Thread: Dolphin's Workbook

Originally Posted by TwilightShawn

I had a HH of hearing whipped cream come out of the bottle. (Earlier that night I squirted some whipped cream into my mouth which was awesome ).

I don't know why but this cracked me up!

I've had a tough few weeks myself. Hope you don't let it get you down. Things always get better!

Nice job on the LD!

Congratulations on the lucid! We're all going to have rough weeks here and there. It's just the nature of real life. But enjoy the nice bounce back!

You know, the fact that this LD took place at your workplace doesn't strike me as a bad thing at all. If your goal was to meet up with your attractive coworker, work seems like the perfect place for the scene to be constructed. While a work dream would normally be kind of boring, the fact that you wound up in the last place that you saw this person seems to me like you were helping yourself along.

Keep it up. You're in great shape.

I had two lucid fragments today. I didn't count the first one because I was only lucid for a couple of seconds and then lost lucidity and forgot most of the dream. The second one I counted! Lucid #19 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views. The recurring nightmare I had as a child came back! Probably for the first time in 7 or 8 years so obviously I wasn't expecting it. Next time it comes I want to see where the force takes me! Anyway, I'm glad I remembered to stabilize. I think the dream ended because my REM period ended as I woke up just after 7.5 hours of sleep. I've been experimenting with dropping my mantra and simply going to sleep focusing on trying to lucid dream, no technique in particular. I seem to be having some success with this.

I think my nightmare might have possibly come from inadvertly sleeping in an unusual position-sleeping on my left side rather than my right and my arm draped over my head. I had peaceful dreams before that so it probably didn't come from stress.

Happy Veterans day everybody! Veterans day happens to be probably the busiest day for me at work as everybody else is off and we give free meals to veterans. I'm going to be serving so most likely more stress, crazy dreams, nightmares ect. for me tonight! The rest of my schedule is really easy this week though so I'm looking forward to some good dreaming!

Originally Posted by TwilightShawn

I've been experimenting with dropping my mantra and simply going to sleep focusing on trying to lucid dream, no technique in particular. I seem to be having some success with this.

Cool, glad to hear that's working! The best part of this successful experiment is that it drives home the point that techniques are merely helpers. The one who becomes lucid is you. The learning you're doing and the experience you're gathering are the things turning you into such a successful lucid dreamer. They're your foundation.

Happy Veterans Day!

I had two lucids today! Not very high quality lucids but still lucid netherless. The first one I was drowsily thinking about how I was dreaming while watching a couple of cycles of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The second was a false awakening in which I immediatly became lucid. I heard somebody calling my name and I was flying (literally) around the house looking for them. Then my mom woke me up.

I've been thinking about the definition of a lucid dream. It seems pretty unanimous around the internet that it's a dream in which you're aware you're dreaming.

Then there's my lucid count. Including this morning, since joining dreamviews, I've had 7 dreams in which I was aware I was dreaming that I haven't added to my lucid count. These are all low quality, barely lucid dreams but still lucid dreams netherless. I haven't added these mostly because I feel they would be boring to read. Then there's the 20-30 lucids before dreamviews that I remember. Given the definition of a lucid dream, something tells me I should add these to my count. And maybe only posting my more interesting dreams to my dream journal will make these lower quality lucids easier to add.

Right now, my technique is simply trying my best to lucid dream as I fall asleep. It seems like if I just maintain my concentration as I fall asleep and don't miss a rem period, I enter my next dream immediatly lucid! It's worked 4 times over the last 3 days! Pretty exciting stuff!

Great job on the LDs! It sounds like you are doing WILD? Are doing that WBTB? I am confused what you mean by not missing a REM period. Do you mean you wake up at each REM cycle and concentrate on awareness as you fall back to sleep? Anyway, that's a great rate of success and I'm glad its working for you. And btw I rarely use mantra I find it keeps me too awake.

No, I'm still doing MILD and WBTB. I fall asleep with the mindset of trying my best to lucid dream while waiting for the dream to appear. By waiting for the dream to appear I'm basically falling asleep looking for dream signs. My technique works by remembering that I'm looking for dream signs while I'm dreaming. That's why I call it a MILD technique. I figure this technique doesn't work if I skip a REM period because I figure that I forget that I'm looking for dream signs during the REM period that I skipped.

Also, yesterday or the day before I was looking for ways to keep my mind from wandering to make the technique more effective as my technique doesn't work if my mind is on anything else by the time I fall asleep. I found this link. How To Stop Your Mind Wandering | PeakGenius.com Blog. I've been using the focus bursts technique to keep my mind from wandering.

