Lucid Dreaming: what if you fail? 

One has to be dedicated on the road to Lucid Dreaming. It’s not a walk in the park, and the demand for personal effort is high, to say the least. There’s certainly a chance of failure, and it’s what pushes many beginners to quit prematurely. After all, who wants to waste their time pursuing something unattainable?

However, training to become a Lucid Dreamer has many perks of its own. Even if you fail to experience a Lucid Dream in the first months of practice, you’re still left with the “side effects” that make your life substantially better. So, today we ask: what if you never experience a Lucid Dream? What’s the worst-case scenario? 

Power of will 

Assuming you were devoted to the practice, training to become a Lucid Dreamer will significantly alter your behavior and mindset. While being committed to attaining the experience, you will become more dedicated when pursuing everything else. It’s certainly a skill to be proud of. 

After all, how many times have you been angry with yourself for not doing something you know has to be done? 

Having weak willpower is something most of us struggle with from time to time. However, being driven to pursue a Lucid Dream will allow you to develop a different mindset – one that pushes you forward rather than holds you back. 

Sleep and well being 

Sleep hygiene is an essential part of Lucid Dreaming. You have to adhere to the principles, such as: 

  • Not using electronic devices 1-2 hours before bedtime 
  • Making your bedroom noise-proof, dark, and cool 
  • Not eating 2 hours before bedtime 
  • Restricting yourself from consuming coffee or other stimulants in the afternoon
  • Not abusing alcohol
  • Restraining yourself from over-sleeping 
  • Not using the bedroom for other activities than sleep 
  • Avoiding sleeping during the daytime 
  • Having a decent sleep schedule, with at least 6 hours of sleep every night 

If you follow the rules above, you will start noticing the benefits in the very first week. Your sleep quality will improve tremendously, for one. Additionally: 

  • You won’t feel tired as much anymore 
  • Your mental composure will improve 
  • You will feel more concentrated and dedicated 
  • You will have little to no difficulty getting out of bed in the morning 
  • Your mind will be sharper than ever 

Mindfulness 

A crucial part in the pursuit of Lucid Dreaming is reality checks. When you get into the habit of questioning the reality around you, the practice will inevitably find its way into your dream world, and you will gain lucidity in your sleep. 

However, this is not the only advantage of reality checks. 

We drift through our lives on autopilot frequently. You’d be surprised how often it happens. We go about our daily activities without really being in the moment, and it results in life simply passing us by. The days seem shorter and less significant as a result. 

When you develop the habit of testing the reality around you, you learn to pay closer attention to the things happening in your life as a byproduct. Mindfulness is something a lot of people practice even without the intent to have a Lucid Dream. It’s more like a mode of being rather than a particular technique. 

Performing reality checks will make you much more aware. You won’t feel as if the day is passing you by anymore – and will become the master of your world and your actions. Being in the moment will transform your life to be much more meaningful. You’ll start noticing bad habits and will work on fixing them. Additionally, you will gain better control of your impulses, emotions, and behavior. 

To be a Lucid Dreamer is to question yourself and your surroundings on a regular basis. Even if the Lucid Dream never comes, the advantages of such a mindset stay with you for good. 

Dream recall 

Each time you record a dream in your journal, you improve on your dream recall. As more time passes, you will notice that you memorize an increasing number of your nightly adventures. Every morning you will remember 3, 4, 5, even 6 or 7 dreams! 

Additionally, your dream journal will be filled with bizarre, exciting, or downright crazy voyages. You can reminisce about these dreams yourself or share them with your friends and family members. Upon analyzing your dream journal, you may find certain patterns, repeating occurrences, and details you miss the first time you write something down. 

Furthermore, your dreams will become more real, vivid, and exciting! 

Understanding yourself better 

When going down the path to becoming a Lucid Dreamer, there’s a lot you can learn about yourself. Perhaps you lack the dedication to follow the rules thoroughly? Maybe your sleep schedule is completely in shambles and needs to be rebuilt from the ground up? What exactly are you doing during the daytime when you’re not really paying attention? 

It might even be somewhat painful to find out answers to these questions. And yet, the path to improvement is never easy. You may need to burn a lot of deadwood that makes up what you are. Even if that’s true, you will be grateful for this insight. 

Additionally, you will learn more about your subconscious mind. Dreams are an inseparable part of our lived experiences, but we usually don’t pay much attention to them. It will change for the better when you start observing. Your unconscious mind has a lot to tell you – but you must allow it to speak and listen carefully.

Analyzing your dreams will change the way you see yourself and the world for the better. 

The worst case is least likely 

As you can see, there are tremendous advantages to gain on the path to becoming a Lucid Dreamer, even if you fail. And yet, this bottom-line scenario is the least likely outcome. There’s no reason to believe that you won’t achieve Lucid Dreaming if you put your time and effort into it. 

Being a Lucid Dreamer is a lot more than just having Lucid Dreams. Keep that in mind whenever you feel discouraged to continue. The future you will be forever grateful.