I’m fairly new to the practice of lucid dreaming but I have done quite a lot of research on the topic but I’ve yet to have one.
I really want to be able to have lucid dreams at will. Right now, it feels like I’m doing everything properly but end up not becoming lucid every night. I frequently perform reality checks during the day, my bedtime routine is fairly consistent and I do pre-sleep exercises like visualisation and focusing on the intent of becoming lucid.
I’m not keeping a dream journal because my recollection of dreams are so fragmented that it is virtually impossible to write anything down. Of course there are some days where I can recall a dream fully and effortlessly but such cases are rare.
As a beginner I am learning DILD which seems to cater towards those that are new to lucid dreaming.
So… that’s my whole background to lucid dreaming. I would really appreciate it if someone helped me achieve at least one lucid. (Optional : Maybe we can exchange a few PMs where I can discuss with you what I’m doing in more depth so you can give me some tips and tell me where I’m going wrong or something… just a thought).
I’m also new to LDing (in fact Ive starded trying this half a year ago)
I’ll give u 2 tips:
1)write everything down. Every little thing u might rememer will help u recall more and more every morning.
2)Do not stop writing all these… I just stopped writing for only 3 days and then i couldn’t recall anything… That’s why I haven’t achieved a LD yet…!
I hope the others will help you more 'cause I don’t have so much experience…
The only thing I can add is to include as much detail as you can, try to include as many senses as you can and when reading over dreams you’ve wrote down find something impossible in reality and question it. For example: If you have 3 thumbs in your dream just ask yourself “Why did I have 3 thumbs?” this will get your mind used to spotting these things while dreaming, in theory anyway.
It may also be worth me adding that you should write down your dreams as soon as you can, this gives you a significantly higher chance of remember something else about your dream as you’re writing it than if you did a couple of hours later. It may be worth you carrying a piece of paper round as well, to write down dreams as you remember them through the day, I can almost guarantee that at some point in keeping your dream journal someone will say something and it’ll make you remember a dream.
So basically the two of you are saying that I should record absolutely everything I can possibly recall from the dreams I have. Okay no problem, I can do that.
But, there was actually a period of time (around 3-4 weeks) where I did just that - wrote extremely detailed… dare I say… essays every morning. The description of each dream I had was very detailed and whatever I could recall I wrote down. The problem was that I never became lucid… so my frustration here is that even if I have decent dream recall, my ability to BECOME LUCID still sucks.
I know this is a crucial first step for every lucid dreamer, but it hasn’t really helped me thus far. What I really need to do is actually become lucid for once.
You need to develop a curious and questioning attitude to your surroundings - make frequent tests throughout the day to prove to yourself that you really are awake, and feel skeptical for real - don’t just make mechanical RC’s, put some actual effort into them as well.
Think about this - when you dream you also assume that you are already awake.
In fact I have had several dreams like that myself, where I have just been like “what the hell, no doubt this is real life - ah, now let me start the day and…” - only to wake up a few seconds later.
This happened because I took real life for granted and thought I “knew” that I was awake when I in fact was dreaming.
So you need to make it a habit to constantly stop and ask yourself - “okay, where am I now, what am I doing, why am I here…?” and so on.
That’s an excellent point. But it is one which I have read very often. I think it’ll benefit me more if you provided perhaps an example of how you went about developing this curiosity.
When you perform your RCs, make sure you aren’t just doing it for the sake of it. You have to actually shift your attention to your RC. Stop and ask yourself…“What if I’m actually dreaming right now?” then you perform your RC with the intention to find out. A lot of beginners do RCs wrong, it’s not only in the physical action, but it requires your consciousness.
If I can remember to do an RC, I would normally glance chunks of text nearby, look away, then back again to observe any changes. Then I would question whether I am dreaming or not based on that. That’s basically what I do all the time. Am I doing it right?
