Ending A Dry Spell

Dry spells are one of a lucid dreamers worst fears. Dry spells can occur from a variety of reasons; some being stress, lack of motivation, not enough time and many others which I will elaborate on in this tutorial. Everyone has different methods for ending a dry spell and this tutorial is for helping you to find the method best for YOU if you ever have a dry spell. When I list techniques to end dry spells, I will add a scientific reason behind most of them so you understand why it works and you can rationally think for yourself if it is going to work. I have logically divided this tutorial into two parst, or method genres, for you to work with - Dream related methods and Non-Dream Related Methods; Dream Related Methods comes first.

What is a dry spell?

A dry spell, in this context, is a time in which a lucid dreamer doesn't have lucid dreams for a period of time. It is usually used by people who have had a couple to several lucid dreams in a short amount of time and then have stopped having them. The phrase, "ended my dry spell" usually refers to someone who has had a lucid dream after not having one for a long time. Though, one who "ends their dry spell" uses methods to end it, subconsciously or consciously (i.e. aware that they are doing it or unaware).

Behind the dry spell

The only reason you don't have lucid dreams during a dry spell is because of the barriers put on your mind, that, or biological reasons. Some people believe that dry spells are just barriers you put on yourself making you believe that you can't have a lucid dream, and therefore you don't. That is true, but sometimes it is a little bit harder than "believing you will have one." These methods are just ways to help you end a dry spell without having to focus too much on believing you will end it, just as methods for inducing a lucid dream are to help you have one when you really don't "need" them because all lucid dreaming takes is a certain "mindset".


This part of the tutorial tells you ways to end your dry spells that has to do with dreams. That is, changing your dreams directly as opposed to Non-Dream Related Methods which you do something differently that has a side-effect of changing your dreams, ergo giving you the chance to have a lucid dream.

Change your methods

Sometimes a technique that you use to induce lucid dreams isn't right for you. If you look in the tutorials, you see many techniques listed there. Changing your technique is a very good way to induce lucid dreams for many reasons. One of these reasons may be placebo; if you believe it will work, it will because dreams are engendered from your own mind so if you hope it will work, it will. Another factor is that it affects motivation; you may get more motivated and/or less apathetic by trying a different methods. This is because after using a method for a long time and it not working, you get tired of it and do it very apathetically so when you switch it can be more exciting. Some methods that are good for trying to end a dry spell (that don't require as much time or practice) are WBTB, HILD, MILD, and WILD.

Better your current methods

As I said above, some methods don't work for some people. ALTHOUGH, if you use a method incorrectly, then it will not work. If you like your current method, but don't want to change it, then give yourself a better base to work on - better your "foundations". By this I mean that you should do some research on your method, perhaps looking in the tutorials and do your method more punctiliously and consistently.

For example, if you do reality checks, which I personally think is a very good method, don't do it apathetically. In elaboration, I mean that when you do your reality check, actually consider that your state of "reality" MIGHT be a dream. Don't think you are doing it just as practice for the dream (though you are) because then in your dream you might do the reality check, but not even think about it being a dream. This has personally happened to me; I've been like, "Eh... I'll just do this for practice" and I didn't become aware of the dream because I wasn't even looking for dreamsigns or anything.

In short, methods aren't to be done without some mental power. If you do it without even realizing what it is for and truly contemplating if reality is a dream, then you have a greater chance of having a lucid dream, thus ending your dry spell.

Get motivated about dreaming

There are many ways to do this, so you should find the way that works best for you. The purpose of this is reminding yourself of how exciting and rewarding a lucid dream can be so you will become motivated and want to have one. Some ways to do this are to read others' experiences about lucid dreaming. When you see how much fun they had, you might think, "I want to have an experience like that" and it might induce one.

Another thing to do is remember old experiences YOU had by either remembering them or looking back at a dream journal entry if you made one. This is a very good technique for helping you remember how nice they are. Along with those two, make sure lucid dreams are on your mind more often. Since dreams are formed from experiences, assumptions, and what you did during the day (goes along with experiences), you will have a greater chance of having a lucid dream.

Reinstate your purpose for lucid dreaming

Many people forget their purpose after a certain period of time of lucid dreaming. Simply writing your goals for lucid dreaming down on a piece of paper or speaking them aloud can be a good way to induce a lucid dream. Your mind has no incentive to lucid dream if you have no purpose, so try to find as many things as you can that you would like to do in a lucid dream (try the "LD experience checklist" which is, in the possibilities of lucid dreaming, an infinite fraction of what you can do).


This section of the tutorial covers things that you should do to end a dry spell that doesn't have to do with dreaming directly, but when you do them it indirectly affects your dreaming. Practising these methods has proved very beneficial for people to end dry spells.


Change your day around

To end your dry spell, try to change the way your day goes. Since, as I said above, dreams are formed from experiences, assumptions, and daily life, if you change what you do during the day then you have a large chance of having a lucid dream. For example, if during the weekends all you do is watch television or go on the computer, try going for a walk, exercising, getting active in general etc. Doing these types of things will help you have a lucid dream. Another reason why it will help you have a lucid dream is because if you have the same general dreams every night because you do the same general things during the day, by changing your schedule your mind will recognize the change within the dream and you will become lucid.


Change your diet or medicines

Food contains many chemicals that affect your dreams. By changing your diet, and that doesn't mean "going on a diet", you will consume different chemicals and it will change your dreams nearly the same way that changing your day around does. Ingesting medicines can be a good or a bad thing. If you are currently taking a medicine for yourself , stopping using it may induce a lucid dream. Also, drugs such as melatonin or B6 are common in inducing lucid dreams. For more information about medicine's affect on dreams, see the links in this section.

Disclaimer: Take medications at your own risk. Make sure to learn about the correct dosages and directions of taking any medication before taking it.

Reduce stress

Stress is horrible for attaining lucid dreams. You can't think of them because you have so much on your mind. There are many things to reduce stress such as medicines, meditation, hypnosis, vacationing, etc. Medicines aren't always the greatest way to reduce stress mainly because of the cost and risk of increasing stress. Do some research on meditation. I strongly suggest it, for it clears your mind and helps take away large amounts of stress.

HILD, a.k.a. hypnosis is a great way to reduce stress. On step 6, 7, and 12, tell yourself you will be stress free and you will feel happy all of the time. Another way to reduce stress is leave the source. Stress comes from school or work, mainly, so vacationing to somewhere you like or just taking a break from school or work can be a good way to reduce stress (if you can afford to vacation).

Strike inspiration

This has worked many times for me. You do things that "strike your inspiration" such as being in a car going fast with the windows down and maybe imagining you are flying. When you do something in reality that gives some of the effects of a lucid dream, you might be inspired to do something in a lucid dream. Try some things for yourself and see what happens.


Dry spells are a huge thing in the "world of lucid dreaming", because the first objective to becoming a lucid dreaming master is actually having them! I hope you learned a thing or two from this tutorial. Of course, this isn't every way to end a dry spell, just a comprehensive list of ways to end one.