Thread: Steph´s Workbook

Yeah - and this second time of letting it snow - it went so much better than shouting did the last time.
I saw a tree with white branches - like a birch - in the distance - and all it took was convincing myself, that this would be snow - and that it was snowing back there for it to be so - baam.
Most importantly - this didn´t seem to take energy to accomplish - while the shouting did, and worked much less nicely.
This is so fantastic - when I tell somebody about having teachers like you - and getting answers to all my questions and daily (!!) attention - they all initially ask, what it costs.
When I tell them it is completely free - I got some heads shaking in almost disbelief!
It is really not possible to thank you enough for all the time and thought and effort you invest in teaching me - I am such a lucky person!

Aaand - look, loook:

Purple Patch!! My Longest LD Since Joining Here - Maybe Longest Ever! - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Yay, that sounds like a really nice long ld! Sometime soon you might be giving us tips on dream control. That fierce look was actually quite good. The thing with dreams is you kind of never know for sure how things will turn out, except by practice. Sometimes things change easily, sometimes they become more stable and vivid like in your case. If you could notice and remember the distinct feel that comes with each dream control task, that might facilitate repeating the process in the future. I also liked how you made some sort of (secret) interaction with known people and were in the proper mood to do so.

It makes me really happy to read about your lds and fun adventures. I have to say I am still learning every day by either lding or by reading other people's fantastic entries. Really like this process and this site where there are so many enthusiastic dreamers. Glad to have you here! Sweet dreams.

Originally Posted by NyxCC

Yay, that sounds like a really nice long ld! Sometime soon you might be giving us tips on dream control. That fierce look was actually quite good. The thing with dreams is you kind of never know for sure how things will turn out, except by practice. Sometimes things change easily, sometimes they become more stable and vivid like in your case. If you could notice and remember the distinct feel that comes with each dream control task, that might facilitate repeating the process in the future. I also liked how you made some sort of (secret) interaction with known people and were in the proper mood to do so.

Thank youhuu!
I am really fascinated by what Sivason has to say about the visual field - not to let it get buried:

Originally Posted by Sivason

The first thing you need to do is learn to stop thinking of the visual field in a dream as solid or conforming to even the most basic principles of real life.

To do this you start with simply attempting to rend or smudge the visual field.
Start with an idea that you are looking at a chalk board.
Put your fingers on a table top or wall and watch very closely. Feel as if it is a painting, not real.

Now draw your fingers slowly down it and expect the visuals to get mangled and blurred like they would if you did this to a fresh oil painting.

As soon as you can do this with your hand, practice doing this to an object simply by moving your hand slowly in front of the object.
At this point you are not trying to reshape it, you just want to blur it or warp it.

You are convincing your brain that this is just graphics like a painting that is still wet.

Now move to doing this simply by visualizing the blurring effect.
As soon as you can look at a candle and cause it to blur and melt simply by this method, it is only a short step to what you are after.

You cause the object to blur and distort, then you see in your imagination/minds eye the new object form.

This is genial - and I am sure, I can do it with practice.
To make something appear, while you do not "know" what your dream has hidden, where you want it to be, seems to come rather easy for me. But I always need this component of an undefined and esp. unobserved space, from where something/somebody comes.

So I follow the rules of reality - just with the twist of self-convincing/strongly expecting.
That does not feel like true creative freedom.

But to really grasp by experience - not only theory - what a dream actually is - namely patterns in your brain - fully manipulatable with respective skill - that is something extremely desirable!
Also sounds very advanced - but to blur views and imagine images into the blurring - I sometimes do that in real life.
For example - I have a sort of stone floor - it´s called and is - wood-concrete.
Normally people put carpets on top - but I really like it - and it ages, stains - has a lot of pattern-inspiration.
I sometimes draw on it with pencil and might then transfer it somewhere else - it´s fun inspiration.

I have this photograph - it looks pretty even there - but it is not so everywhere - I rather chose an even patch:

Originally Posted by NyxCC

It makes me really happy to read about your lds and fun adventures. I have to say I am still learning every day by either lding or by reading other people's fantastic entries. Really like this process and this site where there are so many enthusiastic dreamers. Glad to have you here! Sweet dreams.

Thank you once more - and I agree to the fullest - the people on this site are amazing, insightful and really motivated to help along - with whatever concern, actually!

