Cycle Adjustment Technique

clarkkent reminded me of the CAT method in this post and I thought I'd give it a go.

Has anyone tried this technique? Does it work for you?

I'm going to start it tomorrow. Do it with me and post here how it's going for you!

If you don't want to read all the spiel, the basic technique goes like this:

- Get up 90 minutes earlier than usual for 7 days and do reality checks every few minutes for the full 90 minutes.
- From day 8 onwards, alternate between doing the above, and just waking up at your normal time, on alternate days.

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It was created by Daniel Love. He explains it in more detail in his post from the Lucidity Institute forum:

Quote:

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Originally posted by Daniel Love
CAT Method for the induction of regular lucid dreams.
(Cycle Adjustment technique)
©2004 Daniel Love

This is a method i intend to publish in my upcoming book - Hence the copyright. However please feel free to distribute, copy etc. as long as the document remains in its entirety and is not used for profit.

The CAT method is a technique i discovered after long consideration into the psychological versus biological basis for Lucid Dream induction.
It is apparent to most i would imagine that Lucid dreaming induction has its basis in both the biological and psychological approach. However whilst there are many effective techniques for the induction of lucid dreaming, many focus on a mostly psychological approach.

The CAT method is my attempt to naturally adjust the mind-body cycles in a way that creates an improved environment for its psychological elements to perform.

CAT is a relatively intensive regime, however despite the intensity it has resolved many of the difficulties associated with other methods. A short list of what i consider to be the notable benefits of this technique are as follows:

1 Non of the problems returning to sleep associated with other methods.

2 No complex visualizations.

3 No need for constant practice or effort in the majority of ones daily life.

4 No need to extend ones wake time. Hence can be used by those with strict sleep-wake times.

5 Uses a simple natural function of the human mind.

6 The Lucid dreams produced with this method occur in the longest REM period of the night. Also due to the nature of the technique a mild REM rebound effect may occur helping lengthen and strengthen the lucid dream.

7 A powerful memory is not required.

A few of the possible negatives for this method are as follows:

1 There is a strict regime that needs to be adhered to.

2 Lucid dreams occur in specific time periods.

3 Sleep cycles are adjusted.

4 An intensive period of habit formation is required. However this is restricted to a single otherwise unused period in the day.

This being the case i would recommend this technique to anyone who needs to awaken at the same time everyday and cannot find time during the daytime to really focus on lucidity induction techniques. People who have a hard time visualizing complex scenes will also benefit.

I am very proud of the CAT method and in my experience as both a Lucidity coach and regular lucid dreamer
it is one of the single most effective methods for producing consistent, durable lucid dreams.

What you can expect from the CAT method:
At best CAT will produce 4 long, clear and memorable lucid dreams a week.


THE CAT METHOD
By Daniel Love. ©2004 Free for distribution in it&#39;s entirety for non-profit groups.

This technique is DEPENDANT upon a regular sleep-wake cycle and hence is perfect for those who have a fixed daily routine in the sense that bedtime and wake time fit a consistent structure.

STAGE ONE
The Cycle adjustment and intensive habit formation period.
Duration - 1 Week.

The function of this stage is 3 fold:

a) To develop a habitual response triggered by and focused in a specific time period.

b) To adjust the mind-body cycle to promote an increased biochemical tendency towards awareness at a specific time.

c) Preparation for stage 2 of the technique.

***For the success of this method it is vital a strict adherence to the regime is followed.***

Stage 1 is to last 7 days and in these 7 days you are to do the following:

1) Clearly define your regular bedtime (BT) and wake time (WT) and alter these only in accordance to these instructions.

2) Adjust your regular wake time so that you shall be awakening 90 minutes earlier, this new time shall be referred to as the adjusted wake time (AWT.) Set your alarm to awaken you at the AWT for the duration of STAGE 1.

3) Each night at BT clearly set the intention to awaken at the AWT and follow the task set for this period:

4) Upon being awoken by your alarm at the AWT you are to get up and do whatever you wish for the next 90 minutes (you will NOT be returning to bed) HOWEVER whilst going about your business in these 90 minutes you shall perform a REALITY TEST every 2 to 5 minutes (use a reminder such as an electronic egg timer if this helps.)