Ah I see. I will have to check that link out when I get time. Thanks.

Today just got back from my dad's house where I spent 3 nights. I had 2 lucids. The first one was pretty interesting. After watching Looney Tunes with my dad just before bed I went to sleep thinking how cool it would be to enter a cartoon on tv. I think the second or third dream I had started with me watching a cartoon on tv so I immediately became lucid and was able to enter the tv! Unfortunatly I didn't have the sense to absorb much detail but I went through several rooms filled with 2d cartoon ghosts or projections. The scene was so complex with so many characters I couldn't focus on anything! The scene then shifted to a mall where my dream ended shortly thereafter. I didn't write it up in my dream journal because I couldn't remember many details.

A couple nights earlier I finally got to experience real ocean waves in a dream which I think was one of my lucid goals. The waves and the sounds were so realistic! I was lucid but I didn't add the dream to my count because I was thinking what I was seeing was HI, not a dream. I think I might have incubated this dream as well. I think I'm getting better at incubation!

Last night, I had a very weird and random lucid, unlike any dream I've ever had. I remembered enough detail that I added a DJ entry.An Unusual DIELD-Lucid #43 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views. It's really nice to have the dream journal back!

Right now my technique is simply waiting for and anticipating my next dream as I fall asleep. I find that keeping my thoughts dream oriented helps to keep my mind from wandering. I've been doing trial and error of variations of this technique, trying to figure out what works and what doesn't. I hope to refine my technique so I have a precise method that consistantly works.

My lucids are becoming short again! I need to really take my time with the hand technique of stabilization and to not get so caught up in the plot of the dream at the beginning when I need to stabilize. It's harder than it sounds! I need lots of practice.

I just had my first lucid nap! I didn't get to do much in the dream. It took me a minute or two to realize I was dreaming. I woke up in a false awakening in another bed, tried going back to sleep, felt some vibrations, and revisualized the dream with my closed dream eyes. Then, I basically just really tried to take my time with the hand examination technique. I forgot to do the verbal commands! The dream was real vivid though, maybe my REM period ended. I really want to figure out this stablization thing.

What makes me really excited though is I induced this lucid with a new mantra I created. It worked on the first try! It's a double mantra-

breath
"I try my best to lucid dream..."
breath
"by waiting for the dream."
repeat

I did have a banana and a power bar which had 100% vitimin b6, but other than that, all I had to do was focus on the mantra. I didn't even have to think about relaxing; the mantra did it for me. My body seemed to be more relaxed with each repetition. Also, the mantra takes enough thought to perform that my mind doesn't have a chance to wander. I think this mantra might be super effective! I'll have to try it out a few more times though.

This also means I've had a lucid 3 days in a row for the first time! I'll try to make it 4!

Three days in a row is phenomenal! I don't care how many bananas and power bars you have to eat, I'm 100% behind you on making it four in a row!

Congratulations on the first lucid nap! I still have no idea what makes some of these attempts succeed and others fail entirely. Was the time of day a factor you think?

To your continued success!

Wooow that's great! Congratulations!

I'm not sure the time of day was a factor yesterday. It was around 11:30 I went to sleep. I was sleeping a lot that day to make up for my relative lack of sleep at my Dad's house. I think it was my sleepiness combined with the relaxing power of the mantra that did it.

I had another lucid today! You're not my girl! Go away!-Lucid #45 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views. My mantra wasn't working tonight so I dropped it on the last dream and ended up getting lucid anyway. I tried the behind the hand trick of summoning for the first time. I've got to pick somewhere less crowded .

About stabilizing, I starting to find that my dreams last longer if I interact more with the dream. This must be why my non-lucids last longer than my lucids. In my non-lucids I seem to be more involved with the plot of the dream. Also, my lucids typically end when I'm not interacting with anything in the dream.

I like your ideas about stabilizing. That's a great thought that makes a lot of sense. Ill have to keep that in mind next time. Awesome job on the lucids!

Again, well done on the lucids!

About stabilizing, I starting to find that my dreams last longer if I interact more with the dream. This must be why my non-lucids last longer than my lucids. In my non-lucids I seem to be more involved with the plot of the dream. Also, my lucids typically end when I'm not interacting with anything in the dream.

Same with my dreams I'm pretty sure it's because the more we get involved and interact with the dream, the more we are anchored into it, and the more our attention is focused on it.

Here's to more lucids!

I had 2 more lucids tonight. I think I've become proficent at inducing lucid dreams, seeing I've had 8 the past 8 nights. I think tonight I perfected my technique as well.

