Hello guys, sorry to start my existence here with questions
I’m a total newbie when it comes to LD, I’ve never had any LD’s before (at least I don’t remember), and I am currently overwhelmed with the thing. In fact, I didn’t even know it was possible to control your dreams But after reading dozens of topics/guides/journals I have vome very basic theoretical knowledge. Moving on … Big issue #1
This may, and will sound stupid… but how does a LD really happen? Is it: a)You sleep…You wake up… But you wake up not into reality, but into your dream (using one of the many methods), and then goes the logic-reality check stuff, and pow You’re controlling your dream in real time! (That should be quite an experience) b) You sleep… You wake up in the morning feeling great, and you use your dream remembering skills trained with the journal to completely remember your LD… By completely I mean the very small details I read about in other people’s journals…
Big issue #2
Is it, in your opinion, ok to use WILD as a method for your first attempts? I’m planning on doing that tonight, no high hopes really, but I’ll try. Oh, and I’m starting my journal tonight, too. I will do regular reality-checks (some of which are funny, people might think I’m nuts) and I will post any progress here. I usually don’t remember most of my dreams, or I remember them for a short time before I get out of bed and slip into real life. But the other night, I had this dream… It was so extraordinary that I can’t stop thinking about it… Especially in the morning: I swear I could have remembered most of the plot… Right now as I type I only remember the extraordinary part. That’s why I need a journal.
I`m kind of a newbie myself, but I can answer your questions.
Big issue 1:
Im glad to say that the answer is A! In LDs you sort of wake up in the dream, you can look around in the dreamworld, walk around, talk to DCs, touch the ground, and even feel how the surface is like! Its all like in real life, exept that you are dreaming, and that you will be able to manipulate this world!
About the different techuniqes (cant really spell that word so I gave up). For me, MILD is the easiest way. Because it takes a long time for me to fall asleep, and WILD just keeps me awake. So it depends really on your motivation and how long it takes for you to fall asleep. WILD is basically the easiest method for those who fall asleep easy, but if you dont, Ill suggest that you try out MILD instead. You probably will just have to experiment and see what`s best for you.
Hi, thanks for the fast reply!
Yeah I will eventually try to check all the methods out, starting tonight with WILD. As for falling asleep easy, I probably do, because if I don’t (when I’m sick or nervous for, example), then nothing helps. Most of the time I fall asleep just fine
Oh, and do you yourself use RC’s and DJ’s? I’ve also read that excessive use of RC may lead to the check to become a subconscious reflex, and you just do it not looking if the result is normal, thus skipping the LD. Any thoughts?
Ok…I slept like a dog last night Not even trying to concentrate could stop me from it, I was tired, went to bed at 1AM. Of course, I wrote down as much of my dream(s) as I could remember, I think that’s loose fragments of 2-3 dreams. Is it possible that you transition from 1 dream to another? Because that’s what it seemed.
The questions from my last post still stand
First of all, welcome!
a) like childhood said having a LD is like being awake, only you know you’re asleep. You can see things, touch objects, often feel emotions (sometimes strongly), hear sounds, and think about mostly anything (although you shouldn’t let your mind wander too much). The only difference is that you are in control since you know that everything is not real, only a manifestation of your subconscience. The best and most common way to describe it is like being in the matrix, and you’re neo. Your power lies in the awarness that what you are seeing/feeling is not real, thus it can be controlled. However your powers are often limited to your amount of Lucidity. The more aware you are that it is a dream, the more you can control. Like morpheus says “you have to let it all go. Fear, doubt, and disbelief”, if you believe that there is gravity and flying is impossible, then you probably won’t be able to fly. But once you grasp the concept that it is a dream and believe it, there is nothing you can’t do. This is why I am addicted to LD, because I can fly at the speed of sound without assistance, transport myself to any location, and some people can even transform into animals. The possibilities are limitless.
On another note, time spent in a LD is usually never real time. From personal experience the longest percieved amount of time I have ever had while in a single LD was about 20 minutes(Although you can have multiple LDs and some people claim to spend hours in them…). So make sure you know what you want to accomplish before you go to bed so you remember to do it in your dream.
b) sadly unless your dream recall is uncanny or the dream is extremely vivid, most of the time DR can be ambiguous, recalling mosly all of the major points and events. However, keeping a DJ on a regular basis does make you more aware and mindful of the details…
I used WILD to great sucess after a month or so of practice, however, I am learning that autosugesstion and MILD are very useful supplements to the WILD technique. The only downside is that the WILD takes concentration, absolute stillness (often producing torturous itches), and it can keep you up (depriving your body of sleep=not fun if you have to wake up early). Some people report that it increases the likelihood of having an encounter with the “old hag” (or old “douche” bag as I call her), but I wouldn’t really worry too much about it.
Oh yea one last thing, and I cannot stress it enough, do not get frustrated if you do not succeed. This WILL only make it harder to LD and probably will make you feel defeated. Try to enjoy the experience and not sweat the failures. Peace, Ryan.
