Hello! New member looking for some advice!

**Ontru** · 07-14-2010 05:20 AM

Alright guys,
Not so long ago my friend told me about this whole concept called lucid dreaming. After a few conversations and him explaining some basic techniques I decided to do some digging on the interwebs. I looked around aTON and decided that the best course of action was to start a Dream Journal. At this point I was still confused to how the whole Lucidity thing worked but figured that a dream journal would be a cool habit to start.
About a week later, coincidentally, lucid dreaming come up in another friend of mines conversation. Apparently she gets them naturally and has them nearly every night (is this even possible? She swears she does). She then explained to me what lucidity is and certain things shes done.
So now im here, Ive had a dream journal for a month and sadly it has about 5 entries. Im not sure why but my recall kinda of sucks. I think it might be due to the fact that most of the times I wake up its because of the phone or someone in my house yelling at me, versus naturally.
Finally, my question is
What would be the best route to take in order to achieve lucid dreams and increase my recall. Also what are the limits of lucid dreaming? (if any) and how often do people usually have them/ how long do they last. Im incredibly determined
Sorry for the wall of text

. Thanks in advance

**mattbrox** · 07-14-2010 05:46 AM

Well the best route for a beginner to take would probably just be DILD, but if you're really ambitious I think you should maybe try to WILD. You can find info on each of these in the tutorials section.
I don't believe there are any limits in lucid dreaming. There are no limits to what you can do, feel or even be.
Your first lucid is usually very short; most people wake up from excitement before they do anything. A normal lucid dream can be anywhere from 5 minutes to 40 minutes.

Good luck!

**Ontru** · 07-14-2010 02:54 PM

Thanks for the quick reply! I have a couple more questions

I understand for DILD I will have to do reality checks every day. How many per-day is recommended?

**Hot Chocolate** · 07-14-2010 03:05 PM

The more reality checks you do, the better, but 10-20 a day should be fine. Be sure to take your time for reality checks, ask yourself if you're dreaming instead of just doing a reality check quickly.

**Ontru** · 07-15-2010 12:25 AM

Okay today was my first day trying them, I did them every hour and on the half hour aswell. What I tried was putting my finger through my hand and then spent a couple minutes thinking if I was dreaming by challenging my current scenario. Should I just continue to do this every day?

**dakotahnok** · 07-15-2010 04:19 AM

my method: every time you go threw a doorway. do a reality check
everytime you get in a car, do a reality check
and everytime you see a dream sign do a reality check!
also do random ones.. youll get into the habbit

**Ontru** · 07-15-2010 06:57 AM

What are some examples of dream signs?

**mattbrox** · 07-15-2010 11:32 AM

A dream sign is unique to the person, it's basically just a thing person or place that often appears in your dreams.

**dakotahnok** · 07-15-2010 07:35 PM

yeah it can be something extordinary like your mom can fly
or it can be just some person that you see in real life that you also see in your dreams a lot.

**Ontru** · 07-16-2010 05:38 AM

Okay, so from now on im going to keep up my dream journal. I did a some reading and apparently im supposed to be as vivid as possible. I.E smells, tastes, and as many sensory feelings as possible. Im also going to adopt your method of going through doorways and doing RCs. I think I go through at least 21 Doorways a day so as long as it becomes a habit ill be golden. Are their any other tasks I should repeat and practice every day in order to work towards lucidity? Also, are their any other methods I can attempt so I dont have to go to bed each night "hoping" to have a lucid dream.

All the best
-Ontru

**dakotahnok** · 07-16-2010 05:21 PM

i also read that saying "i will have a lucid dream tonight" or some other "mantra" can help. also to say it as your going to the bathroom. while laying down to go to sleep, and before bed.