Thread: How can I know which technique to pick?

I have tried SSILD and to my surprise it worked on the very first night. And it's really easy to do aswell.

Hey, I tried it a few nights ago too and it worked on my first try
BUT, now it does not work
What has happened?

Originally Posted by Reinards

Hey, I tried it a few nights ago too and it worked on my first try
BUT, now it does not work
What has happened?

Hmm.. not sure. Did anything go differently from the first time you did it? Maybe you were too tired and fell asleep too fast or too late because you were too awake? Or maybe you didn't do the technique properly this time?
Or maybe you did your WBTB at a not-so-optimal part in your sleep cycle this time?

EDIT: forgot an important one; maybe it DID work and you had a false awakening, but you just didn't realize it?

Originally Posted by Reinards

Hey, I tried it a few nights ago too and it worked on my first try
BUT, now it does not work
What has happened?

Probably nothing.

This seems to happen quite often to people, which is why I tend to suggest that success after the second and third attempts is the time to decide you may have gotten the technique right.

First attempts can go well for a variety of reasons, from heightened expectation to the placebo effect (in other words, it was going to work no matter what you did); so don't be too disappointed if your second attempt didn't go well. Keep your hopes up for the third...or the fourth.

Originally Posted by Sageous

Probably nothing.

This seems to happen quite often to people, which is why I tend to suggest that success after the second and third attempts is the time to decide you may have gotten the technique right.

First attempts can go well for a variety of reasons, from heightened expectation to the placebo effect (in other words, it was going to work no matter what you did); so don't be too disappointed if your second attempt didn't go well. Keep your hopes up for the third...or the fourth.

I have two questions for you tho.

====FIRST====

All lucid dreams(WILD ones and SSILD ones) I have had happened in the morning(6am or so)
BUT I always wake up from the dreams several minutes before 7am.
No one wakes me up, disturbs me nor I have to go to school(still holidays). I just want my dreams to last longer than 5 minutes.
HOW?

====SECOND====
How can I wake up naturally more often?
I only know that water trick(haven't tried because I am usually not thirsty)
And mantra way(does not work for me)

I'm not Sageous, but I'm going to try to answer as best as I can.

====FIRST====

Maybe your dream was not stable enough causing you to wake up prematurely? You could try stabilizing the dream by either rubbing your hands together or spinning around.
Also try to engage all of your senses in the dream. Smell the air. Feel the ground under your feet. Try to notice the details... stuff like that.

It could also be that your WBTB was improperly timed and you woke up at a sub-optimal time within the sleep cycle. (note: this graph is just an example, everyone's sleep cycle looks a bit different)
Try timing your WBTB a bit earlier, or perhaps even a bit later in order to catch the following REM-cycle. You'll have to experiment a bit and see what works best for you.

You could also make use of a supplement called melatonin. It suppresses REM in the earlier stages of the sleep cycle which causes a rebound effect in the later stages of the sleep cycle.

If you do wake up however, you could try to remain completely motionless and visualize the place that you just woke up from. Either you'll bounce right back into the dreamscape, or you'll have a WILD.

====SECOND====

Try to use mantras, but also set your alarm clock!! Make use of both at the same time.
It might not work immediately, but after a couple of days your body should adjust and start waking itself up naturally before your alarm goes off.
When this happens, I would keep setting the alarm as a backup so your body knows that it's going to wake up no matter what and that it's best to do so naturally. You can always turn the alarm off again each time you naturally wake up.

Those were my 2 cents. Good luck!

Thanks
It couldn't be timed wrong because:
1st - I didn't use WBTB
2nd - I woke up after a dream