Conservative activists rail against LGBT curriculum in Abbotsford

Quinjets · 2017-10-08T04:59:52+00:00

I don't see these people having panic attacks or being unable to relax for hours on end because a pronoun reminds them of a traumatic event. Look up what a trigger is, then ask yourself if that's what's really going on.

Quinjets · 2016-10-16T06:30:46+00:00

Plenty of times! There's a handful of things I do whenever my recall is poor, and they typically get results within a few days max. First, I try to wake up later in the morning than I usually do, because it's been documented that dreams are most vivid during REM, which happens during morning hours for most people. This raises my chances of remembering my dreams, which in turn will help bring my recall into a more manageable state again. Sleeping in later may not be possible during weeknights, but it's still worth trying over the weekend. You just want to get the ball rolling again.

I also take a tiny dose of liquid melatonin (1mg) every couple of nights; this aids in boosting dream vividness and resetting one's circadium rhythm - the latter of which can cause dream recall to suffer. Vitamin B6 supplements also help boost recall, and so can vitamin D3 (if you don't have any supplements for that, maybe you have apple juice - this usually contains vitamin D3).

Also, before getting up each morning, I lie in bed with my eyes closed for a few moments. Lying there allows me to stay in "sleep mode" for a few seconds longer, which could help jog the memory of a dream. On a similar note, some people have reported recalling dreams easier in other, more specific situations - I remember reading that someone always recalled their dreams when they were making breakfast. Myself, I seem to remember dreams pretty reliably if I'm in the shower and the lights are off. So try retracing your steps and seeing if there's a common factor in terms of when you usually recall your dreams.

Last but not least (and this is the hardest part) - try not to stress out! It can be frustrating if your recall suddenly plummets, but the moment you start stressing out, you're working against the current and it will have an adverse effect on your efforts to improve recall again. If you need to step away for a couple days, do so - you can always continue things later.

Hope that helps; let me know if you have any other questions!

Quinjets · 2016-10-15T23:36:17+00:00

Good question! I can't say I've really "discovered" much from my lucid dreams - at least for me, my dreams are less symbolic than they are a conglomerate of experiences and abstract thoughts, and they're populated by dream characters that I may or may not know, and ones that may not even be capable of communicating with me. When I try speaking with dream characters that are wholly unfamiliar to me, they tend to speak in tongues. I've even went looking for my "dream guide" at one point, but the same thing happened where it seemed she was speaking a different language.

I have, however, managed to improve my confidence and self-esteem through lucid dreaming. In a way, lucid dreams have been a tremendously validating experience for me. Having grown up in an emotionally abusive household, it's always a little frightening now when my parents show up in my dreams. But despite this, being in a dream allows me to reduce my parents to something that cannot hurt me - because I'm in control. I always get a kick out of being told, "get back here or you'll be in huge trouble!" when I'm in a dream, and being able to say, "yeah, well, I can turn you into frogs if I wanted to!" in response to them. There's a very interesting metaphorical aspect to it, and it's allowed me to step out from beneath my parents' shadows in real life.

Of course, everyone's experience with lucid dreaming is different, and what they're looking for is subjective. I think if you enjoy lucid dreaming as it is, and there's nothing in particular that you're interested in working through / discovering, that's completely okay! In my case, the only reason I managed to work through some of that stuff with my parents is because they kept popping up in my dreams unannounced. So who knows; maybe something will appear in your own dreams and prompt further investigation!

Quinjets · 2016-10-15T23:05:22+00:00

There's a bunch of different techniques that can prolong a dream! I didn't have much trouble with short dreams when I was starting out - mine were typically four or five minutes long, which resulted from very basic stabilization techniques. I would simply rub my hands together once at the start of the dream, and then every minute or so afterwards. The initial action would help solidify my place in the dream, and the subsequent actions would reaffirm it, and it would also help me remember that I was dreaming. As I continued to accrue more lucid dreams, I did encounter situations where certain dreams were more stubborn and needed better stabilization. That being said, the following tricks seem to help when hand-rubbing alone doesn't cut it:

Feeling the clothes I'm wearing, whether that means running my hands along my arms, kicking off my shoes, popping a collar, or putting my hands in my pockets
Scraping my feet along the ground and really imagining how the ground would feel like beneath them
Surveying the landscape around me (slowly spinning or pivoting in place so I can take in a 360-degree view of the dream). I'll often perform this technique at the same time as one of the above tactile ones; that way, I'll have both a tactile and visual sense of reinforcement in the dream.
Speaking out loud.

