Wasn't sure if this was the best place to post this. Over the last few days I've started what I call a lucid journal. Basically I will write down any time during the day when I have done something towards lucid dreaming, eg. reality checks. I thought this was a good idea as my lucidity fluctuates a lot and I struggle to understand why I get so many dry spells. This way I can see if I'm not doing enough or if my routine isn't that solid. Personally I think this is a good idea for anyone to try, especially people who are struggling. I've included my journal from the last few days. I've tried to condense it as much as a possible so you get the basic idea.
(By the way if people are wondering why I reality check in the bathroom it's because whenever I try and use the bathroom in a dream the room usually has cameras or people watching through a window or some other weird thing)

19/05/13

5:13pm
Decided to do some visualisation training. I listened to some binaural beats- alpha waves. These are usually the best frequency for me when it comes to visualising. I tried focusing on a certain dream character- The Architect. He looks similar to the art style used in Jak and Daxter so he has very long ears which makes the shape of his head quite distinctive. I managed to see the outline of his head behind my eyelids. I tried to move his body and managed to successfully move his arm up and down. It wasn’t a clear image but I could just about see it.

5:30pm
I stopped visualising. I was feeling pretty tired and tried to nap. I listened a lucid dream guided meditation/hypnosis on youtube to help me. I’d say about 10 minutes in my body was pretty numb and I knew I was starting to fall asleep as my mind had wondered off and I realised I was thinking about very bizarre things. However none of these things ever started to materialise and I found I kept dipping in and out of consciousness.

6:25pm
I came back around after falling asleep again and noticed I had a headache. I tried to ignore it but in the end I couldn’t. I got up and noticed nearly an hour had passed. It hadn’t felt like I had really slept as I was constantly in and out. No dreams however.

6:30pm
Got out of bed and went to the bathroom. Here I performed a reality check to make sure I hadn’t had a false awakening. I checked my tattoos to make sure they were still there. I tried to push my finger through my palm. I was awake.

6:31pm
I went back to bed. I decided to listen to something different instead. I thought listening to sounds of nature or a rainforest might help me. I found one that seemed to work quite well as I was very relaxed and found my mind wondering again. However I never fell asleep. I was still in pain from the headache and too awake now.

7:10pm
Decided enough was enough and to stop for tonight. I made myself a cup of coffee and made my dinner.

8:52pm
Worked on my list of 100 things to try in a lucid dream. Observed my surroundings. Focused on my breathing. Became aware of my senses.

12:15am

Went to bed although I don’t think I fell asleep until around 1am. I repeated “I will have a lucid dream” over in my head until I fell asleep.

4:00am
Woke up to use the bathroom. Forgot to reality check as I was too tired. Took 1g of choline inositol. Fell asleep.

Dream Count
4-5 non-lucid
0 Lucid

20/05/13
11:45am
Woke up later that I had hoped. Felt groggy and unwell.

12:30pm
Suddenly became aware of my surroundings. Walked around my living room. Felt the walls and the sofa. Took more notice of my breathing and my movement. Questioned if I was dreaming. Checked my tattoo and did the finger through the palm. I was awake. I quickly thought about what it would be like if I was dreaming.

1:10pm
Sat in the car I had a sudden spark of awareness again. I looked carefully at everything I went passed.

4:08pm
Walked passed an arcade and saw a toy crane machine (one of my dream signs). Reality checked. I was awake.

4:45pm
Decided to try and nap. Listened to nature sounds again. Kept drifting in and out of consciousness. I saw a few strange and vivid shapes behind my eyelids but as soon as I became aware of them I seemed to wake up.

5:45pm
Never got any sleep. Decided to give up for now. Went to the bathroom. Reality checked.

8:58pm
Spent some time on dreamviews reading various posts on attaining lucidity and dream control.

12:30am
Went to sleep. Repeated mantra from previous night

5:18am
J came round after work. This woke me up. I took 500mg of Choline inositol instead. Used the bathroom. Forgot to reality check. J came to bed. I found it hard to fall back asleep.

Dream Count
5-6 non-lucid
1 lucid

21/05/13
11:55am
Woke up later than I wanted to again. I was woke up several times due to J moving about. This annoyed me greatly. However I had one lucid dream so I can’t complain.
I got up. Used the bathroom. Reality checked. Wrote down my dreams in my journal.


(Due to some bad news I received today I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to focus on lucid dreaming)

9:00pm
After taking J to work I sat in my room just thinking about lucid dreaming- what I wanted to do tonight, what mantra I should use when falling asleep, etc


10:13pm
Got a shower, reality checked

12:30am
Didn’t fall asleep straight away. Repeated the mantra “I will have a lucid dream tonight.”


8:00am
Normally wake naturally between 4-6 which is when I take choline inositol. Unfortunately didn’t wake until about 8. Used the bathroom. Reality checked. Laid in bed and repeated mantra. Then I counted down from 100. I had a WILD.

Dream Count
0 Non-Lucid
1 Lucid

22/05/13
10:30am
Woke up. Thought about my lucid dream. Forgot to write it down as I had to be somewhere.

2:45pm
Came home. Finally wrote down my dream in my dream journal.

3:00pm
Spent some time watching lucid dream videos on youtube and generally just thought about lucid dreaming. Became aware of my surroundings.

3:30pm
Went into the bathroom. Reality checked.

4:06pm
Worked on my list of 100 things to do in a lucid dream.

6:00pm
Used bathroom. Reality checked.
8:30pm
Used bathroom. Reality checked

10:23pm
Did about 10 minutes of visualization training to binaural beats. Managed to create outline of dream character.

12:30am
Went to sleep. Repeated mantra

05:30am
Woke up. Took 1g of choline inositol. Used bathroom. Forgot to reality check.

09:45am
Kept being woken up by Jack who wouldn’t stop barking. I was in a bad mood as I didn’t think there was any point trying to lucid dream now. However I laid down and started to count backwards from 100 and eventually found myself in the dream. I kept waking up but staying still and re-entered the dream via DEILD.

Dream Count
2 Non-lucid
4 Lucid or 1 lucid chained together via DEILD

23/05/13

11:30am
Could no longer DEILD. Got up. Stood at the top of the stairs and reality checked (as the dream I had previously started in my hallway.)