The BIG LD FAQ

Quest for Lucidity
1

There are more and more of the same questions popping up, in different variations. This is an attempt to gather them all, both questions and answers.

This is a heavily edited and modded thread - if you leave a comment, question or answer it can and will be edited into the big FAQ. silly and off topic replies can and will be removed.

How does it work?

This first post will be edited with all questions and answers you supply.

You supply them by replying on this thread. Somebody else will come along and add the answer. Those 2 will be edited into the main FAQ.

Also feel free to collect questions and answers already asked and answered in other topics and put them in here.

LD4all LD FAQ

last update: 6 june 2026 (formatting mostly)

I try so hard but can’t get lucid, is there something I do wrong?

No. For some it happens sooner than others. Try not to want it too much but just let it happen. Don’t despair, be patient and don’t give up. It can take some time…

How long does it take before I have my first lucid dream?

Be patient, don’t try to hard. Some people have their first lucid dream the night after learning about it. Others may take longer. You may have already had one, but forgot. If you are frustrated that it is taking so long, give up. Really! Forget about “trying to become lucid” and work towards dream recall.

There is no “one-size-fits-all.” Even for experienced lucid dreamers it is hard to induce a LD at will, or everynight. Though some naturally always lucid dream.

I have dreamt [dreamstory], was that a lucid dream?

If you realise in a dream you are dreaming, you are lucid. When you are talking about dreams in a dream, or say to people in your dream:“hey, I always dream of this!” (or something similar), that is a sign you are getting there. Your first ‘real’ lucid dream is probably not far away now.

Isn’t it dangerous to dream lucidly?

No. That would be the same as saying dreaming is dangerous, because lucid dreaming is the same like dreaming, only your experience of it is much more intense.

Every time I realise I’m dreaming I wake up. Why is that?

Maybe it is too big a shock for you, or maybe you become very enthousiastic when you realise you are dreaming. That is fatal for lucidity. Try to keep calm and next time remember to do something like the spinning method to stay in your dream.

Can you only talk to persons in your dream or also with other things?

You can talk with and to anything you like. You are in a dream, where everything is possible.

If you fall asleep with music turned on, does it bother you to have lucid dreams?

That depens on you. In fact, you could use it as a lucidity trigger. ('I’m going to sleep now and when I hear music I know I’m dreaming)

What is in your opinion the best book about lucid dreaming for beginners?

“Creative dreaming” by Patricia Garfield.
“Pathway to Ecstacy - The way of the Dream Mandala” by Patricia Garfield
“Stop sleeping through your dreams” by Charles McPhee
“Out the In door” by Michael Szul
“Virtual Dreaming” by Linda Lane Magallon
“Control your dreams” by Jayne Gackenbach and Jane Bozveld
“Tibetan Yogas of dream and sleep” by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
“The lucid dreamer” by Malcom Godwin
“Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming” by Stephen Laberge
“Lucid Dreaming in 30 Days” by Weintraub and Harris
“Lucid Dreaming Kit” by Paul Devereux and Charla Devereux.

Teenager..First Lucid Dream
Can't Remember My Dreams!
2

Hi Pasquale!!!
I wish to know if there’s any positive or negative psicological consequences in lucid dreaming, in fact scientists says the lucid dreaming could be great helping overgoing traumas and nightmares, but my doubt is: couldn’t lucid dreams affect negatively the life of a person ?, couldn’t become a scape way to the external world of one person? (sorry my english, but I speak spanish, however I understand perfectly but i can’t write almost anything). I’d really apreciate if you could give me a hand in this. thank you ccsszz.

3

ccsszz: The answer to your question is in the Lucidity Institute FAQ. Just follow this link: lucidity.com/LucidDreamingFAQ2.html#harmful
Happy to help :smile:

4

How long does it take before I have my first lucid dream?

Be patient, don’t try to hard. Some people have their first lucid dream the night after learning about it. Others may take longer. You may have already had one, but forgot. If you are frustrated that it is taking so long, give up. Really! Forget about “trying to become lucid” and work towards dream recall.

There is no “one-size-fits-all.” Even for experienced lucid dreamers it is hard to induce a LD at will, or everynight. Though some naturally always lucid dream.

