Thread: HypnosChthonius' Workbook

Hey there! I'm HypnosChthonius but I know that's not the catchiest name so you may call me Benjamin. I am a 16 years old student from Hamburg and I've been into lucid dreaming since I first heard about it on Youtube, which was about ten month ago. I began to read a lot about lucid dreaming and I tried various techniques. It took me another 2 month to come back, develop a good dream recall and experience my first lucid dream (it lasted 5 seconds cause I got too excited) by the meas of WILD.

I had my first two fully aware lucid dream sometime last fall. They happened on consecutive days and were pretty similar: Having too many things in mind to do in the dream, I was basically walking around in my apartment trying to figure out what I could do now since I was unable to fly, what had been my main goal.

Since that time I have only had a few short lucid dreams in which was not really aware.

Every lucid dream I've had until now was induced by a sudden realization that I was dreaming. In most cases without any specific trigger, just by some thought like "however, it is also possible that I'm in a dream".
However, I only have these realizations when I had recalled and written down several dreams per night the previous weeks cause remembering a lot of dream time makes it much easier to identify a dream.
The biggest problem I have is that my dream recall is very bad. I can train it and achieve up to 4 recalled dreams per night but if only one time I don't wake up before my alarm goes off, I don't remember anything. The night after that worst case scenario, I can recall a smaller amount of dreams than before it. Usually I will remember an even smaller amount of dreams the night after that and so on til it drops to 0 and I have to restart... A graph of my dream recall would look like a sine.

I do reality checks like every ten minutes in waking life but that has paid off only one time when doing a reality check made me realize I was dreaming and experience the dream more clearly but it did not make me conscious in any way. Once, I even did 3 different reality checks in a dream because I was suspicious but all of them indicated that I was awake.
My RCs (I do both consecutively): Counting my fingers and judging whether my hand looks normal
Closing one eye and looking at my nose

My goals:

Experiencing lucid dreams more frequently. (targeting once per week at the end of the first half of 2017) By:
Greatly increasing my dream recall. (targeting constantly two per night at the end of this month)
Making reality checks appear in my dreams more often and make them work more reliably. (noticeable increase at the end for the first half of the year)

Achieving greater awareness and dream control. (noticeable increase at the time when I've had 15 lucid dreams (have had 7 as of now))


Any encouragement and help with achieving my goals is most appreciated!

Welcome to the DILD workbooks Benjamin! You are in the enviable position of being able to have a whole lifetime of great dream experiences ahead of you!

Originally Posted by HypnosChthonius

I had my first two fully aware lucid dream sometime last fall. They happened on consecutive days and were pretty similar: Having too many things in mind to do in the dream, I was basically walking around in my apartment trying to figure out what I could do now since I was unable to fly, what had been my main goal.

You could use a numbered peg system to not only remember your goals but to prioritize them. If the #1 goal doesn't pan out and you want to move on, then you can quickly remember what priority #2 is (peg #2). By using it as a priority system you may have to be a little more inventive with the way you connect the peg to the goal, perhaps using a brief funny saying. Let me know if you don't find any information on how number memory pegs work.

Also on the subject of flying or any dream control, I think this is valuable to read and take to heart: http://www.dreamviews.com/general-lu...-read-imo.html

Every lucid dream I've had until now was induced by a sudden realization that I was dreaming. In most cases without any specific trigger, just by some thought like "however, it is also possible that I'm in a dream".

I believe you can thank a quick, possibly fleeting, period of awareness for these situations. Various practices can account for awareness boosts, however short, including: the dream journaling you mentioned, day practices, & night practices (especially WBTB).

The biggest problem I have is that my dream recall is very bad. I can train it and achieve up to 4 recalled dreams per night but if only one time I don't wake up before my alarm goes off, I don't remember anything. The night after that worst case scenario, I can recall a smaller amount of dreams than before it. Usually I will remember an even smaller amount of dreams the night after that and so on til it drops to 0 and I have to restart... A graph of my dream recall would look like a sine.

