Littlezoe's Workbook

So hello teachers and students :)

I decided to join the academy mainly for two reasons:

1, My recall of regular dreams is getting worse day-by-day since some time now... I can remember 3-5 dreams a day, but i forget them easily after getting out of the bed.
I run a dream journal for 2 weeks when i started practicing LD (2 years ago), but got bored of it really fast because it was too tiresome to write down 3 or more dreams a day.
For a long while (more than 1 year) i had no real problem with recall, even without a journal. However during these days it's really getting worse...
So my main concern would be to work on my recall :)

2, I talked about this a little already in my "LDs during the night?" thread (sorry, can't post links yet), my LDs always happen after 7-8AM (except 3 cases) and it makes my dreams less stabile almost always... I can stabilize them and go back to them multiple times, but it would be a lot better to have my LDs earlier and of course in a more stabile dream environment.


About me: I'm practicing LD since 2 years, with many successes over the years. I mainly use WBTB (and SSILD with it since a week) and self suggestion to believe that i'll have LDs, which helped over time :)
I also do handcheck and environment check RCs daily when the whole Lucid Dreaming pops in my mind, but RCs never appeared in my dreams yet, so i only do them to improve my critical attitude towards everything.

So well, i would be glad to get some help on these matters. I'm doing well with dream control, so i only need help with getting to the LD itself :)

Hi littlezoe, welcome!

Looks like you are a LD pro! You are practicing everything I usually recommend - RCs, mantras, DJ, awareness.

Why do you think your recall has changed? Did your sleep schedule/waking time/time you have in the morning to recall or write down dreams changed? You could try to write down all your dreams for a month to see, if recall improves. It doesn't hurt to write in your DJ something about appreciating your dreams. Our higher self is listening, even if we don't realize it. I usually also say thank you for all my dreams before bedtime.

The longer we sleep, longer the REM is, that's why the best and longest dreams are usually towards the morning. Not sure how to make them happen sooner. You could try to do WBTB sooner, after 4.5hrs of sleep should work.

Interesting about your RCs not showing up in LDs. Mine do, but not always. I usually put lots of emotions into saying them. Have you tried hukif's gravity RC? Say 'if I was in a dream, I would levitate". Maybe this will work for you. Please let me know, if I didn't answer some of your question. Keep posting your progress. Happy dreams:)

Thanks for the reply, gab :)

I don't really know why, but i just got a feeling in the last months that my recall is getting worse and worse... I usually wake up at least twice during the night and always remember a dream after waking up, in the morning i usually remember at least 3 dreams, sometimes full ones, sometimes fragments. But i noticed that i forget them really fast these days :(
As Arch mentioned to me, it might affect my LD ability as well, which worries me a little... :/

That thing you said about appreciating the dreams is a really good idea, i never thought about that yet :) But i know that even small thoughts can change a lot.

I thought about doing WBTB earlier, but everytime i tried that so far, i never succeeded with LD... for some reason WBTB only works for me later in the morning as well... don't really know the reason for that.

I started the first 4 months of practice with only RCs and i did them seriously, but it never showed up in my dreams at all. When i have a DILD it's thanks to my awareness, but i never do RCs in my dreams for some reason. That levitation one is interesting, but the problem is that my dream self doesn't even think about doing an RC :)


So well, basically i would just like to improve my recall mainly... and honestly, i hoped that some of you might be able to recommend me another way other than writing a DJ :P Because i'm really lazy to do that... but if there is no other way then i might try it.. But here on the site i only plan on writing down my Lucid Dreams, not the regular ones :)
And i also hoped that i would get some kind of tasks around here... i like doing tasks ^^

About RCs - I don't do them consciously either in a dream. I just do it suddenly. Last time I did a nose plug, which completely surprised me, because I almost never practice that. Sometimes I mix them up. Drop some and do some new ones. But only after I give them enough time to work. After reading in some book, that all this waking world may acctually be just a dream, I started saying during day "I am dreaming" while really feeling how it would be, if it was true. This got me lucid once, when in a dream I started hearing 'I'm dreaming' and then another voice saying "I wonder how long it will take her to ralize that".

