Problem staying in LD state

[D.B.]

Hi, I've been practicing NEW for about 8 months now and training to project for about half of that.

RB's tutorials state that a LD is a good place to start learning how to project, but my actual LD's are few and far between(I should mention that the majority of my LDs and memorable dreams occured while I was still in summer football practice), and I seem to have the same problem with them every time. two cases specifically I can remember, both times I was in a bookstore/library I dunno which, looking for a book when I spontaniously became aware that I was dreaming. as soon as this happened I had about 30 seconds of clarity until it sort of became hard to see things. it wasn't like everything was dark, as described by RB, rather, it was white (kind of) like I'd just had a bright light shined in my eyes. I desperately tried to stay in dream state, but I became aware of my breath, then awareness of my whole body followed and I woke up.

It seems to me that I get too excited to remain, but intentially recalling long term memory seems to have a hand in waking me up as well. I just want to know if my experiences are unique, or if there's a commonly known method to prevent this sort of thing.

[OmegaWolf]

It seems to me that I get too excited to remain, but intentially recalling long term memory seems to have a hand in waking me up as well. I just want to know if my experiences are unique, or if there's a commonly known method to prevent this sort of thing.

There are a couple of techniques that I have read about. One is to look at the ground in your dream, another is to spin. I found them in this article:

http://www.lucidity.com/NL7.34.RU.SpinFlowRub.html

This site has a lot of good info on Lucid Dreaming. The author whose work the site revolves around was the first to scientifically validate the Lucid Dreaming state.

Keep working!

Omega

[cainam_nazier]

There are so many things you can do to help with maintaining LD.

Me personally if I feel a LD starting to slip I will focus all my attention of a single object in the dream. Some what of a means by which to hold that object in place. Once that object is solid again I'll rebuild the scene around it, or allow my focus to widen to include everything else.

I have also found this to be helpful in switching scenes. It seems easier to switch things around for me if there is at least on constant eliment outside of myself.

[D.B.]

Thank you

[Beekeeper]

D.B. Just stating "Clarity now," and meaning it has worked for me. Matt recently posted that holding something spiky in the dream works for him.

I've found, for me, that lucid dreams vary a lot in quality and your control will vary too. Mine are still infrequent so I haven't been able to experiment much. I'm curious to know what would happen if, when it all goes to black, instead of bringing the dream back I wait and see what happens. Anyone done that?

[Celeborn]

Beekeeper:

I'm curious to know what would happen if, when it all goes to black, instead of bringing the dream black I wait and see what happens. Anyone done that?

I have found that just waiting while everything is black is kind of boring. You can move around (or perhaps just make yourself have the sensation of forward movement), but cannot see anything at all.

Although, one time it was fairly bright in my room from the morning light shining in through the window. This time everything was pink instead of black. So instead of trying to bring back the dream world I simply manifested the image of my body into the pink world behind my eyelids. I spent several minutes just flying around that endless expanse before I woke up, and it was far more interesting then flying blind.

[The Cusp]

Methods for staying lucid? First of all, if helps to have something you want to accomplish beforehand instead of getting involved in the dream scene. Flying, seeing energy, having sex, anything as long as you have a clear goal.

The first hurdle to staying lucid is not waking up. Spinning does work, but not very well. It's too disorienting, and you have a 50/50 chance of waking up. The key is the feeling of movement that spinning gives. THis helps anchor you in the dream. I find the best way to retain lucidity and stay in the dream is flying. Kinda hard to forget you're dreaming when you're flying through the air. Running, or jumping around Jedi style provide more stable results than spinning.

Once you are no longer in danger of waking up, they next trap is getting wraped up in the dream story. You just get caught up in a dramatic situation and go with it, taking for granted that it is a dream. Family member are notoriously bad for this, and should be ignored at all costs. They will come to you with some kind of crisis, or do those things that get on your nerves, and your attatchment to them will suck you right back into the dream.

Another pitfall is excessive detail. The closer you examine something in a dream, the more details your dreaming attention will create. It's all too easy to go deeper and deeper, getting lost in a universe of details.

I don't know if anyone else experiences this, but lately it seems my subconcious doesnt want me to be lucid. My lucid dreams are plagued by increasingly elaborate schemes aimed solely to distract me. I know this while I'm dreaming, but can't do anything to stop it. Also when I'm on the verge of going lucid, the dream characters go out of thier way assure my everything is ok and normal. And I beleive it, because why would my brother lie to me? lol

Wow, did I write all that?