Thread: annoyed

How long would you say it takes for a person to lucid dream?
throughout the day i've been pinching my arm and turning of and on lights looking in the mirror. Im using WILD and for a backup DILD. But no results.
I've only got lucid once by accident for 30 seconds but got to exited and woke up. I'm not thinking of quitting because it was the coolest feeling ever but how long will it take and what should i do to increase the chance of becoming lucid.

Well, congrats on your first lucid!

It takes quite a while for a person to become a "regular" lucid dreamer. First off, I would scrap the reality testing altogether. If you must, I recommend the nose pinch test (when you pinch your nose shut and see if you can breathe through it), as others are more prone to failure. In lieu of reality checking, I would consider autosuggestion, or the MILD. It is very similar to the DILD, but tends to be more successful and easier to do in the long run.

On average, it seems that people tend to have their first lucid sometime between 3 weeks and 2 months. After the first lucid comes, the subsequent ones tend to come a bit easier. To become a "natural," you must stick with a certain method of choice for a long period of time. An exceptional few can become LD masters within a year or less, but for many, if not most, the process takes several or many years to master (i.e., having at least one good lucid per night on average).

^Someone correct me if I'm wrong...this is the information I've assimilated since joining DV.

I have to disagree with Mario on the reality testing. Although he is right that you should scrap the pinching RC. Pinching yourself in a dream is exactly like pinching yourself when you're awake (there may be some exceptions, but overall it still isn't a reliable reality check). I'd recommend either the nose RC or, if you want something more inconspicuous, the watch or text RCs.

Reality checking can be very effective if you do it right. Don't just count your fingers or glance at your watch twice, actually look around you and really question reality. How did you get there? What are you doing? Who are you with? Do you know these people? Does what you're doing make sense? Do you normally do this sort of thing? After considering your answers to those questions, then decide whether or not you're dreaming. You should use the physical reality check to confirm what you already know.

Or, if you're lazy like me, you'll just do the physical reality check and become lucid less often. For about a week I tried doing thoughtful reality checks, and it was lucid dreams galore. But, like I said, I'm lazy, so there went that.

I also recommend trying MILD. I don't have any personal experience with it, but I've heard of many people having success with it.

How long have you been trying to lucid dream? I'd say it takes most people between a week and a couple of months, although there are some people who become lucid the first night they try it and others who take longer. It really depends on the individual.

Are you incorporating a dream journal into all this? If you are serious about getting lucid then this is a must especially starting out.

I personally have never had a pure MILD, or pure RC induced dream. Sure I use RCs once I suspect it's a dream, but I've never had any luck with just RCing out of the blue. In fact, most peoples journals i'm reading on here... They also suspect it's a dream, then try the RC. I haven't seen one entry yet where someone has written, "I was walking down the street and found myself trying to put my finger through my hand, I had no idea it was a dream and then my hand went through." I've been reading a few of them and haven't come across anything like that yet.

I'm sort of new to dreamviews but my advice is to work on that recall by journalling, find enjoyment in journalling and make it fun for yourself. Give yourself good rest and time to do it. The lucids will come. Especially with you having had one before.

The first lucid dream is the hardest, because you aren't too sure which route to take in attaining lucidty, you aren't sure what lucidty will feel like, and you aren't sure what experience will be overall. I was lucky enough to stumble into a lucid dream by accident originally.

Thanks for the advice. And a quick question. What usually tips you off that your dreaming before doing an RC? Mirror, text, lights.

Lucid dreaming is a skill you can develop.
Become familiar with your dream environment, their features and patterns. Learn to recognize them as dreams while they are still happening.
Hang in there - it will come.

Time limitations to lucid dreams are one's own motivation & effort.
It's easier for some, and not so for others.

Originally Posted by apocalypse

Lucid dreaming is a skill you can develop.
Become familiar with your dream environment, their features and patterns. Learn to recognize them as dreams while they are still happening.
Hang in there - it will come.

Time limitations to lucid dreams are one's own motivation & effort.
It's easier for some, and not so for others.

You should also train yourself to not get over-excited when it does happen, or you'll ruin everything.

As far as things that might tip you off that it's a dream? Usually after being in a particular dream for a while things just start to add up that are out of place or seem strange. On their own, they aren't enough to make you go lucid but you might get a quick funny feeling, or tell yourself, "That's strange." In my non-lucids I often recall things that should have made me go lucid, most people that journal have this happen. Sometimes you can sort of sense it, a dream "feels" different sometimes.

My latest lucid came down to the fact that I realized "this has all been going on for a while." I was having a nightmare that I couldn't go to sleep (funny to call that a nightmare but it was) and all this stuff happened, and just due to all the things that had happened and time that had gone by, I somehow realized that this was out of place. That all my scared feeling was unnecessary. Later on, I went fully lucid.

When you practice dream recall and dream journalling, your dreams seem to get longer. Sometimes just having a really long dream it all begins to add up and you finally realize you are lucid. Either that or your logic center in your brain finally kicks in.

don't worry man it's alright. I don't think anyone on this forum including the staff can say that as soon as they started to attempt lucid dreaming that they got a ton of them. Give it time and do the techniques, but don't over do it or get annoyed. Continue to live your life, and see lucid dreaming as a goal.

id say a good year of constant lucid dream practice and you will be having them all the time. Dont let not becoming lucid discourage you. keep doing reality checks and put more meaning into them and write down every dream you have in your dream journal. Coming onto dream views a lot helps also.

I recommend reverse blinking. Someone posted it the other day. I used it and its very effective.
Even if you aren't wanting a lucid dream reverse blinking can help you get a great nights sleep.