Below is basically an introduction so you have a better understanding of what is going on, but if you don’t want to read, skip down to the help/questions and see if you can help me .
It all began when it took a while for me to sleep. I decided to look up relaxing music so that I can fall asleep easier, and eventually I saw videos about lucid dreaming. I am a beginner and have started to get very interested in LD during this week and I have a lot of questions and want help in order to successfully master LD.
The first time I discovered the LD topic was when I ran into this video: youtube.com/watch?v=ra1iWqQBcp4 That same night, I played it before I went to bed and I’m not positive but I’m pretty sure I had a LD. I remember that when I started to dream, I floated through a hallway saying “Woah, I’m in a Lucid Dream!” Then I had a few enjoyable dreams after that, basically a scene change with a lot of girls
The second time I tried was last night, when I decided to try the WBTB method. I wasn’t sure how long I should have slept so I just set my alarm clock to 5. I did in fact have a dream but I don’t think it was lucid, well maybe it was but I couldn’t control it.
So here are my current issues. I understand that fact that it takes time so I should keep in mind that I shouldn’t rush the process but this is such a amazing topic so please understand that I probably made a lot of mistakes, but that is why I am here to ask for help. Oh, and I have recently started to use a dream journal if anyone was going to ask.
1.) I do remember parts of my dream, but it isn’t as clear. It is as if my dreams are in separate parts with missing chunks in between.
2.) When I realize I’m dreaming, I have no control. It is like I am spectating, except in my own body. Even in the good dreams, it is like it was planned out and I can’t alter them; I don’t think I ever have.
3.) For the WBTB method, I slept around 12 and woke up at 5. I used the bathroom and stayed up a bit (10 minutes or so) before going back to bed. When I began to lay down and sleep, I repeated to myself I will know that I am dreaming, but when I fell asleep, I had no dream and when I opened my eyes it was already 8 oclock.
Once again, I know it takes time to get this skill down, and I have read many articles to try and help but I still have questions. It takes me around 10-20 minutes to fall asleep, maybe longer if I keep thinking about what happened that day or what I need to do. It would be greatly appreciated if someone could guide me in the right direction or give me tips on what to do. Thanks a lot for reading this post!
A lot of dreams will have gaps in them since they can jump around some. But, if you’re talking memory lapses rather than just jumps doing simple things like keeping a regular DJ can help. Also, maintaining awareness throughout your day about where you’ve been and how you got where you are can help fill in holes in dreams as well.
This is one of those things that mainly takes practice, but it will help a lot if you have specific goals in mind. Also, whenever you do RC’s throughout the day, imagining things like “I’m not dreaming now, but if I was I’d do this” can help a lot with control. You might also look through some of the guides on control in the Article Space as well, namely tosxyChor/Wakerlife’s Dream Control Training Course.
The more active you are and the longer you’re up, the more you reset your sleep pattern. Everyone’s patterns are different, so you need to play around until you find times that work for you. I personally don’t even get out of bed. I just scribble in my DJ and go right back to sleep. Others stay up for an hour because they can still fall asleep quickly. This is something we really can’t just hand you an answer on.
First of all i am no expert but have been present on this site for a while so ill help as best i can
Im sure i wont be the first to tell you but keep a DJ , it worked for me and will work for you. The DJ will fill in the blanks in your dreams providing you use it regularly and record everything you remember from your dreams.
Dont know if i can accurately so i will leave this one.
Practice makes perfect and the more you do it the better it should be. As you say it will take time , you may want to try WILD with WBTB and alter the techniques to suit you as again i wont be the last to say everyone if different and different takes on different techniques suit different people.
Thanks Rhewin, that helped clear some confusion but it lead to some more issues that happens. I realized that my dreams don’t feel long. They feel like it’s only a few minutes and it’s already time to wake up. Is it possible that dreams will become more realistic (not that they aren’t) and longer lasting if you know what I mean. It’s really hard to put this in words and describe, but what I’m trying to say is for the dream to be like similar to every day life but in a fantasized way where you know it was a dream but it is a memorable time.
To give an example, say I were to dream that every night as soon as I laid down on my bed, I would secretly get pulled down in my bed and basically be in a world of my imagination–similar to Alice in Wonderland, but in my position. And what I would remember is that I went to another dimension and there was a lot of imagination. For an experienced lucid dreamer, would they be able to remember everything or at least mostly everything that happened like it was an actual adventure? Because my dreams seem really really short.
Also, does what you’re sleeping on affect your dreams? I don’t think my bed is that comfy
well yes sometimes dreams only feel like they were a few minutes long then you wake up, while others will feel like hours. And a way to make your dream basically i would say life like is this----- Once you become lucid, to stabalize the dream and make it EXTREMELY realistic is to rub your hands together really fast. The first time in a dream i did that, the colors all flooded in and it was amazing… I swear it was so realistic it was awesome, sometimes in a lucid dream i find the dream is so realistic that i question again whether i really am dreaming. You could make it exactly like your own fantasy land but life like at the same time. Also i wouldnt really worry too much about your bed. I know i saw a topic somewhere about how if sleeping on the floor one night could increase lucidity but idk…
Oh and well when you have a lucid dream you usually remember alot of details about it compared to a NLD When you wake up within about 20 seconds ide say you should start remembering all the details of the LD
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