Thanks for the quote. Sivason has lots of cool exercises in his class. Surely with practice and more playing around you will be able to change things the way you want to. Yet, I think that both the hidden summon and front summon are creative because you are using your thoughts to bring the object into existence. I guess we are more used to the hidden summon out of habit, we don't act like master magicians in daily life for one thing, and there might be this mental barrier. The other thing is, when you are directly looking at something you are thinking about what you are seeing and that reinforces it. For example, if you are seeing a dog, but you want it to become a cat, some part of you will still be supporting the existence of the dog. To change that, similarly to sivanson, I think it really helps to think about dreams as being fluid and flexible. Also, if you practice visualization during the day and allow your thoughts to freely build any objects you think about, you will be better able to summon and eventually change things in dreams too. Can't wait to read what kind of cool stuff you'll come up with.

Yes - absolutely - summoning is creative - but as you say - no need to override perception and schemes for it to work.
I meant the emphasis on the creative freedom.

Haha!!
I am just at the moment playing darts with my mates - 5:2 with one, 3:3 with the other it is!
That is unheard of - if I am lucky, I get out with 3:10 - not often. These two are the best of about 9 of us - not always here on Fridays, most.
Last night I dreamt non-lucidly of playing darts!
And hanging on here so much - I had not practised in real life - almost not - not as usual.
I hope I can do that study still - with the finger-tapping - got to mail him.

6:4 win - and a 4:3 loss - but anyway - was good - in the future then playing darts in LD..

Just a short update - two mini lucid glimpses - at least, I do not run dry any more..:

Monster-Rabbit And Monster-Dog And A DEILD Between Two Useless Mini-Lucids - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

That's great! That rabbit thing I can imagine it being terrible, I once had a dream with a very annoying squirrel.

Good try with climbing up the tree and you really are getting good DEILDing back!

Originally Posted by NyxCC

That's great! That rabbit thing I can imagine it being terrible, I once had a dream with a very annoying squirrel.

Thanks!
Yeah - small things can be horrifying - I still remember a childhood nightmare where something the size and also shape of a sausage - but with mighty black chitin plates and sort of rotating spiked drill as a nose - wanting to drill into me.
And it was always able to hide - or break through somewhere.
Good I don´t have to listen to an analyst´s opinion on this...tongue.gif
No - it was like a mega insect and really nasty.

Originally Posted by NyxCC

Good try with climbing up the tree and you really are getting good DEILDing back!

Yepp - this seems to come almost on it´s own - I just want to - why not WILD, though??
Didn´t mention - but I tried it in an afternoon nap as well - and didn´t get to anywhere - not even to sleeping..

Yepp - this seems to come almost on it´s own - I just want to - why not WILD, though??
Didn´t mention - but I tried it in an afternoon nap as well - and didn´t get to anywhere - not even to sleeping..

Yeah, but you already know by now that there are only two types of lds: dild and wild and deild is a form of wild. Sooooo, it's a nice small victory for wilding!

Still I understand you and love your drive and desire for more. Wish you lots of successful wilds, deilds and dilds.

By the way, I also find it very hard to nap during the day. I just can't fall asleep....

I can´t nap either - but I thought, I try it with SSILD, if that might not enable it - nope.
But I was very refreshed after it anyway - almost better, than having slept a short while and had to get up then..

And I have thought - maybe try WILD without WBTB?
Staying conscious seems not so much the problem than falling asleep..
I mean wake up - maybe loose your dream - maybe having only stumbled to the toilet - without staying up for a span of time..
And then try to WILD?
I only get the idea to DEILD, when waking from an already lucid dream.
And I feel, it is different - rather an unstable dream collapsing intermittently - before you have really woken up completely..?

I will go on holiday tomorrow early - I expect not very much because of that - but I´ll give it a try there as well.
Have a good time, however you celebrate!

Oh, certainly you can play with the wbtb duration and see how a different one affects your awareness, wilding, dreams and lds that follow.

Not all deilds will be short, actually I think they might make dream immersion easier (vs classical wilds), because you are usually more sleepy when you wake up and deild than when you are going for a wild. When you get more lds you will see that some no matter what type will be short, others long, yet try to give them your best without bias, because it is you who makes your dreams!

Thanks! You too, have great holidays !

I am taking a look at my time on here - and feel a huge wave of gratitude for having a teacher like you - always there for me - giving so much time and thought and positivity - teaching me so wonderfully!

I said so to gab and fogelbise as well - this academy is an absolutely unique place on the internet - what you do for me is truly invaluable - and as a gift from you personally and whenever I need you.
Hard to make people believe something like this is reality!
Happy fresh lucid year to you and the people you value - may you get as much good things as you give and more!


flowers.gif

Thank you for the kind words, Steph! I certainly feel the same way about DV and all the awesome people here. It really is amazing and I am also very grateful to all present and past staff members for creating and supporting this lucid inspiring environment as well as to all the enthusiastic and friendly members we have here. Even if I have a bad day, when I log back in and see all the positive talk, the lds that everybody keeps having, it instantly makes me feel so much better. Happy to have you here and I enjoy reading those awesome entries of yours!