Don't start believing that your recall is slipping. Tell yourself "my recall is still good, this is just a fluke". It's important how we think. Always think positively.

Have you tried mantras before bed about remembering your dreams? Something like "I remember my dreams", "I wake up after each dream and remember it", When I wake up in the morning, I have great memory of my dreams". I think recall also depends on what time during the dream cycle we wake up. Talk to your higher self. Something like "wow, that was a great dream last night, thank you, can I please have some more".

Ok, so how about this task:
1. Try this classic RC of looking at your hands together with this awareness technique:

During day, no matter what you do, suddenly and with surprise, ask yourself "Am I dreaming?". This question has to give you a jolt, has to startle you, as if this really could be a dream, you just didn't realize it because you didn't RC. Look around, is everything as it should be? Any minor differences? Look at your hands (palms) and count your fingers - is there a right amount? Push you thumb through your palm and expect it to go through. Pinch your nose shut and take a breath and expect to breathe. Say "If this was a dream, I could float' and expext to gently lift off". Nothing? Look at your palms and say "next time I'm dreaming I look at my hands and realize I'm dreaming". Repeat couple of times.

Try to recall a happy feeling when you say the 'I realize I'm dreaming" mantra. Like day after christmas you wake up, you have happy feeling in your belly and yo don't know why, then you realize it's because you have pile of new presents. Or any other happy feeling that you can physically feel in your belly. Your mind will learn to associate you being happy with lucid dreams and will help you get both. Hope this helps :)

Thanks gab :)

The mantras are something that i did since long, but mostly just the "I'll realize that i'm dreaming" or something similar one. But today i tried multiple ones like you suggested, althrough i'm almost sure i've fallen asleep in between them :s

I literally only just remember 2 short dreams now (i just woke up 10 or so minutes ago) which were both 20 minutes before i woke up... the other ones are fully missing :/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by littlezoe

"I'll realize that i'm dreaming" :/

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I think I forgot to mention - mantras should always be in present tense, never future. Out mind interprets 'I will' as anytime later, just not now. So something like "I realize I'm dreaming" should work.

It's not easy to remember all dreams from the night, if you don't wake up between them and write them down. Dreams are stored in different part of the brain than regular dreams and they get overwritten by new dreams. But 2 dreams a night is not bad at all. :)

True... but months ago i could recall 3-4 full dreams a day =(

Anyway, i had an LD today, at 11AM, which is kinda late... so the dream was really instabil... i'll write it down into my DJ here soon :) Other than that i only remember a single dream fragment.
I did the mantras again, but in future tense, which you just said is not so good... I'll do them in present tense from now on then ^^

But i'm really glad for the LD, this is the third one this week :) I only had one single week before when i had 3 LDs :)

Well, seems like the mantras don't help much so far. Today i literally couldn't remember anything and yesterday i only remembered once i was at the same place where i was in my dreams... I'm gonna try doing them more though..

Hey, sorry, I didn't get a chance to reply until now.
I'll start from OP.

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1, My recall of regular dreams is getting worse day-by-day since some time now... I can remember 3-5 dreams a day, but i forget them easily after getting out of the bed.
I run a dream journal for 2 weeks when i started practicing LD (2 years ago), but got bored of it really fast because it was too tiresome to write down 3 or more dreams a day.
For a long while (more than 1 year) i had no real problem with recall, even without a journal. However during these days it's really getting worse...
So my main concern would be to work on my recall

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I think we both know what to do then, it's the dream journal, I've got some tips to help you cope though.
When you wake up, consolidate the memorys, run over them in your head and get them in order for about 10 mins when you wake up, this can help both getting them down in the DJ, but remembering them throughout the day.
If you have loads of dreams, bullet point the key events, if you have an epic LD, obviously the detail can increase, but keep it as brief as you want. The more time thinking about them seems to increase recall though.
As for mantras, if they work for you keep at it, but I've never seen any improvement from telling myself to remember the dreams.

