Article: A day in the life of an LD-er

there are many tutorials out there, however while rich in technique, they are not usually "connected" with each other. In this article I will talk about a general day in my own life and the techniques I use to have lucid dreams. I usually have around 1-3 LD's per week and my main technique is MILD/DILD. I have started late last year and at the time of my writing this article I have had a total of 84 lucid dreams. Please note that this "day" is by no means an example to be copied- each should, through trial and error find a combination that works for them.


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I wake up- when do I wake up and how much sleep do I have? Now that I think about it, since after all this is the day of an oneironaut I will start at bedtime

Many dreamers place grate importance on going to bed early at 10-11pm, and I used to doggedly adhere to those values, however as time went on I realized that it didn't really influence my LD amount- as long as I got enough sleep. Since I'm on holiday I now go to sleep around 1-3 am and sometimes nap during the day.

Before bedtime I prepare a large mug of black tea with plenty of sugar, and also make sure to have some water handy. In case I'm feeling too emotional for whatever reason I meditate- this always helps calm me down and brings me to a good mood. I read a few pages from my dream journal to refresh my memory- this helps me significantly with dream recall. I don't drink any water before my initial sleep - perhaps a lil water- and set my alarm to go off around 4 hours later. Now, my main technique is MILD- so why, are you wondering, do I still want to wake up in the night? Simple- effectiveness. Trying MILD before my initial sleep is much less effective and if I trying any techniques then can cause me to stay awake for hours, instead I maybe repeat a MILD mantra for maybe 30 seconds and then allow my thoughts to take me away and fall asleep. After about 3-4 hours I either wake up naturally or by alarm, depending on which happens first. I go to the loo, and then drink all/most of the tea I prepared before going to bed. This awakening period is crucial- I sometimes "practice" my emotional response to finding out I'm in a dream- just as astronauts require training prior to space and spend time practicing each and every motion in large swimming pools, so should oneironaughts practice before dreams- Stand in a room, try to imagine realizing you are in a dream- what goes on through your head? is it "LOLZ ZOMG i'm dreaming!" or is it "oh cool I'm dreaming, ok dream goals...", try walking around and getting used to the feeling of being in a dream- this might be tricky though if you have never actually been in one- you might want to imagine you've just discovered you are "the one" in the matrix. Walk around, think of stuff to do- simple stuff, and get used to your emotions. The overall process can last anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes. Next I go to sleep and try to repeat a MILD mantra continuously, confidently and slowly as I fall asleep- ideally you should be repeating it even as you loose consciousness. I usually wake up around 1-3 more times, sometimes even after an LD :) quite hit and miss, but my dreams are usually quite exciting even if I'm nonlucid. Whenever I wake up I do a hand RC, which is still my main RC- assuming I don't forget to do it of course :) Also I make sure to write all of my dreams down after each awakening, but not before lying still and replaying them all in my head.

Then my day actually begins. When I first started I used to doggedly do RC's every 5 mins or so, and I did that for a few months, and in turn had somewhat more LD's, however I found that to be unsustainable since it does not allow me to truly think about more worldly matters, now I still think I do them often, but now I allow myself to think about other things as well, but I try to RC whenever I'm around and talking to people, and also when unexpected or exciting events occur, since that's the most challenging. I also take note of the times I should have RC'd but didn't.

Dreamsigns? I have several, my main one is flying, but generally I just look for anomalies and see if something is "too much"- as in too big, too weird, etc... I also pause after my RC- just stand still for a few moments- observe the world and allow it to proceed on without you to see if it will do anything weird.

Milk- milk is also good- in my opinion, at least, it really helps my dream recall. in the evening I like to go out on a stroll to a supermarket to get it, and during that stroll I continuously repeat MILD mantras and do RC's, dreamgoals, practice walking meditation and also ponder of my motives for LD-ing, and if I truly require an LD that day.
During the evening I like to browse DV and also talk to other dreamers via IM and share experiences and discuss techniques

very very interesting, I think I'm going to do the same and post it here
=)

^Spare me. Good post yuri. I learned a few new things from this.

This was a very intresting post.

I'd have to agree with the other posters, I learned from this, thanks a lot!

I'm wondering though.. would any type of soy beverage alternative to milk work as well? :/ I've heard of milk working but I don't drink milk.. I hope theres some sort of substitute or method for me to get the same effect.

Cool post, cool idea. No, actually, amazing. Good job!

Thanks, very interesting how you fit LDing into your days!
It would also be interesting to know how you approach lucid dreaming when you're not on holiday and how you fit it into your day.

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Originally Posted by 44CalibreSunlight

I'd have to agree with the other posters, I learned from this, thanks a lot!

I'm wondering though.. would any type of soy beverage alternative to milk work as well? :/ I've heard of milk working but I don't drink milk.. I hope theres some sort of substitute or method for me to get the same effect.

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Fortified soy milk should be fine. It has almost the exact same nutritional value as yucky cow milk. Most soy milk is fortified, btw. Soy milk FTW!

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Originally Posted by feuertopf

Thanks, very interesting how you fit LDing into your days!
It would also be interesting to know how you approach lucid dreaming when you're not on holiday and how you fit it into your day.

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Good idea. Well, rather than describing the philosophy of my hebdomadal routine when I'm not on holiday I'll also describe one of my days- this time I'll focus more on the waking part of it since the sleeping routine is already described in detail above.

