The best method for a beginner

[Ilovecats]

Hello all lucid dreamers :smile:

I want to know what was the best method for you to induce lucid dreams at the beginning of your journey. I know there is a lot of information on-line, but I would like to hear some personal advices.

I had spontaneous lucid dreams a couple of times when I was a child. I also had it on purpose in my teens. That was a long time ago and I have no idea how I did it back then :smile: Since then I didn't bother with it much but now I would like to explore that realm again.

I would like to hear what technique did you use that was successful at the beginning. And how much time did it take? I know some techniques, I want to hear personal experiences, something that actually worked for you :smile:

[ribiq]

The first step toward lucid dreaming more is always to remember more dreams/make your dreams more vivid. Most people find that the best way to do that is to write down their dreams when they wake up. Making a habit of writing dreams down helps them to become more of a part of your conscious experience, and this helps you to become more aware of them while they are happening. There are lots of other things you can do that will help (e.g., sleep enough/take naps, avoid alcohol/smoking cannabis, meditate, do things like tai chi, use affirmations, use lucid dreaming techniques like wake-induced/dream-induced lucid dreaming, do reality checks, don't overeat before sleeping, etc.), but writing down dreams is probably the best thing you can do to get started.

[naosmom]

In order to lucid dream you must know you are dreaming, then you can direct your dream

[Unseelie Queen]

By far the simplest way, for me, is doing reality checks. It typically works within two weeks.

Basically, in your waking life, start routinely asking yourself if you're dreaming. I'd try to do it at least twice a day. In addition to just asking yourself if you're dreaming, you must also do a "reality check". This could be any of the following things:
-Looking at your hands and counting your fingers
-Looking at the clock, looking away quickly and then looking again
-Plugging your nose and then trying to breathe through it
etc... (I would choose one or two checks to do throughout each day.)

If you're diligent about doing them, you'll find that soon enough, your dream-self will pick up the habit, too! So when Dream-You is dreaming and you look at your hands and notice you have 11 fingers, and one's all wobbly, you'll then realize it's a dream and become lucid.

For me, that method has worked much, much better and more quickly than any of the more complicated ones. As for dream recall though, it does help massively to keep a dream journal. You must keep it RIGHT by your bed and write down as much as possible the moment you wake up (even if you can only scrawl a picture and some key points). For some reason, just the act of writing them down helps a lot in remembering more details in future dream, even before writing them down.

[Lerena]

You generally need some way of realizing that you are dreaming.

I began by performing a certain exercise throughout my day until one night I went to sleep and had my first lucid dream. I constantly asked myself if I was awake and I told myself with certainty that I was. This somehow worked for me after a while of doing it and I was able to manipulate my dream in certain directions. I'm not quite sure how long it took me to do it though.

My method probably worked, because I was focused on whether my surroundings were real or imagined and doing this allowed me to recognize certain things in dreams that were out-of-place. I don't always notice when I'm asleep, but I have found that over time my level of awareness developed into being able to wake myself up from nightmares.

[VinceField]

Combine dream journaling, reality checks, affirmations before bed, the wake back to bed method, and conscious awakening into WILDs into a daily routine and you will likely have multiple lucid dreams daily.

[Ilovecats]

Hello guys,

thank you all for your wonderful and helpful guidance :smile:

I am not quite there but I am getting closer and closer. My dreams are more alive every night. They almost seem like something that "really" happened.

In my last dream I was looking at some sort of electronic device and it asked me to put a date in it and I had no idea what the date was. I could totally figured out that I don't know the date because I'm dreaming and there is no date, but I just kind of said who cares about the date and put the device down. This happens if you are lazy in your dreams :D

I became aware in this part but didn't think that I am dreaming. It seemed so real :smile: But I'm getting there, so thank you :smile:

[CrystalKitty777]

I had the closest I've come to a lucid dream last night. I was full of peace and completely calm. It was a poignant, haunting dream.

[Brucely]

Dream journal and wake up hour and a half early, do something for a minute, then WILD technique or modify it to your liking so youll be lucid just before the time u wanna start the day

[nellie]

For me reality checks were a straight path towards my first lucid dream, it was over 10 years ago and I had one within a week or two. Simply reading and thinking about lucid dreaming a lot helps as well, I found that when I talk to people about my LD experiences I have more spontaneous ones immediately afterwards.

Another technique I discovered not that long ago is Finger Induced Lucid Dream. I was quite shocked to discovered how well it works, you may want to look into that. The most interesting part is that when using this technique you don't ever feel yourself falling asleep. So you're laying in bed for some time and you feel that nothing has changed but when you do the reality check you realize you're asleep. It's quite incredible.