First experiences in lucid dreaming - some feedback pls!

Hello everybody,

you lovely guys have helped me before so I hope you can do it again....

I started "practising" about two months ago and I'd say that I had about four lucid dreams altogether since then. Is that normal?? It seems to be happening so awfully slow.... I got a bit frustrated in the meantime but during the last two weeks I've been telling myself to relax as being frustrated wouldn't help.

My first three lucid dreams were very brief and surprised me so much that I woke up within seconds. I was still very excited about the progress though. Funnily enough, they always happened on Saturdays so the fact that I can sleep in on Sundays and won't have to get up early for work or gym seems to have an impact.

My first more "successful" lucid dream happened last Monday though - it was the first time that I could actually walk around and observe things without zooming back to being awake. I could make things happen but not to my full satisfaction yet - in the dream I was playing soccer with a few boys and I could make the ball kinda come towards me. But then somebody grabbed it which caused me to beat him up :o Funnily enough, I then thought "girl you have some hidden anger management problems here" as I realised I'd done that before in dreams - beat people up when they did something I didn't like! (Maybe I should mention that I don't tend to beat people up when awake...) As I realised that, I stopped kicking the boy's head, apologised and continued walking around.... :lol:

Well without going any further into detail, I thought this last dream was quite a progress. But still - isn't it happening awfully slow? Two months seems like such an awful long time to be doing reality checks during the they and everything else involved. I tried several methods as I thought that maybe I just haven't found the one that worked for me yet. Before the dream on Tuesday I had woken up briefly so I thought the wake-up-and-go-back-to-bed method might do it for me, but it hasn't worked since. Of course I can't try every day as I have to get up at six in the morning on several days a week.

Then one thing that *always* sparks off lucidity for me is flying! Does anyone have advice on how I can manage to involve that ability into my practice??

Part of why I think things are happending too slow is because I always thought I had a rather good access to my subconcious and my dreams. Dream recall, for instance, has always been easy even without practice.

Hope anyone has advice - thanks for you time!

Everyone is different. Some people find themselves having multiple lucid dreams per week, after just working on the methods for a few days. Others work for weeks or even months before getting any results. Also, these things seem to go in cycles for a lot of people. You may have several LDs in a week, and then none for a couple weeks.

IMO you're making pretty good progress. Don't let yourself get frustrated -- if you keep at it, I'm sure you'll find ways to tweak your routine that makes lucid dreaming more likely to happen for you.

I completely agree with TygrHawk. Lucid Dreaming is a skill that if you work hard at it, you will have for life. What is a few months in the long run to something special that you will have for a life time. Everyone picks it up at different speeds. Think as your slow progress as a blessing. by the time you pick up pace and can really do it, you will know so much about what works and what does not. that will be due to all the time and effort you put in to it. :)

Hello!

My progress has been somewhat similar to yours. I joined this site in mid September this year and have had some success. In the begining, I had three very short lucids within a couple of weeks. The first two I immideately lost control after becoming lucid and the third was a little longer with a little better control.

Then nothing. Even my dream recall was lousy for two months. I would recal one dream and then go up to a week or so without remembering anything. I was getting frustrated as well. Then this month I had two lucids that were pretty lengthy and well controlled.

This success was a direct result of getting more sleep. Normally, I sleep only five to six hours. Both the successful lucids happened during morning naps. I rarely ever take naps.

The only things I practice are reality checks, (mostly studying my hands and pinching my nose) and lucid living. Lucid living is described in detail somewhere in these forums, sorry I don't know where. For me, lucid living is pausing during the course of the day and really paying attention to your surroundings. Use all your senses and let the scene in. Consider closing your eyes and visualising your surroundings. Then imagine how your current state may differ from or liken to a dream state. After a few minutes of this I always do my reality checks.

I don't know if this helps at all but at least you know you can go lucid! Also, you may take some solace in the fact that others, like me, are experiencing the same difficulties. Just keep at it ok? It is so worth the effort.

Take care
Joe

Hello folks,

and thanks for your feedback....it's good to know that people understand.

Something else has come up that I find deeply confusing: With increasing dream recall, I've realised that I often "think" about my daily issues in dreams. Simple things like work issues or things I intend to talk about with people. How come there's that direct connection to my day conciousness, but my reality testing which has become an accostumed habit during the day, still has no effect?

:? I'm still confused but also determined to hold on and learn.....

take care everyone