5) Once the 90 minutes are up (this is your regular WT) proceed with your day as usual. You can if you wish REALITY TEST throughout the day but this is entirely optional(but no doubt beneficial.)

6) Repeat this task for the seven day period and then move to stage 2.

As you can see you are developing time specific reality tests and adjusting the time at which your body-mind "gears up" (increasing activity/chemicals in the various awareness centers to promote the required awareness for awakening.)

Now we are ready for STAGE 2

STAGE TWO
Lucid dream induction period.
Duration: ongoing.

The function of this stage is 8 fold.

d) Continue the time specific habitual response development.

e) Create a mild REM rebound effect to increase the Strength, Length and Clarity etc.. of the used REM period.

f) Induce lucid dreams.

g) Focus lucid dreams to occur in the longest REM period.

h) Fluctuate the sleep wake cycle.

i) Promote a bio-chemical tendency towards awareness within a specific REM period.

j) Perform the time specific habitual reality tests within REM.

k) Increase the likelihood of awakening directly from and remembering the Lucid Dream.


Stage 2 is an ongoing process, to be repeated daily. It is important not to miss any days practice. If the technique is to be used over long periods (several months) the occasional &#39;top up&#39; of a repeat of Stage 1 may be required. If the technique is stopped for any reason, it is important upon re instigation to start again from stage 1.

Stage 2 is in two parts. Each day you are to alternate between Part A and Part B. That is to say:
On monday:part a - Tuesday:part b - wednesday part:a - Thursday part:b etc. etc. ad infinitum


STAGE 2 PART A

This is simplicity in itself.

At bedtime clearly state the intention to follow your time specific habitual reality tests at the AWT.
HOWEVER set your alarm clock to awaken you at your REGULAR WT.

As far as your mind is concerned you have set the intention to awake at AWT and intensively reality test. You will however not be awoken by your alarm (as it is set for your regular WT)
Hopefully the following should occur:
The AWT arrives, your mind has geared up for awakening but receives no external cue (the alarm) so remains asleep - however, your body-mind clock is primed to increase awareness and perform its intensive reality tests at the AWT. This coupled with a mild REM rebound (from the earlier wake time of previous night) should result in a long period of REM in which your mind is set at increased activity AND in a time period that you have designated and installed as the habitual intensive reality test period.
A PRIME ENVIRONMENT FOR LUCIDITY TO OCCUR&#33;

Alternatively you may awaken naturally at the AWT - if this occurs remain still, remind yourself of your intention to intensively reality test and attempt to induce a WILD with your preferred method.

<span style="color:blue">STAGE 2 PART B

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Quote:

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This is identical in all respects the method outlined in stage 1. Simply awaken at the AWT perform intensive (every 2 to 5 minutes) reality tests for 90 minutes. The only difference is you only perform this on the 1day rather than the 7 - as tomorrow you shall return to stage 2 part A.

**each day henceforth alternate between STAGE 2 PART A and STAGE 2 PART B.**

Due to the odd number of days in the week you will find that each consecutive week part a and part b shall fall on different days (one week monday is A next week B etc..)
Also you will notice within each fortnight one week shall contain 3 potential lucid dream periods whilst the other shall have 4.


And that&#39;s it. the CAT method. I do hope it is as useful to you as it has been for me.

One last thing,

Occasionally you may like to extended your regular WT (such as at the weekend) and have a longer sleep.
Of course this is not possible if this falls on a PART B day (and potentially negative for the whole method)
However the occasional WT extension on a PART A day may allow for longer REM/Lucid dream periods. Even so it should still be kept to a minimum as to not upset the sleep wake cycle too often.


I would appreciate any feed back on this method. It is still to be researched on a wide enough scale to give a definitive report of its success rate. In studies with myself and my students i have found it to be highly effective at inducing lucid dreams (with 8 out of 10 students reporting at least one lucid
dream (an average of 2) within the first 2 weeks.)

I would appreciate your reports, ideas and lucid dreams induced by this method. Please mail them to:
[email protected]
I may wish to include your responses in my new book. Please make it clear if you do not wish for this to occur.

