HELP FOR NEWBIES

I sent this message to Ardor and thought I might as well post it here:

1) The first thing to remember is that you will suceed. There is no such thing as 'I will try, if I do not succeed, I can't do it.' Lucid dreaming is possible for everyone, independent of natural recall ability or natural lucid frequency. If you work on it, you will suceed.

2) The emphasis on dream recall in the lucid dreaming field is a necessary one; a common 'meaning' for this is that it helps you to recognise recurring dreamsigns, things that will tell you you are dreaming if you ever consciously notice them. I will argue that this is not a primary use for them; if you MILD frequently (see tutorial), this may come in useful. To me, the far more important purpose of dream recall is to remeber experiences and get you in the habit of waking after every dream. The brain seems to erase details of a previous dream at the onset of the next. Therefore, if you wake up only at the morning, you will most probably remember only one dream. So, you must tell yourself to wake after every dream! A myth I installed in my head was that lucid dreams are a special case, i.e. you remember them especially. You do not. It is the same as any other dream. You have probably had lucid dreams in the night only for your mind to erase them straight afterwards, as if they never happened.

3) Experiment with techniques. Like food, there is a wide range of techniques, and you have to try them out first to discover if you like them. If you discover a technique which is good for you, use this, but do not grow complacent - there may be a better technique out there.After a while of testing techniques, work out what is best for you and stick with it until a new technique comes to your attention. Also, ignore some users mentality that natural is best. If you feel that an induction device might such as the NovaDreamer might help you, and have a sufficient wallet to pay for one, go ahead. But it is imperitive that you test your own abilities extensively first, as you might not need one.

4) Maintaining lucidity is as important as attaining it. At first, you may want to focus on the process of attaining it; but after a while you will need to put substantial effort into the process of maintaining the state. You will need this to explore lucidity to the full.

5) Use the resources that are available to you. The tutorial section is an Aladdin's cave for beginners, and more advanced users might enjoy the numerous articles at www.lucidity.com

6) Have fun!