Hi! I’m so excited to be here. I was able to LD at will way back when I was in college 20 years ago. Now I’m an almost 40 year old (not sure when that happened).
I’ve suffered from nightmares since I was a child, almost nightly. I’ve made it my resolution this year to learn to LD at will again, to heal my nightmares at last. Also, just for the fun of it!
I’ve noticed that it’s much harder to LD now, maybe because my imagination isn’t as wild as it was when I was 20. However, after two solid months of following the standard advice (dream journaling, frequent dreamchecks, WBTB, etc.), I was able to have 2 lucid dreams in the past couple of weeks. A couple of nights ago, I inspected my hands as usual, and realized I was dreaming. I became fully lucid, and walked around for a couple of seconds reminding myself “I’m dreaming.” Then I flew around over the auditorium where I was located. Unfortunately, within seconds, my vision started to fade and I woke up in my bed.
I think that in my case, repeating “I’m dreaming” didn’t help - it made me feel overly excited and seemed to pull me out of the dream.
Does anyone have any other tips to help with stabilizing a LD?
I think I can induce more LDs (DILD) simply by doing dream journaling + frequently inspecting my hands. (None of the MILD or WBTB techniques did anything for me in the past 2 months…) I just need to stabilize things a bit.
Many people report that tactile sensations have helped them literally grab a hold of the dream again as it was slipping away and I’ve also made good experiences with this approach. Use your hands and get a feeling for that object right next to it, experience the texture as you’re touching it. Other senses can also have a benefit, e.g. really focus your eyes on something and take in all the details that unfold before you. Or take a deep breath and become aware of all the odors around.
Oh, i’ve had quite similar problems growing up, with frequent nightmares and lucid dreams that became harder to hold on to over time. In addition to Marvin’s advice, i’ve discovered that {in regards to nightmares} dream rescripting has worked wonders for me. I also have learned what will start to trigger a nightmare {for me its staircases, for some reason? i learned to avoid those without protection of my other dream characters} and that i can telepathically communicate my danger to them, who can then come to my assistance using a sort of temporary hive mind. I also know that stopping to ask the nightmare monsters why they are chasing/attacking me sometimes yields some interesting responses. I have no idea if any of these tactics will help you but hopefully one of them might!
Wow, interesting, @TheNexus My nightmares are a little different (anxiety dreams linked to traumatic experiences) but I’d like to try out some of those approaches. How do you rescript? Do you do it when going over your dream journal or are you able to do it during the dream? Thanks!
Mine are the same way, due to traumatic experiences, but because i have a dissociative disorder i only have the vaguest idea of what happened to me. Usually i rescript while i’m awake, just kind of telling myself better endings to the stories, or sometimes when i can’t think of a positive solution i instead try out different scenarios just to see what happens, so its more like daydreaming with a purpose to try and explore the nightmare from different angles.
awesome! i wish you the best of luck in turning your Dreamscape into the peaceful place it should be.
In regards to my lucidity, it’s going ok? I have a feeling the medicine i take kind of dampens my dreaming abilities since i have struggled to LD or even dream normally since i began taking it, but sometimes i am still able to have moments where i can control my dreams.
Try wearing a good eyemask. Darkness = melatonin ,= more vivid dreams. There are also safe supplements, apparently. I’ve ordered Lucidimine from Amazon… will report back!
Staircases are in my nightmares too. Its like the space in between the steps, its like you’re about to fall down onto the ground and die. But really fun once you become lucid.
brilliant idea! I will try that the next time i see a staircase! interestingly for me, Rebecca, instead of a fear of falling, my dream-stairs always have Sentinels, who may even make themselves appear nightmarish or mildly hurt or scare me in an attempt to prevent me from going up/down them because otherwise i meet the true nightmare monsters at the ends and the dreams get really awful then. when i was young and reckless i would always force my way past them anyways, which, what on earth was i thinking?! lol
