Thread: Iriba's Workbook

Welcome Just some quick responses for now due to my personal time constraints.

• you might consider dropping ADA since it sounds draining for you. If you want something similar at all (but I don't think this is crucial) perhaps consider SAT and just one sense at least for now. I have decent success without using either.
• When was the last time you tried WBTB and how often do you try it? How long do you stay up and what do you do while awake and upon going to sleep?
• Try to increase recall
• I bet you have dream signs...uncovering them can take some effort. Look up common dream signs and search your DJ to see if they come up from time to time.
• Focusing on breath is a good one for a number of reasons. You don't want to overload yourself with too many senses to focus on.
• Dreams like real life...they are usually different for me in some way whether it is something that is missing/odd/weird or something that is more amazing than real life.

Originally Posted by fogelbise

Welcome Just some quick responses for now due to my personal time constraints.

• you might consider dropping ADA since it sounds draining for you. If you want something similar at all (but I don't think this is crucial) perhaps consider SAT and just one sense at least for now. I have decent success without using either.
• When was the last time you tried WBTB and how often do you try it? How long do you stay up and what do you do while awake and upon going to sleep?
• Try to increase recall
• I bet you have dream signs...uncovering them can take some effort. Look up common dream signs and search your DJ to see if they come up from time to time.
• Focusing on breath is a good one for a number of reasons. You don't want to overload yourself with too many senses to focus on.
• Dreams like real life...they are usually different for me in some way whether it is something that is missing/odd/weird or something that is more amazing than real life.

Progress today:

I remembered 4 dreams in one night, they were quite vivid, also 1 of them
i was lucid, but it felt again like a normal dream, i couldn't control it.

you might consider dropping ADA since it sounds draining for you. If you want something similar at all (but I don't think this is crucial) perhaps consider SAT and just one sense at least for now. I have decent success without using either.

Yes i might give a look into that technique, i also changed ADA for mindfulness because i get tired
when i try to focus all the senses. thanks for support!

When was the last time you tried WBTB and how often do you try it? How long do you stay up and what do you do while awake and upon going to sleep?

I tried last week-end, i do it every week-ends because on week i have school early and i have to get up, so i haven't time for WBTB
I stay up around 10-20 minutes, i always turn my pc on and come on dreamviews, i also reality check.


Thanks for support!

Progress:

I've been thinking about training my sighting sense and self awareness sense

This consists in: I try to make my sight and self aware in this world into a big RC. With my sighting sense ill pay attention to my periferic vison and pay attention to real world vivid details and colors.

Tell me what you guys think about it please

I have a feeling this technique will increase my vividness into my dreams.

With my self awareness i'll think such things as "look. Im right here. My body is in this world i am real."

I went back and looked at some of your other posts on the website and you have gotten a lot of good advice. I would like to try a different approach to help you. Before that...in regards to your response to my questions regarding your use of WBTB...That all sounds good although you might consider reducing your exposure to blue light which can be found in computer displays and smart phone displays a few hours before bed and also during WBTB. There are also apps to filter out the blue light. Research including a study from Harvard have shown the negative effect of blue light on melatonin production which can affect circadian rhythm and sleep.

Back to the approach I would like to try...I would like to start by having you list all the things (in detail) that you have done in regards to your lucid dreaming day and night practices just *since Thursday.*

Also could you tell me more about the latest lucid dream that you couldn't control.

Originally Posted by fogelbise

I went back and looked at some of your other posts on the website and you have gotten a lot of good advice. I would like to try a different approach to help you. Before that...in regards to your response to my questions regarding your use of WBTB...That all sounds good although you might consider reducing your exposure to blue light which can be found in computer displays and smart phone displays a few hours before bed and also during WBTB. There are also apps to filter out the blue light. Research including a study from Harvard have shown the negative effect of blue light on melatonin production which can affect circadian rhythm and sleep.

Back to the approach I would like to try...I would like to start by having you list all the things (in detail) that you have done in regards to your lucid dreaming day and night practices just *since Thursday.*

Also could you tell me more about the latest lucid dream that you couldn't control.

Yeah i had a program like that on my pc, but i forgot the name =/
i think it was flux or something like that.

Well, what i have done to try lucid dream:

-ADA
-MILD
-WBTB

Recently i've been trying to:

-Train my sight awareness (like i explained above)
-Training my visualization skills
-Mindfulness meditation

I'm not sure if these are good things if i want to LD
People suggested me mindfulness, i just added sight awareness
and visualization skills to my list.
i couldn't train more ADA because i always lost concentration so fastly.
However it's happening the same with only 1 sense, with my sight.
So i'm training mindfulness, so i can try to focus for longer periods.