Thanks a lot and a very happy lucid new year to you too!

Thank you so much and I feel the same - I love the enthusiasm and friendliness - also the open-heartedness of so many people.
So many people in the first place - that is extremely encouraging - and I find more every day lately since asking!
At least - "back in childhood LDers" like I also was - then it stopped for some reason.
I have to seriously count - but I might be over 10 discoveries now - including 4 my dartsforum - 3 pages - would you believe it?
Mainly me writing - but anyway - all 4 in adulthood and 3 at the moment.
One of my good friends there had one after reading my thread - and not for years before.
Don't know what I'm typing - was on a mixed small darts tournament - lost most - won some - had bit of beer - good night!

That's so nice! Keep spreading the lucid knowledge! I love it!

Yepp - I allow myself to be enthused - this is worth it!
Had a mini LD moment last night, by the way. - I think, my hands get more and more realistic from the get go - just from giving them a boost of some looking at them and mantra-ing that I look at my hands and know that I dream.
But when I look at them - I am already lucid.

I heard something:
Supposedly - it is even very bad to look at something directly in front of your eyes - if you do not move your eyes - since that is what is, when you sleep and not dream.

I will leave this out next time - and concentrate on the intellectual realization, that I am dreaming.
That's why I RC - not because I do it in real life.

Hm hm - on the other hand, I did 3 hand-lookings yesterday - not questioning anything - just looking at them and mantra-ing that in a dream - I look at my hands and know that I dream.
But that was not like many say - "building a habit that spills over" - only 3 between weeks of none.
I had a primary notion of being lucid, and then did it.

I will grab something only next time - or simply look around - not do something artificial in the expectation of having a problem.
I want to get my dream stable - not my hands.
Don't know, if that makes sense..?

Maybe even no need for a dream-body in the first place?
Just a point of view - have you done that?

Congrats on the ld! It's good that you are getting these so often and soon a big one will come and you will have the chance to experiment and do all those awesome tasks.

Supposedly - it is even very bad to look at something directly in front of your eyes - if you do not move your eyes - since that is what is, when you sleep and not dream.

Hmmm, really? Well, staring at an object for a long time might cause some dream instability but not always. Interesting possible connection to sleep vs dreaming.

But that was not like many say - "building a habit that spills over" - only 3 between weeks of none.
I had a primary notion of being lucid, and then did it.

I think that even if you don't perform a RC in the dream as direct spillover, the practice of daytime techniques helps channel your intent to ld, you subcon takes note and then it's like a little mental reminder you set for yourself.

I will grab something only next time - or simply look around - not do something artificial in the expectation of having a problem.
I want to get my dream stable - not my hands.
Don't know, if that makes sense..?

Maybe even no need for a dream-body in the first place?
Just a point of view - have you done that?

By all means, feel free to explore as much as you like in order to stabilize. Canis has gotten some really impressive dream prolonging and enhancing effects by trying to take it all in during the first couple of moments. It seems the more engaged in the dream you are, the more stable and vivid it becomes. Just don't forget it is a dream.

The idea of no dream body is a good one and opens the door to lots of experimentation. I personally prefer to have body parts present to ground me when needed, as feelings of weightlessness may lead me in the direction of the void. So, it's usually not something I aim to do at this moment, although the realization that there is no dream body could be very useful when you get stuck among different objects, face aggressive DCs, etc. By the way, I have heard that Sageous doesn't have a dream body (anymore?), so he might give you additional insight on the matter.

Yeah - if only I knew where I read that about not keeping the eyes still.
But on the other hand - in that LD where I tried in vain to transform things - I did stare at stuff - and not woke up..
And yeah - definitively doing something in the day to anchor the intent was the driving force behind that short blip.

What I meant was more that I do not first think, all is reality - then do an RC - and then realize, I dream.
I realize that I dream first - and then do RC.

And I suspect to distract myself from the intellectual realization by for example too much hand-looking.
Got to try it out with only "taking it all in".

I sometimes have no body anyway - and it seems to be effort to bring all and every aspect into the dream of a body.
But maybe it is really very good verging on needed for stabilization for a beginner.

There was also a moment - one of my first lucid moments on here - zooming into a tree for nazi-hunting - where I did not have a body, and felt a bit clueless as to how to exist like that further on - and lost lucidity.


Last night I was semi-lucid - felt like being a character in a movie being recorded - I had my role to play - and special powers - but didn't recognize it as a dream. More like a game.
Not the time now - after posting loads other things instead..
But got to journal it soon - made no dictation, because it was so vivid and easy to remember - hopefully I get it back together.
It was impeding apocalypse by an attack from space - without finding the aliens unfortunately - that would have been nice - my first consciously remembered self-created aliens!!

