LukeSid

Only one fragment of a dream today but at least I'm ticking over. I'm working at trying to visualize (maybe it's the way forward) I read somewhere that basic visualizing (for example seeing a red circle) is easier if you can induce the hypnagogic state and I have managed to achieve that once so far...so I'll try that route.

2.30
Myself and one other are on the run from some people. We are moving across a large open area and fearing that our pursuers are close behind.

We know that a house belonging to these people is coming up ahead so we branch left into a much more built up area...and that was it.

So far, since my return to Dream Views my dreams overall have been less and more disappointing and I can't work out why. I've definitely been working more at ADA, I know all the mantras, and responses by heart. I do have more of a health issue at the moment but I have a hospital appointment and I'm working on this problem.

The only other change has been the position of my bed. For the first time for 15 years in this house I'm sleeping north-to-south rather than east-to-west. I can't see any logical reason why that should matter but I will get around to switching back for a few days to at least knock that theory out of the equation.

As a by-the-way I've been Googling and I came up with this:-

When people slept mostly on their stomach, one of the most common dream subjects was sex, such as believing that they had a secret admirer, often someone famous. Other dream themes that were common for stomach sleepers included feelings of being tied up, being locked up and being unable to move.

What is this sleeping position’s connection to dreams of feeling restricted? While that’s not completely understood, the study’s authors say it may be a result of the pressure that’s applied to your face, chest and genitals when sleeping on your stomach.


I don't think I'll try this at the moment...I have enough trouble breathing as it is...

4.15
I'm apparently the lead singer (I seem to think) of a 50's type group. (The Diamonds type thing is how I'd like to kid myself )

Away we go with upbeat close harmony and I begin to really get into my groove...I'm really rockin' and my voice soars away and I'm gradually taking over the whole thing. I'm pretty impressed with myself and I think I'm the doggies doodahs but I then sense that I'm maybe I'm hogging the limelight a little too much. Then my bedside alarm (which I'd set for a WBTB) goes off...dream gone and yay!...I did a RC in case of false awakening.

Maybe, if the dream had gone on, I might have turned around and found everybody else had stopped and were perhaps staring coldly at me...

Downhill from then on, with the snuffles dragging out my back-to-sleep time by at least an hour.

6.15
A fragment. In a phone box I find a set of headphones and a watch and I like to think that I left them there because of my basic honesty...although I somehow seemed to wonder if they had been left there as some kind of trap???

Little Darlin' - The Original Diamonds (2004) - YouTube

Just one dream today because, just when things were starting to roll, I had to get up relatively early. Apart from the occasional very early dream I often don't get much till my set alarm time, because I don't push it now during the early hours...let the brain do its night-time maintenance...and it pays off because, so far, I haven't had one of those awful "feeling ill" episodes.

7.00 (after a WBTB)
Long drawn-out gunfight (DS=violence) in a very busy town...only it's between me and my grandson and against my oldest son (absolutely no conflicts in my family so I'm assuming that Ed's film budget was pretty tight) There was another character (who apparently gave me his gun) but the rest were just cheap DC extras.

At one stage one of my long distance shots clearly wounded my son (sorry son...I didn't write the script) After some skirmishing we eventually all met up together again and there wasn't a mark on my son, so Ed clearly couldn't afford a continuity girl either.

I quite often get an early dream that is less than an hour after I've fallen asleep so I wonder if they are in NREM sleep.

I currently still have a major problem with nasal congestion which is wrecking most of my night-time attempts at dream recall, but I managed to grab one at the very top of the night.

9.00AM
A young beautiful woman is attracted to me...a sign of how ridiculous dreams can be. There was no sex but some kissing and the advantage of dreams is that (a) you don't feel guilty and (b) you can't be arrested...yet.

There was what seemed like a very weak separation scene (I don't recall saying "this can't go on...I'm too old for you." Perhaps she did...maybe my dream "nasal snuffling" finally turned her off) I think we were at an airport and she's moving off and I hang back, not wanting to seem that I'm following her. But she turns back and tells me that she's going somewhere to load some Christmas carols onto her phone and she wants me to tell her my favourites??????

Ed...is that the best you can do? Not even a decent soundtrack. She wasn't my type being (a) too young (b) beautiful. I've always preferred the older fuller-figured woman (but she had to be reasonably attractive...i.e better looking than Sylvester Stallone...as he is now) She looked a lot like Clara from Dr Who...so maybe I was playing the Dr (nice casting Ed. I got 14 years younger)

I'm making serious efforts to get over my current recall problems and outside distractions. Apart from the new mattress I've bought a silk sleep mask to counteract the blazing global-warming dawns streaming through my (lined) curtains. I'm waiting for the NHS to creak into action and confirm a specialist appointment, to confirm whether it's dust allergy or something more serious..

