Help getting back on track

[Phoenix422]

Hi, I stopped lucid dreaming for a couple of months, mostly because I was busy with other stuff and I didn't have the time, but always because my sleeping schedule has been, for a long time now, very erratic. I'm not getting back into it and am trying to get my sleeping pattern fixed but I just got the flu and that's put me back to square one. My dream recall is terrible and, though I go to sleep at 12 or 1 in the morning (much better than the days where I fell asleep at 3 or 4), I'm waking up early at like 7am and am unable to go back to sleep, so I can't even try for a WILD or DILD. As for naps, I've never been able to do them. I find falling asleep hard in general, to be honest. I just end up lying there, wide awake most times, nap or at nighttime. Currently, I do mantras at night and a few in the day, and I've started to practice ADA. I just wanted to know what more I could do to get better and back on track.

[OpheliaBlue]

Hey Phoenix422, Sorry you're having with recall. I'll tell you, I find that as long as I go to bed no later than midnight on a regular basis, I have better recall. I also have a longer stretch of sleep, which gives me more chances to WBTB, therefore increasing my chances for attaining lucidity. So it's good that you've bumped your bedtime to an earlier hour. Other than that, something that will help you with your recall, as well as getting back in the groove for lucidity, is getting a dream journal going. We have a Dream Journal feature on the site if you haven't got a blog going already. I have one, and when I'm not lazy with it, I have fantastic recall. And it appears that more dream recall and lucidity go together, so a dream journal can't hurt right?

[Phoenix422]

Hey Phoenix422, Sorry you're having with recall. I'll tell you, I find that as long as I go to bed no later than midnight on a regular basis, I have better recall. I also have a longer stretch of sleep, which gives me more chances to WBTB, therefore increasing my chances for attaining lucidity. So it's good that you've bumped your bedtime to an earlier hour. Other than that, something that will help you with your recall, as well as getting back in the groove for lucidity, is getting a dream journal going. We have a Dream Journal feature on the site if you haven't got a blog going already. I have one, and when I'm not lazy with it, I have fantastic recall. And it appears that more dream recall and lucidity go together, so a dream journal can't hurt right? I think my main problem is that, since I've gotten ill, I keep waking up at 7am in the morning. I haven't woken up at that time naturally since I was ten! I used to be able to just go back to sleep with ease and try for a WILD or DILD but now I'm finding it really hard to fall back asleep now. Most of the time I'll just be lying there, completely awake. It's like I can't nap or snooze anymore. On the plus side, I'm in bed by 11.30 and asleep around 12 or 1. Oh, I always keep a dream journal. I'm making it a point to always write in it, even if my dream recall is fuzzy! Right now, it's ok but could be better. I wake up at 7am and remember a dream, but it's very fuzzy and not as vivid as my other dreams. It's always just the one. On my good nights I could remember three in one night. :\ I'm just going to have to wait till I'm flu-free and try and sort out the sleeping problems. Thanks for the advice. I'm sometimes slacked off on writing in my dream journal in the past.