side notes

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[FONT="Courier New"]My first goal in my lucid dreaming practice was to find a way to easily induce at least one lucid moment each week. I have noticed that I have fulfilled that goal now and I have learned what makes that possible and what's not.

Dream recall is the first priority because that is first of all required to remember any lucid experience at all and second of all it makes the dreamer more aware, the dream more vivid and therefore more easier to become lucid in.
So keep a pen and a piece of paper by the bed and write down any dreams that you remember in the morning, after some time you will be so aware that you start to notice your micro-awakenings in the night after each dream and can record it in better detail and with a fresher memory.

The second priority is the bedtime. If I go to bed too late, my dream recall will be low, harder to be aware of, and therefore harder to become lucid in. Going to bed at an regular or earlier time gives the opposite effect:
high dream recall, easier to be aware of and easier to become lucid in.

The third priority is the mindset. A stressed out or worried mind mind is as bad as a late bedtime and therefore very important. That's why aiming for general higher awareness of the dream is better than aiming for the lucidity itself.
Easier to imagine and easier to fulfill. If one doesn't succeed one night you got to have the mindset of there's always another night.

These three simple steps is what have helped me induce lucid dreams every week frequently. I wrote this mini guide to remind myself of the power behind these factors and to help people who needs it learn from my experience.

Even though I get lucid often, it doesn't mean that they last for long. Usually 10 seconds to one minutes.
And I have tried all sorts of different stabilization techniques from spinning, hand rubbing, engaging the other senses etc. They work from time to time, but it's far from frequent.

So that is my new goal. Find away to easily stabilize the dream. I have been to focused on the lucid induction part so I have completely ignored the stabilization as can been seen in this Dream Journal. I have always trusted that my dreaming mind will become more clear automatically at some point and that I could figure out a way to stabilize at the spot.
And it did happen sometimes, but I was always to focused on the thoughts I had before I got lucid and focused on unnecessary things like trying to convince a dream character that they were dreaming, learning to fly when I am barely lucid, hitting on hot girls... You get the idea. So now I am going to have a plan of action, something that should be the first thing that comes to mind while I am lucid and doing it instantly. I will cycle through all the different stabilization techniques again to really see the effects of each one.

But that's the first priority in the goal of stabilization, a plan of action.
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[I][B]In this time nothing has substance and there is no life or death.

We exist there without fear, without pain, without purpose.

We travel there in our sleep for the dreamtme is always with us, waiting in the darkness.

The spirits who watch over us rose from deep within the void and darkness and created the sky and the sea and the land

and everything that isn't.

The immortals, the resurrected, their spirits remain on this plane.
They live in both worlds the dreamtime and our time. That's That's why they are sacred.

They consume us to become one with us. For they are the bridge between the two worlds...[/B][/I]

I have done more attempts of falling asleep consciously in the beginning of my sleep for some nights now.
And I noticed that my dreams were much more vivid and also that I woke up after each one of them.
In each dream I dreamed about three different dream scenarios before waking up and usually I would count that as 3 dreams recalled. And I woke up at perfectly timed dream cycles.

I went to bed 11.36 and I woke up from my vivid dream 02: 06. I was surprised of how engaged and active I was in the dream but still so unaware of who I really was. And also surprised that I didn't become lucid.

I had about four micro awakenings which in total equals 3x 4 dreams = 12 dreams scenarios recalled NEW RECORD!

12 dreams no lucidity. Hmmm...

It is annoying to wake up all the time so now I am going to try to chain the dream on those awakenings instead and get lucid.

I have listened to the gateway experience for so many time so I remember every single word that he say.
So I can actually lay still with closed eyes for 40 minutes without much effort.

I am not saying this to brag, I am just trying to bust the most motivating myth of all when it comes to lucid dreaming.

[B]Is it possible to lucid dream without prior non-aware sleep?[/B]

I think I am near an answer, because on the last days attempts I have kept laying still after those 40 minutes, but I usually give up 20 minutes after that. So in summary one hour! Around that time I am still aware of my body, but I have seen some blue light pattern behind my closed eyelids, so something is happening.

Anyway if I just can endure 30 minutes more I have been laying still for 1 hour and 30 minutes which is about when in theory the first REM-cycle should start. Don't ask me how I maintain awareness because I honestly don't know.
The downside with this experiment is that if you give up, you will not be able to fall asleep again... :roll:
And... that while doing this time feels soooo slow. So you have to just lay there and think:
"If I move I will not only fail and get frustrated I will also not be able to fall asleep! So I have to endure".

This is torture guys but I have to find the truth about this myth and not to mention it's always nice with a lucid dream :shadewink:

I'll tell you the result tomorrow. Wish me good luck!

Ps. Let's just hope that my REM cycle doesn't start 120 minutes in... But in that case I'll just have to wait some more. :shock:

When Robert Monroe designed his WAVE CD:s he wanted to let the people learn by their own sensations and instincts so they could learn to naturally expand their consciousness to higher energy systems.

The majority of people who have been using the Gateway experience, including me, started using it to learn to get OOBES.
And to do so I thought I just needed to lay there listen to the tapes and the rest would take care of itself.
Oh boy how stupid can on man be?

I read the Frequent Asked Questions Section and found this:

Q: I’m currently working with the Discovery album. What if I can’t get out of my body on tape
#5 („Exploration, Sleep”)? Should I continue with tape #5 until I do, or after a reasonable time
move on to the next tape?

A: Not everyone will have a conscious out-of-body experience
(OBE). It takes a lot of practice for most, and , many of us have hidden fears that hold us back.
Also, if you try too hard for an OBE, the intense effort can become the very distraction that
holds you back. Be nonchalant about OBEs. They are just a small part of our program of
personal exploration and learning to expand consciousness. As long as you’re thoroughly
familiar with tape #5, by all means go on to the next tape.

So I realize now that OOBE is just a bonus and not as great as the true purpose of the gateway experience is.
"if you try too hard for an OBE, the intense effort can become the very distraction that holds you back."
which is exactly what I have been doing.

So now I did one attempt where I didn't aimed for an OOBE or any sensations of the sort, and instead of just laying there and listen I daydreamed at the same time. When he said go to your Energy Conversion box, instead of thinking about what I wanted to put in it and some dull imagination of me closing it, I imagined that I was standing in a Mayan temple and let my subconscious fill in the rest. I started thinking about a pirate chest and voila that worked as my new conversion box, and I continued to be active in my non-physical space this way and I managed to stay aware through the whole CD which is about 40 minutes, without moving and without the annoying swallowing reflex or coughing.
AND my body was completely numb when I tried to get out of bed, so this was Focus 10: Mind Awake Body Asleep.

I am going to use my DreamJournal as a place to write about my future attempts.

Now I am moving on to the Advanced Focus 10 CD.

I hope this was helpful for Gateway Experience users :)