Greetings DV! A Few Questions^^

Hey DV, I'm Guy, 17. I've learned about LDing about a year ago, but I've never really committed to it. I hope that now, with enough effort and commitment I''ll be able to do it! Many thinks to DV for the extremely organized and detailed guides and tutorials, you guys really make me want more to master LDing!

Since I've already created an introductory thread, I might as well use it to ask a few questions I've had trouble finding answers for:

a. Is there any point in writing down dreams of which I remember nearly nothing? For example, I recalled a dream in which all I could remember was what hero I was playing and a few items I had (you gotta be pretty damn addicted to dota 2 to even have dreams about it, I guess), and all I had was a frozen picture of the screen in my mind. Is that worth writing down?

b. I've memorized a few reality checks (nose, clock, reading, writing, gravity, locations, lights and stabbing my palm with my finger), but I'm not exactly sure when am I suppose to do them... Should I just do reality checks every half hour? Or every time I go through a door, or..?

c. About dream signs: Could I have a brief explanation? I can't seem to understand if dream signs are the illogical things I'm supposed to find in the dream to realize I'm dreaming, or things IRL that show up often in dreams, so when I interact with them IRL I should do a RC so the habit will transfer to my dream.

d. Since I can't really recall anything, is there any harm in starting the whole DILD process right now, so I won't be sitting around wasting time until I can remember my dreams? Also, I haven't really learned about MILD and WILD a lot, but should I begin practicing them as well? Or should I do just one technique at a time? Also, is it encouraged to eventually learn all the techniques to induce LDs?

Thanks again, I hope I'll enjoy my stay,
Guy.

Welcome to DreamViews, Guy!

a. I recommend writing down as much as you can, even if you remember almost nothing. The more details you can write down, the better your dream recall will be. Even if you don't remember anything at all, you can write down something like "Could not recall anything last night". This way you'll be more or less telling yourself to pay more attention to remembering your dreams, and this will also improve your dream recall.

b. Try to do reality checks whenever you think about it. The more you do reality checks, the more likely it is you'll do them in your dreams as well. If you are having trouble remembering to do reality checks, you can also set up an alarm that goes off every half hour or so as a reminder. However, it is best to only use such an alarm until you get in the habit of doing reality checks, as there won't be any alarms going off in your dreams to remind you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by guyuz

c. About dream signs: Could I have a brief explanation? I can't seem to understand if dream signs are the illogical things I'm supposed to find in the dream to realize I'm dreaming, or things IRL that show up often in dreams, so when I interact with them IRL I should do a RC so the habit will transfer to my dream.

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c. Both of these are correct. Basically, a dream sign is something that can tell you that you are dreaming. This could be something that is impossible in real life, like looking up and seeing people fly, but it can also be a recurrent element from your dreams. Say, for example, that a lot of your dreams take place in your living room. In this case, your living room can be a dream sign, because it is something that you often see in your dreams. If you have identified one of your dream signs, I highly recommend using reality checks whenever you see it again. So in the previous example, whenever you walk into your living room, either in a dream or when awake, do a reality check.

d. Usually, it is recommended to start practising lucid dreaming when you can recall at least one dream per night. Otherwise you might have a lucid dream, but won't be able to remember it. However, I don't think starting earlier can do any harm. As for the techniques to use, I recommend starting with DILD or MILD since they are considered the easiest for beginners. Choose a technique you want to start with, and stick with it for a couple of weeks before trying another technique. This way you'll be able to find out which technique works best for you. I don't recommend trying the WILD technique yet, though. Due to its difficulty, this technique is usually only recommended for experienced lucid dreamers.

I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay here. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

A: Yes, write ANYTHING. If you cannot remember anything in the morning, try to laying still in bed and just write down anything that come to your mind. It will get better and better over time.

B: As often as possible! But the most important thing is to actually "question" reality each time. Learn to look around you. How did you get here? Does it all make sense? And when you for example count your fingers, dont just look at them. Count them, really study them. Question everything, always. Dont just do it on routine, if you get what i mean?