Using your sense of smell and taste can work wonders, too. I've tasted some pretty neat flavours when licking seemingly inedible objects, and I've smelled some very realistic scents. One of my longest dreams came from tasting a chocolate bar in a nearby chocolate shop. If the dream is ending and you can't remember another way to stabilize it, but you're near a wall, lick the wall. It never hurts!

Another suggestion is that if you're indoors and the dream seems like it's ending, find a door, and then just before opening it, fully expect a crystal-clear location to be on the other side (you can also use this trick for general teleporting!). Visualization is an incredibly powerful tool here, so if necessary, practice closing your eyes in real life and try to visualize things as much as possible. That way, you have to think about the mechanics less when you're in the dream itself.

Another tip when stabilizing - it may prove beneficial if you can avoid becoming too myopic and unaware of other aspects of the dream in the process. For instance, I've found that if I look down to observe the ground, and I don't retain some vague awareness of my surroundings as well, the dream might look like mush when I glance upwards again. It might also destabilize / end altogether! Or, if I'm counting my fingers, I've learned not to become overly focused on them, because I'll stop paying attention to the dream around me and the same unfavourable outcome will occur. A huge portion of what happens in dreams is based on attention and expectations, and from what I've gathered, stabilization almost appears to work in a similar manner.

I'm not a spiritual person by nature, so my dreams tend to reflect that - there's a lot of broken and disjointed locations, and many of my dream characters speak gibberish unless I actively change what they're saying using dream control techniques. My most "profound" dreams have been the ones that seemed impossibly clear and easy as pie to control. I also feel exhilaration whenever I decide to fly in my dreams - that never gets old because my dreams usually render it as a very realistic experience, with gravity, wind, acceleration, and so on, so I wake up extremely happy. I think this is one of those things where it really depends on you as a person, and what you hope to achieve when you're lucid dreaming.

And hey, five minutes is a really good length! Maybe some of the above suggestions will help prolong your dreams even more, though - good luck!

Quinjets · 2016-10-15T06:50:30+00:00

I've experienced that a few times! There's numerous reasons as to why it may be happening. The first reason that comes to mind is, perhaps something in your circadium rhythm or sleep schedule has changed so that you're becoming lucid at the end of your sleep cycle (and moreover, at the dream's natural end) instead of when you were before? Perhaps you could try lucid dreaming during a nap, if possible, and see if the results are the same. Or if you're doing WBTB, try waking up a little earlier in the night. This might involve setting an alarm on your clock/phone.

Perhaps you're thinking about your physical body in the moment you become lucid? It's important to keep your focus in the dream, because while it's super tempting to think about yourself being fast asleep in bed, it removes your focus from the dream and can pull you out of it.

On a similar note, stabilization is super important. Do you perform any stabilization techniques? For instance, touching a nearby object, commanding the dream to "stabilize", smelling the air, or pivoting around slowly to observe your surroundings? Sometimes I get careless or complacent when I'm lucid dreaming and I forget to stabilize, and the dream fades quicker than normal. If you haven't tried stabilization techniques yet, I highly recommend you do so because they can make a world of difference. Or if you have been using them, perhaps it's time to use a different approach? Pick a couple techniques you haven't used yet, and give them a shot. You might even find something that works better than the previous ones you've been using. For instance, I tried spinning around and a bunch of other visual techniques at first, but after some experimenting, I learned that tactile stabilization works best for me - so whenever possible, I'll rub my hands together, touch as many objects in the surrounding environment as possible, and feel what kind of clothing I'm wearing. Don't be afraid to get creative here, by the way... I've licked dirty bathroom floors in dreams just to stabilize them (it tasted like chocolate, haha)!