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STAGE ONE
Cycle adjustment and intensive habit formation period
Duration: 1 Week

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Day One
I woke up 90 minutes early and tested reality every few minutes. Not much to say at the moment as I&#39;ll only be able to say if it&#39;s all been worth it next week&#33; I didn&#39;t find it that hard to get up and do it but I expect by the end of the week it&#39;ll be pretty tedious. I&#39;m not doing reality checks throughout the day as well, I&#39;ve had my fill&#33; If I do a reality check every 2-5 minutes during the 90 minute period, I&#39;ll do 18-45 checks. I probably did about 30, I&#39;ll count them tomorrow. I hope that I&#39;ll be able to sleep through these 90 minutes next week, as I&#39;ll be used to waking up at this time by then...

I went back to sleep for a couple of hours before lunch, d&#39;oh&#33; It probably doesn&#39;t matter that much but I&#39;ll make sure I don&#39;t do it again. I also forgot to &#39;set the intention to wake up 90 minutes early and do reality checks for the 90 minutes&#39;. I think that&#39;s important, because on days when I just sleep I won&#39;t have the alarm clock to wake me up and become more aware of reality, so the intention should work as an alarm clock in my dream.

Day Two
Last night I had a very short lucid dream, I don&#39;t know if it&#39;s because I started CAT. I think it was towards the beginning of the night, I didn&#39;t note the time. It was a bit of a creepy dream set in my garden, I thought it was a dream, looked at my hands to check, and sure enough I had about 20 fingers. I&#39;ve been looking at hands and then checking a clock during the 90 minute period.

So day two, er same as day one&#33; I browse Dream Views when I wake up to keep my mind thinking about lucid dreams. I did 27 reality checks (54 if you count checking hands and then checking clock as 2) in the 90 minutes, 1 every 3.3 minutes. :D Stay tuned for the next exciting episode....

Day Three
I found it quite hard to wake up this morning, but I managed. I think it&#39;s because I had a few beers and ate a lot yesterday. A healthy lifestyle would definitely be an advantage when doing CAT&#33; My dream recall isn&#39;t amazing recently, it wasn&#39;t before I started CAT either. I need to put the effort in, hopefully it&#39;ll be up to scratch come next week. I did slightly less reality checks today - 24, or 16rcph (reality checks per hour :wink:). As usual, click on Day xxxx to see any dreams remembered.

Day Four
I indulged again yesterday and when I woke up early this morning, I went back to sleep&#33; :shock: It could be down to the fact that it&#39;s the fourth day of getting up early. At least I shouldn&#39;t have any trouble sleeping in during the next stage. Luckily I woke up only half an hour later so I think it&#39;s still cool. To make up for this I did lots of reality checks in the remaining 60 minutes - 27rcph - almost broke the reality check barrier&#33; On the plus side my recall was much better today, I just told myself I must remember my dreams last night - check my dream journal to read them. I remembered the last dream when I woke up 30 minutes late and it was a vivid dream. I think this is because of the increased awareness at this time of the day due to CAT. The other dream I remembered wasn&#39;t as vivid. So looks like CAT&#39;s having an effect&#33;

Day Five
Woke up on time today. I am generally feeling more tired than usual :yawnorama: but that&#39;s to be expected and it&#39;s nothing major. 31 reality checks done today - 20.7rcph. No lucid dreams, not expecting them until stage two, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. Two more days to go&#33; No chance of giving up now. :Rocky theme tune: :putemuppunk:

Day Six
28 reality checks - 18.7rcph. Unfortunately I didn&#39;t remember any dreams today. Tomorrow&#39;s day seven&#33; :yumdumdoodledum:

Day Seven
I&#39;m glad it&#39;s day seven today&#33; I went back to sleep after my alarm woke me up but woke up again 15 minutes later. I will enjoy the lie in tomorrow. I didn&#39;t remember any dreams again today. Well, I had a vague memory when I woke up but I felt quite groggy, went back to sleep and then couldn&#39;t remember it when I woke up again. 30 reality checks performed today which is 20rcph. So now if all goes to plan, I&#39;ll have a lucid dream tomorrow&#33;

Find out if I do in... <span style="color:blue">STAGE TWO - Lucid dream induction period&#33;

You really think that people are going to WANT to lock their lives into a program of sleep deprivation?