About my "Lucid" i will recall it here like i have in my journal:

"Today i dreamt i was in my home's kitchen and i was looking
at the clock on microwave, i looked it was 1:38
then i looked away and looked at the clock again. now it was 1:39
i looked away again and then i looked at the clock again, it was 1:40 now.
Now i knew that i was dreaming and i was thinking "The time changed!"
My mom came to kitchen and i told her "Mom! i'm lucid"


Anyway, if you could help me on some problems.
I can't always focus on my sight awareness i lose my focus and forget to continue
my awareness, if there is any tips you can help with please.

It sounds like you could still be overloading yourself by trying to do ADA even with one sense. If you want my advice, I would suggest simplifying it further as mentioned above and dropping ADA unless you really like it or feel a connection to it. Specifically, I recommend that you instead, periodically through the day, really stop and look around and ask "Am I dreaming?" Try to get a little excited during at least some of these RC's by thinking about all of the fun things your could do if you were in fact dreaming right that moment. I recommend doing this at *random* times throughout the day, 10 or more times per day. There are apps that have truly random alarms (like Awoken for Android) to remind you to do this or you can use other methods to remind yourself if you don't have a smartphone to download an app to.

I have a suggestion to add more self-awareness to this RC I described above and another different suggestion for increasing mindfulness (note to self: lidybug) but I suggest that you first work on my above suggestion for 10 days straight and report back before adding too many components to your day practices. Also, in my previous response I was really looking for details, step by step what you do (first I do this, think this, then do this...including an example), but if you can follow my suggestion in this response for now, perhaps we will re-visit my request from several days ago at a later date.

By the way, do you ever experience hypnagogic images, sounds or feelings when going to sleep, especially after WBTB? Have you ever tried SSILD (to be used with WBTB)?

*If you like the advice here or anywhere in the forums, don't forget to hit the like button below.

Originally Posted by fogelbise

It sounds like you could still be overloading yourself by trying to do ADA even with one sense. If you want my advice, I would suggest simplifying it further as mentioned above and dropping ADA unless you really like it or feel a connection to it. Specifically, I recommend that you instead, periodically through the day, really stop and look around and ask "Am I dreaming?" Try to get a little excited during at least some of these RC's by thinking about all of the fun things your could do if you were in fact dreaming right that moment. I recommend doing this at *random* times throughout the day, 10 or more times per day. There are apps that have truly random alarms (like Awoken for Android) to remind you to do this or you can use other methods to remind yourself if you don't have a smartphone to download an app to.

I have a suggestion to add more self-awareness to this RC I described above and another different suggestion for increasing mindfulness (note to self: lidybug) but I suggest that you first work on my above suggestion for 10 days straight and report back before adding too many components to your day practices. Also, in my previous response I was really looking for details, step by step what you do (first I do this, think this, then do this...including an example), but if you can follow my suggestion in this response for now, perhaps we will re-visit my request from several days ago at a later date.

By the way, do you ever experience hypnagogic images, sounds or feelings when going to sleep, especially after WBTB? Have you ever tried SSILD (to be used with WBTB)?

*If you like the advice here or anywhere in the forums, don't forget to hit the like button below.

Yeah i forgot to say, my ADA also consists in stopping and asking if i'm dreaming
at random times. But if i drop ADA, how am i supposed to get my dreams
clearer so i can perceive i'm in a dream?

About SSILD, i wanted to do it tonight but only could
WBTB, for some reason i can't sleep when i try to SSILD.
my mind stays "active"
I only felt sleep paralysis like 3 times when i WBTB'ed

And tonight's dream was kinda more vivid than the other ones.
With my self awareness of thinking "I'm here" on the dream
there were some moments where i was almost on the dream
world. It's a hard thing to explain. I think it was due to my self awareness.
I also did a RC in that dream but didn't work.

All of this sounds like progress with attempting an RC in your dream last night and also the LD you mentioned in post #6 above. Perhaps you should continue with your current methods. The answers you find yourself are often more effective.

By the way, if you have an RC fail during a dream, it is a good idea to have a 2nd or 3rd RC you can try next which greatly increases your odds of the RC showing that you are dreaming.

Edit: Do you ever experience hypnagogic images, sounds or feelings when going to sleep, especially after WBTB?

Originally Posted by fogelbise

All of this sounds like progress with attempting an RC in your dream last night and also the LD you mentioned in post #6 above. Perhaps you should continue with your current methods. The answers you find yourself are often more effective.

By the way, if you have an RC fail during a dream, it is a good idea to have a 2nd or 3rd RC you can try next which greatly increases your odds of the RC showing that you are dreaming.