Quote:

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i'll write it down into my DJ here soon

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Also, if you can, write them down ASAP, the amount my memory of dreams degenerates is ridiculous so I usually am at the computer within half an hour of waking up.

SOO, here are some tasks for ye!
- Write in that DJ every day!
- If you've had loads of LDs, that isn't the issue so I'm not going to ask you to change anything technique wise
- Report back on your recall progression

Thanks for the reply, Arch :)

Well... seems like i can't really get away from starting a DJ... i hoped it'll be possible, but meh... :/

The thing is that i want to keep my DV DJ for my Lucid Dreams only :) So if i start a DJ i think i'll do that in a text file or something... i'm too lazy to write in an exercise book anymore.

lol you could as well use a voice recorder to make it faster, no need to journal by typing every time, heck, even some notes can work too for some people.

I thought about that, but i don't feel like that's as effective. I might want to read back on my dreams and listening to them takes more time and if i miss a part i have to listen to it again... ect ect... :)

Anyway, i decided to start a little DJ for my normal dreams in a text file. Yesterday i had 2 kinda vivid dreams which i remembered by full detail, i wrote those down.
Today i only remember one dream, but it was long and i remember all details again...

I think this is good so far, even while i used to remember more dreams daily :)


Edit: During the day i just remembered another dream with good detail, gonna write them down now :)

Yey, recall sounds good and DJ even better! :)

Today i remembered 3 dreams, 2 with good detail... and i also suddenly remembered another dream from yesterday, while writing down today's dreams :D

I'm doing a "i remember my dreams clearly" mantra during the day since 3 days now... maybe it affects my recall, because as far as i notice my dreams are clearer and i remember more now daily :)

I'm also using a "i realize that i'm dreaming" mantra as a night mantra, but it didn't help so far.... I'm thinking about swapping the two...

Or maybe i should just try something like "i wake up during the night and stay completely still" for DEILD attempts? Because once i'm there, not moving, i can easily succeed with DEILD. Not sure which one to use..

In the last days i changed my day mantra for the "i realize that i'm dreaming" one, but since then my dream recall got worse again. Yesterday i only remembered 2 fragments and today 1 dream. Althrough today i got an LD, which balances things out :)

See how much a DJ helps recall? Keep it up! As for improving your technique that sounds like a good call. I've recently found mantras to waking myself up naturally very helpful, I wake up roughly 3 times a night and usually attempt 1 wild. So I'd recommend you do the same, I usually just repeat "I will wake up and stay still" for about 10 mins in bed. Try it out :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arch

See how much a DJ helps recall? Keep it up! As for improving your technique that sounds like a good call. I've recently found mantras to waking myself up naturally very helpful, I wake up roughly 3 times a night and usually attempt 1 wild. So I'd recommend you do the same, I usually just repeat "I will wake up and stay still" for about 10 mins in bed. Try it out :D

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Yup that's one i say to myself sometimes, but i thought about using it as a night mantra :) It's a good idea :)

...and yes, writing a DJ is not even that hard now that i'm doing it on my computer...

Today i remembered 5 dreams. Well more like 2 fragments and 3 full dreams... it's kinda good, almost like years ago ^^ I think it helped that i woke up multiple times during sleep.

I really need to write them down in the DJ now, because i didn't do so since 4 days now... but i still remember those dreams.

Good your recall is back up. Well, you are lucky that recall won't go away just for not journaling a few days, do you think about the dreams when you wake up and go back on it? I find that helps greatly with recall and keeps it up even when there is not enough time/will to journal.

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Originally Posted by Hukif

Good your recall is back up. Well, you are lucky that recall won't go away just for not journaling a few days, do you think about the dreams when you wake up and go back on it? I find that helps greatly with recall and keeps it up even when there is not enough time/will to journal.

