Need broad technique categories and less acronyms

It’s really coming to the point where we need to have a few broad categories and not so much a mishmash of techniques. For example, I see two broad categories such as those which rely on prospective memory: WILD, and those that are direct, as in manipulating something when falling asleep to either enter the state directly or prime the mind for LD’s: WILD and the like.

In the attempts to hack the techniques, mostly because the traditional MILD/WILD do not work for everyone, thus there has been a proliferation of variances direct and indirect/prospective memory techniques.

One example is that there are a few ways to do somatic techniques: such as moving the eyes to one side or FILD. Last night I attempted to make a fist while falling asleep which may have caused very vivid and plot driven dreams. If that suddenly worked for me, I shouldn’t just make up an acronym for it as if it is some separate technique, it’s a somatic variation of WILD. (Somatic versions of WILD might be the answer for me because I cannot concentrate on my mind when falling asleep, but I can with subtle body movements).

I would like to see those of you with more experience put these techniques that are scattered all over the place into larger umbrella categories, so it would be easier to seek them out.

Hello bankeinanin, I am glad you also find this important. This is one of the topics I am currently studying.

When I first read the topic name, I was expecting that could be someone that I talked about it.

Answering your topic: it is not finished yet.

We do have some “umbrella” techniques: WILD and DILD. DILD is any lucid dream in which you become lucid during the dream. DILD techniques include RCILD, MILD, Certain forms of VILD, CALD, and just plain old spontaneous lucidity. WILD describes any lucid dream in which you retain awareness from a sleeping state into a waking state and start off the dream lucid. WILD techniques include FILD, DEILD, Certain forms of VILD, and more generic WILD techniques.

The specific techniques like FILD and MILD are… well, specific techniques. If you do something that doesn’t count as one of these techniques, you can just say that you had a WILD or DILD.

I have always used the phrase active or passive techniques. With active you are intentionally doing things to enter a dream lucid (WILD, VILD, DEILD etc.). Passive techniques rely on setting the intention to become lucid from inside the dream (MILD, RCILD, CALD etc.).

Most techniques end up being variations of others. While it’s easy to get caught up on what they all are, it’s only things people found by trying new things from other things. Play around and find something that works for you. Techniques are just a starting point and a way of describing LDs.