Nazrax' Workbook

General info:
I found out about lucid dreaming many years ago, and I've been interested in it ever since. I dove into it in earnest about 5 years ago, reading everything I could on it. Unfortunately, though I have a lot of "head knowledge" about it, I've had few successes.

When I become lucid, it's never been through an RC. It's not that my RCs in my dreams fail; rather, I have no memory of ever RCing in a non-lucid dream. Instead, I typically just become aware that I'm dreaming, usually as part of a scene change. In most of my lucids, if a DC walks up to me and says "Hey, you're dreaming," it would have about the same effect as if he'd walked up and said "Hey, the sky is blue." I've never had the "OH WOW I'M LUCID" moment that so many people talk about. Most of the times I've become lucid, I've tried to exert some kind of control over the dream, but my awareness has been so low that it's been more of an instinct than a conscious decision. The obvious answer is to stabilize my dream - but since I don't get that moment of non-lucid to lucid transition, it never even occurs to me that there's anything to stabilize.

As far as I can tell, MILDing hasn't helped at all (so far). Many of my lucids have followed from failed WILD attempts, while others have "just happened." I've done some SSILDing, usually with a MILD as a followup, but I don't know if it's affecting anything. Due to my incredible lack of awareness and control in my lucids, WILDing is very attractive to me. Unfortunately, every time I've ever tried it I've ended up with fairly bad insomnia. When I fall asleep normally, it's a very, very quick thing. If I'm awake for even 5 minutes after I lay down with the intention to sleep, I know I have insomnia that night, and it's going to take me a long time to get to sleep. When I attempt a WILD, I can easily stay perfectly still for 30 to 45 minutes, and I can keep my thoughts relatively calm - but sleep evades me. Worse, once I give up on the attempt, I can't get the sleep back. It sometimes takes me over an hour after giving up on the WILD before I can get to sleep. Sometimes I just have to give up altogether and go read somewhere to get myself really tired before trying to sleep again.

I normally get between 7-8 hours of sleep each night. A short WBTB doesn't make much difference, but I can't do a long one. I normally try my WILDs on Friday and Saturday nights, when I can afford to lose a little more sleep.

Late last year, I finally started having a few more successes: I was probably getting 2-3 lucids a month from about September through November. December was crazy, and my attempts dropped off, and then I became more tired and didn't want to lose the sleep to lucid attempts. I've finally gotten over the tiredness, and I'm hoping to make even more progress this time around.

Reality Checks:
I do reality checks on a regular basis throughout the day, usually unscheduled. Unfortunately, most of my day is either sitting behind a computer or sitting behind a steering wheel, so there's not much variety of "odd" things to kick off my RCs (or, maybe I'm just thinking too small ...). The nose-pinch is my most common RC, followed closely by studying my hand. I'm trying to get more into the habit of questioning how I got to where I am. Occasionally I'll jump or try to stick my finger through my hand.

Dream Signs:
* HUGE areas (so large I'm not aware of the ceiling or far walls)
* Really uncomfortable / awkward situations
* Driving
* Very low light levels and lights that don't work right
* Very recently, gaming

Short-Term Goals:
* Have more regular lucid dreams
* Increase lucid awareness and control
* Fly

Long-Term Goals:
* Be able to shapeshift and have the shift "stick"
* Use LDs to combat social anxiety

Journalling:
I've kept a DreamViews journal for a while, on and off. My dream journalling usually goes pretty well as long as I put the effort into it. I have my tablet near my bed along with a Bluetooth keyboard. When I wake up, I gently roll onto my back, grab my keyboard, close my eyes, and type out as much of the dream as I can remember. In the morning, I download the entry from my tablet, clean it up, and post it.

Current Technique:
WBTB + SSILD + MILD. I can't use an alarm in the middle of the night, so I use a large glass of water instead. It usually wakes me up after either 3 or 4.5 hours. When I wake up, I do an RC, record my dreams, use the bathroom, get a drink of water, and go back to bed. On average, journalling probably takes about 10-15 minutes, so I'm awake and semi-active for about 15-20 minutes total.

Once I'm back in bed, I try to run through some SSILD cycles, then fix in my mind a dream I want to re-enter; fix an intention to re-enter it, recognize it, and become lucid; then fall asleep. More often than not, I don't try to re-enter the dream I just left - my dreams aren't usually anything I want to get back into - but instead a pleasant, older, memorable dream.