I've also ordered £150+ worth of air-purifying equipment for my bedroom. That will remove dust etc down to 3 microns. All that might do the trick. My sensitivity to REM arrival is now back to previous levels and I'm loving the long riverside walks (where the sight of me moving thoughtfully along like an intense philosopher and clearly talking to myself must cause some amusement)

If all else fails, there's plan K...we're moving to the coast next year. Our part of Essex was recently designated by the World Health Authority as the most polluted area of England...small wonder. For 100+ years the Essex marshes have been London's rubbish-dumping ground (heaven knows whats down there) Also, we're downwind of the Capital and, it that wasn't bad enough, we're under the flight-paths of three major airports. I'm living in England's Chernobyl !

So...not good, but nowhere near over. I'm in no rush. I may disappear from here for days or even weeks at a time but, barring the unforeseen I'll pop up whenever I've got some new development or a half-decent dream. Ever onward!

Last night I moved my sleep time back to 10PM because the traffic outside my room get's busier from 7AM onwards. (although I doubt that I'll do that every night) I spent the next 2+ hours merely dozing. I'd set my alarm for 3.AM (that usually means I get no awakenings before the alarm but that's OK) I did a short WBTB

4.15
Fragment. In a dark place. Two men who were part of "my team"? were there and I warmly greeting one of them. He then dashed off somewhere and I turned to the other one and started talking to him...but he seemed non-committal.

5.30
In another darkish place with a load of people and their baggage (airport?) I sense that one of my bags has been stolen and I start to grub around, searched the vast piles of other people's baggage, trying to find it...everyone seemed unfazed by me rooting through their bags.

I shouted that my bag had been stolen and a woman said "are you saying that a dirty gypsy took it?" I protested that I'd hadn't said anything like that. (this is my major dream sign...looking for something)


8.00
(This one's outrageous) I'm in a large factory workshop (DS) A large crowd of engineers sit around at their tea break (good old traditional British dream). They have strange kettles...large, with a bulbous middle. I hear someone mention about "dreams" and my ears prick up (really?)

I cross over and start talking to him about dreams and I say something like "dream characters are supposed to make pretty meaningless conversation but you're making perfect sense." and he agrees (well he would wouldn't he?) His face is seriously distorted. (I trained myself to look for hands, not faces)

I would be crushed by this dream but I had one last time where the word "dream" was mentioned. I know from reading here and from past experience that DS's are useful, but by no means guarantee lucidity ...awareness does (which is why I'm working on it) Then you usually know when you're lucid.

The incident about my missing shirt on 15/9/14 that triggered my "flash" lucidity isn't one of my dream signs...merely something from one of my previous dreams. I've avoided making it a DS and I'm wondering if DS's for me are a bit of a waste of time...they generally just slap me in the face like a wet fish.

Attached Images

 

7.30 (after a WBTB and at least an hour getting back to sleep)

I'm a warehouse Manager (DS) walking around a warehouse. My manager was there with a visiting group of senior managers (she had once been my boss in a non warehouse-related job) That's dreams for you...pick and mix your jobs and co-workers.

She took me to one side and said quietly that she and the visiting group had been walking around for quite a while and there had been no sign of me. I immediately got defensive and said that I was in another warehouse (although I didn't have a clue where I'd been... THE big DS). Then I apparently "fessed up" and said I'd been feeling a bit down lately and it was wrong of me not to be around. (crawler)

Cut to another warehouse scene with me walking around watching people working...then cut to me apparently entering a gloomy London-type marbled office block. I realize that I have no shirt on. I've dreamed that before (two days before my LD on 9/9/13.

I immediately thought "this is a dream" and I was lucid....for all of 10 seconds. I looked around but there was really nothing to see because it was gloomy. Because I've had seven lucid experiences (including two after I left DV for the 1st time) I know I was lucid.

I think I was in a shallow sleep, probably just waking and it was maybe just the right combination of alertness and the last gasp of my dream. I didn't feel the ecstasy I felt after my first LD last time but I've been conditioning myself not to...just a quiet satisfaction...so I don't think excitement knocked me out of the dream.

