Couple newbie questions :)

[Fawny]

First of all just wanted to say hi, I've been reading up about lucid dreaming for about the last week after being... not satisfied going to bed and "waking" up two minutes later to go to work every morning. I have never really had good dream recall, I have been trying to keep a DJ the last week but even when i wake up several times during the night generally dont remember much, maybe that I was in a stadium of people, nothing else.. definatly no visual ques, usually just a sense... of remembering being somewhere that I know I wasnt, by the time i recognize that it might have been a dream, and when i try to think of where i was I have usually forgotten it if that makes sense.. I have been more or less trying to induce a LD using a number of different methods..mainly WILD's.. although I have also tried while having a nap in the afternoon. And i generally find when i wake up, most deams I have had are instantly forgotten due to me.. trying to think about them. I seem to wake up very unexpectedly almost always, with little or no recollection of what has happened. I have a feeling this is due to me not - having the timing down on my REM cycles, I've tried using a few different time ranges.. 3 in, 4 and a half, 6, and even 7.. which by that point I was to awake to go back asleep... but very often i find no matter when i wake up I do not remember a thing.. Let me try to explain what happens when i am in the process of a wild. 1. Go to bed around 11, takes around 30 mins to fall asleep usually. 2. Wake up around 4-5 am (I have tried getting up for 30-60 mins, but find i am to "awake" after that.. Also others have said try to fall back asleep right away thinking about the dreams you just had, but I dont usually remember them so . 3. Regardless I get to the point where i try to fall asleep, -I usually go to the bathroom so i dont wake up cuz i gotta go -Lay on my back generally, my side is more comfortable to begin with, but I find 20 minutes in I have to urge to switch sides. -Obviously make sure no tv/lights etc are on, and that i'll be able to just crash for a few hours without being bothered. -I usually find after i just focus on my breathing for 5 mins, I can begin to feel some stuff going on. 4. I begin to see.. I guess what you could call flashes of light, no real distinctive patterns, everything is very blurry I cant even begin to make even basic shapes outta the light. I find thinking about them or trying to manipulate just.. wakes me up, I generally just let them be, and continue to relax. I will note that I do not see real images, and very very very seldomly can i experience color.. I just see a random blotch of something that isnt black, but not white at the same time, and like i said.. not a definite shape or anything, just random. Sometimes i dont get passed this, And can sit in bed for an hour trying to reach SP, and when i do... 5. I feel these almost... flinches, or like a pulse at random spots all over my body, defiantly involuntary, usually starts slow, but will eventually "speed" up and its almost like its scanning up and down my body over and over... "pulling" on these points as it goes down, I really do feel like parts of my body "twitch" as this happens in the corresponding spots, I cant find it in me to open my eyes and check because its dark and I dont wanna.. ruin anything if its going well . 6. Shortly after this I notice parts of my body numbing out, I assume this is SP, or the starter stages or it.. Usually starts with my fingers and it gradually numbs my body as the points pulsate. I notice everything below my neck becomes.. nearly paralyzed, never my head. Through experimenting the last few nights, when reaching this point sometimes i try to move my fingers to.. "test" the effect, but that usually just kills the effect all over and i go back to the stage where i lied down. The reason i test moving is because i've found i cannot get past this stage by just sitting there waiting.. I either stay in SP and... dont fall asleep, or i ruin the effect by trying a physical RC. 7. The closest i think i've ever come to a LC is just... when I really start forgetting what im trying to accomplish in terms of relaxing, and i can no longer feel the SP "tingling" or pulsating, it is usually followed by me waking up the morning after not remembering a damn thing, and being disappointed. The last time i hit that point.. I really tried to refocus about what i was doing to keep my mind awake, and that generally left me to awake to fall asleep, and put me back to square one. After that wall of text, if any of you actually read through it, my basic questions are.. what should i be doing differently? It feels like i have the right idea up untill SP, I cant seem to stay "awake" during the transition, if it even happens. Like i said... its either i dont fall asleep, or I crash and dont remember a thing.. I see alot of people talk about HI, low resolution poly shapes etc, just basic shapes after the SP.. I have yet to experience any visuals outside the very basic basic light that i see when i first start trying to sleep, which is nothing near dazzling. -Is there a better time frame i should be following on when to wake up, how long to be awake etc? -Should I be actively trying to visualize or "Experience" areas while trying to fall asleep, or just let stuff happen and try not to think? -Any tips for others who were stuck at SP stages? Sorry again for the long post!

[Iliad Keys]

Interesting post and sensations. I'm pretty new to this whole thing m'self, so the only thing I have to comment on is how long it takes you to fall asleep. They say if you live an active and healthy lifestyle it should only take you 5 to 8 minutes to fall asleep. Although it also takes me around a half hour and I would guess many people have a hard time falling asleep. If you want to work on that part there are many diff resources you can check up on about it. I won't go into detail, but search around a bit and you'll find stuff!

[Fawny]

Thanks for the reply, I find I can fall asleep within a few minutes if i do nothing but... try to crash, or if i am exceptionally tired.. But if i go to sleep "naturally" without thinking in any way shape or form of trying to have a lucid dream (which is next to impossible after reading these boards ><) I crash, and remembering a dream it outta the question 9/10 times.. I think there lies my real problem. Im just having problems balancing falling asleep entirely and negating any chance of a LD.. and keeping my mind "awake" long enough after the body reaches SP without actually staying awake the entire night.. Its just like I cant find the middle zone. I've never been one for having vivid dreams, not that I can remember anyways.. I naturally assume I dont have vivid dreams, but through reading these forums and some other sites im under the impression i do... but just cannot remember them.

[Robot_Butler]

Hi Fawny. I love the way you put it. not satisfied going to bed and "waking" up two minutes later to go to work every morning. It sounds like you are on the right track with your WILD attempts. If you are able to reach SP consistently after only a week, you are doing really well. I sort of want to know your secret. I would definitely try to work on your dream recall. Getting started with it is the hardest thing. Once you are able to get even a hint of a memory, it will start to snowball, and you will be recalling multiple dreams a night. My best advice without getting too specific is to really be firm about setting your intention to remember before bed. Exercising your prospective memory (to remember something in the future) helps with lucid dreaming in multiple ways. When you get to the sleep paralysis stage, you need to enter the dream. This is where I think better dream recall will help you a lot. You will be more familiar with the 'feeling' of a dream. Have you checked out the Dream Journal section of the site yet? Its got a lot of good examples and inspiration for setting up a dream journal.

[Fawny]

Thanks for the reply robot, I will continue working on my recall i suppose, I mean its just frustrating to try 20 different things and absolutely nothing work, I had better success remembering my dreams when I wasnt trying to <_<.. maybe I should go at it like that, though at this point I almost look forward to sleep for the remote possibility that I will experience a LD.. hard to ignore what you want most at any given time. Its just annoying to make a bunch of precautions prior to going to sleep, then it fail miserably lol.. Guess thats the name of the game! Do any others reading this have a similar transitional state? Where you cannot produce real images or.. landscapes to indulge yourself in, and you seemingly get caught in between SP and dreaming... By itself its actually quite an amazing experience for me, And i really do enjoy it, However I know its only the tip of the iceberg and I want to dive deeper!