Thread: Pornocrates's Workbook

Nice to see you have created a workbook Pornocrates. Welcome! I love traveling to Paris, and France in general. We now have 3 quite recently added workbooks from French members! I try to speak broken French when I travel there, but it's pretty poor, so it's convenient that you all have great English skills.

Originally Posted by Pornocrates

I have a good DR going from 1 dream when I don't journal seriously to a max of 6-7 (lots of awakenings) with an average of 4 when I practice diligently. I used to write down each time I woke up but lately I relied a lot on my vocal recorder. It's convenient because I don't skip on recording my dreams just because I feel drowsy. However, I feel like it's himpering my DR since I don't have to focus so much on the dream I just speak quickly and I'm done. I feel that when I write (since we write slower than we think) I recall a lot more details and the recorded dreams make more sense on paper.

Yes, I read an article this month regarding a study that showed this is the case. Just google: psyblog^handwriting
The same psyblog site has two articles regarding drawing images and visualizing images as being great for memory recall and avoiding false memories. That said, I also use voice to record my DJ. I use a voice to text function.

I'm focusing on the MILD technique, although for the first year I didn't chose one and therefore I took a lot of time before having my first LD. I'm DJing, training my prospective memory with targets I have to notice everyday. I also like the ADA, SA approach since I've always had a strong interest in meditation (esp. zazen) and more recently mindfulness.

I'm a fairly anxious individual and I tend to put too much stress on things, that would be a good thing to know! I always try to bite more than I can chew and I lack consistency in my efforts and motivation.

Mindfulness is great for slowly working through the anxiety and stress as you get better and better at catching those processes before they start to really affect you. Focus on breathing is also great for stress as you will find that you notice when you are starting to breath shallow and/or fast, as is common when we are stressed out. Regarding techniques, I alternate between MILD and SSILD. SSILD gave me most of my LD's, but I was mostly only doing SSILD (as my nighttime practice that is) for the first 1.5 to 2 years I'd say. Of course I was doing a lot of day practices as well (and I still do a good number of day practices).

In the first year I had 2-3 LDs. During my second year I had around 8. 3 in april. I feel like I had a major breakthrough because I induced 2 of them and I've had more prelucid dreams (with hints or clues). I didn't really find what worked for me and that's one of the reasons why I'm creating my workbook here.

Very nice! What do you feel was helping you most with your breakthrough? Tracking your progress and what works for you here in the workbook is a great idea, and of course we can give you feedback as well.

I'm really happy to be part of this community and to be able to communicate with its members! I hope I'll be able to provide as much help as I've received just by going through posts

Thanks for giving us rookies such a good opportunity to learn to be lucid!

Glad to have you as part of this community! Here's to many lucid dreaming experiences ahead!

I just wanted to say thank you for helping me and good luck
I hope this Workbook will help you

Welcome to the DILD class! Quick note: I used to both voice record upon waking *and* transcribe the notes to written form later in the day. When I was doing both I got lucid fairly frequently (according to my usual frequency). And the notes were very detailed and the recall was long. So doing both I think is really beneficial.

What I found was that in doing this, I very often did not need to even refer to the voice notes in order to write up the journal entry perfectly. Something about speaking in to the recorder helped to really burn the memories into my mind, even across multiple wakings.

Now, more often I try to journal mentally during the night so that I remember my dreams through multiple wakings in the morning. Doesn't always work perfectly, but I find that with doing this for a while, I got better at it over time.

The point of this is that I believe it is the act of mentally reviewing the dream many times in your head that is the single most important part of building recall, more than speaking, more than writing in a DJ.

Sometimes I just try to remember a single image from each scene, and often that's enough to recall the entire scene and flow of scenes in detail. Together with the mental image I apply a key word or a phrase, then run over the list of key words/phrases repeatedly, "seeing" the image that goes with the phrase as I go over them.

Those are some various ways you can approach recall.

If you haven't yet, check out the sticky posts at the top of this class on some really good forum theads to read about. I also have some links in my signature that I think are very helpful, check 'em out!

Originally Posted by fogelbise

Nice to see you have created a workbook Pornocrates. Welcome! I love traveling to Paris, and France in general. We now have 3 quite recently added workbooks from French members! I try to speak broken French when I travel there, but it's pretty poor, so it's convenient that you all have great English skills.

I didn't notice the third one, I'll be sure to check it out! Well, if you ever want to test your french with me, it'd be a pleasure! Thanks for the compliment, I've been training my english for a while now (plus: I'm a language learning enthusiast)!

