Thread: How long does it take?

helloo.It took me a week, it takes others months or years. Everybody varies.
Just try to put a lot of effort into it and don't give up. Do lots of reality checks. and yes, that was a lucid. if you knew you were dreaming for a second, it is still a lucid.

Dude if it took years that'd suck

ATM I'm checking times and counting my fingers (if I remember). Four days ago I was pushing my nails into my palm to see if I was awake and that worked well, but yeahhhh lol it kinda hurt.

Should I up the ante or just check clocks/hands? BTW, how often are you meant to do so?

It took me about a month, which seems to be about the norm. It certainly varies from person to person, but many usually fall within the 1-2 month time period. The more effort you put into it, and the less bad habits you develop, the faster you'll become lucid.

I prefer the nose pinch RC. Pinch your nose shut and try to breathe through it. Also, the clock test works best with a digital clock, rather than an analog one. The rule of thumb is to reality check as often as you need to in order to become lucid. Some people rarely need to RC, some do it as frequently as every 10 minutes or so. It varies from person to person. The main goal of RCing is to boost awareness, too, so that when you recognize something unusual, you can identify it as such and check reality (RC) to determine if you're dreaming or not.

The idea of it taking a month seems awful

Were you good at dream recall before you started to think about LDing?

took me four months, and i've been considerd a "natural" by someone with 200+ LD's under his belt

and i've heard of people who devote 4 years of thier life to LD's

Originally Posted by lilacalil

The idea of it taking a month seems awful

Were you good at dream recall before you started to think about LDing?

Dream recall isn't all that hard to build up, really. Just repeat a mantra to yourself every night (I WILL remember my dreams), and you should start seeing a dramatic increase very shortly.

Yeah, a month may seem like a long time, but the rewards are so worth it. It really isn't even that hard, for most people. A couple of reality checks, perhaps a few mantras, and the rest kinda follows.

Originally Posted by Majinaki

took me four months, and i've been considerd a "natural" by someone with 200+ LD's under his belt

and i've heard of people who devote 4 years of thier life to LD's

Yeah, 4 years is an exception to the rule. By the time you hit the 4-year mark, you should be right about a natural LDer, but again, it varies from person to person.

I seem to be very lucky and maybe partially natural - I've had my first real lucid two nights after discovering Lucid Dreaming. Now after month and half I've had six so far (and maybe another one today, I'm writing this during second today's WBTB) and the awareness seems to raise very quickly, I've done RC yesterday in a dream (posted it in the Stupidest ways you've missed becoming lucid thread ) and I think I've had 3 LDs today, waking up after RC in each, but the last DEILD was successful (my first DEILD, yay!) and bringed me the longest, best and busiest LD so far.

It's definitely worth it, keep trying!

100% of the people I have taught LDing to have had them the first night so don't be discouraged :p I had my first is about 1 week. Increased awareness is where it's at :p Make sure you're being aware through ALL of the day, not just every time you're in a car or something.

IMO, these are the things should know for having an LD a night:

1. Awareness (read Naiya's tut. The most helpful thing for LD's not matter what)

2. MILD

3. WBTB

4. Good dream reacall (like 3 or 4 a night. It comes with practice. I started off remembering 5 a week and now remember about 3-4 a night)

5. WILD (Just a good thing to know. Can be uber successful)

6. CONSISTENCY FIND A METHOD THAT WORKS, AND STICK WITH IT!!!
Screwing around trying other methods is bad. You can get an LD a night with almost any method as long as you practice it a lot.

With those under your belt, expect at least 1 a week within the first month then you'll progress at whatever rate.

I would really recommend WBTB+MILD combo. Easy and effective.