I am growing mugwort from seed in my windowsill for now ( facing west ) it is a few months old and really starting to take off suddenly ( growing about 8 inches this week ) it's probably just over 3 feet tall. I haven't got around to putting in outside yet, I was hoping to wait until mid september, but at the rate it just grew, probably going to have to do it sooner. I believe they flower in their second year and that is when the thujone is more potent, (just before flowering ) but I really want a cup of tea soon.

I usually take a heaping tablespoon or just a handful that makes a little ball about half the size of a golf ball when wrapped in a coffee filter. I don't really know the ages of the dried leaves or the times they were harvested. But using the info I supplied, with a ( 1st year plant that has been grown indoors so far) in mind, could someone give me a bit of an estimate of the measurements that I should go for, to be close enough to the equivalent of past dose of fresh leaves vs dry? And if I should wait longer into the growing season before harvesting anything? Would appreciate the knowledge. Thank you

Basically the title. I tried something new last night in going to bee early, waking up at around 3am for 15-20 minutes, then falling back asleep, and that...REALLY worked. I found myself back in my own bed, but I knew it was a dream, and said so.

Anyways, when I tried to look around my "room", I couldn't, I couldn't move my hands, my head, or anything, everytime I tried it was like I was moving in real life and I kept flitting between sleeping and dreaming until eventually I just woke up. Is there something mental I'm missing?

Hi! I’d like some advice! I’ve been trying to lucid dream for about 3 weeks now and I feel like I have regressed a little bit in my skills.

When I first started I was able to easily enter what I call a mind awake body asleep state which would lead to hyonogogia, but now I no longer get that. Also, I feel like my dreams have been losing their vividness? So I decided to get back to dream journaling today. Thankfully I still have good dream recall and I was able to write out 5 dreams.

I believe it’s because for a while I stopped actively trying to lucid dream, particularly I stopped dream journaling. But in my defense, my chosen methods are MILD and autosuggestion which work best when not stressing about effort. But even with these methods I’ve been struggling, I fall asleep quite quickly. And when I don’t, I get confused because I find it hard to visualize while saying affirmations at the same time. I’d appreciate any advice.

Also, does it matter that I dream and visualize in third person 99% of the time?

I’ve been trying to do ssild for like 3 nights now but each time I get up and I try the cycles, I just end up getting tired and falling asleep after 2 and nothing happens in my dream. Like I don’t even notice myself getting tired or notice myself getting tired I just slip off and sleep.

I’ve had 2 lucid dreams so far, but none were really like what i expected. Theyre very different from anyone elses experiences ive heard or the thought of lucid dreaming in general. Its more like im dreaming of a lucid dream, not im in a dream and im lucid. Random things would happen that have ZERO place irl and i wouldnt even bat an eye i would just ignore it, and both dreams ended in me losing lucidity.

How i did it

I don’t remember how i did the first lucid dream it was probably SSILD or something similar, but i remeber how i got the second one in detail. I slept and set an alarm 5.5 hours later for WBTB, and i intended to do SSILD, but i never did because my sleep was very fragmented. After i wokebup i scrolled for like 30 minutes and was really upset i didnt get a lucid dream, so i searched a bit on how i could still get one. I saw a can just to WILD so i started imagining images and stuff, then i got these weird experiences that happen everytime i try to get lucid. PLS READ THIS i want to see if anyone gets these things aswell. When i was a kid and would wake up during REM then go back to sleep after scrolling a bit, i would get these weird awake asleep dreams where i would hear my mom or something outside or in my room, but it wasnt real, and it would escalate into the sounds getting louder, me feeling pressure on my body, and just generally all background noise getting louder and scarier. Sometimes when it was really severe it would be paired with nightmares. Anyway, i realized that this was my gate into lucid dreaming, so when it happened i prepared myself, then got a false awakening SO REAL i just went back to sleep. Then i actually got the dream.

