So you want longer, higher quality LDs eh?

[ParadigmShift]

disclaimer: for this guide to work, you have to be willing to "waste" a few LDs. This guide requires patience. If you're not ok with that, you probably won't like this guide. hey guys, I've noticed a lot of people expressing their frustration with LDs especially that after all the hard work of just BECOMING lucid, they can't maintain lucidity, clarity, or it lasts just a few seconds before they lose control. It's something that personally annoyed me for years until I just got fed up and decided that if I'm going to spend all this time with keeping a journal, practicing techniques, drinking all these teas and reading LD literature I better be able to have some fun when I finally achieve the elusive LD. The first thing you might think in an LD is "OMG QUICK lets have sex/fly/win the lottery CAN'T WASTE TIME!!". Most people don't take the time to relax, ground themselves, clear their minds and that's why you end up with low quality ld's. Even though it seems like common sense, most people don't practice getting used to the dream world. You need to get used to the dream world, and the only way to do that is to slowly work your way up. Here are the steps: LD practice #1--Emulate mundane real life activities 1. Wash your hands (I do this first, it does the "rub hands" grounding technique and it's also a boring real life activity. 2 in 1 effect!) 2. examine objects. just look at them from different angles 3. sit there, examine your thoughts, write stuff down 4. Do simple math problems, yea i know, but you need your logical brain warmed up. 5. open doors to familiar places 6. walk around 7. talk to people you know, with your usual inhibitions. 8. Listen to familiar music The boring stuff helps you keep your cool and prolong your LDs since your brain isn't in overload mode. Granted it will be much less rigid, things will sometimes behave illogically, but strive to extend your control as much as you can. Remember-if you can't control your LD in extremely mundane situations how are you going to control it while doing awesome stuff? Same with longevity, if you can't maintain an LD while doing a simple task how could you expect to maintain it doing something exhilarating and amazing? LD practice #2- magical realism 1. Rub your hands together and make objects appear from them 2. talk to animals, 3. observe a simple object and transform it into another simple object 4. glide across the ground rather than walk 5. open doors to new places 6. play around with simple physics (make a block slide up an incline etc) 7. Read a book (notice I didn't put this in practice 1, reading is unstable most of the time) 8. telekinesis works pretty well at this stage 9. open a gift box This is still pretty boring but the aim here is to get used to unpredictability. You might try to control one way and another thing will happen, just go with the flow. If you get stuck with a problem just find other simple things to do. LD practice #3 - almost there. At this point you should be able to do many things. This is just a list of what I recommend NOT to do and what to do instead 1. Don't have sex yet. If you're still a horny gorilla just kiss chicks or guys, or whatever you're into. 2. Don't fly yet. practice jumping different heights to get used to the feeling. Slowly work your way up. 3. Close your eyes in LD and open them again. This helps a lot with re-entering failed LDs 4. Don't go on a killing rampage. If you do you're just an idiot. 5. Don't try to learn an unfamiliar skill. Practice a skill you're familiar with. 6. walk on your hands (this feels very weird) instead of your feet At this stage of lucidity, which should already be very controlled and clear, you can also solve difficult real life problems. Here we're not even doing the fun stuff yet, but you should be very grounded and in control. LD practice #4 - do whatever at this point you should have enough stability and control that you can do pretty much anything. You should be able to do everything in #1,2,3 without struggling even a little bit. If you still can't do something you want to by this point, work up to it slowly step by step. Patience really pays off. ok that's all I gotta say. Needless to say, this is just a guideline and it's not meant to be followed strictly. Every person is different so go on your own judgment. Hope you learn something from this and good luck with LDing.

[A. Diver]

thanks for the guide I will try it, after i work on quantity of course!

[eppy]

sounds good and well thought out. if i get the chance ill try it.

[Naginata]

Nice guide, I'll try it some time, but the problem with me is that when I relax in a LD I wake up easily. The moment I want to examine something, have a conversation with a DC or slow down when flying to have a look around I wake up. The dreams where I run around hysterically are the best lucids I have. Of course I'm pretty new, so this might change.

[illidan]

This explanation makes perfect sense. I'll try it when I get the chance.