Last night, I woke up after about 4 hours. After using the bathroom, I started in on some SSILD, but I got distracted and/or fell asleep before I'd moved onto the MILD. I only had good recall at the end of the night.

It's been a long time since I've really reviewed my dream journal, so I'm going to try to get back in that habit soon.

-Failed WILDs lead to many of your LDs: This could be key in understanding what works best for you. Perhaps some combination of WBTB and heightened intention to lucid dream. Can you remember anything else common in these successful attempts?

-Your challenge with insomnia: Like you are already doing, keep your real attempts to weekends or when you can sleep in until you learn how to get back to sleep easier - this was an issue for me also early on for a while. I found that on the weekends it took the pressure off of worrying about falling asleep and allowed me to find my own way over time.

-When you do get insomnia: Try enjoyable visualizations or "day dreaming" or use your get up and read solution (sometimes just getting up is enough to reset your intention to just fall asleep)

-Try to "forget what you know" as they say...perhaps in 5 years you have learned a few things that are not for you or may have been bad advice. Same here...take my advice with a grain of salt since I am far from an expert. Somewhere inside you have many of your own answers.

-Some quick ssild and straight to sleep for dild's may be enough of a change up in your routine to help you not worry about getting to sleep. ssild really worked for me but I did find that I was better off doing it on weekends until I found it easier to get back to sleep.

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2-3 lucids a month from about September through November

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Can you tell from any dream journals, notes or posts on dreamviews during that time what the key was during that period? Perhaps it was just putting more time into wbtb's and less worry about insomnia?

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(RC's)...Unfortunately, most of my day is either sitting behind a computer or sitting behind a steering wheel, so there's not much variety of "odd" things to kick off my RCs (or, maybe I'm just thinking too small ...). The nose-pinch is my most common RC, followed closely by studying my hand. I'm trying to get more into the habit of questioning how I got to where I am.

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A random timer is helpful to remind you to do RC's until it becomes more natural (took me a long time to do it more naturally). I use the random reminder on the Awoken app for Android phones. I do highly recommend adding that habit of questioning how you got to where you are and maybe also what you were thinking or doing 5 to 15 minutes before.

Dream signs - I have had success with strong dream signs like a deceased person showing up or my love of looking at stars and noticing something odd about them. Also, later in my practice, I found that taking bold action in a dream seems to often trigger lucidity for me. It seems like you have some dream signs listed that could work. Is there anything that you are passionate about that shows up in your dreams? Or anything that makes you look closer to examine even if you don't quite get lucid?

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Current Technique: WBTB + SSILD + MILD.

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Have you tried mixing up the order. Do you often get HI's or HH's of any kind during this process? I will sometimes stop doing SSILD and do some visualization of desired dream - sounds something like your routine and may go back and do some more cycles. I know SSILD's author says to use it alone so I assume you tried that first for a good while..? I did and got a lot of mileage out of it before changing it up much later.

What do you feel are your biggest roadblocks? I sense that WBTB insomnia is one.

What are your favorite LD practices?

I hope this helps you on your way to your goals. :)

In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have posted a new thread the day before I went camping for the weekend :)

Unsurprisingly, I had no recall while I was gone, but I had some fairly good recall yesterday and today. I don't think I did anything Saturday night, and last night I did a bit of MILD and SSILD. I tried to tell myself that I'd dream of camping and remember that I wasn't camping any more, but nothing came of it.

Alas, I can't think of any common threads between the times I actually had a lucid.

Normally, WBTB doesn't bother me - it's WILDing specifically that causes me to have real trouble getting back to sleep.

I'll check out Awoken. I used to have a random reminder a long time ago, but it didn't seem to encourage random (non-alarmed) RCs, but I'll certainly give it another shot.

The only times I get HI or HH are when I'm really, really tired and trying to stay awake. I have no memories of getting them when I'm actually in bed.

I try to visualize what I want, but nothing's come of it yet.

My biggest road blocks? Not having a reliable way to get lucid :) Other than that, lack of awareness and control in dreams. It's frustrating to wake from a barely-lucid to realize what I could have done. As I mentioned earlier, in many of my lucids I treat the dream as real, even though I know it's a dream. I specifically remember one dream where I had a dream goal to ask a DC a question, but I decided I couldn't do it because it was night and everyone would be asleep!

I've flown twice in dreams - once lucid, once not - and I really, REALLY want to do that again!

Recall last night was good. Before bed, I spent a few minutes reading over the previous week's dreams, and in the middle of the night I did some MILD / visualization of being back in the campground, then some SSILD. Alas, no lucids for me.