Do you mean that training can get you to 4 recalled dreams but then you stop training? If so, it can take a while for dream recall to be more automatic and consistent. For the alarm issue you can try a phone app alarm (like Alarm Clock Xtreme for Android) featuring a gentle alarm and auto snooze, perhaps auto snoozing once before the time you really need to get up (the next alarm after the auto-snooze you might decide to set so that it requires you to turn it off physically, having already had the snooze time to recall your dreams before getting up and moving). See also FryingMan's dream recall tips in this post: http://www.dreamviews.com/lucid-chal...ml#post2144901

I do reality checks like every ten minutes in waking life but that has paid off only one time when doing a reality check made me realize I was dreaming and experience the dream more clearly but it did not make me conscious in any way.

It seems that the real value in RC's is really pausing your day, heightening your awareness in that moment (and eventually beyond that moment), and really considering that any moment could be a dream.

Once, I even did 3 different reality checks in a dream because I was suspicious but all of them indicated that I was awake.
My RCs (I do both consecutively): Counting my fingers and judging whether my hand looks normal
Closing one eye and looking at my nose

It's great to have multiple RC's like this, but it is even more important to really pause when you are doing them. Let us know if you have questions.

My goals:

I am confident that you can achieve all of these goals with the right effort and I look forward to working with you towards these goals!

Thank you for your answer! I am glad I can get your help.

Originally Posted by fogelbise

You could use a numbered peg system to not only remember your goals but to prioritize them.

I made a peg system with my top 4 activities. I hope that I will remember I've made it when being lucid the next time.

Originally Posted by fogelbise

Also on the subject of flying or any dream control, I think this is valuable to read and take to heart: Something Every Newbie Should Read IMO

I read the linked post about what you wrote about expectations. I had heard about that before but I've always found it difficult to really convince my subconsciousness of something I do not really know (e.g. that flying in dreams is easy when I have never done it before). Any tips with that?

Originally Posted by fogelbise

Do you mean that training can get you to 4 recalled dreams but then you stop training? If so, it can take a while for dream recall to be more automatic and consistent. For the alarm issue you can try a phone app alarm (like Alarm Clock Xtreme for Android) featuring a gentle alarm and auto snooze, perhaps auto snoozing once before the time you really need to get up (the next alarm after the auto-snooze you might decide to set so that it requires you to turn it off physically, having already had the snooze time to recall your dreams before getting up and moving). See also FryingMan's dream recall tips in this post: Sensei's Super Competition of Absolute Awesomeness!

Of course do I not stop training after achieving 4 recalled dreams. It was just the maximum I was able to achieve in the past. I am trying to advance further and recall more dreams per night.
I use Alarm Clock Extreme but it pretty difficult to set up the perfect alarm. Setting it too gentle made me get used to it and not wake up after a few days. Setting a too loud made me loose dream recall. But I will try finding the optimal setting again, I did probably just give up too early.

Originally Posted by fogelbise

It seems that the real value in RC's is really pausing your day, heightening your awareness in that moment (and eventually beyond that moment), and really considering that any moment could be a dream.

So I adjusted my reality check habits according to your answer. Now I consider reality a dream several times a day and try to find prove for that (and eventually destroy that prove by doing 2 reality checks). I hope that this is better for awareness than what I used to do.


I think I am gonna provide daily updates whenever that is possible.

Yesterday I was unable to remember any dreams due to a wakeup which was not very gentle.
Today I was able to recall 4 dream fragments, all of them being shorter than one minute but it is still much better than my average. I dreamed about some issues which appeared during the last week and about hiking, which is something I usually never do.

Originally Posted by HypnosChthonius

I made a peg system with my top 4 activities. I hope that I will remember I've made it when being lucid the next time.

Several times a day, perhaps during some of your RCs, you can imagine that you are dreaming right that moment and remind yourself about your pegs and imagine doing one of your pegs. This improves the chances that you will think of your pegs when you are lucid.

I read the linked post about what you wrote about expectations. I had heard about that before but I've always found it difficult to really convince my subconsciousness of something I do not really know (e.g. that flying in dreams is easy when I have never done it before). Any tips with that?

Have you done anything in a lucid dream or regular dream that you can't perform IWL? We can talk more on this based on you answer, but for now realizing that this is all your dream and vaguely considering that your sleeping body is peacefully resting (somewhere back there in bed…I don't recommend thinking about your sleeping body too much). Letting it sink in that this is entirely a dream not only boosts your lucidity but reminds you that you can do almost anything that you want.

