I don't get it... whats the catch?

I’m kind of new to lucid dreaming, I’ve had several lucid dreams before (completely unintentionally), but I’ve only had one MILD and no WILDs. I just want to know, what exactly is the catch? I’m always telling myself “If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is” and everyone says “Nothing good in this life is free”. Is there a “catch” to lucid dreaming? Can it be bad for your health in any way? Does it take a lot of work to achieve?

Well, there aren’t any health problems. The only thing that anyone would consider a ‘Catch’, is that it can be really hard for certain people. And for WILD attempts, can be almost frightening. And you also have to start writing a DJ if you wanna get serious about it, and some may consider that a burden. But other than that, it really has no negative effects, your sleep if perfectly fine.

I was going to say “nope, no catch!” but then I read your last sentence and, hmm… it is something that demands some determination. Now, some people might get good at it in a year, others might need 5 or more. BUT, of course, this all depends what exactly you want. If you just want to have a couple LD’s a month that’s one thing, if you want to become lucid in every single dream you have and become the master of your own dreamworld… that might take a bit more time, but I bet it’s worth it!

But ok, that’s not really a catch in my point of view. So I’ll go ahead and say it: Nope, there is no catch! :smile:

You talk about LD’s like we’re selling them. This isn’t like a weight loss pill that has side effects; this is healthy diet and exercise in comparison. Some techniques have catches like a lot of time or energy, but that’s it.

Is there a catch when you learn, say, swimming? I hope not :tongue: maybe you spent a little time learning, but that’s it. LD’ing is, in the same way, a skill, and learning it means developing new possibilities, at the expense of leaning the basics (which honestly, is little stuff :wink: )

No catch at all. Your results will match your determination and will. :smile:

Or you could become good at lucid dreaming way sooner.
There is really no way of knowing how much it will take.

If you take tosxy’s example…no.There is no catch.

I think the “catch”, if you want to call it that, is hard work, determination, and focus. If you can apply those three principles to lucid dreaming, then you have a great chance of success. I think the two biggest problems I have is 1. I don’t believe in myself and 2. I am lazy. If you can get beyond laziness and disbelief, then it will help you tremendously.

The saying “nothing good in life is free” can be countered by the saying “the best things in life are free”. Some have theorized that dreams are supposed to be unlucid, because they serve a psychological or biological function, that has to do with sorting memories, and putting the important ones in the long term memory. Lucid dreaming is then supposed to disrupt the automatic function which is best left alone, and by steering the dream in a different direction with our conscious will, we engage in frivolous entertainment instead of letting the important function run its course. However, nobody has ever reported any negative effects of lucid dreaming. So even if this theory is correct, the effect is too small to notice.

Some Finnish dream researchers believe that dreams are meant to be rehearsal for life, and nightmares are there to let us simulate dangerous scenarios so that we have a plan of action, even subconsciously. It does make sense and lucid dreaming can in that view be seen as goofing off when we should be practicing, unless we go along with the dream. Even so, dreams often seem to have little value as practise because the events in them can be so incredibly unlikely and oftentimes resemble goofing off anyway. So it is a matter of choice - Do we want to get better at handling the situation at hand?

Luckily, lucid dreams can be used for this purpose too and adding awareness can be just as good or even better than unlucid dreams. Sure, there can be value in the rehearsal being treated mentally as a real life situation. But for most people, lucid dreams are sparse enough to allow for plenty of normal dreams too. Adding the possibility to choose for myself the kind of activity I want to practise on occasion, has great appeal to me, even if my subconscious had different plans for that timeslot.

Having considered these theories, it seems evident that the benefits of lucid dreaming outweigh the supposed negative effects, and that is a consideration made assuming that there are any. The theories may be false, and if that is the case it would take even more imagination to build a case against lucid dreaming.

Upon reading this it has made me really determined to become Lucid in my dreams. I know Iv’e just started but it seems with determination it is possible for anybody too experience these wonders.