Hi everyone, I’ve been reading these forums for about 3 years now but I only decided to make an account today because I really need some advice. Dreams have always fascinated me a lot even when I was a child, but I didn’t learn about lucid dreaming until about 3 or 4 years ago. I’ve only been able to have about 3 LD’s in the 3 years that I’ve been trying to… and all but one of them was very short(under one minute). All three of them were spontaneous aswell, not induced. I have kept a dream journal(s) for all this time and I have like 4 big notebooks full of recorded dreams… I have no problem with dream recall whatsoever because I’ve been keeping a DJ for so long. I usually have 3-5 extremely vivid dreams every night and when I wake up, I can remmember every detail about them all.
The problem is that when I am in a dream, I just CANNOT realize that I am dreaming… Every time I wake up I feel so damn stupid. Yeah, that 200 pound green spider that always stalks me and tries to kill me is completely normal…Nothing unusual about it…until I wake up… LOL. I mean, one time a DC even told me that I was dreaming (according to my DJ), and I didn’t even become lucid… I’ve been looking over my DJ’s and all of my dreams are crazy as hell with tons of dreamsigns… Why can’t I ever pick up on them?? Is there a way to be more aware in dreams? Is there like some mental exercise or supplement or anything that I can do/take that will help with this? Do any of you have this problem also?
I’ve tried using RC’s before (I really committed to it for awhile), but they don’t really work for me, although in one of my three lucid dreams (lol) I did use a RC after I randomly became lucid to confirm that I was lucid, but it didn’t trigger lucidity, just confirmed it. Then I woke up 5 seconds later, Yay. Thats the only one time I have ever remembered or seen a RC show up in my dreams. I have also tried WILD (many, many times…) and have used it with WBTB, but it just doesn’t work for me, I just can’t keep my mind awake while my body falls asleep… It takes me a long time to doze off (both at night and after wbtb).
In my first, longest and only good LD, I became lucid when I was blasted into the air (into the clouds, by an explosion), and as I was falling from the sky I was thinking that I was surely about to die when I hit the ground. I hit the ground and just got right back up and I was fine, so I realized it had to be a dream, and I became lucid. The LD lasted probably ten to twenty minutes after that happened. I flew, made people appear out of nowhere by just thinking it would happen and swam to the bottom of the ocean and some other really cool shit. It was awesome and that LD is my inspiration for continuing on even though I never have an LD anymore.
Can someone PLEASE give me some advice here? I’ve been trying for years and I just can’t ever realize that I’m dreaming despite all of the obvious dream signs every night. I feel like such a dumb ass lol.
Mostly when I’m lucid, it’s because I did more then just one thing… and I know, WILD is difficult. (this only works for me in FA’s) So maybe you can try out more then 1 thing a day/night?
Some things you can try out:
-Try melisse or mugwort tea. Last year I had LD’s when I made some mugwort tea - now it doesn’t work anymore but melisse still does sometimes. There are other herbs too to try out… some people use mynth/mint, chamomille,etc while to me those gives me too much deep sleep (and less REM). Just try out and see which ones are the best for you.
-Do some RC’s when you try WBTB - there is a lot chance you will do a RC too when you have FA’s. You don’t have to stay up for hours, 5 minutes is just ok. To me, I wake up in the middle of the night spontaneous, go to the bathroom - drink something and go back to bed… that’s it.
-Keep believing you will have a LD. Don’t say ‘‘This will never work’’ but say ‘‘I will have a lucid dream tonight’’ instead. Even 1 % doubt can destroy it, so be sure you can do it.
-You can also try others before bedtime like ‘‘I am aware that I am dreaming’’ or ‘‘I know that I am dreaming’’. Even without RC’s this can work… so it’s not a disaster if you forget to do some RC’s at day. Keep repeating. At day, in the evening, at work - I don’t know, the more you repeat the more chance it will work.
you need to practise a technique regularly to become lucid. start with WBTB or MILD. keeping a dream journal and making RCs is not enough. i dont keep a DJ but when i wake up i do not move and i recollect my dreams. work befor sleeping and in middle of sleep is more important than work ehile the day
Could it be the way you do your RCs? If you just do an RC, and it works (i.e. not dreaming), do you just straight away conclude, “Oh, I’m not dreaming” and thus the whole RC process only takes 3 seconds?
