New dreamer

[Belladreamz]

Hi. I'm a teenager (14) in London and have been trying to have lucid dreams for a while. I have used the FILD, WILD and many more methods. After not succeeding, I stopped attempting for a while and recently (this week) I have started again. I have come very close. Hopefully tonight it will work. As I've never had one, I''m not sure what it's like. I have a few questions which I would be very grateful if you could answer: .In a lucid dreaming how aware you? As only part of your brain is awake, I was wondering whether you're only partly aware, even if it is very vivid. .What is the best method? Thank you.

[spellbee2]

Welcome to the forum! .In a lucid dreaming how aware you? As only part of your brain is awake, I was wondering whether you're only partly aware, even if it is very vivid. It can vary from lucid to lucid. It's possible to have "semi-lucids" (some people call them "Layer 1" lucids) where you at some point acknowledge that you are in a dream, but don't bother to do anything about it - in other words, you're not very aware at all. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are super aware lucids ("Layer 5" lucids) where the dream is incredibly vivid and you are very much aware and in control of the dream. It's fairly common for your first few lucids to be a bit on the low-end of the awareness scale, but there are methods for focus and dream stabilization that will help you increase your awareness and gain more vividness and control. .What is the best method? Lucid dreaming is not like The Lord of the Rings - there's no one method to rule them all. Though each one of the main methods listed on the forum has worked for a lot of people, not every one of them is suited for every person. Some people find certain methods work better for them, while others don't work at all for them. You don't have to become a master at every method - just find one that works for you and stick with it. For beginners, we recommend starting out with DILD - it's frankly the easiest to understand and works well with most sleep styles. Just remember to stick with it - the key to any method is commitment. It can take time for any method to start showing results (you are basically rewiring your brain and your awareness, after all), so be sure to keep trying for at least a few weeks before trying a different method. Let us know if you have any other questions, and feel free to stop by the IRC chat.

[Dexter33]

People will speak about "levels" of lucidity here, but really a lucid dream is a dream in which you are aware you are dreaming. You can sometimes only be partly aware in lucid dreams, but in reality a good lucid dream is one where you basically are as aware as you are in real life If feels just like this, but in a dream. It's awesome! There is no "best" method! Everyone here will tell you "find what works for you"... so what works for me? I set the intention I will lucid dream, go over a few mnemonics, and make sure to record my more awesome dreams in the morning. Try staying relaxed but aware, trust me, because you will fail a lot, and that's part of it. It should not be stressed over. Good luck

[spellbee2]

People will speak about "levels" of lucidity here, but really a lucid dream is a dream in which you are aware you are dreaming. You can sometimes only be partly aware in lucid dreams, but in reality a good lucid dream is one where you basically are as aware as you are in real life If feels just like this, but in a dream. It's awesome! Very true - I was just mentioning the "levels" to show the variance between possible awareness levels. But yes, a "lucid dream" is by definition just a dream where you realize you're dreaming. You can have lucid dreams with low awareness that aren't very vivid, and you can have dreams where everything is very vivid (and you even might have some kind of control) but you don't actually know you're dreaming.

[Dexter33]

I hadn't read your post before I posted mine, since you snuck it in there 2 mins before me So it was kind of funny when I read that right after posting. To the OP, spellbee is absoluely right. The categorization of lucid dreams can help you analyze what you did wrong and how you need to improve later, but just know it's not something you have to use or something everyone uses, as with any technique

[buzzlightyear]

i just had my first successful lucid dream and i swear by using the WBTB method. i do 6 hours of sleep, then 15-20 minutes awake with intention setting, then back to bed telling myself "the next thing i see will be a dream." i did a couple of reality checks inside non-lucid dreams and became lucid! try the WBTB method! it worked for me the first time i tried it! good luck kid!

[NyxCC]

Welcome to DV! I agree with buzzlightyear, wbtb is one of the best supporting techniques one can use to achieve lucidity.

[Ramsayrex]

Welcome! I would personally suggest that as a beginner, do lots of reality checks.

[Saizaphod]

Welcome to the site You got good advice above already, good luck!