Yes, I read an article this month regarding a study that showed this is the case. Just google: psyblog^handwriting
The same psyblog site has two articles regarding drawing images and visualizing images as being great for memory recall and avoiding false memories. That said, I also use voice to record my DJ. I use a voice to text function.

Thanks for the articles, I just found one about memory and handwriting, it was really interesting. I might try to use my voice recorder only when I feel really too drowsy to write anything but yeah I think I'll get back to writing (at least the next day), because right now I've got 2 weeks worth of dreams to record in my DJ (I'm really good at procrastinating )... I could try to find an app with a voice to text function as well!

Mindfulness is great for slowly working through the anxiety and stress as you get better and better at catching those processes before they start to really affect you. Focus on breathing is also great for stress as you will find that you notice when you are starting to breath shallow and/or fast, as is common when we are stressed out. Regarding techniques, I alternate between MILD and SSILD. SSILD gave me most of my LD's, but I was mostly only doing SSILD (as my nighttime practice that is) for the first 1.5 to 2 years I'd say. Of course I was doing a lot of day practices as well (and I still do a good number of day practices).

Yeah it is, I've been using it for stress reduction (currently reading Full catastrophe living: how to cope with stress, pain and illness using mindfulness meditation by Jon Kabat-Zinn) and I practice buddhist meditation (Zazen) from time to time, but even though you shouldn't put stress on meditation I know that a consistent practice would really help me with pretty much everything. Is it true that in regards to LDing, Self Awareness is far more important than the technique described as ADA, or just plain mindfulness? I have hard time grabbing the concept of SA, and I don't really know how to practice it. SSILD looks definitelty interesting so I might give it a shot to get a bit of variety in my induction techniques.

Very nice! What do you feel was helping you most with your breakthrough? Tracking your progress and what works for you here in the workbook is a great idea, and of course we can give you feedback as well.

Well first I think it's linked to the fact that I've been using autosuggestion techniques a lot more, mantras like "I'm dreaming" before going to sleep, I find that if I managed to keep saying it until I fell asleep, lucidity is not hard to attain. The thing is until recently it always kept me awake and I thought it wasn't a good thing so I stopped and focused on falling asleep before trying again but I always forgot. But a few weeks ago, I thought "Okay, let's do this thoroughly" and it eventually worked!

Glad to have you as part of this community! Here's to many lucid dreaming experiences ahead!

Thank you a lot, I really hope so!

Originally Posted by Raziiel

I just wanted to say thank you for helping me and good luck
I hope this Workbook will help you

Thank you a lot Raziiel and don't mention it, I learnt a lot from you workbook!

Originally Posted by FryingMan

Welcome to the DILD class! Quick note: I used to both voice record upon waking *and* transcribe the notes to written form later in the day. When I was doing both I got lucid fairly frequently (according to my usual frequency). And the notes were very detailed and the recall was long. So doing both I think is really beneficial.

What I found was that in doing this, I very often did not need to even refer to the voice notes in order to write up the journal entry perfectly. Something about speaking in to the recorder helped to really burn the memories into my mind, even across multiple wakings.

Now, more often I try to journal mentally during the night so that I remember my dreams through multiple wakings in the morning. Doesn't always work perfectly, but I find that with doing this for a while, I got better at it over time.

The point of this is that I believe it is the act of mentally reviewing the dream many times in your head that is the single most important part of building recall, more than speaking, more than writing in a DJ.

Sometimes I just try to remember a single image from each scene, and often that's enough to recall the entire scene and flow of scenes in detail. Together with the mental image I apply a key word or a phrase, then run over the list of key words/phrases repeatedly, "seeing" the image that goes with the phrase as I go over them.

Those are some various ways you can approach recall.

If you haven't yet, check out the sticky posts at the top of this class on some really good forum theads to read about. I also have some links in my signature that I think are very helpful, check 'em out!

I've already read a few but I'll be sure to check the others!
Well for example I tried to memorize last night's dreams but couldn't remember something more than "destruction". Thing is I often remember a lot of stuff but I'm really bad at lying on my bed still and trying to gasp what I lost. Most of the time, a few bits come back while I'm just going along with the day. The image/dream association could help a lot, I'll try! In my last DJ I try to write correctly, so I rewrite the dreams or I record them the next day, I don't always find the courage to write afterwards but at least it feels really nice to read through the DJ!

