Questions for newbies and vets

a) I’ve had a few lucid dreams, but I wouldn’t say it’s at will. I can’t force success and I’m not a natural lucid dreamer although I had lucid dreams as a kid.

b) I think the most important reason is that I’m an escapist. I find that I get easily immersed in fantasy worlds of movies, books and my own imagination. The experiences that dreams provide me are great. Lucid dreaming seemed like the natural step to enjoy it more and experience the freedom it can offer.

c)Hard to answer that as defining what method worked each time is kinda hard. All I can say for sure is that WILD hasn’t worked yet.

d) About once a month, university has limited my time and dedication towards lucid dreaming.

e) Found another planet with life. I have just been calling it the frozen planet, but I’ll ask what it’s called once I get to explore it in a lucid dream :content:

A) How much time did you take before becoming a lucid dreamer? Since the first day you decided to be an LDmer until you get LD at will, how many weeks passed out?

The moment I decided I wanted to be a lucid dreamer, it took me about a month of consistent practice and persistence to finally attain my first intentional lucid dream. Upon further training I’ve seen the number of lucid dreams slowly and progressively increasing, particularly in the past month. I still have a long way to go for me to attain lucidity at will but, I’m sure I’ll get there eventually with determination and continuous practice.

B) Whats your real purpose for learning LD? Why do you want LDs?

My interests lie in the practical uses of lucid dreaming. Having fun in dreams is all great and very enticing, and I’m sure it’ll probably make out for a very large amount of my experiences in them. However, the idea of being able to freely navigate our own subconscious is far more alluring to me, and there comes a time when I will want to do something far more productive with my dreams than playing around. I’m particularly interested in what we can do with our subconscious, the creative potential we have at our grasp. What can we learn from our lucid dreams, what can we achieve from them? How can they further aid us back in waking reality? What about the amounts of information we can learn from our dreams, information we initially don’t know about but that is within our reach once we’re dreaming?

C) At first, which method was best for you? And now?

I have found that when a method or technique makes sense to you, then it’s by far the best method you can use. With this in mind, I’ve always been fascinated with the potentials the MILD technique can have to influence and direct our ability to lucid dream. If you read in between the lines, past the basic outline of the technique, you’ll discover that our memory is really such a fascinating tool. If we understand how it works, then we can skillfully use it to our advantage and achieve such amazing states of mind like lucid dreams. I think many people underestimate the potentials of the MILD technique. Still, it’s wise to keep an open mind and avidly seek out to learn from the many other techniques/methods there are to lucid dreaming.

D) How many LDs do you have each month (or year or week, whatever)?

I’ve had my best progress made just recently this past month, accounting for a total of 3-4 lucid dreams. I’m happy to see I’m slowly making progress in this art, and it further consolidates my will to continue practicing and make my way to more and more lucid dreams in the months and years to come.

E) Whats the most impressive/funny/important/etc thing that you found in a dream?

Basically, that there’s more to our dreams than what we might initially conceive. It’s a whole different world, uncharted, waiting for each and one of us to discover, explore, and creatively use. Some of the most mind blowing experiences I’ve had with lucid dreams are precognitive dreams, the amount of detail and vividness there is to them, and how unique each experience is. Also, it’s been of recent interest to me to see how some of the characters in the dream can sometimes be very mysterious or singular, in fact even wiser, as if holding some type of information I’m initially not aware of. The dream world and what happens in it is very interesting. It’s a world we can actively access, explore, and discover the inner treasures that lie in it, each and every time we go to sleep at night.

A. It took me about 5 months to get my first LD.

B. When I first heard that you can do anything (yes, anything, including reading text ^_^), I wanted to have one as soon as I could, a few months later I realized there were other things to do than just control, but being in control and being able to do anything has always interested me.

C. WBTB has always helped me, even if I don’t actually do a WILD.

D. I usually get 2 - 4 a month, often all at once, so I get even 3 lucid dreams within a week, sometimes even the same night. Many of them are not very vivid. Lately I’ve been getting them a bit more spread out though.

