Thread: Windhover@'s Workbook

EDIT: double post. What's wrong with DV lol

Originally Posted by Windhover@

All of my senses in dream are just getting more vivid. Gonna keep doing AQ

I can definitely see how your focus on the 5 senses is translating to your dreams, nice! Also, thank you for your detailed explanation of your practice! I have also used imagining that I am in a dream and how to proceed from there, recalling goals, but not usually "intensely." Do you feel that there is any danger of you losing touch with reality?

Originally Posted by fogelbise

I can definitely see how your focus on the 5 senses is translating to your dreams, nice! Also, thank you for your detailed explanation of your practice! I have also used imagining that I am in a dream and how to proceed from there, recalling goals, but not usually "intensely." Do you feel that there is any danger of you losing touch with reality?

Danger of losing touch with reality while doing AQ - kinda yes and no I think so far. I mean, if someone really loses touch reality while doing this and then jump off a bridge to fly, he/she's a jerk. If you have your own responsibility of avoiding doing stupid things, you can actually gain more ability to distinguish what is real or not, ironically. For me it's about getting the 'feeling', not acting like a jerk based on the feeling. That's why you can do ADA/AQ all the time even without doing anything. It's just a change in consciousness shift.

Though so far what I've realized about AQ is that you should try to do it when you feel carefree like I mentioned before because you might do the stupid things, unless you're really 'awakened'. While taking shower, while sitting on a couch, being in a car, walking on a street, etc. I try not to do AQ when I'm very physically busy, talking or when I need thinking to solve something.

I think doing it 'intensely' might just bring faster result, still it depends on how you do

Day 14 (1/9/14)

I went to bed a little late again.

Result: somehow my recall got a little lower and just had vivid non-LD. And during WBTB I passed out so fast....but most of all, freaking noise in the early morning disturbs my sleep.

Anyway, I fully WILDed while taking a short nap in the late morning. My DJ Yugioh, Paintball, vOx in shiny bright future city - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views


I'm gonna go to bed early tonight and meditate before bed to clear my mind...

Nice WILD!

First of all, I think there's a need to combine ADA + questioning reality + RC altogether to make AQ more efficient.

I had been doing the last two, similar to the AQ that you described, over the last few months, but I added the 5 senses and I feel it is already creating more sensations in my dreams. I have a random reminder app on my phone that if I am also carefree at the time I proceed with the following with some recent revisions: 1. stop and look around in wonder and focus on each of the 5 senses. 2. ask myself how did I get here? 3. retrace actual steps 4. ask again but this time pretend the last thing I remember was laying in bed! I am dreaming! 5. Simulate floating slightly towards ceiling while looking at my hands 6. re-focus on the excitement of the LD while closely examining a nearby object and touching it in wonder. 6. practice reminding myself "I am dreaming" and "what are my goals" 7. Imagining carrying out at least the first one or two goals. (I do feel a little excitement doing this but quickly return back to reality)

Originally Posted by fogelbise

Nice WILD!

I had been doing the last two, similar to the AQ that you described, over the last few months, but I added the 5 senses and I feel it is already creating more sensations in my dreams. I have a random reminder app on my phone that if I am also carefree at the time I proceed with the following with some recent revisions: 1. stop and look around in wonder and focus on each of the 5 senses. 2. ask myself how did I get here? 3. retrace actual steps 4. ask again but this time pretend the last thing I remember was laying in bed! I am dreaming! 5. Simulate floating slightly towards ceiling while looking at my hands 6. re-focus on the excitement of the LD while closely examining a nearby object and touching it in wonder. 6. practice reminding myself "I am dreaming" and "what are my goals" 7. Imagining carrying out at least the first one or two goals. (I do feel a little excitement doing this but quickly return back to reality)

Nice! Glad to see you have your own steps to it. I do the same exact thing - 1 thru 5. I like the idea of getting a little excitement of LD. Lately when I do AQ I don't feel the complete dreaming environment because I don't attach emotion to it. But I don't wanna have too strong emotion either lol


Day 15 (1/10/14)

Well, my recall is still low because I went to bed feeling tired. During WBTB, I don't know how I just tried to stay aware and I got DILD.

Result: Got DILD after WBTB. My DJ LD - Club, Restaurant Date, Beautiful Park - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

This time my LD was a little longer than usual, but I was not in good mood because freaking noise upstairs kept waking me up even though I stabilized....sigh.

