Valid/Invalid Reasons to be frustrated?

I apologize for the long post, but i feel like expressing my self in detail is what might help me overcome a mental block.

First i would like to introduce my self. My name is Emin. I am 27 Years Old, Originally from the Former USSR and i now live in the USA(been here 17 years)

I have been feeling distraught and a little bit frustrated the past 6 days, I would like to know if any one else has had a similar experience trying to get back into dreamwork.

December 2002 i began my journey into the realm of the spiritual, i read all the Carlos Castaneda Books and absolutely loved them, along side the CC books i was reading "Exploring the World of lucid dreaming" by Laberge and Rheingold. I became fairly proficient in Lucid Dreaming rather quickly.

Between the December 2002 and Febuary 2005 i had a dream journal with 281 Lucid Dreams(well i also wrote my OOBEs in there and counted them as " lucid dreams", even though they had a distinctly different feel)

Things have been kind of hectic the past 3.5 years and i have not kept up with my dreaming practices and strayed a bit off my spiritual journey, though by Dec 10th, 2008 i had 319 lucid dreams written in my Lucid Dream Journal. I felt as time went by i spent less time messing with my dreams and the LDs became more and more rare and my dream record shows that to be true

I recently rekindled my interest in LDs, but things have been alot harder than i imagined. 27 days ago, i started going to bed with dream journal, but my recall has not improved a single bit (im still only remembering 1-2 dreams a night and in the past 27 days out of the 40 or so dreams i have written only 2 have been Lucid)

I have done quite a bit that should warrant much better dream recall and more LDs (in my prime, i was remembering 7-9 dreams a day/night and would have 10-14 lucid dreams a week)

In the past 27 days i have:

-increased the amount of time i spend pondering and reviewing my dreams drastically

-began meditating again for 20-45 minutes a day

-going for long walks every night

-i have gone back and "titled" all 319 lucid dreams i had in my lucid dream journal and even looked through my Non Lucid dream journal(i knew the more attention i gave my dreams the more importance my brain would assign them)

-i have been exercising more and eating healthier (hoping that would boost my brain)

- i have been doing memory exercises and Reality checks

My last lucid dream was on dec 10th, 08, its been 11 days and no more lucids. But that is not my primary concern, what bothers me the most is the fact that my dream recall has not improved. (still only 1-2 dreams a night and im not waking up after each dream to write them down even though that is what i intend every night before falling asleep) Am i getting old? am i trying too hard? im hoping that its just rust i have to shake off, and the fact that my sleep schedule is whacked could be contributing to the problem(I am actually hoping its the primary problem, my sleep schedule is very inconsistent). When i first started my dream journal in 2002, it took me 6 days to have a lucid dream, in less than 4 weeks i was remembering 3-6 dreams a night and was having 2-3 lucid dreams a week.

Has any one else stopped Lucid dreaming for a few years and tried to return to it? Was it easy or did you have similar problems? Do you guys think my feeling frustrated is unwarranted?

Thanks for hearing me whine. I feel a lot better now that i got to share my frustrations and get them off my chest.

I looked around for a forum where i could talk to people about dreams, this place seems really really awesome. It seems like you guys have an awesome community. Im very excited to be here.

Emin

ps:
Out of all the LDs i had in the past, i thought 9 of them were life changing / extremely extra ordinary. If any one is interested, tomorrow when i get off work i will share a couple of them.

Hey Emin, I'm Jonathan. Welcome to DV :) This place is really great when you get back into Lucid Dreaming. I recently got back into it myself. First of all, let me say how Impressed I am with your LD history, nice work ;) Anyway, from what you told me, I really think your lack of Dream recall is your sleep schedule. I mean, you must know all about how LDing and Dreaming is about getting your mind into the right state, the right expectations. Throwing your sleeping patterns off really makes your mind do ALOT of work to compensate. It wants rests, not dreams at that point. I would just try to get into a normal sleeping pattern again if you can if you are really serious about getting back into this.

Anyway, I'd love to hear about your life changing LDs. What happened in them?

hmm well now the more i think about the more its starting to make sense. I was brushing this theory off to the side simply because i was getting around 8 hours of sleep or so a day and figured since im sleeping around 8 hours, sleep should not really be a problem.

How ever, most times that 7-8 hours is split up into 2 or even 3 parts in a 24 hour period (and whats worse is most of the time im going to sleep tired and waking up somewhat still tired). (Ill nap for 2 hours, and ill sleep for 5 and its never consistent (some times id sleep during the day, sometimes at night))

You might be right Jonathan, maybe my brain is having a hard time developing a good rhythm. Im going to try and sleep for at least 8 hours a night every night and take a 45 min nap during the day for a week, im hoping this solves my problem.

Thanks buddy !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barbizzle

Anyway, I'd love to hear about your life changing LDs. What happened in them?

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Ok, ill share some of my favorite dreams but please bear with me, im not a very good story teller.


