Azaleaj's workbook

I'm really excited to join this class. I'm a 39 year old woman, married with two cats and a dog. I've had a couple of lucid dreams a year my who life and consider them some of my peak experiences. About 5 months ago I decided to learn more about them and try to induce them. It took me about 3 weeks to induce my first one. Since then I've had an average of 2 a week which I'm thrilled about! At first they lasted only a few seconds but they have gotten longer. I've had a few last 20 plus minutes and they average 5-6 mins. When I remember to stabilize by rubbing my hands, spinning, and falling these techniques do help. I'm an agnostic and am interested in the spiritual aspect of dreaming (and life) without getting religious or too new agey. I keep an open mind and am fascinated by waking and dreaming reality.

Techniques: I use WBTB staying up for about 15 mins and doing the MILD technique. I also do occasional reality checks and read a lot about LDs. I use galantamine with choline a couple of times a week as well which I find helpful. I've tried the WILD technique about 10 times. It worked the second time I tried it but since then I've just fallen asleep.

Experiments: I usually have an experiment or goal lined up ahead of time and almost always remember them. Things I've done/tried...
Asked the dream how I could be happier...no answer
Asked it to show me something amazing...hit by a wall of ecstatic feeling
Asked all DCs that are part of me to disappear....they stayed then became sexual
Asked the dream to show me a truth...a DC hugged me and told me I'm the earth, moon, and stars
Summoned my dog
Breathed under water
Walked through walls with and without success
Looked for an attractive man to have sex with...found one on a few occasions but the face would become really odd as I looked at him
Flew and floated many times and with ease
Ate frosting, tasted smelled grass and gravel...almost no sense of smell or taste
Various other things

Goals:
Lucid dream more often and have them last longer
Visit dream locales I've dreamed of before
Ask recurring dream symbols or characters what they mean (whales, snakes, the ocean, houses, buses etc.)
Ask my subconscious meaningful questions about life and the nature of reality
Summon friends or pets
Ask for art ideas or to hear music
Develop my sense of taste and smell
Meditate
Meet a recurring character
Explore without waking up

Tonight I will try to visit a previously dreamed of locale, the beach. I will ask to speak with a whale and ask why I dream of whales so often. If I become lucid, hopefully I'll be able to stabilize the dream and bring it back if I lose it (usually rub my shirt).

I'm excited to hear any feedback about ways to stabilize or bring the dream back when your vision fades. I'm also curious about how to visit certain locales. I've done it once with success by stating the scene would be beyond this wall and it was. I'll try that again next time. I'm also
curious why my sense of taste and smell are absent.

Welcome to the DILD workbooks Azaleaj! :) What a great write up of your LD experiences and goals - I love the enthusiasm! I will quote some of your intro post so that I may respond more thoroughly. :)

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

I've had a couple of lucid dreams a year my who(le) life and consider them some of my peak experiences. About 5 months ago I decided to learn more about them and try to induce them. It took me about 3 weeks to induce my first one. Since then I've had an average of 2 a week which I'm thrilled about! At first they lasted only a few seconds but they have gotten longer. I've had a few last 20 plus minutes and they average 5-6 mins.

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I really connect with what you are saying about them being peak experiences. It sounds like you had those couple of LD's per year your whole life naturally which is awesome! I think that puts you at an advantage and you seem to be advancing very nicely in a relatively short amount of time since pursuing intentionally inducing them. :) We have some similarities. If you are interested in my background in LD'ing it is found on my profile page under "about me." It would not be a roadmap at all since I honestly believe everyone needs to find their own path which you are already doing quite well!!

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Techniques: I use WBTB staying up for about 15 mins and doing the MILD technique. I also do occasional reality checks and read a lot about LDs. I use galantamine with choline a couple of times a week as well which I find helpful.

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WBTB is very powerful…so is the galantamine&choline combo. It is recommended to wait at least 3 days between uses but it sounds like you are doing that. When I am on a G+C kick I tend to save it for once a week or once every several weeks.

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Experiments: I usually have an experiment or goal lined up ahead of time and almost always remember them. Things I've done/tried...

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This is so helpful to have it lined up ahead of time. Congratulations on some very interesting results as well!

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I'm excited to hear any feedback about ways to stabilize or bring the dream back when your vision fades. I'm also curious about how to visit certain locales. I've done it once with success by stating the scene would be beyond this wall and it was. I'll try that again next time. I'm also
curious why my sense of taste and smell are absent.

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I think expectation is a huge part of stabilization, bringing the dream back and getting dream controls to work. Even though you are not really a newbie, after you finish reading to the end of this post, check out the "Something for every newbie" link in my signature. Also, in one of the posts further into that thread I talk about my approach to stabilizing dreams. I now refer to it as pre-DEILD where you don't need to exit dreaming at all before going back in, in many cases. The great thing about having a fade into "the void" is that it is often easier to go wherever you want from there by imagining that you are starting to see the place you want to go…you are starting to hear the seagulls calling and the waves rolling in…you are starting to feel the sand under your feet…you are starting to smell the salty air. So on that last one…smell, although it may be a little less prevalent, you can definitely experience it in dreamland and I think expectation is a big key there which goes back to my link. Try to not get frustrated if it doesn't happen right away. Same thing with taste but it seems a little easier to experience. Besides the above method of changing locales I also like the closed eye teleport where you think first where you want to go as clearly as possible, with as many senses as possible and tell yourself that when you blink your eyes you will reopen them to the new locale. Others have success with peeling open a scene from the current scene by "finding an opening" somewhere in the scene and peeling it back or going through the opening…down into the rabbit hole.

Let me know if you have any questions about any of that and welcome once again! :)

A hearty welcome, Azaleaj, we're excited to have you here!

I'll echo what fogelbise said about waiting 3 days in between galantamine uses. Yuschak (author of "Advanced Lucid Dreaming: The Power of Supplements") recommends taking galantamine no more often than once every 4 days (so that would be one day on, three days off).

You are doing extremely well with a nice reliable LD frequency, so I'd say keep doing what you're doing!

For stabilization, I tend to be in the camp of "don't worry about it:" the best stabilization is just thoroughly enjoying your dream. Having a big set of goals you want to accomplish, both big and small, and just keep moving through this list, going from one to another, maybe with quick "just look around" breaks in between. I find my LDs tend to last as long as I have things immediately on my mind that I want to do. Once finishing them, the dreams usually fade or transition to other dreams (losing lucidity unless I'm quite vigilant).

Goals can be as simple as "I want to see what's around that corner / beyond that tree". So you can look around the dreamscape to help give you ideas of things you want to accomplish immediately.

Remaining in motion at least slightly with the dream body tends to help. It's like the common recommendation of spinning to save a fading dream: you keep your senses grounded in the dream realm when you're moving.

If you do feel the dream slipping away, it's good to affirm to yourself that "I'm still dreaming, and wherever I end up next, I'm still dreaming." Many times dream fades are actually just transitions, not real wakings, to new scenes, perhaps with a visit through "the void" (a black or white empty place with generally nothing visible, where [I think] we tend to go when our dreaming mind is taking a quick break and readying the next dream environment). Develop the firm conviction that the dream is *not* ending, that it continues. If sometimes visuals do not reoccur right away, start pretending that they have occurred. This is a very powerful dream control technique -- "fool" yourself into believing that just what you want to happen has in fact happened (even if it really hasn't yet). Often times this is all you need for the dream control to succeed.

Also, if you like you can check out the "interesting/informative links" message at the top of the DILD class folder, there are links to a number of very educational discussions, some quite short, some quite lengthy. I also have a few links in my signature which you might find interesting or informative.

Good luck and let us know if you have any questions! You can use your workbook to track progress, make goals, and help keep yourself accountable to them. Have great dreams!

edit: Oh, on the subject of bringing back a dream that's faded: if you've actually wakened, or think you have wakened (and aren't still dreaming and in "the void"), the best way to return to the dream is to remain physically still, and keep your mind very dream-y, and lightly consider the dream you just woke from. Replay the recent scenes in your mind, but do it "quietly," while you do it allow yourself to drift off back to sleep. Very often you will return to that dream or to a new one.

Thank you for the feedback! I read the links and they were helpful. I set the intention to not stress out about the dream ending and to focus instead on practicing the DEILD technique if the dream fades.

I set several goals for last night including: creating a ball of healing energy and applying it to sore shoulder, tasting/smelling and developing this sense, meditating-asking if there is a god or higher power, kissing a male DC. I also wanted to conjure a dream scene I've experienced before and to ask a whale what it represents or means to me.

I did WBTB and MILD technique for about 10 minutes after 4.5 hours of sleep. I attempted to have a WILD as I went to sleep but fell asleep quickly instead.

RESULTS
I had a med length dream that I don't really remember. I was eating something and thinking about lucid dreaming which caused me to become lucid. I remembered my goal to experiment with flavor and smell. I was eating a cream pie, really noting the flavor and texture. The dry crust didn't really have and flavor but the cream part had a little sweet creamy flavor. I was really enjoying the texture stuffing it down. The dream faded and I felt I was almost awake in my bed. I remembered to stay still and picture myself back in the dream. It didn't feel like it would work as I felt I was awake. I stuck with it and in about 5-7 seconds a new scene formed.

I found myself hunkered down on a road watching a scene form. I saw a city street with a blue sky. It was sort of sketchy and vague. (Lost part of it here) I'm then sitting on a bar stool in a bar. Other DCs are around me. I feel introverted and feel the dream is fragile. I decide to ask if there is a god. I ask and a strong adrenaline high energy feeling forms. I attempt to then meditate focusing on the quiet feeling within (how i meditate while awake). I feel very peaceful and good and the dream fades. I again focus on staying still and picturing myself back in the dream. I'm pretty sure I'm awake in bed but stay still.

A new scene forms. I find myself on the floor in a room. I see a guy and remember my goal to try kissing. He kisses me, it feels amazing and I start to wake up. I remember thinking maybe I should wake up so I remember all this. I'm not sure if I allowed myself to wake or if I attempted another DEILD without success.

I awoke and went over the dream without writing it down. I went back to sleep for a few more hours. I wish I had written it down then as some parts are vague now. I had 4 other dreams I remember with minimal clarity.

I'm excited I remembered my goals and succeeded with the DEILD technique but a little disappointed that each time I attempted a goal the dream faded quickly. I did forget to stabilize. I usually rub my hands together or fall down or jump off of something. Maybe my goals were a little ambitious causing too much excitement or maybe I was so focused on practicing the DEILD technique my dream helped me do this by fading. The dreams felt very fragile and ready to fade at any moment. I'll do the WBTB and Mild techniques again tonight.

That's some great, fast success there! Congrats! DEILD is considered by many the easiest way to LD. If the conditions are right (generally, catching the fact that you're waking from a dream right while it's happening, when you're close to another REM, this is easiest of course when waking from a lucid dream), it's like magic how you can so easily return to the dream. Having this experience should remove all doubt about this, so next time you just remain calmly confident that you will return to the dream. It's sort of academic whether it was really a DEILD or just a FA, but that's not what matters: you can cover all the bases with the "relaxed, dreamy mindset" and return to the dream.

As for having some difficulty staying in the scene, that's a matter of practice. Or, it may just have been that your REM for that period was over and it was just time for a waking. Or like you mentioned, you got overly excited. Your response to reach for quiet meditation practice in the dream was spot on, probably the best thing to do. Also, remembering and doing your dream goal of kissing a DC: enjoy the dream, have the experiences you want to have. Maintaining a balance takes practice: you want to be a bit involved, yet a bit detached, keeping that background thought that "this is a dream, if the scene transitions, I will maintain lucidity, it will still be a dream, I will return to the dream" takes practice.

Having this success with DEILDing should also help you with LD stabilization, simply because you needn't worry about waking now: build firm confidence that you can weather any transitions and lead right back into the dream.

In fact, some experienced lucid dreamers will detect the approaching fading of a dream and prepare themselves mentally for a DEILD: they'll do something like purposefully "lying down and going to sleep" in the dream and holding light lucid awareness through the transition and right back into the dream (or a new one).

One gotcha: a temptation after having an experience like this is to try and "force" it in the future (I am frequently guilty of this!). The quiet, relaxed, dreamy mindset is key, "trying to make it happen" can paradoxically prevent it from happening. A meditative mindset really helps here. Just let it happen! Keep in mind the username of a DV member: "RelaxAndDream" - this really is the key. Relax, enjoy. Stabilization will work itself out if you keep a connection with that meditative center that you've built.

Congrats again and here's to many more successes!

^I completely agree with what FM said. And Awesome! Congratulations on getting some taste working, becoming lucid and achieving DEILDs!! :) Attempting goals should have nothing to do with the dream fading, so I wouldn't give that another thought. Goals and especially having goals you still want to do can have the effect of extending your dreams, so just the opposite…and like FM said, you know you can always go back in!

I've been so stressed about the election I have not been able to focus on dreaming this week. I'm back at it tonight though. I plan on doing WBTB and the MILD technique. I want to remember to rub my hands together, jump off of something (helps me stabilize) and grab onto something if the dream fades hopefully using the DEILD technique.
My dream goals are to talk to a DC, listen to music, and seek out a whale and ask what it means or represent or why I dream about them so often.

I did my usual LD routine waking after 4.5 hours of sleep and doing the MILD technique. I too 7 mg of galantamine and 500 choline and attempted a WILD as I fell asleep while listening to the fan.

I didn't have a WILD but I vaguely remember having sleep paralysis, struggling to move before realizing what was happening then relaxing and loosing my fear. I'm not sure if I went directly into feeling myself in my bed with my husband trying to hug and kiss me. I thought I was awake but realized I was dreaming as he is sick and probably wouldn't be doing that, I became lucid for a moment.

I then had a fairly long dream about trying to find a quiet place to sleep so I could attempt lucid dreaming. I tried sleeping in my dad's living room and he cheerfully wanted me to come to breakfast, I then found a dirt road where a bike race was happening around me. I moved to the side of the road where a guy was dumping garbage into a dumpster a few feet from my body...that wasn't going to work. I got up and walked over to edge of the road which was at a cliff overlooking the ocean. It started to rain heavily as I looked about 60 feet down into the calm water and saw a baby seal, polar bear and various ocean life.

