I have been introduced to this subject by my psychology teacher at college [as we studying sleep atm] and I just can’t shake the urge to try and actually achieve this phenomenon! However, I am quite worried that however if I do not achieve one that I’ll get fed up with it and won’t try it again :L
I’m an 18 year old male and have read a few articles that say it is very hard for people my age to enter a lucid dream, and this is added to my fear of not being able to do it
If anyone could tell me or give me any pointers into how I can start to ld, It would be amazing!
Well, to start things off, there are so many different techniques you can use to become lucid, that it all depends on what best suits you. For most people though, it takes time. I introduced it to my friend, and he went lucid every single night. I’m 17 and have had 3. It’s always good to start off with a few necessities. Do reality checks. Always be aware of your surroundings and the current situation (this could be tough). These show whether or not you are awake, such as breathing through your nose while you are plugging them with your fingers. In a dream, you would be able to breathe.
Next, you need to start a dream journal. Record everything you remember from your dreams every night, to the last detail. There is a dream journal section on the forum and mine is there as well. This builds your dream recall significantly and makes it 10x easier to become lucid once your dream recall is great. You have approximately (I don’t quite remember) 4-6 dreams a night, you just can’t remember them.
With outstanding dream recall, lucid dreaming should come naturally. With some however, it doesn’t. There a various types of techniques. Scroll over these to see what they are: WILD, WBTB, MILD, DILD, and DEILD.
Also, be weary of these acronyms: FA, LD, ND, OBE, RC, DS, DG, and FM.
I believe there is a section at the top of this site labeled ‘Guide’ in between ‘Home’ and ‘Forum’ that can also lead you through these steps, but in more detail.
I’m jealous. I took a psychology class largely to learn a bit about sleep psychology, but the professor blew through it in no time flat, without even a mention of lucid dreaming.
Well, that attitude does nothing for you. I’m sure that your psychology teacher mentioned some of the possible “purposes” for dreams (not that we truly know the actual purpose), and thus mentioned that they may be a way to let the mind vent emotions that don’t get expressed during the day. If you have an attitude of doubt, or think that lucid dreaming is hard, then it will be. While lucid dreaming is easier for children, most of the ones they have are ones that pop up naturally. You have the advantage of actively trying.
Lief brought up some good points. Be more aware during the day, frequently analyzing the world around you and asking yourself why you’re where you are, how you got there, and if everything feels and looks as it should. Find a way to remember at least the last dream of every sleep (the one during the longest REM period and typically the most vivid) or perhaps more. Know that many people here use particular techniques to induce lucid dreams, but make changing the way you think about dreams and reality your first priority.
One thing that I’ve directed several new people to do is to pick a goal and begin to dwell on it throughout the day. Many people come here knowing that lucid dreaming leads to fun experiences, but telling yourself that you’ll be more conscious while dreaming doesn’t do much for you, because you can’t really visualize the difference (especially if you’ve never had a lucid dream before). Something much easier to think about is a particular goal, where attaining lucidity is a step to achieving it. This is something that I’ve directed many new people to (and saw results!), and it’s a concept I’m very passionate about, as the sheer amount of techniques posted on the forums tend to confuse the issue for new people rather than clear it up.
What do I mean by a goal? In a lucid dream, anything you can visualize is possible. This includes things you can do in real life, mundane or exciting, and I don’t think I need to elaborate on those things. It also includes things you can’t do: you can fly, use telekinesis, be as strong as you like, deal with magic, meet fictional characters, fight monsters… again, anything you can visualize! It doesn’t need to be an action, either: many people enjoy visiting certain landscapes in their dreams, whether they be environments in real life, movies, TV shows, video games, or even of your own creation. Beyond even those, remember that you don’t even have to be yourself in a lucid dream: you can try to experience a dream as another creature entirely. I’ve read logs of people’s dreams where they were real creatures like birds, fish, and tigers; I’ve read of people dreaming of being fantasy creatures such as werewolves and dragons; I’ve read of people simply changing particular aspects about themselves such as gaining limbs or tails, shrinking down to an insect’s size or perhaps all the way down to a subatomic scale, or growing to kaiju sizes or even past that of our planet. Have I made it clear what “anything you can visualize” means for goals? I find that it’s hard to grasp exactly what that means when you first start, so I hope this list expanded your idea pool a bit.
I encourage you to tell us a bit about your current lucid dreaming goal, if it’s not too personal to make public, and how exactly you’ll achieve it once lucid (whether by sheer willpower, or by using elements of the dream to aid you). We’d be more than happy to chime in and tell you our experiences with similar things, which gives you a more concrete idea of what to expect. You can even go into our chat channels and discuss questions and wishes for faster feedback. No matter what you do, once you pick your goal, every time you think about lucid dreaming or stop to think about reality, visualize yourself becoming lucid in a familiar dream setting and acting towards your goal.
I took a psychology class largely to learn a bit about sleep psychology, but the professor blew through it in no time flat, without even a mention of lucid dreaming.
