I wonder what happened to your real life body. 
buddy let me tell you somthing theres no secret, thats how the universe works. We have so much power. So much drama. Every living soul has unimaginable power. How do you use it? Its allways been there! You is who has been holding your self back all this time. So stop living under conditions, and just start living, plain and simple. Thats what “lucid living” is. simple as that, nothing more nothing less
Just throwing in my two cents without reading every post on this thread…
Tibetan Buddhism and dream yoga take this same approach to Lucid Dreaming. That is, rather than executing a number of techniques mechanically, they develop the mindset, the thinking that will lead to lucid dreaming, and that is a heightened awareness of self and surroundings and always recognizing that the world as we perceive it is the substance of dreams.
This thread is amazing!
let me throw in my thoughts on “Lucid Living” in poem form, on this thread:
[community.ld4all.com/t/my-idea-of-living-lucid-poem/30390/5)
Awesome thread! I read through several pages. One idea that kept popping up was that of lucid living and also that we are very powerful beings who are able to control how we feel, and therefore what we create.
I’m not sure if anyone has suggested this or brought it up before. But the movie and/or book “The Secret” is a great introduction for those looking to learn how to use their own unimaginable power in order to better their lives and the lives of others. The secret, in a nutshell, teaches that thoughts are things, therefore we create EVERYthing in our lives. If we learn how to control our emotions, then we can control our lives. Most people think that the Secret is a load of sh*t, so I don’t tell too many about it- only my closest friends, however I assume that since this is a dreaming forum, that most people are open minded enough to at least consider it.
All I have to say is, the Secret is simple and true and it truly has changed my life, which I am finally now in control of. Plus, I did notice that when you are not in control of your life, your dreams become much harder to control as well. Anywho, this movie has helped me and my family so much that I recommend it to anyone who is interested in finding out how to live lucidly, in other words, how to become aware of how you are feeling, and thus what you are creating, each and every moment of the day (and night).
Has anybody else seen this movie/read this book? I’m curious to know if it has changed others’ lives as it has mine.
Welcome, FREEwoman 
here is a thread about the secret: https://community.ld4all.com/t/the-secret/22457
enjoy
Hey DustMote I read your Lucid Living Part 1 and 2 and I think I will try it out. I do know a bit about lucid dreaming because I was on a different forum before I ended up here. I really like your idea and I will try it out and see how it works. I’m thinking If I can get enough sleep ( right now my insomnia is messing up my sleep schedule, and well I can’t LD if I don’t sleep right?) and practice Lucid Living maybe within a week or two I might be able to have a Lucid dream with your technique. That’s just my guess though.
In your Part one you had some questions. I’ll copy ,paste and answer them ( in case you needed the information for your research…
- Have you ever had a Lucid Dream?
A: Yes I have through different techniques. - Approximately when did you have your first Lucid Dream?
A: Exactly a year and 4 days ago. I recorded the date… - Approximately how long have you been working on Lucid Dreaming?
A: 13.5 Months - Approximately how many LDs have you had?
A: 10. I would have had more but there was a big gap in which I gave up on lucid dreaming - Approximately how often do you have an LD?
A: Um It’s hard to answer this question - Approximately how long does a typical LD last?
A: Average is about 15 Minutes ( that’s what it feels like any ways). Some dreams were about 25 while others were maybe 5 or 10. - Approximately when did you have your last LD?
A: July 2nd
I will keep you up to date with any results!
One question though.
Basically through out my day I try to “heighten” my awareness as If I were in a lucid dream and try to live like that through out my day. I pay attention to things more and actually think before I do certain things instead of how just natural reflex right? Is that all?
Well everything here in this topic seems to be inactive but I will just post my results.I did guess that within a week or two I may be able to have a lucid dream with your technique and you know it’s worked out. I guess I have done WBTB on some nights but it was never done to try and induce LD’s as well. It was me waking up and not being able to fall asleep… Any ways it took me 6 days since my last post to get a lucid dream. I think this may be my technique from now on as no other technique i have used has been able to work so quickly.
