# Intro

I was asked several times now what my advice is for beginners who want to become frequent lucid dreamers. There is lots of conflicting advice here on Reddit, and honestly, so many posts that I saw recently also give absolute false information.

Obviously, my advice is not law. I don't claim it to be fitting for everyone. However, I write it in good faith and only try to provide information that is also correct and verifiable, if it's something that has an objective description or definition.

My advice is **NOT** directed towards natural lucid dreamers and also not to experienced lucid dreamers. Natural lucid dreamers often don't know which methods and techniques work, because for them (obviously) LDing comes naturally, and experienced lucid dreamers can develop their own methodologies that fits them and their LD style without realizing that it is too advanced for beginner practitioners.

Why to listen to this advice

You can follow the advice or not, it's your personal choice. But by experiencing the development in my own skills, and by talking with and learning from experienced lucid dreamers who are much better than me and who have taught many beginners, I have noticed many reccuring mistakes and pitfalls that beginners make that keep them at the beginner stage.

The goal is **NOT** to have one LD per month. Or just sometimes. The goal is to learn how to be _consistent_ and have _frequent_ LDs, which means 1 LD per week *at minimum*. Experienced lucid dreamers can lucid dream nightly. And you don't have to be a natural to achieve it. You just have to practice — in a correct and efficient way without losing the habit and discipline.

If it's not your goal, that's fine. But this advice here is geared towards this goal.

However, this is NOT a guide (yet). Only some points that should serve as guidelines for consistent improvement to keep in mind.

1. WBTB is nonnegotiable

Recently, I read many posts about not wanting to do WBTB, or not being able to, or having troubles to fall asleep etc. etc. All of these complaints are cope. Even though you can induce LDs without doing WBTB, the chances are MUCH HIGHER with WBTB. It's so much higher that it's almost not comparable. Out of 10 LDs, I get maybe 1 LD without doing WBTB, but mostly it's just 0. And as a beginner, it's even MORE important to do WBTB. Stop the excuses and just do WBTB. If you have troubles falling asleep again, just do it shorter (instead of the 40min (that is recommended by Dr. Laberge), do it 10min, or maybe 5min). If you can't use a loud alarm, just use an armwatch alarm with vibration. There are so many different excuses and problems mentioned, but I'm sure you can find a fix. Just know that your chances are extremely reduced if you don't do WBTB.

My personal recommendation is not to do it more than 3 times per week. Let your body and mind rest. In the long run, this will have better results on your LD performance.

2. Don't compromise sleep quality

I've seen it so many times now that people recommend sleep deprivation techniques and other form of mental torture. Well, they work. Kind of. But it's only a one time thing. Remember, our goal is to become consistent. Having a one-time LD is not what we want. And this is only one small criticism about this stupidity. Why would you play with your health like this? Lucid dreaming is completely natural and when you really learn it, it's extremely easy. Furthermore, **sleep quality** and **sleep schedule** have a strong impact on your LD success. You want to sleep at regular times with enough hours of resting/sleeping time. Over the long run, this is where you'll have consistent LDs and where you can thrive.

3. Master one method before jumping to the next thing

This is where most beginners make the biggest mistake (and I did this mistake too that cost me several years before finally becoming a frequent lucid dreamer after I removed it from my habit).

What you should do: Choose **one** method and stick to it until you **master** it. *Don't add anything, don't remove anything, don't be inventive*. Just take it as it is and become good at it. When you're moderately successful, only then you can try to mix it with other methods and techniques.

The reasoning is simple: Most methods and techniques don't work straight away. They require practice and self-assessment and self-improvement. Plus, most big methods that are popular went through lots of refinement and there is a reason why they have the "step-by-step formula" as it is. And before you've experienced a few dozens of LDs, you still don't know what you might change for your improvement. You first have to gather the experience of entering this third state of consciousness (which LDs are a type of), before you can make your own additions to the generic methods.

Please, stop jumping around and stick to one reliable method and practice it daily, even if it takes a year. And stop looking for new techniques and methods. The methods that work are already out there. You just have to go and practice one of them.

4. The most reliable methods

Now, I recommend focusing on one of these methods, because they have the best track record of success and many practitioners have become consistent using them:

1. [SSILD](https://www.reddit.com/r/SSILD/comments/1h2lvk0/the\_official\_ssild\_guide/)
2. Original MILD described in the book "_Exploring The World of Lucid Dreaming_" by Dr. Stephen Laberge.
3. Different WILD variants.

Again, choose only one of those, and follow it completely as stated in point 5. Though, the different WILD variants are not directly recommended, as they require a much longer practice time (several years) to become really good at them, and it can lead to lots of frustration in beginners.

SSILD is the easiest method to learn that exists and it's very effective, which is why it's my number one recommendation.

5. Clear your mind

This is important, but less so than the points above.

Having a clear mind is very beneficial and can increase your LD rate. So try to be more mindful in your day-to-day life. Meditation can also help. The different practices like ADA, RCs, etc. also have a positive effect on your clarity of the mind. And not using any digital devices at least 1 hour before going to sleep also clears your mind enough to increase your chances.

6. Don't take it too seriously

This is the mistake that beginners make way too often. Understand that having a relaxed mind improves your LD rate. If you take it too seriously, try all your energy to induce LDs, and so on, often it has the opposite effect of not having any LDs at all. This leads to lots of frustration and can even lead to stopping the practice altogether. You can see it so much that somebody is too serious for several weeks and they don't experience any LDs. But once they stop the practice, suddenly they have the LD they wanted all the weeks prior.

Realize that lucid dreaming is completely natural and once you REALLY learn it, it's extremely easy and doesn't require any effort at all. If you are putting in too much effort, then you're most likely doing something wrong. It shouldn't take any effort at all.

Always be in a relaxed state of mind, practice but don't expect any results. Then you'll see the LDs flowing in.

Good luck with your practice, dreamers ;)