After I woke I tried to DEILD (I've been rehearsing it) but it felt like my REM period had expired and nothing happened. Again I failed to RC before getting up...I seem to have a mental block re that exercise.

I'm the cautious type and I'm not claiming it as an LD. Last time I had my second LD five days after the first one and that was a longish dream (so here's hoping)

It's been a difficult couple of weeks, where I've had a lot of health problems, so this is a nice boost to my confidence. I've been occasionally waking feeling a bit fragile, but it's been nothing like the times I used to wake feeling really ill

Age brings its problems and it's not easy at the moment. I've solved night leg-pains by changing to a memory-foam mattress. (I must be getting like the Princess and the pea.) But I have increasing problems with my known dust allergy...probably made worse at the moment by my redecorating and off-gassing from the new mattress;-

Off Gassing and Memory Foam

Of course, waking, staying still with eyes closed and grabbing dreams can do without distractions like this so it's going to take me a while to get there (particularly as I decided to slightly apply the brakes this time around) So far, I haven't woken with the deathly "ill" feeling I occasionally had last time around so that's probably a good strategy.

One dream last night, plus one lost because I was coughing and spluttering.

9.00
I'm an athlete (DS = ridiculous) and racing someone up a sharp incline. I'm well ahead and I show off by slowing down and looking around. My nearest competitor nearly catches up and a large man is blocking my way and slows me down even more. I finally only win by the merest touch...and no, I've not being reading the "tortoise and the hare" recently.

I've tried analyzing this dream but with no obvious result yet.

During the day I'm on track...doing ADA etc. I'm also trying visualizing...trying like hell to "see" shapes. If I can only visualize WILD and DEILD may be my way in. I really cannot see "anything" at the moment so I really want to change that.

Major redecorating plans + family commitments will probably affect my dream efforts for a while and it certainly did last night.

6.00
Just a fragment. I'm on the platform of a railway station. I see a dead puppy lying on the ground. Suddenly, there's another one alongside it and it looks threatening. It runs towards me and nips me. Then I see another puppy appear and I run away...I'm embarrassed to admit that felt scared...

Still doing ADA...took a walk in the sun...ordered a memory-foam mattress and managed to grab just one dream last night.

5.00
Visiting, with someone, the house of a multi-millionaire (the inference was he made his money from IT) He came across as a really nice guy...perhaps he kept his DC talk down so seemed wise and knowing.

He was being very hospitable and, at one stage, while he was busy elsewhere, I found myself sitting in his chair covered by a blanket...presumably a bed reference had crept in there (DS) I felt guilty and quietly changed seats.

I'd forgotten that beds used to be a DS so my brain decided to slot in the only DS that I hadn't primed myself with, before settling down last night. I remember saying something like "You're such a nice guy that I think you deserve your wealth and I don't begrudge you having it at all."

He smiled...and, had he been real he probably would have thought "Twat"

Still not remembering to RC before getting up. Keep hammering it home.

Full moon in the Northern hemisphere people. Some researchers say it's a good dream time but the Moon doesn't seem to affect me....not even hairy hands...

4.45
Weird, frankly unpleasant dream. It followed my WBTB after 1 choline and very small coffee. (so far, that experiment always results in "yukky" dreams) Seems to bring out my dark side?

With a mixed group at a gathering or party and there's a row of toilets in the centre of the room. Men with their (girlfriends?) piggy-backing decide to sit on the toilets and do their business...still with the women on their backs! Sometimes, when the men finish the women drop off their backs and do their business...it gets worse.

One guy stands up and he's still got his woman on his back and she does her business from a height...he notices and says "Ugh!" and lets her drop. Ugh indeed!

I'll carry on trying the choline/coffee mix just to see if it always results in an unpleasant or uncomfortable dream...I can't, for the life of me, see why it should but we'll see.

7.30 Fragment
Working someplace (DS) and preparing to go off shift. Wandering around, carrying my work clothes and watching the clock as if time was fast running out and not seeming to know what to do or where to put the work clothes (worth turning into a major film do you think?) Slight variation on my major dream sign.

The earlier dream, though unpleasant, set me thinking...complete lack of any odour. If you're going to throw dreams like that at me Ed, maybe I'll make lack of odour a DS...then one hint of lavender and it's a dream buddy!

Last night the wife went off to babysit our grand-daughter so the night was mine. Whether to really go for LD or maybe get a woman in? I chose the marginally less difficult option and retired slightly earlier, read some LD stuff and went to sleep at midnight as per usual.

