Almost succeeded in LD

[Nick89]

This night I almost had an LD. By "almost" I mean that by the time I realised it was all a dream, I woke up. I'm writing it just to share my experience. The dream was briefly as follows. It was a lesson at my secondary school (I'm starting college in a week, though). There was my former maths teacher and former classmates. The lesson took place in the dining room of my grandma's house. Anyway, at some point the surroundings were different - I was in the flat where I had lived since we moved to our new house. What's more, suddenly I was alone, the rest of the class have disappeared somewhere. And it was dark. At that point I became suspicious. The situation was somewhat strange. The maths teacher was still there. I rememeber my thought that all my classmates have been killed and I was the one that was left. And the teacher started saying sth like 'there are still few faces, they're hiding, some of them still are alive'. Kind of scary, but I was hardly afraid. For a while I was deliberating if it really was a dream or not. And finally came to the conclusion that it WAS a dream. The only thing I remember is my intention to say something rude to the teacher or start doing stupid things in front of her. But the dream was already gone. I tried to bring the dream back, kind of DEILD, but failed. And one more thing: the 'almost LD' came to me very naturally. If I had to name any method, it would be MILD, but actually I simply had made a resolution that I would remember a lot of dreams that night. No looking for dream signs, no reality check, just the thought that has got stuck in my head over the last few months, that the reality you're experiencing right now my always turn out to be a dream. Sorry for lengthy post, that's just my style.

[IndigoGhost]

Welcome to DV! Your almost there keep at it!

[Compaq]

Some nights ago, while trying to WILD, I managed to come into a state where I heard stuff. I was thinking of a song, and I heard it for some seconds. Also some of those lights of colours started appearing. I guess I was in sleeping paralises. I didn't get all the way, though. I wish I had realised that I was dreaming. I'm jealous

[Nick89]

Some nights ago, while trying to WILD, I managed to come into a state where I heard stuff. I was thinking of a song, and I heard it for some seconds. Also some of those lights of colours started appearing. I guess I was in sleeping paralises. I didn't get all the way, though. I wish I had realised that I was dreaming. I'm jealous Sound interesting. As for me, I sometimes hear music when I'm in a state near falling asleep. It is usually not music I already know, but new melodies created by my mind spontaneously, though.

[Compaq]

I guess I was hearing that song because I was thinking of it. It didn't just appear. I want to realize I'm dreaming, though.

[Nick89]

Then maybe LD could a fine alternative when you don't have any mp3 player with you. Thinking of a song and then hearing it I can do even fully awake, though, it's only a distant melody in my head, not that I hear it like I played it on a stereo or something. If you were able to hear it as if it was really played I think, you've got quite far. Keep it up!

[imj]

If your LDs get longer this forrum may have a problem with space.... IMJ

[Forrest]

No looking for dream signs, no reality check, just the thought that has got stuck in my head over the last few months, that the reality you're experiencing right now my always turn out to be a dream. Good job. I wish you luck in the future. Hopefully this trend will continue, and you won't end up like me. My record so far has been keep an okay dream journal, but it still has a terrible dream rate, and NEVER remembering to do RC's, expecially not in dreams. Never having an LD which I can only describe due to reading other posts as a "suddenly for no reason I realized I was dreaming" moment. And, frustratingly, never thinking about LDs in dreams, but devoting chunks of time on a daily basis thinking about it. Try not to be like me; that is, don't be a whiney bitch with no success after a year of failure. I do actually wish you luck with your endeavors. Although, at this point you may be sympathetic to me and my plight, perhaps a bit depressed. This is my goal. I'm a failure at LDing and I've decided that my new "thing" is to be a pessimistic grump and complain about my problems until it somehow leads to me being pissed off at my failure while dreaming one night. Although that will probably fail.

