Some Difficulties

[Phalangees]

I'm having problems maintaining lucidity. The moment I become lucid, everything turns black and I wake up. If I do manage to stay lucid after the first instant, I wake up within 30 seconds. The dreams fade really fast. Does anybody have any tips on what to do to stay lucid?

[ninja9578]

17 Lucids... I didn't start having really stable lucid dreams until about the 25 mark. By that point it's not so out of the ordinary that you get over excited. Try repeating to yourself that lucid dreaming is no big deal, then you won't be so excited, that's probably what's waking you up. Also try noticing all of the surroundings, and use very passive control over your dream, just go with it, explore at will, but don't force anything to change. At least not until you are regularly having lucid dreams that last more than a minute or so.

[Clairity]

I agree with ninja9578. Don't try to set the lucid world on fire if you're struggling with lucidity.. don't try to do tricks, summon people, etc. Simply go with the flow and take it all in. Get used to what being lucid FEELS like so you can ground yourself in your dreams.. that's when the tricks/stunts can happen. You may try to increase your vividness by confidently stating aloud "increase lucidity" or "clarity now" but that would be the extent of control I would recommend for struggling dreamers. I know when I first become lucid, I too have to fight that initial rush of adrenalin. I do this by telling myself to calm down, breathing naturally (or a little slower) and I try to "ground" myself in the dream (i.e., make it as lucid as it can be) instead of immediately racing to do something before I lose lucidity. One of the tricks I use to "ground" myself is to "touch" things. By touching.. I mean really "feeling" them. Get into how they feel.. are they hot, cold, smooth, rough, etc. (this also increases the vividness of the dream along with helping me remain in it longer). Just remember that "the deeper the level of lucidity.. the better your lucid experience should be".

[bro]

Simple answer- Engage. Keep your mind occupied, not excited...what you need to do is to use your senses. Verbal commands may help, but I find that engaging, mostly touching walls, or grass or any object (yes, even those objects) keeps you involved and grounded. Take your time, feel things, and you will see it before your eyes become much more clear and stable. It maight take a few tries but I'm sure eventually you'll be able to see how efective it is. You may need to do it a few times, but I'm sure it'll help...try different things. Good luck.

[Phalangees]

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate it. I'll try it out next time I become lucid which should be tonight because I get to sleep in.

[Moonbeam]

Hey, Phalangees! ^^^Good advice above; I just wanted to say !

[Phalangees]

Hey, Phalangees! ^^^Good advice above; I just wanted to say ! Hi.

[Phalangees]

Gah, it happened again. I became lucid and right away I told myself to ground myself but it was already too late because everything turned black and I woke up. I don't know why. I wasn't excited to be lucid or anything like that. Everything starts fading the moment I become lucid.

[Orvus]

You may try to increase your vividness by confidently stating aloud "increase lucidity" or "clarity now" but that would be the extent of control I would recommend for struggling dreamers. I tried that during two fuzzy WILDs I had last night, and they immediately ended. ): I'm not sure if I was confident enough, but I expected something to happen. So, it seems that it doesn't work for everyone.

[Clairity]

I tried that during two fuzzy WILDs I had last night, and they immediately ended. ): I'm not sure if I was confident enough, but I expected something to happen. Well, I quess something did.. they ended. I'm sorry it didn't work for you.

[Redrivertears]

Hey there, Some very good advice above already. There's two other aspects that I think I can add: a) Don't worry about the dream ending or waking up I know this can be hard, especially in the beginning, but ideally you should do the 'grounding' thing as part of your normal 'becoming lucid ritual', and not 'to prevent you from waking up'. In fact, you want to avoid thinking about waking up as much as possible. You especially want to avoid being worried about waking up, because worries and fears make themselves come true in dreams. Try not to be worried about the lucid dream ending and waking. Remind yourself in advance that you have all the time in the world. That the only thing that's making your dream prematurely end is your worry about it. Keep your attention firmly on the dream itself and banish all thoughts of your waking body from your mind. b) Set yourself dreamgoals Try to set yourself dreamgoals in advance. This will help keep you engaged, and help the dream going until you've 'finished' with your dreamgoal. Keep it simple in the beginning. When you get better at prolonging your lucid dreams and achieving your goals, you can begin to expand them. Often, people have only one true goal: "to get lucid", so when they do finally get lucid, their goal is fulfilled, and the driving force, the motivation, simply falls away. They wake up because they've done what they set out to do. So make sure you know in advance what you want to accomplish when you get lucid, and try to recall this dreamgoal immediately when you do finally achieve lucidity. Hope that helps, -Redrivertears-

[Clairity]

Excellent advice Redrivertears!

[Moonbeam]

Those annoying moments of losing are a good chance to practice dream re-entry. Sometimes it works for me, sometimes not.

[Phalangees]

Thanks for the advice everyone!! I forgot to post that I had a lucid a few days ago. It was under a minute like all of my lucids but it's much better than waking up immediately. I tried to summon my subconscious but all these DC's came up to me saying they were my subconscious and I got a little overwhelmed and lost lucidity.

[TempleGuard]

Yeah, I couldnt remember having a lucid longer than 30 seconds, too. What is the max that all of you had, or know someone is having. Cuz i can hardly believe there could be lucid longer than 5-10 minutes (which sounds really great, too).

[richard85pr]

Hi Palangees, you and I have the similiar problem... Whenever I get lucid, I always know (realise) how my body laying in my bed & in what position, etc. That makes me feel very strange, coz it's like to have 2 body, which one is sleeping and the other is in dreamworld seeing things. That gives me difficulty in staying lucid, sometimes suddenly everything becomes black and.. I awake :-( That also give me difficulty in controling my dreams, like walking can be difficult (because I know that I sleeping in my bed) etc... I've 4 lucid and 2 of them which I have very little control of my self, never fly tough.. :-(