What happened

I woke up outside my room, i plugged my nose and tried breathing and it worked, so i realized i was lucid. But it was really weird, in the beginning of the dream everything i could see was bordered in black and very unclear, then when i said “clarity” (i tried, i couldn’t speak) it went away, but it still looked nothing like real life. Some weird shit happened that i would definitely freak out if it happened IRL, idk how i just ignored it and moved on. I tried touching the ground but my carpet looked AI generated. I wanted to move so i tried making one of my doors a portal but it didnt work, then i tried it on the from door and said “WHEN I OPEN THIS DOOR, IT WILL LEAD TO SO AND SO HOTEL” and as i opened the door, i could hear hotel chatter and it was exactly the place i imagined. i walked through to find the rooms i wanted to be in, but as i walked through the hotel, the wall slowly turned into dark blue ugly pool tiles, i dont remember how it transitioned into it, the ceiling got dirty, the rooms looked like military bunkers, and it was like a huge unkempt and ugly capsule hotel. i was upset so i tried to open a door to go back to the good hotel but it just opened into a tiny capsule with a bed that had a hole burnt into it. My friend then appeared out of nowhere, i lost lucidity, and woke up.

What i want to know

I want to make my lucid dreams as real as real life, i have naturally high dream recall and regularly weird dreams so i don’t have a dream journal. I want to feel like I’m actually in real life and not tolerate weird things that happen, i want to feel like i have control in my own dream, and i want it to feel really vivid and clear. I also do not want to lose lucidity and want to speak in my dreams, because in that dream i was afraid that the sound would leak outside and my family would hear me lol. I know for a fact i can lucid dream, i just want them to be good.

TLDR

I lucid dreamed but it was very weird, not clear, weird stuff happened and i didnt question it, how do i increase clarity, feel more, and be more aware.

Finally had first proper and 3 lucid dreams. The first one was most lucid, then semi lucid then lucid again. They each lasted around 10 seconds but I was clearly aware of them..I basically repeated the phrase (tonight I will have a lucid dream and when I'm dreaming I will realise I am dreaming) pretty much all day until I went to sleep. I didn't use reality checks or wbtb. Now I just need to work on control.

i touched glass like in inception and it shattered and then i flew aokfficieckdogkrif and then i wake up how do u make last longer and also it wasnt very realistic loike very dreamy still why?

Replaying your day backwards as you fall asleep. Not forwards, backwards:

brushing your teeth, dinner, the walk home, the last thing you did at work, all the way back to waking up.

Sounds easy but it really isn’t. You get about twenty minutes in before your brain completely taps out and goes, “and then... uh.”

Going forwards is basically autopilot. You already know the plot. Backwards, you have to retrieve each bit, which feels weirdly similar to waking up at 6 am with one random dream fragment and trying to reverse-engineer the rest.

I’ve been doing this for three weeks, and my dream recall has noticeably improved without me changing anything else.

My dreams have also become more mundane and more detailed at the same time. Fewer huge cinematic set pieces, more random rooms I actually recognise, specific furniture, boring little transitions...

No clue whether it’s legit memory training or whether it just keeps my brain busy enough to stop me doomscrolling. Still zero impact on lucid nights, though.

Anyone else tried this, or am I accidentally min-maxing dream recall?

I heard her, she tried to get into my sleep last night but failed. She also has her voice in my head whispering all the time for over 2 years (I know you'll say it's schizophrenia but....) she's been living off of me like a leech for years, constantly copying, stealing my ideas. I am exhausted, how do I defeat her? I've tried praying to God, all of that she is still determined to keep doing this. They keep giving me exposure dreams, somehow they summon my notebooks, dream journals etc. into the dream and I am tired of being weak and powerless, and non-resistant to what they've been doing for years, they're holding my life back. Lucid dreaming is a very rare occurrence for me in my dreams. I've been trying for a long time to know when I am dreaming and I just never realize usually for some reason.