Any ways I think though I have to try and be more “aware” with Lucid Living because in my dream last night out of no where ( like I don’t remember anything strange happening) I said wow this is a dream ( i usually do this through out my regular day). I realized I was dreaming but I guess when I pratice LL i need to be more excited or just pause for 10 seconds to really take it in. Looking back, In my dream I don’t think I “took it in” as much I would want to. I did start shooting Kai/Fire blast at something or some one similar to the ones in Dragon Ball Z. I remember trying to get them stronger but I don’t think I had luck with that.
but yea just sharing some of my progress with some people who might be interested. But yea when I " take it in" I am going to try and recall my lucid dream goals so that way I actually accomplish something and not stray and do other things…
I wrote this explanation of Lucid Living a while back:
[i]You know when you’re reading a book and you become engrossed in the book to the exclusion of the outside world? That is what we are like normally, unaware that we are thinking, just running on autopilot.
Do you sometimes notice that when you are thinking there is actually a little voice in your head? It is like being aware of that. Another way of explaining it is that when you think about your breathing you suddenly need to take control of it, it has become conscious.
Next time you are out walking, really look around you. Be conscious of the act of looking. Listen and be aware that you are listening. Think about what you are doing and experiencing. Take notice!
I try to maintain awareness as often as possible, but eventually (often quite quickly) I slip back into autopilot, often for long periods of time. I also try to spend ten minutes a day walking around my neighbourhood concentrating on maintaining this level of awareness.
Hopefully awareness practice will have an impact on your dreams in the same way it has mine. I am more likely to question strange things that happen and say, “Hey this is not the way reality is!” I’m sure it will be more effective when combined with reality checks, but so far I have never actually done one in a dream. I always realise that it is a dream based on the circumstances and then wake up.[/i]
Recently I started practicing Lucid Living again, after taking a long break from dreaming. Last night I had my first LD in months. I didn’t use MILD or WILD. The LD came simply as a result of a few days of Lucid Living. I can’t guarantee it will come that easily at first for other people, but so far this has been the most effective technique for me.
Good luck!
Merged from similar topic in Quest. 
I love the unifying concept, connecting both worlds with an underlying similarity in consciousness.
Yay, I do this too, but I didn’t know there was a word for it 
And it works rather well for me: my dreams get much more vivid by being aware of my surroundings, but I can’t be aware so long. Works better than RCs, to be honest. For me.
I do this sometimes! But I rarely remember 
That’s my biggest problem, simply remembering to do it
Ill try this. Maybe it will work for me too
Lucidly living right now. It’s a way of being more than living. Not really a method, more of a philosophy.
But whenever I do so, or derealize, I always, always lose the game.
I tried-didnt work
As mew said above, it’s not really a method, more of a philosophy. So it’s not really something that will necessarily work over night. It’s like a way to become more aware in general, and that might take some time to give perceivable results. 
mattias already said it, but repetita iuvant: it’s a way of living, an attitude, not a 2- or 3-day technique. Moreover, the very moments you are practicing it are moments worth it and worth living, so just stick with it and enjoy a life more in control; dream controlling will follow.
This method works if you stick to it ( or should I say life style) how ever after awhile if it just becomes words and you don’t take any meaning to it , it starts to slip into your dreams. The first LDs i had i really was like WOW im lucid dreaming better start jumping off buildings! but when it just became words I had dreams where " This is a dream" but unconscioucly just went along with the dream and didn’t bother doing anything cool…
I’d better have read it completely before. Now I have the whole topic on txt file, every single part of it. Seriously, this is easily the most interesting and innovative topic of the whole forum.
The whole discussion here about why the effectiveness of LL / its various forms, its explanations - all of this was really interesting and full of thought, i actually congratulate with every previous poster 
If I only think how much of my life i’ve spent in laser focus mode, ignoring all that surrounded me (if i were involved in something, i wouldn’t even hear the shouts of people calling me not farther than 3-4 meters away) 
. Since i got seriously interested in LD’ing and what comes with it (dream yoga, zen, meditation… all that kind of stuff you can relate to LD with a google search or another), i really started getting more and more control of my life and living it more fully.
