A few questions

Quest for Lucidity
1

Hello,

This is my first post here besides my introduction.

I asked some of these questions on Dream Views and for 4 days my post was ignored while others were answered time and time again.

So I’m hoping I can find more helpful people here. :smile:

Ok, even though I have dabbled in this a little bit about a year ago I never was able to truly get good at it due to busy circumstances. Now that I’m trying it again I’m determined to get good at it and I’ve begun by trying to develop my dream recall which so far is doing alright I think.

Under a week ago I could not remember hardly a fragment of a dream per week. Now every night before I go to bed I leave a command in my mind “I WILL remember my dreams vividly and clearly and I will wake up after each one and write it down.”

I think it has worked very well, I wake up a couple times and normally can remember at least large parts of 1 or 2 dreams each time. So in total some nights I remember large parts of 3 - 4 dreams.

I have yet to remember a total dream from beginning to end though, but not bad for a couple nights work.

Of course I write these dream fragments down in a dream journal.

A couple nights ago I decided to try to induce a LD by using a WBTB method mixed with a kind of WILD I guess it would be.

I found the tecnique online and it involved waking up after you’ve had about 5-6 hours sleep and getting up for a few minutes to read an LD forum, write down dreams etc etc and then go back to bed within 10 minutes and as you are going back to sleep you’re supposed to visualize the dream you want and “make it more real” and just keep thinking about that and telling yourself that you are going to realize you are dreaming and all that.

After about 40 my dad woke up for work and was making some noise that was very distracting and so I figured just quit for the night and try again tomorrow so I RCed and then went back to bed.

Well, somewhere along the line, I don’t really think I was conciously trying but I started counting my breaths as I was going to sleep and after not too long I started to feel my body feel like it was vibrating for a few moments, but nothing happened.

That inspired my to keep trying so I just waiting and after not too long it happened again, but this time I saw a bright light, like someone was holding a flashlight to my face. But I could only see it from my left side.

Still, nothing happened.

The next day I remembered dreams though, one of which was me telling my mother about my dreams and about trying to become lucid. Which after reading the information on this board I see thats a good sign.

Now, several things happened that night that I’d like to know if they messed with my attempt.

  1. The position I was laying in after a while made it so that I had to swallow often.

  2. I have ADD and so my mind wanders and its hard to stay “on topic”

  3. My father making noise.

Now on the same note, I tried this again the next day in the morning or early afternoon and after 15 minutes or so started to feel the vibrations again and possibly some noises that I know weren’t really there. I there a trick to doing it in the morning/afternoon that is different? Or is it the same?

Anyway, sorry for the long post. I’m sure I will have more questions soon lol.

Thanks!

2

hil Nifty62 :wave: welcome!

ok, first of all, you got pretty close! The vibrations, light and noises that weren’t really there mean you were starting to enter a dream :smile: I’d say it’s just a matter of practice! Because it’s so easy to get excited and that makes everything fall appart. After you’ve been to this state and get more used to these weird phenomena you’ll be able to stay calmer and passively watch as your body falls asleep.

  1. In general having to swallow, I believe, may be a little of a problem, specially if you focus too much of your attention on the act of swallowing. It might simply depend on the person, though. It’s more of a problem if you take a long time to fall asleep and end up having to swallow a lot. My personal opinion is you can try it a few more times in that position and try not to pay much attention to the swallowing. But if it’s bothering you too much you can change positions. If you’re on your back you might like to try and raise your head a bit, that might help. Or simply try on your side.

  2. I don’t know about the ADD… most people without ADD also have a hard time staying on topic :tongue: my mind wanders all the time too… you can try to practice meditation, that will help your general attention. Remember that there is nothing “wrong” when your mind wanders, you’ll get better with practice. Everytime you catch your mind wandering, simply pull it back gently to the topic. :smile:

  3. if you’re able to ignore the noise there’s no big problem, but that can be hard! What I do is I use earplugs :grin: helps a lot.

