BlairBros DILD Workbook

Hello everybody!
I am BlairBros, I'm a 15 year old student from Australia and I've been into lucid dreaming for around about 2/3 of a year now. I've had 6 LDs overall, although 2 of those weren't very good at all. I've just started trying to LD again after a bit of a break so hopefully I can have a LD before the year is out, maybe as a Christmas present :).
I mainly use DILD, with an occasional accidental WBTB, because to me it sounds the most interesting and the most feasible for my situation. I share a room, so waking up in the middle of the night for WILDs or WBTB isn't really that easy, but I hope maybe to attempt some WILD's in the future, but for now I want to get good at DILD.
Some more information about me, which can't hurt.
I generally get around 8 hours of sleep, I do the finger through palm/hand check, breathing and blinking reality checks throughout the day, I occasionally do reverse reality checks (which I want to start doing more) and I started doing some dream yoga and ADA techniques a few months ago (but I kind of stopped that).
Since this is the first of December, I am going to make a goals list for the next year, just for added motivation :).
GOALS:
-Increase my recall to at least 1-2 dreams a night
-Have definitely at least 1, hopefully 3 LD's
-Increase my overall awareness, and maybe get back into dream yoga.
-Attempt at least 5 WBTB's

That's all I can think of for now, so hopefully by the end of the year I will be on track towards being somewhat adept at LD and better than I am now :).

Welcome to DILD class, BlairBros!

Congrats on you LDs! Did you have them without WBTB? If so, then I would say, you can continue like that. Although WBTB can give yu a better chance at DILD, they are mostly used to WILD. But for a DILD, they are not essential. And for DILD, even a short trip to the restroom plus a few RCs and mantras can count as a WBTB.

Not sure if you are writing your dreams into a Dream Journal. If not, I recommend you start. That is the best thing you can do to boost your recall. Plus thinking of your dreams often, being thankfull for having them. Even saying "thank you for my dreams" to your mind (higher self, god, spirit...) every morning will let your mind know, that you like having and remembering dreams.

If you not read this yet, here is a link to sageous's WILD class. He has an excellent article about self-awareness. And rest of his class is worth reading as well, since many of it relates to DILDs as well. http://www.dreamviews.com/wild/13181...prep-part.html
And here is some more about DJ. Also, my very short awareness+RCs+mantras technique http://www.dreamviews.com/dild/13212...ods-dilds.html

Making a list of goals is great. Also, making a list of what you want to do in LD, and write it in yur DJ, or even draw a picture can be very helpful.

You have already had LDs, so I don't doubt, that you will have them again. Keep your enthusiasm up and KNOW, that you can do it. Happy dreams:alien:

Post yur questions or progress here, if you wish.

Thanks Gab!
Yes, I do write my dreams in a dream journal, although I am not very diligent with it, but I hope to improve that. Thanks for all the links, very interesting and informative.
My previous DILDs weren't from WBTB, oh actually I think one of them might be, but I never really tried to have them.
Last night I remembered 1 full dream and fragments from another, so my little dry spell is broken. On a side note I only have 4 more days of school before the summer holidays, so hopefully I can devote a lot of my time and effort into LDing, seeing as I wont need to wake up at 6:30 anymore :).

Last night I remembered 2 dreams fully, and I am sure I had another dream beforehand but I can't remember it. My awareness also seemed a little higher than before, although no LD. I also naturally woke up at 3:00, 5:00 and 5:30, which coincided perfectly with my REM cycle as I remembered the fragment of the dream that I can't remember at 3:00, second dream at 5:00 and 3rd at 5:30. Hopefully these REM cycle times are fairly accurate,. because I want to start doing some self experimentation to find my sweet spot times for falling asleep, waking up etc.

Once again I woke up at 4:00 before going back to sleep and waking at 5:00, similar to last night by waking at my REM periods (I hope). Both times I woke up I knew I'd had a dream, and I could recall a few fragments, but unfortunately I didn't concentrate too hard on them and they almost instantly vanished. Oh well, I'll do better next time :). Oh on an unrelated coincidence the day I started this workbook was also my 6 moth anniversary on Dreamviews I'm pretty sure.

