Becoming a Natural Lucid Dreamer

[MindGames]

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. __________________________________________________ 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 ). Good luck in becoming a natural lucid dreamer! Make sure you regularly post your progress so we can learn from your experience.

[MischiefManaged]

My lucid dreaming goal is to eventually be able to recognize the dream every time it occurs. Well, I guess, it's the goal of majority people who learn to lucid dream. I started working on my awareness two weeks ago and after 6 days I became lucid, because I had some sort of awareness boost - I decided to look around in a dream the same way as I was training myself IRL. I immediately saw all the dream signs and gained lucidity. I consider my awareness level (before I started training) the worst ever possible, actually. I have annoying daydreaming habit, I often sort of became frozen and stare at one point, have awful short term memory in terms of "where I am" and "what was I just doing" and I almost never notice my surroundings, because actually, some time ago I decided to do so. Taking all of that into account - 6 days is a great success for me

[MindGames]

My lucid dreaming goal is to eventually be able to recognize the dream every time it occurs. Well, I guess, it's the goal of majority people who learn to lucid dream. I started working on my awareness two weeks ago and after 6 days I became lucid, because I had some sort of awareness boost - I decided to look around in a dream the same way as I was training myself IRL. I immediately saw all the dream signs and gained lucidity. I consider my awareness level (before I started training) the worst ever possible, actually. I have annoying daydreaming habit, I often sort of became frozen and stare at one point, have awful short term memory in terms of "where I am" and "what was I just doing" and I almost never notice my surroundings, because actually, some time ago I decided to do so. Taking all of that into account - 6 days is a great success for me Good job! I've known for a while now that reality checks weren't necessary to become lucid. I've been practicing my awareness for around four days and I just had a semi-lucid last night. I won't count mine as official progress, but you're definitely making good progress so far. I suggest you try to be aware at all possible times. This should increase the frequency of lucids and make it more of a subconscious habit.

[rynkrt3]

Go ask Hukif, Naiya, kingYoshi what they do for LD. I have asked them all and they all said all day awareness, they also each have a LD every night. So yeah.. You can become a natural. This is actually what I'm doing now. Live in the moment and notice every detail in life that normally goes un-noticed. After a few months of doing this, it becomes internalized and natural, in waking and dreaming.

[MindGames]

Thanks rynkrt3! That's exactly the type of validation I was looking for. I'm confident that anyone can become a natural at lucid dreaming if they learn to maintain constant awareness. Come back to this thread and post your results once you've maintained constant awareness for some time. I'm very interested in hearing your results. As for my attempts, I've been drifting in and out of awareness throughout the day for the most part. I am optimistic about making good progress on my baseline awareness. So far, only one semi-lucid using the technique. Also on a side note, I've read (forgot where I read it from) that greater awareness gives you better memory. I for one am interested in any positive health effects in the brain, especially if they can be achieved in a healthy, surefire way.

[MindGames]

Also I saw a thread around the forums of someone saying that during their LD they summoned their dream guide and told their dream guide "every time im dreaming give me this pill, this pill will make me lucid" and something along the lines of that and it helped him have regular LD's. Yes, I thought of using that technique too. It's interesting to hear that it actually worked for someone. However I have yet to maintain a stable lucid dream long enough to get anything done. I will definitely try this if I get the chance.

[MindGames]

How many days have you been practicing awareness? Keep practicing, you should be making progress soon if you keep up with it. I'll be doing the same in the meantime.

[rynkrt3]

I've been practicing for 3 day's, but I don't even know what to do... like I'm not sure if I'm doing it correctly. I'm just trying to notice things I normally wouldn't, but idk if this is right. Like, peoples clothes, conversations, details of environment. Thats about it.

[MindGames]

Essentially the goal is to always know what the general environment is that you're in. I tend to only try to be aware of the visual aspects of my environment, since the most obvious aspects of dreaming are visual. I suggest you do this too, and once you've mastered being constantly aware of your environment to a high enough degree where it's likely you'll become lucid with that level of dream awareness (it's pretty hard to constantly be aware), then you should try increasing your awareness to an even higher degree, such as being aware of the smaller details of your environment. You're not only going to want to be aware of your environment, but be aware of your environment in regards to whether or not you're dreaming. In the end, it's about noticing that you're dreaming, by passively analyzing the general aspects of your environment. Once you progress, it should be easier to be aware of the smaller aspects of your environment in addition to the bigger picture.

[rynkrt3]

Essentially the goal is to always know what the general environment is that you're in. I tend to only try to be aware of the visual aspects of my environment, since the most obvious aspects of dreaming are visual. I suggest you do this too, and once you've mastered being constantly aware of your environment to a high enough degree where it's likely you'll become lucid with that level of dream awareness (it's pretty hard to constantly be aware), then you should try increasing your awareness to an even higher degree, such as being aware of the smaller details of your environment. You're not only going to want to be aware of your environment, but be aware of your environment in regards to whether or not you're dreaming. In the end, it's about noticing that you're dreaming, by passively analyzing the general aspects of your environment. Once you progress, it should be easier to be aware of the smaller aspects in addition to the bigger picture. Well, the thing about that is, is that I'm always visually aware, but I don't get the LD's. I think I need to work on other things.. idk

[MindGames]

You're constantly paying attention to where you are and what your environment is? Take it a step further and notice whether or not you're always in that environment. Like I'm in my living room right now in my laptop. I would question whether or not I would be on a laptop in my living room in waking life, and if my living room generally looks the same. But it's more of a passive type of noticing, such as whenever you move around. And if you're not moving around, keep your environment within your attention.

