Hello all

[Callisto]

Hey, how's it going everyone? I'm 16, and I'm totally looking forward to discovering how to Lucid Dream. It's quite frustrating, honestly; I used to "accidentaly" Lucid Dream alot, but it all seemed to stop at around age 13 or so. I haven't had a single LD in 3 whole years, and I dearly miss them. The forum, from what I've looked at so far, looks very informative; I'm confident that I'll be able to re-learn how to do this stuff! A question I have, if anyone happens upon my thread, is whether or not certain things in real life can affect one's ability to Lucid Dream? For example online gaming, drinking, drugs, etc. (Not saying by any means that I do all of that) Another question: Will it probably be easier for me to LD now, since I'm quite sure I've done it many times before in my life? Or will the 3 year gap cause me to have to start from scratch? Thanks for reading, I'm looking forward to my time here.

[Wavefunction]

Hiya, welcome to Dreamviews! Nearly everything you do in real life affects your dreams somehow - drugs violently so, activities less. For example, if you've been gaming a lot, and then go to sleep, there is a greater chance that you're going to be dreaming about gaming, or something related to it. If you are someone whose activites seep into your dreams, you can use it as a dream sign to become lucid. Online gaming might hurt your lucid dreaming, though, since it causes you to stay up late and get no sleep. It should be easier for you to have lucid dreams, since you know what they feel like already. Your brain knows what it's like. I hope this helps somewhat. If you have any other questions, about lucid dreaming or the forum itself, feel free to ask in the forums or PM myself or a dream guide (members with green names and stars).

[ninja9578]

Drugs and drinking will definitely hinder abilities to lucid dream, but don't fret about it if you have a drink every once and a while socially. Don't drink, you're only 16, I meant for when you turn 21 Like wave said, it's not going to be a shock to your brain when you realize that you're dreaming so it should be easier. A problem that a lot of newbies face is that when they finally have their first LD their brain panics because it's a completely new state of mind and they wake up, that shouldn't happen for you.

[Callisto]

Thanks for the warm welcomes! I came to realize something last night.. And this has happened multiple times before while trying to WILD... Whenever I feel a sense of success, I smile and it's gone. For example, last night I was trying to WILD using the technique that's posted somewhere in the forum with pain as an anchor, and I could feel my body numbing, I could feel everything slowing down as I prepared for dream mode. Then, I began to hear loud noises in the otherwise quiet room, as if the slight creaks of my floor and windows were amplified to maximum volume. As that happened, I had a tiny thought in my brain "Oh God I'm finally going to do this!" and I could feel myself wanting to smile. I smiled, unfortunately, and I felt all chance of getting into dream state go away. Was quite disappointing. Basically, in short, any tips as how to just calm down and not smile (or get out of the WILD) while on the very verge of Sleep Paralysis or dream state? Honestly I don't know how far I was from the state, but as I said, my body was completely relaxed and I was only passively focusing on the slight pain in my arm. My heartrate was noticeably lower and I think I was beginning to hear "Audible hallucinations"(I've heard about them on this forum, I'm only making conjectures now as to what they really are since I didn't actually read about them yet); it was several loud noises in my room in quick succession. Sorry for the rambling post, and thanks for any bit of advice or any comments as to how close I might have been to lucidity. (P.S> I noticed in the first post I failed to mention that I never had a WILD, I only had occasions where I realized I was dreaming. If anyone could give me the term for that, I'd like to know. Thanks!)

[Videogamer 4 Life]

One of the things you could do to not smile is to try to not think about it (I know, hard to do). That's why many variations of WILD have you count your breathing or visualize a soothing image. They're trying to get you to not think about dreaming. If you wait for a dream to happen, it's never going to happen. Also, when you realize you're dreaming, you had a DILD (Dream Initiated Lucid Dream).

[Callisto]

One of the things you could do to not smile is to try to not think about it (I know, hard to do). That's why many variations of WILD have you count your breathing or visualize a soothing image. They're trying to get you to not think about dreaming. If you wait for a dream to happen, it's never going to happen. Also, when you realize you're dreaming, you had a DILD (Dream Initiated Lucid Dream). Thanks for that bit of advice The thing is, I was visualizing a soothing image of a beach with waves slowly breaking on the coast, but as soon as I felt the first hint of dream state I felt the uncontrollable urge to smile... I guess it will just take getting used to that feeling, and eventually I'll get over the hill and be able to hold back my smiles.

[Videogamer 4 Life]

Yeah, and I try to sound like I know everything, but as you can see, I have nothing to show for it...yet! Sometimes, when I try it, I get close to one, but when I think about it, I wake back up. Then I usually want to

[Robot_Butler]

My only advice would be to try again. There are so many small things that can make or break your WILD attempt. For me, it seems every attempt is slightly different. It takes a bit of practice to figure out how to react to these things. For example, now you know not to smile. Who would have ever thought to mention that? Like Videogamer4Life, I like tricks that distance myself from my body lying in bed. I try to vividly imagine a dream body, along with feelings of movement, tactile sensations, and such. Otherwise, I get stuck in my body lying in bed, or get distracted by something like my own breathing, muscle twitches, or heartbeat.

[Callisto]

My only advice would be to try again. There are so many small things that can make or break your WILD attempt. For me, it seems every attempt is slightly different. It takes a bit of practice to figure out how to react to these things. For example, now you know not to smile. Who would have ever thought to mention that? Like Videogamer4Life, I like tricks that distance myself from my body lying in bed. I try to vividly imagine a dream body, along with feelings of movement, tactile sensations, and such. Otherwise, I get stuck in my body lying in bed, or get distracted by something like my own breathing, muscle twitches, or heartbeat. The bolded part I find extremely useful. I'll definitely try that tonight, that way if I want to smile I can imagine my dream-body smiling!

[Robot_Butler]

Cool, I hope it works for you. It is my favorite way to WILD. I like to imagine doing something really familiar, so it is easy to visualize. Something like walking through your house touching things, or running down a familiar street. That way you aren't really straining your brain to visualize something complicated, you are just remembering something familiar.

[Videogamer 4 Life]

Like Videogamer4Life, I like tricks that distance myself from my body lying in bed. I try to vividly imagine a dream body, along with feelings of movement, tactile sensations, and such. Otherwise, I get stuck in my body lying in bed, or get distracted by something like my own breathing, muscle twitches, or heartbeat. Hey! That scenario sounds awfully familiar!