To all those who rarely dream and/or can't lucid dream

Hello.

This thread is for those who rarely get any dreams or lucid dream. I want to ask you if you specifically know why you are not getting any dreams or lucid dreaming, and ask why you know it is the reason. How is it related, etc. If you want to skip the introduction, jump to the To proceed with the question: part.

Anyway, let me tell you something first. I have been lurking in dreamviews since 2008 (probably, as I may have been in other places that time), and I've been reading and researching about lucid dreams on and off. Of course, those on and off period also includes my pursuit in lucid dreaming. But all those years that I have tried to pursue it, I have only managed to get 3 lucid dreams. The first lucid dream is still very memorably and clear. It happened a week after I found out about lucid dreaming. The second and third one, I remember the content, but I do not know which content is which dream, but the contents are not relevant here. What I'm saying is, these 3 lucid dreams are all I experienced for 6 years.

2 months ago, I have tried to actively pursue lucid dreaming again. I have the occasional dreams, yet none of the desired lucid dream. Before I actively pursued it 2 months ago, I was rarely dreaming. And sadly, even after I tried to pursue it actively, I still dream the same amount as before. Because of this, I am slowly losing my motivation in attaining lucidity, yet I still desire to see my own world.

Now, this drives me to know why I am not dreaming. I always see guides, words, and motivational speeches about how to attain lucidity, yet I have not yet seen anyone discussing specifically why they are not able to dream. I see a lot of people would say it's the mindset; It's the technique; it's the awareness, but I have seen rarely, if not, people discussing in-depth about the opposite -- of not entering a dream. (Unless I am outdated of the happenings here in dreamviews, that is what I have noticed in the past years.)

To proceed with the question: Why do we, who rarely dream or never experience lucid dream, don't dream? I do not want answers telling what we lack, but answers that tells us why we do not achieve lucid dreaming. I strongly suggest that those people who this thread is for should answer. Those who can achieve lucid dreams on a stable basis (once a day, once a week, once a month, etc.) are not necessarily uninvited, but inputs on when you have dry spell are appreciated.

Let me start.

Note: By not dreaming I mean I am not conscious at all that I was dreaming.

After examining myself and contemplating, I feel that I am always mentally tired. This is probably because I am always thinking, as thinking is my hobby. This makes me wonder today if it has a relation to why I rarely dream. I have looked at the possibilities of me immediately forgetting the dream, but I can say that is not the case. Most of the time I wake up I have no memories of a dream. Lying down and waiting for the dream to come doesn't help, and I know after doing it for roughly more than 3 years. I suspect it must be because how I wake up. I have tried to WILD and set an alarm on 4.5 hours, 6 hours. and 7.5 hours of sleep (if my info is not yet outdated, those are the crucial time period for sleeping), yet I still cannot enter lucidity or a dream for that matter. Sometimes, I actually do not wake up at those alarm.

I don't want to make my post long, so to summarize and to add a few points from me:

- I have the willpower to continue pursuing lucid dreaming.
- I feel I am always mentally tired (which could possibly mean I am too tired to be conscious in my dream when the time comes).
- I rarely wake up in alarms at those crucial time (which probably means I am too tired for that. I probably am physically tired too everyday).
- My mind wanders a lot, even when I am about to sleep. I know this, because my mind is always intent on dreaming before sleeping, yet I still fall asleep with a random thought, losing my handle on my dream ticket.
- I do not consume anything that helps me dream.
- I rarely rest because I have a hard time in falling asleep. (I can probably attribute my mental and physical fatigue to this, but all I do is sit in front of the computer and do my work, so it should not be physically draining.)
- I do not meditate. (But, I will be meditating everyday starting today. I might, but highly unlikely, post results in the Research Section when I have enough data.)
- I do not do reality checks. I believe if a person is truly conscious, then he does not need to do reality checks.

The purpose of this thread is to survey and collect data for us non-dreamers, and find something we have in common that makes us difficult to dream.

This is not a research yet, but once I have enough data, I will probably make a thread in the Research Section for all non-dreamers to participate in.

If there is/was a thread like this already, please forgive me and give this thread a chance.

Non-dreamers, let us know ourselves more.

P.S. In my definition, a natural is someone who is always lucid as long as they know they are dreaming. That means, they experience no regular dream, and only lucid dream. It doesn't matter if it is everyday, once a week, or rarely, as long as you only lucid dream, and not get a regular dream, you are a natural in my book. Now, if you experience a moment where you only had a regular dream, please remember what your condition and state was, and post here.

You actually dream several times every night. When people say they don't dream, the fact is they just don't remember it. Step 1 if you want to lucid dream is recall - did you use a dream journal? That should improve your recall, along with mantras telling yourself that you'll wake after every dream, lie still with eyes closed, and remember it. After keeping a dream journal for some time your recall should improve dramatically. See, since you can't remember your dreams, you might be having lucids and just not know it.

Think about it like this. General habit forming usually takes around two months, in some cases three weeks, in others almost an entire year to form a single habit.
Now imagine how most people try lucid dreaming: Usually in an inconsistent manner and often switching between techniques and mantras etc.

A core "key" to lucid dreaming that all techniques share is that you must have long term consistency. You can miss a day or two per week but you can't keep trying out different techniques every few days.

I amongst others believed for a long time that just immersing yourself within a lucid mindset would be enough, but it's not (at least for most people).
You need to pick a technique, write out the details of it's execution, recognize the events which can become autonomous, and then stick with it.

I've read a bit more of your massive post now, and I agree that the way you wake up could be part of the problem. You said you use an alarm? That can cause you to wake too abruptly - ideally you should wake gently and naturally and remain in a pleasant sleep like state, rather than being shocked awake by an alarm or waking up and immediately thinking about daytime stuff. It's important to let yourself drift as near sleep as possible, because your mind has essentially a waking mode and a sleeping mode. For a while, as long as you lie still, especially if you keep your eyes closed, your dreams will be accessible, but as soon as you do anything abrupt or start to make plans concerning the day or whatever, it's all over - you switch into waking mode and any chance of dream recall is over (barring those unexpected moments later in the day that sometimes bring a dream back).

A mantra like I mentioned is a good way, but another is to drink a glass of water before you go to bed. This is actually very effective - the pressure on your badder will cause you to wake each time a REM period ends (which happens naturally anyway, but usually they're just micro-awakenings, only partially awake, and you just roll over and don't remember it later). The feeling of needing to go to the bathroom will cause you to wake up, and when it does, hopefully your mantra will remind you to lie still for a while and remember your dreams. I've found a mantra like that to be very effective. Just don't jump up and run to the bathroom! That's switching into full waking mode and slams the recall door shut hard.