I realized I was dreaming spontaneously. I then tried to remember my goals but my memory was poor. I thought, I should try to do some math, as I've heard this can anchor the dream. I said, 2+2=4, but that was as far as that went ha ha. I then flew up over the ocean without much thought. It was very dark and fuzzy and I may have rubbed my arm to stabilize. I did call out. "Increase lucidity" or something like that but that didn't help. (I've tried this maybe 4-5 times but it's never worked). I forgot to look at my hands which does work most of the time.

I remembered I wanted to find a whale. This felt scary but I flew down closer to the water as I really want to do this. Dream is vague here. I think I just flew back up and landed on a sidewalk on land. Visuals are better now. It's night and I'm standing along the side of a building.

I remember my goal of wanting to investigate dream figures more closely. I see two people sitting in the yard and approach them. As I get closer they get smaller and seem to become like wooden dolls with limbs connected by strings. I touch their skin and it is hard and an unnatural color. They don't seem alive or aware. When I think this I get the impression that the second one is sad that I thought this and his head slumps forward in sadness.

I get up and start walking. I see a scary scene of nightmarish figures under the steps. It's cob webby, dark and dirty. My first impulse is to flee but I remember I've read I should embrace or try to understand scary DCs. With this I go up to a scary guy and I vaguely remember putting my arms around the whole scene. Nothing happened and I'm again walking along the pavement and up some steps. I think to myself that this dream seems kind of fake and lacking depth. I then think I should try to have sex.

I go inside the house and find a guy who seems kind of wooden like the others but becomes more real as I talk with him. We start to get sexual and I wake up after a few minutes. I stay perfectly still for a min or two attempting a DEILD. I wake up instead and go over the dream in my head. After this I have a regular dream about being on a journey and finding a mall with beautiful waterfalls coming from the walls that I bathe in. It feels amazingly healing.

I was happy to remember some of my goals. So I've tried to find a whale 3-4 x now and have gotten close but have not done it yet, maybe I'm a little too scared for some reason. I find DCs fascinating and am perplexed by the zombie like nature of some of them. I'm also fascinated by dream symbols and scenes and why certain ones present themselves. Do you think the dream story is still trying to show us things when lucid. It seems the story and purpose of the dream would fall apart once we become lucid since we aren't really participating any more but certain elements continue around us. I guess nobody knows for sure and that is why we explore and experiment. I feel more full of questions and confusion (not a bad thing) the more I lucid dream. Any suggestions for experiments or goals going forward? Any suggested dream interpretation books? I've read a few but none seem to really speak to me.

Congrats on approaching the scary figures, remembering goals and on all of the sections of lucidity! :)

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

I was happy to remember some of my goals. So I've tried to find a whale 3-4 x now and have gotten close but have not done it yet, maybe I'm a little too scared for some reason. I find DCs fascinating and am perplexed by the zombie like nature of some of them. I'm also fascinated by dream symbols and scenes and why certain ones present themselves. Do you think the dream story is still trying to show us things when lucid. It seems the story and purpose of the dream would fall apart once we become lucid since we aren't really participating any more but certain elements continue around us. I guess nobody knows for sure and that is why we explore and experiment. I feel more full of questions and confusion (not a bad thing) the more I lucid dream. Any suggestions for experiments or goals going forward? Any suggested dream interpretation books? I've read a few but none seem to really speak to me.

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For the possible fear of approaching a whale, have you tried looking at nice videos of whales, perhaps a search query like "beautiful whale." This can both potentially incubate whale dreams but it could also help you feel more comfortable about approaching one in a dream. When lucid, just remind yourself that there is really nothing to fear. The times fear pops up (mostly thinking crazy thoughts about dreaming while awake) I remind myself confidently of this and try to put forward a "pfft…whatever" dismissive attitude towards any dream-based fears.

For the zombie-like DC's, if you try to expect them to be more helpful, life-like, or whatever you would like, it often has a good effect.

I do think the dream story still tries to show us things when we are lucid, at least at times, and perhaps something different that what it was showing us before we became lucid.

Suggestions for goals going forward would be to create some fun ones, some that you get really excited about them when just thinking about them.

I haven't read any dream interpretation books but there are some people that hang around occasionally in the dream interpretation section of DV that might have some suggestions or you might look at something like the best reviewed ones on Amazon.

Thank you for the advise! I will try looking at and thinking about (friendly pleasant whales). I'll also try picturing and asking for more interactive DCs. I didn't realize there was a dream interpretation section on here. The dream stories and symbols really fascinate me. It does seem the story maybe switches gear or works a little differently once we are lucid. I know I still see strange creatures and scenes happening around me, I don't suddenly have a blank canvas. I'm guessing that is how it works for most people. I guess it's one of those mysteries we may not be able to understand fully. I wonder if any research has been done about how dream scenes and symbols change once lucid. I'll have to search around.

I'd like to ask FryingMan what he thinks on this at some point (he is currently swamped with some things IWL). He seems to frequently have a very strong connection to, and presence in, his regular dreams which would allow a better one to one comparison with the lucid state. I'm talking about those non-lucid dreams where you wake up and you feel like you were just there in another realm, that felt just as real and vivid (or even more vivid) than the waking realm. Let me know if you find any of that research, I'd be interested!

In an issue of the Lucid Dream Experience magazine (June 2002) there is an article that questions whether lucid dreams can be interpreted the same way non lucid dreams can be (or can be attempted to be interpreted.) The article mostly just discusses the question and suggests further research into the subject. The lucidity institute also has an ongoing experiment where they are having people describe lucid and non lucid content. I entered a few dreams into the survey.

No lucid dreams this week (yet), I've been a little down this week and am having some trouble motivating myself:/

Interesting, thank you. I have seen that magazine. I think that is the publication where Robert Waggoner often contributes. I will have to check it out.

I hear you. I experience trouble motivating myself from time to time. It tends to lead to too many days without a lucid dream which has the effect of bringing back my motivation. It gets me doing what I know I need to do in order to increase my chances of becoming lucid.

Two nights of lucid dreams this week.
Dream 1. I become lucid spontaneously. I'm looking at a grassy undulating back yard noticing the texture of the grass. I decide to just explore the scene and only look at objects close to me. I walk 10 ft or so and the scene fades. A scene forms and it is dark, empty and bleak. I wonder in the dream if this reflects my mood recently, (mom died a few months ago and now this sad election). ( right after she died I had a very powerful and vivid lucid dream of trees blowing in hurricane force winds, a rough and wild ocean and then I've dreamed several times of intense rain) none of these felt particularly sad in the dream but when looking back they seem to reflect emotions in a symbolic way.
Dream 2. I'm spontaneously lucid. I see a group of women in a circle laughing and having fun. I remember I wanted to search for a dream guide. I go up to the people to assess whether one could be a guide. No, I don't think so though I note they are more animated than my usual DCs. I then see a DC crouched down eyeing me off to the side. I feel a little scared but not enough to react. I then wake up.

Dream 3 3 nights later. I became spontaneously lucid after dreaming of frogs and lizard that I want to protect then I was bitten by a lizard. Once lucid I notice I'm surrounded by snow. I think to smell and taste the snow that has some dirty looking patches. I note a savory type smell and a dry dusty texture (no real flavor). I then try to fly and float up a few feet. It was somewhat challenging which is a first for me in a LD. Vision fades so I rub my arm a wait for my vision to return which it did after a few seconds. Vision is now blurry and it's very dark out. This is really common for me for some reason. I decide to do something sexual with a DC I see. I then wake up.

I was pleased to smell something for the first time in a LD and maybe in any dream. These dreams felt fragile and ready to end quickly which they did despite having semi solid goals and rubbing my arm. Maybe I'll try spinning and looking at my hand next time to solidify or lengthen the the dream.

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

I was pleased to smell something for the first time in a LD and maybe in any dream. These dreams felt fragile and ready to end quickly which they did despite having semi solid goals and rubbing my arm. Maybe I'll try spinning and looking at my hand next time to solidify or lengthen the the dream.

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Congratulations on the LD's and activating your sense of smell! :) Now that you've experienced that you know that you can do it again and that you can also do the same with taste. You might try expecting a certain taste before tasting something just to activate your sense of taste some more and then before long you can just be surprised by the tastes you experience.

Definitely try to not worry about stability and instead repeat affirmations during the day and/or during WBTB like "I have long lucid dreaming journeys" (leaving "stability" out of the phrasing will help keep your mind off of stability and thus worries of stability) and have that mindset when lucid. Sometimes you are just lucid at the end of a REM cycle when the dream will end anyway. It is possible to have success extend them with strong expectation and focus. I am also convince that I have been able to surf the period between REM cycles staying aware, but only after 7+ hours of sleep when the REM cycles are much closer together. Sleep Yoga masters can reportedly do it even in the early stages of the night. What I do I call pre-DEILD, but you might want to start with standard DEILD. Let me know if you want more info on pre-DEILD. I have to be at the top of my game to make it work but regular ole DEILD can be quite easy once you get the hang of it. I like this description of DEILD in about the last third of the original post found here: http://www.dreamviews.com/wake-initi...wbtb-more.html

Thank you fogelbise. Yes I am interested in the pre DEILD technique. I had success on two night with the DEILD technique but not this week for some reason.

I've been working on having a WILD this last week. I attempted right at bedtime and did get some somewhat clear images. I've tried a couple of times after WBTB as well and just can't seem to stay conscious. Today I tried drinking half a cup of coffee and going back to bed. I felt wired but then fell asleep with no awareness. I awoke several times but no LDs and I only remembered one short, regular dream. (I really want to learn this skill!!) It was so effortless the second time I tried it, (my one successful WILD), not sure what I did right?

The night before last I did not do any LD techniques except a few RCs and a quick meditation before bed. I had a very long vivid and stable dream about being at a festival and going on a date. I became spontaneously lucid and immediately shouted to the sky, show me something amazing. I then felt the dream might end so I started spinning. I did this for maybe 5 seconds before I woke up. I stayed still and tried to re enter the dream but it didn't work. I'm happy I had 4 LD s (3nights) this week but they were all very short. I can't help but feel a little worried that this is my new normal. I try not to focus on that expectation though as my LDs always seem to surprise me.

I bought the book by Andrew Holecek on dream yoga. I'm also going to start meditating regularly again and doing mindfulness (check ins) throughout the day. Maybe this will help with the WILDs.

I'm reading king Yoshi's WILD guide that you mentioned above. I realize I may not be timing my WILD attempts correctly. I may need to note how far into my sleep cycle I am when I awake from a dream, then set an alarm for the next night for that time minus 20 mins or so. I guess that is assuming our sleep cycles are similar each night. I awoke the other night 2.75 hrs into sleep in the middle of a dream so I'll set my alarm for 2.5 hours into sleep tonight to attempt a WILD. I'm well rested too so maybe won't just fall asleep.

Fogelbise, from your experience, did you still awake quickly from LDs often 5 months in to practice (about 40 LDs for me now)?

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

Thank you fogelbise. Yes I am interested in the pre DEILD technique. I had success on two night with the DEILD technique but not this week for some reason.

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This link will take you to a post where I talk about what I have come to call pre-DEILD: http://www.dreamviews.com/general-lu...ml#post2177196
The original post in the thread is also handy if you haven't seen it…the whole thread really.

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I've been working on having a WILD this last week. I attempted right at bedtime and did get some somewhat clear images.

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A WILD attempt at bedtime is quite a challenge, so the recommendation is to do them at WBTB or during morning naps. If you have the time and just want to experiment with it, you can certainly play with WILDs at bedtime. Sageous answers questions about WILDs over in his WILD class which is great. Another WILD procedure I found interesting recently was this one: http://www.dreamviews.com/wake-initi...technique.html
This was his original one which is shorter and may be less daunting than the first one I recommended in that previous post.

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The night before last I did not do any LD techniques except a few RCs and a quick meditation before bed. I had a very long vivid and stable dream about being at a festival and going on a date. I became spontaneously lucid and immediately shouted to the sky, show me something amazing. I then felt the dream might end so I started spinning. I did this for maybe 5 seconds before I woke up. I stayed still and tried to re enter the dream but it didn't work. I'm happy I had 4 LD s (3nights) this week but they were all very short. I can't help but feel a little worried that this is my new normal. I try not to focus on that expectation though as my LDs always seem to surprise me.

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That last line is crucial. I went through a period like that as well where I was worried that I was getting into a pattern of short LDs and finding a new expectation is key here. That link to pre-DEILD talks about it. It really doesn't matter what you are expecting as long as it is something other than waking up. It could be expecting to enter the void. It could even be expecting that "when the dream fades it means I am heading to a new scene!" (which is basically the pre-DEILD). If that next scene is your bed, make sure you do an RC - it very well could be an FA. See if any of those ideas connect with you and run with the one that you connect with the most…you can always try other ideas later.

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I bought the book by Andrew Holecek on dream yoga. I'm also going to start meditating regularly again and doing mindfulness (check ins) throughout the day. Maybe this will help with the WILDs.

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You may have the book that FryingMan strongly recommends, which I think is his latest book: Dream Yoga: Illuminating Your Life Through Lucid Dreaming and the Tibetan Yogas of Sleep, which I intend to get at some point.

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

I'm reading king Yoshi's WILD guide that you mentioned above. I realize I may not be timing my WILD attempts correctly. I may need to note how far into my sleep cycle I am when I awake from a dream, then set an alarm for the next night for that time minus 20 mins or so. I guess that is assuming our sleep cycles are similar each night. I awoke the other night 2.75 hrs into sleep in the middle of a dream so I'll set my alarm for 2.5 hours into sleep tonight to attempt a WILD. I'm well rested too so maybe won't just fall asleep.


Fogelbise, from your experience, did you still awake quickly from LDs often 5 months in to practice (about 40 LDs for me now)?

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If you are using an alarm, 4.5 hours is generally recommended. When trying less than 3 hours into the night, you are not really getting good enough sleep before your WILD attempt and you also have less REM happening in those early sleep cycles. I really like the water method which tends to wake you up around the end of a REM cycle, if you don't over-do it by drinking far too much water. It takes some experimenting to get the timing right, around the 4.5 hour mark, but basically you more naturally wake up by needing to urinate due to the extra water you drink before bed.

As far as waking up quickly. I did go through a period like that (see where I talked about it above around the pre-DEILD info). A shift in my mindset/expectation made a big difference, but we all still get short ones from time to time.

Thanks for the freedback! I'm working on changing my expectation and picturing myself having long LDs and more specifically expecting to just do a DEILD if I lose the dream.