BTW, thanks for the answers guys!

Recall gets better with practice! Once your mind finally catches on that recall is very important to you, you'll start remembering more, as long as you make a habit on every waking to reach for the memories first thing. Consistency and dedication are important.

Also be sure to check out Zinn's other book "wherever you go there you are: mindfulness meditation in everyday life."

I think for lucid dreaming, mindfulness and self awareness are largely the same thing. After all, they're all about determining/recognizing the truth of your current experience. But for lucid dreaming, additionally, you need to add in a sense of critical reflection along with strong intention to get lucid in the dream state.
That's wh I emphasize the Winning formula consists of: attention, reflection, and recall.

I'm not a fan of traditional ADA since it places the emphasis outside the self on the environment.

I like to say instead practice AAD: aware, all day

Originally Posted by FryingMan

Recall gets better with practice! Once your mind finally catches on that recall is very important to you, you'll start remembering more, as long as you make a habit on every waking to reach for the memories first thing. Consistency and dedication are important.

Also be sure to check out Zinn's other book "wherever you go there you are: mindfulness meditation in everyday life."

I think for lucid dreaming, mindfulness and self awareness are largely the same thing. After all, they're all about determining/recognizing the truth of your current experience. But for lucid dreaming, additionally, you need to add in a sense of critical reflection along with strong intention to get lucid in the dream state.
That's wh I emphasize the Winning formula consists of: attention, reflection, and recall.

I'm not a fan of traditional ADA since it places the emphasis outside the self on the environment.

I like to say instead practice AAD: aware, all day

Thanks FryingMan, as always great piece of advice! I might make my LDing practice revolve much more around mindfulness, meditation and awareness: two birds, 1 stone.

Anyway, for the the next month I will focus on DR and awareness and cut down a bit on MILD and LDing induction in general, finals in 2 weeks. That way, I'll come back at full power for the holidays.

We all must account for waking life responsibilities and duties. But a hint: there is no better time to have an "mindful moment" than when deeply involved in something. Because that's what happens in dreams usually: we're so immersed in the plot and reacting that we never stop to consider what's going on and whether or not this is a dream experience. Set realistic goals, but for example, try to do at least one "deep breath lucid moment" while in the middle of a test. Just set that goal, and see if you can't achieve it. That would be a major accomplishment!

Originally Posted by FryingMan

We all must account for waking life responsibilities and duties. But a hint: there is no better time to have an "mindful moment" than when deeply involved in something. Because that's what happens in dreams usually: we're so immersed in the plot and reacting that we never stop to consider what's going on and whether or not this is a dream experience. Set realistic goals, but for example, try to do at least one "deep breath lucid moment" while in the middle of a test. Just set that goal, and see if you can't achieve it. That would be a major accomplishment!

I think that's the most important part of mindfulness, staying mindful while doing something that requires all your attention and I really believe that if you manage to do that a lot, you'll get way more LDs
I'm saying that to you but I can't even do it ^^
I made an internship and I need to write an activity report, I'm trying to stay mindful while working on it but I always forget that and go in autopilot mode for hours and then I realize that I was lost in my thought ^^

I think it's great, by the way, that the new DILD class members are actively participating on each other's pages. Making lucid buddies to help keep each other motivated and giving each other challenges and support is very helpful! The several Parisians may even make a goal to meet up (perhaps for a few boules at Berthillon on Ile St. Louis? Best ice cream ever!) J'ai etudie Francais cinque ans dans l'ecole, mais oublie presque tout!

I find that I can remain mindful during non-taxing activities most of the time after working on it (on and off) for a few years now. It's the 1) conversations, and 2) intellectual work situations where I frequently lose it. So yes, it's the times where you tend to go on autopilot where you need to put the most effort. It takes time, but eventually your brain will start to notice, more and more, when you've lost it and give you a little nudge, "hey, it's time to come back now! Attention is pretty darned good with me. It's the reflection where I'm lacking much of the time. So that's more of my focus these days.

Something else to all the new class members: setting concrete goals is really important (this is also from LaBerge). When our brain's goal-seeking center is active, it can really help get you lucid (and achieve other goals as well). For example: my "average" LD rate is about 1 LD per 5-6 days. But at the last 10 days of February I set a goal to have 10 LDs. I ended up having 6, 6 LDs/10 days is really good for me. I had set really strong intention and made this a very important goal for me. Intention, focus, goals, these are another aspect of LD practice, just as important in many ways as the "big 3" (attention/awareness, critical reflection, and recall/memory).

