Bodin's Workbook

[bodin]

I'm 37 years old and had my first LD on 28 September 2012. Since then I've had a few more (including two last night). Each time I've got interested in the subject, started keeping a journal, but then life got in the way and I kind of let it drift. I've logged 45 dreams, 5 of which were lucid, over 25 days of journal-writing, but with a big gap of about 6 weeks and another of 2 where I recalled nothing at all. Since my experiences have all been DILDs so far I may as well start there. I think I'm quite good at doing "serious" RCs where I really question my state and the logic of my surroundings etc, but I'm not good at doing them often enough as I spend much of my working day "in flow". Days go by when I do no RCs at all. Here's my plan for the next month, as it stands right now: Read through the tutorials here; Keep a count of my RCs over the next few days and see if I can increase the number I'm doing and my general level of awareness; Continue building my list of dream signs to get a holistic sense of what my dreams typically "feel like", which should become part of my RCs; Start building in some meditation time in the morning, although that's likely to be disrupted during the holidays; Use opportunities to sleep a little later than usual to improve recall. I'll try to post progress at least weekly, and of course any advice will be greatly appreciated!

[gab]

Welcome to DILD workshop! I'll be happy to help out by keeping you motivated, although it seems you are doing really well on all fronts I'm 37 years old and had my first LD on 28 September 2012. Since then I've had a few more (including two last night). Each time I've got interested in the subject, started keeping a journal, but then life got in the way and I kind of let it drift. I've logged 45 dreams, 5 of which were lucid, over 25 days of journal-writing, but with a big gap of about 6 weeks and another of 2 where I recalled nothing at all. Haha, I also remember "my first one" and will forever (Oct.3, 2011). Yes, having DJ is crucial. When there is no recall, you can write something like "My memory is great and recall is getting better every day". But I wouldn't worry too much, it can fluctuate due to some stress, or just seemingly no reason at all. In this article Collection of techniques for DILD, you will find little more about DJ, what to write, some tricks about recall and other things. I think I'm quite good at doing "serious" RCs where I really question my state and the logic of my surroundings etc, but I'm not good at doing them often enough as I spend much of my working day "in flow". Days go by when I do no RCs at all. I know what you mean. But don't worry, quality is more important than quantity. Try to find some new RCs to make it interesting. Sometimes my mind gets used to my RCs and they stop working, untill I switch to a different one. The above article talks about RCs as well. These are my lastest favorite RCs: 1. Look at something and say/think "If this was a dream, that [wall, picture, car, person...] would be [blue, bigger, hummer, naked] - tried and worked, got me lucid 2. If this was a dream, I would levitate. - so did this one 3. If this was a dream, this would be [Tahiti]. - have not tried this one yet. Can't wait to see if it get's me to Tahiti. All of these are motionless, so very discreet and can be used when WILDing also. Here's my plan for the next month, as it stands right now: Read through the tutorials here; Keep a count of my RCs over the next few days and see if I can increase the number I'm doing and my general level of awareness; Continue building my list of dream signs to get a holistic sense of what my dreams typically "feel like", which should become part of my RCs; Start building in some meditation time in the morning, although that's likely to be disrupted during the holidays; Use opportunities to sleep a little later than usual to improve recall. I'll try to post progress at least weekly, and of course any advice will be greatly appreciated! For a tutorial, I think you have DILD down, but check out WILD (sageous) tutorial, especially part about self-awareness - mental prep. I know you know about that, but he has a great approach. He also talks about mantras and other relevant stuff that's helpful for DILDing. Maybe it will even entice you to try WILDs. Post your progress and questions. Good luck and Happy dreams.

[bodin]

Just wanted to say thanks for this encouraging reply -- I'm very busy over the holiday season but journalling when I can in the interim... I'm hoping to get into a routine in the New Year but still managing to keep the DJ ticking over, at least :-) BTW have a great holiday season, if that's what it is wherever you are

[gab]

Just wanted to say thanks for this encouraging reply -- I'm very busy over the holiday season but journalling when I can in the interim... I'm hoping to get into a routine in the New Year but still managing to keep the DJ ticking over, at least :-) BTW have a great holiday season, if that's what it is wherever you are Thank you! Happy holidays!