E. The strange lucid dream I had once was by far the weirdest thing that’s happened to me, and I still can’t explain it properly for people to understand the strange feeling. I was in a hallway, and someone said “It’s time to start lucid dreaming”. I became lucid, but had NO memories at all from real life. I still had the fake dream memories which were this: Everyone in my dream is real, and we’re here to do training for something (no idea what). We then went to this outside area and met some other people. We would climb up this hill, and then practice flying/gliding down to the bottom.

It doesn’t sound very interesting, but like I said, I can’t explain why it was so weird.

Clustafer, sometimes a dream is weird and we just cant explain why. Something in the atmosphere of the dream, or maybe something with the feelings attached with the dram. I also have lots of dreams (ND in this case) that are weird without any specific or visible reason.

Husky, I agree with you about the purposes. I think that exploring our subconscious and our untapped power of imagination, are a great motivation for learning LD.

a) How much time did you take before becoming a lucid dreamer? Since the first day you decided to be an LDer until you get LD at will, how many weeks passed out?
IIRC it took me about two weeks to have my first LD after discovering LDing, though I did have a few before as a kid. I’m not at a point where I can induce LDs at will, mostly due to periods of dry spells or lacking motivation.

b) Whats your real purpose for learning LD? Why do you want LDs?

I can actually use the time where I’m sleeping for something, instead of just basically blacking out and regaining consciousness a few hours later. :tongue: I can do productive stuff in LDs, meet people I wouldn’t be able to meet IRL, have fun, and overall use my dream time for enjoyment and self-discovery so that I can start the day with a smile on my face and a good feeling! Same goes for NDs as well, actually.

c) At first, which method was best for you? And now?

I don’t think my methods ever really changed…A combination of keeping a DJ and awareness IRL via LL, RCs or what have you. Occassionally I throw in a MILD and/or WBTB.

d) How many LDs do you have each month (or year or week, whatever)?
Because of the already mentioned cases of demotivation and so on, I really can’t give a true answer here. However, if I do calculate the years since I started with LDing and the LDs I’ve had, it seems like I get an average of one LD every two weeks.

e) Whats the most impressive/funny/important/etc thing that you found in a dream?

Huh. Well, the most beneficial thing I have found through LDing (although it was not in only a single dream, but rather a consequence of getting into (lucid) dreaming in the first place) might be that I had a sort of epiphany about the social anxiety I experienced at that time, and that helped me to deal with and ultimately overcome it. As far as actual in-dream experiences go, flying and, as Faith42 said, overly realistic dream environments are still the most awesome things!

a) How much time did you take before becoming a lucid dreamer? Since the first day you decided to be an LDmer until you get LD at will, how many weeks passed out?

I had LDs spontaneously as a boy, but I’d never heard of LDing—I didn’t know it was exceptional; I thought of them as “waking dreams.” As a teenager, I was keenly interested in dreams, but didn’t seek out lucidity. At 21, I decided to try to have LDs again and it took me a month.

b) Whats your real purpose for learning LD? Why do you want LDs?
To me, the real purpose of dreaming is communication with your sub-, or less-conscious mind. The real purpose of lucid dreaming is even better communication.

c) At first, which method was best for you? And now?
The method that helped me in the beginning still helps now. I use WBTB and then fall asleep by doing physical relaxation, entering a trance, and then letting myself drift in the “twilight zone” until I either (1) have an OBE, (2) have a WILD, or (3) fall asleep and have a DILD.

d) How many LDs do you have each month (or year or week, whatever)?
When I’m fully focusing on achieving LDs, I have 12-20 per month. When I’m not focusing, I usually have one semi-lucid per month, or every two months.

e) Whats the most impressive/funny/important/etc thing that you found in a dream?
Like everyone else, I think this is hard to answer. Right now it’s a WILD, or mental projection (whatever you want to call it) where I met my dead grandfather by a lake or ocean and talked for a little while.

I often get ones that are a bit strange, but I’ve never had (remembered) one that was like this. It would be interesting to know what causes that feeling though.

a) How much time did you take before becoming a lucid dreamer? Since the first day you decided to be an LDmer until you get LD at will, how many weeks passed out?