Awoke this morning to do WBTB but my lazy self was in charge and I turned off the alarm and went back to sleep. Booo I'll do it tonight though. My dream recall has been poor the last couple of weeks. Only remembering 1 dream plus fragments most nights. May have to do with hitting the snooze button too many times?

I love adjusting expectation in response to greater success. Right now, my expectation is to wake up and stabilize. Next up is relaxing in to the experience. The yoga techniques are super helpful in the dreamstate.

Tblanco, I just started reading Holecek's book on dream yoga and can't wait to try some techniques. I tried meditating and chanting in LDs which produced a neat feeling but didn't last long. Been really lazy with daytime meditation lately.

Interesting week, lots of stress, cat at the vet hospital, feeling somewhat depressed after a series of sad events this fall. I have been keeping up with my LD work (kind of lazily) and artwork because it's so important to me but have not been exercising or meditating like I planned.

Had a short lucid dream on Sunday night, didn't do any induction work as it was a work night. After a fairly long vivid dream about traveling in Greece by myself I became spontaneously lucid. I reminded myself to stay calm and to go with the flow. I didn't have a goal except to explore. I think I rubbed my hands together briefly. I noticed a huge pillsbury doughboy from ghostbusters made of branches and leaves type creature. It was slightly scary but not scary enough to go face. Not sure if I then woke up or forgot I was dreaming.

Last night I did my LD routine with minimal effort, brief WBTB of about 5 mins with about a min of MILD technique and I took galantamine. I had a very vivid dream about getting coffee at a convenience store then not finding my car where I parked it. I became spontaneously lucid. I remembered the DVs challenge of sticking your head through the ground. I tried but the ground was solid. I then remembered my intention to try crawling on the ground so I could keep physical contact with texture to help ground myself. As I started to crawl along a dirt trail my vision faded to black. I rubbed the ground feeling the dirt and pokey grass. My vision returned and I noticed a hole in the ground with some brightly colored ticks in it. I thought, "now there is a fear I don't want to face" (claustrophobia). Vision faded again and I continued to touch the ground. It came back and I saw a gorgeous crystal clear sparkly green forest. Again my vision went black and again it came back and I noticed it was partially obstructed this time. I looked at my hand which was very detailed and covered in callouses. I believe this cycle repeated itself again. When it came back I attempted something sexual with a dream character and woke up. I went over my dream in my head and set my intention to have another LD.

I was in a childhood house debating whether I should go to art class when I became spontaneously lucid. I decided not to focus on stability and just go with the flow. I jumped/floated down the stairs. Then did a handstand in the hall which was really hard to do but fun. I went into a bedroom and saw a handsome guy. I thought I want to kiss him so went up to him. I wondered if his face would change into something scary or weird but it didn't. I believe I then woke up.

Again I'm happy with how often I've become lucid the last few weeks but still struggle with waking up fairly fast. I posted in the dream control section asking people how long it took for them to have longer lucid dreams. I've had a few. I'm really trying to not think about it so I don't set myself up with a negative expectation. I've tried repeating to myself that I have long stable lucid dreams. Maybe I'm expecting too much too soon. I'm not sure since I have no frame of reference.

I think the dreams were my vision fades to black are interesting. This is pretty common for me and I wonder if it is for others too? I'm glad I've found a technique to bring it back but it doesn't last too long before fading again. Any feedback on this?

Congratulations on the multiple LD's! :)

Yes, much of this will improve with time. Some of these scenarios, like in your final question, sound like you are at the end of REM and perhaps your dreaming mind is only running on fumes and not ready to output much more at that stage. Try not to expect that however. You never know, sometimes you can keep "under" long enough for the next REM cycle to start up and continue, especially late in your sleep when REM segments are close together. Sleep yoga masters are reportedly able to do this during any part of there sleep.

As far as your mantra, I like taking the word stable out of it to avoid thinking directly about stability too much. One alternative is: "I have awesome lucid adventures!" (which implies lengthy stable periods, without putting your mind directly on stability - which can make one worry about stability).

Had two lucid dreams last night, a long and short one. I had read some LD articles last night. One suggested to get an answer to your question you should ask the question then find a drawer, vessel, or door (something that could give an answer), wait a bit, then look for your answer. I also read someone's suggestion of holding an object to stay grounded in the dream. Another suggestion was getting naked to increase body awareness in the dream. I also read someone's suggestion of looking at your hand, and back at the dream a few times to increase clarity. (Something I've had trouble with) (fuzzy or dark visuals) So these things were on my mind. I wanted to ask my dream where we should move to and where to travel to next.

I did my usual WBTB with MILD techniques.

The first one came after a fairly long dream about keeping track of my cat at a family gathering and learning my husband was previously married. I was walking down a path towards the ocean and became lucid.
I looked at my hand then back at the dream and things were fairly clear. I asked the dream where we should move then closed my eyes for the answer....no, wrong technique! That will wake me up. I opened my eyes and either looked at my hand or rubbed my arm. I think I almost woke up but was able to regain control. I then opened my palm for my answer and saw a green hilltop with some clear cuts around. I got the impression that that was my answer. I then looked down at my naked body. I looked normal and vision remained sharp. I then asked about where we should travel, as I walked along. I opened my palm and saw nothing but skin. Tried again and nothing.
A huge bus came along and I laid down on my back and put my my feet on the bumper and let it push me along. This was scary but I reminded myself this was a dream.
New scene. I'm in a building about 150 ft above the ocean. I think " I should fly out over it" which I usually like to do. This feels scary for some reason and I think "what if I'm not dreaming?" I do 3 reality checks. I push my finger against my palm, close one eye to see my nose and plug my nose and try to breathe. The first two don't work but I am able to breathe with my nose plugged so I know I'm dreaming. I jump off the cliff and end up down on the water's edge. I think "this would be a good chance to find a whale and face my fear." Hell no! That seems way too scary. Not sure what happened next.

New dream. I'm in a drive through and see two dogs that have pot leaves for fur. I then go to a river's edge and start searching the ground for fish hooks. I become lucid. I look at my hand then the ground. The ground is then made of flesh and looks just like my palm. I can see veins beneath the surface. I'm crawling around on my hands and knees looking closely. I then wake up. This dream happened between pushing the snooze alarm with 8 min intervals. The alarm still had a couple of minutes to go.

Well this is my personal record, 5 lucid dreams in a week! I'm so happy about it. I also had a long lucid dream again with clear vision which is exciting. A few things I found interesting about these LDs. This was the first time I've ever questioned if I was actually lucid dreaming in a lucid dream and did a RC to check. I've always become lucid spontaneously (after doing MILD) then was sure I was in a dream without question.
I still have not had the courage to face/question a whale. This is the third time I've found myself by or in the ocean and thought about summoning one. It always seems way too intense. A whale has not appeared in a LD yet. I will get the courage soon!
I thought the answer to my question about where to move was interesting. I like that I was shown an image of a place. We may be buying a house in the spring and have some different options in the area, town verses country.

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

Well this is my personal record, 5 lucid dreams in a week! I'm so happy about it. I also had a long lucid dream again with clear vision which is exciting. A few things I found interesting about these LDs. This was the first time I've ever questioned if I was actually lucid dreaming in a lucid dream and did a RC to check. I've always become lucid spontaneously (after doing MILD) then was sure I was in a dream without question.

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Congratulations! Great work and a very nice accomplishment!

It never hurts to make sure you are dreaming before taking a 150 ft leap. Plus doing an RC that confirms you are dreaming has the added benefit of adding stability to the lucid dream.

I thought the ground made of flesh was quite intriguing - perhaps a transfer from having just looked at your hand.

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I still have not had the courage to face/question a whale. This is the third time I've found myself by or in the ocean and thought about summoning one. It always seems way too intense. A whale has not appeared in a LD yet. I will get the courage soon!

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But you let a bus push you, so that shows courage! I think when you do face a whale that you will likely have a beautifully profound experience.

Woke up fri night to do WBTB but didn't want to get out of bed into the cold cabin I was at. I did do it Saturday though. I did my usual routine with a short WBTB period of about 5 mins while I repeated to myself you are dreaming and pictured myself becoming lucid. I don't think I had any solid goals in kind this time.

I became lucid after a semi long dream about traveling in a new city. I felt the dream was fragile and was careful not to get too lucid and sort of went with the dream. I did look at my hand then back at the city and visuals were clear. I found a dream character who was sort of baby like. Can't remember what I was doing. I did rub my hands together and they were covered in a goopy substance. This faded and a new scene formed twice resulting in a semi long lucid. I woke up an went over the dream in my head before going back to sleep. By morning I couldn't remember the second two parts. I don't usually forget much of my LDs so I was a little surprised.

A little later...I was dreaming about an actress in a white dress and I was exploring hallways in a house. I felt clausterphobic as I approached a window and was afraid it would shrink. I think I became lucid here. The window became a door and I stepped out into the street. I looked up into the hallway and saw 3 young women. I remembered reading about people telling DCs they were dreaming and getting various results. I said it a couple of times to them and they all ignored me.

I go to a grassy field and see an unattractive man. I want to do something sexual with him and try but somone breaks a glass in the grass and this seems like a bad idea. I go into a hallway and into a room. I think I can meet my ex boyfriend here once a week. I then remember I'm married and feel guilty. I see a mirror on a wall and think "I should definitly look in the mirror", I'm excited to find out what is there. I look and see an asian woman with powdery eye shadow, she looks sleepy. She then turns into a black womam of about 30-35. I then see a nice body wearing a tutu/fairy dress. I think I woke up at this point.

I'm very happy my dreams have been lasting longer and continuing even after they fade. It seems it might be easier to stay in if I don't allow myself to get too clear/lucid if that makes sense...although maybe that's not true. It seems like every time I draw a conclusion or think I have a problem things change.

Goals for next time. I'm incubating the question -"how can I use LDs to work on my spirituality or expand my consciousness?"- I've asked how I can do this in waking life and a non lucid DC told me to meditate more. (Of course i didn't follow it's advice)
I've also asked, "what is the nature of the universe/reality?" (a little broad I know) and woke up after seeing a big infinity symbol before me. I had to look up what the symbol was though I probably had seen one before at some point.

I also want to listen to music and notice color more in LDs.
I have yet to read my dream yoga book but plan on doing some reading this week.

Fogelbise, I was wondering how you usually become lucid? Is it spontaneous or do you do a reality check or become lucid after seeing a dream sign?

I just read your about me post! Thank you for sharing so much and I found your experience really interesting. I like what you said about RCs and stopping and looking around with wonder and realizing you are the observer. I do this every once in a while and it is like a less intense version of the feeling you get when you realize you are dreaming.

Sorry for the slow response. I was on a road trip and now I need to get a few more last minutes gifts but I wanted to respond to your question and congratulate you on more success! :) Nice work!

My most common way of becoming lucid for a good while now has been sensing a feeling of boldness. I am not sure if this is what other long time lucid dreamers refer to as "feeling it" but it has become a good trigger for me. It often involves boldness with a DC I find attractive but sometimes it is also boldness to fly and I realize: "Wait a minute! I'm dreaming!" I consider this boldness a dream sign. I went from specific dream signs earlier in my practice, reviewing them before bed and/or at WBTB, to more general dream signs - or perhaps most of the general ones can be called "feeling it." I sometimes get lucid after looking at my hand and seeing an oddity, usually an extra finger or two, but it can be argued that I was already partly lucid to think to look at my hand. It is rarely because I just happened to see my hand. More often, I am looking at my hand because I think I am dreaming but I want to be absolutely sure before I do something crazy like jumping off a ledge.

Thank you for the compliments regarding the "about me" info. That is a good point about the daytime realization feeling's connection to the feeling of becoming lucid - you really are waking up within the waking dream of life and this process can grow for us.

Thanks for the response F. It's interesting that we all have different ways of realizing we are dreaming. I think I must just be using prospective memory. I usually remind myself to remember I'm dreaming then spontaneously remember. I rarely recognize dream signs or become lucid because of an oddity or particular feeling.

Well, I did not accomplish my goal of incubating my dream question. I should have just asked my LD the question now that I look back....next time.

Fri night, brief LD without any induction. This came after a long dream full of emotion and good feelings. I was floating outside an apartment building and became lucid. I decided to look in the windows to see what was in there. I see some women at desks. I cheerfully say hi, then I say I love you. I was aware they were DCs so I was giving myself some love I guess. That was a goal I had written down at some point previously. I then woke up and alarm went off shortly after that.

LD goals before bed sun night....1. Listen to or find music or to even just listen to sound. 2. Notice color. 3. Ask the dream what different elements mean or represent.

I did WBTB, up for 10 mins with 5 mins of reminding myself to remember I'm dreaming. I also took 6 mg of galantamine and some choline.

I became lucid while walking/floating down a stark hallway. I look ahead and see a pile of bloody body parts. Yuck, bad feeling. I immediately turned around to go somewhere else. I remember to look at my hand then back at the scene. This seems to help increase clarity and increase my awareness somehow. I'm outside practicing my flying skills now. I try the superman technique but I'm still moving at my usual slow speed, just in a different position. I remember a friend told me about trying to fly while holding a large object. I consider a car but grab a tree branch instead. (Can't remember part of dream here) I'm floating around in a building and enter a room. I decide to try for a new scene by spinning. I have trouble picking up speed in the air so I slowly rotate in he air. Two DCs appear. I go down to one and start to do something sexual. I then woke up. I briefly went over the dream in my head and went back to sleep.

Lucid again (lost part here) I find a couple and decide to get in the car with them. I come on to the guy .....wake up after about 5 mins. I went over the dreams in my head but should have written them down. I have one more hour of sleep.

I became lucid as I walked in a school like building. I entered an auditorium and saw two young men. I really liked one as he seemed very good natured. Even though I'm aware this is a DC I told him "I'm in a dream", to see what he would say. He seemed interested but I don't think he said anything. I then saw my friend from waking life, Eric. I went over to him and said "I'm in a dream and who knows, you might be also". I told him to try to remember this dream and that I Would ask him about it tomorrow. I then woke up. I wrote my friend to ask if he had dream about me but haven't heard back.

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I also remember thinking about my sounds goal so I started singing. It didn't sound too good. I was also at some point thinking about my body sleeping in bed and my waking life. I was careful to not think about this too deeply as I felt it would wake me. I'm not sure when these pieces took place. I think I lost parts of the first two LDs since they happened earlier and I didn't write them down. All the dreams felt like they lasted 5-15 mins each and felt really stable and fairly clear visually.