So I adjusted my reality check habits according to your answer. Now I consider reality a dream several times a day and try to find prove for that (and eventually destroy that prove by doing 2 reality checks). I hope that this is better for awareness than what I used to do.

I don't recommend to "destroy" the proof that are dreaming. After doing a few RCs that indicate you are awake you can keep a suspicious attitude and say to yourself "The next time I am dreaming (do an RC again), I realize I'm dreaming." (or similar)

I think I am gonna provide daily updates whenever that is possible.

Excellent!

Originally Posted by fogelbise

Several times a day, perhaps during some of your RCs, you can imagine that you are dreaming right that moment and remind yourself about your pegs and imagine doing one of your pegs. This improves the chances that you will think of your pegs when you are lucid.


I don't recommend to "destroy" the proof that are dreaming. After doing a few RCs that indicate you are awake you can keep a suspicious attitude and say to yourself "The next time I am dreaming (do an RC again), I realize I'm dreaming." (or similar)

Thanks for these suggestions, I will implement them.

Originally Posted by fogelbise

Have you done anything in a lucid dream or regular dream that you can't perform IWL? We can talk more on this based on you answer, but for now realizing that this is all your dream and vaguely considering that your sleeping body is peacefully resting (somewhere back there in bed…I don't recommend thinking about your sleeping body too much). Letting it sink in that this is entirely a dream not only boosts your lucidity but reminds you that you can do almost anything that you want.

I as far as I can remember/skim my DJ entries, I've never done anything that is impossible IWL. In non-lucids, I've done some things I can't really do like flying a helicopter or being in an ancient city but nothing that is against the laws of physics.

I will try recalling that everything is possible the next time I am in a lucid dream. I think I should add this to my peg system as n° 0.


-


Today I was able to recall two fragments. One of them was around 2 mins in length, the other one is very short: a false awakening and the thought that it's a pity that I can't write down a previous dream because of a lack of spare time (inside the dream).

4 fragments today. 3 of them are linked to each other and probably part of the same dream.
First is me finding that the sky is more gorgeous than ever this evening while traveling home by tram. I think I should come back after being at home and that I must under no circumstances forget this.
Second is my driving with a fundamentally different tram and I am not in my home town any longer. Around me there are Hindus praying. Finally the tram stops and I have to pass a passport control which makes me panic until I realize that I have my passport with me.
3: I lay in my bed realizing that I have not come back to see the sky. I am disappointed but can console myself with the fact that I have seen a new country.

4: I am attending chemistry classes when some students start upsetting the teacher on purpose by playing loud music. I want to help them because I do not really like chemistry.


I checked out some of the other workbooks and noticed that most people write down each of their dreams here. Of course it is probably a good way to recall them before going to bed but for me it is a lot of work to translate every single dream I have and in the end probably not more than a single person will read them. Therefor, I am unsure what I will do. I will probably just put the most important parts of the plots and only full versions of lucid dreams here.

Originally Posted by HypnosChthonius

I as far as I can remember/skim my DJ entries, I've never done anything that is impossible IWL. In non-lucids, I've done some things I can't really do like flying a helicopter or being in an ancient city but nothing that is against the laws of physics.

With that in mind, you might want to start with some dream controls that seem easier - like jumping high or far...you may find yourself bouncing around like a man on the moon. Another idea is reminding yourself that the laws of physics don't apply by doing an RC that proves it, such as breathing through a plugged nose…which feels incredible by the way! I like floating and I find it easy to simulate floating IWL, especially indoors or with anything close by and above you. You basically lift yourself up on your toes while looking up at the ceiling or something else…it simulates the feeling of floating a little bit - while awake.

There is nothing wrong with exploring the dreamscape on foot, it can be a blast too. I did that last night by the way. After initially floating I decided to land and walk around exploring the busy office building I was in that later turned into a mall.

Originally Posted by HypnosChthonius

I checked out some of the other workbooks and noticed that most people write down each of their dreams here. Of course it is probably a good way to recall them before going to bed but for me it is a lot of work to translate every single dream I have and in the end probably not more than a single person will read them. Therefor, I am unsure what I will do. I will probably just put the most important parts of the plots and only full versions of lucid dreams here.

No need to at all. Feel free to list any dream elements that stood out to you and things that you are trying during the day and night towards lucid dreaming, but no need to translate all of your dreams for the workbook. You might mention times when you found yourself questioning something in a dream even if you didn't become lucid.

