Some general questions and getting to know..

Yeah, I’m too lazy to separate this in more posts, so I’m just gona post in this thread.

Firstly, and obviously, I am new to the forums, LD4all and lucid dreaming in general.
Quick About Me:
I’m 15 years old now and I live in Croatia (a small country near Italy). Both my mom and my dad finished art academy, so I’m on the artistic side myself a lil’ bit. I go to graphic design high school and I’m studying web design. And yes, I’m male.

I knew what lucid dreaming means, but not exactly. About 2 or three days ago I came upon this site. I was pretty intrigued and interested. So I decided to read the guide. Past 2 nights I’ve been trying to achieve full dream recall, but I got something totally opposite, I couldn’t remember anything from dreams (I usually do), not even sounds, feelings, scenes or people. I even remember that when I was younger I used to do something like lucid dreaming (I knew that I was in a dream), but I unfortunately did not know that I have the ability to fly and do things. The only things I can remember are hypnagogic images. 1th day they were quite blury, but last night they were much more vivid, I could see them more clearly (but still couldn’t zoom on them or touch them). Maybe it will develop in dreams (using WILD) over the weeks (or months). One other thing I noticed is that HI’s I see are mostly something I was doing during the end of the day, like lasts night mostly all HI’s I saw were trains and random people, I was walking off my friend to a train before going to sleep.
Now, I need some advice. I’ve been trying to do something between a WILD and a MILD. So, just relax myself and say the mantra in purpose to stay awake, but both nights I was just lost in the mantra, after some time I stopped saying it and fall a sleep. I even tryed to wake up earlier (after 4.5 hours of sleep), but my mom came in my room and she shut off the alarm clock for some reason , and I just went back to sleep lol. So, what I need is some technique that does not include mantra, counting or anything similar, because I cannot do 2 things at once (I’m a male ), I can’t pay attention to HI’s at the same time while imagining myself going downstairs and counting.
Another thing I want to know about are plants that help induce dream recall and LD. I herd about Calea Z, but I think I can’t get the seed in my country. And I heard from some that marijuana helps induce LDs since it’s a hallucinogen, and I heard from other people that decreases rate of LDs since it’s a depressant (my reaction was lol because people use it as an anti-depressant for thousands of years). Which is true of this? Which plant is both legal and a oneirogen, and both easy to get and easy to grow?

Thanks for reading this long and boring text, I hope for answers or atleast greetings,
Cheers,
TheBeatDoctor. !

Welcome beat doctor.
My first suggestion is keep a dream log, and do a lot of reality checks. Everything else will follow. Don’t just depend on drugs to get you where you want to go, it is your effort that will make your skill last. Your body will just get immune to whatever it is you choose to facilitate LDing.

well first, welcome! the best advice, indeed, is to keep a dream journal. there are many guides on the internet for keeping one, I’d say read through a couple tutorials on the subject. then things like reality checks, etc. but start with the dream journal and everything else will follow.

now to address two points:

it is possible that you are trying too hard…sometimes this can hurt. or perhaps you are doing something fundamentally different from before that is hurting. I’d say just relax and be more casual about your attempt to LD. it’s not a skill you can learn overnight

it can help. and at the very least it makes dreams more vivid. the key is to wait to smoke until 4-5 hours after sleep, so that when you fall back asleep you’ll go straight into REM. (versus smoking before bed, in which case you won’t be high anymore the time you start dreaming). but do you smoke already? if you’re not a pot smoker already, don’t start smoking simply for dreaming! overall it probably hurts dreaming. approach LD’ing the natural way

also, about the “depressant” statement. well, it’s not a depressant. and secondly, the term “depressant” has nothing to do with MOOD, as in being “depressed” emotionally. it has to do with depressing a function of your body, such as the nervous system

I am already keeping one, but I’ve been writing down only HI 's since I can’t remember actual dreams.

Yeah, been thinking of that. My plan is to try hard for a week or two until it gets in my subconciousness and then just stop to get it off my concious mind and see where it gets me.

Oh, I didn’t know that.
Now stop talkin’ about weed, cuz I read the forum rules now and I don’t want to get banned the first day. Does Calea Z have any dangers? Where can I get it? Anyone?

EDIT: Does certain music help for dream recall and LDs? Any suggestions?

Finally! A single memory! I remember a small room from inside… Sorta like my own, but only smaller. And I remember seeing someone get out throw the window, I don’t know if it’s me or someone else. Hardly wait to go back to sleep. This time I was using MILD + WBTB.

Ok, you’re overthinking the mantra aspect, but I’ll get to that in just a second. First things first, even thought the name inplies it, WILD is not about staying awake, it’s about staying aware. If you concentrate on staying awake, you won’t fall asleep and therefor won’t dream. Keep your mind active and aware as you fall asleep so that when the dream starts, you’ve already been expecting it.

As far as the mantra goes, you don’t have to keep doing it until you fall asleep (though if you manage to do it it will help). The important thing is to get the intention into your SC. I usually do something simple like “I’m dreaming” when attempting a WILD/MILD combo. This is my favorite because it seems to send a little nagging thought about dreams into my head which usually leads to an RC. Otherwise, I’ll change the wording around a bit when doing a full on MILD or else I’ll lose focus. Something like “In a few minutes (or hours if at the beginning of the nigh) I will remember that I am dreaming. I will remember that I am dreaming in just a little while. I will remember to do a RC in my dreams,” etc. Again, it’s a matter of getting the intention into your head.

In fact, what I just described is more of autosuggestion than MILD. Auto is based on setting the intention, and then once that intention is set falling asleep. It can also help to think about previous dreams and while asking yourself why you did not become lucid. Keep the wording simple, the intention clear and your focus in check and it will work. You just have to find the right way to do it for you. There are no cookie cutter formulas.

No no, I understand everything about mantra and setting the attention, but like I said, I can’t do multiple things at once. I can’t picture myself going downstairs and counting every step, tell the mantra in my head (my english again, oh gosh.) and stay aware of the HIs at the same time. There is a saying in my country: “Males can’t do multiple things at the same time”. I know that WILD is about staying awake, thats a bit obvious (altough yes, my subcounciousness can think different).

What I am thinking of is a technique, where you do everything step by step. Like firstly what you do is set the intention, you say the mantra in your head for a few minutes. Then, relax yourself by paying attention to your breathing, the muscle tensing technique. Then when you relaxed you just pay attention to the HIs until you fall to a lucid dream. And I’m thinking that mixing it with WBTB would help even more.

What do you think? Would this ever work and is it worth trying?

Yes, absolutely. If you don’t do multiple thigns at once, then don’t do it. Don’t worry too much about techniques, just find the right way to set the intention and stay aware that works for you. Do different things, see what works and what doesn’t. We don’t all come from the same mold, so there’s no possible way that the same LD induction will work for everyone.

Thanks for your advices man… I really appreciate it!