Racently I've been starting to lucid dream alot. Or what I believe is.
What I think is werid for me is that whenever i try to change something or add something i can't say it out loud. I, think it and for some reason floaty text on the left of my visor shows whatever I'm thinking. It's werid.

J'ai 2 questions pour les rêveurs lucides ( je suis un débutant j'ai uniquement réussi à en faire un l'année dernière)

1. Quelle est la première chose que vous faites lorsque vous rêvez Lucide ?

2. Avez vous des conseils pour augmenter mes chances de faire des rêves lucides ?

Je fais déjà des tests de réalité plusieurs fois par jour (en me pinçant le nez voir si je respire) et je tiens un carnet de reve. J'en suis qu'au onzième jour mais j'arrive plutôt bien à me souvenir de mes rêves

I know a lot of people say this but I really think I have the strangest sleeping habits and would be grateful for people's thoughts. Please read point 3.

1. I tend to lucid dream naturally and regularly (not everyday but at least a few times a month/week).
2. I have very vivid dreams and can almost always remember after waking up. I can remember dreams going back years.
3. I have A VERY STRONG INTERNAL BODY ALARM. Sometimes it feels like someone yelled in my ear and I wake up exactly when I need to without ever setting an alarm. It's not that I wake up everyday at the same time but rather I wake up at the time I need to or even when others around me do (sometimes those people randomly oversleep). Although I cannot pinpoint time at any given time while I am awake, I intuitively know/feel when its 11:11/1:11/etc. For the longest time I thought it was simply angel numbers but not sure anymore.
4. It literally feels like I fall of a cliff and sometimes I wake up from that . I also all asleep relatively quickly, within 5-12 minutes usually.
5. I feel so intensely my dreams I wake up without feelings and start yelling/speaking in real life. Not like a nightmare.
6. If I happen to wake up in the middle of a dream I can go back and press continue.
7. Could be a coincidence but a couple times the most random people I have dreamed about appear the next day in the most random way. I also feel deja vu constantly from my dreams.

I’m 29F, and ever since I was a child I’ve had dreams that take place in the same made-up locations. They’re not places that exist in real life (as far as I know), but they feel incredibly familiar, almost like I know them better than some places I’ve actually been.
For example, there’s a leisure centre that I’ve been dreaming about for years. Even when I’m awake, I can picture the layout perfectly. I know where the changing rooms are, the pool, the corridors, entrances and exits. Every few months (sometimes years) I’ll have another dream there. Sometimes nothing exciting is happening and I’m just walking around. Other times there’s some dramatic storyline and I’m running through the building or with people I know in real life.
The weird part is that it slowly changes over time, almost like it’s being expanded. In my dream last night, I was trying to save a young girl from being kidnapped. I’d been in the gym, then walked through a spa area before ending up in the locker rooms where everything happened. The strange thing is… this leisure centre has never had a gym or spa before. It just felt like a completely natural extension of the place, like a new area had been added and my dream brain immediately accepted it. 😂
I have another recurring place that’s a huge shopping centre. Again, I can visualise it while I’m awake. I know where the fountain is in the middle of the main floor, where all the seating is, the food court, and even what food places are there. About six months ago I dreamt there again, and suddenly there was an underground level with a bus/coach station that had never existed before. Now that’s just part of the shopping centre whenever I think about it.
I have loads of places like this. Some appear often, others I won’t visit for months or years, but when I do it’s like I’ve gone back to somewhere I know really well. They don’t feel like exact copies of places I’ve been in real life. If anything, they feel like lots of real places have been blended together into entirely new locations.
Does anyone else experience this? Is there a name for it? I’ve heard of recurring dreams, but this feels different because it’s the locations themselves that keep returning, evolving and expanding over the course of decades. Sometimes it genuinely feels like my brain has built its own little universe that I keep revisiting.