Dream recall is one of those things that we're never "done" with training. We dream so much every night, yet remember only a fraction most of the time. That constant reaching for dream memories at wakings, spending as much time as you can afford on it, really helps to develop the ability. I wrote a lot more about developing dream recall, check the link in my signature.

Originally Posted by FryingMan

Dream recall is one of those things that we're never "done" with training. We dream so much every night, yet remember only a fraction most of the time. That constant reaching for dream memories at wakings, spending as much time as you can afford on it, really helps to develop the ability. I wrote a lot more about developing dream recall, check the link in my signature.

Yeah, I have to improve a lot in recalling my dreams. Thanks for the links, will definitely check them out.

Originally Posted by fogelbise

With that in mind, you might want to start with some dream controls that seem easier - like jumping high or far...you may find yourself bouncing around like a man on the moon. Another idea is reminding yourself that the laws of physics don't apply by doing an RC that proves it, such as breathing through a plugged nose…which feels incredible by the way! I like floating and I find it easy to simulate floating IWL, especially indoors or with anything close by and above you. You basically lift yourself up on your toes while looking up at the ceiling or something else…it simulates the feeling of floating a little bit - while awake.

Ok, I will try to get there step by step as you suggest when I have my next lucid. I am confident that will work.
As for the nose RC, I did it once in a dream. For me it was not really like breathing through my fingers but more like I was unable to completely plug my nose no matter how hard I tried. There was always some leakage. It is like my brain always wants to find an excuse for the things that don’t behave like IWL.

Originally Posted by fogelbise

No need to at all. Feel free to list any dream elements that stood out to you and things that you are trying during the day and night towards lucid dreaming, but no need to translate all of your dreams for the workbook. You might mention times when you found yourself questioning something in a dream even if you didn't become lucid.

I will put the things I regularly do during daytime into my signature and notify you here when I start doing something new or stop doing something. Apart from that I will only put extraordinary experiences or actions, questions I have and my dream recall stats into the workbook.



Yesterday, I recalled 2 dreams, none of them special.
Yesterday evening I forgot about time and went to bed to late… No dream recall today due to lack of sleep... I will try to not let that happen again as it a setback for my efforts to enhance dream recall.

Getting enough sleep is important for good health of mind and body. Not to mention getting solid dreaming time in! A properly early bedtime is important, and something I've struggled with for years. I began preparing for bed yesterday somewhere around 10-10:30pm and made it into bed by 11:30pm. I had a fairly long night of vivid dreams including a short LD! So getting to bed early is well worth it!

(Despite getting a normal amount of sleep) no recall yesterday and only one very tiny fragment, which popped into my mind during the day, today…
Not very satisfied with that. I will try to get even more sleep to boost my chances.

Originally Posted by HypnosChthonius

Ok, I will try to get there step by step as you suggest when I have my next lucid. I am confident that will work.
As for the nose RC, I did it once in a dream. For me it was not really like breathing through my fingers but more like I was unable to completely plug my nose no matter how hard I tried. There was always some leakage. It is like my brain always wants to find an excuse for the things that don’t behave like IWL.

I would suggest to have the mindset that it will show that you are dreaming, both when practicing during the day and especially in a dream. If you assume that you are awake when doing RCs while awake, you are much more likely to assume that you are awake and rationalize away any RC that shows that you are dreaming during a dream. Try the mindset that "any moment could be a dream." After all, most people never suspect all of the crazy things that happen in dreamland…they are dreaming and completely unaware that they dreaming…so why can't you be dreaming right this moment (RC RC).

If you are already doing this, then we just need to raise awareness.

Originally Posted by HypnosChthonius

(Despite getting a normal amount of sleep) no recall yesterday and only one very tiny fragment, which popped into my mind during the day, today…
Not very satisfied with that. I will try to get even more sleep to boost my chances.

This can happen on occasion to even those who are the best at recall, but as you suggested you are looking at good things to boost your chances.

Originally Posted by fogelbise

I would suggest to have the mindset that it will show that you are dreaming, both when practicing during the day and especially in a dream. If you assume that you are awake when doing RCs while awake, you are much more likely to assume that you are awake and rationalize away any RC that shows that you are dreaming during a dream. Try the mindset that "any moment could be a dream." After all, most people never suspect all of the crazy things that happen in dreamland…they are dreaming and completely unaware that they dreaming…so why can't you be dreaming right this moment (RC RC).