What about Work, and School, and Family. For the sake of some idiotic Lucid Dream do you think people will really cooperate in this plan to ruin their lives or at least their health?

Have you even tried it?

My guess is that after all that sleep deprivation, people will sleep like the dead.

People are ALREADY complaining that the present degree of Techniques is leaving them feeling chronically fatigued. And you want to add the stipulation that they will again shorten what little sleep they are getting by an hour and a half. And then you want them to do NOTHING. Wakeup an hour and a half early to sit around and do nothing.

And you think somebody will pay you money for that.

Are you talking to me or Daniel Love? Sounds like you think I made it up...

No one&#39;s forcing anyone to do it. It sounds interesting to me and the creator says it&#39;s really effective. The only way to find out is to do it. Obviously if someone only gets 5 hours of sleep a night then it&#39;s probably not for them, but they&#39;re welcome to try.

No one said you have to do nothing for the 90 minutes, you start your day earlier, that&#39;s all.

I wasn&#39;t asking for money but if you&#39;re offering I&#39;ll tell you my Paypal account.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Leo Volont
My guess is that after all that sleep deprivation, people will sleep like the dead.

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Well, you&#39;ll never find out unless someone tries it will you.

i think its a great idea jess if u have anymore info on it i would love to have it&#33; (also leo who says that this method puts u in chains? u can stop whenever u want) but i think i want to start it on sunday so i can start out on the begining of the week and not get mixed up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Leo

You really think that people are going to WANT to lock their lives into a program of sleep deprivation?

What about Work, and School, and Family. For the sake of some idiotic Lucid Dream do you think people will really cooperate in this plan to ruin their lives or at least their health?

Have you even tried it?

My guess is that after all that sleep deprivation, people will sleep like the dead.

People are ALREADY complaining that the present degree of Techniques is leaving them feeling chronically fatigued. And you want to add the stipulation that they will again shorten what little sleep they are getting by an hour and a half. And then you want them to do NOTHING. Wakeup an hour and a half early to sit around and do nothing.

And you think somebody will pay you money for that.
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Stop being an asshole. When I first joined these forums I thought of you as a spiritual wise man. Now I think of you as a spiritual asshole who calls people liers and contradicts things when he doesn&#39;t have proof. Have your wonderfull spiritual dreams and leave us alone, because it seems that no one on these forums likes you, unless you count your "higher dream mind" as a member.

Ok now that I&#39;ve got that off of my chest.....

I think it&#39;s a good idea, with the bonus that you start your day earlier. The only problem I see though is keeping the same sleep schedule through the weekend... and also if you don&#39;t do the CAT technique one day then you pretty much mess it up. After all, it&#39;s not your fault if you can&#39;t fall asleep/sleep through your alarm that day? (ok maybe it is but w/e).

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Originally Posted by freefire

i think its a great idea jess if u have anymore info on it i would love to have it&#33;[/b]

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Thanks freefire, haven&#39;t got anymore info on it apart from that post at the Lucidity Institute. In the post no one apart from Daniel said they tried it and it works, and he would say that&#33; Which is why I&#39;m putting it to the test...make sure you post your results here when you start it&#33; :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freefire

The only problem I see though is keeping the same sleep schedule through the weekend... and also if you don&#39;t do the CAT technique one day then you pretty much mess it up. After all, it&#39;s not your fault if you can&#39;t fall asleep/sleep through your alarm that day? (ok maybe it is but w/e).[/b]

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It&#39;s true the weekend could be a problem if you&#39;re hungover....you could try changing the pattern to AABAAB instead of ABABAB so that you &#39;sleep in&#39; for two days instead of one. The B days would fall alternately on Friday-Saturday too anyway, and you could sleep in a bit longer the A day after. If you sleep through your alarm...well, make sure you get up&#33; :lol:

im a light sleeper so i could probly get up to my phone alarm...on vibrate&#33; lol. also i dont think that it would be totaly messed up if u skipped a day on part 2, but as for part 1...i just hope i dont have to start over lol

I wouldn&#39;t do this , the fact that an irregular sleep schedule slows melatonin production down.