I briefly remembered my sound goal but forgot about noticing color and to ask the dream what different elements represented. 4 LDs this week, yahhh

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

Thanks for the response F. It's interesting that we all have different ways of realizing we are dreaming. I think I must just be using prospective memory. I usually remind myself to remember I'm dreaming then spontaneously remember. I rarely recognize dream signs or become lucid because of an oddity or particular feeling.

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I would say most of my early LD's in adulthood were like yours also. I chalked it up to the SSILD technique producing many spontaneous lucid dreams. The specific dream signs I caught earlier in my practice weren't that frequent but this general boldness feeling has been happening more frequently for a good while now, maybe about the last 18 months or so, off the top of my head. It could be argued, and I think it is the case, that we are already semi-lucid when we notice a dream sign and in those cases it is the dream sign that pushes us over the hump to becoming fully lucid.

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All the dreams felt like they lasted 5-15 mins each and felt really stable and fairly clear visually.

I briefly remembered my sound goal but forgot about noticing color and to ask the dream what different elements represented. 4 LDs this week, yahhh

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I am happy that you are experiencing these longer LD's and didn't let that long-ish time lucid dreamer's comments phase you in that other thread. I either try to avoid reading other's negative experiences by skipping to a new thread as soon as I see a hint of negative. If I've already read something negative I dismiss it as best as I can reflecting on other ways my experiences have proven other's experiences separate from mine. I wanted to argue with that member in that thread but I was concerned that doing so would put the thread back to the top of the list and thus would spread the "infection" of his experience to more newbies. We call this "schema infection" where one person's negative experience becomes what newbies expect to happen to them. Most threads, other than the classics, quickly fade into oblivion for the most part. I think I will check if it is already near the top again and if so, I plan to reply.

*Congratulation on the 4 LDs this week! :D

That's really interesting about the avoiding negative comments.

That is interesting. God I feel like that kind of applies to waking life too.

Busy week, husband left for work and will be gone two and a half months. The main benefit for me is that I focus more on my personal things like art, exercise, and dreamwork. I woke up two different days to do WBTB but was too tired/lazy to get up thus no LDs and poor dream recall in general. I finally got to it last night but without very clear goals. I've written a few down but didn't really solidify any. I'm reading EWOLD and remembered in Leberge's other book "I think" he suggested letting the dream lead you to the highest?? Something like that so that was a goal. I also wanted to meet a dream guide though I feel a little tentative about that goal as I fear the guide will disappoint and I'll be left disillusioned.

So I did my routine then back to bed. I remember laying there waiting for a dream to form and hearing a news broadcast. I was aware this was an auditory hallucination or maybe a dream at this point. Not sure if I slept first before this. A little muddled...I remember being in that state where you are half making up a story and half actually dreaming. I'm driving around a corner too fast and go off a cliff. I go with it and joyfully float through a blue sky. I float to the ocean. This part is more thinking/trying out scenereos, less vivid dream. I'm thinking about how to face and interact with a whale. What if it eats me. Could I handle that? I try out saying I love you and that feels good. Poor memory after that, not 100% sure of the sequence of events.

I got up to close the window and tried to turn on the light. It didn't work. I went to the living room and that didn't work. I thought the electricity must be out, how weird. It must be from the wind. I laid back down to sleep. (First false awakening I've had)

Again I watched a dream form. I noticed a room with intricate flower patterned wallpaper. It had that crystal clear sparkly quality LD vision sometimes has (just for a few moments here and there for me) I was a little nervous about waking and may have had some fading and reforming a few times. I thought "I need to go with the flow, get a little more involved in the dream and not get too lucid so I don't wake up". (This may be false reasoning as I've not had a problem waking up too quickly lately and who knows if being less lucid actually help you stay in the dream but it's something I think to myself often when LDing) I start walking in a room with abstract paintings on the walls. I go through a door into another similar room with similar paintings and do this several times. I then go down a tight cement walkway and start to feel clausterphobic. I searched for a way out and found an opening an got out. Poor recall then clear again.

I'm now walking down some steps in a garden area where people are standing around socializing. Ther is a pool. I remember I can fly so I float up over the pool slowly. It's a pleasurable familiar feeling. Poor recall again here then clear again. I'm then walking down some steps and think I should find a cute guy. I remember I can summon a DC by saying " behind this door will be such and such". I look behind several doors and find an attractive guy. We start making out and poor recall again. I don't remember waking up.

Summery: First false awakening, pieces of clear LD events mixed with muddled parts I don't remember well. I didn't do any stabilization except trying to be less lucid and go with the story (possible poor reasoning). I didn't do my goals but but was happy to remember to summon a character. I'm happy my LDs have been long lately.

Fogelbise, do your LDs vary in clarity? Do you get that hyper real sparkly vision and if so how often? How long do your LDs last? Do you lose parts of the dream if it's fairly long? Have you ever re visited a previous dream location? If so how similar was it?

Goals: (spiritual shit, find a guide, meditate, ask what is consciousness etc), stop and look around, notice each sense especially sound, smell and feel, oh and color, go to a previous dream locale.

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

I thought "I need to go with the flow, get a little more involved in the dream and not get too lucid so I don't wake up". (This may be false reasoning as I've not had a problem waking up too quickly lately and who knows if being less lucid actually help you stay in the dream but it's something I think to myself often when LDing)

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I've heard this mentioned before but I have not found this to be the case at all for me. I see nothing wrong with going along with the general theme of the dream though. I just wouldn't spend any energy worrying that going "off script" will have a negative effect.

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Fogelbise, do your LDs vary in clarity? Do you get that hyper real sparkly vision and if so how often? How long do your LDs last? Do you lose parts of the dream if it's fairly long? Have you ever re visited a previous dream location? If so how similar was it?

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-They do vary for me, but please see below.
-hyper real sparkly vision: not as much as I would like, but I think this is something that we have a fair amount of control over with a little focus and especially by avoiding expecting it to be an unusual thing.
-I'd guess many are about 5 minutes (and growing!). I still get the short ones from time to time and I get longer ones fairly often. Galantamine+Choline definitely gives lengthy ones quite consistently (with at least one week off between using the supplement). I believe with the right mindset, a newer student can surpass these levels.
-I do lose parts sometimes. Diligence during transitions and false awakenings can help combat this.
-I don't think so in an LD (will think some more-real life locations yes, multiple times in LD's) but I believe it is possible with focus. I haven't tried to create persistent realms. Definitely some very similar scenarios, similar locations.

Gotta run now, but let me know if I wasn't clear and I will get back to you soon.

Congrats on the lucidity and noticing the false awakening! :D

I joined spellbee's LD contest and am signed up to participate in a study on galantamine. I'm excited to have some outside motivation. I've been kind of lazy lately with meditation and induction techniques but I did have 14 LDs this month. Almost twice my average so that's exciting. I've been having more LDs per LD night which is a new development. They have been longer too mixed in with occasional short ones. WHY DIDN'T I DO THIS YEARS AGO!! it's sooooo fascinating and has changed how I think about life and reality.

Last night I did a very brief WBTB (10 mins) with about 20 seconds of affirmations. I also took 6 mg of galantamine and 500 mg of choline.

I had a very long dream with many parts involving kittens, a stream, a journey of some kind etc etc. I became lucid spontaneously. I immediately felt I might wake up. I thought about what I said last time about not getting too lucid or I might wake up and thought no, that's not right, I just can't think about my sleeping body. I must stay engaged in the dream world. I then flew down a staircase. It took some effort but I was able to float a few ft above ground. I was then walking up a hill. I couldn't see over the top. I remembered my goal of asking to see a spiritual truth (or something like that). Instead I asked to see or feel god. (I'm not religious) I then woke up. Hmmm

I set my intention to LD again and went back to sleep. I'm pretty sure I had a second then a third LD. I don't remember the second one but I remember remembering it when I first woke up.

I don't remember becoming lucid but I was in a room full of nurses. I was the only one who did physical therapy. I remembered my goal of looking around, taking in the scene so I would remember it later. I looked around and noted my vision was average/a little blurrier or less detailed than average. I noticed some reddish brown colors. I forgot to notice my other senses like sound, smell and sensation. I also rubbed my hands together to solidify the dream.

I then must have lost some or most of my lucidety because I was talking to and interacting with my DCs as if they were real. The dream continued for 5-10 minutes with a giant trampoline we were all jumping on etc etc. it felt fun and posative. Not sure when I woke up.

I don't usually lose lucidety and continue in a non lucid dream once I'm lucid so it was weird I did last night. I used to think this might be a problem so I would repeat this is a dream throughout the dream to stay lucid but didn't really need to continue this.

Meditated before bed and did usual induction techniques.

Dream about trying to get to work on time, need to drop the dog off and feel I don't have enough time. I'm in a 3-4 story house. Realize with delight I'm dreaming. Yes!

Get down on the floor for some reason. Taking things slow, not worried about waking up. Want to experiment with increasing clarity. I look at my hand then back at the room. Average visual clarity. I state, " increase clarity now" several times. This does nothing. I think, "I should fly around just exploring the environment." I jump out the window without any fear and fly through some trees. They become hyper real, very detailed and beautiful.

I'm then floating in the air and remember my goal to examine each sense. Smell and taste =nothing. Sound= sounds like a busy public place despite the fact I'm floating alone in the air in a country setting. Sensation= I think I felt a breeze on my skin. I think I entered the void here (blackness)

New scene. I'm in a busy hallway and see a big monster like man. Scary, I feel I may have a LD nightmare. Something I've never had before but read about yesterday. Oddly I also feel attracted to him. (Fade to blackness again)

Now I feel I'm just making up a story of going into some room with him. I think I was waiting for the scene to re form. I'm not sure what happened next. I think there were other parts to the LD I lost. It felt longer than what I wrote out. I never really felt in danger of waking despite the darkness.

I think I need to actually write my LDs down before going back to sleep. I usually just go over them in my head before going back to sleep and loose parts of them.

I'm loving these LDs where I'm not worried about waking up. I need to take some time and really think about what I want to focus on in dreams. I haven't spent much time on that lately. Without worrying so much about time maybe I could focus on more difficult tasks.

I've had 90% success rate this month with LD attempts. I've had 5 short, 5 med length and 5 long LDs, up to 15 mins approx. I must admit, I'm relying on sups to help. I feel a little guilty about this. I take them twice a week. No side effects so far. I read something Robert Waggoner posted about an experiment his friend did. He had his partner give him galantamine or a placebo randomly to see what the results would be. Apparently he did as well with the placebo. I know Leberge did an experiment where he found a 4-6 x increase in LD frequency with galantamine. So I'm curious about the placebo effect here.

I've set up an experiment for myself. I've put galantamine pills in gel caps and counted out an = number of caps without pills in them 10 of each. I wrapped then in foil and numbered them. I noted which numbers have actual spills in them, (long numbers so I'll never remember which are which). When taking them I'm going to note the number, open the foil without looking and take the cap. I'll keep track of my success rate and in the end look at the numbers. I'll do this after the galantamine study I'm in over the next month. I have the caps all ready to go.

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

I think I need to actually write my LDs down before going back to sleep. I usually just go over them in my head before going back to sleep and loose parts of them.

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For myself, it depends on the priority: do I want to try to DEILD?..or do I want to lock in as much recall as possible? You may have to make the decision on what focus you are leaning towards before you go to bed that night. Once you feel good about taking either path you can make the decision more on the fly.

I'd be interested to hear your feedback on the study you are in and also how your personal one goes.

Congratulations on the lucid and hyper real part! You will start to notice similar experiences IWL at some point.

F, I like your comment about the possibly of having similar wake my experiences. About 8 years ago when I was meditating 30 mins a day without fail for a few months I had a few waking experiences that felt almost lucid, definitely related to the meditation and nothing I had felt before.
Yep, I'm excited about the experiments too. Start the first one tomorrow.

2 lucids one short, one med length

Did usual routine last night though pushed snooze for WBTB for a full hour. Really didn't want to get up. Once up felt slightly anxious about life and dreaming. Not sure why, life is fine right now. Maybe just that middle of the night fear we all get sometimes, probably instinctual.

Dream about x bf s property. Very pretty countryside. Some new cabin going up. People arriving for a weekend of fun. I'm exploring the cabins, big neat tiles showers. Lots of flowers blooming outside. I became lucid at some point and I think I did a DEILD, don't remember much just being bummed it ended.

Then in similar scene looking at freshly cut wood pieces with roses blooming from them. I became lucid again. I looked at the roses, out at the scene and back. The dream felt fragile. Vision was pretty clear. Rubbed hands together. I did not remember my goal of finding a beautiful ocean scene. I decided to explore. I flew around really trying to memorize all I saw. The grounds were beautiful, lots of flowers, gorgeous green hills and a little pocket of rain. I remembered to notice color and there was a lot of it. I flew around but could only move forward doing a swimming motion with my hands. I tried the superman position but that didn't make me move at all.

Vision started to fade, remembered what a fellow dreamer suggested to do. I focused on sound and sensation. I heard that radio like/public place hum sound and felt wind on my skin. It felt really neat. I felt I would wake up but didn't. Vague here, dark vision, kind of making the dream up in my head, trying to fool around with my ex in a room in the cabin, vision comes back, ex seems creepy, not sure what happened but woke at some point. Went over dreams in my head. 5-8 mins approx, some lost parts.

More dreams. One of note, apocalyptic theme, I told myself or heard " don't worry about death, it's just like waking up from a dream".

Themes this week= noticing senses, working with the void, flying very slowly, sex, having lots of vague goals, nothing solid, not remembering waking up or when I lost the dream.

I'm going to use voice to text in notes on my phone to record middle of the night, morning dreams so I quit forgetting so much.

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

One of note, apocalyptic theme, I told myself or heard " don't worry about death, it's just like waking up from a dream".

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That's interesting…I like that! Dreams can be intriguing.

Congratulations on the lucidity!

I like your interesting avatar image with the lady and the floating goldfish…any story behind it?

I'm a portrait painter so I'm always saving images for inspiration. I like this one as I'm imways dreaming about water, whales and fish. The lady looks slightly tense and prim, kind of my personality.

An artist…I wish I had the skill to paint well. The avatar reminded me of a dream sign (I've had only once) where a goldfish was floating in mid-air in a home office scene and instantly made me realize I was dreaming.

