My lucid dreaming approach - TAWBTB

Three parts:

Part one – Introduction.
Part two – The outline of the approach, and how I personally apply it.
Part three – A caution, my device, additional practices, WILD and some possible experiments.

Introduction

In my lucid dreaming endeavours, I’ve always had one goal in mind that I want to achieve: to be able to lucid dream every night. In working to achieve that goal, I’ve experimented with homemade EILD devices and various techniques – the WILDs, DILDs and MILDs, and combinations of approaches together with a few of my own ideas.

The approach I’ve been working on and developing in September has made the biggest contribution so far to my search for regular lucidity and I want to share it here. This is NOT a tutorial. I don’t claim this approach will work for others. All I can say is, so far this approach has had the biggest impact on the quantity and quality of my lucid dreams since I started deliberately trying to induce lucidity. It could be placebo. It could be just a case of the excitement and my enthusiasm for the approach is the factor making me lucid. But I think it’s reasonable to share a technique that could, possibly, help others. There is nothing new here, per se, but I believe the combination of elements has made this approach effective.

A big impact on the development of this approach - in addition to Stephen LaBerge’s work and the DV tutorials - was Billybob’s “How to WILD” tutorial (particularly the part about using anchors):

http://www.dreamviews.com/f12/how-wild-62282/

I call this approach TAWBTB – which stands for Tactile Anchor Wake Back To Bed. This, as the name suggests, is a variation of WBTB – Wake Back To Bed. The problem I had with standard WBTB was the problem with the duration: I would either go back to bed quickly and fall asleep too easily, or I would stay up too long, become too awake and be unable to return to sleep. If I used sound anchors or bodily-sensation anchors, I would experience the same problems. So far, my TAWBTB approach has helped to solve that problem.

Outline of the approach

There are four key stages:

1) Wake up after six hours of sleep

2) Go straight back to bed and start relaxing

3) Utilise a mild tactile stimulus – the anchor - that I constantly perceive that allows me to reach a very relaxed state, but prevents me from falling asleep completely. Using a timer, I set the stimulus to stop completely at the one hour mark.

4) Perform MILD exercises (affirmations, etc.) during the hour


The specifics on how I use this approach

The tactile stimulus I have found to produce the required results for me is that provided by a TENS machine (Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation).

At stage one (waking after six hours of sleep) I will fix one TENS electrode-pad to the left side of my left leg (about six centimetres above the ankle bone) and the other electrode-pad to the right side of my left leg (opposite the first electrode-pad, also six centrimetres above the ankle) I switch on the TENS unit, and turn up the level until I can feel a level of pulsing that I think will be strong enough to keep me awake and aware, but low enough so I can still be comfortable and, eventually - at some point within the hour - be able to reach a deeply relaxed state. I set the timer on the TENS unit to stop after one hour.

I relax in bed and then do some standard MILD exercises. At first I visualise some past dreams (or dreams from that night, if I recall them) and visualise myself becoming lucid in them. I also like to remember a couple of events from the last day, imagine something strange happening in them, and becoming lucid as a result of that. From that point onwards, all I do is just repeatedly say my affirmation, “I will remember to ask, ‘Am I dreaming?’”. I like to say the affirmation so that if fits the rhythm of the pulsing of the electrode-pads (I don’t believe it’s essential, but after a short time if feels as though the affirmation and the pulsing have become a kind of single entity.)

Using this TAWBTB approach, I have become lucid from either FAs (false awakenings) or the DILD way - from realising early in the dream (usually within seconds or within a couple of minutes from the start at the dream) that I’m dreaming. (Lucidity in the DILD sense has been triggered by both strange events (such as my car driving itself) and mundane events (such as sharing a lift with two people and waiting for it to reach the floor.))

Further note: It’s worth commenting on how my degree of wakefulness changes within the hour: I usually find that for the first fifteen minutes I don’t experience much of a change in my wakefulness, and then after that I become more and more relaxed and even close to “dropping off”. I don’t always feel the TENS device stopping at the hour mark (It is also worth noting that although I have experienced some HH before the hour is up, I have never dreamed and have never become lucid during the hour.)

Caution

The instructions with my TENS machine states that you should not sleep with the device on. I have searched on the internet for any possible dangers that can happen when sleeping with a TENS device switched on, and the only problem I read documented is falling asleep and accidentally changing the settings and receiving an uncomfortable electric shock. There are various accounts online of people using their TENS machine as an aid to help them to get to sleep. The TENS instruction manual gives specific advice on what people should not use a TENS device (people with pacemakers, heart problems and pregnant women etc.). Finally, (and I don’t want to go all “dad” on you) it should be said that, if anyone wants to experiment with a TENS machine and doubts that they can safely use it, they should consult a doctor. If anyone is aware of possible dangers I’d be glad to hear from them.

Specifics on my TENS device

I use a Boots’ TENS machine

This device has a built-in timer (that can be set to, 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes). The setting I use is “C” setting (which gives a “pulsing” sensation).