Probably a month or so.

b) Whats your real purpose for learning LD? Why do you want LDs?

Cause it’s fun :happy:

c) At first, which method was best for you? And now?

At first I relied on DILD, until I learned how to do WILD. Now WILD is certainly my most favorite technique. It’s relatively reliable and fun :smile:

d) How many LDs do you have each month (or year or week, whatever)?

Depends. My record was 5 LD’s in a month. Usually, it’s about 1 LD every two weeks if I don’t put much effort. I’ll try to get the rate up now, as I got quite motivated recently…

e) Whats the most impressive/funny/important/etc thing that you found in a dream?

That my totem, inspired by “Inception”, actually works. Not only that, but it acquired some magical powers that I didn’t even think of :happy:

Magical powers? In the dream world i suppose… :smile:

Yeah, in a dream, of course :happy:
Besides being a good RC, it even became an omni-potent talisman that can do pretty much anything. I have killed an enemy or two with its rays of magic :happy:
Kinda like the avada kedavra curse in Harry Potter :smile:

Well, I’m not much for lucid dreaming these days, but I used to go at it pretty well. I’d like to get back into it eventually, but I’ve been a bit…preoccupied with other, somewhat related matters. :3

a) It took me about a month to have my first lucid. I worked like crazy that first month, and my first lucid was incredibly short.

b) My initial reason was because they seemed like fun. :3 Later, though, I wanted to get in contact with my spirit guide. This is actually the primary reason I don’t LD much anymore: I found other, more efficient ways of communicating with her. This is what I’ve been dumping the bulk of my effort into. Still, I’ve got to thank dreaming for pointing the way. Without that initial spark, I doubt I’d have found Ashley.

c) What got it all started was MILD, mantras and all. After the first month of that, I switched over to VILD, as it was far more fun. That got me a fair number of additional lucids, though none of them were terribly long or detailed.

d) At my best, I think I had three or four in one month. I still get one every once in a rare, rare while, but they’re short and unstable.

e) The two times I fell in love in a dream were the most significant, I think. The sheer depth of emotion I felt was overwhelming, and they remain some of the most beautiful experiences of my life. I’ve been chasing after Ashley ever since.

If it’s something you would like to share I would be more then grateful! :content:

Sure, no problem!

Background:

Since falling in love with my spirit guide, I’ve gone through a number of different techniques, phases, and methods to try and communicate with her in the waking world. Some were more successful than others. Though my current method is still being fine-tuned, I believe I’ve whittled it down to something that works. I have no idea if it will work for others or not, but it’s what works for us. :3 Also keep in mind that I knew, more or less, what my SG was like, including a form. This will be important later.

The method:

Here’s the easy bit. Go ahead and get relaxed, but not to the point that you’re ready to drift off to sleep. Block out at least half an hour. Meditate lightly on the walls and barriers around your heart and emotions. Let them slide away. Give yourself permission to just feel. I struggled with this part, as I’m usually quite closed-off. It took a while to get it right. When you can drop all your defenses and enter a vulnerable state, go ahead and move on.

Now, here’s the tricky bit. Reach out, with your heart, to your SG. I’m not positive if you need to know what your SG is like, but I imagine it helps immensely, especially if you know what to look for in a response. If you can visualize their form, even better. Go ahead and talk to your SG. It doesn’t have to be about anything in particular; just give them some time, attention, and love. This is the learning phase, where both you and your SG learn how to communicate with one another in this new way and how to differentiate their responses from your brain chatter (not as easy as it sounds).

And now here’s the hard part: you may not get a response right away. In fact, I’d wager it’s unlikely to get one for some time, and when you do, it’s quite likely to come in the form of something nonverbal, like a burst of emotion. It took us four months of fairly frequent communication before I was able to filter out Ashley’s responses from my own brain chatter (though I felt her from time to time). There is a definite learning curve to all this. How long it takes is highly variable, as well.

