I’ve had a lot of trouble with fake lucid dreams. This might sound like a stupid question, but in general, how do you tell if you are having a real lucid dream or a fake one? I know the definitions and understand them, but consciously, it’s difficult to tell. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Speaking from my own experience. I would say that if you have a lucid dream there will be little doubt in your mind about it. So, in short, if you have to ask, “was this a lucid dream”? The answer is most likely, “no”.
If you know you are dreaming and understand what that means (you can control it) then I would say you are lucid.
That’s what’s strange! In my most recent “lucid dream,” for example, I flew around and felt elated. I remember asking myself if I was dreaming, but I don’t remember verifying it.
I still don’t know if I dreamt that I controlled the dream, or if I did control it.
At any rate, if the dream WAS falsely lucid, at least I know I’m close…
Well I can not say for sure but, that would appear to be a ND. The good news is that you are getting close. You are starting to question your dreams but, you are just not answering your self. Just before going to sleep firmly tell yourself that the next time you ask yourself “is this a dream” you will realize you are dreaming. Then let go of the thought and follow your regular routine.
The reason I think it is a normal dream is that you did not fully understand “why” you could do things like fly. I have many normal dreams where I have amazing dream powers but don’t understand why.
Keep practicing because you are getting very close !!!
Just remember the next time you ask your self, “am I dreaming”? Answer the question. 
Good luck and happy dreaming 
That was a really good and helpful response! Thank you so much! 
Hey im new here and at lucid dreaming i just tryed it a couple days ago and i have aq couple ?s i wanted to ask. 1st should i record dreams that are not lucid or just the ones that are PLEASE explain. 2nd I have a clock a constant running fan and my dream journal and pen in my room can all of those be dream signs. and 3rd off can u people give me any tips to help me lucid dream. Thanx Much[/b]
When starting out with lucid dreaming, you’ll want to write down all your dreams, lucid or not. The whole point of writing down the non-lucid dreams is to get better dream recall. Better dream recall will in turn help you remember more dreams, and will make you more ‘in touch’ with your dreamworld. If you already feel that you have enough dream recall, you may choose to only write down LDs. Up to you.
The clock would be the most obvious one. I’m not sure ‘dream sign’ would be the most appropriate word for it, but you can use it for RCing. Just look at the time, look away and look back again. Did it change, or is it all rubbish? Your dream journal can also be used as an RC just by trying to read it. Read something in it, look away and read it again. Did the words change? I have no idea about the fan, though. I believe some people use outside noises (like a fan) when doing WILD, don’t ask me how or why though.
We get this question a lot by new people, and it would be very akward to give advice one on one to every new person we get. Just learn the basics on the main page, read the board a lot and do a google search for “lucid dreaming” for more material. The best and simplest advice I can give is that you keep trying and stay motivated. That is what matters most.
Dreamwonder
=> keep practicing and no mater what happens do not give up.
=> Keep a dream journal. ( very important)
=> Do lots of RC ‘s ( do them seriously )
=> Don’t think of lucid dreaming as hard. It is easier than you think.
=> Practice MILD, WILD or other induction techniques.
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Last night I tried to have an ld for the first time, I tried Wild. After a few minutes I entered the sleep paralasis thing and after that something felt like it washed over me, the i lost concentration, after i regained concentration my arm just jerked, completely waking me up. After that i just went to sleep normaly saying to myself “you will have a lucicid dream”
it did not work, I had combined theese methodes with PILD so I forced myself to take a Really hot shower this morning followed by cold water. Do you have anny hints for me and does TILD or PILD work?
You entered the dream paralysis stage very easily on your first attempt so I would stick with the WILD method if I were you and you’re sure to get results. For most people, the MILD method seems to be the easiest and most successful way to have lucid dreams, but you can combine the two methods and this will increase your success rate. I’m not familliar with the other methods (#ILDS) you mentioned, but if I were you I would keep things simple in the early stages and stick with these two methods until you gain more experience. Intention setting before you go to sleep is also very important. Tell yourself that you will have a lucid dream tonight and imagine yourself becoming lucid. Keep this thought as a kind of thread running through the night and remember it whenever you wake between dreams. This works very well for me and is sometimes all I need to do to have a lucid dream. If you can, set an alarm for 4 or 5am and wake yourself up for ten minutes or so. Reinforce your intention and then go back to sleep using WILD or MILD method. As most lucid dreams happen in the morning when you’ve already had several hours sleep this method is VERY effective.
Good luck with it and don’t try to hard, just relax. Lucid dreaming is much easier than most people think.
This might be true, but it takes A LOT of dedication and practice. During the first few months most people enjoy the practice, especially after they had their first LD, which is good ofcourse. But if you’re very serious about it, it might take years to really master it, with probably lots of droughts and times in which you lack motivation, etc… along the way. So it may be relatively easy to get LDs in the first place, if you have good motivations, but in the long term it can be pretty hard.