July 1st, 2004

Iam in an open field with some pretty trees, its day time and the sun is out. I look at the leaves of the trees and realize that i am dreaming even though nothing is out of the ordinary. I have a strong desire to fly around and explore the terrain but i remember my predetermined goal to "seek my path" I voice my desire/command in a loud and clear voice "My Path Will Rise Before Me" the wind slightly picks up and i feel a force gently pulling me, i give in. I relax and the force gets stronger and stronger, im gaining speed. The force is pulling me to the side (not up) and Im moving without my own volition. Soon the speed becomes so great that i feel my stomach "drop" i know i cant panic and i have to keep my balance or i will awaken. My eyes become very tense and it feels like im "zooming out"

Without any breaks in consciousness i find my self walking on a trail in some forest. Im still Lucid. Its night time and i feel like the forest is very mysterious. Ahead on the trail i notice a Glowing Yellow Light. It is about half the size of me, and round. Its Glow is soothing and pleasant, i have a feeling that it is some how alive. I noticed we were both moving toward each other. What happened next is kind of hard to describe, it felt like we danced, it moved with me and i moved with it. I was overwhelmed with the feeling of joy and at the same time felt bewildered and at Awe, the whole forest felt alive and enchanted, the air smelled fresh, the scenes that passed in front of my eyes and the feelings my heart felt were breathtaking.

The next thing i remember is feeling disoriented and walking on the same trail, it seems to be almost morning and im telling my self that this dream is extremly special and i MUST remember it.

The dream slowly begins to fade and i lose controll. I find myself in another dream but still thinking about the experience i just had in my previous dream. Im with Sergei(my cousin). Im in a room with a fireplace and were both sitting in chairs. I tell him that "i must awaken to write down the dream i just had" [i wake up]



This dream means a lot to me, it added a huge sense of "wonder" to my outlook on life and the world in general. I feel like this dream changed me at the core and made me realize just how awesome and mysterious life really is.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barbizzle

Anyway, I'd love to hear about your life changing LDs. What happened in them?

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This dream is simply extremely unique because i have only had this happen once, i would not categorize it as 'life changing"

I did not Date this dream, it happened sometime during the summer of 2004

I awaken extremely early in the morning and am thinking about the 3 non lucid dreams i just had. I wonder why i did not perform the dream checks when i was faced with the dream signs in one of the dreams and i set up my intent to do so next time the dream sign occurs. I think about leaning over and writing down the 3 dreams but i have an overwhelming urge to lie still. My dream imagery begins and i hang on to a thin thread of consciousness to enter the dream consiously.

In the next 5 seconds i find myself in what looks like a small town, the dream is VERY vivid but everything is in white, the place feels abnormal even for a lucid dream. The whole dream is in white, there are no colors. Its not a black and white dream, everything has a whitish glow to it and different objects glow with different intensities(some things had almost no glow other things had such an intense glow that it was hard to see the object itself (all the objects, houses and everything on the street were white). I feel a little confused but i don't dwell on it. i don't see any people. I decide to Fly, i fly around the town and then slowly decide to gain altitude. The whitish glow of the dream scenery was very pleasing to the eyes. A feeling of extreme thrill takes me over soon after i reach a certain height and for no reason i begin to cry? I soon [awaken] my heart is pounding VERY fast, i have tears in my eyes (but i didnt/dont feel any sadness or dispair) I had a sense of Bewilderment for the rest of the day that would not go away.

I didnt really know what to make of this dream, but i tried to google Lucid Dream in White, but nothing of interest came up. Out of all my dreams (all i could remember)this was the only one of its kind.

Just woke up. Wanted to let you guys know i just wrote down 3 dreams and had fuzzy feelings about a 4th event i couldn't recall.

So finally, recalled more than 2 dreams at a time.

WOO, im a happy man

Just wanted to update incase any one cared.

I took a short nap yesterday and remembered 2 more dreams (5 dreams total in a 24 hour period, one of which was lucid) and today after i woke up this morning i remembered 3 more dreams (another one of which was lucid)

I think i finaly got over my dream recall problem :aphiusiscrazy:

Unfortunatly i have noot been able to change my sleeping schedule and it is still all over the damn place,

Well cool LDs and yay for remembering yoru dreams :D Too bad about the schedule though :( Mabey if you made a crazy split up one and stayed with it? I think doing the same thing over and over is better then nothing, even if it is a crazy pattern.

Hi Emin and welcome!

A few things...

First of all I completely agree with Barbizzle about your sleep patterns. The body has a very strong internal clock referred to as a circadian rhythm. This page is worth checking out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadi...sleep_disorder There are many systems running within your body (eg body temperature, appetite, alertness, hormone secretion and sleep timing) which are governed by your 24 hour circadian rhythm. A disrupted cycle affects the function of these systems so you are best to try to get back into a regular routine if possible.

Second, with regards to dream recall, I find this technique invaluable:

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Originally Posted by DreamQueen

Someone told me about this technique many years ago and I have often done it since. It does work, however it takes effort. When you wake up in the morning from a dream try to keep still and keep your eyes closed and carry on the story of the dream from where it left off. Just make up whatever happens next. Do this for as long as you can. The longer the better. It is quite boring to do but the pay-off is that the next night you will find that your dreams will be longer and more real. The effect becomes more pronounced with each passing night provided you make the effort to do this when you wake up each morning. I usually do it for 5-10 minutes if I can.

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For some reason it is very boring doing this but if you make the effort it does seem to work. Once you have done it, get up and write your actual dream down in your dream journal.

Lastly, you might be interested in a thread I posted recently about an absolutely exhilarating dream I had which left me in a weird euphoric state for 4 hours. Funnily enough, since having this experience I opened Stephen LaBerge's book and the very first paragraph was someone's account of the exact same thing. Here's my dream story http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ad.php?t=70288

All the best! :)