My technique:
I go to sleep actively and quietly waiting for the dream.



I find thinking about quietly waiting for the dream keeps my mind from wandering off from the task of actively waiting for the dream. If my mind wanders too much, I lose too much awareness and I don't get lucid, so I believe thinking about quietly waiting for the dream is the last piece of the puzzle that is my lucid induction technique. Now, I think I can start focusing more on becoming proficent at stabilizing.

In my lucids tonight, I just did random stuff, trying to figure out how to stabilize the dream. The first one, I ended up in the living room of what I think was my uncle's house. I tried interacting with the dream as much as possible and was surprised to find that the dream still ended quickly. After I woke up, I started analyzing my past longer lucid dreams to see if I could find a trend. I found that in my longer lucid dreams, I never stayed in one scene too long. I kept moving around, changing scenes and even my longer lucids would end when I stayed in one place for an extended period of time. Also in my shorter lucids I typically wouldn't change scenes too much. I got lucid the next dream and tried moving around more, changing scenes more rapidly. It worked! My first lucid was probably about 30 seconds. My second was much longer, a couple minutes at least. My second one ended while I was "trespassing" on a DC's property and after spying on them a bit jumped in their pool to piss them off. The pool was really shallow and I ended up lying down at the bottom which woke me up. Serves me right I guess.

I think changing scenes stabilizes the dream by continuily keeping my mind in the dream, giving it something new to create. Perhaps the dream dies when my mind doesn't have anything new to create and the dream gets stale and crumbles apart. So, maybe the key to stabilizing the dream for me is to continously give my mind a new experience to create in order to keep my mind actively keeping the dream going. It's something I will continue to test in my next lucids.

8 in a row! Thats amazing! Do you do this WBTB? Would you say its more MILD or WILD?

No, not 8 days in a row. 8 lucids in 8 days. My streak before ended at 5 days in a row. I had 2 lucids today but right now its 2 days in a row. 8 lucids in 8 days sounds more impressive though. It's definatly MILD with short WBTBs (bathroom and water breaks). I'm not sure the WBTB is even neccessary though. I'm glad I found something that works!

Thats still really good. Im glad you found something that works!

You are so right on about stabilizing. Isnt that pretty much what stabilizing techinques do? I like how you focus less on the tech and get more to the point of it.

Wow, congratulations! Your performance lately has just been so totally on point. Impressive and inspiring!

I think changing scenes stabilizes the dream by continuily keeping my mind in the dream, giving it something new to create. Perhaps the dream dies when my mind doesn't have anything new to create and the dream gets stale and crumbles apart. So, maybe the key to stabilizing the dream for me is to continously give my mind a new experience to create in order to keep my mind actively keeping the dream going. It's something I will continue to test in my next lucids.

Yeah, I'd say that anything which causes you to "dive into" the dream and force your mind to spool up fresh, interesting material will help keep you engaged. It doesn't even necessarily have to be a new scene. Getting yourself immersed in the detail and texture of your current environment works great, too.

I noticed that some of the very advanced LDers like Paige and Ophelia don't really even bother with stabilization. It seems like they don't worry about losing stability, and just sort of naturally sink their claws into the dream. I think that this will come naturally for you as well after some time. At first you may have to do a lot rubbing your hands together, licking the road, or whatever, but you're getting lucid so often now that you are getting lots of practice.

Seriously, just having lots of lucid dreams is such a helpful step all by itself. I think that and some focused practice will get you where you want to be in no time!

Awesome Streak TwilightShawn! Im jealous

I haven't had any fully lucid dreams the last couple of days. I've still had some semi-lucid and sub-lucid dreams though. I think this is because I haven't been trying as hard because I'm more confident in my method. So, tonight I'm going to try my hardest to have a fully lucid dream and stabilize it. I'll post my results tomarrow morning!

I think I tried too hard! I only recalled one dream and two fragments. I found something that doesn't work so that's progress!

I was thinking also maybe since eliminating all thoughts is so difficult, maybe I could use my wandering mind to my advantage. Maybe passively observing my thoughts might provide signs that I'm dreaming. I think tonight I might try a technique where I go to sleep simply observing what I'm thinking. If I think about anything unusual I do a reality check.

Don't worry about trying too hard, or not hard enough. It's completely normal to have lucid spikes and drops If you find a technique that has worked for you, nothing wrong with keeping at it. Just ride the highs and the lows as if they don't even matter

Let us know tomorrow how your wandering mind idea worked!