Synapse's Workbook

Hello! For introductions, I'll just copypaste from my Introduction Zone thread:

Quote:

---

Hello! I'm an 18-year-old college student from the Philippines. I started pursuing lucid dreams early November last year, when I was feeling kinda down and I somehow came across the concept of lucid dreaming on the Internet, specifically from the World of Lucid Dreaming website. I was very enticed by the idea that there is this world within my mind where I can do whatever I want, and, especially as a person who deals with issues like stress management and social anxiety, get in touch with my psyche/subconscious.

I've been lurking on DreamViews for the past month or so, learning as much as I can to improve my pursuit of LDs. So far I've managed to become lucid five times: two failed WILDs that somehow became DILDs, two with the help of MILD, and one after practicing self-awareness a lot during the day. My first two LDs (the failed WILDs) were only a few seconds long, but the others were around 1~2 minutes so I can definitely sense some improvement. I recently noticed that the thing in common with all these LDs was that I really, really wanted to get lucid those times, so now I practice a personal method similar to MILD. I am also convinced that awareness is key to lucid dreaming, so during the day I practice somewhat of a hybrid between Puffin's SAT and Sageous's RRCs.

---

Since posting this, I've achieved my 6th lucid where I suddenly realized the ridiculousness of the dream; it ended almost immediately but I was able to chain it using DEILD/FILD :D

I think I should elaborate on my technique. During the day, I remember to question my reality at random times. I ask myself questions like:

• Does it feel like a dream, or waking life?
• Does the context make sense, i.e. have I been in bed recently?
• Can I read easily?
• Are my senses sharp?

...and then I end with an RC, usually the nose-pinch. When I've confirmed that I am indeed experiencing waking life, I keep this idea at the back of my mind while I focus on the interaction between me and reality. I focus on things like the sound of my footsteps, my breathing, the sunlight hitting my skin, etc. I keep this up for as long as I can.

As for my technique when I go to bed, it's basically the same way I remind myself of my responsibilities in real life. I can remember errands, project deadlines, and stuff like that without having to keep a checklist, so I thought, why not use it to remember to become lucid? As I drift off to sleep, I fill my mind with LD-related things, occasionally reminding myself to fulfill my dream goals when I "arrive" at the dream scene.

I prefer to focus on DILD over WILD because as a college student with only 6-7 hours of sleep I really don't have much time to do WBTB+WILD. I know that the REM periods of earlier sleep cycles are not as long as later ones, but they exist nonetheless so I will take any opportunity to become lucid. Plus, one of my LDs occured on the first sleep cycle, so I know firsthand that it's possible :)

Admittedly I haven't been doing a great job of following my techniques lately because school just started again like a week ago. I decided to commit to a workbook so I can monitor my progress more consistently, and so I can progress better with the guidance of more experienced lucid dreamers.

So, no lucids last night, but considering I was quite stressed the day before and couldn't get much awareness practice, I'm happy with my recall. I was able to remember a full dream this time; recently I could only remember fragments usually. Also, I naturally woke up quite early in the middle of the night, but I didn't do a proper WBTB either because I was too lazy or I was worried that I might not get a complete sleep cycle in before I have to wake up for good. In hindsight I actually had lots of time, so next time I'll consider WBTB more seriously.

I'm thinking of trying out MILD again tonight; I might have underestimated its effectiveness. I just realized that my two longest and most vivid dreams have been with the help of MILD. I'll also try to get a bit of meditation before I go to bed.

Hello Synapse, and welcome to the DILD class! From your introduction I would say you are off to a great start and it sounds like you have your head in the right frame of mind for lucid dreaming.

You moments of critical reflection sound great. It's important to keep them genuine, really try to figure out your state, do not just go through the motions. You may want to have some briefer moments, too, perhaps moving right to the physical RC *while* performing the mental reflections. Don't give up quickly if the checks indicate awake. If the physical RC indicates dream then you can generally stop there and just go enjoy the LD.

Are you keeping a dream journal? About how many dreams are you recalling on an average night now?

Let us know about any questions you may have, and feel free to use your workbook to track your progress!

p.s. you may want to subscribe to the sticky threads in the class header about announcements and links to interesting forums threads, as we'll be updating those from time to time.

