Thread: HansiElneff's Workbook

Hello Hans, and welcome to the DILD class! It sounds like you're off to a good (re-)start, I'm sure you'll be having lucid dreams soon!

Consistency is key to making steady progress. Try to find some way to really enjoy doing daytime awareness, RCs, and all the exercises LaBerge recommends in ETOLD's first 3 chapters (focusing on DILD) (PM exercises and reflection/intention moments, specifically).

I also like to go deep on the theory and sometimes find myself shorting the practicals -- it is good you recognize this! Lucid dreaming is all about the *doing* -- daytime awareness, night-time meditation and mantras, WBTB, MILD, recalling dreams. The more you do, the better you get at it!

Being excited about recalling dreams really helps -- I have several links to articles in my signature, I recommend reading through them, especially the dream recall tips.

We would be delighted to help you reach your goals! Can you list some of the goals you have? Having concrete goals (like "flying to the moon") or "summoning a lightsaber and using it" you're really excited about I find increases the chances of lucidity dramatically. You may want to also check out the dreamviews Task Of the Month club where every month there tasks to perform while lucid -- and doing them earns you pretty wings that show up with your username that last for the rest of the month! There are also Taks of the Year tasks, and sometimes LDing competitions. Participating in these helps to build and maintain motivation!

Avoiding stress definitely helps! Instead try to focus on how much you enjoy all your dreams, especially the non-lucid ones, because we have so many of them every night "for free!"

Thanks a lot for your quick reply, FryingMan!

I will read through the materials you recommended and try to develop a 'routine' for me to follow consistently
But first, I will be focusing on developing a better sleep schedule.
My summer vacation just started a few weeks ago, so I've been going to bed way to late.
I had trouble falling asleep last night and thus I didn't manage to recall anything in the morning.
I'm going to progressively attempt to get to bed earlier. My final goal is to be in bed from 00:00 to 9:00.

Also, some of my goals!

Out-of-dream:
- Have a lucid dream
- Record 10 full dreams

In-dream:
- Have a conversation with a DC while lucid
- Flying on the back of a dragon
- Finding and using a magic spell book

I walked 5 kilometers today to get exhausted, so that I could get to bed earlier than yesterday.
Yesterday, I slept from 4:00 to 15:00 (I know, horrible schedule)
Today I went to bed at 22:30 and woke up at 1:10.
Now, after 2 hours of not being able to fall asleep again, I'm here writing this.

Some good news though! I was able to recall a dream fragment after waking up at 1:10.
Tomorrow I will go to bed between 22:30 and 00:00 and get up 9 hours after going to bed (so I also have time to fall asleep)

Edit:
I don't know when it happened, but I fell asleep again and woke up at 12:52.
This time I was able to recall a short dream.

Welcome Hans! It looks like you are off to a good start in getting back to this great hobby/lifestyle/noun of your choice...and I look forward to seeing your progress. Reading about your 5km walk reminded me to mention that I find that there are a good number of things about lucid dreaming practices that are beneficial to other aspects of life. Even though that walk may have only been loosely related to lucid dreaming practices, such walks are great time to practice awareness and of course have the added physical and mental benefits as well. Look for fun in your practices and you will be able to maintain them easier.

I definitely agree with working on your sleep schedule. It may be a gradual process. It was for me.

Your goals also look good. Let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks a lot for your reply, fogelbise
Now that you mention it, I do have some questions.
I will state them in my next comment, where I will present my daily LD routine.

Once again I had trouble falling asleep, and didn't recall anything this night. Although, I did manage to get up at 9:00, so hopefully I should see some results soon enough!

Besides struggling to get a good sleep schedule going, I've also been developing a routine for me to follow.
I will write out my routine below and include any questions I might have:

Throughout the day:
- Perform RC's regularly
How do you guys manage to incorporate RC's into your daily life?
I usually only remember to do it 5-10 times a day.

- Focus on being aware of myself
To be honest, I haven't really done this at all. I'm not really sure what to do :s

- Be excited to go on amazing adventures!
This I can do!

Right before sleep:
- Recall my day
- Repeat mantra - "You're dreaming"

Throughout the night:
- Try to catch my brief awakenings
- Write notes about anything I recall

In the morning:
- Concentrate on recalling
- Record ANYTHING I remember
- Record any notes written at night
- Check for false awakening
I usually first remember to check for FA 15-30 minutes after waking up, but I'm sure it'll improve with time.

Originally Posted by HansiElneff

Although, I did manage to get up at 9:00, so hopefully I should see some results soon enough!

That seems like a good sign that you are on the right track. It does take time to reset your sleep schedule.

- Perform RC's regularly
How do you guys manage to incorporate RC's into your daily life?
I usually only remember to do it 5-10 times a day.

You can use a number of different ways to remember to do RCs, but 5-10 times a day is fine as long as you really stop and consider why you are doing the RC: Because ANY moment could turn out to be a dream!

