Intro and Basic Questions

I would like to start off by saying hello to everyone here at Dream Views, and introducing myself. My name is Zach, I am 18 years old, and I've just recently stumbled onto the whole lucid dreaming phenomenon. The idea of lucid dreaming and being able to control your dreams is extremely fascinating to me. I am majoring in Computer Science in college, and I am also very interested in psychology.

Now that I've briefly introduced myself, I would like to ask a basic question or two. Any responses or answers will be greatly appreciated.

My questions are about dream recall. I've read through some of the tutorials and the information on the website, and I've attempted the methods of improving dream recall for three or four nights now. I have a journal to record my dreams readied and sitting right next to my bed, as well as the remote control to my fan that also turns on the light, to make it very easy for me to wake up and write in it. When I go to sleep, I constantly think about wanting to wake up after each dream period and remember the dreams that I've been having. However, I have been completely unsuccessful so far. I haven't been able to remember anything about any of my dreams so far. No faces, no moods, no colors, no anything. When I'm trying to go to sleep, should I be simply repeating the same thing over and over in my head? This is what I have been doing. I lay in bed with my eyes shut, and I repeat to myself "I will remember my dreams, and I will wake up after each one."

I realize I haven't been at it for very long, but I must admit that I am a bit discouraged as I would have thought that I would at least be able to remember a dream or two over four nights.

Once again, thank you very much in advance for any help that is provided in response to my first post.

Hey there Zach, and welcome to DreamViews! :welcome:

Don't get discouraged. If you are not accustomed to remembering your dreams, it can take a while to get "back in the habit". Have confidence that it will work.

Also, if you have any stress in your life, are not getting enough sleep, or are taking certain medications (legal or not), these things can all interfere with your dream recall.

Just keep at it -- I'm sure you'll start remembering some dreams soon.

Sup, man? Welcome to DV.

Definitely don't get discouraged after a few days. Remember, like all skills it will take practice. This is the same for both Recall and Lucidity. Also, since you're into psychology, you can understand that there are many different factors that effect the way our brains work. Stress, like TygrHawk said, can play a major role as can many other things. But it's because of this that, no matter how good you become at remembering your dreams and/or attaining lucidity, you will always have to expect some down time, some feeling out, and some dry spells. Even those who have been able to recall our dreams for years go through a few periods of not being able to remember a damn thing. As frustrating as it can be, it should serve to show you how important patience is, and that a few days of failure is no reason to be discouraged at all.

As far as advice, I'd suggest maybe setting your alarm a couple of hours early, even if only for a few days. If you're used to getting the same amount of sleep, the slight interuption by waking up in one of your dream cycles might be all you need to jog your recall. Of course you don't have to stay up. You can go back to sleep if you don't end up remembering anything. After a little practice, you'll become more familiar with how it feels to recall your dreams and I think the need to interupt your sleep will begin to fade. But again, there are so many things that effect why and how often we remember our dreams that it's hard to pin-point them all.

Keep at it. :goodjob2:

I have one more question that I forgot to put into my original post:

Once one learns to lucid dream efficiently and continues to get better at it, is it possible to get so good at it that you can basically induce a lucid dream whenever you want to? Or is it always a give and go situation, where you just kind of have to luck into it?

P.S. Thanks for the help above.

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Originally Posted by Xeric

I have one more question that I forgot to put into my original post:

Once one learns to lucid dream efficiently and continues to get better at it, is it possible to get so good at it that you can basically induce a lucid dream whenever you want to? Or is it always a give and go situation, where you just kind of have to luck into it?

P.S. Thanks for the help above.
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if you get good at it anything is possible about a year ago i was at a peak of lucid dreaming and had one every other night but then i got side tracked and got a lot of stress but i am slowly working back up. it also depends on the person.

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Originally Posted by Xeric

I have one more question that I forgot to put into my original post:
Once one learns to lucid dream efficiently and continues to get better at it, is it possible to get so good at it that you can basically induce a lucid dream whenever you want to? Or is it always a give and go situation, where you just kind of have to luck into it?
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Hello Xeric!
I too am pretty new to Dream Views, and got interested in lucid dreaming about a month ago. I like psychology too! Well...animal psychology. :P

And to answer your question, the author of Lucid Dreaming, Stephen LaBerge, claims to be able to induce lucid dreams when ever he wants. And I believe him. I personally think that once one knows how it feels to realize they are dreaming while they are doing so, and they have been doing it for a while and are familiar with induction techniques, they can induce it whenever they want. And like docKnubis said, it may also depend on the person. I am still trying to work my way there of even having a stable lucid dream, but I'm getting close (I hope)!

Good luck!

One last question!

I'm looking at getting a book on lucid dreaming, and I assume I should get one by Stephen LaBerge as I have seen his name appear countless times while browsing this site. However, when looking on amazon.com I discovered that he has more than one book on the topic. Can anyone recommend the one that would be most likely to help someone just starting out? Thanks again!

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Originally Posted by Xeric

Can anyone recommend the one that would be most likely to help someone just starting out? Thanks again!
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I got two of his books, and actualy it seems like the older one has more information. I would just go ahead and get the two most popular of his: Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming (Older one) and Lucid Dreaming: A consise Guide to Awakening in Your Dreams and in Your Life

:content:

Actually, Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming was written many years after the other one. He discusses this briefly in a section on page 6 called "WHY THIS NEW BOOK?" He also references things from his older book here and there.

Xeric: I would recommend Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming, not only because it has more up-to-date information, but also because it takes a more practical approach to the subject, whereas Lucid Dreaming is a bit more on the theoretical side.

Hey Xeric! Welcome to DV! It's amazing really. When I read your post I said to myself, "This guy sounds exactly like me." I'm majoring in Computer Telecommunications myself and I've merely skimmed over a bit of Psych. in the past. Got a lot of information from this Thread. =)

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Originally Posted by Gapaleen

Hey Xeric! Welcome to DV! It's amazing really. When I read your post I said to myself, "This guy sounds exactly like me." I'm majoring in Computer Telecommunications myself and I've merely skimmed over a bit of Psych. in the past. Got a lot of information from this Thread. =)
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Hah, that's awesome. I'm glad my thread helped someone else as well. =)

EDIT: I took a nap today in the afternoon and I managed to recall a few bits and pieces of a dream that I had, so I guess that's a step in the right direction. Looking back after I wrote it in my journal, I wish I had been teaching myself to do reality checks. The dream was very absurd and if I had thought to do a check, it would have been obvious. :-/