New dreamer

Hi guys

I have been wandering the forums to check out some tutorials and random threads, and i found all this dream stuff to be VERY interesting. After reading some of the tutorials i tried MILD and DILD out, and have been doing so for some time now. But i cant obtain lucidity. I feel the problem is that my dreams are so real and i honestly believe that it is reality. Even when i dream unreal stuff like being teleported or something, i feel (in my dream) that it is total reality, so RCing isnt even on my mind. So actually my problem is that i cant RC in my dreams. I have also tried dream signs, but i also have a hard time doing this. Any advice?

And some questions for you experienced dreamers:

How long do you dream? By this i mean, how long does the dream feel like? (Like a day, an hour or maybe just some minutes)

Do you feel like you are living two lives, one dream life and one real life?


Thanks you

Jim

Welcome jammerro:)

How long have you been trying? How is your dream recall? Yes, dreams feel very real that we never test reality in there, however if you keep doing RCs you increase the chances of doing them in your dream too. Dont do them only when you feel that "something is wrong". When I get DILD through RCs I do my RC in a random moment, for example I was in my house doing usual stuff and suddenly I did a RC.

Keep in mind that achieving a LD is not an easy task, you should have a lot of patience, most people dont have. So my suggestion is, keep trying, dont change method, combinate with WBTB if you have time (not necessary), do RCs (like15-20/day) - however try to really test reality like you expect it to be a dream - dont for example listen to music and just look at your palm, if you dont have a dream journal (critical),start a new.

You give me the feeling that you dived into the deep by trying to get a LD right away. Try to read a complete guide (not only "how to DILD"). I suggest reading Stephen LaBerge's "exploring the world of Lucid dreaming", it will inspire you. :) Also read Naiya's guide.

Naiya's Guide, which is excellent.

Also, Shift's Guide, which is actually the one I started to learn from, first.

Both are excellent guides on how to get started on DILDs, MILDs and WILDs (in Naiya's guide).

My own personal experience, I didn't have a LD for 3 weeks after joining. I've had DILDs throughout my life, ever since I was a teenager (I'm 26 now), so when I didn't have one for 3 weeks, I got antsy. I thought maybe I was hindering my ability to have a LD ever again.

The key is to relax and know that it will happen. As both guides mention, this takes time and practice!

I also had the same problem as you in my dreams. I tend to dream about fairly realistic things (with some odd twists that really SHOULD provoke me to become lucid, but don't :(). Like I'm hanging out with the BF, or I'm at work, or I'm out and about with friends. I very rarely get a crazy plot that's completely unrealistic.

Something that helped me remember to reality check in waking life was picking something that occurs normally, a daily dream sign, and everytime it occurs, to remember to RC. What really helps is, once you get your dream sign for the day, imagine all of the opportunities you can possibly have occur throughout your day and imagine yourself RC-ing to them. When they do occur, pretend that you did just become lucid and stablize your 'dream' (like rubbing your hands together; focusing on something smaller, like say a chair in the room until your dream remains stable).

It took a bit to remember to RC when encountering the daily dream sign. Some signs are easier to remember than others.

Eventually, you'll become increasingly aware of your surroundings. For me, my day is like one long reality check. It's the constant awareness of my environment. How I move, what it feels like. How I think (because even my thoughts in a LD are just different than in waking life). How did I get here. Can I remember what I did previously to where I am now. Does everything around me logically make sense? Can I breathe through my nose when I pinch it?

So far, it's taken a month to get to this point!

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How long do you dream? By this i mean, how long does the dream feel like? (Like a day, an hour or maybe just some minutes)

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This is hard for me to answer. When I DILD, it's hard for me to tell how long I've been asleep/dreaming up to the point where I become lucid.

In my last lucid, I slept for 3 hours. The dream itself was lucid from the get-go. It was like it was a black void, and then I was at work with my mum and brother there. That instantly made me lucid, so I started experimenting with my environment. With all the things I did/tried, in dream world it was probably a few minutes worth of control. 5 minutes at the most. Assuming that this dream started as soon as I fell asleep, then basically '5 minutes' in my dream world took 3 hours to dream. But I can't say that for certain.

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Do you feel like you are living two lives, one dream life and one real life?

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I don't LD frequently enough to answer this, appropriately, but if I had one every night? Hmm. I think I'd still have to say no. For me, my dreams are often different plots a night, very randomly different things happening. I think it would only feel like a double life, to me, if my LD's actually followed a rather consecutive course just like real life does.

Try a WBTB in there, that's usually very helpful.

In answer to your other questions, you dream for about 15 minutes (long in early morning), but dreams are like movies, they skip forwards through time over boring stuff. So similar to how a 2 hour movie can span several days or even weeks, dreams can feel that way too. Usually when lucid though time seems pretty similar to real time.

Thank you so much for your answers. I have read through the two guides you recommended eternalstar. And it was just nice! This has helped me understand all the basics! thanks!

And SweetMelancholy, you are just right about me diving into something bigger than i can handle. Im gonna try to take it a bit more easy and see what happens :P

I second Ninja's advice about the WBTB. I think it is the single most important thing you can do to improve your dream vividness, recall, and chances of lucidity.