LHG's Workbook

[LHG]

Hello everyone! I'm Luuk or LHG, an 18 year old kid from the Netherlands. The first time i've learned about lucid dreaming was about 2/3 years ago trough something and i tried it out for no longer than a month with little results. Because i switched studies this year i have a lot of free time and not enough hobbies/work to fill all the hours and i want to give lucid dreaming a serious go. I knew about this site from my previous endeavor and started reading up again. After making my introduction thread i was directed here. I have been recording my dreams in a journal for the past week and while i still dont remember a whole lot it's better than it was. Something i already know is that i have to give up weed because it makes me remember nothing. Because of my free schedule i have been WBTB'ing every day(after 4,5 hours of sleep) but i havent had an lucid dream yet. I also have been doing rc's and at random points just stop and wonder about if i could be dreaming. I try to always rc when something weird or out of the ordinary happens. The reality checks is use are : Looking at hands Looking at a digital clock Breathing trough nose An issue i have so far is just not falling asleep, it takes atleast 30 minutes even when i wbtb. I think for now i need to improve both my recall and awareness before even thinking about dream control. Trying to atleast update this tread once every few days but i might just do it daily. Thank you guys for reading!

[FryingMan]

Welcome, LHG, to DV and to the DILD class! I want to give you a quick response and some questions to start out with, and then add to it later (as it's bedtime for me!) Yes, drop the weed. Have you read LaBerge's Exploring The World of Lucid Dreams? Highly recommended. It can lead you directly to your first lucid dreams. You are right that recall is where to start. Read through my ("Fryingman's") dream recall tips (the link is in my signature). But even though your emphasis in the start is on recall, definitely begin to form the mindset of really questioning your state (dreaming or awake). Ask yourself questions like, "Why do I think I'm awake?" "How odd is that?" Especially pay attention to things that are changed/new/different in your daily path ("Hey, there's a hole in the street that wasn't there yesterday!") Also start looking into relaxation techniques. Being able to fall back asleep after WBTB or even just noticing wakings and doing recall in the middle of the night is a key ability for lucid dreaming that is not emphasized enough in my mind. "Mindfulness of the breath meditation" is a great thing to look into. I think for beginners (especially if you have lots of time to sleep in) wanting to really kickstart their recall, setting strong intention to notice all the wakings during the night and to recall any dreams during each waking is a great way to start. That's what I did, and I did it for about 5 months before backing off a little bit (it does get tiring after a while...but the dreams were so amazing and fun!). The *main thing* above all is: don't quit! Especially you're so young (compared to old timers like me), if you keep a steady pace of improvement and effort, in time you'll probably be an extremely accomplished LDer!

[LHG]

Thank you FryingMan, I do have a pyshical copy of Laberge's book which i ordered when i first learnt about lucid dreaming but i haven't read past the introduction... I think i'm going to read trough it slowly before bed, might also help me fall asleep faster. Questioning my state seems like a really good idea. Last night a friend who lives across the world was in my dreams and i felt like it was nothing out of the ordinary. My recall trough the night seems wonky. Some night i have 0 recall when i wake up after my alarm and then some when i "really" wake up and sometimes all my recall comes from my first sleep cycle and i dont remember anything after that. Now i'll read trough all the material you recommended, quitting is not an option!

[LHG]

Quick update, My recall the past two days has been great, remembering atleast 2 dreams both days and in one dream i knew i was dreaming. The dream was really morbid and i woke up straight away. I've read a fair bit of Laberge's book and i'm now on the MILD section. I dont know how i feel about it to be honest. It seems really good but i'm not good enough at recognizing dream signs yet. This week i am going to try his memory training and see how it goes. Fryingman his tips about Mindfulness of the breath meditation has really helped me fall asleep. EDIT : a question i just thought of with a bit of backstory. Today i went to the shops and forgot my card, on the way back home filed with emotions i remembered suddenly : could this be a dream? and did some rc's. On the way back to get my groceries i did it a few more times. Did i rc too much? i kinda feel like like it is.

