Last night I have finally had a LD. I didn’t know what to do when I was Lucid. So I took slow steps and walked out my front door and got out side… Normally I get afraid during these kinds of dreams but I faced them. I had a hard time stabilizing my LD but as soon as I tried to stabilize it I woke up. Does anyone know why I woke up from my dream? I didn’t feel any excitement or anything, all I remember was telling my self to calm down and attempt to stabilize the dream. I was so close to stabilizing but I failed and woke up. Is there a way to make my lucid last longer before waking up? I want to experience this feeling again except when its last longer, thanks in advice!
By no means am I a lucid dreaming expert, but I can give you my advice.
Personally, the first couple of LDs I had were very short. they felt no longer than 30 seconds to a minute. I had no idea why they ended so quickly, but I eventually figured out some tips that helped me to prolong LDs
My first tip would be to avoid 2 things
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Fear : This seems pretty obvious, as you normally wake up right away after a nightmare. Sometimes (for me atleast) its hard to avoid fear, because when I am in the LD state, I realize that literally anything can happen, including a very vivid “Lucid Nightmare” and I tend to get paranoid that something will jump out at me, which is usually does, because of my mindset.
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Excitement : this one is a big problem when starting to LD . It stopped me right in my tracks multiple times. I become lucid in a dream, and before I really even understand what that means, I get a boost of excitement because I know this is what I’ve been wanting to achieve for so long; and then I wake up.
In your example, you said you were able to remain calm, so chances are those two tips didn’t apply to this dream.
Other things I can suggest to help prolong the dream include stabilization techniques. There are probably tons of resources on this site alone , but a couple common ones include spinning, rubbing your hands, etc. Find what works best for you!
Chances are you will have many more short LD 's to come; everyone does, and it can be frusterating. But don’t let it get you down. Have fun in the time you have while you are lucid. Try to go to bed with a specific LD goal in mind. for example “tonight, I will become aware that I am dreaming, and attempt to fly”. This way you don’t waste precious lucid seconds trying to figure out what to do. Even if the LD is short you can still do cool things, like fly, jump out of a window, or whatever else your heart desires.
Best of Luck!
~Jer
Thanks! Probably one of the best advices here. I appreciat it. Been doing MILD recently and been improving, Hopefully the next LD wont be so short.
I can completely agree with what Jer said, my first few LDs were also very short. Just to add on to the advice he gave, as you become more experienced and get a few more LDs under your belt, you’ll become more familiar with the feeling of being lucid in a dream and as the novelty of it wears off hopefully you’ll find more success. Congrats on getting lucid for the first time, it only gets better from here on in
I, too, am no expert, but I recommend simply commanding the dream world.
If I want to conjure a storm, summon a maelstrom of fire, or anything else, I often just say, “Let there be X.” (Say it convincingly, of course.)
Perhaps you were trying too hard to stabilise the dream? A lot of people (including me) have trouble with trying too hard to do something and then waking up. Need to find the middle ground for your efforts; trying too hard will wake you up, try too little and you’ll lose awareness.
Congrats on your first lucid! yay!
Most people find their first few LD’s very short it’s perfectly normal. I think the main reason for this is because it’s a new state of consciousness and you need time to adapt to it. LD’s can also be short as they usually happen at the very end of a REM cycle. Fear and excitement can also be the culprit. It’s great though to get into the habit of stabilising your dream before proceeding with your goal. It can increase your lucidity and make the dream last longer and be much more fulfilling.
I think you may of lost this dream as just telling yourself to stay calm by itself is probably not a good enough stabilization technique for a beginner. I suggest to try briskly rubbing your hands together next time. (also try not to think too much about that you could loose the dream)
Also that can cause a person to loose a LD cause when a person is just standing there, doing nothing and trying to think about what to do. When a person does that, they are not focused much on their surroundings (not interacting) and rather are focused on their own thoughts.
Always try to have a dream goal in mind which you can focus on for times like this.