I was rushing to get in bed last night, since I knew I'd have an early morning this morning. I ended up with a nightmare (first in a long time), so I had a poor night with poor recall.

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Originally Posted by Nazrax

I don't think I did anything Saturday night, and last night I did a bit of MILD and SSILD. I tried to tell myself that I'd dream of camping and remember that I wasn't camping any more, but nothing came of it.

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I find SSILD and WBTB in general to be very powerful for increasing chances of having an LD. That experimentation with looking out for camping dreams is just the sort of things you should continue to try...find things that make sense to you and even though that didn't produce results that time, it could in the future. You may even try switching up the way that you approach it.

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Alas, I can't think of any common threads between the times I actually had a lucid.

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Keep an eye out then for commonalities with your next lucids. Could a common thread be perhaps that you did a substantial WBTB on many of them?

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Normally, WBTB doesn't bother me - it's WILDing specifically that causes me to have real trouble getting back to sleep.

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That is great to hear that WBTB is still available to you without worries of getting back to sleep...so you can still use the powerful WBTB's and just avoid WILDs except for times when you can plan for them, perhaps on some of the nights when you can sleep in.

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My biggest road blocks? Not having a reliable way to get lucid :) Other than that, lack of awareness and control in dreams. It's frustrating to wake from a barely-lucid to realize what I could have done. As I mentioned earlier, in many of my lucids I treat the dream as real, even though I know it's a dream. I specifically remember one dream where I had a dream goal to ask a DC a question, but I decided I couldn't do it because it was night and everyone would be asleep!

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To improve this, I feel that you need more of you in the dream, specifically: more self-awareness. In addition, "practicing" during the day what you plan to do in those moments that you realize you are dreaming. Since your moment is not a big a-ha moment usually, try to recreate the common scenario where you realize you are dreaming but instead take action and remind yourself, this is all my dream and I can do whatever I want! Practice this process during the day when you do RC's or any LD day practice of your choice. Some MILD and prospective memory work with the same aim would also be helpful.

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I've flown twice in dreams - once lucid, once not - and I really, REALLY want to do that again!

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I have no doubt you will again with your mind set to it! :)

If you like the advice here, don't forget to hit the like button. :) It shows me that my efforts are appreciated. Good luck!

Unfortunately, last night was even worse than the night before. Oh well, you win some, you lose some :)

As I was returning to sleep after WBTB, I tried to visualize where I wanted to be, but I suspect I got stuck into the same trap that prevents me from sleeping during and after a WILD attempt. Either I fall back asleep quickly or I don't fall back asleep at all, and I so wish I had some control over that.

You're right about the prospective memory training. I've tried to do some of that before, both dream related (when I'm dreaming ...) as well as otherwise (every time I see a blue car ...). I'm uniformly terrible at it :( I know it's a skill that can be learned like anything else, but it doesn't seem to be one I can easily pick up. I'll keep trying though!

Woo-hoo! Last night I had my first lucid in over 6 months :) (of course, most of that time I wasn't really trying, but still ...)

Yesterday, whenever I did a RC I tried to run through not just "am I dreaming" but "what would I do if I were dreaming;" and that may have helped. I suspect the main cause was how long I was awake during the night, that once I did fall back asleep I was more aware than I'd normally be.

Awesome Nazrax!! Perhaps the longer awake time and your recent re-focus helped you to become lucid and the "what would I do if I were dreaming" helped with having good memory in the dream to remember to ground yourself and remember your goals, bringing more of "you" into the dream. I also read and posted in your DJ and you had a nice longer LD, Congrats!! :)

The last few days have been crazy, and I haven't had a chance to sit down to edit and post my DJs, but I'm still here. Alas, my sleep this week has been poor. I didn't sleep well Monday night and Tuesday night, and I got to sleep really late on Wednesday night. Tuesday night, while I tried to get back to sleep, I kept telling myself that I'd have a sweet lucid like the last time I had WBTB insomnia. Unfortunately, I had no such luck :( (though I did dream about what a bad night I'd had ...)

I've continued making my "what if I were dreaming right now" visualizations more vivid. Right now I'm working on exactly how I'd find the pumpkin (I know it'd be behind me, on our dining room table), what I'd do with it, and what I'd do next. Hopefully it'll pay off when I do get another one.

I slept much better last night, and my recall was OK. I really have no idea where these school dreams are coming from, but I guess it's time to really focus on "If I'm anywhere near a high school, I'm almost certainly dreaming." I need to get back in the habit of rereading my old DJs so this stuff sticks out more in my mind.

