spellbee2

So I've decided to do a 30-day challenge of using the SSILD technique. I have experimented with the technique before with somewhat mixed success. So this time I'm going to use nothing but SSILD for the next 30 days and record how many LD's and FA's I get. So here we go:

Day 5

My timing tonight was absolutely horrible. I went to bed at 12:30 and set my alarm for 5:45 (I seem to have best results if I wake up after 5 hours of sleep). However, I naturally awoke from dream 1 below at about 4:00. I figured, what the heck, so I did the cycles then instead, but left my alarm on just in case. However, I then naturally woke up after dream 2 at 7:30ish for some reason - meaning I completely slept through my alarm (which automatically turns itself off after 15 seconds). Somewhat disappointed, I tried the cycles again before I went to sleep. I don't remember any dreams from then until I woke up again about 5 minutes before my final alarm went off at 10:30. As a result, I only had 2 somewhat-disappointing non-lucid dreams.

1. I was back at the grocery store (dream sign, anyone?), but instead of being a normal grocery store, it was the set for a kid's game show. The set looked like that old show "Legends of the Hidden Temple", but had the premise of "Supermarket Sweep" (2 big reasons why the 90's were the best). Kids would run down the aisles retrieving specific products and bringing them back to the front of the store.

2. I went back in time to when I was in 8th grade (I remember thinking "8th grade is fine. I'm sick and tired of all this college stuff.") One of my coworkers (yes, from the grocery store...) was our substitute history teacher. She was writing our assignments on the board, which included "Frog Dissection Part 2" (kind of a weird thing to do in history class), and two long papers. I remember thinking how interesting her handwriting looked, almost like it looked like in real life (yes, I'm an idiot. I was so close, but hey, it's progress, I suppose...).

Day 5: LD - 0, FA - 0
Total: LD - 4, FA - 1

So I've decided to do a 30-day challenge of using the SSILD technique. I have experimented with the technique before with somewhat mixed success. So this time I'm going to use nothing but SSILD for the next 30 days and record how many LD's and FA's I get. So here we go:

Day 4

I went to bed at about 11:15. I woke up at 4:45, went to the bathroom, and came back to do my cycles. I honestly wasn't really focusing on the cycles that much, and I got more caught up in random other thoughts. I finally woke up at 7:50 (I had to meet with someone at 8:30). Nothing. Zip. Nada. I don't remember any dreams from that night. However, when I got back from my meeting, I went back to bed (about 9:15). I completed the cycles again, this time focusing a little more on the effort. I completed the cycles, but it took me a long time to fall asleep. I had one of the longest and one of the haziest LDs I've ever had. I don't remember a lot of it, but I do remember a few lucid fragments.

1. As I realized I was lucid, the scene went black. As I rubbed my hands together, I decided where I wanted to go (the lobby of my grocery store - see Day 1 of challenge). The scene kind of rushed in, and I was fairly close to where I wanted (outside in the parking lot...). I felt like I could still kind of feel my real body, so I went on a quest to separate from my body.

2. I walked by this restaurant where all the workers were friends from school or church. Like seriously, that was the name of the restaurant, Friends from School and Church. I went inside and asked for one specific friend, and the employee went to go get her. As I waited, I contemplated telling her that I was lucid and that this was a dream. However, as I thought about this, I still felt my real body in bed. I remembered that in OBEs, one can float out of your body, so that's what I tried. I grabbed a balloon that was next to me and sucked the helium out of it. Sure enough, I started to float. However, I still felt my body, possibly even more than before.

3. I was in my driveway. In one last attempt to become fully lucid and ditch my body, I decided to just walk around and explore, seeing and feeling how real everything was, hoping that the more lucid I became, the less I would feel my body. I walked around my car, feeling how cold and hard the metal was. I grabbed some dirt and felt it fall through my fingers. It probably would've worked if I had started earlier, but instead, I woke up.

It was really a weird sensation, feeling my body for the entire lucid dream. It kind of inhibited my dream control, and it was definitely distracting. However, an LD is an LD, so...

Day 4: LD - 1, FA - 0
Total : LD - 4, FA - 1

So I've decided to do a 30-day challenge of using the SSILD technique. I have experimented with the technique before with somewhat mixed success. So this time I'm going to use nothing but SSILD for the next 30 days and record how many LD's and FA's I get. So here we go:

Day 3

Technically this should be day 4, but Saturday night I only got 4 hours of sleep, so I didn't even bother to attempt a lucid dream.