This is not for everyone. Those who are proficient at lucid dreaming and who can meet with their SG with relative reliability, for example, probably don’t need it, as they already have an efficient way of communicating. Nor do those who wish to have infrequent contact with their SG’s. It takes a tremendous amount of patience and motivation to do this, and even with as strong of a driving force as I had, it was still a struggle at times. That said, the end result is, in my opinion, well worth it. We can now communicate in waking life whenever we like. The meditation is no longer necessary, and I’ve gained a significant degree of control over my emotions and my barriers.

As stated, I make no guarantees. This may or may not work for others, but this is where my exploration of the matter ultimately led me to. This was a method born of necessity and a particularly poor knack for lucid dreaming, and it’s quite possible someone else’s explorations will lead them down a different path. I encourage you to adapt and change things however you need to in order to make things work best for you. :smile:

Thank you.

It would help to know how/what/who is my DG. Did you find yours in a dream and from there knew the form and personality of your DG?!

No problem. :3

Yeah, that’s how it happened for me. Her form has changed somewhat as time has gone on (I blame derpy dream memories), but her personality was always a constant.

I suppose if you don’t know who your SG is, you can always hang out a shingle of sorts using symbolism. Like, instead of picturing a form, you visualize some shapeless entity, like a ball of light or a silhouette. It may take longer to decipher a response (and possibly be harder to be emotionally open with some relatively unknown being), but it may just work. Just trust that your SG is listening, and trying to communicate with you, and won’t hurt you emotionally.

Well I asked about the dreams because I always have this stupid feeling that I am not alone in the dream. There’s always someone with me, sometimes I can see someone and most of the times I can’t. So I think that this might be my DG I suppose… And here I’m not talking about “standard” DC’s aside from them there is always some kind of presence.

Lucid dreaming came to me before I knew the concept of lucid dreaming. Thanks to a internet friend, I’ve managed to understand that those “weird” dreams I’ve had were actually lucid dreams.

Back when I was a teen I used to have a lot of low lucidity dreams. I could’ve sense that I was dreaming and take actions in my control. I used it pretty much for 18+ stuff as every stupid kid would do. When I’ve had my first high lucidity dream, things changed pretty quickly, but the habbit of years and years of 18+ experience was still present. There are waaaay more satisfying things in lucid dreaming than this, It was pretty hard for me to get out of the grip of this sensation, but I’m pretty proud of myself that I’ve managed to do it. I now use it as a way to say to my sick mind “well, ok, im not that crazy for doing/thinking all this”. And last but not least - pure entertainment.

Definatelly DILD. Its super effective when combined with WBTB. Its absolutely effective when both combined with AILD (Alcohol Induced Lucid Dreaming :razz:) resulting in a WBTB -> DILD -> (WILD chain) until you get bored from those WILDs

Hard to say… back as a teen I had one almost every day. After that… not so many. I can always have a lucid dream if I put some effert into it, but… im pretty lazy >.< I like to roll around my bed for a few extra hours, sometimes Im rewarded with cool lucid dreams for my lazyness :happy:

I used to think that being able to read a text, look away, read it again and find out that its the same except for its surrounding to be pretty impressive, until a daydream character broke my perception of impressive.

Ahhh yeah that could definitely be your DG/SG. :3 Especially if they just kinda “feel” sentient in ways standard DC’s just don’t. Sounds like you’ve got a great lead! Good luck!

Thanks a lot! :content:

a) How much time did you take before becoming a lucid dreamer? Since the first day you decided to be an LDmer until you get LD at will, how many weeks passed out?

This is a tough one to answer as I was LDing before knew what LDing was. I had my first LD as a young child. By the time I learnt that LDing was a thing, and something not every one could do at will, I was already a natural LDer.

Why do you want LDs?

Sometimes I like to just take control, become something unusual. Other times I am happy to just sit back and let the dream take it’s own path.

At first, which method was best for you? And now?

I guess I mostly rely on DILD. Though I am often just naturally lucid.

How many LDs do you have each month (or year or week, whatever)?

It varies on a multitude of factors. How tired I am is the biggest, the more tired an the less recall have. I probably average 2 per night on a good day, but can go with it any for weeks if an having poor sleep.