[Nick89]

Good job. I wish you luck in the future. Hopefully this trend will continue, and you won't end up like me. My record so far has been keep an okay dream journal, but it still has a terrible dream rate, and NEVER remembering to do RC's, expecially not in dreams. Never having an LD which I can only describe due to reading other posts as a "suddenly for no reason I realized I was dreaming" moment. And, frustratingly, never thinking about LDs in dreams, but devoting chunks of time on a daily basis thinking about it. Try not to be like me; that is, don't be a whiney bitch with no success after a year of failure. I do actually wish you luck with your endeavors. Although, at this point you may be sympathetic to me and my plight, perhaps a bit depressed. This is my goal. I'm a failure at LDing and I've decided that my new "thing" is to be a pessimistic grump and complain about my problems until it somehow leads to me being pissed off at my failure while dreaming one night. Although that will probably fail. Hey, take it easy, mate. Why worry so much about it? I'm also quite a dumbass when it comes to LD, really. Have kept a DJ for 9 months and still sometimes I don't remember even a single excerpt from a dream after I wake up. The dream rate, as you called it, is also quite bad. Nor do I ever think about LD in my dreams, or do RC's. If I can give you any piece of advice, I think the best solution is not to take LDing too seriously. If you're too focused on it, you may get the opposite results. Give yourself some time and don't think in this way: "I've got to have an LD this time at last"/"if once again I don't have this f** LD..." but rather "I'd really love to have an LD this night, it will be so cool". I suppose patience, positive attitude and strong motivation is al LDing requires. Good luck!

[erik212]

That wasn't almost an DL, it was one, albight a short one. I'd also classify it as a DILD. To avoid waking up, you need to not get exited, although it is hard. Then, you can stabilize the dream by looking at your hands, spinning, both, or touching objects and reaffirm that they are real.

[Forrest]

Hey, take it easy, mate. Why worry so much about it? I'm also quite a dumbass when it comes to LD, really. Have kept a DJ for 9 months and still sometimes I don't remember even a single excerpt from a dream after I wake up. The dream rate, as you called it, is also quite bad. Nor do I ever think about LD in my dreams, or do RC's. If I can give you any piece of advice, I think the best solution is not to take LDing too seriously. If you're too focused on it, you may get the opposite results. Give yourself some time and don't think in this way: "I've got to have an LD this time at last"/"if once again I don't have this f** LD..." but rather "I'd really love to have an LD this night, it will be so cool". I suppose patience, positive attitude and strong motivation is al LDing requires. Good luck! Now that I think about it, Nick, you seem to be in pretty much the same position as me. Keeping a dream journal, but with not nearly as many dreams as experienced LDers seem to remember, like 5 a night somehow. I get like 6 hours of sleep it seems. Waking up automatically from dreams = not gonna happen. I suck at MILD. I'm always mad at the world for my not LDing. Anyways I wish you luck with the endeavors. You have made me realize that there is probably a really high percentage of people just like us on this very site. I just waste my time reading people talk about how they are lucid x amount of times per week and the goal of month and people with a list in their sig called "lucid goals" (enough lucids for goals wtf) and like half of them are checked off. I know they were noobs once. They can't all be naturals at it. They should all start a thread telling their story and what helped them become good LDers. Whatever it is, Never mind. FGSFDS. I've come to the conclusion that I'm too pissed at the world to have any optimistic discussion at all. I have a bunch of schoolwork to do and get 6 hrs of sleep a night, and it's no fun. Forget having some free activity to be able escape from it all. That would be too much of a life improvement for the gods to allow in my puny mortal life. Here is a thread that I keep an eye on, but so far has not been a help to me. It probably only works for people who wake and are still tired and are already good at LD's. I H8 Reality's 100% method for Lucid Dreams Sounds promising. It wasn't very helpful for me. Maybe it will be for you, I don't know.

[erik212]

According to a poll, about half the active users on this site are natural. I'm not, but, with basically 6-7 hours of sleep, have progressed far by simply keeping a detailed DJ, and using autosuggestion. It really helps.