[FryingMan]

EDIT : a question i just thought of with a bit of backstory. Today i went to the shops and forgot my card, on the way back home filed with emotions i remembered suddenly : could this be a dream? and did some rc's. On the way back to get my groceries i did it a few more times. Did i rc too much? i kinda feel like like it is. I do not think there is such a thing as "too much RCing." There is such a thing as "rote RCing" where you're not paying attention and that's not good. But if you are fully engaged in the RC, really wondering about your state, trying to the fullest extent of your abilities to determine if you're dreaming or awake, that's good. You always want to associate positive thoughts with dreaming and RCs. The reason why some people say not to do "too many" is that the quality can suffer or you start thinking negative thoughts like "Oh I'm tired of doing RCs" -- you don't want that. Stay positive, and do as many as you can while giving them your full attention. Basically, any time you think of doing an RC or a critical reflection moment, you really should do it right away: you should never ignore the impulse to check your state: that's sometimes all the chance you get in dreams: a little thought in the corner of your mind, "Hmm, this is dreamlike…," or "That's odd," or "That's different," and you want to always take such thoughts and nurture them into full lucidity.

[LHG]

The past week my sleep schedule has been all over the place so except today i havent been remembering too much. Progress on dild has not been noticeable so i am probably going to add mild every night before going to bed. Still my issue with awereness is that my days are just one long span of doing the same thing and my dreams are so different from reality. I'll just keep trying.

[fogelbise]

Hi LHG, Any kind of pre-bed work can be helpful so I would definitely add that to the mix even if it is just reading lucid material or listening to podcasts like the ones in my signature. If you are still able to do WBTBs then I would definitely keep that up. I feel that they are a crucial part of my practice. I really had good results using WBTB with SSILD: http://www.dreamviews.com/induction-...eam-ssild.html . As far as taking 30 minutes to get back to sleep…take heart that this can work in your favor. Many people find success after having trouble getting back to sleep as long as they don't stress about it. Work in some MILD or SSILD and let go until you fall asleep. On dream signs, they do take time. Early on I eventually got to the point where I was catching specific dream signs. More recently I tend to catch general dream signs like "this reminds me of a dream…wait! I am dreaming!" or my boldness dream sign where I am probably semi-lucid thinking about doing something bold and then fully realize I am dreaming. I guess the first example would fall under my dream scenario dream sign and the boldness one is very similar to my dream action dream sign (like jumping down two flights of stairs in a single leap or floating above the crowd for a better view). These more general dreams signs took time to develop but they did so naturally I feel. My first step was circling my dream signs in my paper dream journal. If you have it on your computer you can search for the dream signs and count up the most frequent ones. You can also use an app like Awoken that keeps track of your dream sign counts for you, either automatically by recording your most frequently used key words or by your own use of hashtags. On awareness, one that I love came to me after a particularly surprising DILD. I was so surprised that I was dreaming despite what seemed so much like waking life that I use that memory to remind myself during awareness checkins during the day that: At any moment, I could actually be dreaming. Another dreamer on here CanisLucidus uses something similar basically "Looking for the dream" in waking life. It is fun to imagine all of the things that you could do if you were dreaming right this moment! Follow up these awareness check-ins with reality checks but don't say to yourself that you are awake…just do several reality checks and tell yourself that "Next time I am dreaming I will RC and realize that I am dreaming" or something similar. Do you find it easy to get 15-20 RC's in during a typical day? What was your concern regarding waking life being nothing your dreams? (Side suggestion: show FryingMan your appreciation for his tips by hitting the like option at the bottom of posts.)

