Not Understanding How to Become Lucid. Need Help.

Hi everyone :), i just registered here but I have been lurking around the forums for about a week now. Ive read tutorials on what lucid dreaming is and the steps to achieve the state, but i just cant seem to understand how to become lucid. Ive been keeping a dream journal for about a week, having about three dreams a day, and also checking for dream signs (i think i may have a few). But i guess my real question is, when I'm dreaming, how do i tell my dream self that I'm dreaming? To me it seems that when I'm dreaming I'm not in control. Its like a movie being played and i cant do anything but watch. How do you lucid dreamers get in control of your dream selves? Is there a step I'm missing or will this feeling just come to me over time? :?

Whenever you see something weird, do a reality check (put your finger through your hand, see how many fingers you have, breathe with your nose plugged, etc) And if you can do any of those, you are dreaming. Reality checks work best when they become a habit, then you'll end up doing them in you dreams. For me, my dreams just seem like real life, I can control everything I do, but I'm oblivious to the fact that I'm dreaming. Something that has helped me is to always be aware of my surroundings while I'm awake, and try to notice everything, and I question things that seem odd or out of place so that when I'm dreaming I'm more likely to notice all the wacky stuff that I usually accept as normal.

Ok i had a few more dreams last night and today but i cant seem to get in control of my dream self. Like i noticed alot of things that were weird but i did nothing about it, it was as if those weird things were normal. Like i said before, its as if I'm watching a movie about myself. Maybe i just need to notice more things around me in reality? :embarrassed:

That could be it. But give it time. You've spent many years non-lucid, so it may take a few weeks for you to get your first whiff of lucidity! I say that you sound like you are doing everything right so far. Keep going!

Good luck, and never give up!

I find that sleeping late is a good way to induce a lucid dream, especially in that semi-conscious state when you reallllly want to stay in bed;). I have my most vivid dreams during that time too. When you have the time, go to bed late and sleep late and see how that works.

you can either lucid dream or you cant. you cant train to become a lucid dreamer. you cant choose when it happens. just go about your day, go to bed and if your lucky...

I would slightly disagree.

Having a lucid dream is something like a miracle. One of my first induced lucid dream was about this:

I woke up at about 4:00. Desperately wanted to have lucid dream. Desperately wanted to have the feeling of another world, which you are probably just starting to sense.

And I started to pretend I was flying. I started to recall the feeling of the wind aroud, the power in my body. The excitement. And i started to feel more and more like i will get it. I was so excited.

And then i moved into my bed and got 40 minutes lasting lucid dream serie. Only and just becouse i desperately wanted to have it. So let me summarize:

1. You now dont know actually, what to expect from lucid dream. So just believe me, its something magical. The world feels different, full with emotions, so unstable and with crisp detail if you want. You feel the air of that world saturated with You {crazy , I know... But actually this might help you to induce the dream}. That world is You. ANd it feels that way. Your wishes are in that world. You know, how it feels like.

2. In real life, you feel your real body. In dream life, you feel your memory body {i dont call it dream body}. So practice pretending you are seeing your arms when you close your eyes. Practice pretending you touch things in your imagination. And do it all from your memmory. {You have already touched grass, wood, doors and so}. It works just like someone really smart said: If you pretend for long enough, what you pretend becomes a reality. :D

Enjoy learning.

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Originally Posted by ghosty

you can either lucid dream or you cant. you cant train to become a lucid dreamer.

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Well that sure is some encouraging advice for our aspiring lucid dreamers. You have scientific support for that claim, right? Any sources you'd care to share here?

Because I was sort of under the impression that if one could dream at all, one could certainly "train" to become a lucid dreamer. I'd never had a LD in my life until I started "training" myself to have one via the WILD technique. The potential is in everyone who has the ability to dream.

@ Adraw: Thanks man, ill definetly practice some of those options. :)
Also I have been thinking alot about Lucid Dreaming over the past week during the night, and i notice that i cant sleep, or i try and sleep but i end up staying awake till 1-4am. I think all this wanting to have a LD feeling is affecting my sleep (kinda like when your a kid and its the night before Christmas and you cant wait to see what santa has brought you).

Thanks for the replys btw. :)

WOWW you're ignorant. hahaha its wutev though. u can think what u think. no hard feelings... as for you penspinner, you are off to a WONDERFUL start. keep it up and u will have great results with time... just always remember that people are different about dreaming, and the only thing that is constant is sleep itself(unless u can do yoga nidra, where u pretty much skip the dreaming part of sleep and go into deep sleep with still being conscious, but nevermind about that). but try thinking about LDing also during the day, so ur mind doesnt get rushes of endorfins right before you go to sleep.(endorfins are chemicals in ur brain that stimulate. they are there when you get excited or happy kinda, and they have been known to keep you up. =p) i hope i could help.

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Originally Posted by ghosty

you can either lucid dream or you cant. you cant train to become a lucid dreamer. you cant choose when it happens. just go about your day, go to bed and if your lucky...

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Such bull....such ignorance...

You can train. You can choose when it happens. It's called practice. WILDs and DILDs and...all other LD methods are proof of this. Again, such bull...such ignorance...:roll:

Anyway, I guess I'm alittle late but welcome to DV. :)

To answer your control question, one of the lucids I had recently I had to stop myself from doing anything rash so I could do the things I wanted to do. So I guess you could say you get the hang of controling yourself over time. As for your first question, when you get lucid, whether spontainiously, with an RC, or...whatever, something will just click inside of you. I don't know how to decribe it. It's just something that will click, and when it does, you'll know.

LDs will come for you in time, just listen to everyone else and practice during the day.

Good luck!!:D

I'm in the same position as you, with the whole passive existence in dreams. I've had one lucid dream (due to a false awakening) within one week of starting, though it was extremely short (roughly 5 seconds). Visualization WILDs seem to work best for me, perhaps you should give other methods a try o.o

Thanks everyone, ive been looking into other LD techniques i can practice along with everyones help here. But I think i might have had a controlled feeling in a dream i had last night. I was much more aware of what i was doing. Not sure if thats part of the contolled feeling everyone has but it was a new feeling for me. :D

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Originally Posted by Penspinner

Hi everyone :), i just registered here but I have been lurking around the forums for about a week now. Ive read tutorials on what lucid dreaming is and the steps to achieve the state, but i just cant seem to understand how to become lucid. Ive been keeping a dream journal for about a week, having about three dreams a day, and also checking for dream signs (i think i may have a few). But i guess my real question is, when I'm dreaming, how do i tell my dream self that I'm dreaming? To me it seems that when I'm dreaming I'm not in control. Its like a movie being played and i cant do anything but watch. How do you lucid dreamers get in control of your dream selves? Is there a step I'm missing or will this feeling just come to me over time? :?

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You're actually more in control than you think, since a dream is more than just a static movie playing in your head. Technically, I guess, it's like every day life in the sense that you believe you're really in the dream world. It's hard at first, but try practicing in real life. What you have to do is develop a sense that, in points in real life, you could be dreaming (of course, you're not and you know it, but it helped me.) Then, you naturally do it in your dream, and you become lucid. It's a new way of thinking.

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you can either lucid dream or you cant.

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I haven't heard of an inability to lucid dream. It's just easier for some than others. If you can dream, then you can lucid dream.