Having good dream recall doesn’t guarantee a LD, unfortunatelly, but it helps A LOT. Try to have fun with your ND’s as well, they can be amazing experiences and the whole fun will get you closer to your dreams.
Other than that and what other people have said, unfortunately, it’s not enough to follow a number of steps to get lucid, so there might not be anything “wrong” that you’re doing. Some techniques require some practice and familiarity to get working. Some techniques never work for some people. I know it’s hard to want a LD and not get one, but try not to get too frustrated, any negative emotion only gets in the way. Try to take it lightly and learn from any experience. Remember that every single experience you have, even if it seems completely unrelated to LD’ing adds to your total experience. For example, many people post complaining that in a dream they thought “is this a dream?” but then got distracted and didn’t do a RC, instead of realizing how big of an improvement it is simply to ask such a question in a dream!
Yes - if you actually feel doubtful and want to make absolutely sure that you are awake.
That’s the point of Reality Checks, you do them because you doubt that you are awake and want to confirm it in som way.
Your text check is actually one of the most reliable ways to do it, because your brain will have a very hard time creating the exactly same text over and over again in a dream - the text is much more likely to kind of float back in place or look at least slightly different already on your second look, and especially if you glance back at it even more times.
Also, try to look for any changes anywhere in your environment that are absurd or cannot be explained - for example, if your house has a totally different colour tomorrow morning then you really should check your surroundings several times, because nobody can paint a house perfect in just one night, and even if someone tried to do this then it would have been such a strange idea that it would have been a dreamsign in itself.
Okay so last night I had a dream where I was in the British Library in London. Now, as usual I did not become lucid, but only after I woke up did I realize how close I was to becoming lucid. I grabbed a book from a nearby shelf to perform my text RC, but for some reason I didn’t observe anything odd about it; all I know is that it wasn’t enough to convince my mind that I was dreaming. Then I woke up and it was morning…
How frustrating is that? The one time in my life I was close to having a lucid dream, then I fail.
Honestly, you are being way too pessimistic right now.
How is being extremely close to an LD a failure?
It is a success, because now you are getting closer and closer!
Think of it that way instead.
I meant I failed to become lucid. But you’re right, I should think about it in a positive light. Thank you for your response early by the way. I’ll just keep trying.
Yes, that’s the spirit.
As long as you keep trying you are doing it right; the only failure I can think of would be if you completely gave up on lucid dreaming and refused to try again, that could be a “failure” - but even then you could decide to get into it again at anytime.
So you cannot really fail with lucid dreaming - every effort you make to get lucid dreams is a step forward, especially when you start getting close to getting them.
You can increase your odds by having very specific goals that you can feel excited about.
I’m sure there are lots of things that you have always dreamed of experiencing, and lucid dreams will allow you to have those experiences, and even in very convincing realism.
That should be your main motivation.
About your RC, congrats! You did a RC in a dream! You’re getting there. I think it was just a matter of experience, as you’ve been doing the text RC but you’ve never actually seen what it looks like and how it feels when the text does change. I personally prefer the nose RC, just pinch your nose and try to breathe through it. If you can breathe it’s a dream! It works 99.9% of the time for me. I guess it helps that it’s harder to justify being able to breathe through your plugged nose… anyway, just keep trying
I have also had some trouble having a lucid dream. But I have been getting closer! And I agree that you really need to keep an open mind Always remember that anything that brings you closer to an LD is a success!
Personally, when I relax and try have an LD even if I am not successful, it’s just nice to fall into a peaceful sleep! I see all these colors and shapes when I am trying to go Lucid, and it’s really amazing.
Even when I just fall asleep, I don’t mind. It’s just nice too experiment and see what wonders my mind comes up with. Keep trying, don’t give up it will take some time!
This was exactly how I felt at first! Just keep the technique going as naturally as you can and one should pop up soon. Mine happened when I woke up and just decided to count myself to sleep, first came SP, then my very first LD! A shame it was cut short by me drooling on the bed
Always remember that anything that brings you closer to an LD is a success!