I just recently got into the whole lucid dreaming idea and have adjusted my sleep schedule accordingly. I now go to bed at 10 PM instead of 2 AM so I get in my normal hours of sleep.
I can wake up at 3 (5 hours of sleep) AM without any problems really, but it’s going back to sleep to try and convince my mind that I am dreaming is the problem. I have had lucid dreams in the past, but never really knew there was a way to induce it myself until recently. I picked up a book from Amazon that got good reviews and i plan to read up when it arrives.
I’m just curious, what methods do you strongly suggest to have the most success being lucid? My dream recall is very good, I remember the dreams I have if I get in enough sleep (I am now) to have dreams without a problem.
I’m reading about the whole mint tea thing, and I love tea, so i’m pondering trying this method. I like coffee, so perhaps a small amount before I try to go back to sleep is the answer? I also read about various herbs/vitamins to take (non-illegal) to help increase lucidity. My reality checks come without trying now during the day, so I know it should come into my mind in my dreams. I just can’t get back to sleep when I wake up for a WILD.
Any tips appreciated and I look forward to discussing lucid dreams with you guys.
My tips are: keep a dream journal, get to know your dreams,
take a vitamin B complex (not every day), drink peppermint tea, and
last but not least use LD TEST PRESET with the brainwave generator program. The latter is the most helpful shortcut for me…
What is most important of all is to make a serious attempt at realising that you are dreaming. This also includes realising when you are not dreaming. Every so often, try to figure out if you really are awake. Keep an open mind, do an RC every time something strange happens and so on… (Oh and you should start doing a RC every time you awaken, as beginners tend to have very many false awakenings )
My main concern is when doing WILD’s, i have trouble going back to sleep after an hour or so.
Also, can WILDs and MILDs be done in the same night?
Like say I MILD before I go to bed at 10 PM, and I wake at 3 AM, giving me 5 hours of sleep. I stay awake for an hour until 4 AM and do WILD (I can’t get back to sleep here) and wake back up at 6 AM to go to work.
When I do get enough sleep, I do have good dream recall, but I think that WILD is the best way for me to LD. I just can’t seem to get back to sleep this way. What do you suggest?
MILD’ing at the beginning of the night isn’t that useful because you don’t usually get REM or LD’s until the last few hours of sleep.
If you can’t get back to sleep after being awake for an hour, cut that hour short, try staying awake for 30 minutes. If you still can’t get back to sleep, change it to 15 minutes the next night.
any tips on those supplements i was referring to? the melatonin and B vitamin supplements? i plan on going to a health store later today and picking them up, should i take those before I wake up around 3 AM, the first time I go to sleep, or do I take them when I wake up and am preparing to WILD?
or should i wake up two separate times?
edit: same question on the tea? do i take it before i sleep the first time or after I wake up and begin to WILD?
I guess you take the vitamins before you originally go to bed at night. By the time they really get into your system, it’s toward the end of the night and you’re having long REM periods. I don’t know about the tea, but I think you’re supposed to drink it at the same time.
Wow, what a bizarre and contrasting use of punctuation. Every second post by HatedOne8 is properly punctuated, whereas ever other lacks a single upper-case character (disregarding acronyms) or full stop. Are you actually 2 people?
Anyway, on to the topic at hand.
In addition to the advice already given, I thought it might be worth mentioning the effectiveness of external induction. This involves playing a recording at low volume beside your bed while you’re sleeping. Due to the cumulative nature of REM sleep, and the possibly distracting sound preventing you from getting to sleep in the first place, it’s a good idea to only begin playing the recording after already sleeping 5 or 6 hours, and waking up.
Obviously this isn’t suitable for everyone, but I’d recommend giving it a try if convenient. The idea is that the sound will influence the dream, hopefully introducing the topic of lucidity, and ultimately providing an opportunity to trigger a lucid dream. This generally works much more reliably if the recording is already on the topic of dreaming, or lucidity. I use an on-topic 90-minute radio interview, which mentions the term “lucid dreaming” every couple of minutes. Works quit well.
Alternatively, (or if you consider the above technique ‘cheating’), try to developed a familiarity with your most commonly occurring dream situations, and run through them in your head while you’re attempting to get to sleep. Picture yourself in a dream that you’ve had several times before (or in a reoccurring location, talking to reoccurring dream characters, etc) and imagine yourself realizing that you’re dreaming. What we’re doing here is aiming to build an association between those dream topics (or dreamsigns) and the realization that you might be dreaming. Eventually when you do experience one of these common situations in a dream, you’ll hopefully be reminded of your ongoing efforts to recognize this and perform a reality check.
Since we’re not conscious during a normal dream, all we can do is try to ‘program’ our minds to trigger consciousness when it encounters a previously identified dream scenario.
LOL, I don’t believe I posted like that. It must’ve been two different state of minds, as I was at work the entire time posting those messages. Most of the time you can expect them to be properly punctuated and capitalized.
Anyway, I appreciate your input on my delve into the world of lucidity. I will try that method you were talking about, with using the low volume recording. Is the recording you’re referring to the one they were talking about in the “Shortcuts to Lucidity” forum? If so, i’ll burn that onto a CD, or what I can of it anyway and just have it put on repeat.
I already have a good idea of what my dreamsigns are (my one favorite jacket, the color blue, cigarettes, and driving) as they occur pretty frequently in my dreams and in my life. I already conditioned myself to do a RC every time I see these things or interact with them. Also, whenever I see any large text at a distance, I am constantly looking at it twice, even when I know I’m awake, just out of habit now. Commonly I say to myself, “Oh look, that sign on the highway is blue.” I turn away from it a few times and check the clock on my car stereo as well, so I’d say I’m pretty well in tune with my reality checking. I also do it whenever I see myself in the mirror or go to the bathroom or wash my hands. I’m doing it more often when I eat, drink, or chew something as well. I’m trying to incorporate as much of my daily life as possible into it, and it’s becoming second nature. I’m sure I look like a fool to some who see me triple-checking the same sign, but they don’t know my motives either.
Anyway, thanks for the insight and I’ll let you know how it goes tonight. Only an hour or so until dreamtime!
If you’re referring to the Stephen LaBerge radio interview, yes, that’s the one. Of course, you could also use absolutely anything on the topic of lucid dreaming, or dreaming in general. In fact, you could use pretty much anything you like, as long as you tell yourself beforehand that the particular recording will trigger you to perform an RC.
There are actually some really useful MP3s available online that were designed exclusively for this purpose. One such example that I’ve had the most success with would have to be the “Brainwave Voyages” collection, a couple of which simply repeat “Is this a dream? Am I dreaming?” etc, over and over. If you see some promising results using the LaBerge interview, it might be worth keeping an eye out for some additional substitutes.
It sounds like you’ve got a nice and consistent reality-check integration going on. I hope to hear some success stories from you soon.
hey, do you think you can point me to where i can download these at? i’m having trouble finding them, and I can’t get the laberge linkt o work. can you help me here?
I haven’t been able to find the ‘Voyages’ set since I got them a few months ago, but I assume they’d exist on some P2P program. Strangely, the website hosting the LaBerge interview seems to be down right now. Used to be: https://home.no/lucid
Those were just examples, anyway. I’ll search for some other LD induction audio files when I get home (at work right now, so I don’t have a lot of time).
Well, if you can’t find them again to download, you could always send them to me. If it has to go to that, I have Yahoo messenger, MSN, and AIM, or my email.
I’d really like to try these out with dreaming tonight (appx 9 hours away), so if you can get them to me by then, i’d like it a lot. Thanks in advance.
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