Originally Posted by Pornocrates

I have hard time grabbing the concept of SA, and I don't really know how to practice it. SSILD looks definitelty interesting so I might give it a shot to get a bit of variety in my induction techniques.

On SSILD: yes, definitely give it a good 30 day test once you are ready. On SA: I notice that when I stop practicing SA, if I become lucid it is closer to the semi-lucid end of the spectrum and more prone to forgetting that I am dreaming shortly after. It does take some time to grasp. One thing that helped me in a way that I don't completely understand is the finger(s) on face or nose technique mentioned in the "My lucid dreaming journey" link in my signature.

Well first I think it's linked to the fact that I've been using autosuggestion techniques a lot more, mantras like "I'm dreaming" before going to sleep, I find that if I managed to keep saying it until I fell asleep, lucidity is not hard to attain. The thing is until recently it always kept me awake and I thought it wasn't a good thing so I stopped and focused on falling asleep before trying again but I always forgot. But a few weeks ago, I thought "Okay, let's do this thoroughly" and it eventually worked!

Nice! A lot of induction techniques work in this way. You just have to find the way to make them work for you through trial and error.

Originally Posted by FryingMan

We all must account for waking life responsibilities and duties. But a hint: there is no better time to have an "mindful moment" than when deeply involved in something. Because that's what happens in dreams usually: we're so immersed in the plot and reacting that we never stop to consider what's going on and whether or not this is a dream experience. Set realistic goals, but for example, try to do at least one "deep breath lucid moment" while in the middle of a test. Just set that goal, and see if you can't achieve it. That would be a major accomplishment!

I think that's the most important part of mindfulness, staying mindful while doing something that requires all your attention and I really believe that if you manage to do that a lot, you'll get way more LDs
I'm saying that to you but I can't even do it ^^
I made an internship and I need to write an activity report, I'm trying to stay mindful while working on it but I always forget that and go in autopilot mode for hours and then I realize that I was lost in my thought ^^

I always do, that's one of the main goals I set when RCing, whenever I fell strong emotions when I feel I'm completely focused on something I RC!
However I should maybe pay more attention to it, I've been spending too much time on auto pilot lately!

Originally Posted by FryingMan

I think it's great, by the way, that the new DILD class members are actively participating on each other's pages. Making lucid buddies to help keep each other motivated and giving each other challenges and support is very helpful! The several Parisians may even make a goal to meet up (perhaps for a few boules at Berthillon on Ile St. Louis? Best ice cream ever!) J'ai etudie Francais cinque ans dans l'ecole, mais oublie presque tout!

I find that I can remain mindful during non-taxing activities most of the time after working on it (on and off) for a few years now. It's the 1) conversations, and 2) intellectual work situations where I frequently lose it. So yes, it's the times where you tend to go on autopilot where you need to put the most effort. It takes time, but eventually your brain will start to notice, more and more, when you've lost it and give you a little nudge, "hey, it's time to come back now! Attention is pretty darned good with me. It's the reflection where I'm lacking much of the time. So that's more of my focus these days.

Something else to all the new class members: setting concrete goals is really important (this is also from LaBerge). When our brain's goal-seeking center is active, it can really help get you lucid (and achieve other goals as well). For example: my "average" LD rate is about 1 LD per 5-6 days. But at the last 10 days of February I set a goal to have 10 LDs. I ended up having 6, 6 LDs/10 days is really good for me. I had set really strong intention and made this a very important goal for me. Intention, focus, goals, these are another aspect of LD practice, just as important in many ways as the "big 3" (attention/awareness, critical reflection, and recall/memory).

I need yet to talk with the other parisian, but Raziiel and I met on the chat! I think it's a great idea too, it's highly motivating and really great to see the others improving! Nice french Fryingman! (Berthillon is delicious indeed!) A meet up would be nice!

Conversations are really hard I tried for a while but it's really challenging...

I remember this chapter from ETWOLD, I did set some goals in the past and it helped a bit but I never focused too much on these goals, wasn't serious about it I guess. Do you intend your goal like some king of mantra?
Btw, about mantras, I might have a question! How do you do when you want to set multiple intentions? For example: remember dreams, recognize awakening and RC, have a LD, resting and not sleeping, etc, etc... And do you try to always keep the same phrasing for your mantras? I find myself doubting about my personal mantras and changing them i don't know if it's important!