I'm gonna go to bed early tonight.

Another LD! Your consistency is great despite the challenges (noise upstairs, sleep schedule etc.)! Do you fully attribute this to your new focus on LDing and/or your AQ? I forgot to add that I usually also do this thing where I look at myself from different angles through visualization...looking back at myself and then looking out from myself followed by the statement "I am he who is aware" (got that saying from Laberge in ETWOLD) which seems to fit nicely with noticing the 5 senses which is how Laberge used it in an exercise early in the book. Not that I am suggesting this for you...if I were in your shoes, I think I would stick with what is working for you and not stray too far off that path towards anything that doesn't feel intuitive.

Originally Posted by fogelbise

Another LD! Your consistency is great despite the challenges (noise upstairs, sleep schedule etc.)! Do you fully attribute this to your new focus on LDing and/or your AQ? I forgot to add that I usually also do this thing where I look at myself from different angles through visualization...looking back at myself and then looking out from myself followed by the statement "I am he who is aware" (got that saying from Laberge in ETWOLD) which seems to fit nicely with noticing the 5 senses which is how Laberge used it in an exercise early in the book. Not that I am suggesting this for you...if I were in your shoes, I think I would stick with what is working for you and not stray too far off that path towards anything that doesn't feel intuitive.

Yeah, from all of my failures and like how any other advanced LDers say, consistency is really the key to success, and for everything in RL in general
I've never done awareness practices in RL without a break before, so this is first time doing it. And I've never had this many LDs since I started this workbook lol. (I know it's exciting, but I try not to get excited)

Recently I've realized that when you try to skip a day from the practices because you feel strained, that's only your ego and emotion controlling you (unless you really did too much). You're just in negative phase emotionally while you were actually doing pretty good so far. So if you just go with the negative phase, you tend to skip a day to take a 'break', which increases laziness and lowers the momentum of your will to start again. I think this is where we hit 'dry spell' simply because we don't do anything haha (so dry spell doesn't exist at all!) You always have to be in neutral phase.

And yeah, I also sometimes look at myself from different perspective or in 3rd person view when I meditate. I've never really put into my own AQ technique, but it sounds nice to be aware of everything I'll try when I do AQ today, and thanks for keep checking my workbook

Day 16/ (1/11/14)

Went to bed earlier but fell asleep late because of noise again -.-

Result: my recall got better though, and I was semi-LD. My dreams are getting longer as well. today's dreams - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views


Starting from today I decided to do AQ all day as much as possible now that I'm really used to doing it. But in the process I'm not going to include RC and not in 'intense' way to believe everything's dream. Just simply paying attention to all senses and feeling that I'm dreaming (so this is ADA really is huh...)

Day 17 (1/12/14)

Result: short dreams but really weird dreams...


Day 18 (1/13/14)

Result: Damn, my recall is getting lower because I go to bed too late. But my dreams are getting extremely vivid. DJ: puppies + WILD - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views
Also I WILDed in the morning, but ended up short.

I forgot about using WILD during WBTB. I'm gonna attempt one tonight.
My AQ is fairly going well though.

Sorry I haven't posted my results, I was super busy since last few days. So long story short, my dreams are all being closely lucid. I'm pretty sure that soon I'll get all DILDs in every single dream. This is too easy, all I did was AQ all day lol (which is basically ADA)

Also my dreams are getting extremely vivid. I got a little scared 2 nights ago that the dream was too vivid, and for the entire day I felt I was dreaming.
After I realized that I'm the god of my dream, and I'm in full control of it, my fear has gone and I'm totally feeling fine now. (I still feel like I'm dreaming though)

I'll get back to the workbook as soon as I finish with my business in RL.


EDIT: also, did I mention that when I started workbook I had around 370 LDs? I reached 400 LDs yesterday

I'm pretty sure that soon I'll get all DILDs in every single dream

Hope so ! It's possible ! I want it too

.
.
Excellent results!! Do come back to update when you are able to!

EDIT: also, did I mention that when I started workbook I had around 370 LDs? I reached 400 LDs yesterday

Do you feel that the use of your workbook has helped with the process or did you just referencing the timeframe?

Originally Posted by fogelbise

Do you feel that the use of your workbook has helped with the process or did you just referencing the timeframe?

