Thread: Raziiel's Workbook (The Frenchy's Workbook)

Originally Posted by Raziiel

No I woke up once but then I had to use the toilets and I thought that staying lay in bed was better so I started to use the alarm.
And yeah I'd love to find this "sweet spot" but that's pretty difficult for me ^^

The most common recommendation is to get up out of bed, especially if you are reading or something, and if you are not laying there in order to do MILD or SSILD, as examples. I know Sensei will often stay in bed and uses a mini-WBTB technique, but most people need to get up to really bring up their waking life awareness, in order to then bring it into the dream state and become lucid.

Originally Posted by fogelbise

The most common recommendation is to get up out of bed, especially if you are reading or something, and if you are not laying there in order to do MILD or SSILD, as examples. I know Sensei will often stay in bed and uses a mini-WBTB technique, but most people need to get up to really bring up their waking life awareness, in order to then bring it into the dream state and become lucid.

Since my last attempts were in the morning after 7 hours of sleep, I was trying to fall asleep again and it was hard even while staying lay in bed but when I'm trying it after 5 hours I can go to the toilet and fall asleep again I think

Since I'm working a lot on something stressful these days my recall is pretty bad and I don't have a lot of time to do RCs and to be mindful during the day.
I woke up with the water technique and tried a WBTB and SSILD but I can't focus either ...
I hope everything will comeback soon I'll try to post here everyday

Originally Posted by Raziiel

Since I'm working a lot on something stressful these days my recall is pretty bad and I don't have a lot of time to do RCs and to be mindful during the day.
I woke up with the water technique and tried a WBTB and SSILD but I can't focus either ...
I hope everything will comeback soon I'll try to post here everyday

You shouldn't be focusing while attempting to SSILD. Stop worrying, relax, flex about, do what you have to do, just don't focus. Focusing too much on the cycles will keep you awake, don't put any effort in the cycles.

Originally Posted by Habba

You shouldn't be focusing while attempting to SSILD. Stop worrying, relax, flex about, do what you have to do, just don't focus. Focusing too much on the cycles will keep you awake, don't put any effort in the cycles.

When I say that I can't focus I mean that I can't do a full cycle my mind is wandering a lot !

Originally Posted by Raziiel

When I say that I can't focus I mean that I can't do a full cycle my mind is wandering a lot !

Then your doing SSILD right, that's when you know your doing it right!

Originally Posted by Habba

Then your doing SSILD right, that's when you know your doing it right!

Are you sure ?
I thought I was supposed to do several cycles because when I'm doing this I feel like I'm just falling asleep normally

Originally Posted by Raziiel

Are you sure ?
I thought I was supposed to do several cycles because when I'm doing this I feel like I'm just falling asleep normally

You are, but when your mind starts wandering you know your in the trance like state which is required for SSILD.

For example, last night I done for quick cycles then as soon as I got onto longer one my mind started wandering and I literally kept repeating sight for a bit until I fell asleep.

For me, I find that falling asleep while doing the cycles is good because it's the first thing that's on your mind.

Originally Posted by Habba

You are, but when your mind starts wandering you know your in the trance like state which is required for SSILD.

For example, last night I done for quick cycles then as soon as I got onto longer one my mind started wandering and I literally kept repeating sight for a bit until I fell asleep.

For me, I find that falling asleep while doing the cycles is good because it's the first thing that's on your mind.

Yes you're right and I already got to the trance like state but last night that wasn't anything like that I was just enable to concentrate and to do a cycle properly I'll try again tonight

Originally Posted by Raziiel

Yes you're right and I already got to the trance like state but last night that wasn't anything like that I was just enable to concentrate and to do a cycle properly I'll try again tonight

Good luck!

You can also "practice" during the day when you are wide awake so that it is more automatic, but it sounds like your busy life could be the bigger reason you were having a challenge that night. Any time that you have any concerns over what you need to do in the morning and/or the day or week(s) ahead, try to write them down, record them in some way, or mentally check them off so that you know that you won't forget to address those concerns and can relax and have less distractions. And of course meditation or a simple release technique I can point you towards also helps tremendously when life is busy and stressful. Good luck!