Those are good ideas. Whenever I am working with dream signs I like to remind myself right before going to bed and at any awakenings. It is a little tougher coming of several days of poor sleep as I am sure you know, so no need to fret not getting back up to speed right away.

It's been kind of a weird week, and I haven't had much chance to clean up my nightly notes into proper journal entries. At least today I managed to post last night.

My recall continues to be OK (for me, anyway), but I was excited on Saturday: I actually remembered two dreams during a camping trip! :)

I continue my frequent RCs and "what if I were dreaming" visualizations, and I trust they'll pay off again soon ...

Well, after fighting with insomnia on and off for quite some time, I'm back :) I was able to jump right back into dream journalling with no issue - my recall has been as good as it ever was. Now, I just need to finally take that next step and actually start having lucid dreams ...

Welcome back Nazrax! :) Let us know if there are any areas that you would like assistance with and try to make regular notes here to gain momentum.

Journals from the weekend: Saturday, Sunday, Today. I actually had a really brief lucid Sunday morning :)

As for help - I just don't know how to turn years of (on and off) really good dream journalling into lucids ...

Well, last night was my best lucid ever - but, I also cheated ... I finally broke down and got some galantamine. I want to build up my mental muscles to the point that I don't need that, though, so for "daytime work" I'm starting in on some of Sivason's Dream Yoga lessons, and in preparation for WBTB I'm going to brush up on MILD - I'm frankly still not sure what the distinctions are between MILD, auto-suggestion, mantras, and the rest.

The night after my last post was a complete wash, but last night I had success with my new WBTB-meditate-get-up-go-back-to-bed-get-up-read-go-back-to-bed-meditate-get-up-meditate-go-back-to-bed (WBTBMGUGBTBGURGBTBMGUMGBTB) technique, though I wouldn't recommend it. That being said, earlier in the day I listened to the old DILD-WILD podcast and worked some meditation, mantras, and visualization into bed time, so it probably all worked together.

Congratulations on your 2 LD's!! :D WBTBMGUGBTBGURGBTBMGUMGBTB technique lol!

Thanks :) Now, my goals are still A) to keep going, B) to do it on nights without supplements, and C) to do it without 3 hour WBTBs ...

The weekend was weird. I went camping Friday night, and despite all my expectations, I actually had a lucid ... but Sunday night, when I was feeling really confident and took more galantamine, was a total bust. Based on my two most recent successes (nasty middle-of-the-night insomnia and camping), I'm guessing that means I need to step up my WBTBs - not just journalling and some MILD mantras, but ... something. I'm going to print out some of my recent journal entries and read over them and see what that does (no nasty backlights ...).

I agree. WBTB's are a big boost to lucidity! Congrats again!! :)

I will check the other workbooks in the morning. A couple of crazy busy days I've had.

Well, I did a longer-than-usual WBTB and woke myself up a little more. It took forever to go back to sleep, and I didn't even get a lucid to show for it. Practice, practice ...

That being said, I'd rather find a method that puts most of the 'work' in the daytime. I can spare time during the day, but it's not really possible for me to extend my night any.

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Originally Posted by Nazrax

Well, I did a longer-than-usual WBTB and woke myself up a little more. It took forever to go back to sleep, and I didn't even get a lucid to show for it. Practice, practice ...

That being said, I'd rather find a method that puts most of the 'work' in the daytime. I can spare time during the day, but it's not really possible for me to extend my night any.

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When you do use WBTB which really is a great boost, keep experimenting with how much to wake up since the last time seemed too long. I did often find the most success when I had trouble getting back to sleep, but I realize that is not ideal if you have to get up at a certain time. Perhaps you can save it for nights that you can sleep in, maybe a couple of times a week and also see if you can get some other "spontaneous" DILD's through day work.

For that I would work hard with Sageous' RRC very nicely described here: http://www.dreamviews.com/wild/13181...prep-part.html

Besides getting the hang of RRC, I also highly recommend to think during the day as much as possible things like "Wow, if I were dreaming right now I would ______!!!" (fly up and over this traffic, fly up over this crowd or obstruction, approach that hottie over there, fly up over those trees, run like the wind, use telekinesis to dispatch with those as*holes!.basically whatever gives you the most inspiration or is the most fun to imagine. You then visualize realizing this is a dream! You can use tricks of perception like squinting and poking one finger from one hand under your other hand to seemingly give yourself 6 fingers. You can lift yourself up on your toes while looking up which often gives the feeling of floating up. Mirrors with bevels or oddities in them can be useful to give you dream like visuals. You may come up with other inventive ways to do this sort of thing. You do all this while repeating "I'm dreaming! I'm dreaming!" along with your favorite tactile stabilization method (like rubbing your hands together).