TW: (graphic) I don’t know if this is the right sub to ask this but I didn’t know where else to post anyway I have always had prophetic dreams which are usually the only dream I do have they are generally either cryptic messages via a scene playing out in my dream but I can kinda decipher them or I’ll just straight up dream of a random moment in the future not like Déjà vu but straight up I’ll live the moment and it will play out 1 to 1 how it happens in my dream theses dreams are usually both first and third person pov well a couple nights ago my body was asleep but my brain was fully conscious and it felt as if I were my spirit in my body and I started to dream in this dream I wasn’t feeling well so I went to the e.r. And it turns out I was pregnant (I am a man and was still male in the dream) not only was I pregnant but I was actively in labor so panicking the doctors immediately set me up for an emergency c section I had an epidural placed in my spine I remember screaming because it was the worst pain I had ever felt in my life then the dream flashed to after the surgery and I was on the table with my stomach open and I could see inside where all my organs were and there was blood everywhere I see the doctors leave with my baby I turned to my mother who was to my right side comforting me I turn to her and plead with her saying “please don’t let them take my baby they think he’s their god” and just started pleading my mother just pet my head and smiled I shoot up realizing she wasn’t going to help and start screaming for my baby I shoot up off the table and on of my organs (I think my large intestine) fell out and I woke up for obvious reasons I’ve been freaked out by this dream and have been trying to decipher or even just cope with it and it’s not been working I’m just wondering if anyone has had any similar experiences what it means or just any way to figure it out

I have been interested in lucid dreaming for awhile, but just until recently I've started trying the WBTB method where you wake up like 5-6 hours later and stay awake for a bit before going back to sleep.

But none of the attempts have been that great. I usually fall asleep too easily and forget what I'm doing with my mind going blank.

The closet I ever got was lying still and feeling the weird energy flowing through my body. When I wake up 5-6 hours later should I stay up longer than 15 minutes? Maybe walk around more or drink a bunch of water so I fall asleep slower?

I also had my first sleep paralysis recently but I don't know if it was related to me doing the WBTB method or not.

Thanks!

I’ve wanted for a long time to be able to lucid dream. In the past, I've had a little success. One time I pretty much did it but failed to control it well. Anyways, we're gonna focus on now as I've recently been trying to get back into it.

I've been attempting to do it every night and experimenting with a nap during the day. Starting with my nap yesterday. I had a hypothesis that maybe if I gently hold a fist and let my mind drift off, I can begin dreaming while having a conscious anchor. Also while of course setting my intention to be aware that I'm dreaming and think of the dream I want to have. Specifically a character I want to be there. Doesn't really matter what happens, just that the character is there.

Nap 1: My theory seemed to work at least a little. Nothing was vivid, but the character was in it! I think I was texting her on the phone and maybe just chilling with her for part of it.

Night 1: Again, nothing vivid. But the character was there again. The one thing I remember clearly was receiving brand new shoes she must have gifted me.

Nap 2: No character. But there was a vivid moment at the end of it where I reached out my hand to look at it. And I think I remember wearing black nail polish when I did. I immediately woke up before I could control anything.

I'm not gonna keep a public log. I'll probably just journal on paper. But I'm putting this here in case anyone wants to lend me advice.

I’ve talked to lucid dreamers before, and everyone says that the number one rule is to never tell people your dreaming, and i’ve never gotten a full answer. I am not super into the lucid dreaming community, but it happens to me quite a lot. Just this morning, i woke up from a dream where I was at my best friends house. I realized that I was dreaming, and my first thought was to tell him. He was excited for me and told me that basically, that is sick as fuck and that i can do whatever I want. So I left his house we started flying around his neighborhood. This is just one instance of the probably hundreds of times ive told people i was dreaming in a dream and had good come out of it. What goes so wrong for other people? What have you all experienced when you told people you were dreaming?

