In Need of Advice

[Arachanox]

I have restarted my attempts of gaining lucidity from a year ago, and I have started with the Wake-Back-to-Bed method in combination with willpower/affirmations. Three nights ago, I slept for 5 hours, woke up and stayed up for an hour reading lucid dreaming material and dream journals, and then fell back asleep. That night was the first night in a long time that I remembered any dreams - I remembered 5 fragments in a row! However, the next night, I slept for 5 hours but exhaustion made me stay awake for about 7-10 minutes. When I fell back asleep, however, I had one very long dream with excellent recall (also, most of my dreams are in third-person, but this one was taken from a first-person perspective; exciting for me since I got to "experience" the dream!) Most WBTB guides suggest that you stay awake for 60 to 90 minutes, but I was much better off with that short interval than with the long one. My question is, is this because my dream-recall capabilities grew from the first to the second night, or do you think that the "method that works for me" is a short, 10 minute interval instead of an hour?

[Snowy Egypt]

Well, since it's worked for you so far, I'd say yes. You should try it a few more times to confirm. I was wondering if I'd ever see that avatar again.

[Arachanox]

Well, since it's worked for you so far, I'd say yes. You should try it a few more times to confirm. Ok, I will do so and gather some data on it! I was wondering if I'd ever see that avatar again. Wow, you must be a forum oldie then. I haven't been here in a year and a half! But Uizu always endures. And your Pika-Naruto is just too funny for me to look at.

[Shady]

Also another thing is you may have woken up in a different phase of your sleep cycle; making it either more or less desirable to slip right back off to sleep. Even though both may have been say 5 hours in; it still could have been off by say 15 or 30 mins either way (or both) which would lead you to awaken during a completely different stage of sleep. I don't think there exists a perfect time to stay awake on a night to night basis for anyone; its somewhat situational. Some nights Im up for 2 minutes, others it can be around 30. Although because you have had success with lower times; I'd say keep trying and if it doesn't work start adding a bit of time. If your to tired or to awake consistently just adjust the amount of core sleep you get prior to (Maybe 4 or 6 hours instead.) Use whats working; adjust as needed pretty much. Really there's no sense starting big and working your way down unless you are an exceptionally "slow riser". If it takes you a long time and maybe a shower or a cup of coffee to get going in the morning I might suggest trying a little big lengthier 'awake' time. For now aim for the 15 minute or so time window; increase as necessary. Starting high is a waste of time imo (Unless of course your more comfortable with it); but I'd suggest start small so if it doesn't work you haven't lost 90 mins of sleep. Eventually you will just know the feeling.. you'll know when its "right" and if it isn't you will naturally learn ways to adjust to make sure to keep up a consistent success rate. *Edit* Oh and about the dream recall thing; it usually doesn't have that much of an "improvement" spike from one night to the next (At least for me). Some dreams are just more memorable or meaningful, and I mean there's just so many things that contribute to dream recall in the short term. Usually the first big thing that comes with improved recall is consistency; when you get a whole bunch of those vivid dreams every week you know things are going well.. Multiple fragments nightly is usually the first step towards better recall. I personally went like this.. 0 Dreams - Hadn't remembered more then the odd fragment for like years. 0-1 Fragments nightly - Just remember like 10-30 secs from a dream.. sometimes just flashes of imagery 3-7 Multiple Fragments nightly; every now and then a long, vivid dream - Seemingly around about where you are; need more then 2 nights reference to be sure though 5+ Fragments; 2-3 Vivids; sometimes one "super dream" - (Beyond explanation; everything is just.. so clear.. these are usually from WILDs or just high lucidity. And nowadays the roles are reversed, I usually have multiple dreams similar to "real life", followed by a few fragments that I cannot usually tell which dream they belong to. My lucids used to all be on another level of clarity; but now there isn't to much of a difference on most nights.. Still from time to time I just have a completely blown out dream. (These usually disappoint me on waking up as I realize how dull everything really is .) I mean it didnt happen over 3 or 4 nights as the list might have you believe; but it really did come quite rapidly when I put the "effort" in. Odds are you'll be completely different but who knows! With consistency comes more realism or vividness; I do know that much. So just keep doing what your doing if its working.

[Arachanox]

Thanks for all of the advice, and I will start increasing time regularly as you suggest. While my first two nights went well, my last two have suffered because of interruptions either in my staying-awake time or rude awakenings in the morning (from family members). Hopefully I won't lose my recently gained clarity over two unforunate nights, though. Thanks for everything!