I have a little technique for keeping yourself in lucid dreams once you realise you are lucid. Instead of rubbing your hands or spinning, try and look at something and notice all the detail and texture, etc
This worked like a charm for me the other night, both of the other methods don’t work very well at all. If you are having trouble with these two try the looking method 
Also SailorAndromeda, Always when I have a real lucid dream my brain tries to wake me as soon as I realise I’m lucid. I think this is because I’m not very practiced, but also how excited you are. Keeping calm is paramount to staying in a lucid dream. If are not having to use some method to keep yourself in the dream when you first start dreaming, chances are it was not a LD.
I’m not 100% on this though, did anyone LD as a beginner without having to use something to keep yourself in the dream ?
The funny thing about my LD’s are that unlike most people’s I don’t have to have a really blatent sign that I am dreaming. Such as people who have to do RC’s all the time, I just sort of realise I’m dreaming… Not quite sure how to explain it, something just doesn’t feel right or look right, etc.
Hello i am new to lucid dreaming… My first attempt was last night… I tried WILD without doing WBTB but it seemed to work for a bit… I had my journal ready for when i awoke and everything… but it was awkwrad my body went to sleep and it tingled and felt weird… and i got lost in my thoughts and then i just completetly entered a thought and stayed there I woke up and wrote in my dream journal only to find out later that it was a false awakening… but for a first try i say im doing ok… any tips or comments please say something
Hey Shroom, i would advise doing a RC each time when you wake up so you are sure it isnt a FA, and if it is, you can use it to have a LD.
yeah, the same thing happened this morning i did NILD [WBTB] and i cant seem to remmeber in my dream to do a RC, so this morning i woke up i know it was real did an RC then i lay there and said ok i will remembeer dreams and write them down… waited a bit, wrote them down then went aeround my house doing things like drinking huice, watching tv, then went bacxk to sleep… when i awoke in the morning to go to school, i checked my DJ and nothing had been written, i must have dozed off while recalling my dreams… i wrote down what i rmemebered and then went to school… atleast i am remmebering dreams now… 2 last night!
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wow no one has replied here for like a month almost… anyways im getting better and better at lucid dreaming but not having any lucid ddreams… just remmeber more and can go lucid when i want in a dram but just not quiet remembering to tell myself im dreaming!!!
I have done this focusing on visual things too several times in LDs, but I always end up not being able to keep my eyes open anymore. And when I close my eyes I wake up. I think I’ve been doing this because when I start noticing that everything starts getting blurry I automatically focus on something to sort of keep my balance and keep me from falling. Once I even tried keeping my eyes open with my fingers, but that didn’t work that well either. But atleast it worked a bit better 
And I too seem to just realise that it’s a dream. I think that for me it’s some sort of WILD that didn’t work that later gave a MILD like effect and then I’m usually highly lucid so I don’t even have to do a RC. But a few times I’ve just done a quick RC for the fun of it. It’s always fun to have 7+ fingers or strange looking hands
And even if shroom has managed to increase him recall I could mention that one usually don’t remember to write down dreams every time one wakes up at first when starting LDing. But after a while of trying you generally remember to do it when you wake up. And I too should do a RC when I wake up because at times I wake up and think about writing down dreams and then I fall asleep and keep thinking about writing down dreams and so I get a FA where I’m writing down my dream 
But atleast I have great dream recall in the FA 
yeah i am going to ld tonight!! dude i hope i get anothe rlucid dream man!!
Hey i’m kinda new hear. I understand a lot about lucid dreaming as i have put in the research, but i haven’t found the time to write many down. The first time my EX told me about lucid dreams and dream recall i was truely inspired and that night i done some research and the following few mornings i remembered about 3 dreams in great detail (including my feelings.) Since then i couldn’t find the motivation to get up every night or morning to wrrite them down. Although i don’t write them down i beleive i have an excellent dream recall ability.
I wanted to know off anyone if there are other ways besides writing them down all the time. I know most a lot of my own dream signs, the most remembered would be, being in another town/city/country but knowing that it’s somewhere else. For example i had a clear dream where i was in New zealand looking for my dad but i knew it was liverpool (city in england). 
Another thing is last night i had my first Sleep Paralysis encounter. I knew one of these would happen to me soon as when i read about dreaming i’m always afraid to go to sleep incase i have sleep paralysis. Although it scared the s**t out of me something good came of it. I couldn’t move or scream i paniced i knew it was a dream. This didn’t help me but i think i know why. I’m reading a book by STEPHEN LE BERGE and in his work he says it’s not definate that you become lucid due to beleiving the only reason it’s a dream is just to escape the fear and not embrace it. I feel like i have reached another level toward my own lucid dreaming.
I know this is a long post and i thank you if you have read it, i would be most appreciative if anyone knows or has experinced this and could give me some advice.
Hey andy welcome to the forum. Some people prefer to voice-record their dreams, but what I do is I make small notes and write the full dream down when I got more time (if I got more time, sometimes I skip). But if you record then you will still have to write them out in some detail later or it has little use.