If you are already doing this, then we just need to raise awareness.

I do my RCs somewhat like that, with a neutral mindset and without any (intensional) assumption regarding the outcome. Although when doing multiple RCs (I usually look around and trying to explain where I am, what I am doing and why and after that I do a RC) it is hard to not already have a clue whether I am dreaming or not at the time I do the RC. But I try to suppress that clue until I have a real outcome.




Last night was a fantastic night for me
I had a very vivid and emotional dream after which I woke up and another very long and vivid dream.
Furthermore, I had the lucidest dream I have ever had yet. I was at a table outside a restaurant with my mother. Before we wanted to leave and take to the tram, I realized that we were moving despite not having left the table. I asked her why and she was unable to answer, so I looked at my hand and saw that I had odd-looking fingers and that there were too many of them. Being pretty aware now, I recalled that in this dream, I was able to do anything I want. Therefore, I try to stick my finger through my nose, which I can’t. I try to walk through the window of the tram we are inside now which I can’t. I remember what I wanted to do with my finger and my nose and plugged my nose to do something that is guaranteed to work within a dream. It was a weird feeling to breathe through my fingers, I was able to clearly feel my breath and remember that my waking body was lying in my bed. I looked around, people were staring at me because I was still standing on a seat in front of a window. I thought about what time and date it was and something wrong popped into my mind, which I realized but I also realized that it could be any time I want it to be. I wake up.

There wasn’t any sign that the dream was about to end, it just happened in an instant. Maybe a thought too much about the real world…
I did remind myself that I could do anything I want in a dream and tried it out but then forgot to do the other pegs I have. Probably because I did not often enough remind myself about my peg list IWL.

Congratulations HC! 2 vivid dreams and then a lucid dream! Must have been a lovely night…the kind that remind us of the value of the effort that we put into this hobby.

No dreams yesterday and only one petty (5 seconds, very blurry) fragment, which I remembered coincidentally when I saw an object from the dream, today. Although I slept an extra hour today. I really don’t understand why my dream recall is so inconstant...

Try not to feel bad. Low/no recall nights can happen to the best of them. I recalled very little last night. We just strive to do better next time and with some effort recall does become more consistent with the low/no recall nights becoming more seldom.

Had 2 dreams each yestday and 2 today. One of them was very long and vivid, probably longer that 10 minutes. Many very strange things happened in this dream but they seemed just like normal to me.

No dreams yesterday and the day before yesterday but two today. One of them pretty long and vivid.

I've just decided to add practicing all day awayness to my daytime habits since it has always been petty details of the dream world which made me gain lucidity. I think I am gonna start off with the Object-Orientated ADA described in this post.

That's a good thread -- mindfulness is my preferred approach, I believe it is far preferable to ADA: yes the environment is important, but you must maintain your self-awareness and reflection together above all if you want to get lucid. If you get too deep into observing the environment, it's easy to forget yourself and your goals of being lucid.

Object-oriented awareness (or ADA/RC, continuous RC, it has different names) is definitely a viable approach for some. Just be warned that it can take a while (a month, 2, 3, ...) to really kick in. It is my belief that it works on the basis of incubation: we tend to dream about what we spend a lot of time thinking about during the day.

Had 5 dreams during the last 3 days...

At the moment, mindfuless feels just like an other kind of RC, done more frequently. I still ain't mindfull 99% of the time I am awake. Progress is darn slow and even the 1%-of-time mindfulness takes a lot of effort. However, I still think it will be an awesome method as soon as I am better at it and I will keep on practicing.

Keep it up! Mindfulness is its own reward. It takes time to make progress against the tide of our lifetime of practice of mindlessness (distraction, forgetfulness). Simply noticing and acknowledging your moments of mindlessness is a beginning. And remember: slow progress *is* progress!

I recommend checking the LD bibliography I posted as a sticky in the DILD class forum. There are some excellent resources on mindfulness there. Mindfulness is more a relaxation than a focus. It's a relaxation of mind that lets go the incessant inner chatter that forms the personal fiction of our lives that we build about ourselves and tell ourselves. It masks the truth of the present moment. Mindfulness is our natural state, it's just that we build walls around it obscuring it. Let go the distraction, release it, and see the present moment as it really is.

