I have had three LDs in the pst three nights. This may sound at first to be a fantastic success and … well it is for me.
BUT
They were all three pretty short, low level, uneventful LDs. The dreams weren’t full LDs… only partial. In most of them I lost lucidity right away… that is to say within a minute or two.
In the most recent one, I recalled my goal to try to strengthen my self awareness in my LDs. I want to start by learning some skill at LDing so they will be stronger and more vivid because most of them so far have been pretty weak.
Well, in this last one, I tried focusing on some details… the grass around me and the skin of my arm. These seemed pretty sharp but I still felt my grasp on the dream was tenuous. I had the idea that I needed to find a teacher or a class on dreaming within the dream. That way I would be teaching myself the best way for ME to reach and maintain lucidity… right? Well, nothing I could do would bring a teacher or class to me. I tried expecting one to be behind me and then turned around to find nothing… I called for a teacher to come… then went searching and thats when I lost lucidity and woke up. How frustrating.
That’s good. I think that with experience the clarity of our LD increases, and we gain power to control them more. Is it true that the more LDs we have, the better the chances of having them?
It’s true, in a sense that after each LD you have a little more insight into what situations may have caused it, and it also makes you think a lot about lucid dreaming.
However, you’re probably talking about a form of mental training, and I can’t honestly give an answer to that. You certainly might develop a subconscious ability to enter LDs automatically (as LaBerge apparently had) but something like that would probably take an extremely long time.
Think about your previous LDs, and try to find some common properties. Were they mostly late in the morning? Did you have anything turned on in your room that you may have heard while asleep? Did you meditate more than usual beforehand?
You can assess these individual elements based on previous experience, which may give you an advantage in achieving lucidity more frequently in future.
You know… its hard to say any of that because I have only ever become lucid randomly. I take that back… my first LD ever was because I noticed the lettering of some neon signs changing and BAM… lucid. But since then it has all been spontaneous. I’ll be enacting the part set for me in the dream and will just suddenly become lucid and realize that I am dreaming.
When I lose the lucid state its usually because I wake up, in the morning, or because my hold on it isn’t strong enough and I fade so fast that I don’t feel it coming. I used to be able to notice the feeling of the normal dream returning and stop it but in the last three or four it has just transitioned right back no warning or sensation.
A lot of my dreams have this feeling that I can’t really explain. I believe this was discussed in a prior thread somewhere but it was a while ago. Anyway, someone was saying how his dreams had a certain feeling and that perhaps he could use this to become lucid. I certainly agree with that and I think that perhaps this is what is making me become lucid. I sense that feeling/ambience/mood… I don’t know how to decribe it… and then I’m lucid. Maybe if I meditate on this feeling, read through some of my old journals and picture the dreams in my head… I can in someway make that connection stronger in my mind so I will always notice it.
And Pilot… I have certainly noticed a curve of increased occurance. Each time I have one the interval between that and the next seems shorter. I do think that for most of us, this is a new way of dreaming that must be learned like any skill. My problem is getting the really strong lucid dreams that I want. I have only had one and when I woke up I was… raptured. Since then, however, they have all been brief and weak.
Atheist:
I did start to see a pattern with my LD and ND. At night, my dreams are hard to remember, and often don’t make much sense. In the morning, it is the oppostie. I often remember thinking about things IRL (probably associated with very brief awakenings) and I actually spend more time thinking within a dream rather than acting. I’ve been trying to get an inquisitive state of mind, so instead of solving a probem in a dream I would try to find its source, leading to a DILD. This probably has a lot to do with LL. I can’t agree more about light sleep.
LostBoy:
I know what you mean by that feeling. I guess experience with LD doesn’t neccessarily cause them to happen more frequently, but it does allow you to have higher level LD. I started out with really short LD and FA, and worked my way to actually experiencing LD and thinking clearly within them.
Thats the thing thats getting me. I am gaining frequency but not strength. My third LD was my strongest and since then I have had four or five but none of them has been even a fraction as strong. They are often short and I never am able to get some real vivid dreaming going before I wake up or lose lucidity. Its just a little irritating.
Mmm u got a good chance that is because u just realize at the end of your rem u are dreaming…
I think u would make big progress if u do training in real live about thinking its a dream while u do nothing important…because u have to recognize sooner your in a dream so more dreamtime is left.
But because of the fact u have already lds u got a good chance u will recognize sooner over time that u are having a dream. But i really think doing some mild exercising couldnt hurt u…think it would help…if u try 4 some months…
It may seem an obvious question, but have you tried any form of stabalization technique? Personally, every time I become lucid I simply stand still, look at my hands and repeat direct commands until things are clear and stable. Sometimes I actually get a kind of ‘sense’ that can detect how close I am to waking up or losing lucidity by taking notice of how clear things are. Sometimes I can tell I’m VERY close to waking up because I can begin to feel my actual body laying there, at which time I may or may not be able to save it.
I certainly don’t feel qualified to lecture you on the subject, but maybe you’re trying to expose yourself to a little too much action without first making sure you have complete control?
Well, in the dream above, I tried to conect myself to the dream by observing some things… the grass… my own arm. When I felt I wasn’t getting anywhere I yelled out “I’m dreaming!” Thats when I went looking for the class because I was hoping if I found one the teacher would back me up and help me focus.
The thing is that I usually have a sense of how close I am to waking up as well. I can usually feel myself begin to wake up or even to slip back into a normal dream, and can therefor try to do something to stop it… rubbing hands or whatever, but not with these last few LDs. I just transition with no sensation.
I have never had a transition from a LD to a ND. Only vice versa. So i’ll try to offer you what i can.
When i have LDs i just spontaneously recognise it. I then think that i’m in a LD and go about doing stuff. I have never gone into a normal dream from a ld but i have woken up and i can feel myself waking up, i have the problem of staying asleep while LDing.
Perhaps you could try thinking every now and then that this is a LD. Try and have the same feelings as when you have long LDs. You could even try to recreate the same scene as when you had your longest LD.