Thanks for the pointer to the RRC (and to those classes in general). I often use the "where was I; what am I doing; where am I going" check, but I guess I don't think much about the "how am I affecting the world" part of it.

One frustration (that's too strong a word, but I'm not sure what else to use) I've had is that, even after doing this on and off for 7 years now, I've never (as far as I know, not once) had RCs or dreamsign recognition show up in my dreams pre-lucidity. In many of my lucids, I've used various forms of RC to validate lucidity and/or stabilize, but I've never done an RC "just because" and been surprised by its outcome or recognized a dreamsign and said "Hey, that's a dreamsign!" I've tried RC alarms, sticky notes, marks on the back of my hand, and none of it has ever bled into my dreams.

I've started going through Sivason's Dream Yoga class in the hopes that maybe it'll touch me deeply enough to pass through the wake/sleep barrier ... I'll also work on Sageus' RRC and trying for the "real self-reflection" he talks about.

On a totally different topic, I was just noticing your signature and the link to the DV Podcast. I really enjoyed listening through the podcasts a while back, and I'm sad that they're dead. Have you run across any other such material from other sites that you've enjoyed?

Let's talk more about RC's and dream signs when my mind is fresh in the morning. :) It can be done for sure. There may be other practices that fit you better perhaps.

I wanted to respond to your last question since I did some reviews during the day of audio I have listened to. So besides listening to audio books and checking out youtube videos (including big names like Laberge) where I may primarily just listen, there are other podcasts. There are several interesting interviews found under "dreamspacedotmedia." There are also some good interviews on the Lucid Sage podcast (can listen on his website or via iTunes) including author Daniel Love who found a home here on DV. My signature also has a link to the audio section where Sensei and PercyLucid did a number audio classes. I may think of some more but there is a lot of material in what I mentioned. I think many of the podcasts here are worth a 2nd listen as well!

Happy dreams! :)

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Originally Posted by Nazrax

Thanks for the pointer to the RRC (and to those classes in general). I often use the "where was I; what am I doing; where am I going" check, but I guess I don't think much about the "how am I affecting the world" part of it.

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That never resonated with me, either, so I just ignore that part. What I do instead is feel very deeply in my being, and maybe say out loud, that "I....am HERE....NOW!". The point is you need to get that deep-in-your-guts feeling of the essence of yourself, being self-aware in the present moment. Be aware of your awareness!

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One frustration (that's too strong a word, but I'm not sure what else to use) I've had is that, even after doing this on and off for 7 years now, I've never (as far as I know, not once) had RCs or dreamsign recognition show up in my dreams pre-lucidity. In many of my lucids, I've used various forms of RC to validate lucidity and/or stabilize, but I've never done an RC "just because" and been surprised by its outcome or recognized a dreamsign and said "Hey, that's a dreamsign!" I've tried RC alarms, sticky notes, marks on the back of my hand, and none of it has ever bled into my dreams.

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That's because there are misconceptions about RCs. There is a popular camp that says "Do tons of RCs during the day, and you'll eventually start doing them by habit in your dreams and you'll get lucid." Except that it doesn't really seem to work that way. An RC does not create awareness, and RC can only be done *in response to* awareness (and or memory, and or a combination of awareness/reflection/memory, the boundary between these concepts is blurry at times!). An RC is just a tool: a tool to quickly help you to conclude if you are awake or dreaming. A better term for RC is "state test": you're testing your state: are you in the dream state or the waking state? It is a useful tool, to be sure, the dream state is characterized by an impaired access to memory and a sort of layer of fog on top of your awareness. Often times in a moment of budding lucidity, we're not sure what's going on or if we're awake or not, the RC [if practiced a lot in waking life in response to awareness] can be very helpful to flame the spark of lucidity into a full-blown lucid dream.

So you have it right. First comes awareness, then comes (if you need it), the RC. So you've got it exactly right, no need for any frustration!

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I've started going through Sivason's Dream Yoga class in the hopes that maybe it'll touch me deeply enough to pass through the wake/sleep barrier ... I'll also work on Sageus' RRC and trying for the "real self-reflection" he talks about.

