Dream signs

[Number 6]

Need some advice from the experienced! After having a great start to lucid dreaming (3-4 lucid moments and 1 great lucid flying dream in 3 weeks, I appear to be in a dry spell, nothing for the last 10 days. Question: Recently my dream signs have been appearing in my dreams very prominently and very often but I haven't questioned or even noticed them. They are my most frequent dream signs and so obvious, there should be no mistake on my part that it is a dream sign and that I'm dreaming. When I wake up after my dreams and remember what happened, I absolutely cannot believe that I was so ignorant. I practice the basics of dream signs and am very familiar with mine...but can anyone suggest something to help me recognize my dream signs when I'm dreaming, something that has worked well for you? Thanks! Number 6

[Placebo]

Hey number 6. Your question needs a bit of thought - thanks I'll do my best to offer some suggestions, and I hope others can add to it Ask yourself this: 1) How many dream signs are you doing? Too many will make it harder to become 100% proficient at them all. As you've experienced, a person is very 'stupid' in dreams. Pick two or three good ones and work at them. 2) In the waking world, do those dream signs come to you completely instinctively? The thing is that these dream signs have to fall into your subconscious thoughts. Leaving them as conscious reactions is not good enough at all - it really needs to feel like instinct. 3) I find that that I am less aware of my dream signs, if I have no goal or purpose for my lucid dreams. Do you have a 'TODO' list for your lucid dreams? And do you feel impatient and determined to do it? Motivation is a big thing here... 4) Many of us find ourselves in dry spells. And often what helps to get out of it, is to try something new. Find a new dream sign, or try a new technique. Have you tried wake induced methods like MILD, WILD, etc ? Just some thoughts off the top of my head... hope it helps

[Kaniaz]

Redouble your efforts, perhaps. Actively look for the Dream Signs in real life instead of just letting them come to you when you have spare time.

[Mystical_Journey]

Something that I try and works for me perfectly is that when I dream I always seem to use the toilet (lol) this happens almost every single night. I usually drink lots of water before going to sleep thus when I’m dreaming my brain tells me to use a toilet, therefore become aware that when I need to go toilet I can become lucid. During the day train yourself to do reality checks every time you use the can for a pee, the dreamsign's will happen naturally. I used a funny looking toliet the other night, it was like a hole in the ground, but like somthing you would expect in roman times, it was marble.

[Placebo]

Yeah.... theres a name for that. Just can't recall it right now But as good an idea as it sounds, its also dangerous. Unless you don't mind getting it wrong and wetting your bed

[Mystical_Journey]

Its never happened yet (fortunately) but I do sometimes think about it, but I don’t want to start getting paranoid about wetting the bed because I find it the most useful technique towards attaining lucidity.

[Number 6]

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions...Looks like I'm back on track as I had an award winning LD last night. In an earlier post, I asked how deep your level of sleep should be after returning to sleep using WBTB and MILD. I have a hard time returning to sleep and most of the time, I feel like I'm not sleeping at all...very shallow sleep. So I've been experimenting with the amount of time spent awake before returning to bed. 30-60 minutes was too long for me but it looks like I erred in the opposite direction as well. I was staying up only long enough to use the bathroom. Last night, I stayed up 10 minutes and had my first LD in almost two weeks. I was MILDing about flying but I also had a clear image of a friend in my mind's eye. As usual, I thought I wasn't sleeping. However, in a heartbeat, I was in an LD. The transition from being awake in bed to the dream was instantaneous, like changing channels on the TV, and I remember feeling relieved that my dry spell was over. I can't go into details as they are personal, but the person whose image I had in mind was now sitting next to me in bed. As I reached for her, I wondered if I would be able to feel her. She felt not quite solid the first time I touched her, but that immediately changed to normal feeling. The feel of her skin was as real as real can be and felt cool to the touch. The overall atmosphere was unbelievably clear and real... I guess flying isn't my primary interest......