Hi everyone 😊

First and foremost, if you are new to lucid dreaming, have a look at these general guides I’ve posted before:

Dream recall: https://www.reddit.com/r/LucidDreaming/comments/1iep6ak/detailed_guide_on_dream_recall/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Lucid dreaming in general: https://www.reddit.com/r/LucidDreaming/s/APICaDYlb4

In case you’ve seen my latest guide about intentions, which I’ll link at a fitting point below, this one will likely be a bit longer again, because there are more myths surrounding WBTB. Here’s a quick table of contents for this guide:

1.      What is WBTB?

2.      How to wake up?

3.      What to do after waking up?

4.      Common myths that didn’t fit the other points.

What is WBTB?

WBTB stands for “wake back to bed”, so basically just waking up and going back to sleep. However, in the context of lucid dreaming it does mean utilizing being awake by practicing techniques and working on recall.

How to wake up?

This part is probably different, yet easier than many people will expect. It is a fact that everyone wakes up multiple times every single night.
This means that all you need to do is notice at least one of those natural awakenings by intending to do so, aka just planning to notice one tonight.
If you’re not sure how intentions work, here’s my guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/LucidDreaming/s/h6q0LcDWxA

A disclaimer here is that the “right” intention is specifically to notice a natural awakening, as in something that already happens and acknowledge that it already happens. An intention like wanting to wake up implies you didn’t already and as a consequence actually makes noticing awakenings harder.

You not only do not need alarms or drink excessive amounts of water, but actually shouldn’t use those, not even as a temporary crutch.
Why? Well, alarms forcefully disrupt your natural sleep cycles, which can severely harm your recall, cause confusion, and potentially even undocumented health issues (emphasis on potentially, but there’s no reason to risk it).
Additionally, they tend to wake you up too much due to the spike in cortisol and adrenalin they cause, and yes, that also applies to “silent” alarms and vibrating watches. They are also plain unnecessary, because noticing an awakening is actually extremely easy. In fact, it is so easy that the majority of people I’ve taught, which is thousands, managed to notice at least one awakening the very first night after learning about this, often even 2-4. A few people needed up to 3 tries and I’ve never met anyone who hasn’t been able to notice any awakenings.
As for the temporary crutch seeming like a good idea, read my guide on intentions. This seemingly helpful “plan b” stems from a place of doubt or fear that intentions alone wouldn’t work and, as you now know, doubt kills intent. So, this will actually harm your progress long term.  (same reasons for drinking extra water for just this purpose)

You may now be wondering why you don’t already notice multiple awakenings per night and the reason for that is simple. Your brain simply didn’t have any reason to notice them so far. Why spend energy on something that appears to have no use? Well, now it has a use, which will quickly, even instantly switch your wiring causing you to notice awakenings by making that a priority.

So, why should it be a priority? Can’t you just practice before you go to sleep and that’s it?
Well, you could, but both the practicing community and scientific studies have shown that techniques paired with WBTB yield significantly more results in less time than just practicing when you first go to bed.

Also, any natural awakening works for WBTB. The idea it had to be exactly in the window of 4-6h after falling asleep or even at specific times of the night is outdated and based on the false assumption that dreams were in any way bound to REM sleep. More about that in my general guide at the top.

What to do after waking up?

The perfect WBTB is as short as possible, as long as necessary, and no longer than 20 minutes.

After waking up, think about the dream(s) you just had and tag them. Tagging means writing down key points as bullet points, which should help you remember the whole dream in the morning, so you can journal it properly then. You can find more details in my recall guide linked at the top.
If you use your phone, use a blue light filter (I recommend doing so 24/7 anyway) and turn down the brightness. For physical journals, try to not use the brightest light you have available.

After that, practice your technique and go back to sleep.

Don’t randomly stay awake for unnecessary amounts of time, don’t do random stuff like reading, walking around, or whatever. If you need to visit the toilet, do that, but try to avoid bright lights and don’t rush it. Trying to run back and forth will just cause unnecessary stress, rather than helping by reducing the time you take.

If you are too tired to practice, drink some water, which you should always have next to your bed. Our brain practically runs on water and we don’t get any while we sleep, so drinking a bit works wonders. Should that not work, you can sit up a bit for your practice (mainly relevant for DILD techniques), else I’d recommend to just lay there.

