Heh, I found out about all of this today, and I’ve got to say - this seems like pretty exciting business. I’m going to try starting a log tonight (well, actually writing in it tomorrow), and have a few questions (and comments) about everything first:
-I’ve read alot about people’s experiences so far, and it sounds like the first time a person has a LD they are bound to real-world “laws” (for example: Someone said that they tried to fly the first time they had a LD and could only jump a bit higher than in real life). Is this a common experience for the first time? (I’m just curious about this)
-About how many nights of practice does it take (commonly) to actually have a LD? From what I’ve heard it usually does’nt take more than a month to a month and a half, but I have no difinitive answer.
-How “real” are LD’s? As in: Once you’ve mastered it, does it feel like real life, or does it feel more like a strange, vague, subconscious memory?
-Is it actually “important” that I go out and get a special journal and such, or is it fine to just use any old pad of paper? (I know it’s a stupid question, but it might be more important than I realize. I want to try remembering a dream tomorrow )
-Is it possible for everyone to have a lucid dream? As in: does it only work for a certain percent of the people that try, or can anyone with enough determination do it?
-heh, just out of curiosity: is pinching yourself in a dream a good reality check, or does it have to be something purely logical?
I’m actually pretty excited to get trying this - if it’s anything like it’s been described I think the experience will be very interesting to say the least.
Flying - What happens or doesn’t happen is largely based upon your expectation. In a LD anything is possible, but if you think “im new, i cant fly”, you’re not gonne have an easy time flying. Know that you can fly and just do it.
Reality - LD’s can be as real or even more real then real life. Perhaps not in the start, but once you get the hang of it and can become highly lucid, chances are you will find your dream pretty realistic.
DJ - I would advice to keep track of your dreams in a serious way, for example in a notebook, not on lose papers or so.
Furthermore I’d say that anyone can learn to LD, and that pinching yourself is a bad RC as far as my experience goes (it will hurt yourself probably in a dream too, so you will think you are awake). RC’s dont need to be logic, just near fail safe (which might differ from person to person). Personally I use the “push hand through solid object” RC which nearly never fails me.
Good luck on your LD-ing yourney, let us know your progress!
yea, makes sense. I grabbed a three ring binder for my journal - started logging this morning (had it by my bed last night).
For some reason I woke up at 4:15 in the morning (crazy, because I had only slept 3 hours and I’m usually an extremely deep sleeper) right after a dream (that I logged).
Amount of time before first LD: This is different for everyone. It can as little as a few day to as long as a year (or more).
The more effort and enthusiasm you put in, hopefully the faster you’ll have you’re first LD.
Pick a tech that apeals to you, and stick with it for a couple of weeks - if you don’t seem to be getting anywhere with it, use a different tech.
Everyone have LD’s?: Anyone can learn to LD.
And expanding on some of his answers,
Powers in first LD?: LD’s are bassed off your expectations. If you expect (and know) to be able to fly, then you’ll be able to. If you think, ‘This is my first LD, so I won’t be able to,’ then you probably won’t.
How real?: A fair few of mine feel as real as real life. Some people claim they can feel more real than real life.
Special DJ?: I just use a notepad I bought from a newsagents… though having a special one (I think you can buy LD4ALL ones off the site store).
Pinching?: Most people (myself included) find this doesn’t really work. But if you expect it not to hurt in a dream, then it won’t.
Though I personally advise you to go with the ones you can find on this site (pick two or three).
Anyways… saying the that LD’s are interessting, is - IMO anyways - an understatement .
After a few weeks of dream logging how dramatically does the remeberance of dreams increase? Right now I can just BARELY remember any dream that I’ve had - I usually just remember a very basic, “Stick figure” outline of what happened… at best.
Does it really improve enough to allow us to remember all of the sequences of whole dreams vividly or is it more of a minor increase?
Is there any average for the amount of time taken to get a first LD? As in: does there seem to be a common amount of time or is it just completely sporadic?
How long did it take you to get (and remember) your first LD?
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on another, ironic note: last night I had been talking to my dad just about this stuff - he told me about this a very long time ago. It was just casual talk. This morning he told me that at some point in his dream last night he had been jumping, and realized he could go extremely high out of nowhere. He remembered what I told him the day before and ended up realizing he was in a dream. It was crazy - he said he just said to himself “Ah, this is a dream” like it was a normal occurance and began jumping as high as he could. After he flew for (maybe) 30 seconds he completely lost lucidity (because he had only achieved it at a very low state), but he achieved it none-the less. one night!
More questions … more answers I hope. I would say that dream recall improvement and the time it takes to get one’s first LD are entirely a personal matter and vary a lot. But there is one encouragment: anyone that starts working on their recall will have a better dream recall pretty soon. So, anything is possible, from slight increase in recall to remembering vividly your whole dream(s). Normally, it should be somewhere in between these extremes. Same kind of counts for getting your first LD, it could be tonight, it could be in 1 year, but most likely it takes somewhere in between, depending on your dedication. On a personal note, I had my 1st LD without trying, but once i set myself to it, I got regular LD’s within a few weeks.
In my first LD, I’ve flied very well. But you’re right, it seems that’s a problem for a lot of beginners.
I would say 2 or 3 weeks is an average.
No, what is special in LDing is that it is not a memory ! You feel present in a LD, just like real life ! In low lucidity LD’s, it’s rather real too, but the background seems blurry, not very solid.
You can use any pad of paper, but it’s probably better that you get a dedicated notepad (old or not), it makes dream recall more important to you (kind of autosuggestion).
Everybody can learn LDing. You just need motivation and find the techniques which are the best for you.
It’s a good RC. A friend of mine uses to pinch herself, and it works.
Yea, I was talking to some natural lucid dreamers today and they say that they could significantly better remember the part of their dream that they were lucid. In fact - most of them ONLY remember that part of the dream.
You can also forget LD’s. That’s why the advice of keeping a dream journal is generally given.
What I meant was: in a ND, you are never present and conscious. If you are, it’s a “prelucid” dream. You just have memories of your dreams when you wake up.
In a LD, you’re present, conscious and you know it’s a dream. Of course, when you wake up, you can also have memories of LD’s. These memories are like dream memories and can disappear rather quickly if you don’t write them down.
So the main difference between LD and ND is not in memories, but in the fact that you live your LD’s, what is not true for ND’s.
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Good luck w/ ur dreaming journey 
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