I haven't been able to stabilise my lucid dreams lately...

[dreamergirl15]

Okay so last night I was dreaming I was in an arcade (which would have been perfect for a lucid dream as it was full of people and I love having conversations with dc's in my dreams and telling them they don't exist) Anyway I realised I was dreaming and was so flustered I started to spin around rather than say aloud "I am in a dream," which normally stabilises my dream. Anyway spinning caused the dream to fall apart and me to half open my eyes and when I closed them again I could see the dream but it was fading too fast to get it back. I thought spinning was supposed to be the best dream stabilisation technique but it just cost me another LD which would have been great because I mostly stick with the surroundings of my dream and this was a great one. SO what I'm basically saying is what is your dream stabilisation technique so I have more options because my "character" often thinks "I am in a dream," but I forget to say it so I think it hasn't worked so I wanted some more options to try so I don't spin around again because it doesn't work for me.

*On a side note in my dream everything was very purple so I think I've been reading too many of these forums lol

[Alien874]

Spinning never works for me, it wakes me up most of the time. Do you try to rub your hands together? I find it very useful. Each time I realize I am dreaming I do the following: Rub my hands together, make a reality check, tell my self Im dreaming(by thinking, not saying), look closely to my hands and yell "Clarity Now!".

[HAGART]

Touch everything you see. It makes the dream more real and grounds me there so I consider it my whole reality for as long as I'm there. Don't think about anything else, letting your mind wander, but what's happening now, and what you are perceiving now in the dream. Your reality is only what you are focusing on at any given present moment when awake or in a dream.

Spinning would be the complete opposite and I don't do that either. It may help to change dream scenes, but not helpful if you want to stay focused on where you are.

[ltf1992]

I have had lucid dreams ever since I can remember. It started with waking myself up from nightmares, and then turned into my defeating my nightmares. The only thing that works for me is calming myself down. Close your eyes, pretend to breath, count to 5 and look at your hands. This should put everything back in focus and make a dream lucid again.

[dreamergirl15]

Thank you everyone for your help, I will try out some of your techniques when I'm next lucid. My mind does tend to wander when I realise I'm dreaming and I usually end up thinking about my physical body which wakes me up so I'll have to try to keep my mind blank

[HAGART]

I wouldn't say keep it blank. If it was completely blank you'd be in a black void of nothingness wouldn't you.
Just interact with the dream as if it's as real as real life and you won't have room to think about your waking self.

[taniaaust1]

I personally recommend not to do any spinning if you want to stabilise a dream. If you think about it logically, when one spins it just disconnects oneself from whatever dream one is in as one then cant focus in on the dream surroundings. The best way to stabilize is to immerse yourself within your dream with all your senses.

Spinning thou can be useful if one is in a dream fine (deeply enough not to drop out at a spin) to change the dream setting you are in as as I said, it disconnects one from the current surroundings.

My favourite dream stabilisation technique is to bring someone I know well and feel strongly about in some way into my dream and get them to touch me. This can work for the lightest dream in which any movement one makes oneself can cause a drop out.

Anyway, next time try instead to touch something in your dream, the carpet or whatever (you could even try to lick the carpet)... do something to try to hold your focus deeper on the dream.

[Jackson]

Hello. I went through a similar phase myself. For awhile, my LD's although every night would only be about 1-5 seconds long. Afterwards, I went through a dry spell for LD's and decided to drop it for awhile. When I came back my LD's were more vivid, longer and more lucid. I did try some of the techniques that everybody else is talking about here, but I found most of them really didn't help, except for doing reality checks over and over, or focusing on small details on the dream.

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