Frustration!

[Kaimelar]

I don´t get it! I´ve been doing reality checks every 15 to 20 minutes all day. I´m remembering like 2 dreams per night, I´m incubating dreams and focusing my intents by night and I haven´t had ONE LucidDream... I can only remember one dream in which I actually remembered to do a reality check but then I said: "Seems real, so no point on doing one..." I already got rid of that stupid habit but still no success... I need some moral support ppl Am I doing something wrong? I do reckon the fact that it´s been kinda stressful lately with everything I have to do for school, my preparation for my SATs (they´re actually called PSU in my country) and I´ve been having some fights and bad mood with my girlfriend lately... so I guess it must be stress related

[Seeker]

Stress is a lucid KILLER! Sounds like you are doing everything correctly. Have you identified any dreamsigns yet? That is still key to my becomming lucid.

[Howie]

I can't tell you how many people say they are srtessed out and all of them are having trouble with lucidity. So don't get to discouraged. As soon as the SATs are over maybe you can settle down a little. Reality checks. All I have to say about them is.....Keep them real! Meaning make sure each one really really COUNTS! By doing so many per day you may have started to make them habitual. As a result your brain does what you had explained in your dream. It discounts it. Three reality checks done with conviction and Thoroughness is better than 25 that you do just going through the motions. With each one make it complete and be meticulous. Prove to yourself you are not dreaming. If you make everyone count and all-inclusive then in your dream when the time arises you will know doubt be able to account for consciouness.

[Kaimelar]

Thanx, and as for the stress and all, I guess I´ll just have to wait for my vacations, but I still want to be prepared for it, with the reality checks and all. Thanx for the advice on the reality checks, I guess ur right, I´ve been doing them like a routine and not meticulously... I don´t really have many dreamsigns though, I can´t count a few of them, but normally my dreams are so wild and changeable that I can´t acount for any repeated dreamsigns. In my dreams I usually dream that I don´t have a girlfriend or that my gf is someone else, so I include that in my reality checks. I also dream sometimes that I´m driving and that Im scared and cant drive... I also dream that painful situations cause no pain at all.. I dunno

[Jammy]

Another thing you can do for fun is try convincing yourself, right now if you will, that you are inside a dream(when you are awake)... that right now you are walking inside your own head and everything around you is your mental construct of reality...acctually that is not so far from the truth anyway It can be a fun experience... and then you can also learn to do reality check troughoutly... cause the realness and vividness of a LD can be mindblowing. There have been time where ive almost, and have, been convinced that i was awake both because of just saying to myself, "Wow this is to real" and seeing the world around me as to stable. Trying to see waking life(if just for some minutes) as a dream also puts you right in the moment you live in... no stress... no worries.. just a blank dreaming mind

[Seeker]

Originally posted by Jammy Another thing you can do for fun is try convincing yourself, right now if you will, that you are inside a dream(when you are awake)... that right now you are walking inside your own head and everything around you is your mental construct of reality...acctually that is not so far from the truth anyway YES! Very good advice Jammy! Someone needs to add that to one of the tutorials. (hint)

[Merck]

Yes try to find some time when you don't have to be at school or working and just go somewhere that you can enjoy your surroundings whether its with a couple of friends, your girlfriend or by yourself. I try to do this at least once a week and it relaxes be quite a bit. I prefer places where I can enjoy what nature has to offer since I live in a city. I just take that time to just relax and not be bothered or worried about anything at all. Watching the sun rie or set is another good one. It will just burn your worries away. I know sounds kinda hippyish but hey it works for me.

[Kaimelar]

Thanx guys. Ur all right. And I´ll take ur advice as for pretending that reality is a dream. Although I think I actually did that today while I was jogging (I asked myself: So, if this were a dream, what would it feel like? what would I do?) Anyway, today was a really good day. No problems with my girlfriend. I did really good on this preparation test for my science SATs. I jogged a lot more that some other days and I was pretty confident during a very important german test I had to do. So Im going to bed totally stress-free and I have this feeling I might even have a LD I´d be happy to do a tutorial about pretending reality is a dream but I guess I have to have a little more experience with LDs and all (besides the fact that I haven´t had a LD since I starting trying to induce them) Thanx for the feedback and the advice, I really apreciate it ^^

[Amethyst Star]

I think Howetzer already mentioned this, but when you're doing reality checks, make sure to do more than one. Once I tried pushing a finger through my other hand but it didn't work. Then, I held my nose but found that I was still able to breathe, and that made me very excited.... then I jumped out the window (just be certain you're dreaming before you do that) -Amé

[Kaimelar]

Yeah, I always test reality in at least 3 ways. I generally do a search for dream signs, I then go backwards in time and then finally re-read something 3 times (just in case) Today was a stressful day though, I was doing tests (no, not reality tests) all day. I barely did like 3 reality checks in the whole morning and afternoon, kinda sucks for a day, but hey, tomorrow will always be another day. I dont have my hopes up as to a LD today though, so that sucks...

[Aethereal_Pellucidity]

I like that idea of using dream-acknowledgment while awake as a reality check. It is much easier to see yourself as dreaming when you are AWAKE then it is when you are in the middle of a thoroughly non-LD dream. I remember in third grade one time when I asked my DCs whether I was asleep and THEY LIED TO ME! At any rate, I used it to my advantage. I told my entire family that if I ever asked if I was asleep, that they should tell me that I was so that I would know that I wasn't. It was very successful. The one time my brain tried to play a trick on me (cunning, but stupid), it didn't work. Do you know how WIERD it sounds when you are told in a dream that you are dreaming? I don't mean that it it SEEMED weird but that it actually SOUNDED funny. The way it was said totally gave it away as a false answers, sort of a lulling, vague, very dreamy voice.