CILD - Count induced lucid dream I came up with this new technique that has worked for me getting my first lucid dreams. The idea originates from two other ideas:

1. In FILD, the idea is focusing on your fingers for 30 seconds before doing a reality check. There is a problem with this, however, because it is extremely difficult to judge how long 30 seconds is, especially when your are in semi-consciousnes. It makes more sense to focus on the counting versus the fingers, eliminating the estimating issue. When the counting reaches 0 (assuming you count backwards) you can do a reality check to see if your in a dream or not.

2. People get confused with simple counting while falling asleep. CILD is able to focus on counting, so if the counting gets confused, a reality check can be used to see if your dreaming.

Technique - (what I do)

1. Set three alarms. One needs to be about 4 hours past when you fall asleep, one is 5 hours, and one is 6 hours. Ex: if I go to bed at 10pm, I set an alarm for 2am, 3am, and 4am.

2. Fall asleep. Remember to keep your phone charging and open on all of your alarms (for step 3). Ex: (I use my iPhone built-in alarm clock) after setting my alarms, I leave my phone on with the app opened. Keep low power mode off as it may turn your phone off automatically.

3. If your first alarm goes off and you wake up, turn off your second alarm. If your second or third alarm goes off, then you can turn off all of the alarms. Ex: If my 2am alarm goes off, then I turn off my 3am alarm, but not my 4am alarm. If my 3am alarm OR my 4am goes off, then I turn off all of my alarms

4. Use CILD to fall back asleep (full technique description at the end).

5. If you have reached the lucid state, congratulations! If not, there's always tomorrow night.

Technique description:

After your alarm wakes you up, start counting back from 30. If you reach 0, do a reality check. If you are still conscience, you can try again as many times as you please. If you don't make it or get confused, do a reality check (dreams often confuse simple counting). If it doesn't work, or you fall asleep, there's always tomorrow night.

TL;DR: The last paragraph.