I can't do it. I need help.

This isn't a whining thread, far from it, but this is a plea for help. I've been trying to LD since my join date on this website and I've practiced dilligently what (I thought) was a good routine. Do reality checks throughout the day (legit ones, not just going through the motion). Keep a dream journal and even meditate before bed.

I haven't had any luck so far and it's killing me. The fact that something so cool is possible and I'm just incapable of doing it for whatever reason is killing me because of how competitive I am (with even just myself). I think I must have built up some sort of mental barrier that makes me believe I can't do it.

So I want to start over on a completely blank state. What do you think would be the most effective and efficient routine to follow towards my first Lucid Dream? I'm interested in personal recommendations from personal experiences. I've been reading LaBerges book and I've read through 99% of the tutorials here. I just want something personal.

Will give "thanks" to all responders.

Well, for me it took almost 1 year from knowing about lucid dream to having one.
Why don't you try other techniques ? If you have access to an alarm with auto-snooze, ipod touch or iphone, try the CAN-WILD or FILD technique, and the WILD itself too.

Just because it's taking a while to have your first lucid, it doesn't mean you can't do it. Some people end up trying for years, but when they finally have that first LD, it's all that much better.

If you wake up in the middle of the night, try supplemental LD techniques during that time. Do a quick WBTB and rise your awareness. Think - if dreams feel just as real as reality when you're in them because you don't question them, what's the difference until you confirm it? That mindset's helped me acquire a lot of lucid dreams, so it might help you too. Or, Brunor2 has a good point; try out other methods because you may be much better at them than DILD.

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Originally Posted by Puffin

Just because it's taking a while to have your first lucid, it doesn't mean you can't do it. Some people end up trying for years, but when they finally have that first LD, it's all that much better.

If you wake up in the middle of the night, try supplemental LD techniques during that time. Do a quick WBTB and rise your awareness. Think - if dreams feel just as real as reality when you're in them because you don't question them, what's the difference until you confirm it? That mindset's helped me acquire a lot of lucid dreams, so it might help you too. Or, Brunor2 has a good point; try out other methods because you may be much better at them than DILD.

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Always can count on you! And thanks to you to Bruno. I think I might try going with that thought process on the WBTB, Puffin. I think it's more my mindset that's the issue than my technique. I'm just discouraged and seeing people around me having great luck (a few irl friends) so it's rough. But thank you.

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Originally Posted by jasonresno

Always can count on you! And thanks to you to Bruno. I think I might try going with that thought process on the WBTB, Puffin. I think it's more my mindset that's the issue than my technique. I'm just discouraged and seeing people around me having great luck (a few irl friends) so it's rough. But thank you.

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Glad I could help, and good luck! :)

I'm relatively new to LDing myself (only started two months ago), but I would definitely agree with the above posts. Additionally, I offer:
1) Puffin's post about thinking about the difference between non-lucids and waking life is great---I never thought about it that directly. I would complement that thought process with the idea of awareness. (If you've read Naiya's thread about her WILD and DILD secrets, you know what I mean. Otherwise, I'd suggest reading it. Since I'm a new member, I can't post the link. Sorry.)

2) The most important thing I think is to believe you can LD. I know it sounds a bit cheesy, and that you may have lost some confidence over the past few months, but I think this concept is key and perhaps the most important of all. In my (limited) experience, the successful nights of LDing I've had were nights when I feel I believed it the most. I literally told myself, with full presence of mind, that I would LD that night. As I see it, you have to know that you will LD that night. There's no reason why you can't have your first LD (or any number LD for that matter). You've been unsuccessful in the past? Forget about it. Or acknowledge it and move on. Whatever---it doesn't change anything. You must abandon any and all doubt. I For someone as self-critical as myself, that's something hard to do, but I believe it is crucial. You must in your deepest thoughts believe you will LD (a mantra that goes along with this would be helpful I believe). Entrench this belief in yourself every night (and every day too if you can). I know you can do it---but do you?

Hope that helps.
--Whitemountain
p.s. From my knowledge, smoking MJ hurts any chances of LDing significantly. Don't know if that's a factor in your life, but, if it is, you'll have to make some decisions and find something that works.

Now, question to you puffin, when you mean confirm, do you mean confirm what is reality and what is a dream? Like using a "Totem" like Inception? I know that is a movie, but it's intrigued me enough to research LD's.

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Originally Posted by jasonresno

This isn't a whining thread, far from it, but this is a plea for help. I've been trying to LD since my join date on this website and I've practiced dilligently what (I thought) was a good routine. Do reality checks throughout the day (legit ones, not just going through the motion). Keep a dream journal and even meditate before bed.

I haven't had any luck so far and it's killing me. The fact that something so cool is possible and I'm just incapable of doing it for whatever reason is killing me because of how competitive I am (with even just myself). I think I must have built up some sort of mental barrier that makes me believe I can't do it.

So I want to start over on a completely blank state. What do you think would be the most effective and efficient routine to follow towards my first Lucid Dream? I'm interested in personal recommendations from personal experiences. I've been reading LaBerges book and I've read through 99% of the tutorials here. I just want something personal.

Will give "thanks" to all responders.

