Lucid dreaming thread. Ask about stuff, tell your experiences,

I used to be somewhat proficient at LD, even though I've only tried it for a few weeks 2 years ago.

Although I've hardly developed it, my dreams haven't been quite the same since I've pursued LD. I still find myself going to old habits like reality checking and becoming lucid more often while dreaming.

I'd like to get back into it again. Here's how I'd do it:

>Dream Journal
This is probably the most important (and most tedious) part of LD. Writing stuff down improves dream recall, general lucidity, allows for better organization, and is fascinating to have in general.
I used to wake up and immediately focus on every single detail I could remember while dreaming. After building as much as I could, I'd spew it all over my journal. It helps to write quickly.
As you write, you'll remember more of your dream. Just keep writing everything you remember anywhere on the journal. Try to keep it organized so you can go back to it.

Here's the real reason you should keep such a journal: you must put footnotes at each important detail to understand your dreams better. What I do is make a note in every part of the dream where something "illogical" happens, like I start to float or act out of character. If you're dreaming and something is off, you must be able to notice. That's the leading premise behind LD, really; being able to tell when you're dreaming.
Do not go easy on yourself; when you write down a detail in a dream that should've given the dream away to you but didn't, note to yourself that you must try harder to notice these types of details.

Journaling also helps to see recurring patterns in dreams. Characters and events may appear often over the course of your life, and you may be able to understand them better if you wrote down things about them. It's how I met my ego (it's a girl, which is typical if you're a guy)

Pro here. Last night I did something new, I went through a mirror, which is pretty weird in retrospect. Forgot the rest of the dream.

>>34071431
cont.
Bear in mind that although I've only been into LD for a few weeks, I was able to achieve my first successful LD within DAYS.

It wasn't easy. I was REALLY into it. It'd be all I'd read, I'd keep my journal constantly, I'd be all over every strategy I could get my hands on. Just thinking about and trying this hard for something will, as a general rule, lead to success. If I hadn't become depressed and disinterested, I'd still know success like this.

Anyways, there are more strategies that I encourage you to read. If you want to start LD, let this thread be only the beginning. Read from the leading LD websites to learn all you can. The harder you try, the more you get out of it, though ymmv.

Soon, you may know terms like reality check, dream affirmations, hypnogogia, WILD, MILD, and whatever else the LD community found out.

It helps to have passion.

>>34071431
Thanks for the tip, I've only been able to LD once using reality checks and was not keeping a journal at the time. I'll begin with keeping a journal starting from tonight.

I'm easily able to go into sleep paralysis but can never stay asleep long enough to enjoy a dream. I use the WILD technique to get the best results.

>>34071639
The journal will take up your time and might feel like a chore. It helps to have good time management skills and motivation.

Meditating makes boredom more tolerable, but meditation is torture on its own.

Motivation can come from you revisiting your journal now and then, just to read. I hope I don't have to remind people to read the journal now and then. It's kind of your databook, and you'll get farther in LD if you get close to the material.

It's actually crucial to go back to previous dreams and try reading them to see if you can find any clues. You might've had a dream last night where you noticed an object that also happened to have appeared in previous dreams. It's a small discovery, but it gives me goosebumps. It lifts the veil of mystery from dreams and can show you that your mind can be predicted.

>>34071812
At this point, my interest is at its peak so knowing myself I will be quite heavily motivated for a week or two. Hopefully that's enough to see some results.

Do you fall asleep easily by the way? or is it normal for you to fall asleep quickly? I'm curious because it always takes me ages to fall asleep and I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the lack of LD success.

>>34071812
My dreams are 95% about reality, nothing extraordinary ever happens (well, rarely I have sex in them). Is it worth it to write down a journal basing on my typical dreams?
What's your opinion on "hand's technique", which is more of affirmation technique? Would it be enough?

barely real

extremely exaggerated

>>34071929
Oh jesus, I really should go on a tirade about sleep. Yeah, that shit's probably even more important than the journal (duh).

I sleep like a rock. I slept even better in my LD days, with a schedule and routine. I treated sleep like it was sacred and did everything I could (melatonin, calming, stretching, suggestion/hypnosis) to achieve the perfect sleep.

You can get into sleep paralysis more easily if you're sleep deprived, but only use this if you happen to be sleep deprived. It's not strictly lucid dreaming, but a hardball dreamer would research and fortify their general sleep.

I'm convinced that consistent poor-quality sleep will make lucid dreaming more difficult at best, impossible at worst. These things work for me might not be universal, but they are good rules.

>>34071969
Damn, you're one of those cases. Why do you people have to exist. Stop having realistic dreams, dammit.

Oh well, it's not all bad. There are lots of ways to perform reality checks. In your case, you can't get any clues from your dream environment since it's too real. No trying to read words or inspecting mirrors for you, I guess.

I, for one, have never been able to breathe in through my nose when I'm holding it closed with my fingers UNLESS I'm dreaming. Find a reality check that works for you. My memory is obviously faded, but you should be able to find a way to test your environment reliably. Do the check often when you're awake and you'll find yourself doing it in your sleep.

As for the journal, I consider the journal to be an easy way to multiply success. You could use it to berate yourself for failing to perform your reality checks. Also, the journal might help you understand your dreams better in general. If you have it in you, perhaps try it. It might not help you, but I bet it will even if it's too little to be worth it.

I forgot the details of various techniques like the "hand's technique", but if you like it you should stick to it. I believe the technique that you enjoy the most will be the one that brings you the most success. Stressing yourself out will likely make dreams harder to control and remember. Keep this fun (journaling isn't always fun).

Sorry if I'm all disorganized. I'm trying my best here from the memory I have of learning so damn much in such a short time, long ago.

>>34072362
No worries man, gonna head to sleep and try all this out. The journal is now at my bedside, thanks for the tips!