1.20
Somewhere in the Middle East and there was a palpable air of impending unrest...it seemed to be labour organizations v Government. A local well respected and moderate man had disappeared. "Why him?" someone said.

OK short, sad but early...a good sign...one fish in the net...then it slowly fell apart. I decided to set my alarm for 5.30 am in time to WBTB and catch the REM happy hours. It took me at least 2½ hours to get to sleep...I lay there and heard the woman next door idle her engine for at least 5 mins before setting off for her boot fair.

Her daughter's friend rolled up then waited as the daughter thundered back down the alleyway to get something she'd forgotten...amazing how one slightly-built girl can sound like a rampaging water-buffalo. Bang! door shut...Voom! off they went. Then the wife got home and I decided to WBTB again.

9.15
Walking in a large town for quite a while (although I don't remember much about it) I passed one guy who I thought was laughing at my age and I boldly challenged him. He said he was merely sweating because he'd just come from the gym??? Then he started DC speak about some girl and I reversed direction.

When I felt I'd gone far enough I ran really hard (DS = impossible to run hard) back to the town centre. On the way I passed a really amazing landscaped hill, with beautiful plants, statues and waterfalls. I couldn't resist climbing the hill then somehow decided it was somebody's front garden and I stopped climbing. By standing on tiptoe I could just see a large mansion at the top of the hill

So...it occurs to me that if I had pushed the lorry over the cliff edge on my dream of 4/9 I would have seen a really amazing vista and if I had climbed the hill last night....why so inhibited?

11.00
I'm a space (trooper?) with an automatic rifle and I'm pursuing aliens (who looked a lot like the Mangalores, from the film "The Fifth Element") on a planet that looked suspiciously like 20th century suburban London. They moved unfairly quickly and I never managed to hit one...I also threw grenades but never actually saw explosions.

Then they disappeared and I spent what seemed like ages looking for them (the mega mega mega dream sign) Then I'm closely followed by a young male (noooo...not again!) But he merely wanted to know what I was doing.

I went all show-offy and I explained that the aliens were "Karjons" (good name...wonder if it's been used before?) and I was hunting them. Then he launched into DC babble and I woke up. I wish I could condition myself to RC before I get up as well as I seem to be primed to wake at the sound of DC chatter.

All that was left to do was explain to my incredulous wife that I hadn't slept for 11 hours "if you take off the time I was up + the time I was sleepless I doubt if I slept for more than 8 hours" (well...I'm convinced)

On the face of it, last night should have been set fair for a good haul of dreams. But, all I got was one. Am I despondent? No...and I'll tell you why.

I really worked at ADA yesterday and I had a spiritually uplifting walk around a coastal area, working at awareness and doing some deep thinking about my place in the Universe (3rd star on the right, 3rd rock from the sun, just to the left of that tree by the river)

I read about experiments with choline + caffeine for memory recall:-

The effect of caffeine and choline on short term memory -- Nagrecha et al. 25 (1): 797.3 -- The FASEB Journal

I Googled and worked out that it required a weak coffee with half a teaspoon of instant granules but the choline? I use Super Choline ( 250mg +253mg vitamin B5) and they're talking about 2 grams? (8 tablets) I don't think so....I took 2. (and still felt very slightly wired)

1.00
A fairly long, almost film noir piece. Someone who seemed to be a head warden and "us" (the others) were clearly at loggerheads with much rushing about all over the place. There was a palpable air of violence (Oh no...not again) He was clearly up for it and seemed to be relishing the prospect of it all kicking off.

There was a distinct touch of a homosexual interlude (Oh no...not again) then I came at him wielding what looked like a really lethal croquet mallet (which morphed into a spindly little wooden thing...no...not Miley Cyrus)

Last time I was wired there were "gay" intimations. I'm as butch as the next guy and I wouldn't climb over Sofia Vergara to get to Brad Pitt. Maybe being wired just brings out my feminine side. So, an anti-climax of a night.

Review so far. I've been using Dream Views on 2 occasions (both times logging a few dreams before I signed up)

I've been back logging dreams for 31 days and logged 25 dreams (not counting a few fragments I didn't bother with)
On the first occasion it took me 101 days before I had my first LD and I'd logged 31 dreams in the first 31 days.

So...no cause for despondency. I'm just old and it takes me a while to get there but I'll get there (and I may not get there with you...hold on...wrong speech again)

it's also noticeable that I did it without choline etc. Mind you, I was taking beetroot tablets. I wonder if they'd take my choline back in part exchange?