Edit: Do you ever experience hypnagogic images, sounds or feelings when going to sleep, especially after WBTB?

Sorry for late response, responding to your question
yes i do have 2-3 more RC's after the hand's one.
but i use hands and nose one on my dreams with more frequency.
And no, i never experienced any hypnagogic images, sounds or feelings.
I'm currently trying to SSILD every week-ends, but for some reason
i can't sleep when i do it

Although you shouldn't pay attention to HH's, I think that maintaining awareness into the falling asleep process greatly increases the chances that you will experience them and lucid dreams. What usually happens when you try SSILD?

Progress:

Few days ago i had a dream where my "Sight awareness"
appeared. i'll write a little of my dream focused on that part

"I went to the living room and everything was more clear now
there was more light and i knew i was there, for a fraction of seconds
i felt like my body was there, on the dream environment"

I think this happened due to my train on "Sight awareness"
But recently i can hardly focus on it, can only focus like 2 minutes then i get distracted.

Although you shouldn't pay attention to HH's, I think that maintaining awareness into the falling asleep process greatly increases the chances that you will experience them and lucid dreams. What usually happens when you try SSILD?

I couldn't sleep if i would try to maintain awareness if i want to sleep too.
for some reason i only can sleep without leaving my mind
completely "Empty" If i start to think
"i have to be aware"
"I'm aware that i'm breathing"
I can't sleep

any suggestions people?

Originally Posted by Iriba

any suggestions people?

Were you asking anything specific here?..or perhaps your were only referring to this:

I couldn't sleep if i would try to maintain awareness if i want to sleep too.
for some reason i only can sleep without leaving my mind
completely "Empty" If i start to think
"i have to be aware"
"I'm aware that i'm breathing"
I can't sleep

With this challenge of getting back to sleep in mind, any awareness work that you do at bedtime or during the night...try to do the awareness work while sitting up in bed or near your bed. When you are done, then simply lay down afterwards in just the same way you have probably done most of your life...just laying down to go to sleep. If you were asking something else, please specify.

I am volunteering my valuable time here in hopes of helping others experience what I have experienced and more. Besides thoughtful replies, hitting the like button also shows that you appreciate that someone is taking the time to respond. That doesn't mean that you have to like everything. Since you quoted the following before, I am assuming that you read this and that you don't like any of the assistance you are getting here so far. Is this the case? :

*If you like the advice here or anywhere in the forums, don't forget to hit the like button below.

Why don't you also give this a try...the link will take you to the specific post I am referring you to: http://www.dreamviews.com/dild/14763...ml#post2103552

Im not saying i dont appreciate the help of everyone here thats why i made workbook here
Anyway back on topic. I am currently trying to train my sight awareness but its still confusing because i dont know what to focus in my sight maybe the clarity
The self awareness that im here but i cant be aware all day sometimes i get distracted

And i am appreciating for those who are trying to help me

Originally Posted by Iriba

I am currently trying to train my sight awareness but its still confusing because i dont know what to focus in my sight maybe the clarity

You are basically noticing the little things that you normally look past. Look around you...see that reflection on a shiny object that you never really paid attention to before. See the shadows that you can see even indoors with no light even on, shadows from diffused light filter in from outside.

The self awareness that im here but i cant be aware all day sometimes i get distracted

Don't worry about all day, I can't do all day and I have been doing it for a while. Just remind yourself as often as you can and build it up like a muscle.

Why not sign up for a cheap or free meditation course? In the US we have local community colleges where you can take cheap courses and I am sure you have something similar where you are.

(And I still didn't get the like button clicked...Any chance you are just trolling??)

Originally Posted by fogelbise

You are basically noticing the little things that you normally look past. Look around you...see that reflection on a shiny object that you never really paid attention to before. See the shadows that you can see even indoors with no light even on, shadows from diffused light filter in from outside.

Don't worry about all day, I can't do all day and I have been doing it for a while. Just remind yourself as often as you can and build it up like a muscle.

Why not sign up for a cheap or free meditation course? In the US we have local community colleges where you can take cheap courses and I am sure you have something similar where you are.

(And I still didn't get the like button clicked...Any chance you are just trolling??)

It's not that i am noticing the little things
i'm more worried to make my dreams hyper-realistic as some of you have
And my theory is that comes by focusing the clarity of reality first.
or the self-awareness "i'm here" moment.
But if i am wrong please correct me

Any help please?