As far as I know, if you were to do that, you are only going through the actions of an RC, and not really doing an RC. An RC is actually meant to question the very reality that you are in. For me, when I do my digital watch RC, instead of just looking away and looking back, while looking away, I put in some effort to change the digits and not let them change by themselves. Then, on looking back, I take sometime to confirm if the digits have really not changed. Then, slowly I look around me to verify that I’m not dreaming.
The whole process takes me at least 10 seconds. RCs have to be done really sincerely for them to succeed.
That’s a great point Tw15t3r. Come to think of it, you’re right. When I was doing RC’s all the time I would just go through the motions, I wouldn’t really question it, it was just a matter of did the RC fail or not. I’m going to start trying this and really questioning reality every time I perform a RC and see if maybe something will show up in my dreams. Thanks for that suggestion
Oh and tw15t3r, do you mind telling me how often a RC shows up in your dreams? Do you actively do RC’s throughout the day? Is that how you have so many Lucid dreams(I see that you have had 99+ LD’s…)? Even when I was doing alot of RC’s, it only showed up in my dream one time(it didn’t make me lucid though, I just used it to confirm lucidity after I randomly became lucid). I think I’m slightly confused on this, is the actual RC supposed to make you lucid, or just confirm lucidity that you already have? Because for me, when I’m in a normal dream, I can’t just decide to do a reality check, I don’t think normally in a dream. I have to be suspicious that I might be dreaming before I even ever think about doing a RC.
That’s my problem though… I never become suspicious of or pick up on dreamsigns, I just think they are completely normal occurances until I wake up, therefore I’m never able to become lucid.
Also, thanks alot for your suggestions Dryalantha! I’m going to google mugwort tea and melisse and see if I can find anything out about them or how to make them. Also, that’s a really good idea about doing RC’s after waking up. I’m going to start doing this along with the type of RC that tw15t3r talked about. Maybe I can catch myself in a FA and become lucid from it. Oh, and I try my best to not have doubts about having more LD’s. I had the mentality for a very long time that I was going to have more for sure, and it never did happen… So that kind of did put some doubt in my mind honestly. Can’t help that though.
I used to use RCs a fair bit in my dreams when I was putting more effort into it. Maybe like 1 in 2 dreams are triggered by RCs. So far, it has only been once I that I clearly remembered that I did an RC out of habit, and that caused my lucidity. The rest were more of a confirmation that I was dreaming rather than telling me that I was dreaming. For example, you get the feeling that you are dreaming, and actually have control over yourself to do an RC.
But recently, I’ve used dream environment RCs, rather than those that are normally used, meaning that I look around the dreamscape for unusual qualities and base on feeling. Somehow, you can feel that you are dreaming. I don’t really do RCs IRL so much. Around once a day.
My most recent LD started with me being at home in the toilet looking at myself in the mirror. Some sources suggest that looking at yourself in the mirror would produce a fuzzy image, but that isn’t the case. I saw myself perfectly clear, and for kicks, I tried to move one eye without moving the other. It worked perfectly, and I was amazed. I tried the other eye and that too worked perfectly. I was too amazed at that, and that’s when I came to realise the possibility of a dream. To check, I somehow thought of smiling, (I’m wearing braces IRL) and realised that I wasn’t wearing braces. Bingo!
It’s a RC that I never thought of doing, never planned to do either. Spontaneous.
As for my number of LDs, it’s since Nov 2005, so I’ve been at it for quite some time already. My LDs usually happen during weekends, when I can get enough sleep. MILD seems to work best for me since it sets me the correct mindset. Also, I don’t keep a DJ anymore. I don’t think it’s really that necessary.
Thats the only one time I have ever remembered or seen a RC show up in my dreams. I have also tried WILD (many, many times…) and have used it with WBTB, but it just doesn’t work for me, I just can’t keep my mind awake while my body falls asleep… It takes me a long time to doze off (both at night and after wbtb).
Even 1 % doubt can destroy it, so be sure you can do it.
Oh, and I try my best to not have doubts about having more LD’s. I had the mentality for a very long time that I was going to have more for sure, and it never did happen… So that kind of did put some doubt in my mind honestly. Can’t help that though.