Mabuhay! I wanted to welcome you as well to the workbooks. :)

You do have a good set of practices listed! FryingMan already covered everything for now...I would only add that although wake back to bed is not required for DILDs, I think it is extremely helpful when you can get it in, especially after you've had a decent amount of rest. Most people say after 4.5 hours or approximately 3 sleep cycles but as you've experienced it is possible to do pre-bed work and get an early LD.

My dream recall seems to depend on the amount of sleep I get and my stress level. On days where I can sleep in and not have much to think about (mostly weekends), I recall an average of two dreams but I can sometimes recall up to four. On normal days however, I can recall only a few fragments or maybe one dream if I'm lucky.

Yesterday was pretty good; I got to practice self-awareness a decent amount (maybe a total of 30 minutes) and was able to meditate before going to bed. I used MILD and my mantra was "I stabilize my lucid dream." I chose this mantra because I want to focus on prolonging my LDs, and the phrase also assumes that I will have a lucid dream, making it feel more confident.

Didn't get an LD, but I'm happy I was able to recall two dreams on a school day! I'll continue my current practices for now; they seem to be earning me quite good progress. :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Synapse

My dream recall seems to depend on the amount of sleep I get and my stress level. On days where I can sleep in and not have much to think about (mostly weekends), I recall an average of two dreams but I can sometimes recall up to four. On normal days however, I can recall only a few fragments or maybe one dream if I'm lucky.

---

Yes dream recall waxes and wanes with our rest and stress levels. So it's good to make sure you get enough good-quality rest, and to generally avoid stress as much as possible.

I think you may benefit from spending a bit more effort on recall. If you take a look through my recall tips link in my signature, you may find some ideas or a slightly different way of framing your relationship with recall. Better recall makes LDs better and more likely, not just because you remember them, but because it changes the fundamental experience of the dream itself, bringing "you" into the experience first-hand.

Yeah, I haven't been focusing much on recall... Sometimes my recalled dreams feel more like ideas instead of memories, and sometimes I wake up with my mind having all these incoherent thoughts swirling around, making me think I didn't dream at all. I do feel like having better recall will make my dreams more vivid, and the simple fact that I can remember more dreams will make my dream life more fulfilling overall.

I've read your post and I'll keep those tips in mind. :) I'll especially spend quite a bit more effort with trying to remember my dreams whenever I wake up, even if it feels like I can't recall anything at first.

Sounds good. Make sure the "effort" expresses itself in the desire to recall the dreams, and in the time you spend quietly probing your memories, but generally keep a relaxed, open mind when waiting for the memories, you don't want to tense up.

Okay, I wasn't able to get in much daytime AND nighttime practice the past few days... lots of college stuff to think about really hampering my LD pursuits. Recall was pretty bad last last night; even though I slept for like ~10 hours, I was able to remember only one IDEA :shakehead:

BUT, last night I was able to meditate and focus my intentions before bed, and got to practice MILD as I drifted off to sleep. Pretty good so far. WBTB after 7 hours. No recall. :( Stayed up for an hour surfing the net (longer than intended...) then tried MILD again but this time, I focused more on visualizing than reciting the mantra. Usually I only do the mantra because I find visualization very taxing on the brain, but this time I insisted upon it. And lo and behold, LUCID #7! :boogie:

Quote:

---

blahblahblah nonlucid part... I exit a building with glass doors, and then suddenly my vision becomes black. Somehow I feel I'm in a dream, but I'm scared that if I 'open my eyes' I'd wake up... but I decided to do it anyway. A cityscape appears before me, and I just know I'm in a dream! I don't even bother to do a reality check. :P The city feels abandoned; it had a greyish-blue tint, I don't see a single DC, and dust and newspaper sweep across the windy streets... I remember my intent to stabilize, so I rub my palms as I walk around the city, reminding myself that it is all a dream. At some point I look at my feet to help feel the pressure on them; I look forward again and I find myself in front of the entrance to the basketball court (that doubles as an activity center) of my childhood elementary school. I try to focus on the faces of the people leaving the area... they are very blurry; their eyes and mouth are like rubbed-out black dots. I step into the court area, and there is some sort of competition going on, something like a scavenger hunt with 9~10-year-old kids as participants. I walk along the edge of the court as to not interfere with the event, while I passively observe what is going on. The MC says something about a blind old man, then the participants start running all over the place. The top part of my vision starts to blacken, so I focus on the lower part and I eventually regain full vision. I walk outside the court and into the back of a small building. A kid comes and pesters me, so I tell him to go back to the court and he complies. Then a girl around the same age as me comes, and... things start to get hot, if you know what I mean. :oops: I lose lucidity, and not long after, the dream.

