The Curse of Spinning

[The Cusp]

Despite my best efforts to curb the use of this horrible technique, it still continues to ruin many good lucid dream. The dream journal section contains endless examples. SPINNING SUCKS! DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH IT!!! 50% of the time, the person trying it wakes up. Of the times they dont wake, half of those have unintended results that mess with your lucidity. I'm just guesstimating those figures, I suspect they are actually much higher. For those who have tried spinning, I'd like to hear how many times you've tried it versus how many times it backfired. Then I can come up with a more accurate statistic of how unbelievable bad this technique is. As for myself, I tried it 4 times, woke up each time. Perhaps I could get better with practice, but it's just not worth the effort. There are better things to do.

[eppy]

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

[tekkendreams]

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.

[ArCane]

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.

[KuRoSaKi]

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.

[TheUniversalOne]

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.

[Vortex]

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.

[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.

[Lunalight]

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.

[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!

[Oneironaught]

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. 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.

[Xaqaria]

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.

[naikou]

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.

[Oneironaught]

The only thing I ever use spinning for is to retain lucidity the instant I feel it starting to fade away. I think some people are trying to use it for things it's not so well-suited for. It can be used for transformation of the dream scenery but I think that's best to be considered a side-effect and a potential failure of the intended usage, preventing the loss of lucidity. Some people have good success when trying to use it to change the dream world but that's only happened a few times for me. And those few times were only failures of attempts to "artificially" extend the duration of lucidity.

[H Savvy]

My experiences with spinning is that it increased my lucidity and my clarity. Trying to stay lucid was like fighting to stay awake, but upon spinning, everything sharpened, like a haze lifting. I spun as I would in reality, the way kids do to get dizzy. When I think of spinning, it's what my mind comes up with. Perhaps the manner of spinning is key to its effectivity?

[TalkingHead]

Spinning relaxes your body in real life and gets rid of muscle tension that arises from lucidity. Muscle tension makes you wake up.

[Mes Tarrant]

Spinning relaxes your body in real life and gets rid of muscle tension that arises from lucidity. Muscle tension makes you wake up. How does it relax your body? (Your sig: if the aim of life is death then why do we fight for survival in life or death situations?)

[Oneironaught]

Spinning relaxes your body in real life and gets rid of muscle tension that arises from lucidity. Muscle tension makes you wake up. No, no. You've got it all wrong. Spinning gives you the sensation of motion. When a dream begins to fade, the dream world becomes even more unstable. So if, for instance, you tried to use visual clues (e.g. looking at something in the environment) to stablize a fading dream or lucidity you may find that there's nothing there to see, nothing to put your awareness into. If the visual world is fading, what you you have left to focus your attention on? That motion sensation gives you something to focus on, something that's relatively stable with respect to the dream world around you. When you dream spin, no "external" clues or anchors are required. That's what makes dream spinning or falling the superior option, when used at strategic moments.

[Bear]

I've tried spinning a couple of times when my dreams have begun to fade, and it *almost* seems like it's going to work, the world sort of seems to become a little more real. Both times I've tried though, I've woken up. Maybe by the time I start spinning, it's too late and I'm going to wake up anyways... And I don't really understand why spinning would change the dream scene... aren't a) solidifying the world you're in and b) changing it to another one sort of contradictory? It might work just because you're not focusing on the dreamscape, you're focusing on spinning, but I think there are better ways of changing the scene. I like to open a door after telling myself what's behind it. I also really like turning on a TV, changing channel to something I like (I just punch in a number and what I'm thinking of comes up), and jumping in.