Ok so hi.

Is it normal that it takes that long to prepare myself ?

I have not lost hope, far away ! But I'm curious :).

I can content myself with ND this is not a problem for me 'cause I have great dreams and I can well remember me of my dreams (thanks to DJ).

          Current LD goal(s): HAVE AN AVATAR ! HAVE A PICTURE !  

Not to discourage you, but it happens. It took me around a year or even more to achieve the first LD. Keep doing RC's, try different techniques and keep a consistent DJ.  

What techniques have you tried?  Any self-hypnosis audio, supplements, etc?
          Current LD goal(s): Have 2 lucid dreams per week.  

Make sure you feel as excited as possible.

Have a well-prepared plan on what you want to do, and go through it in your head until it almost feels like you're actually "there".

Also make sure you do a reality check every morning, because lucid dreams can feel super-realistic and can easily be mistaken for reality.

I've had several False Awakenings myself and it feels exactly like waking up in real life, the only difference was that I moved about half as fast as I usually do, plus my bed lamp didn't work.  

Just for motivation:

Imagine you just woke up, ready for another day.

You get out of bed, you feel a little groggy, and you walk away to the kitchen.

On your way you stop in front of a mirror, and you notice something strange - you can't see your reflection!

Your first reaction is that it's fairly strange, and you try to find it - but then it comes down to you: something like this... it can't be real... it's a lucid dream?!

You feel an overwhelming excitement inside you, but you can't be too sure just yet - not yet.

First you want to make absolutely sure that you didn't just imagine things, and you try to find your reflection - you look away and back, and suddenly there it is, but you don't look quite the same, and your reflection behaves oddly.

You're finally ready to accept that this in fact is a dream, and you can hardly remember last time you felt such a great feeling of joy and delight - but then you start to feel drowsy, and objects around you are getting darker and less distinct - and then you wake up.

Your feelings when you suddenly lie there in bed are mixed - you are mad because you spent too much time with your reflection and making sure that it was a dream, but you're still on a marvellous high and that feeling lasts for the rest of the day.

Imagine - you feel like this from a dream where you didn't even really do anything specific, so can you even guess what it would feel like to actually live out your wildest dreams while ALSO knowing it's all a lucid dream?!

That experience is so fantastic that it's worth every second of your practice!

And this is just ONE lucid dream - wouldn't it be worth a few months of hard practice just to experience this at least once?

And you will most certainly experience it many times after that as well!

Imagine - how do you think your overall life quality will be once you master this?

Just imagine that.  

Hah, you're welcome.

You can use the example I gave you as a "motivation boost" in practice during the day.

Try to convince yourself that you just saw something strange (like the mirror reflection thing) and then really live yourself into the imagination that everything you see, hear, taste, smell and feel is a lucid dream - the walls, the windows, the sounds, the smell of the air - imagine that all you experience with your senses is in fact all part of a dream, because lucid dreams can in fact be that realistic!

Try to really get into that state - even if you are aware that you are actually awake, it's still an extremely cool imagination and gives you exactly that boost of excitement that you need to keep things going.

This method is generally known as "Lucid Living" - LL - and this basically means that you try to remain as aware as possible in waking life - eventually this awareness will also affect your dreams, which will naturally lead to lucidity.  

Remember to really believe in yourself as well, though.

Anyone can lucid dream,  because lucid dreams are essentially just normal dreams where you happen to be extra aware.

It's almost a bit like daydreaming in real life and then suddenly starting to pay attention to everything around you; same with lucid dreams - practice your awareness and really imagine how cool it would be if you realized that all around you right now was a lucid dream.

That's what you should be looking forward to, and if you can catch that feeling of  excitement then you're halfway through already, because that feeling alone boosts your chances.  

A really good tehnique that triggered my only LD, re-checking digital clocks everytime you see one in WL. I have a habbit of walking upstairs, turning left, checking the time. Last night i did that out of habbit in my dream. The clock read "L4:-2". Suspicious i looked away then back , following my day habbits in my dream, the clock changed to 18:02 and I knew i was dreaming.

My suggestion is to diitch all the analouge clocks you have, replace with digital. even you're wristwatch. And make sure you do double takes EVERYTIME. You will LD eventually by force of habbit within the dream

          Current LD goal(s): As many as possible  

well here i am again... with all yours helps i can even remember all my dreams ^^ but still no LD.
          Current LD goal(s): HAVE AN AVATAR ! HAVE A PICTURE !  

Thanks for the reply man !
          Current LD goal(s): HAVE AN AVATAR ! HAVE A PICTURE !  

Laurelindo, that was an awesome motivator. I haven't written in my DJ for a long time now, and still haven't had an LD, but this is the kind of thing that will make me keep trying.

Also, I've been checking digital clocks a lot lately (for no apparent reason; wasn't thinking about RC). Here's hoping I actually notice if I do it in the dream  

ok ! i see what you mean by more precision and i also had in a dream a huge refer to LD, in that dream i was writting LD4ALL on a paper in my school but i didn't say to me "am i dreaming ?"

here i can see the progress thanks to you.
          Current LD goal(s): HAVE AN AVATAR ! HAVE A PICTURE !  

