The KEY STEP to Lucid Dreaming

Going back into bed last night, I just went to sleep normally and started drifting off...Hypnogogic Imagery (please do a search if you are not familiar with this) started to kick in and I soon realized that I was flying around the Statue of Liberty in NY and was pushing myself harder and harder to fly faster and faster.

I woke up with the most amazing realization which I want to share with the new ones to LD'ing:

Focusing on "methods" and techniques will make it harder to Lucid Dream. I say that because your focus becomes the method, not the actual Lucid Dreaming which is our birth right that we are all reclaiming as we speak. This is something that is as natural as breathing, we have only forgotten this due to the distractions that surround us in our waking life.... Focusing on methods will yield frustration and that will push away your dream abilities. I'm not saying that techniques and methods are wrong, on the contrary, you need to practice riding a bike before you can actually do it..... but it is very very important to recognize how natural it is to be aware in your dream state, it is nothing new or strange, again, it is as natural as breathing, we just forgot. Do you guys know how lucky we are to realize that Lucid Dreaming actually exists? Just to be on this forum and to be in the presence of such magnificent oneironauts (dream travelers) is one of the highlights of my life. And as Spirit of the Wolf told me once, just to DREAM is a magnificent gift.

Relax into the knowledge that where you are right now, wanting to achieve a higher reality and know your abilities more and more, is absolutely perfect and is exactly where you want to be. And it will get better. The KEY which I have found to be the primary step to Lucid Dreaming is: If you believe that you can Dream Lucidly, then know that you will achieve it. There is not time to when. I know it is frustrating cause it is too wonderful and you want it now. But it could take a day, it could take a year. Realize that YOUR JOURNEY IS YOUR REWARD. Once you have let go of "wanting" or "demanding" and just accept that it is a process then you will get it I promise you. The steps to achieving it can be magnificent...if you allow it and not push it away with anger, you will learn so much about yourself. And instead of being mad at yourself for not being able to achieve it, just accept that you are mad and realize that its ok, you are feeling that because you are an amazing student and want to get somewhere quick. Accept your anger, frustration, and anxiousness for they are alos steps in the process.

I send you all my Energy and my love and know that we are all connected somehow, just registering on this site, if you never ever posted, we are all connected. So lets help each other by loving where we are and loving the amazing things we have been given in this life in the form of realization and perception.

Love, an oneironaut

O no, not another one of those user names, are we up to 20 similar ones yet?

I basically agree with what you're saying as far as don't get too caught up in the methods. As I like to use metaphors I will try to compare this to guitar playing. Alot of players are very concerned with learning scales and modes and then they try to solo and the have the right notes but its not musical. Then there are those who simply know what notes to use from past experience and they use patterns and are able to solo well. The first type will eventually learn to be able to connect them all and one day it will click and they will be musical. The second type will one day discover that they are too repetitive and need to learn more so they explore and temporarily become the first type as they seek more.

The point is that if you aren't doing it naturally (no one can play guitar well naturally and very few LD naturally into adulthood) then you will have to gain the knowledge to do it to be able to do it well but you can't get too caught up and go exclusively the textbook way. Guitar players have to learn to be musical by knowing what is musical (ear and hands become one) and LDers must learn to LD by proven methods but still understand that individual experiences will differ.

Yeah I know that made tons of sense, but hopefully someone will understand.:boogie:(added in honor of the new smilies:drool:)

The true keys to dreaming lucidly - for a non-natural - are confidence and belief in the fact that it's possible. Methods are a tool to aid in the journey but, confidence goes a very long way.

thank you for posting this, i have not had an LD yet. when i first joined i thought the tutorials were gods. but ill take a break and give the confidence in myself thing a try

I agreeing that u should not focus on methods as much as just knowing you can do it. I used to concentrate hard on all the steps when I was doing a wild. It never worked. I found that it did work when I finally said f*** the steps and just laid there and let it come. Here's to lucid dreaming without the cumbersome steps!

Yeah that really does seem to be a key step, just letting go, i think the excercises will help once you are familiar enough with then so they are habit. When i try a new technique i am constantly trying to better it and think about if am i doing it correctly, so alot of focus is being put into it. I guess when you've done a technique so much its just easy to you, it will work alot better as your doing the technique sort of on autopilot/while daydreaming then your not going to be trying so hard.

I really enjoyed that opening post, thanks. I find a pattern in my attempts. I'll work so hard for an LD with constant reality checks, frequent WBTBs, lots of autosuggestion and almost any method you can think of but I don't get great results. Then i'll accept it, ease up for a few days and have a wonderful LD and I awake thinking of how effortless it was. But within a few days I am back to trying to force myself into it. And the whole thing repeats.

"Do you guys know how lucky we are to realize that Lucid Dreaming actually exists? Just to be on this forum and to be in the presence of such magnificent oneironauts (dream travelers) is one of the highlights of my life."
- I couldn't agree with this more, although sometimes it is easy to lose track of such a thing.