Do any of you seasons LDers smoke marijuana?

**Jesslet** · 12-12-2014 10:46 PM

Hey guys so I've got a legitimate question here about marijuana vs. lucid dreaming. If this is in the wrong place feel free to move it but I felt like it was a pretty general question.

I'm not trying to discuss with anyone their respective opinions on weed or drugs in general, if you don't have something objective to add to the discussion please don't try and start an argument.

Anyway, I've been practicing LDing for the past 3 months or so, writing my dreams every day, I have reminders on my phone every hour so I'll do RCs, been practicing WILD and other techniques. Now I generally smoke cannabis every day, it helps me with anxiety and insomnia (plus I really like it lol). I know from research that weed and other depressants suppresses REM sleep, and therefor dreams, and can have a pretty shitty effect on your recall.

I'll admit my dream recall isn't great - most nights I only can recall bits and pieces of dreams. However, I AM improving, albeit maybe a little slower than if I didn't smoke as much. I used to not even have a dream to remember most nights, and if I did it was only a few seconds. Now even on days I smoke I can remember SOMETHING at least every night, and I'm definitely remembering longer and longer dreams (still no luck with lucidity though). I smoked a few days ago a few hours before bed and that night I was able to recall an entire dream which is the first time I've been able to do that in years.

I was just wondering if there are any experienced and practiced LDers out there who smoke at all or better yet frequently. It really seems like I'm improving and I would like to know if it's still possible to become great at lucid dreaming if I smoke every day, or most days. I understand that quitting or not smoking as often would make it easier, but if I really try hard enough can my recall still improve with marijuana in my system?

Thanks for reading you guys rock

**JLScrolls** · 12-18-2014 11:48 PM

Speaking from experience, yes you can be a LDer and smoke cannabis. Although the right way to go about doing it is to not smoke as much until you have had your first LD and have a decent recall. After that point you can smoke alot and marijuana will basically act as a training weight. I get very high just about once a week or every other week and i can LD on those nights, just not as long as i would normally be dreaming. Me, and my friends Cullen, Connor, and Cyrus all smoke weed and drink alcohol(Not often though, we give our bodies time to recover after each "session") and we all lucid dream. In fact lucid dreaming is one of the funnest things to talk to your friends while you are all high in the garage. Hell contrary to popular belief alot of techniques in LDing are actually crutches, you do not need a notebook to get dream recall, all you have to do is throughout the week go over lucid dreams you have been having. Although i recommend a notebook because it is much faster. I guess the point im getting at is you can learn to LD while smoking weed, it would just be faster to ease up a bit on the marijuana and have your first lucid.

**RebelSeven** · 12-19-2014 01:24 AM

JLScrolls puts some good points down and I second what he says.

I am a longtime lucid dreamer and a recent smoker (within the last 2 years). I also have a pool of friends with varied smoking/dreaming habits, I have found that, like most external supplements it effects people in different ways, really you will need to toy with your own habits, timing, and strains with smoking and dreaming to find your best balance.

Personally, smoking only acts detrimentally on me when I smoke just before I sleep. Even if I smoke in the evening, if I stay up past the primary effects, have a cup of tea, and then sleep, my recall and lucid likelihood aren't hurt that badly. Chances are you can find this kind of balance for yourself where you can minimize the suppressing effects.

That being said, in your lucid journey you might benefit from having a "cleanse" session every once in a while. Not only do you have the chemical benefit for enhanced recall, but the physical ritual and purposeful action gives the mind a significant bump in lucidity. The benefits might be hard to measure but undeniable (we also can't down play the fact that it increases sensitivity to cannabis once you pick it back up again, yay!)

**Jesslet** · 12-20-2014 12:17 AM

Originally Posted by JLScrolls

Speaking from experience, yes you can be a LDer and smoke cannabis. Although the right way to go about doing it is to not smoke as much until you have had your first LD and have a decent recall. After that point you can smoke alot and marijuana will basically act as a training weight. I get very high just about once a week or every other week and i can LD on those nights, just not as long as i would normally be dreaming. Me, and my friends Cullen, Connor, and Cyrus all smoke weed and drink alcohol(Not often though, we give our bodies time to recover after each "session") and we all lucid dream. In fact lucid dreaming is one of the funnest things to talk to your friends while you are all high in the garage. Hell contrary to popular belief alot of techniques in LDing are actually crutches, you do not need a notebook to get dream recall, all you have to do is throughout the week go over lucid dreams you have been having. Although i recommend a notebook because it is much faster. I guess the point im getting at is you can learn to LD while smoking weed, it would just be faster to ease up a bit on the marijuana and have your first lucid.

Originally Posted by RebelSeven

JLScrolls puts some good points down and I second what he says.

I am a longtime lucid dreamer and a recent smoker (within the last 2 years). I also have a pool of friends with varied smoking/dreaming habits, I have found that, like most external supplements it effects people in different ways, really you will need to toy with your own habits, timing, and strains with smoking and dreaming to find your best balance.

Personally, smoking only acts detrimentally on me when I smoke just before I sleep. Even if I smoke in the evening, if I stay up past the primary effects, have a cup of tea, and then sleep, my recall and lucid likelihood aren't hurt that badly. Chances are you can find this kind of balance for yourself where you can minimize the suppressing effects.

That being said, in your lucid journey you might benefit from having a "cleanse" session every once in a while. Not only do you have the chemical benefit for enhanced recall, but the physical ritual and purposeful action gives the mind a significant bump in lucidity. The benefits might be hard to measure but undeniable (we also can't down play the fact that it increases sensitivity to cannabis once you pick it back up again, yay!)

Awesome posts guys, these helped a lot. It feels great to know that it's possible to be successful at lucid dreaming and still be able to enjoy cannabis. I think I may try out your guys' suggestions and take a break, at least until I have a lucid dream or can get some serious experience under my belt before trying again. Will report back of course, thanks again you guys are the best

**RebelSeven** · 12-20-2014 07:19 PM

That's great! I think that just taking lucid dreaming seriously enough to abstain for a while reveals a lot about your determination. Lucid dreaming is a skill like any other and the more dedication you put into the more you will get out of it!

**JLScrolls** · 01-06-2015 06:23 AM

(Sorry for not replying ive been out of state with no connection)
I am glad to see that you are serious about this and willing to put forth the effort. Just hang in there lucid dreaming is famous for having a massive learning curve, so once you have your first one it all gets much easier from there.