C: There are alot of things that come back often. People, places etc. Those are dreamsigns. If you learn to reality check when you see them, it ofcourse increases your chance to become lucid!

D: Its no harm. But just try to recall even the slightest from a dream. You will see that as you try to recall, your brain will help you. You will most likely start remembering more and more over the coming nights. Just keep at it!
About MILD and WILD, this depends. DILD is a simple technique that you can use while using for example WILD. Read about them, maybe try them and decide what works for you!

And ofcourse, welcome to DreamViews. I'm sure you will enjoy your stay.

//Zelzahim

Welcome to DV man! I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay here. Tons of interesting information and on top of that, endless amounts of people's dream journals to give you ideas on what to do your own LD's! I have faith in you, seriously, I know it's said often but if I could do it, anyone can. I had my first LD by practicing All Day Awareness (ADA, as it's referred to), there is a guide on these forums somewhere about it. Basically throughout my day I would question if I am in reality or dreaming, then perform a reality check or two. Soon enough, these events started to bleed into my dream and that graceful moment, I realized I was dreaming!

Wow guys, thanks for the warm welcomes and the informative answers! Will do my best to recall my dreams ASAP.

PS: I woke up a few times last night (Naturally, no alarm or anything), and eventually out of the midst of lack of awareness I remembered about my dream journal. When I thought about remembering my dream (I wonder if it's the mantras before sleep that actually helped me think about that?), thoughts came up, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out if those were memories of my dreams or just my thoughts drifting after I already woke up... Should I write them down anyway?

EDIT: Also worth asking, I've had situations before where I had a memory come up (Not necessarily right after waking up) and I couldn't remember whether it happened or it was a dream.. Yesterday for example I was in class with a friend, and all of a sudden I remembered that he brought a spicy salad sandwich sometime to school and I was happy because he didn't bring one in a while (Pretty good stuff, hehe). It was a little vague, so I asked him if he had brought a spicy salad sandwich to school lately and he said no, so I concluded it was a dream. The only problem is, the picture in my memory that I have when thinking about that situation, is in the class we were yesterday in, and I'm not sure that's entirely true. So is it ok to write down memories in my DJ that might be inaccurate?

Thanks again, sorry for the walls of text^^

Quote:

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Originally Posted by guyuz

Wow guys, thanks for the warm welcomes and the informative answers! Will do my best to recall my dreams ASAP.

PS: I woke up a few times last night (Naturally, no alarm or anything), and eventually out of the midst of lack of awareness I remembered about my dream journal. When I thought about remembering my dream (I wonder if it's the mantras before sleep that actually helped me think about that?), thoughts came up, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out if those were memories of my dreams or just my thoughts drifting after I already woke up... Should I write them down anyway?

EDIT: Also worth asking, I've had situations before where I had a memory come up (Not necessarily right after waking up) and I couldn't remember whether it happened or it was a dream.. Yesterday for example I was in class with a friend, and all of a sudden I remembered that he brought a spicy salad sandwich sometime to school and I was happy because he didn't bring one in a while (Pretty good stuff, hehe). It was a little vague, so I asked him if he had brought a spicy salad sandwich to school lately and he said no, so I concluded it was a dream. The only problem is, the picture in my memory that I have when thinking about that situation, is in the class we were yesterday in, and I'm not sure that's entirely true. So is it ok to write down memories in my DJ that might be inaccurate?

Thanks again, sorry for the walls of text^^

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On your questions: That was most likely because you just went out of a dream. Perfect time to write down your dreams, then go back to sleep for another one! Remember to keep your stuff next to your bed ready, pencils sharpened etc. If you ask me, yeah. Write everything down. Sometimes, you can sit during the day and remember your dream. When that happens to me, i write them down wherever i am. Especially directly after a dream, those thoughts are most likely fragments of your dream! You might just get one sentence this night, but you will get more and more for each night.

Very nice for you that you discovered Lucid Dreaming; You will be amazed!

//Zelzahim