On issue #1, the answer would be A, but an LD can also happen without a FA (false awakening, which you described). I’ve had lots of LD’s where I just randomly decided to do a reality check, and I became lucid.
The “controlling your dream in real time” part takes some time to get down (it did/still does for me anyway). It seems like it’s not as easy to fully control your dreams as people think, but hey, practice makes perfect and then it feels like such an accomplishment.
On issue #2, I think you should go with whatever method appeals to you. It seems to me that MILD is easier than WILD, but in my opinion MILD is kinda… random. It seems like with WILD, it’s much easier to have an LD whenever you want one, as soon as you get how to do WILD. Personally… I suck at WILD lol but I still keep practicing, hoping that some day I’ll be able to do it successfully.
Oh, if you decide to WILD, you should try doing it with WBTB. Set the alarm to like 4-6 hours after you go to bed, wake up in the middle of the night (you might have to stay up for a while too, but it really depends on how fast you fall asleep), then go back to sleep. You enter REM-sleep faster that way.
Oh, by the way, I’m originally from the USSR too, although I moved to sweden when I was 5 years old so… lol. Which means only one thing; I have no idea who to cheer for in hockey. Go with old country or new country?
Thanks Ryan, that was very informative. I know I’m not giving up that easy. But… Sometimes after reading old hag stories, I think SP would rid me of wanting LD for good isn’t it instinctive not to want bad stuff?
And are RC’s and DJ’s useful?
Forgive my double posts… Typing on my phone: by the time I reply there’s another new post!
Thanks for the reply Olesia, I will try WILD tonight again since I failed last night; WBTB - maybe when WILD fails. I also like WILD more than MILD cause you know when you get one
And I guess I can say I’m from USSR, my birth certificate says so
Don’t be afraid of SP. It happens every time you go to sleep.
And if by some off-chance you experience some kind of ‘Old Hag’ / anxiety, it will pass quickly, or stop completely, now you know it’s just part of sleep so you have control.
First of all you HAVE to enhance your dream recall. It’s better you start the LD’ing practice once you can recall about a dream per night.
It may happen like this. Then it’s called a FA (false awakening). Most often, you are in a normal dream and suddenly wonder if it’s a dream or not. Then you perform a RC and (in the best case ) you understand you’re dreaming. Or you don’t have to do the RC because you suddenly realize you are dreaming.
You can try but you should keep up with this technique only if you have good results in the very beginning. If after a week, you see you don’t make any progress, use the MILD/autosuggestion or RC’s techniques.
As several people have mentioned, you basically realize in the middle of a normal dream that you are indeed dreaming. From that point forward (ideally), you experience things very vividly and can control everything around you.
I know my second LD was way better than my first. Even though I could breathe through a tightly plugged nose and my logical side was telling me that I had to be dreaming, my emotional side was telling me that there was no way it could be a dream. It was TOTALLY indestinguishable from reality. Except for the bizarre things I made happen, that is. But it’s amazing how your brain can fabricate an artificial world with such painstaking detail. Take heart–this dream took place only a few days after I heard about LDs, and I used WBTB with MILD to achieve it. WILD isn’t totally necessary, although I’ve never tried it yet…perhaps I’d be more successful if I used it.
The thingy with the RCs that makes others laugh -> Choose RCs that are fine for you, they dont have to be obvious. Like holing your nose, if you make it in a normal way it only looks like somebody rubbing his nose. And the “hold you nose” RC is very efficient imo.
Additionally do state testing; just look around several times during the day and ask yourself if you are dreaming, then check if anything looks weird, look at something, move away and look at it again.
If it has changed you might be dreaming. < this tech wont blame you and does not only help you with LDing.
This way you will also become more aware of your environment and wont be “sleepwalking through your life”.
The nose-plugging RC seems very effective, and as ZeroSkyX mentioned, you can make it look as if you’re just scratching your nose. Plug it for a second, try to breathe in, and if you can–voila, lucidity!
It’s amazing how well this RC works when you really are dreaming…the sensation of breathing through tightly shut nostrils is so bizarre…
Thanks guys
I’m trying to improve my DR at the moment, I even have a dream diary set up, but I find it hard to remember to write the dreams down right as I wake up… I usually just decide to sleep another 30 minutes if I wake up early, and after that I don’t remember much…
I ought to try autosuggestion.
But after reading dozens of topics/guides/journals I have vome very basic theoretical knowledge. Moving on …
Not even trying to concentrate could stop me from it, I was tired, went to bed at 1AM. Of course, I wrote down as much of my dream(s) as I could remember, I think that’s loose fragments of 2-3 dreams. Is it possible that you transition from 1 dream to another? Because that’s what it seemed.
isn’t it instinctive not to want bad stuff?
) you understand you’re dreaming. Or you don’t have to do the RC because you suddenly realize you are dreaming.
