In EWLD, LaBerge says that in order to consistently have LDs, one must be completely relaxed and free of stress. For this he says exercises like 61-point-relaxation are an absolute necessity.
My question is if these are really necessary. By nature, I am a very relaxed person with very little or no stress nearly all the time and always before bed. For me, these exercises do nothing. I do not feel more relaxed after doing them. I believe I’m about as relaxed as I can get in the “before bed state of mind”.
Same goes for me but i guess its also about relaxing muscles and tensions …tensions we are sometimes not aware of.Concentrating our mind on all parts of the body step by step does the job.
But still,person like you or me would propably need much less relaxation techniques.If any id say just simple ones.
In my opinion no, relaxation techniques are not “required” to lucid dream. However, I highly recommend them. Progressive relaxation helps you to relax your body and also clear your mind so you can clearly focus on your intention to have a lucid dream. However, you do not need to do the 61 point relaxation technique ( I don’t like that one much either ). You can use any progressive relaxation exercise or even just mindfulness breathing will work. The progressive relaxation exercises may seem like a lot of work at first but, they really are not that hard and become very easy quickly.