The only challenge advanced practitioners face is how to stay in a lucid dream longer. This struggle is conditional and driven by the pursuit of perfection. An experienced dreamer differs from a beginner in that the time they spend in a lucid dream is usually sufficient to accomplish all tasks, as they can enter dreams multiple times in one day. As a result, the practitioner always quickly completes all set tasks. And if all tasks are completed, there is no reason to be dissatisfied with the time spent in the lucid dream.
The first thing that distinguishes advanced practitioners from beginners is the constant presence of an interesting and useful action plan to carry out in the lucid dream. An advanced practitioner always knows what they will do in the lucid dream and exactly how to do it. They always want to enter a lucid dream because they have many things to do there, even if they are sometimes useless in the physical world. Moreover, many advanced practitioners engage in their own research related to the phase, which further stimulates them to practice and develop their skills.
Paradoxically, the main problem beginners face in how to stay in a lucid dream is the fear of a “foul,” (i.e., an unintentional return to the body). Because of this, they incorrectly perform retention procedures and almost completely lack intention and confidence in their abilities. However, this is a determining factor in mastering lucid dreaming.
A beginner performs retention techniques so they won’t be pulled back into the body or fall asleep, whereas an experienced practitioner performs retention techniques to stay in a lucid dream longer.
As a result, the beginner is often and steadily pulled out of the lucid dream, while the advanced practitioner’s experiences are many times longer and calmer. Simply having thoughts about one’s own body in a lucid dream increase the risk of returning to it, let alone techniques that are deliberately focused on the conscious possibility of returning to it.
Throughout the time spent in a lucid dream and during all the retention procedures, the practitioner must possess maximum confidence that they will stay in the lucid dream for exactly as long as they need. This single factor is enough to significantly extend the average duration of the lucid dream.
However, when it comes to staying in a lucid dream, advanced practitioners face the most distinct front of opposition between the person and their organism: false returns. The vast majority of returns to the body from a lucid dream are false. Depending on one’s characteristics and skill level, the rate of false returns can comprise 50% to 90% of all returns to the body. That is why it is mandatory to attempt repeated exits from the body upon returning to it. Even when following this rule, the experience very often ends with a false awakening, as becomes clear after some time.
The problem is partly solved by simply understanding that returning to the body from a lucid dream means nothing at all. If this happens, it’s a minor detail in the experience that you shouldn’t pay any attention to. If you were just in a lucid dream, it couldn’t have ended so easily and quickly. An experienced practitioner must always (always!) confidently attempt to re-enter the lucid dream and do it as assuredly as possible. And if, on any given attempt, it’s no longer possible to exit again, then it is mandatory to do at least two reality checks (hyper-concentration, exhaling through a pinched nose, searching for inconsistencies, etc.), since it is very likely that the lucid dream is actually still continuing. This last detail of reality checks can prolong the overall experience by 20%. That is, in high-level practice, during a lucid dream, the practitioner must try to exit the body again, and if it doesn’t work, then they must also perform reality checks. This approach significantly contributes to staying in a lucid dream longer.
The problem with false returns troubles almost all practitioners for many reasons. One of the main ones is a lack of confidence in one’s abilities when maintaining a lucid dream, which is solved by strengthening one’s intention and attention. However, a specific problem is false memories. This problem is caused by the amazing features of human consciousness in altered states and can very rarely be solved by controlled solutions.
Sometimes, a cluster of detailed and emotionally saturated false memories suddenly arises during a lucid dream. They tell the practitioner that they have been in the lucid dream for a psychologically acceptable duration. As a result, the lucid dreamer does not particularly resist the “foul,” and they may even provoke it themselves. When they return to the body, they realize that the lucid dream was much shorter than it seemed psychologically. Sometimes, only a detailed analysis reveals this unusual problem, and the practitioner begins to understand that they were in the lucid dream not for five minutes, as it seemed, but only for 10 seconds. The remedy for this strange manifestation of human consciousness is the same as that for false returns: repeated exits are mandatory to prevent misperceptions, and if this doesn’t work, reality checks should be performed. These steps are essential in understanding how to stay asleep during a lucid dream.
Lucid Dreaming – Books by Authors-Practitioners
Recommended reading
Consciousness in a dream – The general principle of the technique
How to wake up from sleep paralysis
