Hello, I am new to the LD process, having only tried small things such as some (sparodic) dream recall, and some sleep hypnosis. A friend of mine really was the first person to ever tell me about any of this, he talk's about his LD experiences quite a bit, and I have become slightly jealous. For the past month or so, I have been reading up on it, and found this site, I have a rough Idea of what to do after reading tutorials and such. Although I believe that In the school year may not be the best time to try, because of the sleep pattern, which is not the best.

My dream recall is relatively poor right now, I think the last time I woke up and had any recollection of a dream at all is a week ago, and that was not clear at all. I think one of my main problems is that over the years I have essentially become addicted to using a pair of headphones and some music as a sleep aid. I suffer from essentially widthdrawl without it, and I relent every time I try and quit, just so I can essentially pass out. Again, referring to my need for sleep during school. I plan to start a dream journal soon, or hopefully buy a tape recorder.

My experience with sleep hypnosis came after a bout with insomnia, I downloaded a sleep hypnosis thing form another forum I am part of, and tried it that night. It did not work for the desired effect though, although the side effects remained, and everything except sleep that was suggested, occured. When I was told to imagine my arms and legs being hevy, or on the beach, hammock, etc. I did, and it worked, so well in fact, that when it ended, and I was lying there awake, I could not lift my arms for about 5 minutes, even with concious effort. My later use of it, believeing my first experience was tainted by some other factor, led to a similar lack of final effect, but this time I got even closer to being in a state of complete hypnosis. This state was the same as the feeling of lucidity in dreams, as described by my friend, but I was not asleep, and was aware of the fact. I felt myself lift out of my body, and as it ended, I was stuck in this state, unable to move, but unmistakably feeling not to be on my bed. I am as of yet, too afraid to try again, some deep seeded fear that I will either fall asleep and not wake, or that I will be stuck in that state I just described.

My dreams normally seem to occur in the third person, or at least that is how I remember them. In my dreams (murky, been awhile since good recall) It seems that I I am in a movie, with swooping camera's and cinematic scene structure's. Therefore I have never had the experience of looking at my hand or any other dream sign. Is this normal?

I am looking into ways of attaining LD, and am willing to try most things, and any general advice, or comments on what I have described above would be greatly appreciated.