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There's a lot of great stuff in Sivason's class. There are some fabulous books on dream yoga that really get you thinking about awareness, mindfulness, and consciousness. "The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep" is the classic work on this topic, and recently Andrew Holecek published a book on dream yoga as well: "Dream Yoga: Illuminating Your Life Through Lucid Dreaming and the Tibetan Yogas of Sleep" I highly recommend both. They are certainly centered on the Tibetan Buddhist tradition in many ways, but you don't have to be a Buddhist to get a lot of amazing insight and practices to foster lucidity.

^Exactly, thank you FM. So working on things like self awareness, dream sign awareness and doing RC's can help you be ready for those times (fairly frequent for me) when you have a short moment of lucidity. By being ready to do an RC, or by being very familiar with your dream signs, you can turn that spark of lucidity into a raging fire.

Edit: I found a good post that describes some examples of the part of the RRC regarding "how am I affecting the world" that may give you an idea of how it may help self awareness:
http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...ml#post2193957

I'll try to write up more tomorrow; today's the first day I've sat at my computer since Thursday, so it's been kind of crazy ;)

I did actually manage to have a very brief lucid Thursday night, so I'm keeping up the "streak" - my current plan is just to keep trying to build that awareness ... I wish there a nice formulaic "Do A, B, C and you'll become more aware," but that last link kind of dispels that idea ...

I'm also focusing more on noting things that confuse or surprise me - I don't know if it's happening more in my dreams, or if I've just noticed it more, but I'm often confused inside the dreams themselves, and that's frequently what's gotten me lucid recently. Why is my boss doing this weird thing? Why aren't the lights working? How can the wave have stopped in mid-air? I'm actually starting to realize these things at the time, instead of hindsight, which is exciting.

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Originally Posted by Nazrax

I'm also focusing more on noting things that confuse or surprise me - I don't know if it's happening more in my dreams, or if I've just noticed it more, but I'm often confused inside the dreams themselves, and that's frequently what's gotten me lucid recently. Why is my boss doing this weird thing? Why aren't the lights working? How can the wave have stopped in mid-air? I'm actually starting to realize these things at the time, instead of hindsight, which is exciting.

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Awesome! It feels really good to catch things like that. Congratulations on another LD!! :)

But there is a simple set of steps to awareness! Pay attention, reflect, recall, again and again, over and over, aiming for all the time. It takes time to develop an always-on vigilance, so be patient, but practice it every chance you get.

It's very good that you notice the feeling of your state of mind in dreams: focus on sensing that state of clarity vs confusion. My 2nd LD came from noticing one of those dream-like scenarios (I couldn't pick something up, cards kept falling through my fingers).

In dream yoga the focus is building awareness in both the moment of experience, then followed by awareness in the moment of reaction to experience. But noticing things in hindsight works for LDs as well, I've had several LDa where I'm reflecting on something that just happened and realizing how weird it was. Weird? Odd? Dream! Work on establishing this train of thought.

Last week, I took a break from night work - the competition was kind of crazy, and I don't want to burn out :) I'd been planning on diving back in this week, but insomnia's hit harder than it has for a long time. Ah, well, no rush.

I'm still keeping up with daytime awareness work, and I actually did have a (very short, poor awareness/control) lucid a couple of days ago.

And, another brief lucid last night! Things are going much better right now than they ever have before. Now I just need to keep it up and bring it all together, and have good sleep to make it matter ...

Congrats! :D

Yes keep up the great work, keep good records of what is working, and try to have fun while doing it!

I'm continuing to have success with my awareness training / sleep yoga. I've got an app on my phone that buzzes occasionally, prompting me to do an RRC, and I try to do them throughout the day whenever I think about it - especially if something weird happens. I don't know how much "progress" I've made with sleep yoga, but I practice snippets of it throughout the day. Whatever the reason, I'm now having brief lucids late in my sleep cycle (seems to be around 5-6AM) a couple of times a week, which is pretty amazing (for me, anyway).

Unfortunately, they're very low awareness (last night, I thought it was perfectly natural to interact with a DC of "my sister" even though I don't have one), tend to be low control, and are really short. I know it'll be a matter of time and practice - but I'm not sure what to practice (either day or night) to go from "This is a dream (but it may as well not be)" to "This is a dream (and it can be whatever I want it to be)."

Also, my dream recall continues to be amazingly terrible, but I'm know it'll come back eventually.

