Do You Make These 3 Crippling Lucid Dreaming Mistakes?

By Sean Kelly

Sean Kelly of Lucid Academy hits us with 3 crippling lucid dreaming mistakes that prevents most beginners ever getting a taste of their first lucid dream.

 

Imagine you are trying to get a promotion at work.

You've desired this promotion for 2 years now and with it will come more money, power, and freedom.

Your boss passed you over 6 times and promoted other people who are definitely not as smart or as hard-working.

After 2 years you finally barge into your boss' office and ask him loudly, "Why in two years have you never promoted me??"

To which he replies: "I'd love to and you're a great worker, but for some reason everyday you come into work with poop smeared on your pants. I have no idea what that's about, but I can't have a poopy-pants manager."

Imagine how embarrassed you feel in this situation. For 2 years you've been sabotaging your own growth.

And why?

Because you never learned to wipe properly.

This post will reveal to you the ways in which you smear poop on the pants of your lucid dreaming growth. And of course I'll show you how to avoid these 3 crippling mistakes.

The result?

Clean pants. Awesome lucid dreams.

Mistake #1 Reality Checks: Zombies and Ferraris

We've all seen the zombie movies where brainless undead humans slowly but surely move toward their goal of devouring more brains.

You've got to give it to these zombies, they've got dedication. They don't get deterred, they just keep on marching along slowly.

This kind of slow pace is fine... if you're dead. You've got nowhere to go. Nowhere to be. You just want a bit of brains, that's all.

But for us alive humans, moving that slow just doesn't cut it.

Since you're alive, you have to do reality checks in an alive way. You can't be a zombie while you do them.

When you remember to do a reality check by using your Prospective Memory, you have to stop for a moment.

Stop and truly question if you're dreaming. You might be in the middle of something. So what.

You have to stop. Check in. Are you dreaming?

Sit with it.

When you do reality checks like this, you're alive. It means you'll have found yourself a lucid dreaming Ferrari while everyone else is stuck as a walking zombie.

However, if you remember to do your reality check and take only 2 seconds to do the check, then go right back to what you were doing...you're a zombie. And remember, zombies move slowly.

So if you're ok with making progress like a zombie, then keep doing reality checks that way.

If you want a lucid dreaming Ferrari then every reality check has to be deeply impactful in your life. You have to question the nature of your existence. The nature of your perception. The nature of what reality you are in.

This questioning makes you alive. It brings presence. Awareness. Lucidity.

So... Zombie or Ferrari, what's your choice?

Mistake #2 The Devastation of Frustration

Have you ever spent days, weeks or even months trying to lucid dream but have had little success?

Ever wondered why this is?

One of the most crippling downfalls is something we are all familiar with: frustration.

It's a demon on the path of lucid dreaming. It's a slippery foe who pops its head up to sabotage our success in a most efficient way.

How does it sabotage our success?

It has its roots in our expectations. Most people will decide to try this lucid dreaming thing and practice some techniques before bed or throughout the day.

They'll dedicate a certain amount of energy of their life in order to get a certain return from it. They want a certain benefit. It's how we interact with most of life.

Now the problem comes when the expectation isn't fulfilled. In this case, you spend 2 weeks trying to become lucid in your dreams. Every day you read about lucid dreaming and do your techniques.

But in the morning you wake up and realize you didn't have a lucid dream. What often comes next?

Frustration.

Frustration that you are putting in all this work and getting nothing out of it. Frustration that this stupid lucid dreaming thing doesn't work. Frustration that whoever made these techniques is full of crap and lied to you.

Lucid dreaming can be like a board game. You roll the dice and get to move forward 3 squares....yay! You roll the dice again and you land on the frustration square. Darn. Go back 3 squares.

Now you're right back to where you started.

Unfortunately, most people play this frustration game with lucid dreaming. They take 3 steps forward, but still experience frustration that their progress isn't matching their expectation. This takes them 3 steps back.

A person can only play this game for a short while before giving up. But you can play another game. A game that doesn't include a "Go Back 3 Steps" square. A game without frustration.

So let it go. Just let it go.

Tell yourself that you'll do your techniques to the best of your ability and you'll trust that the results will follow.

Do this for however long it takes.

When you let go of your expectations, your progress on the lucid dreaming journey speeds up.

Mistake #3 Insidious Inconsistency

Do you practice your lucid dreaming techniques every day? Before bed each night? During the day?

Or do you practice one night then take a couple days off, then practice again and take another couple days off?

Inconsistency will be the bane of your lucid dreaming practice if you let it take a hold of you.

We all have excuses.

"I was just busy today."

"I forgot."

"I'll do it tomorrow."

"Oh... it is tomorrow? Then I'll definitely do it tomorrow."

Let's put the excuses aside for a moment and speak a truth.

You make time for the things you truly care about in your life. If you truly value something you'll find a way to make time for it. Your time is one of the ways you show what matters in your life.

Does lucid dreaming matter to you?

I want you to be honest.

If the answer is no then congrats, you've been truthful with yourself.

If the answer is yes, then you can make time to do your simple practices everyday. Even 5 minutes. Who doesn't have 5 minutes in a day?

We all have a few minutes to spare. It might mean catching yourself when you are getting sucked into Facebook, or the news, and redirecting your energy.

A consistent practice of even 5 minutes a day will allow your lucid dreaming practice to consistently deepen.

It will entrain your mind and groove the pathways needed to lucid dream, night after night.

Final Thoughts

You're now in a wonderful place. You can now see the poop that you were smearing on your pants in the form of being a zombie, getting frustrated and being inconsistent.

Now that you're aware, you can recognize the next time you're sabotaging your own progress with these 3 crippling mistakes.

Once you recognize yourself doing one of them, you can make another choice. You can change the game and stop taking 3 steps back for every 3 steps forward.

Enjoy those clean pants and your awesome lucid dreams.

Go get that promotion.

Sean Kelly

About The Guest Author

Sean Kelly has been lucid dreaming for over 20 years, and now teaches students how to consistently lucid dream through his website, Lucid Academy. He spends his time between Thailand and India where he studies meditation, yoga, and lucid dreaming directly with some of the world's greatest masters. He's distilled all his knowledge and practice into a unique animated video course that teaches you how to lucid dream.


About The Author

About The Author

Rebecca Casale is a lucid dreamer and a science writer with a special interest in biology and the brain. She is the founder of World of Lucid Dreaming and Science Me.