Becoming a Natural Lucid Dreamer
Notice: In regards to the title of the thread, I am aware that one cannot become a "natural" lucid dreamer in the literal sense. I use 'natural lucid dreamer' in the context of one who has acquired the underlying traits that cause traditional natural lucid dreamers to have regular lucid dreams. Although it does take initial conscious work to acquire these traits, the idea is that over time, these traits will become subconscious and cease to require much, if any conscious effort since, as is in traditional natural lucid dreamers, they are part of a passive mindset as opposed to being deliberate, consciously initiated actions.
Furthermore, no discussion on the title of this thread is allowed due to the constant derailing that it causes.
Great, now that's settled we can move on to the actual research. :)
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This thread is for research into and individual development of the underlying traits of natural lucid dreamers that cause them to dream regularly and with little conscious effort to do so. From the research that has been done so far, I am led to believe that natural lucid dreamers have a naturally high level of awareness of their environments in their everyday lives. This requires one to shift their attention from their thoughts, and to instead always pay attention to the environment that they are in.
This is the general technique being used: (further adjustments will be described in follow-up posts)
1. Always be aware of your sensory input. Use it to be in constant determination of whether or not it feels like you're in a dream. As you progress, you will become more familiar with the feeling of being in a dream. You should do this passively over time. Use KingYoshi's ADA tutorial for tips on this.
2. Always know your location. If you regain awareness and don't know where you are after looking at your environment or don't know how you got there, you're probably dreaming. Maintain attention on your location, and pay attention to when you move from one location to another. Is your current location a usual one? Is the transition coherent? Over time, pay attention to more specific aspects of your environment in determining whether or not you're in a dream environment. Using this technique will activate higher level frontal lobe activity, the kind that you need to become lucid.
More importantly, don't try to do everything at once, at least not when you're starting out. I usually maintain sensory input awareness (#1) at all times in determining if it feels like a dream, and I use location awareness (#2) every time I'm moving from place to place, and periodically when I stay in the same place for a long time. It shouldn't be too hard to do both at once with a little bit of practice.
And don't forget to reality check once you realize you're dreaming. Use the nose plug RC to make sure you're in a dream before you do anything crazy (mostly to cover my ass :P).
Good luck in becoming a natural lucid dreamer! Make sure you regularly post your progress so we can learn from your experience. :)