Tonight, however, I went to bed at about 12, but because my back was killing me for some reason, I didn't get to sleep until about 1. I woke up at 6:00, went to the bathroom, and then did the cycles before I fell asleep. To be honest, my dream recall was a little hazy, but I do remember one very hazy non-lucid dream, one FA and one LD.

1. I was at Target getting some supplies for some party with my friend. The line was ridiculously long (gotta love those old ladies and their checks...), so me and my friend decided to grab some Nerf guns and fight. These guns, though, were ridiculously overpowered, and they shot the bullets so hard they were able to leave cracks in the concrete walls. I figured that it wouldn't be good to destroy this Target (plus I couldn't imagine how much pain those babies could inflict), but my friend insisted and started chasing me with it. I was hiding behind aisles trying not to get shot until...

2. My mom woke me up in the morning. I got up and walked over to my closet while she told me some news or some story about something. I realized however, that my room looked wrong, like there was a mirror next to my closet that wasn't there IWL. I did a noise plug RC and found that I was dreaming, but as soon as I did, the scene went black. I tried rubbing my hands together, shouting, "lights on," and finally spinning around.

I don't remember exactly what happened next. I think I woke up, but managed to stay completely still and perform a DEILD, but whether that awakening was true or if I was lucid from the start of the next dream, I'm not sure.

3. I was lucid. I started flying off the ground without really thinking about it. I decided to go with it and lifted myself higher. I slowly rose to about 20 feet, and then I picked up speed until I got about 100 feet in the air. There were tons of power lines in my way, probably the biggest mess of power cables I'd ever seen, but I dodged them all fairly easily. I then set myself horizontally and prepared to take off. It took me a couple tries to get the right technique. I first tried Hancock style with my arms back, but it kind of made me pitch down towards the ground. Finally, I got it with both hands outstretched. I flew faster than any other time I had tried to fly in a dream (usually I just poke along at a really slow pace, like my flying engine is just a trolling motor). I managed to lift myself higher until I got to space. I continued to fly, while the planets rotated behind me, kind of like the background in the Flintstones. I continued this until my phone vibrating woke me up.

Day 3: LD - 1, FA - 1
Total: LD - 3, FA - 1

So I've decided to do a 30-day challenge of using the SSILD technique. I have experimented with the technique before with somewhat mixed success. So this time I'm going to use nothing but SSILD for the next 30 days and record how many LD's and FA's I get. So here we go:

Day 2

I went to bed at about 12:15, although I didn't finally go to sleep until almost 1. I woke up at 5:30, but instead of going to the bathroom, I just sat up in my bed since I was lazy... I then performed the cycles for about 15 minutes before I tried to go to sleep.

I was working at my job at the grocery store (I work there almost every day, so why not dream about it almost every day?). Some other employees and I were on kind of an espionage mission trying to catch this shoplifter who somehow managed to walk out with multiple 12-packs of Coke without paying. I was to keep an eye on the door and on the suspect's car. Everything was going smoothly, but suddenly the suspect's car started to pull out of the parking lot. I ran at a full sprint out the door as I yelled into my walkie-talkie, "Emergency situation. Suspect is fleeing the scene." I ran as fast as I could and tried to cut him off before he reached the street. I lunged for the car, but I missed and fell on the pavement. I then woke up.

A little more disappointing night of dreams, especially after the success I had last night, but I'm sure all techniques have their ups and downs.

Day 2: LD - 0, FA - 0
Total: LD - 2, FA - 0

So I've decided to do a 30-day challenge of using the SSILD technique. I have experimented with the technique before with somewhat mixed success. So this time I'm going to use nothing but SSILD for the next 30 days and record how many LD's and FA's I get. So here we go:

Day 1

I went to bed a little bit after midnight, and woke up at 5:45 am. I went to the bathroom and then performed the SSILD cycles while focusing on my breath, WILD style. I distinctly remember 4 dreams, and one little scene from a 5th dream.

1. I was doing some kind of cross-country trip (except I was walking, but whatever). We were going across this long patch of ice that was pretty much a road. There were a lot of people on the ice, like it was a public pool or something. There was also a sign about how if you fall in the water, there are flying "superdogs" patrolling to lift you to safety. I went across the first time without much trouble, as it was mostly downhill and I was able to slide the whole way. The way back, however, was much harder. I got to a thin part of the ice and fell in. However, the water wasn't that cold, and I was able to pull myself back up onto the ice.

