Thread: A brief introduction story

Hi everyone

Im not new to lucid dreaming as I discovered it a couple of years ago, but I was never really dedicated to keeping a DJ or to be critical in waking life consistently.

This changed 2 weeks ago when I decided to make some changes in my life which allow me to focus on my dreams again and I am happy about that.
I stopped smoking recently after 2 years of doing it, changed my diet and comitted to a generally more healthy lifestyle.

While this is not of tremendous importance for dreaming the last thing certainly is. I used Marijuana for a couple of months daily and because of its psychoactive effects it changes your brain in certain ways.
I did a lot research on this and there is not much known about it, but what has striken me is that it apparently reduces REM-sleep and prolongs deep sleep phases. The not-newbies shouldve understood by now where this will lead.

I found it extremely hard to remember dreams in the morning if I could recall anything at all. So for the sake of lucid dreams and overall good dream recall I decided to limit myself to recreational use of Marijuana on the weekends only. Also for health reasons daily Marijuana use is not something I would recommend! As always dont use drugs if youre a minor as it will affect you significantly more!

The consequence of restricting my consumption were immediate. I had immensly improved dream recall, extremely vivid dreams and 2 lucid ones (very short) in the last 2 weeks. If you are interested in this topic I suggest you to look up REM rebound, which is thought to cause such phenomenons.

So I started logging dreams again and doing RC's, usually trying to breathe with a pinched nose and asking myself how I got into a certain situation.
Im also using Mantras (after RC) as suggested by tutorials on this site (shoutout to BrandonBoss) which I didnt really do before as well as Mantras before sleeping.

Ive been getting good results so far and I want to improve my dream recall, the stability of my lucid dreams as well as my dream control (long term goal).
At this point I want to thank everyone who contributes to this site as I believe it is an amazing tool for newbies and experienced people to dive deeper into this amazing topic.

This might be an unusal "newbie" post, but I wanted to share my reasoning for restarting my dreamcareer. Im looking forward to contributing to this site and meet new people with whom I can exchange experiences and learn from.

If you are interested in anything about me or my experience ask away!

Sweet dreams everyone!