---

Getting lucid gives me a burst of motivation! :D I will try harder to not let my mind be dominated by non-present matters.

Congrats on getting lucid again!! :) One thing that it took me a while to learn, but you could learn early on, is that many times when it seems like the dream is fading or you have any thoughts that you may be waking, you can actually hold on to many of those LD's. You may end up in a black or gray void but if you remain patient and/or start visualizing a new scene, while also knowing that it does not have to be over, then you may be able to continue lucid dreaming into a new scene or sometimes come back into the same scene. Other times you're just at the end of REM and there's not a whole lot that can be done without a lot of practice perhaps. That's something I'm trying to work on...surfing the period between REM cycles. I have either done it a few times or my dreaming mind has simulated it all within a normal single REM cycle...either way it makes for longer lucids!

^Thanks! :D
That sounds like DEILD, and I haven't been practicing it much since I'm mostly focused on dream recall as I wake up. I DID try to do a DEILD/FILD combo after that LD, but it didn't seem to work like the first (and so far, only) time. Also, it's kinda weird what happened the time it worked; when the dream was fading, I didn't react like "Oh crap gotta FILD now," I just... did it. It's as if my subconscious was doing the FILD for me, and suddenly I was in a lucid false awakening.
I'm getting pretty accustomed to visualization now, so maybe I'll try it the next time I become lucid. I've heard that you can also do that for NLDs, but it's not easy for me to identify when I'm waking up from an NLD, so for those I'll focus on recall for now.

Edit: oh yeah, the time that DEILD/FILD worked, I watched a FILD tutorial before going back to sleep after WBTB. Maybe that had something to do with it...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fogelbise

...either way it makes for longer lucids!

---

Or for new ones! In my DJ today I took what was a late morning waking moment (final dream of the night fade to gray perhaps, seemed like it was at the level of HI), and brought it back to a lucid dream, twice, which I'm very excited about. So if you find yourself awake, even without visuals, assume you're in the dream state and try to form a dream, never give up as fogelbise says, just keep pushing and pushing for the dream to continue.

@FryingMan Awesome!! I will check it out!

@Synapse To give you multiple options, try to think of it as option one and a standard DEILD as option two. In option one you never let your mind fully return to your body but if you do get a sense of being back in your body in bed you can always go to option 2! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fogelbise

To give you multiple options, try to think of it as option one and a standard DEILD as option two. In option one you never let your mind fully return to your body but if you do get a sense of being back in your body in bed you can always go to option 2! :)

---

Sounds good! I'll try it next time I start to wake up from an LD.

---

My dream recall the past two nights was pretty good!
Feb. 3: two short dreams + one idea! I'm quite happy since I got like 5.5 hours of sleep that night...
Feb. 4: one short dream + one average dream

FryingMan, you were right about the effects of recall! Since I started to value recall more, not only do dreams feel more vivid than before, but I also feel more 'involved' in them, even in the movie/videogame-ish ones! :D

Aww man, the last three nights were not good.
Feb 5: Nothing...
Feb 6: Something about my dad, crosstables, and Dota... felt like I could have remembered more details if I gave myself more time to recall...
Feb 7: Nothing again :(

I think the most likely reason for my poor recall streak is because my academic responsibilities have been rather heavy the past three days... and thoughts about them overran my intent to recall my dreams (and my LD practices in general; my average awareness practice time those three days was about 15 minutes). Also, I've been going to bed very tired; too tired to do MILD or try to recall when I wake up in the middle of the night.

Now I don't want my LD pursuits to get in the way of my college responsibilities, but I still value lucid dreaming, so in days where I barely have any free time, what do you guys think is the absolute minimum set of practices that I should do to at least not deteriorate my LDing capacity?