2. In this dream, I was sort of more of a passive observer. I was not part of the actual story, but I could see the whole thing and move about freely (kind of like the cutscenes in Half-Life). The story took place in some kind of hotel suite. This girl that looked like Selena Gomez was basically hiding from the police in the hotel room of this other guy. After a while, there was a knock at the door. The girl (I'll just call her Selena) ran to go hide, while the guy opened the door. It was my two RA's at college and two police officers coming to search his room. That dream soon ended, however.

3. I was working at my job as a cashier at a grocery store (don't mock, it's a summer job...). It was absolutely swamped, almost as bad as Christmas or Thanksgiving. The lines were backing up, and I was trying to work as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, nothing was going right. One lady walked out without paying after I told her her total, and on one order the printer completely shredded the receipt, and when I went back to reprint it, I couldn't find the button to do it. My supervisor came over and said something to me about showing up for work 3 hours late. I realized that I couldn't remember why I showed up so late or what I had been doing earlier that day. I thought, "Maybe this is a dream!" I wanted to take on the TOTM, but I wanted to make absolutely sure I was dreaming since actually getting naked at work IRL is kind of frowned upon. I looked for something out of the ordinary to prove that it was a dream, and sure enough, there was this big glass structure over my register, kind of like a big version of those glass shelters at bus stops. I was then confident that I was dreaming. I got out from behind my cash register and went to the front of the store. I shouted, "Excuse me, everyone, may I have your attention please?" I then proceeded to take off my clothes, which were a little tight, almost like they were made of spandex. I then shouted, "I'm naked!" No one seemed to pay attention though. I then went on to do other things, while naked, for a minute or two until I woke up.

I woke up at about 7:30 am. I wrote down these dreams in my journal, and did kind of a shortened version of the SSILD before I went back to sleep.

4. I was some kind of ghost zombie killer/treasure hunter. It was like some video game where I had to shoot these monsters while also going in the cave to collect treasure. The cave looked like it was at Disney World or some theme park or something. I had to go inside, grab this idol, and get out before the cave collapsed. I did this about two or three times. The last time, however, these three kids (about 10 or 11 in age) that I apparently knew followed me in. I grabbed the idol and turned around to find them behind me. I urged them to get out before the place collapsed. Two of them went ahead of me, but one decided to take up the rear and follow me. When I got to the exit, though, he was gone. I knew that I had to go back in and find him. I ran back through the collapsing cave and found a secret exit through this lake of some sort. It led me outside back to the entrance of the cave. I got out of the water and noticed this girl (pretty sure it was Selena again) acting suspicious. I decided to keep an eye on her. She went around this corner and had a confrontation with this lady, who I assumed was her mom. They fought, but then went around the corner out of sight. After a couple seconds, Selena came back around the corner. When she noticed me, she kind of panicked, screamed "I didn't mean to do it," and ran away. I could tell by her response and by the dramatic music starting that something bad had happened. I turned to the people behind me and told them to call 911. I ran around the corner to find Selena's mom and dad both stabbed in the heart, dead. I asked someone standing nearby what had happened, but they just told me basically gibberish. Soon after, I woke up.

5. (This fifth "dream" is technically just a dream scene. I don't remember when in the night it occurred, and I don't remember any other part of the dream other than this, but apparently I was lucid since I remembered my lucid intentions and fulfilled one of them.) I was in some kind of trench, sliding down into this abyss. I remembered that I wanted to meet my dream guide, and that he could help me. (I had already predetermined that I wanted my dream guide to be a large wolf-like creature named Bartholomew with fiery orange hair and the voice of Liam Neeson... yeah...) I tried to imagine him coming to my rescue, and he did, although he had just plain gray fur. He pulled me out of the trench to safety. After I was safe on solid ground, I asked him what his name was, and he replied with a low-pitched, "Bartholomew." I wanted to ask him some questions, but I soon either woke up or lost lucidity.

So, overall, I'd say a successful day 1 of SSILD. Technically 2 LD's in one night, which is a record for me, I believe. Can't wait to see what happens the next 29 days.

Day 1: LD - 2, FA - 0