When i think of how the world is viewed, i see so much poetry and truth in it:
the world itself is real, and Buddhists say that too, with all the reincarnation and karma laws (there is indeed an external reality, independent form our existance), but still, our perception of the world is completely illusory, with the senses being only a mere representation of what stands in our surroundings (and i see Kant here, too, in all his glory, with his phenomena and noumena), the same kind of illusion of the senses that we percieve when we dream.
When I stop and think I’m dreaming, it’s actually stunning how our perception shifts so automatically and quickly to a higher consciousness of what we were doing and what we were percieving - I’m almost scared every time i do it.
When i go on with consciousness in my daily life, simply being aware of what happens inside and outside myself, i can find so many oddities that would be usually dismissed by my mind with a simple acceptance. Just today, i noticed the layout of the fruits/vegetables part in the store i usually go shopping to had changed since last week. I heard my mind saying “Well, ok”, while i actually stopped and thought “Wait a minute”; if anyone had seen it in a dream, the morning after he/she would have it surely classified as a dreamsign, so why don’t we usually react to it IWL, where we are most conscious? 
My toughts would be, our mind is used to justifying, or at least accepting every happening that it witnesses, for the simple fact that we are used to live in reality: how can you think something is impossible if it is happening right in front of our eyes? How can you question reality if you constantly live in it?
If it has happened, there must be an explanation of it, and if it’s something big, maybe you’ll hear some big scientist talking about it on the radio or in some talk show and he’ll put every oddity in its place, no need to waste your time thinking of an explanation by yourself. And that’s what we want to dismiss, in every single aspect of our lives.
I wondered if this practice could be tiring, until i saw this topic; for achieving a LD, you can recreate the feeling of “happy awareness” before going to bed, and real awareness is indeed happy. When you are truly aware of what’s happening, you find peace in observing in detachment, because you are now in control. You are a lot less likely to get run down by a car, if you have been keeping an eye on it, even just passively; and with control, comes the dropping of the fear of the unknown, the release of that tension we always keep inside, ready to react to the unseen; and with control, you can finally stop that unending chatter going on on the surface of your mind, and finally get peace in silence. I find that’s more than enough a reason to be happy 
, and if you’re happy doing something, why would it bore you?
Sorry for the randomness of toughts, I have so much running through my mind, i’ll actually need to split my posts for a more confortable read.
EDIT: Nevermind, i just read the Stop trying to dream topic, and i need to claarify a lot of things.
MORE EDIT: I actually posted my thoghts there (in part 2), and I think they could be relevant (mostly the last paragraph), so feel free to look.
I have enjoyed reading this topic so much, so thanks to all its contributers!
The concepts of lucid living are not new to me, but it was until this moment I heard a word for it.
I am practising art and have done classes. when you try to draw an object in front of you, you have to stare at it and really understand the object. The ball is not a 2d thing, imagine you can see the back as well. And you can see the silhuette because you can see what is behind it etc. When you spend hours looking at a thing you see new things in the details. Very much like when meditating you concentrate you thought on a small thing, maybe the old “a drop of water in the ocean” and the more you think about it the more you become aware of it.
I feel there is a strong connection with this visual practise of lucid living, althou it´s not the same thing.
One very important visuall property is light. And it´s quite a complex thing to understand.
There is a video that helped me very much:
thegnomonworkshop.com/store/ … t-and-Colo r
It´s not cheap, but it´s amazing
And there are always other ways to obtain things like this…
When I look at the world around me the knowledge of light increases the quality of what I see because I can understand it, and if you can understand only then can you really question it.
So, this knowledge have very much increased my ablility to live lucid!
I also believe knowledge can increase the complexity of your dreams - as an example I was never able to get a clear look at the garments in my dreams. But as I studied their construcion in reality I could pick up a garment in my dreams and see every stitch and fold…and even learn. I could not have done this before. It´s a bit off topic but I just wanted to express how important I think knowledge is to a for me heightened awareness, and how you can use it. (however knowing something can also take away the curiosity and the creative process of imagining…but that´s a whole different topic)