[LHG]

First of all thank you for your response fogelbise! I know remembered that there was a like button, thank you... My pre bed now is just meditating to slow down and getting ready for bed and then mild for a bit. I'm not sure if i would be able to add something to it but for me it might still be worth checking out the podcast for more information. i'm trying to WBTB like 3 times a week but my schedule was just too messed up these last few days and i wouldn't be able to sleep again. A problem i have caused myself now is that i was not staying awake long enough and went straight back to bed. So now i set alarms and sleep trough them but "sleepwalking" and turning it off. I'll try SSILD for sure, it seems pretty fun actually. Probably doing MILD the first time sleeping and SSILD after waking up. The same goes for imaging things i would do if i was dreaming but i would still have the problem which i mentioned. Which basically is that all my days are really similar and i pretty much don't do anything that i would do in my dreams. 5/7 days for me are waking up/go on my computer/gym/optional groceries/free time, mostly reading watching, movies and play video games and till i go to sleep and do it again. Like i will RC and i'm doing the exact same thing 3 hours later. So it's really repetitive. So i dont get near 15-20 checks a day. I try to do as much as i can when i'm out of the "mold" but it wont change much the next 4 months.

[fogelbise]

My pre bed now is just meditating to slow down and getting ready for bed and then mild for a bit. I'm not sure if i would be able to add something to it but for me it might still be worth checking out the podcast for more information. That is great pre-bed activity, just continue with that for now. When you are looking for inspiration or want to listen to something before bed that gets you thinking about all different kinds of LD subjects, then you can try out the podcasts - day or night actually. i'm trying to WBTB like 3 times a week but my schedule was just too messed up these last few days and i wouldn't be able to sleep again. A problem i have caused myself now is that i was not staying awake long enough and went straight back to bed. So now i set alarms and sleep trough them but "sleepwalking" and turning it off. Have you tried the water method? Drink enough water before bed that you physically feel the need to get up and urinate. I also need to wake up sufficiently to have a better chance at DILDs…my primary induction type. If you typically can get back to sleep in 30 minutes or less, I wouldn't worry too much about waking up "too much." I'll try SSILD for sure, it seems pretty fun actually. Probably doing MILD the first time sleeping and SSILD after waking up. Sounds like a good combo! The same goes for imaging things i would do if i was dreaming but i would still have the problem which i mentioned. You can just do that during the day time. It took me a while, but I can often find beauty in my mundane surroundings which can give you inspiration for awareness when you are stuck in the same surrounding for hours at a time. I also found a trigger in my office where I find myself a lot. An item that seems to hang oddly and when I do my RC's I look at it and imagine that I am dreaming. Look around you mundane surroundings and look for interesting shadows, colors or anything that you can find inspiration in…something you never really noticed before despite it always (or often) being there. You also mentioned video games. They usually involve doing things that you can't do in waking life. If you can pause the game when you just did something not of this waking world (or just before you do it) you could take that moment to RC. Perhaps something like: "Next time I have special powers or skills, I am dreaming!" Perhaps you can think of something similar if you ever dream of video games or video game like scenarios. Edit: If you need a reminder to do RCs until they become more natural, there are apps including Awoken which I mentioned earlier that have a truly random reminder to remind you to stop, take a moment really look around with at least a little sense of wonder and do a few different RCs. If you are often in a common setting, try moving something so that you notice the new placement and use that as a trigger to do your RCs.

[LHG]

IT WORKED!! Or i did it i dont know whats more likely, This morning i woke up at 9;30 and decided i could sleep a little longer but i remembered the finger technnique and i was like why not try that again. After 30 seconds or so my whole leg started tinteling and the rest of my body followed. And i woke up in a tent, i immediatly jumped up and was like : "this is a dream! this a dream!" but the world started shaking so i sat back down and just felt the grass beneath me for a while. Let me just say wow, the colors i saw and sensations are just so vivid. Unlike any dream i've had before. In the dream i flew for a little bit but it was more like gliding so i wont count it just yet. After a while i did a different rc and saw that i had 3 stumps where my fingers were supposed to be on my right hand. Now i kinda regret not doing more rc's but oh well. After a while my dream went into another direction and i lost control and lucidity. I woke myself up in fear of forgetting my first lucid dream. That was really fun..

[fogelbise]

Awesome LHG! Congratulations on your first LD!!