I would say taking a short moment several times a day to just stop and really wonder about your surroundings. If you feel that you can take it further then you should. I like to put my fingers on my face (like a man stroking his goatee) while observing my surroundings as it seems to put more of me, more self awareness, into this quick observation.

Also why not a short meditation, since it is good for both LD'ing and academics.

Go with your gut though while keeping in mind that things that you enjoy doing might be a welcome break from the stress of academics.

Improving again! :D

Feb. 8: Nothing...
Feb. 9: one fragment (about DV haha) + one short dream
Feb. 10: one short dream + LUCID #8! :bliss:

Quote:

---

I'm 'waking up' from bed, but somehow I feel like it's a dream. I try to open my dream eyes; I gain a little vision. I see a slender and shadowy figure across the bedroom, and I feel terrified but I manage to keep myself calm. I blast the figure with a burst of light that I willed into existence, but the figure is unfazed. I unleash a wave of dark energy, and that made the apparition disappear. (Dark beats Ghost, I guess...) My eyes gain a feint light vision. I look at the mirror and examine my face; I am amazed by the realism of the dream. I exit my room and go into my sister's room, where my entire family is sleeping. Each of my family members wake up for a moment as I look at them with my flashlight eyes. I look at the bookshelf and see a big, thick book titled "Life Secrets." As I try to pull out the book, my alarm IWL sounds off...

---

Might write a more detailed entry in my online DJ later.

I didn't really do anything fancy that night... the dream occurred after a WBTB, when I fell asleep in like 10 seconds though I intended to try MILD :P. Maybe it's because I got a lot of meditation the day before.

Awesome job! Congrats on the lucid and staying calm with the strange figure and your dream control actions! I wouldn't be surprised if the meditation helped. In some of my WBTB's I have to take a moment to clear my "monkey brain" but it sounds like you were already in the right state to succeed! :)

Man, I haven't updated my workbook for a looooooooooooong time... My life has been very heavy lately that I barely got to do any daytime/nighttime practices. But two days ago I finally got booked in a dorm, and so no more wasting 3+ hours on commute every day, which means longer and healthier sleep! The first two nights sleeping in my dorm I've had fantastic recall for my standards, and even managed to snag LUCID #9! :D

Feb. 11-16: Nothing recorded... haven't had the presence of mind to do any LD practices during this period...
Feb. 17: one fragment
Feb. 18: one average dream
Feb. 19: one short dream + one average dream + an FA which was the most realistic-feeling NLD I've ever had even though I was in complete darkness
Feb. 20-21: Nothing again...
Feb. 22: three short dreams + two average dreams (five dreams total; my personal record for one night!)
Feb. 23: one short dream + another short dream with an FA(?) in between
Feb. 24: Nothing...
Feb. 25 (night): two average dreams + two FAs in a row!
Feb. 25 (nap): LUCID #9! Before the dream, I felt like my 'soul' was being extracted from my physical body, and when I felt I was 'deep enough' in my mind, I opened my eyes to find myself lying on my childhood/province bed. It only lasted a few seconds though, since my dream body felt so heavy, my vision was severely limited beyond my asserted control, and I had trouble containing my excitement of having my first LD for a very long time.
Feb. 26: three fragments + one short dream + one average-to-long dream

I think my dream recall recovered in large part because I've started to use guided meditation audios. In the struggles of life, my mind gets too busy and messy to calm down on its own, and sometimes it only takes a little help from a guiding voice to recover some mental health and energy. :)

Congrats on the lucid, improved sleeping arrangements & the elimination of commute (I *hate* commuting). Guided meditation audios sound like a great idea. What source do you use?

Thanks! :) I usually search for and listen to audios on YouTube and download my favorite ones. A few of my favorite channels:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheHonestGuys
https://www.youtube.com/user/MichaelSealey

Generally my favorite ones involve 'transporting me to another world;' not only do they help me practice my visualization skills, but they are also a very effective way for me to escape the stresses of reality by immersing me in worlds of fantasy and peace for a short while. Below is one of the videos I've downloaded; it's short enough so I can listen to it during breaks and it makes me feel rejuvenated after every session.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZHLOU9cpk8

Those sound great. I see Sealey has several ones I'm interested in. Also, congrats on the lucid and cutting out that lengthy commute!