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Well if there was an interesting one then i think about it for a while, but it's rare for me that i get to remember more parts when i keep thinking about them :)

I'm writing down right now all the dreams that didn't do so yet, and today i had a really long dream, which felt like 2 days and i remember it with very good detail :)

Ooh, amazing! Very nice progress then, anything memorable during that time happened?

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Originally Posted by Hukif

Ooh, amazing! Very nice progress then, anything memorable during that time happened?

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Well, it was indeed memorable :) The story was about me going to China with a group of familiar people. After a while i got lost and couldn't find the others. So i bought a room in a hotel and thought out what should i do. Since i had no money for the plane or anything to go home, i decided to get to know the city and try to find a job.... I also befriended some people...

It didn't really have weird things as my dreams do usually... it felt life-like and i honestly believed that i could start a new life there :) Even while i missed my family...

Oh thats cool, well you can actually have another life in dreams. But it will feel like two-timing lol

These days i'm stressing about Lucid Dreaming for some reason... I'm still doing my DJ, just i remember less dreams when i'm stressed and i can't get an LD either :( Not sure how could i lower my stress... i keep trying to think positively, but even a small negative, stressed thought is enough to ruin it..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by littlezoe

These days i'm stressing about Lucid Dreaming for some reason... I'm still doing my DJ, just i remember less dreams when i'm stressed and i can't get an LD either :( Not sure how could i lower my stress... i keep trying to think positively, but even a small negative, stressed thought is enough to ruin it..

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I've been experiencing similar recently, got to a point where I was no longer remembering any dreams. I toned myself back to a "I wake up after each of my dreams and recall perfectly" mantra, and took up meditation before bed. It's definitely seemed to help.

Yes, stress is definitelly not helping:( Unfortunatelly, sometimes we can't avoid it. If you can, try to figure out what is stressing you out and think, if your stress is rational or not. In other words, can you change your situation or not? Like do you have an exam coming up - you can rationalize to yourself that you studied hard and have nothing to worry about. Sometimes it helps to figure out the source of stress and find a solution. :)

Well, i'm more talking about stress related to lucid dreaming, not everyday stress.
Sometimes it just starts out that i think what if i won't have a lucid that week, then the thought gets bigger and i really won't... this also makes my recall worse, since i'm stressing about dreaming.

Yesterday i had 2 lucids, which made the stress disappear for now, but my recall is weaker again... I only remember like 2 dreams a day since a while now and i mostly just forget one of those during the day...

Don't be discouraged from it! Think of it as another adventure to get recall/lucidity up! Dream-stress is just as bad, which is why sometimes its better for people to get a small break to get back on shape.

Well, i think i'm somewhat out of this stress, but i couldn't sleep much in the last days... i only remember 1-2 dreams everyday now... Maybe it'll get better after my exam season over :)

Also, there is an interesting thing: Nowadays my lucids are more stable than before. I'm not sure what causes this, but i don't wake up in the middle anymore, so i don't have to go back in with DEILD, i can just keep on dreaming without waking up in between... weird, but good :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by littlezoe

Also, there is an interesting thing: Nowadays my lucids are more stable than before. I'm not sure what causes this, but i don't wake up in the middle anymore, so i don't have to go back in with DEILD, i can just keep on dreaming without waking up in between... weird, but good :)

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Is it possible, that you believe that your lucids will be more stable and longer and that's why? I just recently started using mantra "long and stable" and I have noticed a difference. I hope it lasts. Happy dreams:)

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Originally Posted by gab

Is it possible, that you believe that your lucids will be more stable and longer and that's why? I just recently started using mantra "long and stable" and I have noticed a difference. I hope it lasts. Happy dreams:)

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Possible, but i tried that before too and it didn't seem to work... maybe i just believed it truly now :D

Yesterday my recall was really good, i remembered 6 dreams, 4 regular and 2 lucid.. Also i did reality checks in 3 dreams, which was really surprising, since i never did RCs before that in my dreams while not being lucid ^^