[Forrest]

According to a poll, about half the active users on this site are natural. I'm not, but, with basically 6-7 hours of sleep, have progressed far by simply keeping a detailed DJ, and using autosuggestion. It really helps. Half are naturals? Well, I think I get it now. I'm guessing that most people don't even know what lucid dreaming is until they stumble upon it through various methods such as the internet. Then such people congregate on dreamviews. I'm also willing to bet that many of those such people do not have the conviction to actually find methods that work for them and get good at it. But there are still a bunch of people there who are just naturals at it, who will always be extremely good at it. They will always be ahead (in most cases) of the people who are trying to learn LDing as a skill, thus making it annoying and frustrating for everybody else who is trying to learn. Naturals have lists of adventure goals in their sigs, with about half checked off. I have goals like "actually remember some more fucking dreams" and "Not wake up instantly from LDs". Anyways, autosuggestion, eh? I shall look into it. This thread seems to be a conglomeration of people who are not naturals. This makes me not so depressed.

[Nick89]

I realised that you've just got to accept that yoo can't have talent for everything and be a genius in everything. Some people have innate ability to LD, most don't have it. Apparently we're the oens who don't have it. Still, with some effort and proper motivation, we can still be very good at it, in the future. As for me, I see a lot of connections between my learning LDing and learning music. With music it's pretty much the same - I do love music and I would really love to be very talented and creative and be able to play my own songs and so on. But the reality is that I don't have much talent. Anyway, I also know that you do can improve your ear, aural recall, relative pitch, even your creativity, and be really good at it, even if you're not a prodigy. It just requires time, effort and passion.

[erik212]

I seem to have an unnatural affinity for autosuggestion. All I do is say I want to wake up for a bit after each dream and I get up by myself at least once a night. It's not the textbook method of autosuggestion, but it works.

[Compaq]

I've been trying to LD fro a week now. When I first read about LDs I was like "wow, I'm gonna LD tonight, perhaps even every night from now on!". Well, that was wrong. I have not succeeded yet. I'm keeping a DJ. I have written two dreams there I keep telling myself when I'm in bed that I will wake up after having a dream. Then I write down the keywords of the dream's storyline and write down a better version in the morning. I have actually remembered quite a lot more dreams after doing this. I started the DJ two days ago, and I have two dreams in there. Today I tried to WILD. I started seeing some colours, not images or scenes, just flashes. I was numb and I was calm. Then, I got a msg on my cellphone I jumoed and opened my eyes. I did some RCs but I was awake. Too bad.

[erik212]

That's the early beginning of hypnagogia. Lots of people actually LD on their first night, but not much after that. Good job on the DJ. It seems like so many people want to WILD, but you need to have a more normal lucid dream first. WILD is the hardest technique, and even for experienced LDers it is hard. You should work on DILD, MILD, and perhaps a WBTB now and then. Save WILDing for when you are comfortable in lucid dreams, or else you are wasting your time and effort. It will take you much longer to have an LD with WILD at the moment than if you used an easier technique.

[Compaq]

I'm not really used to any technique. I'll try that DILD, although I haven't really practised on the RCs. I do some when I think of them, else I just do nothing. The chance I'll realise I'm in a dream are rather thin, I guess. At least until I get to work in my RCs. Sorry for the thread jacking. I know this thread isn't about me

[Nick89]

Yesterday I had an LD", or rather "almost LD" once again. And once again I couldn't maintain lucidity. This time I won't describe all the unnecessary deatils. I realised it was a dream when I was in a car. The driver was my friend, who doesn't have a driving license. Two other friends were sitting in the back of the car. They started making jokes to the driver. When they threw a curtain on his face so that he couldn't see the road I finally realised this must be a dream. Then, I immediately remembered what I once read on this forum: it's not good to let someone drive a car in a dream (lucid or not). So I thought: if this is a dream, I can safely just open the door and jump out. Unfortunately, I somehow couldn't do that and soon woke up. I know that the thing I tried to do is too hard for beginner lucid dreamers. It was my mistake. Anyway, what should I have done then? To maintain my lucidity, I mean. BTW do you also experience it when you wake up from a lucid dream: the dream flows away, but the last image from the dream stays in front of my eyes and gradually, within few seconds, dissapears, like some visual effect in a presentation or a slide show.

