I woke up on the floor beside my bed. I thought that was pretty strange and I couldn’t remember what I was doing down there. So I asked myself my critical question, “What had I been doing before?” and recalled that I had gone to bed. This is what sparked my lucidity. It was dark when the dream started but when I became lucid a dim light came on. I looked at my hands to focus my awareness and the lights gradually pulsed brighter and brighter until I could tell that I was well grounded in the dream. I also rubbed my hand across the carpet to give myself some tactile sensation. This seemed to ground me even better than looking at my hands.
Eventually I stood up and walked out my bedroom door to an open courtyard with sidewalks and an apartment complex across from me. I walked to the complex and entered the first door I came to. I spent some time walking around inside and examining random objects. I passed by a few indistinct dream figures watching television. The picture on the tv was very bright but also blurry so I moved on through a kitchen and into a hallway.
I came upon a closed door in the hallway and stopped to face it. I announced my intent that two girls from my past would be inside and waited a couple seconds. I don't think I waited quite long enough because the figures were still forming when I opened the door. After a couple seconds their features solidified and I'm sure you can imagine what transpired thereafter. Then I woke up.
I've become lucid many times before but this is the first instance that I have been able to ground myself in the dream and maintain my awareness for any considerable amount of time. Considering this, I've decided to share a few tips and techniques that I feel have been instrumental in my attainment of lucidity.
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Dream journal
It helps tremendously with dream recall and my awareness of the dream state. I keep a portable voice recorder by my bedside and record my dreams immediately after waking. I write them down later in the day. If you truly wish to dream lucidly, this is probably the most important thing to do. -
Read a book
I’ve been reading Lucid Dreaming by Robert Waggoner. I tend to absorb information best from traditional print. I know LDing is possible and I know I can do it, but reading about it seems to better reinforce my faith in my own ability to accomplish it. -
Know and use different techniques
I attempt the WILD method first thing every night. I also set my alarm clock for 3:45 am so that I can also try the WBTB method. The above dream was from the WBTB method. -
Self hypnosis
I think this is actually what has helped me a good deal. I’ve almost always snapped awake right after becoming lucid. I think self hypnosis served to dampen
the shock that I normally experience upon becoming lucid. -
A lucid mindset
Find your critical question. I started out using “Am I dreaming?”, but my waking conscious started to respond with an immediate and slightly pessimistic “Of course not!”, so I changed it up. -
Stay optimistic
Stay optimistic. Seriously. Never tell yourself you can’t do it.Thus concludes my begginers guide to lucid dreaming. For newbies by a newbie.
Stay lucid, sincerely SpacemanSpiff37
!