Of course will I keep it up. I do progress but I decided to only be aware of gravity to reduce the effort it takes und thereby make it easier to maintain the mindfulness for longer times.
No real progress with dream recall. My dream recall was at 0 on five days of the last week after it had been at a high (5 dreams in one night) on monday.

2 days ago, while dreaming, I realized that the environment looked odd. I thought this could be a dream but since I had already done a RC (that's what I was thinking; in fact, I had probably not), I decided that this was real and did not become lucid.

Last night was better, I did become lucid when I looked out of the window and saw Santa Claus (what the hell brain, it's April?!) flying by. I look around and think about what I should do. Strengthening awareness seems reasonably, so I recall that I am dreaming. I start feeling excitement but can suppress it but when it comes back, it's just too strong. The lucid dream ends like all my lucids do: In an instant, a feeling of sleepiness arrives, my eyes close, I feel sleep paralysis end and my body laying in my bed.

In an other dream tonight, I used being in a LD as an explanation for my ability to teleport although not being lucid.

Originally Posted by HypnosChthonius

2 days ago, while dreaming, I realized that the environment looked odd. I thought this could be a dream but since I had already done a RC (that's what I was thinking; in fact, I had probably not), I decided that this was real and did not become lucid.

That's a little twist on ignoring RC results…hmm…I still think that the standard solutions would apply for these kinds of situations and can be a sort of catch all method to eliminate, or at least vastly reduce, these sorts of things. I recommend always doing your RC 2 or 3 times, but even more importantly, completely stop what you are doing/pause/take a breather/ and do it mindfully. Think about why you are doing it and maybe ask how you got to where you are (or where was I 10 minutes before, does anything look out of the ordinary, etc…those kinds of questions). I change it up periodically and I am currently doing something I've played with in the past which is "looking for the dream"…usually you can notice something in your environment that you haven't really thought about or noticed before IWL and it can give you a little more pause in considering how sure you are whether you are dreaming right now!

Last night was better, I did become lucid when I looked out of the window and saw Santa Claus (what the hell brain, it's April?!) flying by.

Congrats! I think dreams like the night before this one indicate being close and are often followed by lucid dreams a day or 2 afterwards.

The lucid dream ends like all my lucids do: In an instant, a feeling of sleepiness arrives, my eyes close, I feel sleep paralysis end and my body laying in my bed.

I believe you need to start expecting a different result or looking for a different way to handle these situations. The most common one is DEILD where you hold still and wait for the dream to reform, but do a motionless RC first - you could be in a false awakening. Another is expecting to be in a void from which you can wait for a dream to form and you will start noticing yourself landing in the void more instead of waking. Yet another is what I have been referring to as pre-DEILD and I discuss it further into the thread that is the first link in my signature where I talk about learning something from Sageous.

In an other dream tonight, I used being in a LD as an explanation for my ability to teleport although not being lucid.

Raising awareness IWL will help to raise awareness in situations like these.

This feels to me like it happened years ago... but it's only been 11 month...

I did not forget about lucid dreaming – in fact I tried again during every vacation, only to loose any progress made afterwards – but this time is different: I'm done with school and therefore I will finally be able to sleep in almost every day for at least the next half year – And I am determined to become proficient at lucid dreaming in that time.

In December, I was able to induce some awesome lucid dreams (vivid, knowing that I’m dreaming and remembering that I want to fly and that it’s possible and actually flying) by the means of autosuggestion – I told myself that by the end of the year, I would have regular lucid dreams and that’s exactly what happened. Unfortunately they ceased to come in 2018.

But at least this proved the intriguing potential which lies in auto-suggestion and therefore I’ve started to do it daily, assuring myself that I will have regular LDs starting during the Easter holidays and continuing indefinitely.

Of course I am still doing RCs (Hand RC) combined with awareness of my current situation and my past and future.
As of now, I am able to recall one dream every morning on average.
I meditate daily to increase awareness.

And now I’ll also start to document my progress and work determinedly towards mastery of LDing.


btw, I’m really sorry for just disappearing without saying a word… not gonna happen again, will post at least once per week but try to do it more often, whenever I try out something new or something remarkable happens.