Hello

[Bethany]

Just thought I'd introduce myself. I am 36 next week. I am female. I live in New Zealand. I work for myself doing computer repairs and tv/home theatre installations etc. My real name is not Bethany. When I was 18 I had a dream where a woman came to me all dressed in white and asked me my name. I told her it was Tracey and she said, "No, it's Bethany. Walk in the light." So I thought I'd use it for my Lucid Dreaming forum nick name. I first learned about lucid dreaming from an online friend about seven years or so ago. She taught me about it as an aid to combat nightmares. The technique she taught me was to look at the back of my hand throughout the day and to make myself look at the back of my hand while dreaming. (A Carl Jung technique I think?) The first time I looked at my hand while dreaming I immediately woke up. The second time I looked at my hand while dreaming I had a fully fledged lucid dream. It was the most euphoric experience of my life. After that I thought I would have lots of lucid dreams. I tried really hard... too hard I think. In the end I gave up. I have continued to have nightmares and have had the odd "accidental" lucid dream where it just happens... but nothing as euphoric as that original experience. I'd like to try again. I'm incredibly lazy, so keeping a dream diary will be a challenge for me but I think it's important to try it. That's about all from me I think, sorry for rambling.

[Vex Kitten]

Hello and welcome to Dream Views. From one incredibly lazy person to another, getting into the dream journal habit was a bit of a challenge. It didn't take very long for it to become second nature. If you're up to it, starting an online journal might help you get into the swing of recording your dreams every day. It helped me quite a bit. You might like to check the tutorials section of the site as well, it's a stash of techniques used to get lucid. A new technique coupled with the 'back of the hand' technique might help you to find yourself in a lucid dream again.

[ninja9578]

The hand reality check works alright, but I found that it occasionally failed because I made up excuses for why my hands were fuzzy. I prefer the memory reality check. Throughout the day think back over the last few hours, if you have gaps in your memory then you are dreaming. It's also possible (but difficult) to induce lucid dreams consciously, they are called WILDs (wake induced lucid dreams). You might want to give that a try, but don't be discouraged if you can't do them right away, they're difficult.

[Bethany]

Thanks for the replies. I have started a DJ in this forum. (God grant me the perseverance to keep it up!) Vex Kitten, I see you have good dream recall... that means lots more typing! The more I have to type the more I don't want to do it, lol. But hopefully it will be worth it. I have looked at a lot of techniques on this forum. There are so many it will take a while to find the one that works for me. Looking forward to getting to know you all better.

[Jdeadevil]

Hiya Bethany! Welcome to DV, noticed you had a Dream Journal, it's nice, well done.

[Robot_Butler]

Hi, Bethany, welcome. We had a Task of the Month a while back to ask a dream character what your dream name is. If you're interested, you can check out December's task in the Task of the Month forums: http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...splay.php?f=43 My dream name was "Das Guy Jad Spitter". You're lucky you got a normal one There are a lot of techniques around, but I think that once you read a couple you will realize they are all different versions of the same basic ideas. Since you've already had a few great lucid experiences, you're at an advantage. You know what the goal is. Just stick with it and more will come .

[Bethany]

lol @ "Das Guy Jad Spitter" Yes, I am grateful for my normal one! lol That is a cool task of the month. I never noticed the "task of the month" forum... dashing out for the day now but will definitely check it out. It's good to have an actual goal.