Originally Posted by fogelbise

You can also "practice" during the day when you are wide awake so that it is more automatic, but it sounds like your busy life could be the bigger reason you were having a challenge that night. Any time that you have any concerns over what you need to do in the morning and/or the day or week(s) ahead, try to write them down, record them in some way, or mentally check them off so that you know that you won't forget to address those concerns and can relax and have less distractions. And of course meditation or a simple release technique I can point you towards also helps tremendously when life is busy and stressful. Good luck!

What do you mean by practicing during the day ?
And I'm also conviced that I can't concentrate because of my life being busy these time but it's not an excuse and I'll try something like you said to forget about it during the night
By the way I had 4 dreams this night and during the last one after WBTB and SSILD I had a FA and like all the other times, I didn't do any RCs. But something weird happened at the end, my dream was not a good dream because I was going to have sex with a girl who's not my girlfriend in my room and at the end of the dream I knew that the door was going to open and I knew that I was going to wake up and I had a strange feeling at this moment in the dream and the door eventually opened and I woke up.
Have you ever had moment like this the feeling was kind of a lucidity feeling or a conscious feeling I don't know how to explain that ?

Originally Posted by Raziiel

I had a FA and like all the other times, I didn't do any RCs.

Hey Razziel, what's up?

Do you intend things for LDing purposes? Do you use a mantra?

If you have these FAs regularly, esp with SSILD it might be great to intend to RC whenever you wake or whenever you feel like you wake up.

For example, choose something like "Whenever I wake up, I will plug my nose and take a deep breathe", use the present tense it's really important, there's two things your brain doesn't get when you use sentences like that: a tense other than the present and the negation (never use negative sentences)!

1: Repeat the mantra over and over, make it rhyme or sing it, or do a rhythm. Be really excited about it (Jubile!).

2: Visualize the situation where you wake up in the middle of the night and you do a RC!

3: Repeat 1 and 2 until your intention is set or for a few minutes!

Also, conscious breathing and stretching are good things to relax you and get the stress off your system. It's really important if you want to LD!

^^Good advice Pornocrates!

Originally Posted by Raziiel

What do you mean by practicing during the day ?

You can sit quietly or lay down at a point when you are relaxed and done with your busy day but while you are still wide awake and alert and can practice performing the SSILD cycles to learn the progression so that when you do it at night it is more automatic, like the way we walk or breathe without really thinking about it.

And I'm also conviced that I can't concentrate because of my life being busy these time but it's not an excuse and I'll try something like you said to forget about it during the night

Sure, try to look at the fact that if you have to be somewhere else in order to do the task the next day then you can't do anything from home at night, so working on releasing those daytime thoughts or worries at night is the best course of action.

By the way I had 4 dreams this night and during the last one after WBTB and SSILD I had a FA and like all the other times, I didn't do any RCs. But something weird happened at the end, my dream was not a good dream because I was going to have sex with a girl who's not my girlfriend in my room and at the end of the dream I knew that the door was going to open and I knew that I was going to wake up and I had a strange feeling at this moment in the dream and the door eventually opened and I woke up.
Have you ever had moment like this the feeling was kind of a lucidity feeling or a conscious feeling I don't know how to explain that ?

I don't think I have had a situation quite like that but sometimes I catch the signs of a dream ending and that makes me lucid. That definitely sounds like you might have been semi-lucid and just needed a little nudge to become fully lucid before the dream ended.

Thank you for your advice guys

^Your welcome Raziel! I remember reading that you were busy recently and that is understandable. I wanted to encourage you however to keep up some lucid dreaming practices. You can also read about lucid dreaming, listen to lucid dreaming audio, podcasts, watch youtube videos about lucid dreaming or something to keep you advancing, even if at a slow pace. This is not a race of course. It is more like a fun and wonderful journey, or at least it can be. I've just seen so many people drop off and then start all over months or *years* later. I personally did that and I regret it. I had lucid dreams as a child and I wish I had continued to pay attention to my dreams but instead didn't return to paying attention to dreams, much less lucid dreaming, until decades later. I am so happy that I did eventually though! Let me know if you want me to point you to any resources for the various lucid material sources I mentioned and of course we are always here for questions and this workbook is yours to keep track of progress, thoughts, experiments, etc.

