Thread: Help finding a techinque?

dreams are most vivid in REM cycles, so you're likely to only have a lucid dream a few hours after falling asleep, which is why most techniques involve waking up during the night. There are many techniques you can try, and there's no specific one that I could tell you will give you the best results, because everyone dreams differently. It depends on your sleep patterns, how heavy/light of a sleeper you are, how good your recall is, etc. etc.

the best thing for you to do when first starting out is to stay away from those "quick and easy" techniques that members whip up off the top of their heads and say "hey maybe this technique will work!" Stick to the basic techniques, which would be DILD, MILD, WBTB, or if you're good enough, WILD but that one usually takes more practice.

First things first, you need to - and I know this might sound strange, but - you need to get better at dreaming. This means recall, reality checking, and just trying to make yourself more aware of your surroundings, in dreams and in waking life. My suggestions for just getting started:
1) keep a dream journal. Seriously, you have no idea how important this is, even if you think you have excellent recall, or even if you actually do have excellent recall. Trust me, this is a big one. If you wake up in the middle of the night, it's best just to jot down a few key words that will help remind you of your dream or just keep it fresh in your mind as you're falling back asleep. If you write all your dreams in detail you'll probably not be able to get back to sleep, so only do that in the morning.
2) keep reality checking, even if you think that doesn't work for you. Don't schedule times for you to reality check. Just do it if anything around you seems at all strange or dreamy, or if you see/experience a dream sign. And especially as soon as you wake up, whether it be in the middle of the night or the morning, as you may be able to catch a false awakening.
3) keep a regular sleep schedule. It can really throw you off to go to bed at 9:30 one night and wake up at 7:00 and then the next night go to bed at midnight and wake up at 9:00. However, if you can't keep this up consistently, you can still try to lucid dream, and you may very well have some good LD's, it's just harder. And make sure you get enough sleep.
4) Use autosuggestion before falling asleep. I know it sounds stupid to tell yourself "I will have a lucid dream" or whatever as you're falling asleep, but it helps. most say it's important to keep saying it and have it be the last thing on your mind before you fall asleep, but you don't need to get that nitpicky about it. Just say it until you think your subconscious has got the hint
5) lastly, be patient. that's always the hardest part, but no matter how long it takes you willget it eventually as long as you're trying, but not trying too hard. getting frustrated only makes it harder.

After you've done that for a while until you feel that your dreams are getting increasingly more vivid, or if you're close to getting a lucid dream, or even if you have tried this for a few weeks and are getting nowhere, then move on to trying more techniques. A pretty reliable one is WBTB, however that may be annoying for some people; having to wake up in the middle of the night. I think it's totally worth it because i don't have to do much, I hardly even get out of bed, but it's different for everyone and requires some trial and error. FILD is one that's kinda cool if you can get right, but hardly ever works for some people... though it's worth a try, it's not like it takes much effort. When you feel confident enough, try WILD but not until you've had a few lucid dreams already. That one generally takes more practice and experience, and I wouldn't waste time trying that as a first technique.

good luck! And remember, once you do get lucid, don't jump right into the dream or you'll lose lucidity and the LD will end up lasting no more than a few seconds. Never get too excited once you realize your dreaming, just stop, chill, and stabilize the dream, which you can probably read about how to do in the Dream Control section.