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Originally Posted by Nazrax

I know it'll be a matter of time and practice - but I'm not sure what to practice (either day or night) to go from "This is a dream (but it may as well not be)" to "This is a dream (and it can be whatever I want it to be)."

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Yes, time will help, but it is also very helpful to get into the right mindset through a "just got lucid ritual." You basically practice it during the day and during any WBTB's. It is quite easy to make it a fun practice. Look around you right now as you are reading this…imagine if you were dreaming right now - you'd be free to do whatever you want…to do so many different fun and exciting things. Really visualizing this should get you excited, at least a little bit. Now simulate that you are actually dreaming right now - you just realized it - and take a moment or two to slow down and really soak in all of the senses. Rubbing your hands is good for this. You can see, feel and hear your hands rubbing together. You can imagine the taste and smell of the smoke that could generate in a dream from the friction of your hands rubbing together…maybe you can even feel a flame growing. Next, say an affirmation or autosuggestion like "I have long lucid dreaming adventures!" (all of this is during your day practices, WBTB practices and also when you first become lucid). Now finally you think about your goals and then imagine setting off to complete them. If you do this enough, you can remember to do it when you become lucid.

Congratulations on getting a couple of lucids per week! Very nice! :D

Got another one! It was short, but my awareness and control were both very good - I actually managed to make the sun rise! Unfortunately, I had a "poof" wakeup that I didn't have a chance to try to prevent, and it provided another opportunity to fail at DEILD. Do you have any tips for avoiding those?

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Originally Posted by Nazrax

Got another one! It was short, but my awareness and control were both very good - I actually managed to make the sun rise! Unfortunately, I had a "poof" wakeup that I didn't have a chance to try to prevent, and it provided another opportunity to fail at DEILD. Do you have any tips for avoiding those?

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Congratulations! Making the sunrise must have been awesome! :D

So tips, yes…I would suggest to not name any negative occurrences. I'm concerned that doing so may make it more of a thing in your mind, something that you may come to expect. Naming positive things can be useful though. The most likely reasons for that situation are likely outside of your control, so I would just consider it something that may happen on rare occasions. Now dreams fading on you, where you have time to catch it: you may want to expect that you can bring the scene back, or if you prefer - expect that you are just transitioning to a new dream scene (with or without some time in an empty space - which I quite enjoy).

After going a week without another one, I decided it was time to step up my game. I'm still amazed at how well I did during the competition, so I've decided to start scoring myself every day using the competition's score sheet and see how I do on an ongoing basis. Last night, I got another lucid, and it was my best flight yet. Still no sensation of flying, but I know some of the dream yoga lessons deal with learning how to fake sensations, so I guess I need to start working on those ...

Congratulations! :) There is nothing like that yearning to get another lucid, to get us doing what we know we need to do in order to make it happen.

If you remember to during the dream (or during any visualizations during the day) try to draw on real experiences that you've had, this can bring up those sensations in a dream. The feeling of the breeze against your body as you are flying would be similar to riding a bike fast, sticking you head or hand out of a moving car, or other similar experiences. I sometimes think of this specifically when I am driving (be careful though). The feeling of rising and diving in the air you may have experience on a roller coaster or during turbulence on an airplane or even taking off the runway.

Got another one last night! I guess I've been slipping in my "daydream" practice - I didn't remember to do anything in it.

I'll have to see if I can start building up a "library" of sensations to pull from - paying more attention in the real world so I can pull them out in my dreams.

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Originally Posted by Nazrax

Got another one last night!

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Congratulations once again!

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I'll have to see if I can start building up a "library" of sensations to pull from - paying more attention in the real world so I can pull them out in my dreams.

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That's actually a great idea for several reasons off the top of my head: 1. awareness work 2. attention work 3. more thinking about dreams during the day 4. memory work (remembering to do this exercise)
5. and of course you intention on increasing your sensations

Got another low level lucid last night., though I still managed to complete the task of the month (maybe - it's kind of on the line ...).

I had to laugh after waking up - in the dream, I was looking around thinking "Wow, this looks just like reality!" when it's actually a complete fabrication. The thought probably arose from some of my recent awareness work - looking around and asking myself if everything is as I remember it being. Well, it looks like that doesn't actually help ...

Do you have any advice for boosting awareness in a lucid?

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Originally Posted by Nazrax

Do you have any advice for boosting awareness in a lucid?