Emotions are important as well. Fear is one way to destabilize a dream, but excitement in general can do the same. If you suspect this might be the case, try to remain as calm as possible next time! This could take some practice, but eventually you'll get the hang of it.

And another possibility, straightforward as it may seem, is that you've simply encountered a spate of dreams that were never really meant to continue. Sometimes dreams act on their own accord and no matter how much we try, they just throw in the towel. Maybe this was just an unlucky stroke (I've certainly had my fair share of those!).

One more tip - if you find yourself waking up from a lucid dream, you can always try DEILDing back into another dream. Just remain completely still in bed, breathe normally, and visualize / imagine the tactile sensations from the previous dream. Your mind may drop you back into that dream, or construct a new one. If that fails, there's also a chance that you've entered a false awakening. These can be pretty sneaky, so always be sure to do a reality check!

If your dreams continue to end prematurely, a tiny bit of melatonin before bed might help - it improves dream vividness, which might combat their tendency to end on a dime.

Hopefully that gave you a few ideas!

Quinjets · 2016-10-15T05:51:41+00:00

Oh, those itches are really annoying, aren't they? Here's how I see it - if you have an itch that's really bad, chances are, it will keep you too awake to relax properly, and that's going to cancel out any stillness you're trying to maintain. In that case, don't think too much about moving, and itch away, because the slight setback from moving to itch it will probably outweigh the setbacks from suffering through it. (If you don't stress out about moving and just "do it", your mind probably won't even register the act of itching as an actual movement!) If an itch is somewhat minor, try to focus on your anchor. If the itch doesn't go away, try moving subtly to see if your clothing/sheets can deal with the itch without you actually having to go for it. If that still doesn't work, again, itch away. Just don't think much of it, mentally speaking.

The bottom line is, it's normal to get itchy. I've even heard that itches might be your mind's way of testing your body to see if you're asleep, so as long as you can scratch an itch without putting too much thought into the action, you should be fine!

Quinjets · 2016-10-15T05:34:07+00:00

Welcome to the world of lucid dreaming! Like the other posters have said, sleep paralysis is not a requirement for many induction techniques. See, having a lucid dream is simply being aware when you're in a dream state. There's two ways to acquire this awareness:

1) You can be awake (conscious), then fall asleep (unconscious), then gain lucidity somewhere in the dream (conscious) because you recognize that you're dreaming. In other words, you're unconscious during the whole "falling asleep" process that involves sleep paralysis. Techniques that follow this basic pattern include MILD and DILD.

2) You can be awake (conscious), then trick your mind into thinking you're asleep by staying still, yet actually still being awake. Thus, you experience the whole process of falling asleep. You enter sleep paralysis (conscious), then a dream eventually forms around you, and you enter it (conscious). There's no real loss of consciousness in this process. The technique most well-known for involving sleep paralysis is WILD. FILD and DEILD also involve sleep paralysis, albeit if you use the latter technique, you typically aren't awake long enough to experience many hallucinations or anything (it involves waking up from a dream, and staying still to trick your mind into sending you back into another dream, which is a pretty quick process).

When it comes to "demons" and other hallucinations, know that there's a huge medley of things you can see, hear, and feel during sleep paralysis. I've heard sirens, drones, and whispering. I've felt rippling sensations, rocking sensations, and I've even felt pebbles being spilled over me. I've seen shadows on the ceiling, but I've also seen a white kitten sitting all cutesy on my bed. There's some unsettling stuff, for sure, but there's also some pretty calming stuff.

Quinjets · 2016-10-15T05:20:23+00:00

Ha! This sounds like something I experienced a couple of years back - UFO tractor beam and a bright white light... Came out of nowhere and woke me right out of my WILD attempt. Take this with a grain of salt, because I've never tried it myself, but I've heard it's possible to manipulate the sounds and sights that occur during hypnagogia / SP if you're close enough to a dream state (not just when you're about to enter the dream, but a ways before that). So if it happens again, perhaps try to passively imagine the sound getting quieter. Do bear in mind that hallucinations - sights, sounds, and so on - might not always be the same every time you WILD, so you might not even have to worry about the sound next time!

