I cant quite get it.

i'd like to start by saying that I've read almost every link I could before posting, and I apologize for the verbosity you're about to endure.

I try every night, and day (during the time i've allotted myself to attempt LD). I've got zero problems relaxing. I've combined a couple different things i've read from different threads to try to maximize the chances for a LD, so this what my routine looks like:

I wake up every morning without need for an alarm at 4:30 give or take to use the restroom. I've taped a huge sign on my bathroom door that reads:

"Recap on your last dream out loud, stretch, and remember to WBTB!"

I dont ever have trouble with motivation to WBTB or remembering the last dream. I climb back in bed after, stretch my muscles to avoid stiffness and the urge to fidget. I put on some .mp3's that have supposedly been tailored to aid in LD, a voice in the 30 minute track (that i have looping from the time i lay down till the time i get up for good) repeats suggestions that "I'm dreaming", "do a reality check" etcetera.

Then, I picture myself climbing a couple flights of stairs in my old house as i count every step i take. I find myself starting to forget what I'm trying to do around the time i reach step 200 or so (around 700 if I'm making an attempt during a mid-day nap).

I start to see coloured splotches and then my body starts to tingle, i find it very hard to move my body (i dont know if this is sleep paralysis, or if that actually inhibits your ability to move if you wanted to). Sometimes i get excited and my heart starts to race a bit because I'm really eager to succeed.

Next I feel the tingles go away and I'm more aware that i'm lying in bed with a task in mind. A few minutes later the tingles come back and I feel as if I could sink through the bed. I then start to hallucinate (mildly). I tell myself that I'm very close and try to maintain conciousness by counting, then without warning, I'm either asleep or wide awake again.


(This might be the cause)

I am (actually and truthfully) a medical marijuana patient. I've read that pot really shortens (if not inhibits completely) REM. So i've limited myself to smoking (tolerating the pain that results) to only weekends for the sole purpose of increasing my chances for LD.

So my questions are as follows:


1) In regards to the first topic, I cant find real links with people having the same issue, let alone a solution. Is this typical for a beginner? I can expand on any bit of information if needed.

2) In regards to the second topic, do i need to keep pot out of my system entirely to succeed? Or can people smoke once in the early morning and still LD when they go to bed at night?

3) I'm pretty sure I'm taking all the right steps, can someone tell me if my technique is fubar'd? I read so many different things in so many places, so as i said, I decided to combine some of them.

I'll look forward to hearing your responses tonight! Thanks for your time.

- Edit -
I think the IRCd thinks my handle implies that i am a rapist, and wont permit me to join. Seeing as how it requires you to use valid credentials from the site also, I'm hosed. Can I have my handle changed, or should I just re-register?

(P.S. lol)

The main problem that I see with your routine is that it jumps the gun significantly on some techniques that are of a major importance to the beginning lucid dreamer. It also employs an advanced technique, the WILD technique, as the main for of attaining lucidity. This technique is very frustrating for beginners (I speak from experience on this one) and best left unattempted until after you are already lucid dreaming frequently. What you are experiencing is a very common occurrence for people learning the WILD method.

The most important thing in learning to lucid dream is having a strong dream recall. The best way to increase your dream recall is to keep a dream journal and to write down your dreams when you wake up each morning. Dream recall doesn't usually develop instantly and you will probably have to keep this up for weeks to months until you are able to recall at least 3-4 dreams per night. When you get your dream recall up to a decent level, you can then start the various lucid dream induction techniques. One very reliable on is doing regular Reality Checks throughout your day. Some of the ones that I do include: flicking a light switch on and off when I come across to see if it works (they don't work in dreams); looking at small printed text, then away, and then back at them to see if the words change; noting the time on a digital clock to see if it makes sense (the often have odd times in dreams, ex: 34:97); attempting to push my hands through each other; and the the classic pinch to see if I can feel pain. It is important to attach your reality checks to events that happen frequently in your daily life. The idea here is that when you then dream about those events, you will preform a reality check and therefore attain lucidity. Some good starter techniques are the MILD technique and the DILD technique, of which there are some fantastic guides on this site. Once you have begun to get the hang of these techniques and are having frequent lucid dreams, you can them move on to more challenging techniques like the WILD technique. Your WBTB technique is still useful to adopt as a habit however, as it wakes you up at the perfect time to remember your dreams, right in the middle of a REM cycle. Just ditch the WILD attempt until you are ready for it.

