Thread: RC Techniques LD Techniques, and What do YOU use?

Glad to see so much interests, hi there I'm going to skip some of your question but try to answer them in some text to make the information easier to associate:

Most people become lucid by a mix between DILD and MILD techniques. This means they perform reality checks during the day, and at the same time, connect themselves emotionally to the task of becoming lucid. They use dream signs as a support (for example people that see cars in many dreams start focusing on doing a reality check every time they see one) and set up goals which help their brains get used to the routine.
No matter what technique you use, the habit of performing reality checks is crucial. Lucidity can be lost in the middle of the dream. You have to picture lucid dreaming like a style of life: you question your reality, you maintain that habit of doing it, and in the end, you wake up inside your dreams. The regular lucids everyone wants to/achieves is due this habit. The action s of reality checks are so deep inside their brains due continued routine, that they go into your dreaming events.

In all, the speed in which you achieved a lucid (or you become regular) depends on factors like your sleep habits, your stress, your emotional connection, and in your will. Since everyone is unique, everyone has their own way to find out what's the best way to achieve lucidity. Some people repeat reality checks, other inspire themselves with goals or movies or sharing experiences, and some others create a routine like meditation half hour before bed. The first thing you should know about lucid dreaming: everyone does it in their own way. Some people do reality checks with their watches, others with their hands. Some people have a dog as dreamsign, others have their working place.

About reality checks, you should vary. This is because you'll do them noticing what you're doing, and not performing a random action without thinking. The simple question "Am I dreaming?" works. Asking yourself why/what are you doing also helps. They key is to question yourself and trying to answer that question.
I can understand that you're excited, that for sure helps since I was so excited in the first day that I quickly achieved a lucid in that night.

About DEILD, it's basically waking up in the middle of a dream (alarm or by will) and not moving. The brain will then think that you are still asleep, so it will get back to dreaming. That produces a transition to the dream that is very very fast (matter of a few seconds). The deal is waking up and not moving as you may have guessed by now People train themselves not to open their eyes or move and then try to awake during REM stage, either by changing sleeping habits or using an alarm.

I also suggest you to focus a lot in your dream journal. It's not just to improve your dream recall. If you waste loads of times on it (reading and writing) you'll become familiarized with your dream world. This means you'll be more aware of dream signs, of sleeping routines, etc etc.

Feel free to keep the questions coming

Thanks Zoth!!

So, could my dream sign be something like, everytime i walk into another room i do a RC?
Or something that includes sight like u said,seeing a car

And what did u use for your first willing LD? and how do u like the technique? do u prefer it?

haha sorry very curious MILD is just telling and assuring urself that you WILL have a LD right?

heres what i do at night...
if i remember i will:
1. Get 30 minutes to relax in bed, think about LD and tell myself i will remember my dreams and i will hav a LD etc. etc.
2. Close my eyes and vision how i want my dream
3. repeat
4. IF i wake up earlier than usual or when i wake up i add what i remembered in my dream to my DJ

that is all >.< and i need to find a dream sign so i can get into the habit of RC'ing cuz right now i am searching for one so i can get used to it, so that is prolly my main problem

Dream signs can vary greatly. They can be people you know, objects, even scenarios. The important thing about them is that they tend to repeat themselves in your dreams. They don't necessarily appear in ALL your dreams, but you can expect them to appear in most of them. Since there are loads of dream signs, you should start by finding your "main" ones. You can do this by checking your dream journals by things that repeat. Example:

Dream 1 "I was at the phone with a friend. We decide to take the airplane and visit China...."
Dream 2 "I'm at the church. Everyone is talking about something I don't understand. My family is now outside calling me. I go to them and we decide to go to the park. I grab my phone and ask my friend..."

As you can see, the phone here repeats. A dream sign can be a very minimal thing, even something you wouldn't give yourself importance but if you look closely, it's there.
Other than that, you can simply do reality checks with things that are common during your day. I prefer not to use doors, but that's due the amount of them I cross. You can choose something in the lines of "Every time I move from one place to another I will question my reality", or "every time I find something odd I will do a reality check". At a later point, you can switch these with dream signs or even combine them. They are there just to make yourself used to questioning your reality, so whatever makes you remember best, do it. As you'll find, lucid dream is a lot about trial and error.

About my technique, I like to perform DILD. This means: keeping the habits of questioning reality and performing reality checks in hopes the habit goes into the dream. But as said above, the technique is just a "cover". The habit and the wanting to achieved lucidity is the key. There are VERY successful lucid dreamers that achieve lucidity simply by spending 5 minutes before going to sleep looking at their hands and repeating "I will look at my hands and I will realize I'm dreaming". My advice is focus more on keeping a good pace, not worrying if you miss a day or two, but keep present the intention of becoming lucid. The lucid dream will come, but every practice only makes it come faster. About MILD, it relies largely on your ability to store an intention or resolution in your brain, aka, telling yourself that you will do a reality check when you dream, or even going as further as visualizing yourself becoming lucid. I suggest you to read tutorials on MILD, because it's great for beginners, since the excitement to have a lucid is half the way to achieve it.

About your routine, let me add a few tips which really help:

1. Yup, that preparation before bed helps a lot. When going through your memories of the day, your brain might remember that you still have something to do, which is, reality check!
2. This is also a very good way. Imagine yourself questioning reality, finding something weird. You can even go to the point of putting some "heroic" music and imagining yourself experiencing the first seconds of you becoming lucid. After you have your first lucid, you can use that memory to induce more because emotional connection makes way powerful memories!
4. When you wake up, don't feel the urge of getting up and run to your pc/notes to note your dream. Lie there, as if you would continue to sleep. Now start to think on the memories that come to your head. Something about a book? Maybe I was at school or at the library...Why am I thinking about that colleague? Hey maybe we were doing something. If you feel scared, or worried, think about that. Maybe you had a stressful dream. Sometimes I end up staying almost 10 minutes and suddenly the dream starts to show up. Only AFTER you thought and recalled the most information you could, you get up and record it. Don't worry too much about if this detail is true or not, if at the time it seems it is, point it out. Also, think and write the dream in the present, as if you were experiencing it right now.

For last, don't stress about it. The fun in this experience is that everyone can become an expert. They just need to figure out what triggers lucidity for them. A week ago I went to bed and said "screw it, won't even note my dreams when I wake up" and then I got lucid. Good luck!

PS: if you find yourself struggling to keep this habit, thinking "4 days and still no lucid. This sucks..", trust me is totally normal. Your brain might to fight a bit due this new routine but eventually it will play along. Although you seem so positive that I'm sure your lucid will come sooner than you'll expect. Keep it like that ^^

i'm no expert and i'm actually shocked because i am same age and i was in EXCATLY the same position as you. 2 weeks 5 attempts. From my 1 Lucid dream experience which was a DILD i think just simple reality checks are the way to go. In my lucid dream i didnt actually RC i just became aware of the dream.

So from more researching Dream Signs are things that occur in your dreams often and you can utilize them to gain lucidity?
So in that case i need to have more normal dreams, work on my recall, reconize those signs and use them?
haha idk but with RC's im at the point where every 30-45 minutes my brain says to me "oh yea, RC's, u should do one right now" but i personally want it better than that

I've never had a real LD yet (I've had a couple that lasted a few seconds only, but that's about it). In terms of Reality Checks though, the one I use and like is trying to push my index finger through my other hand (You may or may not have heard of this one). It's simple, quick and discreet. Just take your index finger, and try to push it through the palm of your other hand.

It almost worked once, too. I did it in a dream and my finger went through my hand. But strangely, I didn't get lucid but it was a start.