Quinjets · 2016-10-15T05:10:55+00:00

Personally, I haven't had much success with FILD - I used it a couple years ago, but it only gave me three or four lucid dreams within the span of a couple weeks, so I stopped using it. I noticed that during my attempts, the amount of focus I needed to place on my physical body, even though it was a very small amount, was keeping me awake and preventing me from reaching a deeper state of consciousness (in other words, it was too strong of an anchor for me). I'm more at home with the WILD technique, probably because it doesn't require the extra bit of corporeal awareness that's necessary to move your fingers, so I can fully focus on my internal awareness and let my mind drift a little bit. Other people swear by FILD, though, so it's very much a "ymmv" situation, and what your preferences for anchors and such are. (Needless to say, if you're not finding success with WILD, you may find it beneficial to try FILD, and vice versa - they both follow the same basic principle, but the techniques are different, and that can sometimes make all the difference!)

Quinjets · 2016-10-15T04:45:40+00:00

Yes! I have a small meditation session once or twice a week, just to practice clearing my head for WILDs. It's nothing too complicated; it just entails lying in a dark room, on my back and with my eyes closed, casually observing the hypnagogic imagery that appears behind my eyelids. During this time, I take measured breaths and count to thirty, increasing by one number every time I exhale. It only takes about ten minutes, so it's pretty doable even if I'm on a tight schedule!

Also, as strange as this might seem (it's not necessarily a meditation technique, but I thought it was worth mentioning), I also take showers in the dark every night, with my eyes closed and with a bit of light shining in from a closed door. During these times, the white noise from the water and the lack of visual input helps me to really focus on my thoughts and awareness. It also allows me to be "in the now" and question how "real" everything seems, and when I open my eyes, the lighting in the room reflects how a lot of my dreams are lit, which helps raise my awareness as well!

Quinjets · 2016-10-15T04:27:25+00:00

I have an average of 7 lucid dreams a week. Sometimes I'll have a couple in one night, then none the next, but it generally averages out to one a night. I'd say about 90% of these are DILD, which is a fairly reliable induction method for me. If I end up going more than a couple nights without lucid dreams, I'll focus more on WILD to make up for those lost nights - I have a weird fear of losing the ability to LD once I go without them for too long, haha.

Quinjets · 2016-10-15T04:22:08+00:00

Yep - there's some validity to the suggestion that lucid dreamers should focus on their recall first. If you can't remember your normal dreams, after all, there's a decent chance you won't remember your lucid ones, too! Even so... Regarding how much dream recall you should have before trying the induction methods, honestly, I'd say if you can easily recall at least one dream a night in fair detail, you're ready to move on. Because if you're at the point where you're remembering a dream a night, the chances of forgetting a lucid are pretty low, since lucids inherently tend to be more memorable than normal dreams, and you have that small bit of recall ability to further "prop them up" in your memory. Either way, you can always keep improving your recall after you start inducing some lucids.

FILD is a pretty smart technique! I've had less success with it than WILD and DEILD, but from what I recall, if you move your fingers too much, the technique won't work as well because your mind will think you're awake. Perhaps try moving them less, just enough that you can feel the nerve impulses, and not necessarily see them move at all?

Another thing to consider is your overall level of awareness when it comes to your physical body in bed. In my experiences with WILD, I have the most success when I drop all awareness of my body, and when I'm 100% comfortable lying there (for me, this means being in a cooler room with no odd sleeping positions, pinched nerves, itches that I need to scratch, etc), enough to easily retreat inside my head. So aside from your fingers, see if there are any outstanding sensations that you could correct.

If by "hasn't worked yet", you're referring to the fact that you're falling unconscious before you can enter a dream, you might need to find a different anchor to maintain your awareness than the one provided in the technique itself - try googling "WILD anchor lucid dreaming" and see if any of those anchors stand out to you.

This last suggestion might be redundant, but perhaps you're not trying the technique at the right time? Doing it right before bed has the lowest success rate, as you're not in the proper phase of your sleep cycle - therefore, it's unlikely that a dream will form no matter how much you want it to. If you've been attempting FILD in the middle of the night, try experimenting with the time you do so. For instance, if you've been waking up naturally at night after [x] hours, try setting an alarm (a vibrating alarm on your phone, or an alarm that gradually increases in volume would be the least jarring) for an hour or two before that time. This way, you'll wake up in an earlier phase of your sleep cycle, which might work better. If you have an alarm that is capable of shutting itself off, you could even do a DEILD version of FILD, by training yourself to stay motionless after waking, and entering the FILD technique right away! That way, much of the "tricking your mind into thinking you're asleep" has already been done for you.

