Don’t feel bad about this! Some nights I can recall a huge number of dreams, while once a week or so I remember no dreams whatsoever! Dream recall still to this day takes focused effort for me. If I don’t focus, I’ll get almost nothing.
Upon the moment of waking, try to lie perfectly still and reach for any fragment of dream that you can find. Once you’ve got something, try to work backward and forward from there as far as you can without physically moving your body. This may take no more than 30 seconds or so, but it’s worth making sure you’ve got a good grasp of the dream before you start disrupting yourself by moving around and looking for your journal.
For many people, there also tends to be a habit of waking up thinking about the day’s concerns and what is ahead of you. Try to make your first thought upon waking to a) remember what you were just dreaming and b) reality check! That other stuff can wait.
A great technique to try is the SSILD technique, described in this thread. I hesitate to call it “easy” because it does require waking up in the early morning but the instructions are straightforward. This technique has had a lot of success. (Speaking personally, it’s where I get most of my lucid dreams from.) Its author is also very experienced and offers a lot of helpful advice.
Edit: Just noticed this! Big congratulations!! That is awesome. My first was very brief too. Now you’ll be even more ready for your next lucid dream. Great work.
Lol… Had BD yesterday and when I got home I thought that maybe I do WBTB… Well I did wake up to my alarm clock but passed out in the shower for a while and when I got back to bed I just passed out.
I tried the SSILD and the self hypnosis technique that Kessi suggested. I fell asleep before I could complete either of them but I think it’s mostly because I was pretty tired last night and I am currently dealing with a cold >.< Hopefully, I’ll be able to focus more when I feel better.
So, yeah. I figured it would be great to wrote down my, um, progress in some way, this seems to be the place for it. Getting back into LDing is such a pain in the neck, I don’t know why I always stop in the first place. -_-’ My current goals to complete are: better DR and more awareness.
Better DR shouldn’t be that difficult, because seriously, it can’t get any worse. Moreover, I have still holidays so I can sleep enough. Difficulty: Writing down my dreams in the middle of the night. The awareness is something I really need to work on, RCs and LL will do the trick. Well, more the RCs than LL, that seems a bit too much at the moment.
I won’t try any techniques intentionally besides WBTB to remember my dreams better and then I’ll see if I can find any DS since I have the feeling that my “current” ones are outdated… This morning I already freaked out because of a single semi-lucid thought in a dream.
I’m back again. (look at the second reply in this thread.)
I have taken a long break for lucid dreaming. I have tried things on and off however now I finally have some stress free time I’m gonna try and get back into it.
I have got some binural beats on my ipod I shall listen to before bed (idoser.)
I will try and remember to do RC’s during the day.
I will try and find my old dream journal and retrieve it back from the archives of this site and start using it again.
The technique I (kinda) invented [C-WILD Amazing technique) I shall start using again.
Man this it fustrating… My DR seems to go on/off cycle without any warning… Some nights I remember 2-3 dreams and now for a couple of nights only one and that was only like one sentence. ASD
I tried this program once for a couple of weeks and it really ■■■■■■ my brain up… There are these sleep things and also audio for getting same effects that drugs do.
Well I tried the sleep thingy and couldt sleep at all. The whole night I was “dancing macarena” in my bed. lol.
I was wondering how does the time when you go to sleep affect DR?
I have problems to go to sleep before 6am for like a week now and Im lucky if I remember anything about my dreams… Usually I remember 1-2 dreams really vivid.
A quick update here:
My school schedule isn’t an absolute dream-killer, so I should be able to do WBTB every now and then. It seems that, if I use only my iPod for quick notes of my dreams and don’t write them down properly using the computer afterwards, my DR greatly decreases from up to 3 NDs a night to one fragment the next night. I already thought about choosing days where I regularly update my DJ and I think I need to get serious about this. Scheduled updating will make this “meh I won’t update my DJ anyway”-feeling get away. I hope.