Started dream study where I took a placebo/ or galantamine and spellbee2's contest. The pill I took most definitly was not a placebo. It must be a lot higher Gal dose than I'm used to. Wow
I had my second WILD which I'm thrilled about. Visuals were poor and at times I felt I was (making the dream up) if that makes sense. Second lucid was just a piece in the middle of a regular dream. I asked how I can be more at peace and relaxed and a DC said I can focus on collecting ancient antiques. WTF! I thought about this later and wondered if it relates to my favorite hobby ever. Searching for treasure (ship wreck one time), artifacts, but mostly dinosaur bones! There is almost nothing that gives me more joy. Anyway here is my dream journal entry I wrote up for the competition. Do you prefer the link or I can just paste the whole thing here if that's easier. Or of course you don't have to read it all, I kind of summed up above.

Spellbee2 contest night one - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

You are welcome to paste the whole thing here, whichever you prefer. I did follow the link on that night one DJ. I guess it's nice here, but certainly up to you.

Can you say who is conducting the study or how big it is? It sounds very interesting either way.

Nice work having your 2nd WILD and getting a DILD as well!

Gregory Scott Sparrow is doing the study. I believe he's a professor at the U of Texas. They have around 50 participants.

Not a great week as far as LD s go. Not sure why. Last week was amazing. I'll keep plugging away. Worried about the new admin and trump. Weather is cold and grey, just feeling king of heavy and uninspired. Not sure if that may be affecting my dreams. I did start exercising again which is helping the mood. Should probably really get a regular meditation schedule. I'll have some coffee and do it now! Hope all is well Fogelbise and fellow dreamers.

When the dream study is over I'm going to try a nicotine patch at a low dose for LDing. I've never used nicotine so I'll do a little test run in the day to make sure the dose is right and it's not going to make me nauseous etc. Have you ever tried this?

You will be back in the swing of things soon I bet.

I have never tried nicotine. Galantamine + Choline, Alpha-GPC, and 5-HTP I have.

There will be a lot of people joining you in your concerns tomorrow, many protesting. I am also concerned.

Yep, I agree. I made my sign and will protest here in Ashland Oregon.

Huge turnouts across the country it seemed!

Finally, a great night of lucid dreams. During 12 day dry spell I had some really vivid and emotion regular dreams.
Got to try a dream yoga technique I read about last night (no result) but no real daytime prep or real focus, kind of half hazard (is that how that's spelled) attempt.

It's nighttime, I'm in my bedroom with a boyfriend who is a combo of my husband and ex. We are in a hilltop village which feels peaceful and quiet. I'm upset because he won't have sex with me any more. I give him an ultimatum, I may have to find a "side boyfriend".
I go outside to walk around and cool off. I'm walking along a quiet dirt path and realize spontaneously I'm dreaming.
My vision comes and goes here. I rub my hands together. I remember reading about a dream yoga technique and I try it. I close my eyes, plug my nose, and try diving into the ground/into the heart center. Well, nothing happened. I notice a black sky with hints of sparkling stars.
I walk along the path and remember the dream contest goal of walking through a big solid object. I see a house and with confidence walk through the wall. I'm inside now. I start exploring hallways and rooms. I remember my goal of kissing a dc. I say, "when I come around the corner I will see a man". As I go around the corner I see a man laying in a bed. He seems a little too dad like, yikes. I try to transform him by willing it to be. I think his hair changed a little but not enough. I move on continuing my exploration of the house. My body feels big and heavy. Again remembering my dream yoga book talking about losing the dream body, I attempt to become a single point of consciousness. I think I become a little smaller and lighter. I remember I can float instead of walk and do so which feels much better than walking.
I go outside. I feel down to see what my body feels like. Feels like I'm naked (as I often am in dreams which usually feels great, no embarrassment).
I meet a girl and wonder if I should kiss her for my dream points. No, I don't want to. She wants to show me something. We walk to a parking lot where there are a bunch of men who are interested in us. "I think I'm less lucid here as it didn't occur to me to face these DCs or to not be afraid though I'm still somewhat aware I'm dreaming". There is one huge, 8 ft tall DC who seems quite scary. Luckily he walks by us. We get into a truck and try to leave the parking lot. There is a bunch of work equipment in the road but I believe we make it out wit the girl driving. At some point during this dream I noted that it felt very long and I hoped I would remember it all. When I woke up I went over it in my head but didn't write it down.

This one is a little vague in spots. I see myself about 30 feet ahead. I'm naked and I notice distinct tan lines. I'm then in my body. I walk up s ramp into a house. There is someone there instructing us to try to create 3 children. I create a clover with 3-4 leaves. Not quite right. (Lost some here) I go back down the ramp carrying a huge bundle of random objects. I become lucid and realize I don't or can't take any of this stuff with me. The realization feels great so I put it down and feel unburdened and free. I walk away empty handed.

Another long dream about a hospital, huge DCs, a lovely homeless camp on a hill above the ocean with makeshift homes and a little pond with a baby otter. Possibly moments of lucidity but I'm not positive.

Very nice! Congratulation on the LD and remembering and working on some goals Azaleaj! :)

Time to check in. In the last 10 days I've had 2-3 LDs. I've been lazy with my goals and need to set some. My LDs are more fun when I have something meaningful to do or work on. I have so many random things I want to do...practice summoning someone, ask DCs various questions, ask the dream questions about different dream symbols and about the nature of reality, learn to smell and taste, meditate, visit a jungle and the beach, listen to music, and create art. Oh I still want to see a whale and get close to it as well.

I've noticed in waking life I'm noticing textural details more. This is something I've noticed in lucid dreams a lot as well as times I've done hallucinogens (when I was younger). Not sure why it's carrying over into waking life but I'm really enjoying it. I love texture!

Feb 1
I'm in my rental house and accidentally break the door. How will I sleep safely? I head out to explore the grounds. It's an expansive park like setting with a tiny moat filled with gold and clear fish. I get down close to them and see their details. I see two other buildings I've never realized we had access to. I become lucid. Yahhh, I see a cliff and contemplate jumping off of it for fun.

New scene or new dream?
In my living room. I remember to look around at all of the detail so I remember it. I note colorful patterns on the walls and see my adorable cat Bear in the corner. I think about how much I love him. I pick him up. I don't want to look at his face because I'm afraid it might morph into something weird. I start to feel bored so I decide to spin a new scene. I try twice but end up in the same scene. Well, I'll head out the door then. I head out into a pitch black night. Not sure what happened next.

Feb 4
Long dream about husband being in prison for 2 years, an underground mall etc. I emerge from the underground area in an unfamiliar city. I see a country path and decide to take it. I become lucid and decide to fly. I fly out over a gorgeous Countryside just above the trees. The leaves look like blue and purple cotton candy. I look really closely at this weird texture. I also see bunches of roses and try smelling them. No smell. Then I wake up.

I think it's odd how you will have a clear lucid dream, remember it very well, but little pockets of it will be missing, like how did I get from this part to the next? Reading other's journals it seems to happen to others. Still no sense of smell��

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

Time to check in. In the last 10 days I've had 2-3 LDs. I've been lazy with my goals and need to set some. My LDs are more fun when I have something meaningful to do or work on. I have so many random things I want to do...practice summoning someone, ask DCs various questions, ask the dream questions about different dream symbols and about the nature of reality, learn to smell and taste, meditate, visit a jungle and the beach, listen to music, and create art. Oh I still want to see a whale and get close to it as well.

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I use the peg system to remember my goals. You might want to focus on one or two goals that you are the most excited about. It would be a bonus if it is also something you feel confident about achieving. With the peg system you can continue down your list of goals in the same dream or night, if you choose to, after achieving your primary one or two goals that get you the most excited.

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I've noticed in waking life I'm noticing textural details more. This is something I've noticed in lucid dreams a lot as well as times I've done hallucinogens (when I was younger). Not sure why it's carrying over into waking life but I'm really enjoying it. I love texture!

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Nice! Noticing more IWL seems to be a side effect of lucid dreaming for me as well.

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I start to feel bored so I decide to spin a new scene. I try twice but end up in the same scene.

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I sometimes go for a random scene change but sometimes it helps to influence the new scene by thinking about where you want to end up before and as you are spinning, especially by imagining some of the sensations at your chosen new scene.

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I think it's odd how you will have a clear lucid dream, remember it very well, but little pockets of it will be missing, like how did I get from this part to the next? Reading other's journals it seems to happen to others. Still no sense of smell��

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I've experienced this also. I think it has to be a focal point of what you are working on to reduce this effect, and we tend to only be able to focus on one or two things at once. I think it is very possible to make it a focal point and work on it for a good while until it becomes a natural part of your lucid dreams to periodically remind yourself to stay aware and remind yourself that you are dreaming. Once it is a natural part of your lucid dreams then you can move on to another focus. So we have to decide on what to focus on first, at least for some of the bigger challenges, IMO.

On taste and smell, in your workbook you've had: "cream pie...but the cream part had a little sweet creamy flavor." And you had a "savory smell" when tasting the dirty snow. So you know it is possible. :) If you want to make it a priority or focal point, you probably can make good headway here. I don't focus on smell or taste unless it's part of a goal or task of the month or something but I do randomly notice tastes and smells, though not super frequently. I have a searchable DJ offline and I checked when I last mentioned smell and found a recent one where I was trying to seed a scene with smell but the last one where I actually smelled something was 31st of December 2016, a little over a month ago and it was a distinctive smell which could be a key related to our distinctive memories from waking life.

Congratulations on the lucidity! :)

Made a good effort last night. WBTB, wrote out 2 goals (ask my higher self for a gift or a clue about how to live more positively by putting my hand behind me, and waiting for something to be placed in my hand.) (dolphin's technique) Also, to ask for a new ocean scene to form behind me, and to turn around to find it.

Had a few dreams, woke to my cat attacking my hair. Back to sleep.
Dream about a friend's three new tiny dogs, an indoor garden with little ponds etc. I see a dog get smaller and jump in the pond. I become lucid. I see three DCs, women, standing in the pond. I remember I wanted to more closely examine and talk to my DCs, to see what type they are (zombies, teachers or something else). I see a blonde woman and tell her I'm in a dream. I then suggest maybe she is in a dream too. She corrects me and tells me there is also a third element or entity involved. I'm not sure what she meant. She seems lively and radiant, not zombie or doll like at all like some of my DCs.
I remember the experiment I wanted to do. I ask for a gift from my higher self and put my hand behind my back to receive it. I wait a while and feel something touch my hand. I bring it forward and look. My palm has little moving almost insect like patterns on it that then morph into tiny little bug or even tomatoe like things (red) all lined up in an orderly row. Hmmm, not sure what to make of it.

I go into another room and sit Dow to try to meditate. I close my eyes and think, that could wake me up, it doesn't. I'm having difficulty concentrating due to loud children in the room. I give up. Decide to try the hand experiment again to get more feedback or clarity.

I again put my hand behind my back and ask my question. I spin around to see a woman I have met before possibly. We are super glad to see each other and I feel very warm and connected to her. We hug. I notice her dark hair is crisp like she put gel in it while wet. I'm not 100% sure we have met before but she's very familiar.

I then head out to the street and loose lucidity. Had two more long dreams after this.

Congratulations on more lucidity and goal memory! I am not sure if you saw my previous post but good job focusing on a goal. :)

Thanks for the feedback F! I like your idea of staying fully aware and not loosing pieces of the LD actually be a goal you are working on. I haven't focused much on this besides occasionally reminding myself to really take in the scene's details so I remember them. I also agree that you can really only focus on a few things at once. I tend to have a lot of ideas going at once and forget what the most important things are for me. Usually I can pretty easily remember two goals, maybe three?

Last night I remembered my elusive goal of facing a whale and went back to my previous goal of asking my higher self for a gift or advise. I also tried to remember the goal of the year but couldn't and tried to stick my head underground (previous goal of the month). Very interesting night.

Dream about too many people moving to my childhood community. I feel territorial and possessive, (recurring theme for many years). I'm on the other side of the mountain that the town is on trying to figure out how to get back there. I see that the ocean is alongside the mountain. That looks very inviting to I go to it. I become lucid at some point (don't remember the moment).

I decide to fly over the ocean and to look for a whale which has been a goal for many months now. I float about 10 feet up. The surface is still and covered in a layer of algae. I swoop down closer and part the algae to get a better look. There is a whale about the size of an orca that is close to the surface and moving around quickly. I force myself to stay close to it for a few moments to face my fear but don't take it any further than that. I could have gone in the water or tried to touch it or talk to it.....next time. I fly away.

I'm now flying low over rolling hills. I go into a big barn. A big, angry, scary bull sees me and charges. I'm not very afraid as I can just fly up above it which I do.

While floating near the ceiling I decide to try the experiment I tried in my last LD. I ask my subconscious or higher self to give me a gift or guidance. I put my hand behind my back and wait for something to be put in it. Nothing. I look in my hand, nothing. I decide to take a different approach and to look for a gift. (Goal of the month I think) I fly out a window and see a very tall, thin, scraggly bush decorated with christmas ornaments. Yes!! There must be a gift beneath it and I see a folded piece of paper. I fly down and open it. There is a picture of me with I believe my job description on it. It looks like a wanted poster. Hmmmm not sure what to make of it.

I go stand on the ground and try to remember the task of the year but can't. I decide to re try the experiment where you put your head beneath the ground to see what is there. I try it and the ground is solid.

I go lay in a field with bushes all around me. I feel I may wake up so I focus on my surroundings and rug my legs for tactile feedback. Not sure what happened next, I think my phone rang. I didn't write this down before going back to sleep for another half hour.

Not sure what to make of my experiment results the last two lucid dreams. I'm terrible at dream interpretation, symbolism and allegory. The results seemed very specific but I have no idea if they were (wise) answers to my question or request for a gift or guidance. My results were: a hand full of symbols that turned into bug/ fruit like red balls that lined up in orderly rows, a crispy haired familiar girl I was glad to see and a folded piece of paper with a picture of me and my job description on it. I have to say it was extremely fun to search for a clue or gift in this last dream. I'll have to play more with that (treasure hunting is my favorite past time)

Facing the whale was scary and I'm happy I finally did it though it didn't feel like a big breakthrough like I thought it would as the whale dreams have been recurring since childhood.