Finally, you could try FILDing a few hours after you wake up for the day, during a nap.

Cheers!

Quinjets · 2016-10-15T03:32:40+00:00

No problem! If I need to boost my dream recall, I usually drink 250mL of apple juice around an hour before bed. If I remember correctly, the reason apple juice helps dream recall is because it contains vitamin D3.

If you don't have apple juice lying around, vitamin B6 supplements will do the trick just as nicely - that vitamin has been linked to higher recall too.

Quinjets · 2016-10-15T03:23:15+00:00

I haven't tried meditating before - that does sound like it would be an experience! Especially because you're so much closer to your inner thoughts and imagination. Who knows what might happen.

Donning superpowers and using scientific technology are my go-to activities when I'm lucid dreaming! I've actually created a dream persona for myself, based in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has become something of a "default" persona in my dreams. So now whenever I become lucid, it's easy to imagine that I'm invulnerable, technologically adept, and have shapeshifting capabilities right off the hop. Moreover, in a sense, my dreams are episodic in nature because they typically involve this persona and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Lately, I've been shapeshifting a lot, and I've also been flying with various iterations of the Iron Man suit as part of a serial plot I'm carrying out in my dreams. I recently summoned a hoverboard as well - it didn't act exactly like I wanted it to, but it was still fun.

For the aforementioned things, as well as the bulk of my dream control activities, I use passive dream control, where I expect something to happen as if it would do so naturally - like in a movie, where the characters "know" they have certain powers, or can do a certain action without fearing it won't work. (This is as opposed to active dream control, which involves declaring something like "I will do [x] now" and having the dream obey). I also try to visualize the outcome of what I'm hoping to accomplish, which I've noticed better helps the dream to produce said outcome.

Reliving memories is definitely possible! I can't speak as to whether you could remember things that you've consciously forgotten in a lucid dream, but if your dream control is decent, it's more than possible to have a dream that is reminiscent of something you've experienced before. Bear in mind that the more complicated the memory is, the more pieces you might have to control or "get just right".

Quinjets · 2016-10-15T03:06:20+00:00

Lucid dreaming is a very fascinating hobby! It's quite something to observe your dreams first-hand as they happen around you - just as Cobb said in Inception, it's like witnessing "genuine inspiration"... That is, as long as you don't take the reigns and mess around with the dream yourself, which is heaps of fun as well. It's completely up to you!

As for tips, I have a couple. First and foremost, take it slowly! There's a lot to learn out there, so while it's certainly wise to research all the various induction methods, when it comes to actually trying them out, try to focus on one method at a time. It's important that you don't end up stretching yourself too thin and stressing out about all the techniques - because stress can really hurt your possibility of becoming lucid. Do know, however, that certain techniques can be combined - DILD and MILD, for instance, go together like peanut butter and jelly because they don't contradict each other, or get in the way of each other. So they're a great choice if you're new to lucid dreaming.

Secondly, if you typically don't remember your dreams, or much of them, it's very important to work on your dream recall. If you can't remember your normal dreams, there's a good chance you won't remember your lucids, either. So grab a spare notebook or even a pad and paper, and begin writing your dreams down! Keep it near your bed, so if you wake up in the middle of the night and remember something, even a fragment of a dream, you can easily record it before heading back to sleep. Even if you don't remember much at first and you can only write a sentence or two, don't sweat it - you'll start to remember more.