@Kessi: It’s important that you are getting enough sleep and that you have a somewhat constant sleeping schedule. How the time you go to sleep affects DR is different from one person to another. If it’s possible for you to spot whatever causes your sleeping problems and you are able to eliminate the reason, you should be able to sleep good again. Often it’s RL stress that affects sleep and dreams in a negative way.
Yup, been there. Having panic attacks and OCD kinda thoughts trough my job and family stress was f****n nightmare. Now things are looking brighter and started yesterday to take melatonin and just forcing my self to sleep to get the sleep pattern back to normal. Though Im working at bar from 3pm to 00-03am so thats a problem too. Seeking day job to have more time with family and more time to sleep
I just had my first LD, it didn’t last more then a minute or something (I got to excited), but it was kinda cool
I haven’t been active when it comes to LD the last 2 weeks. I did very few RC, didn’t write much in DJ, and didn’t do mantras before going to sleep… But I always thought about LD now and then, but not as much as I used to.
Last night, I just randomly did a RC when I was in my bathroom… and hey, I was dreaming. I got a LD when I haven’t been trying that hard, it’s weird.
I have been practising WBTB for couple of nights now and I have a problem with it. When I first go to bed I usually visualize the day as vivid as I can and then do some MILD. Then when I wake to my alarm clock after 4-5 hours of sleep I get up and usually come here to read something about LDing. The problem is that when I go back to bed and try WILD or SSILD I just cant fall a sleep fast and Im feeling kinda stressed or anxious. Im not able to relax and I feel wide awake. It takes me time to get back to the “sleeping mood”. I stay up like 20 to 30 minutes. Any ideas?
Kessi, try staying up less. you need to stay up enough to wake your mind so you don’t just fall right back asleep, but not too much or you’ll have trouble falling asleep. Try to find a balance.
I have been having some LDs now and then! (At last:D)
But I have a small problem… When ever I get an LD it is not as vivid as ND. Usually what I see is only many colors. Nothing solid or physical objects. Could this be for I havent been writing my DJ at all in couple of weeks. I talk about my dreams with my girl friend every day as vivid as I can but that isnt the same thing as DJ is it? Needing help with this. Cheers
Hi all I have been trying this lucid dream stuff recently and I think I may have had my first LD but not realised I posted here my 1st maybe Lucid Dream? if I can get some advice that will be good Thanks.
I use Brain Wave Entertainment, I got interested in this sort of stuff when i had an OBE after reading a book about it. it happened a few years ago and never had another OBE since. I remember it well I was chasing a bus and i said to myself if i run any faster i will start flying and i did. and the dream stopped i was in my room and not above my bed i was floating and looking straight on. i looked down then back up, as i turned to look around my room i felt a force push me back on my bed(in my body) and i woke suddenly, the bed still shaking!
lrk89 I have a similar problem - I don’t have much control when I’m lucid. I found this thread and it’s great for learning to gain more control in your LD https://community.ld4all.com/t/dream-control-training-course/31812
Let me know if your dream control improves!
My favourite technique is definitely SSILD. Wow, it’s so easy to do and increases my dream recall massively plus I get false awakenings. I’ve trained myself to do a RC every time I wake up so FA really work well to get lucid. I got lucid just two days ago through this method. Though the LD ws short and the DC didn’t want to speak to me I have to work on getting more control when I’m lucid.
Good luck everybody and update your progress. Reading about it really motivates me to keep on prcticing!
Hey thanks for the link Miredo I managed to have another dream again last night but it was really weak I had no chance taking control, it was not that vivid but I could not remember it in chronological order.
And is it me or trying to become Lucid is tiring? I wake up feeling tired after a deep dream!
Getting back into LDing is such a pain in the neck, I don’t know why I always stop in the first place. -_-’ My current goals to complete are: better DR and more awareness.
The awareness is something I really need to work on, RCs and LL will do the trick. Well, more the RCs than LL, that seems a bit too much at the moment.
Often it’s RL stress that affects sleep and dreams in a negative way.
I have to work on getting more control when I’m lucid.