So I’m trying to do this whole lucid dreaming thing, as it sounds like it could be therapeutic and possibly rather entertaining. I have a problem, though.
It takes me a good half hour to fall asleep, so WILD seems out of the question unless I’ve used my favorite drug to help put me out (which eliminates any possibility of dreaming at all). I really don’t have the concentration anyway.
In addition to doing frequent reality checks throughout the day (checking my cell phone for the time, plugging my nose, and flipping a light switch are my favorites), I’ve been trying MILD whenever I wake up from a dream. I’ve also heard it’s wise to write down the dream as soon as I wake up, even if I plan to sleep again. That means moving, which kind of hinders the MILD attempt, doesn’t it? What do I do with that situation?
Also, how much success do people have with WBTB? It seems like a good idea, but it seems as though it comes at a detriment to your actual sleep, something this engineering student really can’t afford. I’ll give it a shot three or four nights a week if it really helps.
You seem to know what you’re going for. Writing down dreams in your DJ doesn’t really hinder your MILD attempt unless you’re jogging while drinking coffee (or if you’re an insomniac). When writing, it isn’t necessary to write full complete sentences / paragraphs. A fast and easy method that works great is to just write some key words that will trigger remembering the dream later. If writing anything at all does indeed make it hard to fall back asleep, then simply don’t write.
As for loss of sleep through WBTB, that’s not entirely true. Realistically you’ll only be losing at most around 5 minutes of sleep. And, if you don’t want to ruin your REM cycles, try waking up after a dream, not during it. You can do this by using Autosuggestion of some sort (telling yourself that you will wake up after every dream). Regardless, you should be completely fine and in some cases, you might not even remember waking up. But, if you’re still unsure, as you said, just try it out and see. WBTB increases chances of lucidity by a lot because it wakens the conscious mind right before entering a REM cycle. Almost all of my lucid dreams have been acquired from going back to sleep after waking up. So, it’s worth checking out.
I’m new to LD as well, but I’m in your position as well. It also takes me 30 minutes to fall asleep, but not anymore. I can enter that hypnagogic stage within 5 minutes now, and maybe you should try that. When it happens you’ll feel like you’re cozy within your own body and it really helps relaxing. Even if you come out of it (which I usually do because i’m not too great at relaxing), you’ll feel much more tired before you went in it. As you’re laying in bed, slow your breathing and focus on touching something in your mind (I pet my cat in my head), and BAM, you should enter the deep blackness and crazy colors should be everywhere.
I don’t know if this will work, but it really helps me. Good luck!
WBTB can be as long or short as you want. You don’t have to stay up for hours. If 5 minutes out of bed gets your mind wide awake, then that’s fine.
WILD can take a while, specially right when you go to bed, 30 minutes isn’t much , I believe… But with WBTB it can be very effective, as any other technique. I recommend WBTB if you have the time and patience to do it, like on weekends, maybe.
Half an hour is NOT a long time to fall asleep, seriously, I can take me hours to fall asleep!
MILD is very effective but only if you have the motivation, try thinking about lucid dreaming in a different way, plan what you’re going to do or make up a story to do with lucid dreaming, I find it works well.
Remember, everybody is different so keep trying different things until you find something that works for you.
You don’t have to stay up for hours. If 5 minutes out of bed gets your mind wide awake, then that’s fine.
But with WBTB it can be very effective, as any other technique. I recommend WBTB if you have the time and patience to do it, like on weekends, maybe.