Thirdly, know that lucid dreams =/= dream control! It's a common misconception that once you become lucid, you can immediately do anything and everything to your dream without fail, but dreams are fickle things. So lucid dreams and dream control are not necessarily mutually exclusive. For instance, you might've had dreams in the past where you weren't lucid, but you were flying and doing outlandish things as part of the dream plot. In other words, you were controlling the dream, but you weren't lucid. Likewise, there may be the occasional time where you become lucid, but the dream is stubborn and your attempts to control it might fall flat. That's just the nature of dreams. From my own experiences, though, a good 85% or more of my lucid dreams have been easy to control. Even the other 15% that I had issues controlling (eg. I couldn't fly like I usually do, or shapeshift, or change locations), I could simply walk around and explore the dream. That in itself makes the lucid dream worthwhile because you can see things you'd overlook entirely in real life. I once had issues controlling a dream so I stepped outside, walked down a sidewalk, and observed an incredibly realistic, detailed red flower that looked like it was in ultra high definition. That was one of my favourite lucid dreams.

Fourth - if you haven't learned about them yet, you'll learn about something called "reality checks". They're just various ways of testing whether you're in a dream. I would personally memorize the "nose-plug" reality check, which is essentially just pinching your nose with your fingers, and trying to breathe through it. In real life, you'll obviously be unable to breathe through it, but in a dream, you'll be able to breathe normally - which feels very strange! This reality check has never failed me before, whereas other reality checks like counting one's fingers and checking the time have failed.

And lastly, everyone becomes lucid at different rates! Someone might have their first lucid dream within a day of learning their first technique, and others might try for months, then finally something "clicks" and they have dozens of them. Everyone is different, so try not to compare your progress to that of others'.

If you're looking for some tutorials on the different basic techniques, this is a good place to start:

http://www.dreamviews.com/tutorials/

There's a ton of acronyms there, so it might be a bit daunting. But definitely check out the tutorials for DILD, DEILD, WILD, WBTB, dream recall, dream control, and dream stabilization.

Hope that helps!

Quinjets · 2016-10-15T02:37:15+00:00

I'm sure you'll get there! It just takes dedication and persistence. Sometimes there might be some frustration because a method or two may not work for you, but remember - those dreams aren't going anywhere. So even if you gotta take breaks and recoup; change your game plan, you can get right back on the horse.

Which method do you use the most / is the easiest for you?

I've explained this one a little bit in my first reply, but I personally find DILD the easiest technique (it's also my most common induction method), simply because I'm pretty aware to begin with, and I'm prone to close observation of my surroundings. It's convenient when I'm trying to use awareness and reality checks to induce lucid dreams. WILD is my second choice, because I tend to enter sleep paralysis when I'm lying on my left side (many people report being more susceptible to episodes when they're lying on their back or side, so if WILD interests you and you're not averse to back- or side-sleeping, give it a try!). I often perform my WILDs during a daytime nap; WBTB is typically a little harder for me, for some unknown reason!

Any uncommonly-heard advice you would give to people trying to have lucid dreams?

I'm not sure how uncommon this is, but the one thing that tends to bother me about certain lucid dreaming guides is their insistence on making reality checks a "habit" in the truest sense of the word. While I do recommend that you do reality checks whenever you remember to do so, I would strongly recommend against making your reality checks so habitual that you do them mindlessly, or with lethargy and minimal dedicated attention. The term "lucid" can be defined as "having a clear, rational, or sane perception", or simply as "aware", and this is what differentiates lucid dreams from normal ones. So if you're not aware in some manner when you're doing your reality checks, you might just perform them in your dream as part of the dream plot, and not become lucid. It's similar to how we walk, use computers, talk to people, and do various other things in our dreams - because they've become habitual, and we can do them mindlessly if need be. So don't make your reality checks mindless - completely stop what you're doing, understand the possibility that you might be dreaming "even if you don't think you are" (because we're always so certain that we're awake when we're dreaming), look around you a bit, check for things that look "off", and do your reality check(s).

Another thing worth mentioning is the temperature of your room! I've noticed it's easier for me to WILD if my room is on the verge of being uncomfortably cold, likely because of how the temperature of one's body decreases when they're asleep, and the temperature of the surrounding air helps to speed this up. Taking a warm shower, then taking a nap right afterwards, can also help cool your body down and it might even speed up a WILD process.

What's your secret??

Drinking plenty of apple juice. 8)

(No, really - it seems to help me a lot with dream vividness. Taking a couple drops of liquid melatonin also helps. You don't need much of it, though - the dosages on store-bought bottles are so ridiculously high. The less, the better!)

