Thread: average question

How long does it usually take somebody, the average Joe, to realize dreams signs? I've been doing this for a month and still haven't had one LD due to this, WILDing seems easier. But then again everyone is different.

Well like you said, everyone is different.

I have a VERY hard time becoming lucid based on recognizing dream signs. Reality checks ALWAYS fail for me and I rarely notice things that are out of place enough in my dreams to have a DILD. I actually have had 2 dreams recently where I was telling someone about LDs and still didn't become lucid lol. Also some people, myself included, just don't have common themes in dreams. Mine seem to be fairly random and most are unlike anything I've had previously.

I would just stick to WILDing if it is easy for you. It's much more reliable than having DILDs anyway

Dream sign recognition does not work for everyone. I have 15-20 LDs per month and typically none are the results of a dreamsign (such as finding myslef in the house I grew up in as a child - which I have at least 5 times a week).

I have developed my mindfulness and observation enough to simply recognize unusual or impossible things in general. No specific category - just general weird stuff.

I'd imagine the more LDs one has the easier it will be to become lucid in middle of a dream?

Originally Posted by DrTechnical

I have developed my mindfulness and observation enough to simply recognize unusual or impossible things in general. No specific category - just general weird stuff.

DrTechnical - If you don't mind, could you please share a few words on how you developed your mindfulness and observation? I've read some of the threads on that topic, and feel convinced that this is maybe the most reliable way to have frequent and vivid LDs. Insight meditation? Frequent RCs? General awareness of your place and surroundings?

Can a dreamsign be a place? I usually am at school or at home...nowhere else...but it seems like school wouldn't be a dreamsign because Im there most of the week in the first place and Im always at home....

Originally Posted by PaleRider

DrTechnical - If you don't mind, could you please share a few words on how you developed your mindfulness and observation? I've read some of the threads on that topic, and feel convinced that this is maybe the most reliable way to have frequent and vivid LDs. Insight meditation? Frequent RCs? General awareness of your place and surroundings?

Sorry - hadn't been on the site in a few days.

Yes, meditation is probably the single most specific tool in this regard.

Think about how distracted people tend to be. Think about how hard it is to focus on any one thing for more than 20 seconds or so. I mean really focus with no other single thread of conscious thought.

Fundamentally, people don't become lucid because they are distracted by the dream fantasy. They get sucked in - not really questioning the reasonablenss of the events.

I believe you need to train and develop better focus via mediation. My favorite way to meditate is to use Dr Jeffrey Thompsons "brainsuites" CD's. They are New age sort of music (I'm not a new age fan but it's good for the application) with binauiral beats to drive your brain to lower brainstates such as Theta or alpha. If you can quite your mind but remain keenly focused in this kind of brainstate it's excellent training for focus in the dream state - I believe.

The next issue is mindfullness. Really a seperate issue from focus. You simply need to train yourself to notice your surroundings and assess what is right or wrong. Most people walk around in a fog without a clue as to all the micro-phenomenon going on around them. You cannot be one of those people. Training to notice things around you will bleed into your dream space and allow you to catch the unreasonable.

Originally Posted by DrTechnical

Dream sign recognition does not work for everyone. I have 15-20 LDs per month and typically none are the results of a dreamsign (such as finding myslef in the house I grew up in as a child - which I have at least 5 times a week).

I have developed my mindfulness and observation enough to simply recognize unusual or impossible things in general. No specific category - just general weird stuff.

I agree with you Doctor =]

Well like you said everybody is different however it does depend on your recall and how good you are with noticing little details about your dream as you will need to notice similar patterns so it may just take a few nights however it may take longer. Depends on how frequent your dream signs appear for you to notice them.