How to tell how far into sleep you get to an REM state

So I'm working on using the EILD (Externally Induced Lucid Dream) technique , but I need to know how far into sleep does REM occur. Somewhere I heard that people briefly wake up after each REM cycle is this true. Because if it is I could just write down each time I woke up and what the time was and that would give me an estimate ? I don't know. Sorry if this is confusing I'm kind of new to this.

The time each person starts their REM cycles is different for everybody, but it is usually 4-6 hours after you first fall asleep. The first REM cycle is usually only 10-15 minutes, followed by a brief period of lighter sleep, but you are still asleep. Then, you go back into an REM period only longer, about 20-30 minutes, and then enter another lighter sleep. This continues until the REM cycle is about 90 minutes which is often followed by waking up. This is normally the 8 hour mark of total sleep. A good way to determine your REM cycles is to play around with WILD/WBTB, which requires you to wake up between REM periods.

Good luck :)

Here's a graph of an average person's sleep cycle:

http://www.luciddreamexplorers.com/d...hour_graph.jpg

Each person is different but these times should still help you find out when you should alert yourself. After most REM periods you have brief awakening but most people don't notice it. You can try mantras to tell yourself to wake up after your dreams.

Cool! Both of you gave very helpful answers!