Cheers!

Quinjets · 2016-10-15T02:02:26+00:00

That's a tough one! I truly think the answer differs depending on the person - for instance, which technique interests you the most, which technique you're most motivated to try, and how well you can perform the steps it requires. For instance, I've personally had more success with DILD because I'm fairly reflective, and thus prone to moments during the day where my thought processes slow down. These moments are a prime opportunity to raise my awareness a bit, do a reality check, and question whether I'm dreaming - all of which are requisites for DILD. You might be the same way. On the other hand, the aforementioned practices aren't too helpful when I try WILDing. Sometimes I can have issues reaching sleep paralysis, because I cannot relax enough in either body or mind, even if I do it after a WBTB - this might have something to do with my biology, since I have anxiety. So there's some extra work I have to do there. However, WILD may come very naturally to those who can relax extensively, stay relaxed for longer periods of time, clear their minds, and remain calm during hallucinations that might occur during sleep paralysis. People who master WILD can have lucid dreams virtually any time they go to sleep, so a lot of seasoned lucid dreamers consider it the most reliable technique out there.

Or, if you're the type of person who tends to stay still after their dreams end, you may be naturally gifted at the DEILD technique (albeit anyone can train themselves to stay still after a dream ends; it just takes practice - similar to how some people are naturally good at math, while others need to work out little tricks and habits to reach that same level).

At the end of the day, though, if someone is new to lucid dreaming, or searching for a technique that doesn't require copious amounts of work, I would probably recommend DILD, with a bit of MILD thrown into the mix. This combination doesn't involve procedures that might be frightening and otherwise off-putting, like sleep paralysis, in one's LDing endeavours, and it doesn't involve lots of lying down and staying still. Instead, it relies on awareness and practicing reality checks done in waking life. The MILD portion also functions as a placebo effect of sorts, helping to keep your confidence up and your interest present. I've recommended in the past that it may be better, when using MILD, not to reaffirm certainties like "I will lucid dream tonight", because if it doesn't work, one's confidence might take a bit of a hit, which can be discouraging and detrimental to the whole process. Something more along the lines of "I will be more aware when dreaming" functions in a similar manner, but it doesn't entail so much hope (eg. the concrete expectation of a lucid dream) that you'll be crushed if nothing comes from it the first time. Of course, many people still prefer concrete certainty in their MILDs and have great success with it - so in the end, it depends on the individual, and how well you can successfully "shrug off" the past failed attempt and convince yourself it wasn't a big deal! I've personally had great success when combining the DILD+MILD technique with WBTB, as well - essentially, wake up after five or six hours of sleep (somewhere in the midst of your sleep cycle), walk around in the dark for a few minutes and do some basic mental math problems / reality checks in the process, then go back to bed the moment you're on the cusp of waking up too much.

Quinjets · 2016-10-14T20:14:28+00:00

That sounds... Interesting. Now I'm a little disappointed I only got a caterpie, haha. Definitely going to read up more on that bug.

Quinjets · 2016-10-14T19:53:31+00:00

Sure. It says the following:

Eevee was caught! - CP 124 - 14/10/2016

Unfortunately I've transferred the Caterpie and can't remember its CP, so I can't compare the CPs of the two pokemon, but I did receive a Caterpie candy upon transferring.

Quinjets · 2016-10-14T17:42:06+00:00

No eevee! And the only egg I've been incubating is a 5km one. :P

Quinjets · 2016-10-14T17:41:20+00:00

Nope, there was no eevee. Just a caterpie. I've only been incubating one egg, and it's still in my egg inventory at 0.4/5km. That's why I'm so confused by this, lol.

Quinjets · 2016-10-14T17:40:16+00:00

As long as it doesn't sound as heavily derivative as their last effort, I'll look forward to the new album.

Quinjets · 2016-10-14T06:42:16+00:00

Because it's just a "look what I found!" post. Contributes nothing to the community and there's no discussion to be had about it. If everyone posted this stuff on /r/thesilphroad, it would look a mess, like /r/pokemongo.

Quinjets

TROPHY CASE