My additional practices

I have been doing these additional, standard LDing practices up to and throughout September. Without doubt, they have contributed to my ability to become lucid:


I RC throughout the day at certain places and whenever I see anything strange.

I do daily prospective memory exercises (as outlined by Stephen LaBerge in ETWOLD).

I update my DJ daily.


WILDs

Those who can WILD will be familiar with the use of anchors to achieve WILD success. Personally, I have never been able to deliberately WILD (My WILDs occurred by accident). I have found that this TAWBTB approach works fine to induce DILDs/MILDs. If WILDers experiment with this approach, I’d like to hear their experiences and results.

Experiments I want to try

I want to experiment with different durations of the stimulus (my TENS unit allows me to set the timer for 15 minutes, 30 mins, 45 mins and one hour.)

If a stimulus is set at low levels it may be possible to fall asleep, dream and then recognise the stimulus as a “cue” in a non-lucid. That’s something I want to experiment with eventually.

I want to experiment with setting one level of the stimulus for the first fifteen minutes (a high level, to absolutely guarantee that I don’t fall asleep), and another level for the remaining 45 minutes.

I want to try different waking times (at the moment I wake at 4am)

If, in the future, I do manage to find a way to WILD deliberately, I would like to see how this TAWBTB approach affects my WILDing attempts.

I need to experiment with different settings on the TENS unit.


(To date, I am still experimenting to find the ideal intensity of pulsing.)

Whoa, that's interesting!

And do you mean Boots the chemists? :D

If I may introduce an approach from a thread with the same concept... however, this one provides anchoring ideas that are a little less hazardous than a TENS machine (as in, none of them carry warning labels on them, and you don't have to buy anything!)

http://www.dreamviews.com/f12/how-wild-62282/

This is an interesting concept and idea. But I'm not the kind of person who like to use aids or things to help me lucid dream.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Raspberry

Whoa, that's interesting!

And do you mean Boots the chemists? :D

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Yes, Boots the chemists. They are UK based and I don't know if they have shops outside the UK. I wanted to link but I know that links to outside sites can cause problems.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Serenity

If I may introduce an approach from a thread with the same concept... however, this one provides anchoring ideas that are a little less hazardous than a TENS machine (as in, none of them carry warning labels on them, and you don't have to buy anything!)

http://www.dreamviews.com/f12/how-wild-62282/

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Hi Serenity.

I guess you skipped the introduction? :cheeky: I link to that thread in my opening post and say that it was a big influence on my experiments.

Once I find the settings on my TENS device that are the optimum level for induction, I'll experiment with others anchors. I'm thinking lights, sounds and other tactile stimuli. Any other ideas I'd like to hear!

I had a rest from lucid dreaming attempts last night. I actually gave myself an affirmation, "I'll have a normal night's sleep." Interestingly, I woke up at 4am (without an alarm). I went back to sleep and RCed (nose pinched) in a non-lucid (didn't become lucid from it, though.) So, it looks like I've inadvertently slipped into using the CAT approach! Will be interesting to see if that can be used in conjunction with my own approach.

Yeah I'm in the UK so I guess I could go check them out! I just wanted to check :) Thanks

I've been thinking that you may be able to achieve a similar effect with ice - assuming there's a way to prevent the ice from touching the skin and to stop the water going all over the bed! (Now that would look odd!) I need to sit down and have a brainstorm on other possible anchors. The TENS suits me because I like the way I can control the exact level of the pulsing. Tonight I'm going to try for just half an hour of pulsing. I'll let you know how I get on.

Tried half hour last night on a low setting. Fell asleep quite quickly. No lucid, but recall was good.

Another success with half an hour of pulsing - this time the pulsing was strong and I was still reasonably awake when the pulsing stopped. I must have been dreaming non-lucidly for about an hour before I realised I was dreaming.

Last night I went for the same, but needed the toilet on the half hour mark and blew my chances.

Will try the same approach tonight.

No lucids for a week now. A rethink may be needed. I'm thinking of this approach now as more of a "lazy wake back to bed". By that I mean I can go straight back to bed and start relaxing but with a stimulus to stop me falling asleep too quickly. There are a number of simple - free - stimuli I'm thinking of that could work (similar to Billybob's WILD anchors). I'll experiment.

Something else must have caused the dramatic increase in my quantity of lucids. There are a number of possibilities as to what this could be and it will take me a time to investigate them fully. I'll report back with my findings.

This is a bit of a skim read on my part (I'll admit to that, but I'm also short on time. Also because I may be shooting myself in the foot with this advice). But, are you mixing up your routine? I find that with any external help on getting lucid (be that with any supplements, audio files, etc), you need to mix up the routine. Otherwise, you just get used to it.

However, when you use one of the typical -ILD techniques, it seems the opposite is true. You need consistency with those before they start working effectively!

Thanks Serenity, those are very interesting points.

I was fortunate enough to be able to give 100 percent to LDing throughout August and September, but now I have other matters that need my attention so I think I'll take a break from WBTB for a while and come back to it when I feel fresh.