Can everyone lucid dream?

Hello all,

Just made this account today after spending 2 weeks browsing the various posts here. I made an account because I was wondering is everyone capable of lucid dreaming (or even remembering dreams) with enough practice?

I found out about lucid dreaming while killing time on youtube about 3 weeks ago. One channel led to another and eventually one that explained what lucid dreaming was came on. It got me very interested I did some research for a few days and then started trying it myself starting with a DJ. Here is where I hit my wall. In that time I have 2 entries in my DJ, I can't seem to remember my dreams. Sure i'll have one here and there where I remember a boat (for example) or another where I remember a store, but that's where the memory ends and I can't just write "boat" in my DJ. There are only 2 dreams I can remember that I wrote down and they are very short. I've tried all the various techniques i've read here and in books, because i've been keeping a DJ but at the same time attempting to LD. I've tried WILD a few times and DEILD because I tend to wake up naturally in the middle of my sleep which I think has to do with the fact that I work nights and sleep during the day. Also tried DILD and a few others but I think I either can't LD or I just never remember it even if I do because my dream recall sucks. I figured after roughly 3 weeks of telling myself i'll remember my dreams and drinking some apple juice before going to bed and not moving after waking would allow me to at least remember something so that I can actually start writing more in my DJ to get this whole process started. This has been a normal thing to me before I found out about LD, i've always typically remembered like 1 or 2 dreams a month and usually the whole memory fades within a couple minutes of waking up. I was hoping that being more aware of remembering dreams and starting a DJ would make it so I remember better but no dice....
Any advice?

One thing that annoys me (which is probably just jealousy lol) is that my wife, who tells me about her dreams daily in GREAT depth and detail having entire stories remembered has very little interest in LD, this never bothered me before until I learned about LD. Also turns out when I told her about what LD is she tells me that she controls her dreams and is lucid dreaming ALMOST EVERY NIGHT and thought this was just a natural thing that everyone was able to do having never mentioned it or talked to others about the fact that she knew she was dreaming and could control some aspects of it. She used to keep a DJ as a kid just as a hobby (doesn't anymore) and does nothing to try to induce LD it just happens to her naturally more frequently than not but still she has no interest she says "it's just a dream"
Anyone else in this forum have just a natural knack for LD?

Welcome! And yes, everyone can lucid dream with enough practice and motivation, some people just need more time than others.

For your dream recall, you need to keep writing on your dream journal and eventually you'll find yourself with longer dreams and more detailed. Try apple juice, it works for me. For most people the easiest way to achieve the first lucid dream is starting practicing with MILD/DILD. You can also try repeating a mantra during the day, like 'I remember my dreams', every time you open a door or I don't know, every time you look your watch.
I think the most important thing is motivation and confidence, think you can do it, and you will.

You have a lucky wife, she's maybe a natural lucid dreamer :D

Keep working and good luck!

Thanks for the reply. I already drink a cup of apple juice before bed, and repeat my mantra while lying in bed with my eyes closed. Problem with the dream journal i've been having is since I never remember anything I have nothing to write in my DJ. Sometimes I MIGHT have a vague recollection of being on a boat or (insert location here), but other than that there are no feelings, thoughts, actions or other sensory stuff associated with the dream other than I remember being someplace, and then I don't even remember what the place I was at looked like just knew that I was there. I use boat because it was the thing I remember from the day before.

If the term opposites attract is true then at least for the dream world my wife and I are TRUE opposites. Lucky her lol.

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Originally Posted by Tinytankard

and I can't just write "boat" in my DJ.

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Yes you can. I write any memory what-so-ever that I can recall. Even if I don't recall a dream, I write down "no dream memory".

Another thing that happens is I remember recalling a dream when I wake up at night, but forget it in the morning. I tend to just write "recalled dream but lost memory of what happened"

Writing something is better than nothing.

I would strongly reccomend trying ADA (All Day Awareness) it's a basic technique that encourages you to take in the small things during the day and concentrate on them, for example feeling the air your breathing in move trough your throat and down into or lungs, eventually you can tune into these 'little things' most of the day, it helped me a lot with dream recall when I was first starting out, but as others have already reccomended use your dream journal to its fullest potential, I always wright something in mine, even when I didn't remember a thing every night I wrote how I was feeling and my tiredness ect.

Good luck with it all.

Thanks all for the replies. Phased I actually spent a couple hours just now looking up ADA before I came back to this thread and saw your reply, I stumbled on it while looking up something else. It is hard for me to envision myself concentrating on such small things throughout the day I can't even really understand what the others are saying about being aware of things because I am always aware like when I feel my fingers clicking the keyboard etc. but it is something I decided i'm going to try.

Good to hear buddy, you won't regret it, even if it doesn't help with obtaining lucidity it will defiantly make you feel better, it did both for me, don't see why it won't for you. I'm not sure what it is about ADA that appeals to me, but it's defiantly one of my favourite recall enhancement techniques.

If you don't wish to concentrate on ADA 24/7 I'd reccomend doing it when you do a reality check, this why you can enhance your RC's as well as practice your ADA.

It can be more difficult for some people to attain lucidity. It took me two years of trying before I had my first LD. I wish that were an exaggeration. It seems like very young kids might have an easier time with this. It also seems like it is easier to retain that ability rather than trying to obtain it in adulthood. Still, it is possible. You can do this. You are on the right track. You are becoming lucid. Trust me on this one.

First, when it concerns your dream journal, write even the most minute detail down. Even if you only remember a vague sense, a concept, a color, a word. No matter how trivial if all you can remember is that your dream "had something to do with the color red" then write that down. If all you can remember was "someone might have been angry" then write that down. You must convince your brain that your dreams are important enough to remember. That is first and foremost. Focus on that. At this point, to increase your recall, give your brain a cookie every time you remember remember a detailed dream. Once your recall improves, slowly move the goalpost towards lucidity and reward yourself when you recognize you're dreaming. This will get you on the fast track.

Another thing worth looking into are rituals specifically intended to increase the frequency of your dreams. I build dream catchers. Now, I'm a pretty staunch skeptic, so I don't subscribe to any supernatural ideology, and therefore do not believe that dream catchers have any supernatural power. However, regardless of this fact, they act as a physical symbol of our intent to dream. They are a reminder, that we intend to dream and can even be fine tuned to remind us of what types of dreams we desire. It doesn't have to be a dream catcher either. It could be anything. Take a small piece of paper, write "lucid" on it, and place it inside your pillow or under your mattress on your side of the bed. It sounds like magic, and it is. It's the magic of the mind, the magic of ritual, the harnessing of placebo. You would be surprised at how effective little tricks like this can be.

Thanks for the advice, my wife owned a dreamcatcher that she had over her bed before we got married. Its been sitting in a box in the closet ever since she moved in, maybe i'll dust it off and use it as a tool to train my brain on the importance of dream recall and hang it over my bed. As for the length of time it took you SuperOhm it makes me feel a lot better. I figured since I couldn't remember anything, I was just one of those guys who weren't meant to remember dreams or reach lucidity or something. But it's good to hear from a few people that haven't easily gotten it either but are not lucid.

The dreamcatcher idea sounds awesome, I like using triggers as well, worked a treat for me when I was first starting out. Good luck again.