Newbie Help.

Hi, as the title said I'm a newbie. I'm sure that you avid LD'ers get tired (hehe, pun :P) of the noob posts, but I am going to add to them anyways.

I've read plenty, at least I think it's plenty, of the LD stuff. It all says the same stuff to me really--keep a dream journal, do constant RC's, talk to yourself when you go to sleep, etc. But, I still have some questions. Here goes...

I have a dream journal already set up. I should write down every little dream I have, right? I mean last night I had part of a dream (I actually remembered it, I usually never do. :boogie:) and I didn't write it down. I know I probably should have, but I guess a combination of laziness and not 100% sure-ness if I should caused me to not.

Also last night, when I got in bed I repeated "I'm going to have a dream and remember it." over and over in my mind. It got kind of annoying, and I think I ended up saying it and tinking about other things, but apparently it helped. Should I do this all the time until I go to sleep, or should I start when I feel my eyelids getting heavier?

Right now, these are all the questions I have. I will probably come up with more later, so be ready. :P

Thanks for the help!

:welcome:
More newbie posts are always a good thing. The more people lucid dreaming, the better :boogie:

If you find autosuggestion works for you, keep it up. I know it is a must for me. When I stop telling myself to remember my dreams, my recall takes a dive. You don't have to keep repeating it until you fall asleep. Just tell yourself until you are sure you will remember. I guess it depends on how stubborn your brain is feeling.

Ok, tonight I think I will repeat the saying untill I start thinking other things. Then I will start saying it again.

What I just read said that DILDs happen fairly randomly. I guess I should just RC for a while each day and eventually it will happen a dream?

If I wake up in the middle of the night (like what happened last night) should I try to WILD? Trying to LD so early in my journey may end up being nonproductive, but I guess it can't hurt, eh? Can someone give me a quick explanation of WILDing. BTW, I am currently reading the WILD tut by Dream Guide Team. I think a shorter tut in response here may help me more.

Well, I'm not too familiar with WILDs (sorry =P), but I DO know that they take some discipline, and a LOT of concentration. Typically, doing them after you wake up from a few hours of sleep is the right idea....so your on the right track there.

When you say that you should to RC's for awhile each day, try to do them A LOT. Also, try to remember them yourself....not by setting an alarm to do an RC every hour. This way, it makes it easier to spontaneously question your surroundings in your dream, thus rendering your lucid.

Do you have a dreamsign that you know of? I know you just started, but I didn't know if you had one or not. A lot of my dreams take place at night or in darkness, so I reality check A LOT at night or in darkness. That way, the habit of RCing at night will carry over to my dream, hopefully getting me lucid!

I don't know if I can do a WILD, with all the concentration and stuff. I guess I should be able to concentrate, since I'm in a drumline (High School), lol. Maybe next year I'll be able to. I've seen some of the music, and omg! it is so hard!

Anyways...

Today I just kept trying to, but ended up not doing too many of them. since I've got home, though, I've been looking at my hands, checking the time twice, and looking in mirrors for a while and asking myself in my head if I'm dreaming. Should I do that aloud? I think I am going to do the nose pinch one now that I'm home, I'd feel kind of stupid pinching my nose all the time in front of people. :P

No, I don't quite no of a dreamsign. Afterall, I've only been doing this LD prep stuff for 1 night! :lol: I'll be sure to right down any dreams I can remember from this night, though.

WILD on its most basic level, is just watching yourself fall asleep. You want to fall asleep and enter a dream without losing consciousness. Next time you are falling asleep, pay attention to what happens to your thoughts. When you WILD, you are hovering right on the edge of sleep, in this weird state.

Any WILD technique has a few basic components.
1) A way to relax your body.
2) A way to hold onto your consciousness as you wait for sleep.
3) A way to enter the dream.

You get the timing right, get super-crazy-insanely relaxed, hold onto your consciousness, wait to fall asleep, then enter a dream. Easy, right? :lol:

Easy lol. Like I've heard other people say, I'm usually awake and next thing I know I wake up in the morning. I guess this is where the concentration comes in?

I think for now I will just try to RC in a dream, which may take a while. I never actually find myself in a dream. I'm guessing the dream journal will resolve this problem?