- Focus on being aware of myself
To be honest, I haven't really done this at all. I'm not really sure what to do :s

I find the most effective way to practice self awareness to be Sageous' RRC, but it takes quite some time to sink in. I did it on "faith" until it started producing results. Whenever I stopped doing it my lucids became lower quality. His post here describes the process very nicely even though he doesn't call it RRC in this post - http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...ml#post2193957

- Check for false awakening
I usually first remember to check for FA 15-30 minutes after waking up, but I'm sure it'll improve with time.

That's great that you are remembering it, even though it is later. Yes I believe if you keep it up you will remember to do it right at "wakings" and will start catching some FAs!

And your other practices look good.

Thanks for the answers!
I will look a bit more into RCing and read the post from Sageous about self-awareness (I love every single post of his, that I've read so far)

I got to bed at 00:20 yesterday, fell asleep relatively easy and then woke up at 9:00.
Slowly getting there!

Originally Posted by HansiElneff

Besides struggling to get a good sleep schedule going, I've also been developing a routine for me to follow.
I will write out my routine below and include any questions I might have:

Keeping to a routine (but not feeling "routine" about it -- that is, doing it with awareness, not just out of habit) can be very effective!

Throughout the day:
- Perform RC's regularly
How do you guys manage to incorporate RC's into your daily life?
I usually only remember to do it 5-10 times a day.

As fogelbise said, it's more about quality than quantity. Of course, the more RCs (or even better: reflection/intention moments like in ETWOLD, with RCs) you do with attention, the better.
It's a gradual process -- the more experienced you get, the more moments you will recognize, and the more you'll just "feel" like it's "time to do an RC." You can even use an alarm app in the beginning to get started, but it's better to develop your own internal alarm.

- Focus on being aware of myself
To be honest, I haven't really done this at all. I'm not really sure what to do :s

The sticky bibliography post in this DILD section has references to excellent books on mindfulness & dream yoga, which have a lot of information about self-awareness. In short, strive to notice the times where your awareness has gone ("autopilot", "zombie mode", mindlessness), and bring back your awareness to yourself, like paying attention to your breathing. Every time you catch yourself like this is a moment of lucidity! The more you do it, the more you'll notice it. It's a gradual, slow process, but once you start you'll find yourself having this lucid moments more and more.

- Be excited to go on amazing adventures!
This I can do!

This is very powerful and effective in promoting LDs!

Right before sleep:
- Recall my day
- Repeat mantra - "You're dreaming"

Good! I might suggest a slight change: "I'm dreaming" is better IMO, as the focus is on yourself.

Throughout the night:
- Try to catch my brief awakenings
- Write notes about anything I recall

In the morning:
- Concentrate on recalling
- Record ANYTHING I remember
- Record any notes written at night
- Check for false awakening
I usually first remember to check for FA 15-30 minutes after waking up, but I'm sure it'll improve with time.

This is a great start! Consistency is key, just keep doing what you're doing. Feel free to change up the practice slightly so that it always feels "fresh" and interesting to you. If you enjoy the practice, you'll do it more and more consistently!

Thanks for the help! I might look into some of those books.
I went to bed around 2:30 yesterday :/ I'm with some friends I don't see very often till Tuesday, so my sleep schedule will probably suffer a bit. Although, I did manage to recall 2 dreams! I will make sure to keep up with my routine even though I can't focus on my sleep schedule.

I'm beginning to remember 2-3 dreams per night.
Of course, this is excellent news, but I'm also starting to worry a bit.
I know I will see it as a chore and get burned out quickly, if I have to fully record 2-3 long dreams in detail.
So, any ideas for how I could decrease the amount of writing while still maintaining good recall?

Originally Posted by HansiElneff

I'm beginning to remember 2-3 dreams per night.
Of course, this is excellent news, but I'm also starting to worry a bit.
I know I will see it as a chore and get burned out quickly, if I have to fully record 2-3 long dreams in detail.
So, any ideas for how I could decrease the amount of writing while still maintaining good recall?

Write as much as you feel you want to. Maybe a bit more . It's like playing scales when practicing the piano -- maybe not the most fun thing to do, but you know it's helping you a lot to get better. It takes discipline and effort to improve at worthwhile skills, sometimes you just need to do what you know you need to do whether or not you want to. Try to find ways to make it more enjoyable.

You don't have to record every dream, perhaps pick your favorite scene from the night and just describe that one in full detail. It's much more important to reach for the memories in detail during your recall (as this forms the basis of what you'd write in your DJ).

So work on transforming your outlook from it being a chore to helping to boost your dreaming skills .

Alright, I'll take what I feel I can manage and write it in as much detail as possible. Thanks for the advice

Sorry for being a bit in-active! Some things came up and then I've also been busy with homework. I'm not doing much LD related word at the time being, but I still try to remember my dreams, although I only make mental notes. I will get back to it as soon as I get less busy!

Okay. Try to keep up at least the recall and as the busy period slows down add some practices back in…so that you don't stop all together.

Hope to see you back around and advancing in lucid dreaming and living

I'm working on a very large and important essay for school at the moment, while I'm also on vacation.
Thus, I'm not able to find much time to practice, but I'm going home at the 8th of August, so I should be able to get back to it relatively soon!