So you think you can't LD?

[ClouD]

A few points I would like to address before you give into that self doubt. + Do you even know what lucidity is? It's important to understand what you are really going for if you want to make those lucid deadlines. Simply put, lucidity is awareness/detachment. + This doesn't make sense, I thought lucid dreaming was knowing you are dreaming? What does you 'knowing' you are dreaming do? It detaches you from the situation immediately, you suddenly have space to move, you are free. You don't actually necessarily need to 'know' you are dreaming, that just usually automatically creates space between you and the dream. Awareness/detachment is what lucidity really is, whereas "lucid dreaming" itself is defined as knowing you are dreaming. I'll discuss the former in this thread. + How do you really become lucid? There is only one way to be lucid and that is to be aware/detached. You can also do indirect things to cause increase in that awareness/detachment. Some indirect things that may increase awareness/detachment: > Auto-suggestion > Reality Checks > Mental expectancy or anticipation > Self-contemplation > Maintaining a lucidity-supporting philosophical perspective As for directly being more aware/detached consider it a commitment. A commitment to not sleep-living again. Understand that as this becomes a way of living, it also becomes a way of dreaming. You will become a 'natural', increasing towards an underlying continuum of lucidity. Crystallise what it is you really want before going for it, that goes for recreational lucid dreaming too, because only then will you be ready to give it your best shot. + Where do we go from here? If you're taking the direct approach, absolutely nowhere! Here is what lucidity is all about. You can't be detached from a thought of the future, somewhere or with something that isn't already right now. How can you be detached from something that you're attached to? You want that to carry over to your dreams. Basically, create a "space" between you and everything else, and try not to get dragged into the picture out of habit. You may find this difficult at first, but what you will fall VERY quickly into (if you maintain this) is a sort of double-edged awareness. You of course will 'need' to follow things, literally ignoring everything/everyone for the sake of lucidity doesn't go very well at all (trust me), but don't worry, you can maintain that detachment at the same time, and you'll notice when you 'follow' these things, say perhaps the idea of a dancing monkey, you do have the freedom to choose whether to follow instead of just being distracted. This is lucidity. This very space from the realised detachment to move in is freedom. You can follow and not follow what you want, which you will find similar in dream. The above 'method' is what I refer to as lucid living. The attitude is lucidity in waking life, and naturally causes an underlying lucidity in dreaming life, to my knowledge. Of course, in dreaming life that freedom from space is less restricted by the physical boundaries of waking life. For example, having your dog turn into batman at your every whim is very plausible. If you want to go the more common approach with indirect methods, then there's plenty to choose from. Now that you better understand what they're actually doing, you can go at it with stronger conviction. Advice that I would give for these is to do it totally. Very completely with the method. When reality checking you should be totally in the act of reality checking. When writing in your dream journal, be completely writing in your dream journal. It's hard to explain, but try to do it, just be in the act, as the act, totally without distraction. + Conclusion Don't say you can't lucid dream just yet, when you have not even touched the tip of the iceberg laberge. Give it all you've got. + A Final Note Please read through the first page of this thread (at least), before posting with disagreements. I do not intend to redefine lucid dreaming, I am talking about lucidity, which is an aspect of lucid dreaming, but which does not always conform to the definition of having a "lucid dream". Some of what you misunderstand or disagree with may already have been discussed on this first page. I believe, through my own experience, that the essence of lucid dreaming is freedom. I do not know any lucid dreamer who does not strive for lucidity other than for freedom. If you do, please do post explaining why.