This time, sleep time does matter- while on holidays I can go to sleep at practically any time- for instance today I went to bed at around 2:30am and had a rather vivid, all be it short LD, that's because I was able to get enough sleep- and all those guides you see telling you to go to bed at 10-11 are not saying that because if you go to bed at around that time somehow LD's will magically have a greater chance of coming- not at all- it's all about getting your 8-9 hours (min) of sleep. Indeed, when I go to my university I try to go to bed before 11:30, both for the sake of LD-ing, and also for the sake of not feeling like crap. Even though it might feel like you are "loosing time" by going to sleep so early in all actuality you will be greatly rewarded by feeling energetic and in generally a more jovial mood the following day, and if you are lucky even an LD.

So, I wake up for the final time that morning- I always (at least I try to) do an RC every time I wake up, but the philosophy of RC-ing after "regular" sleep and after LD-s is different. If you just woke up, presumably after or nonlucid or indeed after sleep in which you didn't initially remember a dream, as the good tutorials say you should not move and try to remember your dreams, and a good tactic for that is to cycle through your common dream themes and even frequent daily worries and occurences- and this is something you can get quite adept in in time. Replay the dream in your head before getting up and writing it down, but not before an RC- I've actually had several times where I had to start over since the first attempt at writing it down turned out to be an FA. However, if you just had a lucid dream and were "teleported" to your bed, I suggest instantly sitting up and doing a 2-3 RC's- don't worry about dream recall, lucid dreams have much more staying power.


Now, I've heard a lot of debate and people making excuses that "they will have more LD's during the holidays" because they will have more time and stuff and less stress. To me this has zero substance and I will now debunk any such nonsense speak. Some say they do not have enough time- time for what? RC's? those don't take "time", it's not like you have to tell ppl "oh excuse me I have to be gone for 30 mins to do an RC", RC's take seconds to perform and people don't notice them. Then there's "not enough time for 8-9 hours of sleep" argument- I can understand people who live "busy" lives might consider that those extra few hours of activity during the night are somehow valuable and should not be wasted- I was one of them, but I realised that the rewards of actually sleeping- not LD-ing even, just sleeping, are so great and in the following day you will feel just so much better. And if for some reason you are indeed too "busy" for proper sleep then I feel very sorry for you.

"Your enemy is your greatest teacher"- this saying is so true, and indeed it's no less true when it comes to daily chaotic life. I greatly value my time spent being in university, since it's a really good way to prepare for LD's- all that chaos of assignments, talking to ppl, going from class to class, etc - it's so absolutely tumultuous and varied. I try to do RC's upon leaving or entering any room or area (and I actually try this everywhere, not just at university), but the biggest challenge and at the same time teacher is talking to people- nothing can make you forget about LD-ing like a random person walking up to you and asking you something- you are instantly swept away in a torrent of thoughts about what that person is saying, especially if the meeting was unplanned, for instance you walking along a corridor thinking about stuff and then suddenly being asked something by someone out of the blue. I always keep score of this- how long does it take you to ask yourself if you are dreaming? at first I used to remember this maybe even minutes after the conversation, but as time progressed and I became more used to the idea, I now averange around 10 secs to 30 secs. So what do I do exactly? RC's can be quite obvious, so you have to be smart. While that person is talking, ask yourself if you are dreaming, but don't just repeat the question- look around, try to analize if what that person saying is logical, and also do invisible RC's like trying to explode a nearby light bulb or that persons head. Now here's the dilema- what if what that person is saying is actually of great importance to you? Do you not pay attention to that and not do RC's for fear of missing a word? Not at all- remember that there is always time- keep the intention of RC-ing until that person briefly pauses or goes off topic, and RC then. Although, this shouldn't be an issue since you can easily do 1-2 mental RC's in the space of a few seconds and not really miss anything of what was said- yes, it takes time and practice, and a whole lot of balancing- find what works for you. Remember that conversations seems every bit as important and real in dreams.

Also, if you are just walking to some place and decide to do an RC- do several- not because one might be wrong, but because doing several has much more impact on the subconsciousness

Daily life is random - and that's what makes it so very useful for LD-s, think of daily life as study, and of sleep and dreams as the test/exam

Wouldn't black tea negatively keep you awake? Caffeine don't cha' know?

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Originally Posted by Parakonstantius

Wouldn't black tea negatively keep you awake? Caffeine don't cha' know?

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yeah I'm kinda experimenting with that- I don't know if it's just the sugar in it that helps or what, or if it's indeed a placebo. I don't think black tea is 100% necessary- indeed I used to Ld a lot even before I started using it and even last night I didn't drink it and have my first LD in like 4-5 days.

Could you please detail more about your specific MILD technique?

Parakio

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Originally Posted by Parakonstantius

Could you please detail more about your specific MILD technique?

Parakio

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MM, well, during my walks to the store I keep repeating MILD mantras- if one gets "boring", I pick another one that stimulates my brain.

As for induction methods- why limit yourself? I try all sorts of things, from repeating a mantra right until I loose consiousness, trying to WILD, and also tactile-based visualisation (I basically imagine I walk around my room feeling everything with my hands, it's much easier than traditional visualization). And many more. I use whatever I feel suits the moment.

Offtopic: Also something I have noticed is that doing just a little physical exercise during the evening really helps. I am not a strong person- doing even maybe several pushups and lifting somewhat light weights does the trick for me. I think this is because exercise destroys lethargy, and thus logically increases lucidity.

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As for induction methods- why limit yourself?

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yeah, that's the point.
I also try a lot of things together, to get the best potential(and still want to add more things)

=)

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