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Originally Posted by Miskingo

I wouldn&#39;t do this , the fact that an irregular sleep schedule slows melatonin production down.
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Thanks for the information. Do you have any links about this? What are the symptoms of melatonin depletion? I read about this in people with seriously irregular sleep patterns who sleep during the day too, people with dementia, brain damage or mental retardation. If it was a problem I suppose taking a melatonin supplement might counteract the effect.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freefire

im a light sleeper so i could probly get up to my phone alarm...on vibrate&#33; lol. also i dont think that it would be totaly messed up if u skipped a day on part 2, but as for part 1...i just hope i dont have to start over lol
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I don&#39;t think it&#39;s set in stone. As far as I know no one else has tested it, so nothing&#39;s proven. Don&#39;t feel you have to start over if you miss the seventh day&#33; That would be de-moralising. It might take you less time to adjust or maybe even more time, who knows. I thought that habits were formed in an average of three weeks anyway...I read these people (astronauts?) wore these glasses that made everything appear upside down. I think it was after three weeks that their vision adjusted and they saw things the right way up, looking through upside down glasses. Can&#39;t be good for you&#33;

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freefire

i want to start it on sunday so i can start out on the begining of the week and not get mixed up.[/b]

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You still starting it tomorrow freefire? Good luck&#33; :bravo:

I tried this technique last week. After 3 days of it, I decided that my sleep was too precious. I simply could not force myself to get up anymore. So that ended that. :&#092;

I know how you feel. That&#39;s why I made this thread, so if I give up I&#39;ll look silly&#33; I want to find out once and for all if there&#39;s anything to it...

STAGE TWO
Lucid dream induction period
Duration: ongoing

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Daniel Love says:

1. 80% of people report having at least 1 lucid dream, and on average 2, within 2 weeks of starting CAT. (I think he means starting from Stage Two.)
2. Daniel himself reports having at least 1 lucid dream a week, and on average 2, when using CAT.
3. After 1 month of using CAT, Daniel reports having on average 3 lucid dreams a week. (And he hasn&#39;t continued CAT for longer than 3 months.)

So, those are the benchmarks/my goals.

The lucid dreams should be induced on PART A days, as that&#39;s when I sleep until my normal wake time (WT).

On PART B days I do what I did in STAGE ONE: wake up 90 minutes early (AWT) and RC until WT.

WEEK ONE (TWO)

Day One (Eight) - PART A

• Didn&#39;t have a lucid dream.
• Dream recall was hard. Only remembered some fragments.
• Woke up around AWT but wasn&#39;t hard to fall back to sleep.
• Didn&#39;t try any separate LD induction method when went back to sleep. Will attempt MILD if happens again.
• The extra sleep was refreshing&#33;

Day Two (Nine) - PART B

• Using different alarm, went back to sleep for 30 minutes.
• Dream recall very bad because went back to sleep.
• Went back to sleep because was trying to remember dreams&#33;
• Must get out of bed.
• Reality checks more important than recall on PART B days.
• 26rcph.

Day Three (Ten) - PART A

• I don&#39;t think I had a lucid dream, I have a vague memory but it can&#39;t have been anything to write home about.
• I had to get up 30 minutes before WT as I had to be somewhere early - my own fault for arranging it at that time. :roll:
• I did have some dream recall but it slipped through my fingers, so annoying&#33; :listenup:
• After the extra sleep on Day One (Eight) I&#39;ve felt fine compared to feeling a bit tired last week.

Day Four (Eleven) - PART A

• Oh dear, I woke up an hour after WT. I was supposed to get up at AWT&#33;
• I&#39;ll treat this as a PART A day.
• I&#39;ll try to abstain from now on.
• Crap dream recall.
• I&#39;m going to carry on CAT until the end of WEEK TWO (THREE). If I have a lucid dream within that time I may carry it on for another week or two.

Day Five (Twelve) - PART B

• 21rcph
• Dream recall OK - two mating foxes woke me up in the middle of the night which helped, they&#39;re so loud&#33;
• No lucid dreams.
• I&#39;m going to do PART B tomorrow too as I did two PART A days in a row.

Day Six (Thirteen) - PART B

• 18rcph
• Fair dream recall - just the dream I woke up from at AWT.
• Not a lucid dream.