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You can increase your odds of achieving high levels of awareness by putting as many pieces of the puzzle together as you can in the time leading up to your attempt. Pieces like day work with visualizations of a "just got lucid ritual," one of becoming lucid and taking a moment to remind yourself you are dreaming while rubbing your hands or the ground perhaps. Pieces like wbtb plus a technique like MILD including the above lucid ritual, or SSILD. And then there's self awareness (Sageous' style). When my self awareness feels strongest, my dreams and LDs typically are higher quality. Memory and reflection work are also important. You may not be able to have all of those items lined up every night and that's okay, perhaps your brain chemistry will give you the boost that you need that night. When most everything is in place, you will be rewarded!..sometimes you realize it only after the dream and sometimes you feel it as you are drifting off to sleep.

Sorry for the delay; when I'm on a long break, I don't tend to sit at my computer much ...

Since you originally suggested the "just got lucid" ritual, I've been doing that, and it's helped me remember what I want to do. I guess the problem is that, even though I can look around and confidently say "This is all a dream, a creation of my own mind" it doesn't impact me at all. Even though I know perfectly well that it's not real, I still treat it as if it is.

You say Sageous-style self awareness - are you talking about his RRCs or something else? Are you saying that increasing your daytime awareness "automatically" transfers into your dreams, or that you have an extra in-dream ritual you use to boost your awareness higher?

I've continued having 2-3 lucids per week - and I've had two nights with two lucids :) A couple of nights ago, I actually managed to nail both a Basic and Advanced January TOTM - first time I've been able to get one ahead of time!

Yes, his RRCs. They're all pieces of the puzzle that increase your odds of boosted awareness in your LDs. My daytime awareness practice is constantly evolving as I find new personal ways to more quickly feel high levels of self awareness. I plan to try the quick self awareness daytime practice during an LD and expect it will boost awareness in the dream. The just got lucid ritual is the same in waking visualizations as in the dream state. And yes, I do mean that when your self awareness is really strong during the day, it has a good chance of affecting your dreams "automatically." I believe the more you achieve this heightened self awareness during the day the more automatically it will transfer to your dreams. I have noticed a correlation and I expect it to strengthen with consistent practice.

For the situations where you still treat the dream as "real" you can try adding something to your just got lucid ritual like "I was just moments before lying in be falling (back) to sleep." If that doesn't have a strong enough effect, you can think lightly and briefly about your waking body being somewhere back there in bed. You just want to keep some attention on the dream while doing this. You can also test your memory for your full name, current address, or current date.

Congratulations on the lucids and the 2 LD nights! And in the early TOTM success! :D I need to do that too so my wings don't get clipped.

I don't think I'm doing anything differently these days, but I haven't managed a lucid yet this year :( Ah well, I'm just going to keep working on awareness and trust that lucids will come back eventually ...

Well you managed wings at least! Yes, awareness, dream recall, reflection ("is this dreamlike?"), and intent. Working in the occasional WBTB can do wonders as well. Reading LD literature and meditating before bed are extremely effective also.

Last month was amazing - I probably had more lucids last month than I have in a typical year. It's just frustrating that I went from "I can't believe how well this is going" to "nothing" when nothing obvious changed.

Along with my daytime practice - including some meditation; "daydreaming" what a dream is like, recognizing I'm dreaming, and practising what to do next; and awareness - I WBTB almost every night by means of a full glass of water before bed. I repeat my mantras, I think back over old LDs and recent NLDs, and I do RCs.

I'm going to keep pushing. Last month's LDs were really encouraging, especially since I was finally able to get some good flights in, and that's helping me keep going now - but it's frustrating too :(

I hear you Nazrax. First, I agree with all of FM's pointers. I also wanted to add that sometimes a slightly different twist on a practice or practices gives us the little push we need to get back into the win column. You also want to try to avoid stressing about becoming lucid as that can work against you. Sometimes when you take the pressure off of yourself it puts you in the right mindset to succeed with lucid dreaming. That doesn't suggest stopping practices, but rather not worrying about when you will next become lucid. I know that is easier said than done.

In reading LD literature before bed, besides putting your mind on LDing which is probably the primary benefit, you may come across some new ideas or perhaps just a different way to view something that you already knew...and that could give you the spark that you may need, allowing you to find ways to put (more) joy and/or vigor into at least some of your practices. If you can find at least some joy in at least some of the practices, it will provide waking benefits while you continue to work towards progressing in lucid dreaming. It really is a journey…a journey that I personally find very rewarding in many different ways.

You know you will be telling us about your latest lucid before you know it…you got this! :)

(My mind is tired…let me know if something I said didn't make sense.)