Welcome BlairBros! gab and I pitch in on these workbooks so you may see one or both of us from time to time. Recall can be up and down but it looks like your renewed interest has at least played a part in the improvement in your overall dream recall lately("little dry spell is broken"). If I may ask, what factors lead you to taking a break from this previously? Perhaps we can figure out a way to keep a consistent long-term approach to it going forward that doesn't feel like too much. If you are not feeling in the mood to DJ, jot down a few notes at least in a paper journal or whatever is quickest/easiest...sometimes as you do you will remember something interesting and write down more. I also suggest to look over previous dream journals, it's amazing the things that we forget we dreamt about and they can provide good encouragement for keeping up your DJ.

Thanks Fogelbise! For me in the past I seem to have had strong interest in lucid dreaming for periods of around a month, then I kind of lose interest for a month or so and then get back into it. I'm not entirely sure what causes the lack of motivation, but I think a lack of clear goals for LD's and perhaps a lack of results might contribute. Actually now I think about it, it seems like I always tend to lose interest around about a week after I have a lucid dream, almost as if its like I completed what I set out to do and then stop. I don't want this to be the case from now on though, and also each time I come back my length increases of being motivated and the gap shortens.
Dream journalling I am fine with, it is generally more I forget to do it or in one case I lost mine for a bit. I will definitely read over my dream journal before I go to bed, as I've heard that it increases lucidity chances.
Also with my recall it does vary rather wildly. Some weeks I remember 10-15 dreams, and one night I remembered 4 (amazing my by standards), while other weeks I might only remember a few dreams, or none at all. I'm pretty sure how tired I am when I go to sleep and my stress/homework levels affect it, but since I have 2 more days of school before the holidays I hope I can get some solid recall going :).

Your school holiday should definitely help. If you think achieving a goal is what slowed you down, yes perhaps you can set several goals and also look for graduated improvements as goals as well. First _____, New record for Longest, etc... I stopped some time in my pre-teens before starting back 25+ years later and wish I had kept it up. Post any questions if you have them and good luck!

I'm back! Well, maybe :P. Sorry for my inactivity, but a sudden lack of enthusiasm coinciding with the holidays, not having access to my laptop and other reasons (*cough* Dota and Skyrim *cough*). But fret not, while I haven't really been on the forums I have sorta kept up lucid dreaming. For the first 2-3 weeks of the holidays I was remembering multiple dreams practically every night, which is absolutely fantastic for me. This probably had something to do with no pressures and stress, etc. Since then my recall has kinda declined a bit, but I generally remembered a few dreams a week. But, a few days ago I remembered 5(quite possibly 6) dreams in one go. Whats exciting about that, apart from the sheer volume, is that I woke up from one dream, went back to sleep and reentered that dream. If I am correct then that was successful DEILD, except without the lucid part. That has inspired me to get back into lucid dreaming and start doing RCs again, which I have been terrible at over the holidays.
Anyway, my regular personal update :P. I am flying to Mexico on the 17th for a holiday, and I'm staying there for a week before staying in LA for 3 days. Mexico will seem cool compared to Melbourne (It is 43 degrees Celsius today!!!), so yeah I am pretty excited. Also since I am doing year 12 Media as a subject this year, and part of that is making a short film, I was planning on doing something dream related, not sure whether to incorporate lucidity or not, but I'm still tossing around ideas at the moment. Welp thats about it (this is like my 6th or 7th 'comeback' post, I'm something of an expert now lol), I'll try to get reinvigorated with dreaming once again, which hopefully my holiday will help with (Think of all the oppurtunities for WILDS and DEILD chaining on the plane :))

Good luck and enjoy your holiday to the Americas! Perhaps you can use your experience with re-entering the same dream to DEILD. :)

Welp I am back! I got back at 2 in the afternoon yesterday and started school today, so yeah I am pretty exhausted. The trip was amazing, and particularly Mexico, the ocean is just beautiful there. On a more dream related note, my recall skyrocketed whilst in Mexico. Practically every night I remembered multiple dreams, and on a few nights i remembered 5-6 dreams. I haven't had much recall since then due to crazy sleep schedules, but I'm hoping to get back to that within a few days. I didn't have any lucids, as I was kinda lax with lucidity training and stuff, but I've come to realize that my recall actually improves when I don't really worry about dreaming, recall and lucidity. Anyways I'm going to be more consistent with my RC's and mindfulness to try and get back to the lucidity of old, but for now its adios amigos!