<span style="color:green">Day Seven (Fourteen) - PART A

• Woke up 1 hour after WT, oh well.
• Bad recall: I woke up several times remembering dreams, but each time went back to sleep without recording them. :roll:
• I seem to have better recall on PART B days&#33;

At the end of week two I haven&#39;t had a lucid dream yet. It could be because my recall seems to be worse on PART A days&#33; It could be because I haven&#39;t stuck strictly enough to the schedule. If so then CAT&#39;s not for me because I&#39;ve done my best and I&#39;m not willing (or more likely able&#33;) to put in more effort. If I don&#39;t have a lucid dream next week I&#39;m afraid I&#39;m going to have to put the CAT down (Burns?).

If there&#39;s an 80% chance of having a lucid dream within two weeks, then I think there&#39;s about a 40% chance of having one in the second week (I could be wrong - maths geniuses?). We shall see...

Oh, and if I fail then that will reduce it to a 72.7% chance of having a lucid dream within two weeks, sorry guys&#33; :lol:

crap i wanat to get started but my sleeping times are all messed up :( in order for this to work i have to have a good sleep scedule so im going to try and correct it this week. the odds seem really high though :) in two weeks 1-2 lucids a week&#33; thats alot&#33;

How messed up are they? I think it&#39;s OK if you go to sleep and wake up at roughly the same time. Even if you don&#39;t, after a week of getting up early, you will&#33; I&#39;m not sure how critical it is to have a strict sleep/wake cycle before you start CAT. The longer you do CAT and stick to the wake times, the more you must be training yourself to stick to the schedule, so maybe it doesn&#39;t matter too much if your sleep is a bit messed up before you start. It would probably just take longer to start working while your body adjusts.

STAGE TWO
Lucid dream induction period
Duration: ongoing

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WEEK TWO (THREE)

Day Eight (Fifteen) - PART B

• 14 rcph.
• Poor to fair recall.
• Lucid dream tomorrow baby, I believe.

Day Nine (Sixteen) - PART A

• Woke up at WT but didn&#39;t recall any dreams so went back to sleep for an hour.
• Recall still wasn&#39;t great.

<span style="color:green">Day Ten (Seventeen) - PART B

• :blahblahblah:
• I give up, the cat gets it.

<div align="center">http://members.ozemail.com.au/~mickay/dead-cat.jpg</div>
<div align="center">Take that mofo&#39;</div>

Works 100% for me well if i belive it will work it does :D

Really? It works? How many lucid dreams has it given you? Are they in the 90 minutes before you wake up and long? etc.

Its hard to explain but usally i get up at 7:30 on weekdays but on weekends i sleep in to 9:30 I almost always have a lucid dream on friday night i wake up from it around 7:45 or somthing is that how CAT works i know it isn&#39;t exacly but is it using the same method

Im sure this doesn&#39;t happen to everyone but it happens to me so im always certain i&#39;ll have at least one lucid a week somtimes its on a saturday or sunday but mainly on fridays

Thanks for elaborating. So basically your week consists of BBBBBAA instead of the CAT pattern of ABABABA. B being when you get up early and A when you sleep in.

Are you also doing several reality checks when you wake up during the week on B days? I&#39;m doing 20-30 reality checks during the 90 minutes after I wake up on a B day.

Are your lucid dreams on the weekends DILD&#39;s?

Yes they are DILDs i dont think i do many reality check during the week about 8 a week usally i dream about switching on a light switch and find it doesn&#39;t work

If this doesn&#39;t work for everyone maybe your staying up late on weekends if you go about your normal cycle thoughout the week except setting your alarm it should work

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Conclusion

I tried but it didn&#39;t look like it was going to work. For me, it&#39;s too much effort for...no return, so far (3 and a half weeks), but I can&#39;t be bothered to keep it up anymore. Obviously it doesn&#39;t mean to say it won&#39;t work for anyone else. It seemed my recall was worse and I&#39;d rather have better recall with no lucid dreams than have lucid dreams which I can&#39;t remember. If you try CAT let us know. Maybe I&#39;ll have a lucid dream tonight after giving it up...

Well its friday so im gonna try it tonight and i&#39;ll post my resaults in the morning