My introduction and first WILD attempt

Hey guys I heard about Lucid dreaming about a week ago and have tried for the last 3 nights to have one. I haven't yet but I'm going to keep trying, I'm very determined.

First night I didn't really know what to do, had only done a little research. Tried the looking at my hands before bed and saying "I will look at my hands and realize I am dreaming" over and over. Anyway had a very vivid and short dream that night, but the odd thing was I was at the place I wanted to be and I (think) saw the girl I wanted to.

Second night I tried some audio aids (couple of different ones, lucidremix, B... Beats etc) and had no dreams that I could recall.

Third (last night) I decided to try a WILD. I went to bed around 11.30 and set my alarm for 5.40am, woke up, went toilet, spent 5 minutes on these forums then went back to bed. I ended up lying there for an hour before I gave up and just fell alseep. I initally thought I would just fall alseep but ended up finding it almost impossible to sleep. I was counting, 1 I am dreaming, 2 I am dreaming etc up to 100 between each breath and my mind was pretty clear and I tried staying extremely still but I think I was waiting to see some lights or for SP to happen and it didn't.
I did however have a dream that night, not sure if it was before I tried the WILD or after but it involved me going down a dead end road then a bunch of army trucks showing up and I talked to one of the soldiers about something then (I think) it jumped to me in what looked like my bedroom trying to keep an angry dog/bull out (or in) and then it kept cuddling up to my cat....

So yeah, I won't try a WILD tonight because I have to get up at 5 for work tomorrow anyway but I'll keep doing my reality checks throughout the day and the day after I'll try a WILD but I'll not care as much about it, see if that helps me get back to sleep.

Any tips or advice let me know please.

Hey Wolf2! Welcome to DV :D We hope you enjoy your time here and let us know if there's any way we can help. Some people become lucid the night after hearing about LDing, but others take a little longer (it was 2 weeks for me), so don't be disappointed if you don't become lucid immediately. It will happen as long as you be persistent and keep at it!

Well, it seems like you're trying to do everything all at once. :P It's not always about following a specific set of steps whereby if you do items 1-8 on this list, you're guaranteed to become lucid. It doesn't work that way. Try sticking with just one induction technique (DILD, MILD, WILD, etc.) for about a week and see if that method is making progress. If you try one one night and find it doesn't work right away and then switch, you'll run out of methods very quickly :) Stick with one and if it's not really getting you anywhere after a week, try something else.

Regardless what you do, don't forget about the following:

1. Write in your dream journal every day. Every day.

2. Work on Reality Checks. Get into the habit of questioning whether or not you're in a dream by asking questions such as "Where am I?" "What am I doing?" and "How did I get here?" If the answers make sense you're probably awake, but if the answers are bizarre or you can't thinking of a sufficient answer, you're probably dreaming. Question the world when you're awake and in time you'll find yourself questioning the world around you while you're dreaming. Are you dreaming?

3. Enjoy your dreams. Again, if you don't become lucid immediately it's not the end of the world. Be persistent and enjoy the dreams you are having. Have fun and let us know if there are other questions you have.

I'm not a WILD expert, so I can't give you all the answers, but for some people that technique takes more time, effort, and practice. Some people find it comes easy, but others don't. But if you really want to try WILD, Go for it. Try it for a week before giving up on it. Perhaps decide that if you can't fall into a dream in 30 minutes or so, you wait until the next night and just focus on falling back asleep.

You'll get it in time. Don't give up, but remember the basics: recall, reality checks, and getting a good night's sleep :)
-Amé