[Forrest]

Then, I immediately remembered what I once read on this forum: it's not good to let someone drive a car in a dream (lucid or not). So I thought: if this is a dream, I can safely just open the door and jump out. Unfortunately, I somehow couldn't do that and soon woke up. I know that the thing I tried to do is too hard for beginner lucid dreamers. It was my mistake. Anyway, what should I have done then? To maintain my lucidity, I mean. I can totally relate to realizing that I'm dreaming then attempting to do something stupid and illogical to end the dream. This story is actually quite funny. I've told it a few times, and I'm sure I'll tell it many more. In my second lucid dream ever, I was flying. Not lucid flying, just flying. It was cool, as far as I remember. I wish I remembered it better. ANYWAYS I said to myself "This is great practice for when I get good at lucid dreaming." That made me realize that it was a dream, so my decision was to land then decide what to do next. On the way down (I was quite high up above a large grassy field) I woke up. In my opinion, several hundred feet in the air is a bad place for a beginner to gain lucidity. Had I been on the ground I might have done something more logical, such as... WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU REALIZE YOU ARE LUCID What to do is rub your hands together, or spin, or both. This, I'm told, increased the vividness of LDs and can prolong the dream if you feel it slipping away. Also, what to do is NOTHING RIGHT AWAY. Do some math in your head, try to solidify your surroundings. I suppose once you're sure it's a dream, get with the adventures. Don't go rushing around doing lots of stuff, because if you get too excited, you risk waking up. OK I hope this has been helpful! Also, I think that although I initially saw my experience as a failure, I now see it as more of a learning experience. Plus, it is hilarious and just about as ironic as irony can get.

[Compaq]

Haha, thats cool! Woke up in the skies Anyways, I just wanted to share some experience that might be a little helpful. I said once that I stared filling up my dream journal. The next day I filled two more dreams. 4 dreams on two nights. I was pleased. However, I decidede to wait with the WILDing till I got better the the whole LD thing. Thats when I stopped remembering my dreams. When I ly there not doing anything but focusing, I say to myself out loud that I will remember dreams adn that I will wake up right after them... And I do. The last 5-6 days I've just gone to bed and doing the "normal" thing I've been doing for 17 years, and I don't remember any dreams. I have them on my tounge, but I can't write anything. Once something happened at school which made me remember small fractures of the drea, I should, of course, have written it down then. To conclude, I remember my dreams better when try the WILDing and say stuff out loud. I have one question as well. How do I get past the SP into the dream? I have understood that it's very individual and that I have to "find a way that fits me the best". Isn't there any kind of universal methode? I don't remember what happens after the HI stage. Perhaps I fall asleep?

[Parsley]

Sound interesting. As for me, I sometimes hear music when I'm in a state near falling asleep. It is usually not music I already know, but new melodies created by my mind spontaneously, though. Next time you hear a tune write it down! Paul McCartney heard "Yesterday" in a dream. It is, I think, the most recorded song in the history of pop music. Fame and fortune are on the horizon!

[iank]

I would really, really like to have a lucid dream. Well, OBVIOUSLY... There's a redundant post for you!

[Forrest]

Next time you hear a tune write it down! Paul McCartney heard "Yesterday" in a dream. It is, I think, the most recorded song in the history of pop music. Fame and fortune are on the horizon! I've noticed this phenomenon. One time (suppose it was a few months ago, I'm not good at judging time for these sorts of things) I was in bed and for some reason this techno song was playing in my head. It had the beat, all the weird sounds, and the repetitions and variations that techno normally has. It was weird, because I was listening, not really consciously controlling it. And I could hear all the sounds at once. It was quite interesting. Also interesting is that I don't listen to techno Since you know the Yesterday fact, then you must be a Beatles fan! Indeed I must agree that the Beatles are, in fact, awesome. Hence the quote in my sig.