Fogelbise, I really appreciate you volunteering to be a dream teacher. I know it's time consuming and takes a lot of thought. If you would like me to paint a portrait of anyone you want I would love to do that as a thank you. I don't know if you would like my style or not but I could show you some samples.

Nice series of lucidity once again Azaleaj!

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

Usually I can pretty easily remember two goals, maybe three?

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And that's quite good! Let me know if you want more info on the peg system for remembering 10 goals, even more if you want. It requires being in a fairly strong level of lucidity, but it is simplified by the fact that you set up and memorize the pegs during the day.

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Not sure what to make of my experiment results the last two lucid dreams. I'm terrible at dream interpretation, symbolism and allegory. The results seemed very specific but I have no idea if they were (wise) answers to my question or request for a gift or guidance. My results were: a hand full of symbols that turned into bug/ fruit like red balls that lined up in orderly rows, a crispy haired familiar girl I was glad to see and a folded piece of paper with a picture of me and my job description on it. I have to say it was extremely fun to search for a clue or gift in this last dream. I'll have to play more with that (treasure hunting is my favorite past time)

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I believe it comes down to truly expecting something profound from your experiments (and expecting your DC's to be intelligent and helpful).

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Facing the whale was scary and I'm happy I finally did it though it didn't feel like a big breakthrough like I thought it would as the whale dreams have been recurring since childhood.

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I was so happy to read that you took the first step with the whale goal! I saw a commercial the other day (maybe an insurance commercial) and it featured beautiful images of whales and I thought about you and your goal. Again, I think it may feel like more of a break through in the future if you truly expect it to be a break through. Perhaps the mechanism is tapping deeper into your inner wisdom through expectation.

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Fogelbise, I really appreciate you volunteering to be a dream teacher. I know it's time consuming and takes a lot of thought. If you would like me to paint a portrait of anyone you want I would love to do that as a thank you. I don't know if you would like my style or not but I could show you some samples.

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That is so sweet! I do love paintings and portraits...that is certainly not necessary.

Good job on the seeing the whale, next time you will be more brave :-) i thought it was interesting there was algae on the water with the whale , heres what the book says
Algae
To see algae in your dream indicates that you need to leave your emotions out of some matter.
also killer whale
Killer Whale
To see a killer whale in your dream indicates that you need to be more social or more vocal about something. Step up and speak up. Alternatively, the dream symbolizes spiritual guidance. You are ready to explore your emotions, but you need to make the connection between the conscious and subconscious aspects of yourself.
Whale
To see a whale in your dream represents your intuition and awareness. You are in tuned with your sense of spirituality.

Hope you finally get to talk with your whale, I'm sure it will tell you something awesome :-)
Btw do you think maybe the whale could be a dream guide??

Thank you so much Folg and Oneironenautics for your feedback! Yes, I agree, you must expect something profound and helpful to find it. I'll focus on this. It's been a couple of weeks since I checked in. I unexpectedly went to Utah for a little ski/family get together which was fun but got me a little
off track dream wise. I did have one spontaneous LD there without any prep which I was happy about. I've been lazy about my practice, no meditation or LD reading in the day. I have been doing a brief WBTB and taking sups about twice a week with success but my LDs have been short and or I forget I'm dreaming part way through the dream (something I haven't had a problem with previously.) I think this relates to the quality of my focus and LD prep. I've had 6 LDs in the last 2 weeks so I'm not having trouble initiating them. I know what I need to do.

Time to re focus, set some goals and spend more time working on MILD. I also think writing on here helps as it adds a level of accountability.

Had an interesting experience. I wrote about the indoor garden, pond and little animals that were at my friend from high school's house on 2/7. She wrote me the next day (we don't speak often) and told me she had a dream we were in an indoor garden together petting little animals. I was pretty amazed. The only precog type experience I've had previously was dreaming of finding 4 leaf clovers then randomly finding one the next day when I wasn't looking for one (happened twice).

Ok, back on schedule this week preporting here and doing daytime practice. I'll post my goals on weds night (my next practice night)

It's great to see you back Azaleaj!

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

I have been doing a brief WBTB and taking sups about twice a week with success but my LDs have been short and or I forget I'm dreaming part way through the dream (something I haven't had a problem with previously.) I think this relates to the quality of my focus and LD prep. I've had 6 LDs in the last 2 weeks so I'm not having trouble initiating them. I know what I need to do.

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I have experienced the same correlation when I don't put as much into my practices. Glad to see you have resolved to get back on track.


Very interesting experience with your high school friend contacting you about a dream like one you had, especially seeing how you don't speak often. I love dreams!

Set some goals before bed and was all set to do WBTB with MILD and a little SILD practice. Slept poorly so decided against it when I woke up for WBTB. I'll try again friday night.

I did have some vivid, really neat dreams though.

No LDs last night despite doing WBTB, setting some goals and briefly doing MILD. I have to admit I was only up for about 3 mins and didn't put much effort into the MILD practice. Did have 2 interesting dreams and some fragments. Will try again tonight.

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

Slept poorly so decided against it when I woke up for WBTB. I'll try again friday night.

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I do this anytime I feel like I need straight sleep…nothing wrong with that of course.

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

I have to admit I was only up for about 3 mins and didn't put much effort into the MILD practice.

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You might consider coming up with 2 or 3 pre-planned scenarios. Something you will use for a short WBTB like that perhaps like a quick setting of intention for DEILD or anything. And then two other plans for mid and longer WBTBs based on what takes you longer and/or what feels right for you.

I agree Folg. I need a set routine or a few steps to follow so I'm not trying to figure it out in the moment.
No LD Friday but long, clear, really neat LD sat. Goals were to surrender to the highest (from ETWOLD) I believe, and to just mindfully explore.

3-5-17
I did fairly good LD prep with my intention set. Here is the dream I had.

I'm in bed and notice my husband is next to me. He is gone so I know I'm dreaming. I hear my best friend in the other room. I relax and am excited to be lucid dreaming.

New scene. I'm at my childhood home on (the Ranch. (This is what we call the community where I grew up. My best friend moved back there and I visit all the time). My vision is blurry so I rub my hands to stabilize. I remember to really look around and notice what I'm seeing and feeling. I feel wonder and joy to be in this mysterious place (a dream).

I remember my intention to surrender then explore. I state out loud "I surrender," then start walking. My dog is beside me.

I remember I can fly so float up above the trees. I see a sun in the sky and the gorgeous countryside all around. I will my dog to fly up with me but he doesn't. He's ok I think. As I float above my old home I note the huge back yard has been rototilled revealing rich brown soil. I think to myself that humans are so destructive, it only takes a few to ruin the environment. Though, when looking back I realize only the yard was tilled. The natural areas around the house were untouched.

As I fly I see a house I've never seen before with a really messy yard full of possibly stray cats eating off of plates on a multi level platform. I hope someone is caring for them.

I then see a small, wild, gorgeous river flowing down the mountain. I think, "Rivers change the environment too, creating large canyons over time." (Not sure if I'm trying to justify human destruction of the environment or see it in a larger context, ultimately as part of nature.)

I float down to the river and see a pool of water with tree trunks around it creating a protected area. I go in and it feels so refreshing! A young woman approaches. She seems full of life and friendly. I say hi and am very excited to see her. She leans in and says, "You are a light in the world." I ask for her to clarify. She walks away saying something that I can't quite hear.

I'm then floating in the tree tops and start focusing on my senses again really looking at the gorgeous tree tops. As I look closely they become crystal clear, richly detailed and full of color with purples, yellows and greens. I see some moss and test my sense of smell. There is no smell. I notice a crisp dry texture to the moss. I squish some little berries between my fingers. I can then feel myself waking up and let it happen so I can write the dream down.

This dream was really clear and stable and felt very positive with feelings of worry about the environment and the cats mixed in. No sense of smell. Fairly long LD.

Congratulations Azaleaj! You prepared and it paid off, remembering goals and having a lengthy adventure!

Tried Calea z last night. So bad tasting I could only choke down a little. Worse than straight vodka. Even worse than paint thinner which I unfortunately have drank when I accidentally had it side by side with a glass of water. Made Jell-O shots with a cup of tea. Should be easier to get down. No LDs this week so far. I'll make a good effort tonight. Did have another dream about a house full of roaring hot furnaces/stoves that seemed very dangerous to me. Not sure what it could mean.

I think wormwood may actually be the most horrifically vile/bitter substance on the face of the planet, but I haven't tried Calea. I assume it's similar. Wormwood is supposed to kill intestinal worms (thus the name) and from the taste I can believe it. I wouldn't necessarily recommend wormwood since thujone (the substance that makes wormwood hallucinogenic/nootropic) is toxic and you can't really know the potency you're getting. I did have fairly wild dreams on it, but I consider it more like a drug than a supplement. I only took it a few times because it gave me chest/heart pains and that's not good.

I will say I think there is nothing better for dreaming than a regular sleep schedule, getting to bed on time, getting enough sleep, getting exercise and maintaining a healthy diet with proper nutrition. That of course plus "attention, reflection, recall!" The year when I was working consistently on mindfulness and dreaming in general I realized after a few months that my dreams had increased amazingly in vividness and presence. These things can be done daily, while supplements should generally be left to once in a while (IMO).

Thanks for the feedback fryingman. Yah I haven't been great about mindfulness, exercise and nutrition lately but plan on starting to be. Getting a little extra sleep definitely helps! I sleep in on days off and that extra hour makes a difference in the number of dreams remembered.

2 LDs and 3 regular dreams last night.
First LD was short and came at the end of a long pleasant dream. I became lucid walking on some pretty college grounds. I imediatly felt I might wake up so I rubbed hands together. I reminded myself if I lost the scene I shouldn't expect to wake up, it could just be another scene. Then I believe I woke up.

I don't remember the moment I became lucid in the next one but my memory starts with remembering to say "I surrender to the highest". I then started exploring. I was in a small city without any DCs. I went into a few buildings that were
dilapidated and slightly creepy. I got out of there fast. I also went into a building that felt claustrophobic. I left there. I had trouble flying more than about 10 ft off the ground. I remembered to really look around to see the details and noticed the scene was barren but colorful.

I then flew up high over a gorgeous landscape with puffy white clouds and gorgeous trees and rolling hills. It felt heavenly and I wanted to stay here forever.

This was my first long LD that I can remember not having any other DCs. I noticed this was odd in the dream. So the last two out of 3 LDs I've "surrendered to the highest" then explored. The two similarities between these dreams were that I found myself in a gorgeous natural scene and that I felt protective of it. Not sure if I should alter my goals or add to them or stick with this for a little while. Maybe I'll ask for a guide or try asking the dream big questions again or even try meditating again.

My LDs are a mix: sometimes there are people, sometimes not. If you want people, summoning them is fairly straightforward, like any dream control, if you pretend that what you want is already there, and behave so, even if it doesn't show up immediately visually it usually happens within a few seconds if you keep pretending that it "worked."

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

I reminded myself if I lost the scene I shouldn't expect to wake up, it could just be another scene. Then I believe I woke up.

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It may not always work, but it does fairly often...so I recommend keeping this mindset. :) I recommend keeping your dreambody moving through any fades while repeating "I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming…" I like to move in ways that I don't move IWL like a dolphin undulation or slithering side to side like a snake (or perhaps spinning around). If you find yourself in a void you can pause and review your goals and previous dream while you move and if you want to get another scene underway you can start imagining the various senses connecting with any general or specific target scene.

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I then flew up high over a gorgeous landscape with puffy white clouds and gorgeous trees and rolling hills. It felt heavenly and I wanted to stay here forever.

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It sounds heavenly! Book me on the next flight there!

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Not sure if I should alter my goals or add to them or stick with this for a little while. Maybe I'll ask for a guide or try asking the dream big questions again or even try meditating again.

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Do you mean for purposes of keeping motivation strong(er)?

I kind of like the quiet LD's with no DC's around, but interactions can be a blast too. I guess it is nice to alternate.

Fryingman, I'll try your summoning technique of expecting a person to be there. I want to summon my friend fro m high school. F, good question. What is the purpose of having/ changing goals. I t helps me get excited and stay motivated. Ultimately my goals are exploring the bigger questions of life and reality and having fun snd joy doing so. Tonight my goals are to find the girl who tells me things about myself, she seems to be some sort of messenger. Also to find my friend ad give her a gift, and to dance with someone. Thanks for the feedback guys, I always look forward to it!

And I'll try to remember, move body and expect a new scene if dream fades.

Agreed...I change up goals and practices (practices just a little bit usually) for the same reason.

BTW, the idea of moving the body in a way different from IWL is to avoid making too much of a connection to your waking body. Besides, you are still in the dream realm you proclaim…so why not move in unexpected ways.

I haven't checked in in 3 weeks. My laziness caught up with me. I've done WBTB but with very little focus on MILD a couple of times a week but had a two week dry spell. I did have some interesting dreams in that time with fairly good recall 3-5 nights a week.

I had a possible non lucid precog dream where I dreamed of saving a cockatoo from an intense wind storm. I was concerned about his safety and wanted to make sure a vet saw him. The next day I read an article about a cockatoo caught in a hurricane in Australia and a photographer rescued him. He tried to get rescuers to him but couldn't and the bird died. After reading this I returned to an article in the lucid dreaming magazine (I forget the title) and it was talking about how we will sometimes not only dream about things that happen the previous day, but also the following day. I thought those were neat coincidences. Not neat that the poor bird died.

Last night I made a very good effort (+galantamine) and it paid off. I actually had my 2nd or third WILD. What an experience. It feels like magic to watch your word change in front of you.

I closed my eyes and felt the vibrations and went with it and very quickly I heard my cousin's voice, doors closing and other noises. I was alone and I knew this was the start of dreaming.

I then had a false awakening and thought the cats were scratching at the door. I got up and went and blocked the door then laid down to attempt another WILD. Odviously I was now dreaming I was inducing a WILD. My vision was black but I watched my room form in front of me. I remembered that you are supposed to get up and join the dream so I did.

I looked at my hands expecting them to look weird and each middle finger was sharp and black. Interesting. I sort of tried to create a sexual scene with my husband but I couldn't really get him to materialize. I decided to pass through the glass of the window and head outside. I floated up about 10 ft and looked around at a little forest. I remembered my goal to ask the dream something like (what do I need to know or grow, or something like that). I got no response. I decided to change the scene by spinning, then falling to the ground backwards. Very strong, pleasurable falling feeling. Lost part of the dream here.

