Thread: Where do I start?

First of all welcome to the forums!

The biggest thing I can stress is starting and keeping a dream journal in which you write down any and all dreams you can remember from each night. This helps you to improve dream recall so you can remember your dreams (and not forget the lucid ones) and also helps you pick out dream signs, recurring dream symbols, which can help you attain lucidity. If you have trouble remembering your dreams try not getting up immediately in the morning. Lay there for 5-10 minutes trying to remember any dreams you can. Anything is good whether it be a place, a person, or just a peculiar feeling you have. Dream journals (DJ) are one of, if not, the most important things in lucid dreaming.

You should also read up on the various induction techniques used to achieve lucidity. Each person has their own favorite method that works best for them and the only way to find out which is best for you is to try them. Most people find DILD (dream induced lucid dream-realizing you are dreaming while in a dream) and its various forms/adaptations the easiest, whereas WILD (wake induced lucid dream-going directly from a waking state to a dream) and its variations harder but you're welcome to try whichever one you like.

One final thing you have to do is learn about the various reality checks, actions preformed to see whether or not you are dreaming. Some include plugging your nose and trying to breathe through it (in a dream you can breathe just fine), looking at your hands (there are often extra/missing fingers or other deformations), and looking at text (text can appear jumbled up/in strange symbols while in dreams). These are vital in making sure you are in a dream before you try anything. You wouldn't want to jump out of your window while awake and break your leg .

And yes, you should definitely bother trying. Lucid dreaming is one of the most amazing experiences humans can have and the only limit is your imagination. You can do anything you want with no consequences. But don't think you can't do it, that's one of the worst things to do while trying to lucid dream, have a negative mindset. Lucid dreaming is entirely in your brain and if you keep a negative connotation with lucid dreaming then it will become that much harder to have one. Anyone can lucid dream. In fact, many people have them without even knowing it, especially when they're younger. They also have many positive impacts on waking life such as relieving stress, combating nightmares, fulfilling fantasies, or getting inspiration. There's also no known negative effects of lucid dreaming which makes it even more awesome.

Just remember that it can take a while to have your first lucid dream. The average time from finding out about what it is to actually having one is a few weeks to a few months so you can't give up early. Perseverance is key. But if you follow these tips and stay positive you will have no trouble having your first one and should start seeing more and more of them as you go. Good luck and happy dreaming!

If you have any more questions feel free to pm anyone on the forum, especially people on the dream guide team (their names appear in green and have 3 stars beneath it) or make a new thread/post on this one.

Do try! It never hurts. I, too, have just started to research lucid dreaming. Unfortunately, I have not had one yet, but with the techniques I have used I have had more vivid non-lucid dreams and have been able to recall them more easily than ever before. If you have trouble clearing your mind, try some meditation. That way you are only focusing on one thing and one thing only. Sometimes to calm myself or get myself ready for bed, I'll sit down in a comfortable position and close my eyes. Breathe. Shut off your mind and feel/listen for your heart beat. Once you feel it and can hear it, breathe very deeply and slowly still focusing on your heart beat. That should really help you relax and be calm, at the very least.

As far as remembering dreams, buy a little journal that you can keep by your bed at night. Throughout the day and right before you go to bed, say to yourself, "I will remember my dreams". As many times as you're able to. The more you do it, the more your brain will be programmed to say, "Hey, those dreams are probably important information I need to keep". And don't worry, we all have tons of dreams during the night it's just that we only remember a select few.

I believe that everyone is very capable of lucid dreaming, some just have more of a natural gift than others. Just continue doing more research on it (more of the reason that I've been procrastinating on school work...whoops) and soon you'll become better at remembering your dreams and possibly having a lucid dream.

Originally Posted by McTavish55

I've just recently started looking into this stuff and, despite my skeptical nature, I am quite interested in giving it a shot. How exactly should I go about doing this? My sleep pattern is way off, I usually don't get to sleep until around 2:00. I have trouble clearing my mind, I over think a LOT! I'm a very restless and somewhat light sleeper, usually awakening multiple times a night. And I have a lot of trouble remembering dreams... Sometimes I wonder if I just hardly dream at all.

Should I even bother trying? Or does it seem like something I wouldn't be able to do?

Welcome to Dreamviews!

All you need is one lucid dream, and you'll never look back. It's that good. Everybody can do it, so can you

OK, as Burke says, remembering your dreams is important, so you need to work on your dream recall. Check out this tutorial that includes tips for that. Good place to get acquainted with various techniques is Beginners guide to lucid dreaming.

I would recommend you practice induction technique for DILD, but you can also check out the WILD. If you wake up at night, you can try the WBTB - Wake back to bed - technique, and also DEILD. You can read explanations about all of them in the Beginners guide and then check out the details in DV Wiki. Please post your questions should you need help. Happy dreams