New member here/Remaining lucid troubleshooting.

Hey everyone. I’m new to the site. I figured I would make an introduction and ask for some help. So let me start off by saying that this isn’t my first time getting in to lucid dreaming. A few years ago when I was in high school I dabbled into it a bit. I was able to have one complete lucid dream and few partials. I guess I had other things to do and I gave it up. Now I want to get back in to it but I’m having the same problem. I tend to get excited and wake up to soon. I’ll start by telling you about my dream last night.

I had a few separate dreams that I can remember slightly. Then I got to one odd dream where I was walking down my driveway in the middle of the night. Then out of no where these two bear-like creatures charged right at me about to attack. I don’t have nightmares that often, but when I do I NEVER get attacked by anything. They usually deal with real life events going bad (bad grade, death of family member, abandoned by whomever, etc.). I can’t ever remember a nightmare where I was attacked directly by anything. This is what sparked me to become lucid. They neared me and I was about to be clawed…then all of a sudden I said “holy sh!t…I’m dreaming”. And boom…I was lucid. The two creatures just seemed to sit down and give me a confused look. I could feel my heart rate picking up very rapidly and I just started laughing. I woke up laughing and smiling, but kind of aggravated.

This was the case with me in the past, I could never stay lucid for more than a minute at best. Last night was 20 seconds or so if I was lucky. I’ve read article after article and seem to get the same advice. Does anybody have anything out of the ordinary that works for them? I’m willing to try anything and everything. Thanks.

Tricks I’ve used to stay in the dream:

  • clapping
  • singing
  • stomping
  • a running mental commentary: “I’m dreaming…I’m dreaming…I’m dreaming”
  • staring at my hands
  • glancing casually and slowly from object to object in the dream

When I become lucid, I stare at my hands and then at the enviornment in order to stabilize it.

If the dream is starting to collapse, spinning stabilizes the dreamscape and will sometimes catapult you into a new one.

I’ve found that the best option for remaining lucid is engaging in meta awareness. If you are aware that you are aware, then you will retain your lucidity for longer periods of time.

You are dreaming.