Then I was up on a hill in a natural setting. I saw a newspaper stand and headed over to see if there were any secret messages, clues about next life steps (anything I need to grow). Looked like a bunch of art magazines. I opened one up and saw an ocean landscape that was simple and colorful. For some reason I was disappointed and didnt see it as a message. I looked to my left and saw an asian man. He told me something I thought was a clue or message but it was words I had never heard before. I was annoyed because I didnt think I would remember them when I woke up and I don't.

New scene. I was thinking about wanting to do something inappropriate with my ex. Part of dream lost here.

Then I was in a mall with a young lady playing piano. I started to sing then remembered my goal to chant OM. I starte chanting and it' was loud and full and sounded amazing. (I'm a terrible singer while awake) I started to get a strong spiritual feeling that I sometimes get when I meditate. Again more of the dream lost here. I remember allowing myself to wake up so I would remember the dream. It felt like I traveled down a tunnel and re entered my body. Very interesting feeling. I went over the dream in my head but didn't write it down which is probably why pieces were lost. It felt fairly long 15-20 mins maybe.

Next dream was about an abundant art space full of gorgeous pieces. I could chooses one to keep. I became lucid again briefly when talking to a happy older couple. That was at the end of a dream.

I definitely feel drawn to search for guidance, surprises and messages in lucid dreams. I think I'm expecting the responses to be too literal and I discount vague or confusing things that happen. Seeing a magazine with a scene of a painted ocean could be quite meaningful. I've had dreamed about the ocean since I was a kid and it feels vast and like the deepest part of myself full of wonder and mystery. I'm not sure why I discounted it. Also the man who said something to me. I should have asked him to clarify or show me the message in a way I could remember and understand. Well, I'll remember this going forward. I think I judge and dismiss too quickly.

This was a good lesson in the fact that it just takes that little bit of extra effort to become lucid. Laziness doesn't produce consistent results.

Very nice set of lucid experiences! Congratulations Azaleaj!

I like your thoughts about the ocean. It gives me some things to think about regarding my experiences with the ocean in lucid dreams.

2 lucid dreams last night.
I was on vacation the last week and tried WBTB a couple of times but did not put much effort into MILD. I think I was distracted and not very focused.

Last night I made a better effort and it paid off. I tried to have a WILD but fell asleep.

I had a dream I was at a concert exploring a semi outdoor venue. I became lucid spontaneously. The dream imidiatly felt unstable. I looked at my hands to stabilize and I think my vision went black. I decided to spin and fall backwards to create a new scene. It must have worked but I don't remember part of the dream here.

I think I had the intention to explore the dream. I was then walking up a county path with snow on the ground. I saw my cat Bear who was rolling around in the snow enjoying himself. I went and loved on him for a minute then tried to get him to float up in the air with me but he wanted to roll in the snow. I went into a convenience store and when I opened the glass door to leave there was another one, and another one etc. I finally had to fly through them to get out. I watched a movie last night where duplicate copies were made of a person and I think the glass doors were a response to that. The dream went on for a little longer but I don't remember it. I woke up and didn't go over it in my head very thoroughly so I think that is why I lost the end part. It felt like it lasted maybe 8-10 mins.

In the next dream I enter a field of green grass and oak trees surrounded by evergreen covered hills. I go sit down in the shade to relax. I see a group of older jovial women dancing in a circle. I then see a dream teacher I met in waking life flying super man style down to the grass. This makes me realize I'm dreaming. I go talk to her and ask her about her skills and see if she has anything to show me. I think I already knew how to do the different flying techniques she showed me.

I continued on down the path and met two men who were a little younger than me. I felt that they were fellow lucid dreamers. I asked them what they like to do in lucid dreams and they showed me some dance moves and flying techniques. I tried some of the dance moves but wasn't very good at them. I showed them how I liked to float upside down then did some handstands. I also spent time doing some hard yoga moves. It was really fun playing around with different skills. This dream lasted about 6-8 minutes and felt really fun. I'm not sure if my level of lucidity was low therefore I didn't more deeply investigate the DCs identities or whether I just really assumed the DCs were other dreamers. I think it was a mix of both. I do remember consciously going with the dream or damping down my level of lucidity a bit to prevent waking up like I've done previously. For some reason it does seem to help.

Anyway a fun and interesting night of lucid dreaming!

Congratulations on the nice pair of lucids!

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

I do remember consciously going with the dream or damping down my level of lucidity a bit to prevent waking up like I've done previously. For some reason it does seem to help.

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Since you have found something that works for you, it seems like you could use it for a while to build up expectations of long lasting lucid dreams, allowing you to feel more confident in going about the dream with strong lucidity as your practice continues. Some of my favorite lucid dreams featured strong lucidity and were long as well, so it is something you can work towards no doubt.

Thanks for the feedback F. I'm wondering if my lack of really clear lucidity and recall has to do with the fact that I have not been practicing any waking mindfulness, meditation and have not been doing reality checks. I wonder if I could discipline myself enough to do these things if it would affect my level of lucidity. Hmmm, hopefully I can pull it together and focus a little more.

I'm doing spellbee's competition which I feel is already adding some motivation.

Last night I did WBTB With a brief and lazy MILD practice.

I dreamed I was with two of my best friends on a journey of sorts. We had to climb up over the top of a house and I was struggling with this. My friend Emily was encouraging me and waiting for me. I made it to the top of the house then remembered I could just fly down to the other side where my friends were waiting. I floated down to the ground. (It's been a long time since I flew in a non lucid dream). I then became lucid spontaneously.

Right away my vision started to fade in and out of focus then in and out of darkness. I lost part of the dream here then I believe I woke up. I stayed still and the dream formed before my eyes to my delight! It was crystal clear for a few moments then faded again.

I'm not sure if I woke up at this point or just transitioned to another dream. I was very happy to have had 3 and possibly 4 LDs in 3 days after an almost 2 week dry spell. I think I'm back on track. Yahhhh

I then had 3 other dreams and one fragment with ok recall. The themes were trying to find a sex partner and then in separate dreams, going on a road trip with my family and hanging out with my sisters in an arcade. One standout image was driving through a tunnel and realizing it was dark because I had my eyes closed. When I opened them I saw that the tunnel was filled with beautiful spring flowers!

Congratulations on the lucidity once again!

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

Thanks for the feedback F. I'm wondering if my lack of really clear lucidity and recall has to do with the fact that I have not been practicing any waking mindfulness, meditation and have not been doing reality checks. I wonder if I could discipline myself enough to do these things if it would affect my level of lucidity. Hmmm, hopefully I can pull it together and focus a little more.

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Yes, I do believe that would make a difference. That is like the correlation I made in my practice where I found that I had stronger lucidity during periods when I was doing better with my self-awareness work (which Sageous says is basically mindfulness).

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One standout image was driving through a tunnel and realizing it was dark because I had my eyes closed. When I opened them I saw that the tunnel was filled with beautiful spring flowers!

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Sounds beautiful!

I was a little better about being mindful and did a few reality checks during the week. I also stayed up a little longer with WBTB and focused more on visualizing becoming lucid and remembering my goals. 2 lucid dreams last night, one DILD and I believe a WILD.

I laid down to try to have a WILD. I fell asleep but then woke back up. I tried again. Next thing I remember I was observing a dream form before my eyes. It faded in and out for a few seconds. I was careful to not try to join it too soon as I've seen recommended on here. I was trying to figure out the best moment to get up and enter the dream. Lost some here.

Next, I was walking in a mall empty of people with a woman with blonde curly hair. I remember my goal of finding the woman with the blonde bob (a dream guide?) I ask this woman if this is her. She look down and does not respond. I take this as a no. (I often encounter dream characters sort of turning off, or looking away and not wanting to interact at different times. Sometimes when I ask the questions and sometimes if I'm sexually forward.) we continue walking toward an escalator that goes to the basement. I realize we are walking when we could be flying. I choose to continue to walk just to mix it up as I usually fly in LDs. We go downstairs.

Once downstairs I remember my other goal of surrendering to something greater than myself (whatever that might be). I let go and find myself floating 3-4 feet above the ground on my back. I feel a palpable sort of vibrating, peaceful, borderline blissfully energy enveloping me. I find myself floating along the winding mall hallway observing the window displays of clothing. I see lots of various blue fabrics. I feel I'm sort of meditating, or mindfully observing. Sort of like a walking (floating) meditation. Lost part of the dream again.

Now I'm upstairs. I find myself with an attractive man and we come close to having sex but not quite.

I remember thinking (as I often do during longer LDs) that this is a long dream and I hope I don't forget parts of it, which I did. I woke up, went over the dream in my head and set my intention to LD again as I had another 1.5 hours to sleep.

I had a semi long dream about being in the country (on the ranch). I'm exploring the layout of a property with various houses and outhouses on it. I go into an octagon dome type house. Sort of a hippie house nestled in the tree. I notice lots of windows with gorgeous views of oak trees. There is a weird shoot type window in a tunnel. I think that that would be a good escape route in case of an emergency. I then go outside. I became lucid here. I see a cat I think is my deceased cat Reeses. I get excited to go see him. As I get closer I see it's a different, kind of ratty cat. I give it a few pets. I then remember my ongoing goal of tasting and smelling. I pick up some pine cones and branches and breathe deeply. I think I also tasted them. Nothing. I clearly see the colors and feel the texture but no taste or smell. I then look closer and see the branches are actually fake and crafted out of craft supplies. I can see the papers amd pins holding them together. They are very colorful. I'm not sure if I lost lucidity here or just don't remember the rest of the dream. I had 3 other dreams full of adventure and strong feeling as well. I think I may have had a few other moments of lucidity but can't be sure.

Nice set of LD's! Congrats!

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

(I often encounter dream characters sort of turning off, or looking away and not wanting to interact at different times. Sometimes when I ask the questions and sometimes if I'm sexually forward.)

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I hear you. You're comment made me take a step back and reflect on my DC interactions. I have a lot of experience with sexual encounters in lucid dreams and have progressed from my earlier experiences where I would win over the occasional hesitant DC's to the point now where my favorite method is to walk up to them either like "honey here I am, at exactly the moment you wanted me" or something more romantic like "finally we are together - the fevered moment we've both been waiting for!" I often say this sort of thing out loud.

Thinking about how easy this has become for me it made me take a step back and reflect on why I haven't fully utilized this same "technique" for DCs where I am just asking questions (no sexual intentions) and hoping to find some interesting answers or results. I have done it, but I realized that I often just ask the question without expecting whether they will be intelligent or not. I do believe that if you completely expect them to be intelligent (with the same strong expectation - knowing actually - that I expect from the female DC's...to be ready for sex), that they will almost always be intelligent sounding.

I've been trying to be more mindful in waking life. I think lucid dreaming is helping me appreciate the details of waking life more. I found myself having more moments of wonder just petting the cat, listening to music and closely examine flowers. If dreams are so amazing then waking life is pretty amazing (and mysterious too). We are just used to it. Had a long lucid last night.

I'm in bed then get up and go out to the back yard and become lucid. It's really realistic and I wonder if I'm having an OOBE. I walk around noting snow on the ground. I think to fly and find myself riding my dog up in the air over the neighborhood. My vision becomes blurry and dark for maybe 30 seconds, I spin to try to come out of it.
Now I'm flying solo flapping my arms trying to gain altitude. I remember the contest and try to remember my 3 step goals. I think it was to phase through something, telekinesis and to summon my dream guide( I was a little off on this). I started trying to move objects on the ground. At first I'm unable but after a few tries an object moves. Yahhh. Next I see big, looming, cold, metal buildings. I fly to one and try to pass through the wall. I hit it and it feels solid.
Now I'm inside one of these buildings. It's ominous, stark and empty. It's all grey metal. I float on the tall ceiling looking around. I remember reading something about how when having an OOBE (or lucid dream) one can change their thoughts and outlook and the surroundings will change. I wonder if I chant OM whether things will become less stark. I start chanting and other voices join in. It sounds beautiful.
Now I'm in a small basement sitting on the floor. I'm surrounded by colorful walls and shelves of objects. (Not sure what the objects were). I decide to really look closely at the objects memorizing what I see so I'll remember it really well. I note that the colors change as I stare at them. I stare at a chartreuse wall that becomes banana yellow. This feels really fun and fascinating. I remember reading about a person who would experiment with asking DCs what they saw and they would often report different surroundings. I want to ask a DC this but do not see anyone to ask. I go up some stairs and out a door into a green beautiful landscape with a dark night sky.
I come across a friend's husband and friends. I wonder if he is dreaming. I tell him to remember 10+10=20. I plan on asking him about it when awake. I follow them to a car and get in. We drive to a farm and when we pull up into the barn I see an old desk and joke that the kids could use it. For some reason everyone thinks this is hilarious.
At some point I did math in my head to increase lucidity. I started with 2+2=4 then 12+8=16...no..20. Apparently that one was a little challenging ha ha. I also rubbed my hands together. I was quite pleased I remembered to do these things. I also remembered the goal to look for a fellow dream contestant. The name Joe came into my head and I wandered around looking for him.
I was aware of waking up and had that sucking down a tunnel into my body sensation that I have had before.

Nice LD once again :)

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

I've been trying to be more mindful in waking life. I think lucid dreaming is helping me appreciate the details of waking life more. I found myself having more moments of wonder just petting the cat, listening to music and closely examine flowers. If dreams are so amazing then waking life is pretty amazing (and mysterious too). We are just used to it. Had a long lucid last night.

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This has absolutely been a side effect for me and one of the beautiful benefits of lucid dreaming. I find though, that I sometimes need to remind myself of this amazing waking life beauty. When I first started noticing it, it seemed to always flow to me naturally.

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Originally Posted by fogelbise

Nice LD once again :)

This has absolutely been a side effect for me and one of the beautiful benefits of lucid dreaming. I find though, that I sometimes need to remind myself of this amazing waking life beauty. When I first started noticing it, it seemed to always flow to me naturally.

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Absolutely! Tuning in to the present moment on a regular basis results in a much more enjoyable conscious life: whether waking or dreaming!

It's been a while since I checked in. I've had a couple of dry spells, good dream recall though. I've been doing WBTB but find myself pushing the snooze for an hour plus then not getting up for more than five minutes. When I get up and really focus on MILD I've had success.