As for your medical marijuana use, you may be partially correct to assume that it is the cause of your troubles (however, it does not, as you say, inhibit REM sleep completely):

"THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, has been shown to decrease the latency of stages 3 and 4 of sleep, as well as decrease the latency or, oftentimes, altogther eliminate the REM phase of sleep. Laboratory research has been very consistent on this particular adverse relationship since the 1970's, and has been replicated with rats, rabbits, cats, rhesus monkeys, and human beings (mostly college students). The implications for this finding are far-reaching. REM sleep is vital. It is the one point during the night in which your body's muscles and tissues are most at rest. Because of this, the bulk of your tissue & cell repair is done during this phase. It is the immune system's most effective time to work. REM is also vital for the consolidation of short-term memory into long-term memory (remember that chronic marijuana users do not perform as well on task associated with short-term memory as non-users or occasional recreational users). REM is also when the bulk of your dreams happen, and dreams are most vivid durinig this phase (remember the memory consolidation)."

‎"does smoking marijuana interrupt REM sleep?
To address this question, Feinberg, et al. (1975) compared the sleep patterns of experienced marijuana users on tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and a placebo. Feinberg, et al. (1975) reported reduced eye movement activity and less REM sleep in the THC condition. They also reported a REM rebound effect, that is more REM activity, on withdrawal from THC. So,there exists some scientific evidence that marijuana interfers with REM sleep."

Some people even call marijuana the "thief of dreams":

"Marijuana - The thief of dreams.
[...]
For those marijuana addicts that are creative and believed marijuana would help enhance or reveal greater truths, amplify ideas and creative ability or provide inspiration where once there was mundanity, it has come at the expense of the most powerful of inspirations - the dream, that wellspring of images and feelings, far richer than any hazy gape through marijuana's keyhole.
So to those who are going through the intense dreams, I say you are being given a real gift. You are waking up to that consciousness that sleep brings. You are the new kid in the school of dreams.
So to those who are going through this reawakening in all it's intensity, I say embrace it and in time you will see that marijuana is a thief of true beauty and true inspiration."

Marijuana does seem to significantly affect dream recall, though it does not, as far as I can tell, directly effect the ability to attain lucidity in a dream. But it does indirectly effect the ability to lucid dream by decreasing the duration of REM sleep and the ability to recall dreams. If your are unwilling to give up the use of you medical marijuana and live in pain (it will probably take at least three weeks abstinence from marijuana to fully reverse its suppression of your dreams, but possibly only a few days), there is an alternative route you could take to improve your dream recall whilst still using medical marijuana: the use of oneirogens. Oneirogens are substances that naturally increase your dream recall and could possibly at least cancel out the effects of marijuana on dreams. Keep in mind to always thoroughly research any substance you intend to ingest before using it. I suggest beginning that research by looking the substance up on Erowid. Also, keep in mind that some substances have adverse effects when combined with other substances. Make sure that any oneirogen you take doesn't react negatively with any other medications or substance you use. That being said, I will suggest two oneirogens that I have used to great effect to increase my dream recall and the vividness of my dreams: kanna and calea zacetachichi (cally z for short). Kanna a is very pleasant and mild drug, and can be obtained in a powdered form to be sprinkled in with your joints or baked in with your cana-infused dishes. Cally z has arguably an even more mild effect on your waking consciousness (though not in taste, it is probably the most bitter substance in existence) and can be smoked, made into a tea or (if you can't handle its taste) ground up and put into gel capsules and swallowed. These substances can be ordered on-line, or purchased from a head shop, herb shop or some shop with the word "shaman" in its name.

Good luck and keep dreaming!

therapist -> the rapist

lulz

From your description, it sounds like you are doing everything exactly right. I can't think of what advice to give you other than, "Keep Trying." It may be helpful to shift your WBTB a couple minutes in either direction. Play with the timing a bit to try and nail a REM cycle.

You could also try taking a supplement / drugs to help your brain chemistry. It sounds like you are fine with self-medicating ;) Try a Galantamine/ Choline combination, as it seems to be the most effective of anything out there. I can pretty much guarantee that you will become lucid if you combine your current routine with Galantamine.