*Laurelindo* wrote:
You need to have a positive attitude.

You say that your dream recall has improved, that's excellent!

You're making progress.
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What I try to do every morning is look for the bright side. If I haven't had an LD and had poor recall, I try to see what good things happened in my dreams. "oh, I didn't have any LD's and I only remembered one dream, but this scene or that scene were really vivid!" or "only remembered one tiny fragment, but there was taste! I rarely taste things in my dreams!", for example. That helps keep you positive. People tend to post things like "I failed at WILD last night" but they completely ignore that they might have gotten a bit closer, getting partial SP, for instance.  

dagto wrote:
Hi. i almost succeed a WBTB !!!! i woke up from a vivid dream and i was sad that this dream ended so fast and just after i dreamt about the following story. Am i close from a LD ?

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Yes, if you keep it up and remain motivated you may actually get a lucid dream this coming week.

WBTB combined with MILD or WILD is probably the most reliable way to go.

Also don't worry even if you don't get it this week, you will most certainly get it at least in the very near future.

The more you practice and keep it up, the closer you will get to your goal.

This is what it usually is like when you're close to a LD - you start to notice something peculiar and progressive with your dreams, and all of a sudden you will have this moment when you go "hey, isn't this a dream...?!".  

Yes, it will come.

It may take some time still, but think of it like this - the more you practice, the more your chances increase each night!

I believe I practiced on and off for a few months at least, and then I suddenly started having those dreams where I was more "awake" so to speak, when I could actually decide what to do and control my actions to some extent; that's a great sign that you are getting close, because your consciousness is starting to get activated.

Then there were those brief dreams when I thought I was awake and suddenly woke up for real, and then finally a dream where I decided to do a reality check and basically assumed I was dreaming just before I woke up.  

"What I try to do every morning is look for the bright side."

Always good advice.  Anytime....anywhere
          Current LD goal(s): Stay on the leading abstract edge  

Thanks for all your answers ! it motivates me a lot .
          Current LD goal(s): HAVE AN AVATAR ! HAVE A PICTURE !  

If you often think in dreams of dreams that's the best DS you can have ! And if you Often think about dreams IWL that's the best next think you can do. If you do both you made it over 90% to LD. One simple thing remains. Every time you think of a dream or anything dreaming related increase your awareness first : Sense the temperature, notice as much details as you can, be aware of your breathing and Ask your self some general awareness questions; what I was just doing? where was I before this? And do an RC. After forming a habit you will be lucid in no time  and I can surely say, ofc if you do it with awareness, in a matter of days. Happy dreaming and welcome to your own private world.

With love, Spider
          Current LD goal(s): Make my dream defaultly begin in a Sanctuary... Every time :)  

I think I can't change my username now, but new nick is Psyder, so don't be phobic
          Current LD goal(s): Make my dream defaultly begin in a Sanctuary... Every time :)  

I think that I don't give 100% of myself but why will I ruin all my chances ?
          Current LD goal(s): HAVE AN AVATAR ! HAVE A PICTURE !  

ok i'll try this
          Current LD goal(s): HAVE AN AVATAR ! HAVE A PICTURE !  

dagto wrote:
Ok so I tried twice MILD + WBTB but nothing happened... no lucidity  just normal dreams which are vivid at least... I am not pessimistic but I think I can't have a LD =[ !

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Most techniques/people require some practice too. So one night of WBTB/MILD with no results isn't that bad . Try it for a week or so and see if you get closer. If your dreams were more vivid than usual, that's already good result    And don't be too hard on yourself  

Hrm... I'm generally against guides since they tend to be too generic and everyone needs to adapt them to their own needs, but there is one for MILD that is quite good. In short, you need to be specific in your mantra. Give your mind clear signals and it will help immensely. Anyway, here are two guides that really will help get this concept down.

Forming a Relationship with your Subconscious

And its follow up article

I am a Lucid Dreamer: Commanding the Subconscious Mind

Hope those help
          Current LD goal(s): Defeat Xander in our lucid duel!  

Pick the language and the sentence so that you really understand what you are saying. I guess French would be more suitable as your mother tongue. It may get better to your SC  

Dagto, I read through the entire thread and understand you have not had a single LD for so many months. I admire your persistence, and the many advices given by others are all very useful ones, but I have to tell you this -- you are probably on the wrong track.

In the old days LDs were indeed random encounters. Today, with so many options out there it should no longer be pure luck! From my experience, assuming you are on the right track, then you should experience at least a few LDs within weeks, not months. 4-6 months are the times needed to master LDing so you can induce them almost at will, on a near daily basis.

I believe you need to work on a bed-time technique instead of hoping for things to happen. People already suggested WBTB, MILD, and so on so I will not repeat what has been said before. I recommend you to check out this SILD technique, and put some serious effort in it. It is very simple to learn, and takes only a few minutes of your time. However, if you do it correctly it is not impossible to induce LD/OBE on your first attempt -- I've seen hundreds of such cases. Below is the link to the technique. Be sure to read it thoroughly so you don't miss any details. Good luck!

http://www.ld4all.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43988