I was referring to time frame, but recording my practice in the workbook did help me a lot. It kept me on the right track to be consistent and motivated.
Not that the workbook per se helped me, but if you use it with consistent practice it's really helpful

I came back. I fail. I've been doing AQ at least twice a day. My awareness is really not going high. I said it was going higher, but lately it's not. No, my dreams are not cloesly being lucid. I'm going back into old cycles again.

I admit I DID have 6-7 LDs a week when I started the workbook.
But I'm having only 3 LDs a week now and even if I get lucid I'm not fully lucid and I'm likely to lose it after a while.

I realized, AQ was not the answer to my lucidity.
I was doing something wrong. It was because I tried to put other people's technique into me which don't fit at all.

I wondered. Why, wouldn't I get lucid with this? Why would I succeed at first but then it doesn't consistently go all the way? Why would I fail eventually? why.....why?!

So, I decided to leave DV.

Not that I'm leaving entirely, I'm not gonna look at Attaining Lucidity section ever again. I do not want to read any tutorial or hear any advice for LDing anymore.

And I'm gonna develop my own way to get lucid in normal dreams.
The way I think it's right for me.

SilverBullet is right. It's not the technique that makes you lucid. There is no 1 definite way that makes you lucid, and there's no right or wrong, and better or worse technique. Since LDing is very much individualized, everyone must have their own way to get lucid, which I think that's the definite way.

It's the faith you should have first, as a basis. Because like others, I had plenty of LDs when I didn't do anything during the day or had the intent to do it as well.
I honestly don't believe myself that I can be like natural, yet.

So when I leave I'm gonna work on my way to believe myself that I can.

Then I will be back on this workbook if I succeed.

Thanks for keeping a track on my workbook, forgelbise and VagalTone. I appreciate your guy's advice and help.

DILDs are quite elusive, i have a much higher appreciation for WILD because its mechanisms are more clear.

Whenever i go into a bad phase, that's WILD i rely upon.

But in the long run that's DILD i want to master, because i like the challenge of cultivating some kind of awareness habit, specially one that is worthwhile.

Good luck Windy ! Hope you get your confidence again!

Hope to see you back soon! I do think that everyone has to find what works best for them. Here is something related I said further up this page:

Originally Posted by fogelbise

...if I were in your shoes, I think I would stick with what is working for you and not stray too far off that path towards anything that doesn't feel intuitive.

I came back... I'm back. It's been over a half year since the last post here!

I didn't give up though. I kept trying and learned so many things.
I stopped counting LD in numbers because it is the level of awareness that matters, not the number. I learned how to be calm and not to put too much of emotion and ego into LDing. I don't know what my LD frequency is right now, maybe once a night or two I'd be lucid.

Just one thing that I followed: my intuition. And the consistency plays important role. I did whatever that fitted me and if I'd feel uncomfortable or pressured I'd not do anything before bed. Rather than trying to have fun, I'd tried to raise awareness in general.

I still have been doing ADA, but in my own stylized way. I don't try to concentrate on something - I try to be 'mindful', not forcing or pushing too hard.
Meditate. Meditation still helps a lot. But I don't force it. If I feel forced I'd stop everything and try to chill because meditation is to clear your mind, not force it.

About DILD, it is still elusive to me. However I can feel that my awareness have progressed a lot. There are still millions of ways to be lucid, not just one.

After I left DV things got much better than I expected though. You do NOT need words, books, or tutorials ....maybe a simple guideline can help, but not with essays of pages. Only your consistent will can lead to lucidity.
The fact is, this doesn't even take a single grain of effort

I'll be back soon because I'm trying something new on my own. Until then - happy LDing!

I'll just post quick things to note myself:

1. competition sucks. Competition bears fear. LD is not a test, or battling with others.

2. Dream is entirely yours. Follow your intuition and listen to your mind, not other's.

3. Chill. no rush, no need to be frustrated or pressured. LD is not about lifting weights. It's all about mental exercise so it shouldn't take any effort. Take time.

4. You have to learn how to know yourself and control emotions. Let go of ego. This helps with stabilization, dream dilating and dream control.

It is great to see you around and it sounds like you are doing quite nicely!

Originally Posted by Windhover@

I'll be back soon because I'm trying something new on my own. Until then - happy LDing!

All the best with your new trials and happy LDing to you as well!