Another night of frustrated plans, cock-ups and little else...but I've got a idea.

I'll switch from bed to living-room recliner throughout the night...a sort of mix-and-match to combat the pain. I may even slip out of the house at aprox 5.00 am every morning for a quick 15 minute walk. When we move to the coast next year I'll put a single recliner in my bedroom to leave the living room clear for the wife when she gets up.

Finally, right at the last gasp of the morning I had a dream fragment.

"My house" is right on the very edge of a very high escarpment (assumed rather than seen, because a very large van was parked on the edge and blocking the view.) I touched the side of the van but it was so close to the edge I feared I might push it over.

But, to the left, there was a gap between the van and the house and I peered round. I saw a vast river valley. The view was so vivid and so breathtaking. Moving through the valley and up towards me was a huge circular spaceship...mind blowing.

I'll take that as a visual word of encouragement...

Seduced...me?...at my age? No, it's not what you think...

The past few days have been desolate. My worst enemy is the pain I experience if I lay down more than about three hours. It forces me to move when I wake and it completely buggers up dream recall (although the dreams have been very faded anyway). Really I've gone backwards this week.

So, I've changed tactics. Although I wake up spontaneously after a dream, I've gone back to using an alarm. That way I can wake up after 2-3 hours and move around for a bit and that should help (multiple WBTB's I suppose) Also, although I'm working well on ADA etc... maybe it's too well (my brains even more wrinkled than most of yours and it might be feeling overwhelmed)

So it's back to basics. Some ADA and definitely some recall and more pre-bed preparation first thing at night and during WBTB's (read a bit of Deberge maybe and run through a plan (keeping it simple and straight to the point) We'll see.

Nothing from the first quarter so I did a WBTB at 6.00

7.00
I'm in a zoo somewhere and it's dark (can't see an animal anywhere so why did I assume it was a zoo?) Some youths are running around and I sense that they're up to no good so I keep out of the way. Then I'm suddenly on a boat.

It's apparently a Nile cruise boat? We're passing large vessels and moving quite fast...dangerously even. the captain executes a reckless turning manoeuvre and we seem to be heading back.

I heard someone say "Look at those huge ships" and suddenly we're moving down a busy main road in a city centre with not a drop of water in sight..

...and the seduction? It's that strumpet Fiona WILD...I can't resist her. It's getting now that I only have to lay awake for more than 10 minutes and I start to get SP in my hands and arms. I know by now that it's a false ride but I actually started getting flashes of blue colour (rather than the usual forest-green). I swear that, if I ever get a dream scenario pop up it will be in the middle of Sherwood Forest.

So I fell for it...45 minutes later my REM finished and it was "slam thump thank you chump" for me again I'm afraid. Will I ever learn? No I won't...she's such a sexy momma and I'll take what I can get...

Choline doesn't seem to have contributed to dream results these last few days (unfortunate because I've just bought 2 more bottles...still, it's early days yet) I didn't take any before retiring to bed.

1.25
This could have been a blockbuster Western (maybe like The Big Country) but because it wasn't particularly long or vivid it was more like a B movie...or even one of Ed's home movies.

It seemed to concern local "Families" and another big local family seemed to want my family to leave the area. Two of their senior women were astride their horses and wanting to know if we were leaving this morning...as I had apparently said we would be.

I was saying something about maybe we would later in the day and one of them said that our presence was upsetting another of their senior women. Clearly not a John Ford masterpiece...not a gun in sight.

Did a quick WBTB and had a very small coffee and took one choline. (can't resist experimenting)

8.00
Another fragment really. It involved some sort of gathering (maybe even a wake) commemorating a family member. The highlight seemed to be a crowd of younger people laying on the floor partly obscured by furniture. They were singing and the girls in the group were periodically holding up their handbags. (was this supposed to represent a group of girls "dancing around their handbags?) I noticed one handbag in particularly fine detail...it was enormous, open and completely empty. Crazy...and completely incomprehensible...

Nothing to get excited about last night but at least there was an early dream. I'm hampered by the fact that I usually waken with leg pains and automatically turn over before my self-conditioning - not to - kicks in. How much that destroys dream recall is difficult to quantify but I know I lost at least one more dream.

Still working with ADA and other routines. I'm trying rosemary oil (a couple of drops on a pillow) after I read this article

Rosemary aroma may help you remember to do things:-

Rosemary aroma may help you remember to do things -- ScienceDaily

We'll see what happens long term.