Sorry if I sound rude in this post, I got no sleep last night, and yet I went to bed a good 8+ hours before I had to get up... I'm frustrated.

First off, used to lucid dream all the time, but lost it in my 20's. So I'm familiar with it, but not inducing it. Also, my Dream Recall has sucked.

So I started a Dream Journal/Blog, I found many suggestions thru Google, found Dream Views, and the dreams were coming, but they were a hazy mess. Made a soothing music playlist. That never annoyed me, but I would occasionally wake up and turn them off. Found binaural beats, used them for a while (one great experience with them and a 30 minute suggestion audio clip, put me into a relaxed state while I was suffering from a severe headache, and when it was over, I felt better).

But I switch sleeping positions and lay on my side, and a stereophonic experience is impossible unless you're on your back. Soon, I *GOT* headaches from these beats/headphones.

Meanwhile, the Apples/Apple Juice before bed, mixed with writing my DAY'S events into a journal just before sleep, seemed to be helping me remember my dreams. I had a muddy lucid dream, just swirling through the blackness, aware I was dreaming. Then a few days later I had a false awakening that I Reality Checked into realizing was a dream, so I was Lucid... but trapped in my dream bed's comforter and woke up when I struggled to get out.

I've been doing this since about January 1st.

I made my own Isochronic Tones, had them ramp down from a relaxed state, to dead asleep, and looped it so it might bring me back to "lucidity" after the 45 minute file played. The FIRST night I used it, it woke me back up when it finished the first loop. I turned it off, and fell asleep. AND I HAD THE MOST VIVID LUCID DREAM I'VE HAD IN YEARS!

I was only asleep for 1 & 1/2 hours! It must've been the first cycle your brain rises towards R.E.M. I even said IN the dream, "This is like HD!"

So I've tried to re-create the scenario, and to no avail. Now I had made Binural Beats, and despite having made them, I got no placebo effect. It might've just been a thousand silly circumstances I can't control, but the next night I got a string of random dreams that were mostly frustrating and "pointless". I know, ya gotta let the subconscious do it's job occasionally, but after being THAT lucid, it's SO FRUSTRATING!

Last night I dreamed A: I was at work, and B: I was lost on my way home while riding a tricycle. Yeah, it sounds hilarious to say it, but IN the dream, I was frustrated and P.O.'ed.

I've tried many of the Suggestion MP3's, and I'm sorry, most are SO lousy and unprofessional. It sounds like they're making crap up on the fly, and it distracts me, sometimes makes me laugh, and often gets me annoyed. "You're soooo.... veeeery, very relaaaaxed. It's like the leaves are falling off the treeees.... no, wait, it's SPRING and everythiiiiings in bloom... unless of course you want to imagine," just shut up! ARGH!!!

They've thoroughly convinced me that hypnosis is a joke. I used to be intimidated and afraid of the idea of hyponosis, but wow.

The two good experiences I've had involved soothing music, a little brain entrainment, and a moderately decent suggestion MP3 combined. I may have to build a better monster here.

I'm married and it's hard to do half of the advice I'm given, because she's not doing this, and often times, RIGHT when I'm about to fall asleep, either our upstairs neighbor starts parading around, or my wife coughs, or gets up to go to the bathroom, and I just get SO ANGRY, killing my calm.

Any advice, opinions, experiences here would be greatly appreciated.

~Oneironeer