[rynkrt3]

Well, this is what I always do. I scan environments, I make sure I know where I am, I get a general sense that everything is normal -- Doing these will not get you lucid, I do those naturally, we need to focus on something else.

[MindGames]

Are you aiming to recognize abnormal aspects of your environment? Because that's what I do every time I become aware in one of my dreams. I start paying attention to my surroundings and get the general feel that I am dreaming. Let me ask you this, what goes through your mind whenever you become lucid without reality checking? Do you ever become lucid before doing a reality check? And also, your dreams might be more realistic than others' dreams are, so you might need to increase your awareness even more even if you already are aware.

[rynkrt3]

Are you aiming to recognize abnormal aspects of your environment? Because that's what I do every time I become aware in one of my dreams. I start paying attention to my surroundings and get the general feel that I am dreaming. Let me ask you this, what goes through your mind whenever you become lucid without reality checking? Do you ever become lucid before doing a reality check? And also, your dreams might be more realistic than others' dreams are, so you might need to increase your awareness even more even if you already are aware. Yeah, my dreams are actually SO realistic and boring, thats a big reason I'm trying to LD, so I don't wake up bored And yeah, I scan for any abnormality, or anything that could clue me to be dreaming. Also, I never do a RC THEN become lucid, all my lucids have just been.. wow this is a dream then I RC to confirm. I'm not sure what I need to be focusing on. I read Yoshis DILD tutorial, and I gatta be honest, I don't understand it. lol

[MindGames]

What Yoshi tries to focus on is a very detailed awareness of your environment. This takes all of the senses into account, and being completely aware of every aspect of your environment at all times. It seems near impossible, but one could get up to that level if they tried. Anyway, what I was wondering was that if you're always aware of your environment, then what thought or detail generates that realization that you're dreaming? Is it always just some random dreamlike aspect? In your case, you might want to become more acutely aware and notice and question everything to a greater degree of intensity. If your dreams and waking life are exactly the same, then you might be limited to just using regular reality checks.

[rynkrt3]

Normally when I become lucid its just completely random, nothings weird normally happens. (Walking down the road and all of a sudden, HEY I'M DREAMING.) I'm about to post something on Yoshis tut, check it out.

[MindGames]

I read your post. I think that having a more acute perception across all five senses will help you. I also think that you should really pay attention to your general environment. I find that my dream environments are rarely alike my usual waking environments.

[kookyinc]

I'd love to help with this. Could you provide some techniques that help one to be aware at all times? I'm an extremely oblivious person, and thus I expect that I will face difficulty at first with regards to constantly being aware of my surroundings.

[MindGames]

One of the main goals is to not have to use techniques. When you're getting started, though, you should just become aware whenever you remember to do so throughout the day. Take a moment to become aware and judge the general reality your environment. Is this a waking environment? Try increasing your general awareness even more. Then, continue to be aware for the rest of the day. If you forget again, repeat. Also, you want to become passively aware, so practice being aware while doing any activity that doesn't require all of your attention when you start out.

[rynkrt3]

What do you mean by general environment?

[MindGames]

By general environment, I mean your environment as a whole. You should pay attention to whether your environment is familiar or not. If it is not, this should prompt you to think about how you got there.

[rynkrt3]

Summer 2000 Newsletter - What is Awareness? How can I become more aware? Check that link out, it's really helpful

[Raphael]

One of the main goals is to not have to use techniques. You are using a technique, ADA (all day awareness). When you become good at ADA you don't necessarily have to think about it, so it does become effortless; but that doesn't mean you're not still using the technique. Being aware in real life will help you become lucid in a DILD, that's the point. @rynkrt3 nice link, you might also want to check out Yoshi's new tut if you haven't already.

[MindGames]

Yes, Yoshi created the term 'ADA' and the tech after I made this tutorial. I think his tutorial is useful but we have yet to see any results (to my knowledge). However I am hopeful in seeing results in either thread and I am looking to advance the technique even further. I had my first lucid dream last night in a while. It happened pretty spontaneously, and I can't say for sure that it was caused solely by waking constant awareness. I did have higher than normal awareness though, which I suspect might have been caused by repeatedly waking up and falling asleep in the morning. Anyone else having results? Summer 2000 Newsletter - What is Awareness? How can I become more aware? Check that link out, it's really helpful I did a quick read-through on that link, and from what I read, she isn't aware of any correlation between awareness and lucid dreaming. Although I do agree that environmental awareness is a necessary component, I think that it has to be used in the mindset of speculating whether or not you are dreaming. Otherwise it might just make your dreams seem more realistic and not prompt you to take your environment as a whole into account. Based on my experience so far, I strongly encourage anyone taking part in this research to not only become aware, but to become aware of your environment as a whole. What I mean by this is that you should be aware of the specific environment that you are in, in relation to the usual environments you encounter when you are awake. That way, in addition to paying attention to the details, you can also pay attention to your specific location. If you find that you're in an unfamiliar or unlikely location, then you can much more easily become aware that you are dreaming. Adding this to the original post. edit: Nevermind, I just spent about fifteen minutes making some good changes and they got discarded due to the time limit on editing posts.

[Shadow27]

I've been meaning to try this anyway. I do this about once every two weeks or so and I had lucid dreams at about that interval. Now, I do it a little more frequently and am having lucids every couple nights. I think there may be something to this other than just doing it in the dream. Stephen LaBerge actually recommends doing this for MILD so it could be a sure-fire way to get lucid. I only do it once a day for a couple minutes so doing it constantly may have some promising results.