Is there any hope left for me?

Hey everyone! I've been lurking here for AGES and I finally decided to register an account so I could discuss a few things. I've been trying to Lucid dream now for 365 days now. Yep, one whole year. Most of these days are consecutive, unless I'm sick and am really not up for the experience. In my dream journal, I have recorded 344 days of dreaming and not one of these dreams have been lucid, which is is why I've decided to register. Is there any hope left for me to achieve a lucid dream?

I have kept several notebooks by my bedside table, in which I record my dreams every night. When I wake up in the morning, I record these dreams in a Microsoft Word document for safe keeping and easy reference. I have noticed many dream "patterns" throughout this last year, though none have led to a lucid dream. I always use reality checks whenever I can remember to. The main reality checks that I use are holding my nose and trying to inhale, trying to put my finger through my palm, and looking for strange or out of place text and shadows.

I am 19 years old, and am currently self employed, so sleep scheduling isn't an issue. I am looking into schools that may interest me for next year, but this past year has been pretty much nothing but lucid dreaming attempts along with my personal design business. I usually end of going to sleep at 11 PM and waking up whenever my body feels like it. This is usually at about 9 AM or so. The amount of stress in my life is no more than in any normal person. I have a girlfriend of 2 years whom I love very much. I'm not overweight, I eat healthy and exercise regularly. I've tried everything I can to try and make my body optimized for lucid dreaming, but nothing will work.

I have tried every Lucid dream technique that has been listed on this site. WBTB, WILD, DILD, you name it, I've tried it. I've even dropped a large sum of money on a Nova Dreamer with hopes that it would finally help me achieve lucidity. Nope. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. I've tried adjusting my sleep cycle, taking herbal supplements, but still nothing. I come to this community today grasping at the smallest rays of hope that I can some day achieve a lucid dream. Is it possible that I am unable to lucid dream?

Thanks for reading through my massive wall of text and for hopefully providing an enlightening response. I hope that this isn't perceived as someone trolling, since I really have given up most hope of ever lucid dreaming.

Many thanks
Mike

Hello Mike! Welcome to DV (though I am most probably newer than you).

Of course, there is always hope!! Some people will even take years and years of effort and patience to achieve lucidity, I hope that doesn't demotivate you. I applaud you so much for keeping at it for a whole year, as many people give up so easily once they get frustrated.

Please know that all your attempts have not gone to waste! Every attempt and every reality check is contributing greatly, even though it may seem like it's not. Perhaps it just takes a bit longer for your subconscious to register what you are trying to do? In any case, I really really REALLY hope you don't give up, as lucid dremaing is such a wonderful experience and really worth looking into! Isn't it even amazing enough when you recall your dreams the next day and realize you lived in an entirely magical world whilst asleep?

Btw, how long do you usually try out a certain method? Maybe a tad bit more practice on awareness? Reality checks can only do so much, but ultimately it is awareness that kicks you in the face and tells your gut that it's a dream. Or maybe you've done that already as well?

If you're interested, Dream Views Academy offers free online classes, where you can make an online workbook to track your progress down to the last detail (which you're willing to share ofc). Not only do the classes help you find your way, but just joining it and constantly discussing things on there gives you that extra sliver of motivation, as opposed to doing everything by yourself and hoping for the best. You can also consistently get feedback from more experienced dreamers, as well as give feedback to other students. Link: Current Courses

Sorry for the long post, haha. Never give up! Good luck and happy dreaming :)

Finding your way to self-induced lucid dreaming can be rough. We are all different. I noticed from your post that you are in the design business. This would suggest that you have the ability to visualize. When we visualize we use the same area of our big brain as when we dream. This is not hokus-pokus BS but a scientifically proven fact. We imagine and dream in the secondary visual cortices of our occipital lobe. I would suggest DEILD (randomly waking from a dream and then immediately visualizing that very dream as you slip back to sleep) . I have been using visualization to induce lucid dreaming for almost 10 years. IMHO, it is a form of self-hypnosis. Maybe it can work for you, too. Good luck to you!

hi and welcome to DV

anyone can lucid dream but for some it comes more naturally than others. i suppose maybe you just need more time. id advise you not to give up. you can ask as many questions as you want on here and you will get answers. im sure that all you need is a little motivation and you will be having lucid dreams in no time :)

It also took me more than a year to have a lucid dream once I set an intention on it.

That was more than ten years ago.

I am reminded of something a music teacher once told me. Someone asked Louis Armstrong what makes a musician great. He replied there were three things: first you have to know your instrument inside out, second you have to know your music theory, third - you have to forget all that shit and play.

This is one man's opinion so take it with a grain of salt, but it seems you are doing all the work and now its time to relax and make sure you are enjoying the process. To paraphrase Armstrong - you learn a little about dream theory, you learn a little about your own mind, and then forget all that and enjoy the process. I believe the lucidity will come if you keep at it.

Don't give up. I have this account from 2009 and around 2011 I had just stopped caring. I started talking to more and more people whom try to lucid dream and decided to come back. My first week back, I had two lucid dreams. Just keep yourself interested but don't try too hard. If you try too hard, you won't have any success.

It sounds like you are doing everything right. Something must be off. How often do you WBTB? Have you had any success at all pairing it with MILD or WILD? How many dreams do you remember on a typical night?

I've been trying to WILD for over a year now and nadda, trying all the techniques etc. But from DEILDing I know it's worth it! Some people pick this stuff up quickly, others do take a while, even LaBerge took a couple of years to get it if I recall rightly and he had specialised training.

And Robot_Butler is right to ask what your techniques are. There's a lot of good advice on these boards to help you get that last little bit to lucid dreaming :)

first of all. don't try to hard! it will happen:P

now, i see you are using reality checks randomly. thats wrong! im going to explain it in a more cientific way

the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that is linked with logical behavior and rational memory
when you sleep your prefrontal cortex is disabled, its just off, it won't magically turn on and make you lucid, for that to happen you need a trigger, dreams are based on memories, even in dreams you can remember stuff, just not in a logical way

you must use memory as a trigger to lucidity something visual or audio that does not argue on whats logical and whats not (every time you see something out of ordinary might not work, since you are not thinking logically in dreams and it will seem normal)

i use the word "dream" and "lucid" i hear it a lot in my dreams, since i'm always thinking of it, i also use the beach i rarely go to the beach, but i visit it too often in my dreams, however you can use anything, even if is not a dream sign, it could be every time you see an apple, everytime you see up to the clouds, i don't know be creative!

your memory is always there, so every time you see or hear your selected situation remember to tell your self "am i dreaming?" and do a reality check (always expect that it will work)
after a while you will see or hear your "selected situation" in a dream, and remember of asking yourself if you are dreaming, if the answer is positive and the reality check works it will lead to lucidity :panic:
you can also use mantras before you sleep to make sure you will remember what to do


sorry for bad english :cheeky:

Maybe it is time to try something new. Try some new supplements, or read about astral projection or dream yoga, or something. Attack it from another angle.

TL;DR

Do reality checks.

Kidding. Ask God.

But seriously, I don't know!

All hope is lost!!! :panic:

I guess if you can't do it, you can't do it.
If you give up you will never be able to do it for sure, and if you don't give up you never know, it could happen.
Giving up hope is the same as giving up a probability. Why would you take a chance to give up on something you really desire?

In any case it sounds as if you don't need to lucid dream. It's rare to have a life so complete as the way you make yours sound, maybe God decided to deprive you of this one insignificant thing that most people never consider, the lucid dream. In exchange for more meaningful gifts, do you not think its fair?

Here's the part where you lose me. If you have never had a lucid dream before, why are you so interested?