I’m not sure if there’s a difference when you do it in the afternoon… I’m guessing it’s pretty much the same. The thing is WILD can be pretty tricky. It can be different for every person and every single WILD can be a bit different in itself. the best way is to just practice and try to pay attention what works for you, don’t get frustrated if you fail… seeing lights is always fun too! and a great sign. Every time you try it you’ll get a little closer. You might see a few more lights or get to a whole new step after the vibrations!

Good luck and feel free to post any other questions. I hope my looong answer could help :lol:

3

Hey!

A reply! And it hadn’t even been 2 days! Lol

thanks for the input! That really helps!

Another question I have is, how often should I practic the actual waking up and WILDing? Every night? Every other night?

By the way you have already won me over from DV cause it seems far more welcoming here. Over there it seems like if you aren’t making this your lifes work, they don’t really want to help you.

No offense to those here that might also spend time there.

4

I haven’t been much on DV but people here are really friendly and love to help :grin:

Well, your question depends on your schedule I think. I don’t need to get up early at the moment so I try to do it every morning! :happy: but when I had classes and had to get up early I’d usually wake up in the middle of the night, naturally, and I’d try to WILD (or MILD sometimes too). If I stayed too long without any success I’d just roll over and sleep…

or are you talking about WBTB? that’s also harder to do when you have to get up early… but remember that you can play around with the “times”. You can try to wake up and simply sit in bed with your eyes open for 5 minutes and see if that’s enough to help you. The whole getting up and staying up longer can really be hard to fit in a short night sleep…

It comes down to “the more you practice the better you get” and how much effort you’re willing or able to give each night :smile:

5

Unfortunatly I share a room, that combined with my father getting up at around 6 makes it hard for me.

I have been trying to get up around 5:30 and try it then.

Another question I thought of is, how much thinking can you do while WILDing without disrupting the attempt? Like when I find my ADD taking over, is that setting me back?

6

hmm, not really sure about that one :shy:

I think it might depend at what stage you are in, I could be wrong though. I think what can affect the WILD is your mind wandering (like daydreaming or thinking about what you have to do the next day, etc) I’d guess if you stay focused on the intention to LD you can think… You don’t have to have a totally empty mind to WILD!

I hope someone else might be able to answer that better :neutral:

7

Yet another question.

How much sleep do you need before attempting WBTB?

I was told minimum was 5 1/2 hours but here I read something about 4 hours.

The shorter I can sleep without reducing chances the better.

8

Hiya there! Welcome to Ld4all!

I see you’ve been greeted by our newest mod, mattias :thumbs:

You seemed very close, and perhaps it didn’t go through because you were too awake.

I’d say for your last question about the WBTB, it really depends on the person, because it depends on when your REM period starts.

I’d say around 4 1/2 - 6, that’s the range for most people.

Good luck, and I’m sure you can replicate that and get yourself a lucid :lucid:

9

hmm… I think I’ve read between 4.5 and 6 hours. but it’s not really written in stone… I mean I’ve done it after 8 hours of sleep with great results :tongue: In theory the longer the better since your REM sleep gets longer and closer together.

10

Ok, tonight I’m trying again.

Before I do I’d like to ask a couple more things.

  1. Someone said to get up and take a hot shower. If I even get up and move to much it’s hard to go back to sleep. Is this as well as how active to be when getting up something that is dependant on the person?

  2. I was also told by someone to avoid all light when staying up. Any truth to that?

  3. Any other last minute tips?

11

Hi again ^^

  1. That may make you too awake, if you’re like me, if you get awake too easily after sleep, don’t do the shower thing.

  2. Try to, because it may bring your mind awake because it needs to adjust to the light. Try dim lights or if the sun’s out open sure blinds/windows (be wary of safety though). If you follow tip 3, though it might not matter :wink:

  3. When you wake up for a WBTB, try to remain as tired as possible. Keep your eyes half closed and keep nothing but LDing on your mind and keep assuring yourself that you’ll have one.