5

Also, in lucid dreams, can you control EVERY aspect, like your surroundings, or just your own actions?

just here to remember i’ll have to answer this question and put it in the faq :smile:

feel free to add an answer to this one :smile:

:wiske:

6

Yes, you can control every aspect of your lucid dream. However, it would be difficult to control everything simultaneously. And sometimes it is just nice to experience the feeling of lucidity. :smile:

7

uhh…i dont know why i allways gotta disagree…im worried im bringing too much negativity to this forum:)

Anyways…i think theres no 100% control in lds.Theres heaps to it…enviroment,weather,other characters…i could give milions of examples.
What Alex prolly meant was ld with high awareness-that would mean you control your every action(goin left or right,flying etc.) and very stable one.

Btw-i think its great not to be able to be in 100% control.I guess it would cause lds to loose all their magic,suprise elements,excitment,so on.So its a good thing!:slight_smile:
take care

8

I completely agree with Jack, in both respects. You never do have complete control at any one time, but I personally think that’s a good thing. Just think though - consciously, you NEVER have complete control of your subconscious. Even in waking life, you can’t have complete control. You can’t beat your heart in tune to a song, or turn off various senses for no apparent reason. With practise you can do some very impressive things, but you never have complete control. Since LDs exist within your own mind, and are powered by your subconscious, the same situation applies.

This is the problem with your imagination while awake. Your conscious mind is in control of every little aspect, and that’s why it remains unstable and unrealistic. Appritiate the power of your subconscious mind.

9

Theres a metaphore about lds.I think it says alot about control.

Nonld is like being unexperienced sailor on the sea.Wind and water throw his boat everywhere,he gets lost.etc.
Ld is being experienced sailor-you perfectly know how to get from A to B ,how to go with wind,how to avoid shallow places etc.BUT still…theres no way he can even think of controlling the forces of nature.Wind,weather and water are beyond that.

take care

10

I agree with Alex here. He does mention you can’t “control everything simultaneously.” So there is always room for the element of surprise.

We can’t control a DC’s personality, but we can easily “remove” them from the dreamscape, or recreate them into something else. If the weather is not what we like, we can just open a door to another dreamscape where the weather is different. Get the idea?

Can anyone think of an aspect you can’t control?

I think we all have the same basic belief, we just explain it differently.

11

need to add some Q’s about OOBE also - this might evolve into a LD-OOBE FAQ

Q’s like:
[b]What happened to me, i heard this strange buzzing noise and everything started spinning. etc.

can you have an OOBE from a lucid dream?

is OOBE the same as LD?[/b]

12

I´d definately add something about sleep paralysis, since most people are afraid of it when they experience it and don´t got any infos about it.
I never experienced it myself, though, so someone else got to do that

13

Well, you’ve already got is Lucid Dreaming danagerous, but I think you should also add in, ‘What is there to be afraid of in a dream?’ as that is quite a common question.

Also, how can RC’s help you?

Is a Dj important?

Must I improve my DR before working on gaining lucidity?

Is shared dreaming possible/are the people in my dreams real people?

Why can’t I do X (eg. fly, walk though walls, make people apear etc)?

14

I need help on flying how do you guys fly? I prefer using wings but all I do is fly up no where else unless im not controlling it or something. any help? :tryfly:

15

Try taking a running jump? I don’t know, I’ve never had problems with flying. :smile:

A post about morality has been split to its own topic in General Lucidness. Here. :dragon:

Morality? (Using SDs to stop others addictions)
16

The problem with flying is that you don’t have “physical” contact with the dreamscape anymore. You’re in the sky with no dream objects to hold on to. This makes flying a bit hard for some… because you have to have some feeling and control over the dream. In the beginning I always woke up when I tried to fly, simply because I had lost touch with the dreamscape.
If you want to use wings, it takes an additional level of control and imagination you have to put in the dream in order to make it work. Personally, I don’t use any additional means to fly. Only my arms… most often in Superman style. Swimming style is also nice; perhaps a bit slow, but that’s easily adjusted (simply by using your dream magic). Experiment a bit and see what’s best for you :smile:

Good luck! :content:

17

Great idea to make a FAQ. There’s just one thing I want to bring attention to. Since there’re several opinions on some of these questions, it might be better to take a little more objective approach and say, for example: "Well, the scientific interpretation is so and so, while the more spiritual people would insist that is such and such.
What do you think?

18

I’de like that too.

(Rarosu, have you looked at the wikibook? See my sig)

19

About the shared ones… If those exist…

Is it possible to go from your dream to somebody else and mess with them a bit? The people that don’t know how to Lucid Dream?

evil smile

20

Another one about shared dreams…

Can two lucid dreamers “meet up” inside a shared dream?