Originally Posted by Iriba

It's not that i am noticing the little things
i'm more worried to make my dreams hyper-realistic as some of you have
And my theory is that comes by focusing the clarity of reality first.
or the self-awareness "i'm here" moment.
But if i am wrong please correct me

What I meant is that you specifically look for those little things in waking life...for example:

You are basically noticing the little things that you normally look past. Look around you...see that reflection on a shiny object that you never really paid attention to before. See the shadows that you can see even indoors with no light even on, shadows from diffused light filter in from outside.

Don't worry about all day, I can't do all day and I have been doing it for a while. Just remind yourself as often as you can and build it up like a muscle.

..so basically look for those things I mentioned in that last quote or things similar to that in your daytime practices. I don't always get hyper-realistic lucids, but you are right that this kind of daytime practice can help get them.

The self-awareness "I'm here" moments help in a little different way but are also very valuable. It can help you to truly realize your condition...that "this is all my dream...this is all me" while you are dreaming but also allow you to have the awareness to stop and take a moment to really look at your surroundings in your dream which can improve the clarity of the world you see in the dream.

I apologize for the delay in responding. I just had some vacation time away with family.

Progress:

Yesterday i did a hand reality check on my dream ,although it didnt work :/ .
. I wonder if i'm getting closer to a lucid. But today my recall decreased, i couldnt even remember 1 dream, i slept at the same time, i meditated at the same time as well but yet my recall decreased, i have an idea how to increase it, but i need someone to tell me if i am doing the right thing or not

-Iriba

Its really frustating that people are getting 50 lucids per month and im taking almost 3 years to have one, i need someone to help me, i want to see where im failing

Originally Posted by Iriba

Progress:

Yesterday i did a hand reality check on my dream ,although it didnt work :/ .
. I wonder if i'm getting closer to a lucid. But today my recall decreased, i couldnt even remember 1 dream, i slept at the same time, i meditated at the same time as well but yet my recall decreased, i have an idea how to increase it, but i need someone to tell me if i am doing the right thing or not

-Iriba

Hi Iriba,
If you did a RC in your dream, you were (and are) sooooo close to lucidity! Can you write a bit more about that part of your dream? What were you thinking and doing at that time that made you do the hand check?

I myself use nose pinch as my primary RC, I prefer it to hand check, which I only use when actually already lucid as a secondary confirmation, when I think of it (which is not very often). You may want to try practicing nose pinch during your daily practice, so that you use it first in dreams. Nose pinch is considered by many to be the #1 most effective and reliable RC.

It's great that you're doing meditation. Building mindfulness and self-awareness takes time. Keep doing it, without expecting instant results. Results will come over time.

I think a very good book for you to read is "Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life." Learn to be happy with where you are now, not placing your hope of contentment in a future of lucid dreaming, but be happy to experience and be present in ever moment. Not only will this increase your joy in life, it will lead to the mindset that is very conducive for lucid dreaming -- being aware in the moment, learning to observe and to be aware of your thoughts and feelings and reactions, being patient, stopping throughout your day and just following your breath, looking around in amazement at the world, actively living, not just coasting through life on auto-pilot.

Its really frustating that people are getting 50 lucids per month and im taking almost 3 years to have one, i need someone to help me, i want to see where im failing

There is a lot that goes into lucid dreaming practice. One of the main ingredients is a positive attitude. I've found that feelings of frustration hinder my own practice, so I do my best to avoid them. Don't focus on your count or other's counts, just keep working on self-awareness during the day and dream recall by night.

I'd like to understand your dream recall practice, if you could write here in more detail everything you do to recall dreams, we can start there and expand to other subjects later. Dream recall is really important to lucid dreaming, spending effort on it is well worth it.

Originally Posted by FryingMan

Hi Iriba,
If you did a RC in your dream, you were (and are) sooooo close to lucidity! Can you write a bit more about that part of your dream? What were you thinking and doing at that time that made you do the hand check?

I myself use nose pinch as my primary RC, I prefer it to hand check, which I only use when actually already lucid as a secondary confirmation, when I think of it (which is not very often). You may want to try practicing nose pinch during your daily practice, so that you use it first in dreams. Nose pinch is considered by many to be the #1 most effective and reliable RC.

It's great that you're doing meditation. Building mindfulness and self-awareness takes time. Keep doing it, without expecting instant results. Results will come over time.

I think a very good book for you to read is "Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life." Learn to be happy with where you are now, not placing your hope of contentment in a future of lucid dreaming, but be happy to experience and be present in ever moment. Not only will this increase your joy in life, it will lead to the mindset that is very conducive for lucid dreaming -- being aware in the moment, learning to observe and to be aware of your thoughts and feelings and reactions, being patient, stopping throughout your day and just following your breath, looking around in amazement at the world, actively living, not just coasting through life on auto-pilot.




