DJ Comments

Yes, I did, actually. Rubbing hands and RCing have become routine in my LD's, and it seems to get more and more effective as I continue. I do have to try touching things more. If you check out this thread I made (http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...-new-post.html) and look at post #7, you can see some of the progress I've made.

Having a goal is one of the biggest things for me. In previous dreams like the one we're posting on, I had no goal other than to stay lucid. Knowing what I'm looking forward to helps immensely to incentivize staying lucid.

Thank you for asking!

Is it abnormally short for a beginner? I wonder, how much practice does it take on average to get longer lucids (5, 10 minutes plus), in terms of the number of dreams to practice in?

I'll definitely have to try out the rubbing hands technique. I've really wanted to try that for a long time, but I manage to forget usually.

I don't know how long lucid dreams has to have a beginner. I have usually longer dreams, especially when I know that I'm dreaming, because I can work on stabilization.
It is some time here, did you try that rubbing hands or constant moving and touching things while dreaming?

Is it abnormally short for a beginner? I wonder, how much practice does it take on average to get longer lucids (5, 10 minutes plus), in terms of the number of dreams to practice in?

I'll definitely have to try out the rubbing hands technique. I've really wanted to try that for a long time, but I manage to forget usually.

1-2 minutes is really short. You have to train relaxation and concentration. Also for stabilization of lucid dream- it better works shuffling or stroking hands together. You usually lose visual contact with dream. Feelings of touching may help to stop dream termination. Also constant moving helps. At the end, it is always about concentration.
Things I mentioned help with concentration on dream body, but are not necessary if your concentration is good enough.

Hmmm... I think it would have been probably two or so minutes long. My previous LD's were about 20 seconds each.

It would be interesting if that was shared dreaming.
No you are not a dream jerk
How long was that LD subjectivelly?

Thank y'all for your responses! They're much appreciated.

Originally Posted by midnightfire

I have a few questions/clarifications I am curious about. What do you mean by you had been working on observing HI?

By "observing HI" I mean the act of lightly falling asleep and watching little dreamlets pop into my head and try to make note of them consciously, as practice for WILD or something like that. However, for the most part this makes me wake up the moment I see them, because at the point they start coming around I'm practically unconscious. I just do it to try and stay conscious going into the dream state (REM).

By "had been working on..." I mean that the past few nights I had been practicing this when I go to sleep (pre- and post-WBTB). On that day, I had also gotten a lot of practice because my family was on a road trip and I just took naps in the back (I'd stayed up late for New Year and consequently didn't get much sleep that night). In these naps, I caught many different little dreamlets before suddenly waking up when I realized they were dreams, which I might post up here later.

Originally Posted by midnightfire

And when you said you woke up and fell back into that dream what do you mean by that? that you didn't move, just closed your eyes and re-imagined the dream and was back there?

Yep, exactly! Didn't move, and just thought about the dream intensely, wishing I was back there to get lucid. It felt like I essentially restarted the dream.

Cool! Well done on the lucid! some parts were quite funny in that dream lol it sounds scary to live in a place where there are large ungulates running around but at least you can see them coming :p so fear was a bit trigger for lucidity for you.

I have a few questions/clarifications I am curious abuot. What do you mean by you had been working on observing HI?

And when you said you woke up and fell back into that dream what do you mean by that? that you didn't move, just closed your eyes and re-imagined the dream and was back there?

Woohoo! Congrats on the lucid!

[Notes]:
- This is pre-WBTB dream material. I used the alarm to wake up at 5:30, with lights out at 11:30. I had already slept a ton that day on a road trip.

[Enter Dream]
I walk into this expansive, underground, concrete bunker. It's rather plain, but fairly clean and uncluttered. I make my way through this massive corridor to the lowest point, where I find the rest of my new gym class. This class is huge, and the majority of students are kinda unfamiliar. Then, I see Mr. Parker at the bottom of the stairs, standing in front of this garage door about 20 feet away. He throws up a hand signal and nearly everyone in front of me proceeds to go through this martial-arts-like series of motions and chants. He tells us about our new gym class and how newbies will have to learn to get along. We all kinda get dismissed, and wander around this expansive bunker.

I find myself at the locker room (the real one, I think) and I remembered what I'd learned the other day about "sticking points" on combination locks. I decide I'll try it out on a random lock, so I pick one that apparently was pretty close to EK's. I mess with it for a little while and I got it! It was really easy. I think I tried again on some other locks. Some were new and hard to feel, but others were old and well-worn, making them very easy to work with.

I'm sitting at this concrete lunch area, at the same table as AS. He's wearing a ton of bags: a dufflebag, rucksack, backpack, and more. He tells us in his normal fashion: "So I've got a proposition: I have a bag, with a lock. In that bag, there is some sjein, some Mary Jane." He also mentioned something about having to open the lock to get to it. I knew I had to be the one to open the lock, but I really wanted to do something drastic to that weed. I imagined myself running off to the river with it and lobbing it in.

[Alarm clock...]

Thank you for the information!

Yeah, for the most part I conclude that I'm not dreaming, so I see why that might be causing a problem. But I feel like I have to feel what it's like to lucid again, then I'll have a better notion as to what it feels like.

I like your method of simply saying you're dreaming and going about as if whatever reality you're in is a dream; it's sounds like you're just practicing the act of becoming lucid in waking life! I'll have to try this out.

Just wondering- have you found that hopping around on the forum before sleeping helps?

Thanks again,
Jelly

Can you describe what your thoughts are during your waking RCs? Do you ever tell yourself that you're not dreaming when you do them?
Something that helps me with my RCs is pretending that I'm really in a dream every time I do one. Instead of asking myself, "Is this a dream?" and having the option of saying "no" (which might become a habit in dreams), I excitedly tell myself, "This is a dream!" and think about the dream goals I want to do.
I also remind myself that any time I can't decide whether I'm dreaming or not, I almost definitely am dreaming, so I should never write off my questioning. And I remind myself that dreams can feel as real and believable as waking life, so even if I feel certain that I'm awake, I still genuinely question my state. I have become lucid this way in dreams when I was sure I was awake!
I also like to do multiple RCs so I always have a backup. If you're not noticing your hands in RCs, maybe try a different/additional RC like a nose plug (my personal favourite). If you're looking for a more subtle RC, you can also do a hands-free nose plug by blocking your nose and throat muscles and trying to breathe in, without needing to physically pinch your nose.

Congrats!!!!

My mom checked my email and discovered that Ki had written an email to me as well, and proceeded to give me an all-knowing "you've got yourself a girlfriend" glance.

The big question on my mind is why your mom has access to your email account. I mean, I know it's a dream so stuff really doesn't really have to make sense. But still, that's not very respectful of your privacy, is it...