Yeah - if only I knew where I read that about not keeping the eyes still.
But on the other hand - in that LD where I tried in vain to transform things - I did stare at stuff - and not woke up..
And yeah - definitively doing something in the day to anchor the intent was the driving force behind that short blip.

I remember that task, getting more detail instead of changing was pretty good too! I guess it helps to notice all the background processes that happen while we are doing dream control. I think sivason also talked about being aware of your own thoughts before they manifest. That way control will be more precise. But don't worry too much about it, we are always learning and your experiences with dream control nicely add to the cumulative knowledge we have. More experiments, additional insights!

Last night I was semi-lucid - felt like being a character in a movie being recorded - I had my role to play - and special powers - but didn't recognize it as a dream.

Cool! What were the superpowers?

Oh - I missed your answer!
First of all I could fly - and then I had to stop a plane and bring it down - but at the same time - I knew, it wasn't really me - flying next to the plane - but a special effects crew on the ground.
It was about catching a group of people - action-movie style - with running and shooting I believe - but it was weird - a semi-lucidity, where the explanation went awry - movie set/special effects - was great though - didn't journal - but memory is unusually good for it too.


Now I have two nights with multiple alarms - last before last - I think I wrongly remember having been awake when they went off - every one of 6 - can't be true - don't know what sort of tricks my memory played on me there - and last night - I slept through them all - but maybe I heard some, and forgot - except one - and this woke me up too much to try - moving, opening my eyes and all.

I don't know what's wrong with my motivation..
That's the real problem - I simply went to bed and expected myself to take care of it, when waking up.
Since I "suffer" from a strong inertia when waking up - I need to set intention, do some RCs in the day, mantra properly before going to sleep.
I simply forget to care, when it is time..

Got a lot going irl - and am a bit into a movie watching phase for relaxation - so LD-reinforcement urgently needed - not least to try and do my lucid darting.
There was supposed to be a tournament yesterday - if it wouldn't have been cancelled - maybe that would have been enough..?
Could hit myself for letting it slip - but at least I got the alarm thing now to further experiment with.
I think, I need to really prepare myself actively to hear it and do what I planned..

Soz for the whining..

Nice to hear from you Steph! That sounds like a cool semi-ld.

I hope your motivation to ld returns soon. The inertia when waking up is not something unusual. I think we all resist the desire to get up and try for an ld when we are so sleepy. Also, I sometimes find it hard to pick a task that will help me focus on having an ld.

Luckily, this mood passes away when I read a few entries to inspire me or just notice something cool when watching a movie or from real life that I then want to try. And then it's the usual organization: ld with a particular task to complete. By the way, you seem to have really interesting non-lds, you may look for cool stuff to do from them too. The thing with lding is, it feels so great, it's hard not to want to come back to it, even for the occasional sunset or doing some telekinesis, the pull of adventure and the sense of freedom is awesome.

Not a big one - but a bit of progress towards a WILD - second ever time with HHs!
Very happy to have the auto-snooze clock now - very promising!
Okay - I wrote a lot in my DJ - so I will copy-paste over:

The (long) dream I journalled from last night had almost an overload of dream-signs:

Geographical setting around lake I grew up close to
Looking and finding a place to move in for living
Swimming
Searching luggage and getting frustrated
Ex-boyfriend
Not being able to speak

Six of them in one dream - and I stayed happily non-lucid..
The problem might be that I love to dream of my growing up area - maybe I sort of want to miss out on it being a dream..?

Made a mistake with my alarms - the app needs to be open, for them to go off - I noted, it was not - but my dictation-thing, when I woke up naturally quite late.
Was awake for the next one still then - and the one after that woke me up - and I tried it out as a micro-WBTB with mantra - in the end I fell asleep to a non-lucid.

Buuut: before that was a short phase of - very short - disappeared once I got a bit excited about it - HH!!
And pretty strong ones - bit of vibration and a strong feeling of weightlessness - but at the same time movement - swerving about - even falling.
That was the second time of my life, I had strong bodily HH - any HH, actually - first one was after a longer WBTB and 2 min. of just looking at the back of my eyelids on a WILD try - on my second ever WILD try!!

And such I made a lot of tries the last two months up to half an hour - never again with HH or success in WILD but quite often with a following DILD.
I guess, I need them some more times, before I can avoid getting so positively excited about it..
This is progress towards WILD, though - and makes me very happy indeed!

It was not on my back but in my usual position on my stomach and turned to the right.

So - wish me luck with my new toy, please - looks I might finally get my WILD if I do a micro-WBTB only..