Originally Posted by fogelbise

On SSILD: yes, definitely give it a good 30 day test once you are ready. On SA: I notice that when I stop practicing SA, if I become lucid it is closer to the semi-lucid end of the spectrum and more prone to forgetting that I am dreaming shortly after. It does take some time to grasp. One thing that helped me in a way that I don't completely understand is the finger(s) on face or nose technique mentioned in the "My lucid dreaming journey" link in my signature.

Nice! A lot of induction techniques work in this way. You just have to find the way to make them work for you through trial and error.

I might dedicate may to SSILD, until then no induction techniques SA is really great I can feel it working but it's challenging, I was really stressed the last days because of my exams so sometimes when I realized I haven't been doing SA I get really discouraged and I feel like there's no point (I know it's related to the exams only but it still gets to me :/).
Do you mean the moustache stroking one? I'm not sure I read the good thing haha!

That's right, you learn way more from failure than from success (success is nice though... )!

I got lucid at the end of my night (around 10-10:30), it lasted only a few moments, something weird happened. I was highly conscious I remembered my goal and I had difficulty going through a window (that's a good indicated of the degree of consciousness, in semi lucids I don't ask myself these questions, I don't struggle to control the dream), but even though I was already grounded once I flew to a rooftop I decided to stabilize by looking at my hands, they were all wobbly, I looked for a few seconds and woke up. It often does that in fully lucids but it went really fast this time! I think I woke up because my gf moved.

Anyway, I'm really happy I had a LD though, I didn't even use my "I'm dreaming mantra" instead I stretched to get the tension out (on of the exercices in ETWLD not the points one), I did some conscious breathing and then I used a mantra I found in one of the posts Fryingman recommends, I think it was Memm's post, the mantra was "I'm resting, not sleeping and forgetting"!

Yay!

Originally Posted by Pornocrates

Do you mean the moustache stroking one? I'm not sure I read the good thing haha!

Yes, that is the one.

I got lucid at the end of my night (around 10-10:30), it lasted only a few moments, something weird happened. I was highly conscious I remembered my goal and I had difficulty going through a window (that's a good indicated of the degree of consciousness, in semi lucids I don't ask myself these questions, I don't struggle to control the dream), but even though I was already grounded once I flew to a rooftop I decided to stabilize by looking at my hands, they were all wobbly, I looked for a few seconds and woke up. It often does that in fully lucids but it went really fast this time! I think I woke up because my gf moved.

Anyway, I'm really happy I had a LD though, I didn't even use my "I'm dreaming mantra" instead I stretched to get the tension out (on of the exercices in ETWLD not the points one), I did some conscious breathing and then I used a mantra I found in one of the posts Fryingman recommends, I think it was Memm's post, the mantra was "I'm resting, not sleeping and forgetting"!

Yay!

Awesome! Congratulations on the LD!! Just imagine what you can do when the stress is behind you!

Originally Posted by fogelbise

Yes, that is the one.

Awesome! Congratulations on the LD!! Just imagine what you can do when the stress is behind you!

I'll give it a try! Thanks Yeah I'm sure it will be easier; I've been having LDs almost weekly during this month (apart from the second week)

I might make a summary of April with the number of dreams recorded, LDs, and the dream signs. I still have to write down 27 nights worth of dreams (geez...)...

Last night

I prepared my DJ entry, stretched. I was in bed around 0:30 and slept around 1, 1'30. (Two nights ago: 3'30-4, yesterday: ~2)
I used some mantras:
-I'm having intense and interesting dreams and I remember them.
-I notice wakings and I check if I'm dreaming
-Resting, not sleeping and forgetting.

I woke up around 7 and remembered a dream but I was too tired to write it down. I decided to try SSILD but I was too tired for it as well, I did 2 cycles, stopped and fell asleep. When I finally woke up around 8, I couldn't remember my dream so I tried to but couldn't remain still and focused enough (I'm still tired and really bad a the "lie and remember" thing.

I guess I'm just readjusting my sleeping schedules, it should be better during the week, esp because I'll be sleeping by myself, and when I do I'm far less concerned by getting up in the middle of the night, put on lights and all.

Originally Posted by Pornocrates

I'll give it a try! Thanks Yeah I'm sure it will be easier; I've been having LDs almost weekly during this month (apart from the second week)

I might make a summary of April with the number of dreams recorded, LDs, and the dream signs. I still have to write down 27 nights worth of dreams (geez...)...