[bodin]

OK, a distracting and not-very-lucid few weeks, but this morning I had a spontaneous DILD so I'm back on the programme. Looking back it's a little frustrating that I missed 2 very clear dream-signs before cottoning on, and I also had a FA that I didn't clock (I lost lucidity on "waking up"), so it was all over quite quickly, but it reminds me that it's worth working on this stuff. I've been a bit slack with writing in my DJ the last couple of weeks, largely due to having to get up early with an alarm, but I should be able to get back to that now. I also tried to WILD a few times but although I enjoy the meditation part I always just roll over and go to sleep. I'll keep working at that but I feel like DILD is the method for me at the moment.

[gab]

It will definitelly get easier with more practice. You will start having more "oh, I should have noticed that" moments in your dreams and you will get lucid from them more often. To catch the FAs, RC every time you get up from bed. I can't stress enough how important DJ is. Each time you think about your dream, dreaming, each time you write in it, it tells your mind, that dreaming, having lucids and remembering your dreams is important to you and it will help you achieve it. Our mind is us. It's our helper. If you tell it that dreams make you happy, it will do everything it can to make you happy. So saying an occasional hearfelt "thank you for my dreams, can I please have another" really helps.

[bodin]

Thanks gab, your posts are always so positive! Definitely going to try to get into the habit of RCs on waking, I have FAs pretty often so this would be a good catch. I should say I was pleased with my last DILD in that I stayed calm and spent some time enjoying the vividness of the environment, and managed to stabilise it when it seemed to be falling apart, so I feel like I'm getting more familiar with the experience and more able to "dwell within" it, if that's not too pretentious a way of putting it...

[gab]

Thanks gab, your posts are always so positive! Definitely going to try to get into the habit of RCs on waking, I have FAs pretty often so this would be a good catch. I should say I was pleased with my last DILD in that I stayed calm and spent some time enjoying the vividness of the environment, and managed to stabilise it when it seemed to be falling apart, so I feel like I'm getting more familiar with the experience and more able to "dwell within" it, if that's not too pretentious a way of putting it... Thank you! Someone gave me a hint on stabilizing - keep saying "I'm dreaming" throughout the lucid". I thought I can't do that, since I have tried already, but once in LD, I always forget to do it. Well, my very next LD, I remembered to keep saying that and I got me a longest lucid in a while. I have noticed, that the more you read and think about things, the more likely it is that it will happen to you. Like telling yourself "I'm noticing FAs all the time". Pretty soon you will notice it and get lucid. And "dwell within" it's pretty well put. You have to immerse yourself, become a part of a dream. Touch, feel, taste, smell, yell, talk to yourself - do it all. Good luck for your next one

[bodin]

Just wanted to say, this morning I had a very realistic FA -- in the room I was really sleeping in, while drifting in and out of sleep very early in the morning -- that I could easily have missed. But something seemed slightly off so I tried a quick nose plug and was astonished to become lucid (mechanical RCs like this have never worked for me before). That's entirely thanks to the discussion in this thread, for sure!

[gab]

Hey, that's awesome. Dreamer 1 : FA 0. And don't forget, I couldn't have done it without you! haha Most of the credit is yours. The more you read and think about LDing, more likely it will start happening to you and you will start noticing more things. You will start remembering things from tutorials, that you can't recall consciously, but when time comes for you to use it, you will remember it in your dream. You will start having some controll in regular dreams and some logical thinking, that will actually make sense even after you wake up. Regular dreams may become more vivid and detailed. And my favorite side effect - old, long forotten dreams will start popping in your head faster than you can write them down. This is how I progressed the most. By reading things and thinking to myself "How in the world they do it? Next time it will work for me too". And things started to happen. So good job, keep at it.