So it's been 11 months since I had my first induced lucid dream and I've had 88 LDs since then. I've set my goal to have 100 LDs by June 26th (one year). It's a bit ambitious but maybe it will motivate me to get up out of bed and really focus.

You are doing extremely well! Having goals you're excited about can really help the process along... especially concrete goals of things you want to do in your lucid dreams. When I'm involved and actively working on the TOTMs, I have more and better LDs!

Thanks fryingman, I agree that having goals helps a lot. I wrote down some concrete goals I'm excited about and will put full effort in tonight.

I was having a dry spell, only a couple of lucid dreams in the last month. I read about it on here and took notes about different mindfulness and visualization techniques and re read about how to do the MILD process. I also forced myself to wake up more during WBTB and to spend 5-10 mins visualizing.

The added effort must have worked because I had 3 LDs in the last 3 days. 1 short, 1 med and one long one.

The first one I was laying in bed and heard my husband's voice talking to me. He's out of town so I knew I was dreaming. I then found myself in a scene making out with a stranger. This went on for about 5 minutes. I actually tried to wake up but couldn't. Now that was a first in a LD.

I then had a second long LD which was a DILD. I was helping an old lady into bed when her eyes became black holes and this prompted lucidity. I looked at another care giver in the room and she had gorgeous sparkly eyes and no hair. I decided to go explore. I was in my childhood home. I came to the garage and basement stairs where I sensed there were things I did not want to face or that felt dark. I decided to go outside and fly instead. I lifted up into the air and noticed it was very dark and blurry out. I asked out loud several times for there to be daylight. I saw a little light on the horizon like the beginning of dawn. It was then sort of dim light out. I went into a building to explore and came across two men. I found them unattractive so moved on. The house I was in was small and not very nice. I went up to the attic to fly through the wall. This was difficult but I must have made it because I was then flying through the air slowly making swimming motions with my arms. I thought "why don't I fly superman style?" I tried this but I just continued to float slowly through the air. I realized I was also bouncing colored balls from the air onto the ground and they were bouncing really high. I csme to a moat around a house and noticed the fine crystal clear details of the rocks and moss surrounding the water. I went into the water and My body felt really heavy. The water wad cold and the rocks felt sharp against my feet. I then woke up.

2 night later. At the end of a long dream I became lucid. I feel it's going to end so I start moving around quickly thinking motion will keep me in. I also remember my goal of looking for a gift that will give me a hint about how to have more lucid dreams. I start looking under bushes but don't find anything. I'm in a park like setting with lots of people milling around. I get down on the ground and feel the sharp scratchy bushes on my skin, it's slightly painful. I also notice that it is completely silent. Then I woke up.

A few things I found interesting about these dreams. The first one felt stark and sort of gloomy. I've felt this before and changed it to a beautiful scene (not intentionally) by chanting or surrendering to the highest. I wonder if this would have worked again. I'll put that into my goals for next time. It probably didn't help that I was reading about serial killers right before bed. I also experienced pain as well as complete silence in a LD for the first time that I can remember.

Well I'm really happy that the added effort seems to be paying off and I will keep it up. I'm in the process of writing up some new goals and I experiments.

Congratulations Azaleaj! I do the same thing when I notice I have had too many nights with no LDs. I mainly going over my own past notes and recommit to putting more time to my practices, realizing that I was slacking a little too much.

Great work once again!

I think I've had about 7 LDs since my last check in on June 14th. I had a dry spell, started putting in more effort with my MILD technique and really focusing on becoming lucid as I fall asleep and it worked. I've been experimenting with portals or trying to change scenes lately with only a small amount of success. I have not been able to find a new dream scene that I was wanting but have found rows of doors in hallways through an open door that was my portal. I've also tried to find a wrapped gift with answers to my questions without success. What I have had a little too much success with is finding sex partners. I think most of my LDs this last month have featured sex of some kind which is fun of course. My flying continues to be a sort of slow, pleasant floating with rage be dream where I had trouble maintaining altitude, a first for me in LDs but not in regular dreams. I had an interesting LD last night where I was floating along observing my imagination with limited visuals, almost hypnagogic type images/thoughts and I realized this is what might be happening when there are sections of my LDs missing from the middle of the dreams. I've also stopped worrying about waking up and this has allowed me to DILD a few times (I think). I love dreaming so much! I've started doing more drawings in my dream journal which is really fun. I need to really think about what I want to explore next (instead of JUST sex). I want to figure out how to visit previous dream scenes if that is even possible. I'd also like to meet the woman with the blonde bob again who was guide like and seemed wise.

2 LDs last night. Snoozed through my first WBTB alarm for over an hour. When I finally awoke I only had 2-3 hours left to sleep but did the MILD technique anyway.

The first one started out with blurry vision but I've come to realize that if you just move along it will clear up and it did. I started flying and landed near some family members on a hill. I saw a butterfly and my little brother as a kid. I remembered my goal of asking a DC or symbol what it represents. I asked the little boy and he smiled and said innocence. I tested out my senses including sound and smell. I could hear paper crunching beneath my feet and smelled something (not sure what). Long section of hanging out with some tech guys, then of trying to find a nice bedroom as I went through a series of doorways. They were all kind of run down until I finally found a nice one. I then examined some black mesh dresses, trying to choose one.

Next dream was triggered when I was at a beutiful park with some friends. One friend had me listen to her headphones to a band called Podesta. (When I woke up I read about Trump tweeting about Podesta) so I thought that was interesting. I then wondered if I had had enough coffee and looked up the hill and thought it would be a long walk to go back to the food area. Then I remembered I could fly and became lucid. I flew around with my friends doing all kinds of acrobatics and hangin upside down. I came upon two cans of bright red paint and stuck my hands in one covering my arms. It was so pretty with a smooth thick texture.

These were my 99 th and 100th LDs. I missed my goal of 100 LDs the first year by about 10 days. That dry spell I had last month set me back but it seems to have passed.

So I've been experimenting with portals, changing things in the dream, still trying to smell and hear, and asking things what they mean. I'll continue with these and try to really think about what I want to work on next.

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

These were my 99 th and 100th LDs. I missed my goal of 100 LDs the first year by about 10 days. That dry spell I had last month set me back but it seems to have passed.

So I've been experimenting with portals, changing things in the dream, still trying to smell and hear, and asking things what they mean. I'll continue with these and try to really think about what I want to work on next.

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Awesome! Congratulations on LD #100! I love milestones. They give you one more reason to recognize your progress and pat yourself on the back which can be added motivation to keep up the work of this journey.

Yes, keep up those experiments and do also identify something new to keep you striving for more. New goals can provide purpose for coming lucids which can heighten your waking memory and make you more aware during the lucids.

I am so happy for you! Your post made my evening!

Thanks for the comments fogelbise! I'm a little late responding. I'm keeping up my progress and have had 11 LDs since I last checked in. For a while I was having shorter LDs and was worried they would stay that way but they didn't. I've had 4-5 of the longest ones I've ever had. In the dreams I was trying to figure out how much time had passed and was worried I wouldn't remember everything. I estimate they were over 20 minutes. I no longer use techniques to try to prolong my LDs except occasionally looking at my hands to increase visual clarity.

Lately I've been focusing on trying to go places through portals, paying more attention to my senses and on experimenting with Robert Waggoner's technique of asking all mentally projected dream characters to disappear ( I just yell out to meet an conscious entity). I have no idea whether such a thing exists but I'm an agnostic and keep an open mind. I don't think humans know as much about reality as some like to pretend to know.

The portal exploration has not been too successful. I've opened doors intending to find a forest or ocean scene and found a hallway of doors inside with middle aged couples talking behind the doors as well as just empty closets. I did later find myself flying over a forest so maybe it sort of worked.

When talking to DCs I've been asking them if they have a memory of time before this dream or if they are independent of me. 3 DCs in a car answered my questions but I can't remember what they said. 2 nights ago I met a woman after calling out my request and asked her if she was dead. She she nodded yes. I asked her if it was better or worse than life on earth and she said better. I asked her if she would look after me in life and she said no. She was being polite answering my questions but was fairly disinterested in me. I'm going to stick with talking to DCs. I think they are one of the most fascinating parts of dreaming.


I'm still unable to gain speed while flying but have been playing with doing acrobatics, yoga, and floating upside down and it's so fun!

One thing I've noticed that gives me an incredible feeling is complimenting DCs and telling them I love them. Silly I know but it really creates a strong emotion.

Looking forward to making a big effort tonight.

Waking life= not meditating or exercising like I should be! I have been doing art and spending time in nature. I've had the goal of meditating more for forever! It's so hard to stick with.

great job Ace, 100 in the firt year awesome :-)
if you spend alot of time walking in nature, you could try a form of walking meditation , just be present in moment and focus on feeling of wind or on your feet and breathe etc

So awesome Azaleaj! Long LDs are an awesome achievement. Keep up the great work and experiments!

Time to check in I think. It's been a couple of months. I've been consistently having about two LDs a week. I keep trying to have another WILD but always just fall asleep. I've had maybe 4 total and really want to develop this skill but I just loose awareness and fall asleep. Lately I've been pretty good about facing scary things in my LDs. I don't dream of terrifying things, just sort of ominous or overwhelming. Last week I had a LD where I saw the vast, scary ocean so I forced myself to go sit on the edge waist deep holding onto a cement wall. I got a little more courageous and flew up over it. It then transformed into a pool in a house. I continue to practice my flying and mid air acrobatics which is so fun. I'm still not able to fly fast or smell much but I can taste food. On several occasions I've stuffed my face with endless cake and frosting. I've also had a few regular dreams about people being alcoholics or addicts and wonder if this relates to my overindulging in life or dreams. In several dreams I've flown up towards the sun and decided it was way too bright and I felt exposed. I feel the same way about the sun in waking life. I continue to ask the dream or DC questions. Sometimes I get an answer and sometimes I don't. I wonder why. I was just looking at Stephen a Leberge's workshop info and am tempted to sign up. I've wanted to do it for years now. I'm still trying to meditate more but still find this difficult. Maybe it would help with WILDS. Some of my current goals are meditating in a dream, asking to speak with non self DCs (who knows), asking what certain symbols mean, visiting a beach through spinning or a door, expressing gratitude to my subconscious or whatever is behind life for these amazing experiences.

It's great to hear that you are still going strong Azaleaj and having fun exploring you dreamworlds. Meditation should definitely help. I also don't do it enough though. I have also wanted to check out Laberge's workshop in beautiful Hawaii but not sure I'll get the chance with my wife's anti lucid dreaming stance. Nice goals for lucid activities as well. Keep in touch.

Oh no, wife's anti lucid dreaming stance! Thanks for your feedback. I tried my goal of going through a mirror last night and I ended up in a closet of old lady clothes that were also too tight. I was hoping for a gorgeous beach of seashells ha ha.

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

Oh no, wife's anti lucid dreaming stance! Thanks for your feedback. I tried my goal of going through a mirror last night and I ended up in a closet of old lady clothes that were also too tight. I was hoping for a gorgeous beach of seashells ha ha.

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Congrats on teleporting! For a specific scene it really helps to "know" what is on the other side of the mirror (or on the other side of any teleportation method). I have found success by imagining and then experiencing senses related to the scene…like before going through the mirror you can "already hear the gentle ocean waves" and "smell scent of the ocean." Especially getting your sense of sight into play at whichever point feels the most appropriate as in "ah yes I can see a seashell, and another and another" perhaps as you are passing through the mirror. Have you ever read the thread in the first link of my signature?..it's actually not just for newbies.

Yeah, her stance is unfortunate. At least I can talk to her about normal dreams and she will tell me some of the occasional dreams she remembers.

I’ts been a while since I’ve posted on here. I have not had a lucid dream in a while mostly due to laziness and fear of failure. I do still keep a daily dream journal and take a twice monthly dream interpretation class which is really enjoyable. I plan on getting back into my lucid dream practice and know it will take some effort. No work tomorrow so I’ll give it a go tonight. Hopefully posting on here will help hold me accountable and up my motivation a bit. I’m amazed to see a few of the same people on here still working diligently! That is admirable.

Tonight I’ll do a visualization and set my intention before bed. I’ll set a few goals of things I want to try. I’ll also do WBTB and use the MILD tecnique after about 5 hours of sleep. Wish me luck!

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Originally Posted by Azaleaj

Wish me luck!

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Good luck! It sounds like a good plan. Let me know if you need any help.

Hi,
I thought I would check in after a long time away. I think it is wonderful that you continue to run this thread Fogelbise. Can I ask you how much effort you have to put into your practice at this point? I see you have had almost 1,000 LDs since 2013. You must have a pretty high success rate! How do you stay motivated?

I find myself very motivated in the day but when I’m going to bed I feel ambiguous about what I want to work on which makes me less motivated. I took Robert Waggoner and Ed Kellogg’s lucid dream/lucid living online workshop and it was actually really good. I went from no LDs to 3 a week for the full month. I think all of the goals they had were quasi spiritual but based on actual experiences so appealed to me. I loved working with a group on one goal each week then reporting results. It was really interesting reading about the results others had as well.

One week we worked on healing in lucid dreams. I have been suffering from restless leg syndrome for about a year and it was causing me a lot of distress. I wanted to work on curing that. In a lucid dream I poured blue light and for some reason creamsicle light onto my legs. Later that night I dreamed I was taking too many blue pills. In the morning I looked at my vitamins and stopped taking Sam-E, an over the counter antidepressant I have taken for 6 years when I was depressed, I’m not any more. I have not had restless legs since that dream. I was very skeptical about the whole thing but I found that pretty impressive. We worked on some other things loosely based on Waggoner’s book.

Anyway, since class ended a couple of months ago I have only had one LD. I still try to do WBTB but often push my snooze button for hours or just do it briefly. There was something about having an organized agenda and doing it with others that I found motivating and inspiring. I will probably do the class again in the fall but I would love to find a way to work with others on similar goals in a group of some kind. Not sure how to go about that. I did inquire in the main LD thread about whether there would be any upcoming contests. I have found them helpful in the past.

I hope all is well and any advice would be appreciated as always.

Hi Azaleaj, so sorry I didn't see your post until now. I have not been checking in enough since my work got super busy. Your question is very timely as I am currently struggling with motivation to put time into LDing and WBTBs (has been my bread and butter) with how crazy busy I've been.

That class sounded very productive, especially with the LD frequency and healing! I'd love to hear more and will try to check in more frequently.