Last night

I prepared my DJ entry, stretched. I was in bed around 0:30 and slept around 1, 1'30. (Two nights ago: 3'30-4, yesterday: ~2)
I used some mantras:
-I'm having intense and interesting dreams and I remember them.
-I notice wakings and I check if I'm dreaming
-Resting, not sleeping and forgetting.

I woke up around 7 and remembered a dream but I was too tired to write it down. I decided to try SSILD but I was too tired for it as well, I did 2 cycles, stopped and fell asleep. When I finally woke up around 8, I couldn't remember my dream so I tried to but couldn't remain still and focused enough (I'm still tired and really bad a the "lie and remember" thing.

I guess I'm just readjusting my sleeping schedules, it should be better during the week, esp because I'll be sleeping by myself, and when I do I'm far less concerned by getting up in the middle of the night, put on lights and all.

2 is better than none, right?

I was doing SSILD last night also, got through the short cycles but as soon I hit the longer ones I fell asleep

Originally Posted by Habba

2 is better than none, right?

I was doing SSILD last night also, got through the short cycles but as soon I hit the longer ones I fell asleep

Haha, exact same thing happened to me

Looked it up, solution:
-wake up later
-spend more time awake
-perform the cycles with slightly more aggression (optional, can cause insomnia)

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Centroid

Haha, exact same thing happened to me

Looked it up, solution:
-wake up later
-spend more time awake
-perform the cycles with slightly more aggression (optional, can cause insomnia)

Good luck!

I spent some time awake, went to the toilet, got a glass of water, me being an idiot spilled it all over my bed for me, falling asleep while performing the cycles is the way for me because i end up mostly having a FA.

Habba: I actually didn't finish the first cycle, did the the short sight and sound ones and then I stopped. :p

I think falling asleep during the cycles is a good thing (but I mainly use MILD so that might be a mistake and not that great with SSILD), but it's better to really focus for a few cycles before I guess!

As for today's practice:

-I feel like stopping the PMT (Prospective Memory Training) really helped, I was too focused on it and put too much stress. Plus I didn't really like it, I find it kinda draining and frustrating.

-SA is great but even though I have a feeling I'm getting familiar with while practicing it I'm not sure about what and how I should check, I'm a bit confused.
I focus on my feelings, emotions, sensations and thoughts; I try to look around myself in wonder but I don't know what kind of mantra I should use.
Also when I RC I always feel like I do it too early or not properly. I need to make a habit of RCing at the end.

02/05 => 03/05 's night

I recall 4 dreams, some of them are fragments but I'm glad to see that when I put efforts in DR, my brain gets it! However I'm good at getting the plots but not details like the set up of places, faces, clothes, etc, etc... I'm going to try my best to improve my DR so as to properly and thoroughly describe the whole dream scene and characters.

I used my voice recorder, I still can't find the courage to grab my DJ and write, I'm going to put more emphasis on remaining still when waking up (might devote more attention to a mantra for this purpose)!

Originally Posted by Pornocrates

I think falling asleep during the cycles is a good thing (but I mainly use MILD so that might be a mistake and not that great with SSILD), but it's better to really focus for a few cycles before I guess!

CosmicIron says to not mix anything with SSILD as you lay back down after a WBTB, and that may be the best until you really get SSILD working for you, but I do sometimes mix in MILD and/or mantras when the HHs start appearing. This was much later though, well after successfully using SSILD and then my variation of SSILD for quite a while. It seems that MILD and mantras are more powerful when your mind is getting into those early stages of sleep (that are often accompanied by HHs).

Originally Posted by Pornocrates

As for today's practice:

-I feel like stopping the PMT (Prospective Memory Training) really helped, I was too focused on it and put too much stress. Plus I didn't really like it, I find it kinda draining and frustrating.

-SA is great but even though I have a feeling I'm getting familiar with while practicing it I'm not sure about what and how I should check, I'm a bit confused.
I focus on my feelings, emotions, sensations and thoughts; I try to look around myself in wonder but I don't know what kind of mantra I should use.
Also when I RC I always feel like I do it too early or not properly. I need to make a habit of RCing at the end.

-That seems like a good choice for you. I made a similar decision early on. If anything is draining and frustrating, it is better to take a break from that particular training and focus on things that fit you better.

-SA: check out Sageous' recent post and see if it helps you. I think it is very worthwhile: http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...ml#post2193957