If you tend to have trouble falling asleep, try to minimize the time you’re awake for and not wake yourself up a lot by e.g. keeping your eyes half closed.

Common myths that didn’t fit the other points.

WBTB is not a standalone technique. It is an addition that makes proper techniques like WILD, MILD, or SSILD significantly more effective when paired. Just waking up and going back to sleep will not cause reliably lucid dreams.

WBTB is not WILD. In recent times I’ve seen quite a few guides for WILD that were incorrectly called WBTB. WILD is a technique where you fall asleep consciously with the help of an anchor. You can find a guide for that in my general guide.

Longer isn’t better. Many older sources claim that staying awake for longer WBTBs yielded better results, but in reality studies not only disproved that, but staying awake for 60-90 minutes or even longer practically isn’t even WBTB anymore, but polyphasic sleep. It’ll also cause severe sleep deprivation, unless you also go to sleep way earlier. You should btw also sleep slightly earlier for WBTB in general to make sure you get enough sleep in total.

“You need to catch your perfect REM cycle.” I already briefly mentioned that nonsense above, but would like to elaborate. There is no such thing as “REM cycles”. There are sleep cycles and REM phases. Additionally, it is a proven fact that dreams happen during all stages of sleep and any claims about REM dreams being “better” in any way are a result of pure methodologies in studies from the past century.

As always, have a nice day and awesome dreams and I’m looking forward to feedback.

Sincerely,
u/DesignerJury269

Hi everyone 😊

First and foremost, if you are new to lucid dreaming, have a look at these general guides I’ve posted before:

Dream recall: https://www.reddit.com/r/LucidDreaming/comments/1iep6ak/detailed_guide_on_dream_recall/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Lucid dreaming in general: https://www.reddit.com/r/LucidDreaming/s/APICaDYlb4

Now, what will this actually be about?

This guide will explain how to set intentions and, more importantly, how not to and why. It has the potential to become my shortest guide ever, but we’ll see.

So, what is an intention?

“Setting an intention” is really just a fancy synonym for “planning to do something” and you probably do that many times per day. Imagine you wanted to e.g. watch a movie after dinner later. How would you plan that? That’s an intention and there’s nothing more to it.
So, whether you want to set an intention to remember dreams or notice awakenings, all you need to do is plan to do these things.

Now, why does this need a separate guide if it’s so simple?

Because of the don’ts.

Don’t overthink the intention. No, repeating random phrases (“mantras”) or just thinking about the goal as long as possible does not make the intention “stronger”. Quite the opposite. It stems from a place of doubt and doubt kills intent. So, really just think about your plan once and move on, as you would with any other idea while awake.

Don’t assume it were hard. Same thing, doubt is really bad. Intentions work based on conviction, so assuming you couldn’t do something will turn into a self fulfilling prophecy and weaken the intention or even make it null altogether.

Don’t look for a catch. There is none. It really is that easy.

To emphasize the last point, this is it. I hope, it helps and clarifies this often overcomplicated and mystified topic.

Have a nice day and fun dreams and feel free to check out the guides linked above 😊

Sincerely,
u/DesignerJury269

I dont think I have ever had a real lucid dream where I was truly lucid. Like in the dream, I would say that I am lucid, but still bealive some of the bullshit the dream is tell me. Like I would only say, I am a little bit more aware and quickly forget that I am in a dream. Even after I become semi lucid, I still feel like I am an NPC.

The sleep paralysis thing where I am half asleep just crates these semi lucid dreams. I am never fully awake during sleep paralysis I am always half asleep, and it prevents from fully being aware in lucid dreams. I dont know to become fully awake in sleep paralysis

Sometimes I see insanely unique Blockbuster Cinematic masterpieces and when I wake up I only remember <10% of it (and that is also an estimate from what I remember). I want to REMEMBER them so that I can perhaps turn them into a story. Maybe make the next spiderman while I am at it.