Originally Posted by fogelbise

^Your welcome Raziel! I remember reading that you were busy recently and that is understandable. I wanted to encourage you however to keep up some lucid dreaming practices. You can also read about lucid dreaming, listen to lucid dreaming audio, podcasts, watch youtube videos about lucid dreaming or something to keep you advancing, even if at a slow pace. This is not a race of course. It is more like a fun and wonderful journey, or at least it can be. I've just seen so many people drop off and then start all over months or *years* later. I personally did that and I regret it. I had lucid dreams as a child and I wish I had continued to pay attention to my dreams but instead didn't return to paying attention to dreams, much less lucid dreaming, until decades later. I am so happy that I did eventually though! Let me know if you want me to point you to any resources for the various lucid material sources I mentioned and of course we are always here for questions and this workbook is yours to keep track of progress, thoughts, experiments, etc.

Great advice fogelbise!

Don't burn out, if you feel overwhelmed then try to limit your practice. Keeping on might result in you associating LDing with stress, and you don't want that to happen, trust me!

Cut off the induction technique until you get things sorted out. Focus on DR, RCing and awareness.
During those periods of time, autosuggestion is a good approach, slower sure but really laid-back!

Hi everyone it's been a while since I came here and I'm happy to be back

Like I said just before leaving my thread, I was in a pretty difficult period with my studies and other things, but now I'm in holidays so I'm planning on getting my first LD

The only "trouble" that I can have is not remembering anything because since I'm in holidays I'm partying like a LOT ^^

But I'll try to post here regularly to keep you updated

School breaks are a great time to put a lot of emphasis on dreaming. Yeah, you sort of have to decide whether to stay up and party or get those extra hours of sleep!

Yay Raziiel is back!

I'm sure you're going to have your first LD soon with a bit of work and if you sleep a lot!

Hi Raziel! I somehow missed your last post but I wanted to see how you were doing and check if you had any questions. Hopefully you aren't partying too many brain cells away and you find time to keep some semblance of lucid dreaming practice going. By the way, if you can think to do RC's when you start to feel the different effects of partying, maybe that will turn into a good RC for you.

I can't remember if I gave you my young person spiel, but here it is:

I recommend that you consider that learning lucid dreaming is most like a journey of learning and measured progress, a journey where your eyes will gradually open up to a world of possibilities! As you have surely already experienced, it is nothing like learning to ride a bike, as an example. It would only be like learning to ride a bike if you had to learn much about the different parts of the bike and how they work and how to adjust and maintain them to get the maximum speed or efficiency before you ever start truly riding. It would also involve much more falling off of the bike and getting back on. The things you learn during the journey can help you in so many ways in addition to learning to lucid dream regularly.

I would love to see you overcome the trend of our younger members taking breaks of years at a time before coming back to lucid dreaming (taking a breather for a few days or finding balance is always okay!). In order to do that you will want to find a way to make it fit in with schooling, studying and life in general and make it as fun and as fresh as you can.

Hi fogelbise and thank you for your advice, I really like this way of thinking about LDs
Since I came back to get my first LD I only manage to remember fragments of dreams, I feel like my recall is dead compared to what it was when I first came here I'm working on getting it back, I'm trying to stay aware during the day and to medidate 10 minutes everyday I hope it'll work

Your welcome Raziiel Perhaps try to think, as you are going to bed, something like "it's time for some interesting dreams." Then as you lay down and get comfortable remind yourself briefly that you want to lay still whenever you wake up and spend some time recalling your dreams. If you want more tips, check out FryingMan's dream recall link in his signature (a few posts above).

Hi guys !
I'm here because eventually my dream recall is coming back
I remembered 4 dreams yesterday and 2 this morning so I'm gonna try to make them more vivid and longer but I'm back on the lucidness road
I tried a SSILD this morning but it seems like my night was over I couldn't fall asleep.
I'll keep you guys updated if something else happen