Good luck, make sure to tell us how it went :thumbs:

12

Ok, here’s the results of last nights attempt.

I went to bed as early as I could which was around 11:30.

I set an alarm on my phone but also told myself to get up at 4:30.

I had no problem getting up at the right time but I did have lots of trouble staying focused, much more trouble then my first attempt. I think it’s
because I was more tired when I woke up this time.

But anyway, I did my best and pulled my attention back several times. The wandering of my mind must have allowed me to fall asleep thought cause I dreamed I was trying to WILD and my mother came in to ask me a bunch of stuff, it didn’t click that my whole room was different.

Then I had another dream where my brother interupted my attempt. As far as the dream was concerned I thought both happened and was getting very annoyed at everyone interupting me. Then it hit me that they were dreams. So I pushed my resolve to stay focused and told myself that I would realize it next time.

As it turns out I didn’t have to, I found myself outsidemy grandmothers house totally aware I was dreaming!

On the downside it was a very unstable dream, only semi realistic. I rubbed my hands and touched stuff, commanded it to clarify but it didn’t help. When I rubbed my hands together they felt numb.

Anyway I still had time to go up into my grandmothers. I tried too imagine up someone to be there when I got there but it didn’t work.

Well, good quality and length or not. It’s still my first successful WBTB/WILD!! And it was only my second attempt!

Comments and tips welcome!

13

Congrats! :woo:

I know unstable LD’s suck :sad: but a WILD is a WILD! Great success for your second try :smile: I’ve had that many times too, where I’m trying to WILD and am interrupted, not noticing I’m already in a dream…

If you keep practicing you’ll just get better and better. You’ll be able to focus easier and notice when you’re entering the dream.

14

Thanks!

You guys have been a big help! Unlike a certain other forum… coughdreamviewscough sorry, I’m a little spiteful toward them. Lol

anyway, this has given me another question.

A few weeks ago, what inspired me to start this again was that I had two lds two days in a row. I also remember when I was a kid a few times I would realize I was dreaming.

Would that indicate it’s possible that I might be able to ne one of those that will be able to have them fairly often? :smile:

Also, how does one make his LDs more realistic?

Last nights LD wasn’t very real. I mean I could feel stuff and everything looked right but at the same time it didn’t look real. I don’t really know how to explain it other then it had a sureal feel to it.

I’ve heard that some peoples dreams are so real the literally can’t tell it’s not real life without an RC. I didn’t have to RC, it was easy to see it was a dream.

So basically just looking for advice on increasing the real factor.

Edited into previous post. Please use edit instead of double posting.

15

Shout it out! That’s the way I do it! :grin:
Or you can spin, or stare at something, carefully examine it, andmake it clearer, or they will get better with time and practice.
All my LDs seem somewhat surreal… but then again, waking life can seem surreal!

16

I tried “clarify!” but it didn’t work. Also tried hand rubbing and touching stuff in the dream. Didn’t try spinning though.

Gonna try again tonight.

17

That feeling when you woke up at 4:30, isolate it. Study it. Compare and contrast what the feeling is liked compared to that of your energy peak around 1:00 p.m. Your awareness and focus will come. Maybe 1 hour more on either side as a comfort zone. Find your best. In between 5-6 Hrs total. Combining WBTB with WILD seems like the most logical approach, immediately after a 5-6 hr rest period for the Body. Stay up for 30-60 min, a mere 10 is not enough to become alert. But yes, immerse yourself in the topic of LDs in this awake period. PLan your dream as if your the director/actor/producer/set designer/stunt man/camera man… you get the idea. Lucid living really helps too; living with a day by day to mindset in complete awareness increases consciousness. What better to start your day with than a “rejuvenating mini coma” and a Lucid Dream/Astral Travel.