There is a lot that goes into lucid dreaming practice. One of the main ingredients is a positive attitude. I've found that feelings of frustration hinder my own practice, so I do my best to avoid them. Don't focus on your count or other's counts, just keep working on self-awareness during the day and dream recall by night.

I'd like to understand your dream recall practice, if you could write here in more detail everything you do to recall dreams, we can start there and expand to other subjects later. Dream recall is really important to lucid dreaming, spending effort on it is well worth it.

"Day 16 to 17

I was in a dark classroom, a police officer was explaining some things
And he was next to a computer, i could see the bright of the monitor, when i looked
behind me, there was my dad fixing something. I looked again at the monitor
and was paying attention to the clock. It was 12:30 when i looked at it
I stopped looking, and then looked again, it was now 12:32.
I stopped looking again, and then looked again, it was 12:35
And i thought to my self: "The time is running so fast!"


"Day 17 to day 18

I was near my aunt's neighboorhood, it was night time, and i said to myself
"I have to enter in this world, i have to get lucid!"
Right after i said that, i looked to my hands, but they looked normal. i had 5 fingers
on each"


The dreams had previous parts, but i took the most important ones that i consider.
Well, having 2 dreams followed by making reality checks, makes me feel excited
and great, but i still feel i'm missing something!

Originally Posted by Iriba

The dreams had previous parts, but i took the most important ones that i consider.
Well, having 2 dreams followed by making reality checks, makes me feel excited
and great, but i still feel i'm missing something!

Take heart Bruno, you are close!! It very well could be that when you are doing your reality checks while awake that you aren't expecting them to show that you are dreaming...so when you do your RC's in the dream you are expecting the same thing - for them to not work - and as a result you may just barely be missing that chance to become lucid. The fact that your RC's are showing up in your dreams is a great sign though! That doesn't happen for most people too often, and two consecutive days is very nice! *So what I would like you to try from now on is to expect for your RC's to work...expect that any waking moment could actually be a dream! Get excited about it when you do it. I also like to imagine that it is a dream and what I would do in that moment if that lady across the way were actually in my dream right now! Lucid dreaming is definitely on your mind as shown in that second dream you listed - day 17 to day 18, so another good sign! I truly think you are close to making a break through with a little added focus on your RC's during the day and setting good intentions and expectations before bed.

Don't forget to answer FryingMan's question quoted below...you should take advantage of all of this great help he is offering up.

Originally Posted by FryingMan

I'd like to understand your dream recall practice, if you could write here in more detail everything you do to recall dreams, we can start there and expand to other subjects later. Dream recall is really important to lucid dreaming, spending effort on it is well worth it.

I'd like to understand your dream recall practice, if you could write here in more detail everything you do to recall dreams, we can start there and expand to other subjects later. Dream recall is really important to lucid dreaming, spending effort on it is well worth it.

Alright, i will write here exactly as it is in dream my journal

"Day 16 to 17 november 2014

Today i dreamt i was in a dark classroom, i was seeing a bright light of a computer screen at my front
and a police officer. it was my friend's dad, he is actually a police officer. My dad was behind me
fixing something, i couldn't remember what, I looked closer to the computer screen and i was looking
at the clock on the right bottom of the computer screen, it was 12:30 AM then i looked away and looked again
at the clock, it was now 12:32 AM, looked away, and looked one more time now it was 12:35
and i thought to myself "The time is passing so fast!"


"Day 17 to 18 november 2014

Today i dreamt i was with my friend, we were running from wolves
we entered in a narrow cave that belonged to the wolves, the cave was a slide
we were lying down until we reach the bottom of it. Some seconds later we weren't
sliding anymore, because there wasn't enough sand. So i had to drive a little iron ball
to rebound on some pillars, now the point of view changed, i was seeing it as i was playing
some 3D game, it hitted the right pillar, then the left one, then it went diagonal right and hitted
that pillar then the left one, and it entered on a narrow tube, and sand started to flow on the slide again
to lubrificate our bodies until we reach the bottom. We landed and we got to a part to jump to a platform
I jumped to the platform but that felt, my friend jumped after that felt down, i left that place and was exploring
the cave, now the cave was way enlarged than before, it looked like an underground hideout with a little
natural light coming from the left windows. i looked at my right and there was a concert, then i looked back and saw
my female friend. The scenary changed, I was near my aunt's neighboorhood, it was night time, and i said to myself
"I have to enter in this world, i have to get lucid!"
Right after i said that, i looked to my hands, but they looked normal. i had 5 fingers
on each"


Yeah i know my dreams are very non-sense and i feel sometimes i don't distrust at the real world enough
to reality check in the dream world, but i would like to hear your opinion if possible