxxx's house" and there I was!

Spinning has been around and studied, is supported by LaBerge, etc. You've had a few bad experiences with it and claim it sucks. It's not the method, it's you.

Spinning And How To Use It On Your Own Benefit For Dummies - by Kromoh LaPerge

haha kidding :d



anyway...
Spinning (mostly) works by fading your current dream. By spinning, all your perception will be set on the sensation of spinning (thus taking out your attention from the dream itself).

Practical uses:
Changing dream scenario - Imagine the place you want to be in, then start spinning. During spinning, your current dream will fade. When you stop spinning, your mind will recreate the dream with the last thing you were thinking of, and so you will (if successful) get warped there.

Making your dream last longer - by spinning, you are using your dreambody, and therefore pushing yourself into staying in the dream longer. Also, by spinning you can forget any thoughts that could have made you wake up.

Bottom notes: spinning is best for kinaesthetic people. If you are visual, try a portal for teleporting and your hands for prolonguing the dream. If you are auditory, tell yourself the place where you want to be into, then use adoor or something similar (for teleporting); and to prolongue the dream, simply tell yourself that your dream will not end/will last longer.

Through spinning, it can happen that your dream fades completely. Still, with practice, it is easy to re-enter the dream by visualising it (using DEILD, FILD or VILD).

Last recommendation is to remember to perform reality checks after spinning.

are u supposed to close your eyes while spinning, i close my eyes and it has never worked for me. It either wakes me up, fa, or warps me to some random place.

Originally Posted by The Wig

Spinning has been around and studied, is supported by LaBerge, etc. You've had a few bad experiences with it and claim it sucks. It's not the method, it's you.

Well, if LaBerge says it's so, then it must be true! So he's the one spreading this baloney around.
And your logic works the other way around too. It could still be a bad method, and you just happen to have success with it.

Look, I'm not just saying this lightly, or basing it solely on my own experience. The overwhelming majority of time I've come across people who've used spinning, they have ended disastrously.

Looks like my 50% ratio of failure was about right on the money.

My problem with spinning is people do it without understanding what it is they are trying to accomplish. It's the feeling of movement that helps anchor your in the dream, and there are plenty of other ways to accomplish the same thing. Flying, sprinting, and jumping all work better than spinning.

OK, I've had it work about 5 times to keep me from waking up, about three times for teleporting, and fail keeping me in a dream about 12 times. But it hasn't failed other than when I was already waking up. I like the spinning.

It actually worked pretty well the first 10 lucids I ever had, but since those few first lucids it doesn't work at all and can actually hurt the ld experience. There are better ways to change scenery and better ways to increase vividness in my experience.

Originally Posted by Awhislyle

It actually worked pretty well the first 10 lucids I ever had, but since those few first lucids it doesn't work at all and can actually hurt the ld experience. There are better ways to change scenery and better ways to increase vividness in my experience.

I agree. Even though it worked for me, hand rubbing and using doors is easier.

for teleporting I still prefer my own technique


- look at the place you want to be at (even if that means Xray vision or something)
- slowly look back
- when you look back, you will probably see the place you were at
- since you are seeing the place you were at, it means that you are at the place you wanted to be. Enjoy!

I've used spinning (or falling back) many times. I haven't used it in awhile but nearly every time I've used it it has worked for me, providing I did it before it was too late. That's really the only time it's failed me, when I didn't catch it in time.

Originally Posted by Kromoh

for teleporting I still prefer my own technique


- look at the place you want to be at (even if that means Xray vision or something)
- slowly look back
- when you look back, you will probably see the place you were at
- since you are seeing the place you were at, it means that you are at the place you wanted to be. Enjoy!

Interesting idea.

Originally Posted by The Cusp

Well, if LaBerge says it's so, then it must be true! So he's the one spreading this baloney around.
And your logic works the other way around too. It could still be a bad method, and you just happen to have success with it.

Look, I'm not just saying this lightly, or basing it solely on my own experience. The overwhelming majority of time I've come across people who've used spinning, they have ended disastrously.

Looks like my 50% ratio of failure was about right on the money.

My problem with spinning is people do it without understanding what it is they are trying to accomplish. It's the feeling of movement that helps anchor your in the dream, and there are plenty of other ways to accomplish the same thing. Flying, sprinting, and jumping all work better than spinning.

Yeah dude, 'cause the ONLY thing I mentioned was LaBerge. Spinning has been around for far longer than you've been LDing and many people have had success with it, so it's obviously a good tool. Just because it doesn't work for you, or another method works better, doesn't mean it's useless.

I tried spining twice and it got me dizzy in my LD. First time I tried spining it pulled me up very fast trough the sealing of my house and I flew over the city. Second time I just floated low above the ground. Wierd effects

I hadn't heard of the spinning technique until coming to this site so I tried it, once. All it did was make me dizzy (in the dream) and almost fall over. I haven't bothered with it since.

I think the success/failure of spinning depends on more than just placebo. It creates a specific, remembered sensation that could potentially wake you up, whether or not you "believe" it will wake you up. I'm not saying that the placebo effect doesn't factor in, just that it's not the only factor, as some people seem (to me) to be claiming.

I've only tried spinning once - during my first lucid dream. I just wanted to change my environment, and it worked... but it gave me a false awakening, and I lost lucidity.

However, I could see how spinning could be a potentially useful tool. I'd rather develop my own methods, though.