Hi, I'm new here.

I just started trying to have lucid dreams a couple weeks ago, and I seem to have an uncanny knack for WILDs. I've succeeded in 3 out of 4 WILD attempts so far. The failed one was when I tried WBTB when I wasn't really sleepy enough. I did fall asleep eventually and had a very weird chaotic dream that I might have been lucid for part of but I don't really remember, and when I woke up I was really tired and felt off for most of the day from oversleeping. Lesson: No more trying for a WILD in the morning when I've had a decent night's sleep and don't feel sleepy.

Everything I've read about WILDs suggests they're not easy to learn. Is it weird to find that it's really easy? Has anyone else had an experience like that? I think the reason it's been easy for me is that I've been experiencing sleep paralysis every now and then for the past five or six years. The first time I got SP was after my first (and only, that I can remember, prior to the past two weeks) LD. The SP was scary, but a little fun too. Once I got used to it and figured out there was a name for it, it was mostly fun and only a little scary. After the first time I had SP, it's mostly been sort of a hybrid thing with SP combined with really vivid imagery (the most vivid colors I have ever seen in my life was during SP) and sometimes sounds, like someone talking to me. I'd slip into SP, wake up briefly, and slip back into SP, and repeat that a few times, until I actually got up after waking. Never went from SP into a dream until I learned about the connection between SP and WILD.

Trying to find stuff out about SP was actually how I learned anything about LD in the first place, although I didn't really try it until just recently. I usually keep a journal, and, for some reason, I started writing down some of my dreams in my journal. It was about then that I realized I'd been remembering dreaming pretty much every day. Way back, I'd read that good dream recall was important to have lucid dreams, and this just seemed like really good timing to give LD a proper try. I decided to start keeping a separate dream journal and got a copy of EWLD from the local library.

I'm having a harder time with DILD. I've had one so far, and I consider that lucky. My friend's dog turned into my brother in a dream, and I actually realized I was dreaming. I got so excited I woke up right afterwards, though.

Anyway. I'm really glad to have found these forums, as I don't really have anyone to talk to about LD in real life.