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You can try WILD this way no SP, happened twice in a row for me just after I hit the pillow within 5 min....leave a light on a dimmer brightness just enough to be aware of it through eyelids but not preventive of sleep and then try to sleep being aware of it and the room but you must be able to re visualize what light is it, you can train for that during the day...chances are you will find yourself dreaming like as if you are still awake with the light on and then your awareness will drift from the light to other parts of the room and you should still be able to maintain some degreee of waking memory that you have control and you are dreaming...For it to work you have to be really sleepy so the mind skips the stages of sleep and jump right into REM but the side effect is that you will feel unrested after trying and have to sleep the rest off.

IMJ

Never give up. As people above me have said just because you haven't had one doesn't mean you can't. Keep doing your best, keep performing your reality checks, keep up to date on your dream journal, etc. Never give up and keep positive.

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Originally Posted by cruccius

Now, question to you puffin, when you mean confirm, do you mean confirm what is reality and what is a dream? Like using a "Totem" like Inception? I know that is a movie, but it's intrigued me enough to research LD's.

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It means you need to make absolute sure that what is going on is indeed reality. For example at this very moment who's to say you're not dreaming? Odviously I'm going to say you aren't since I'm sitting up in Canada typing this post but I could also be your mind tricking you into believing it's reality. You need to confirm reality using what's known as a 'reality check'. My personal favourite is closing your nostrils with your fingers and trying to breathe through it. In a dream you will be able to breathe no matter what (yes, even under water) so if you find you can breathe then you know it's a dream! We do these tests routinely in the hopes that it will creep into our dreams and we will begin to question if they are in fact dreams. In regards to the movie it is alot like those. However those were objects and the method I described uses your own body. I find that my way is more reliable because if we take the spinny thing he used in the movie, our subconscious mind could always make it do what we expect it to do.

I hope that answered your question?

Thanks for all of the great posts guys. I wasn't sure if I was going to be lambasted or not for posting this thread but I'm glad you guys were the ones to respond. I'll keep reading and re-reading these posts, they're inspiring enough to make me think maybe I can do it.

What is lambested?..:P.

IMJ

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Originally Posted by imj

What is lambested?..:P.

IMJ

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Lambaste - To scold, reprimand or criticize harshly; To give a thrashing to; to beat severely
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lambaste

;)

i had a similar story to you, then after months and months i tried this technique where you just simply repeat "im dreaming" and maybe put it to the tune of a song and i had a lucid dream the day after i started the new technique. possiblyworth a try

Keep your hopes up, you can do it! :D

Now that you mention..I remember having this also but werid thing was I did not do it while awake! I covered myself with the blanket that night because it was cold but it built up heat and I was aware of it and next thing I know...I kept repeating.."Im dreaming....I'm dreaming" in dream state with the imagery forming..but I woke up before it became full blown dream.

IMJ

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Originally Posted by rockinred

It means you need to make absolute sure that what is going on is indeed reality. For example at this very moment who's to say you're not dreaming? Odviously I'm going to say you aren't since I'm sitting up in Canada typing this post but I could also be your mind tricking you into believing it's reality. You need to confirm reality using what's known as a 'reality check'. My personal favourite is closing your nostrils with your fingers and trying to breathe through it. In a dream you will be able to breathe no matter what (yes, even under water) so if you find you can breathe then you know it's a dream! We do these tests routinely in the hopes that it will creep into our dreams and we will begin to question if they are in fact dreams. In regards to the movie it is alot like those. However those were objects and the method I described uses your own body. I find that my way is more reliable because if we take the spinny thing he used in the movie, our subconscious mind could always make it do what we expect it to do.

I hope that answered your question?

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Yep. ^

"The spinny thing he used in the movie" is the same idea as lights fail in dreams. You are using a factual check that what he used in the movie works. The light check also works in my dreams in the same way concept by fact because it's been mentioned many times in the forum that it WILL fail if it's a dream and it does in the dream. Autosuggestion....but based on fact or rather backed by alot of support that it is a fact..

IMJ

Are you only trying DILDs? I've been interested in lucid dreaming for about 6 months now and have only had 2 DILDs and each one has been immediately after a WILD. I suggest trying WBTB WILDs it's where I've had the most success. The biggest factor is staying awake long enough before going back to sleep. If I only wake up for 5 minutes I'll immediately fall back asleep, but if I stay awake for 30minutes-1hr then go back to bed and meditate I will always have a WILD. Persistence is key! If you continue to try you'll eventually have one I assure you.

It really depends from person to person and melatonin levels of the night...I think it fluctuates. Some people fall back to sleep easier than others and like me I can't fall back to sleep if I woke up for more than a few minutes and on other nights I sleep through with no dreams and it's morning so if it doesn't work.....remember the night is for sleeping not for WBTB and then disturb your sleep cycle.

IMJ

It's not hard. The key for me was wake back to bed. Go to bed for six hours, stay up two, and it really helps to do a MILD mantra before going back to bed again (but make sure you're tired!). I have so many dreams after a 6-2 wbtb and most of the time if I put forth effort one or two will be lucid. It helps to stay up late the night before so you're tired enough

"I will have a lucid dream" is a bad mantra. A good one for me would be: "The next thing I'll know is that I'm dreaming" and I'll usually say that until right before I fall asleep.