Thread: Caenis' Workbook

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

Hey ordinarily when you VILD, are you incubating a scene that you are really drawn to? I ask this because it always helps motivate me, as well as remember to do it, when it's a place I really really want to be. Just throwing it at you.


Hahahaa.. you have a very unique lucid to-do list there Caenis.

Well, I read the VILD tutorial, and it seemed to suggest something relatively simple. So I've been imagining just my fiancé and I in a room holding hands, and my fiancé tells me I'm dreaming. When I first tried VILD, I imagined my fiancé and I together in fancy clothing and holding hands. I imagined myself remembering to RC, since my RCs focus on me using my hands.

I guess I just got lucky my first time. I was incubating that dream/scene, but that wasn't the scene that was in my dream. I had imagined the scene and repeated the mantras while drifting off, and then suddenly I was at a pool. I realized I had just appeared there, there was nothing at all before that. I remembered doing mantras and incubating a dream before. So I instantly knew I was dreaming and just as soon as I finished saying "I'm dreaming" I woke up.

I'm sure you have/had a couple of unusual goals yourself, Ophelia, most people would. I think the majority of my goals are pretty typical actually, I'm trying to come up with more creative ones.

I had two dreams last night, but they weren't very interesting. I was too lazy to write the first down when I did my WBTB, so I only remembered the main details. My WBTBs recently have been very short, so I think I should make them longer again. The least I should do is write down my dreams during it. My bed has been too cozy recently, it's been difficult to leave it for long. I might switch to a B6 supplement instead of my multivitamin, purely because the supplement is smaller and a lot easier to swallow.

RCs have been fine. I'm remembering to do them more often with people than by myself. There are very few moments in my dreams where I am by myself.

Edit:
I was just standing in the kitchen with the faucet running, and I suddenly remembered another segment from my first dream. I dropped my laptop in a small pool/tub of water. I managed to forget in my dream that water would ruin my laptop, then panicked once it hit the water. Glad I remembered a little more of my dream 12 hours after I woke up.

Spoiler for Updated Dream Signs:

This is just for my own benefit. I realized I missed a few dream signs before. I can't edit my old post, so I'm just pasting this and making a few changes.

Since April 1, I have noticed these dream signs. I am classifying major dream signs as DCs/objects that are seen in almost every dream. I define minor dream signs as being seen once or twice every week on average. Items are listed according to to the frequency I have seen them.

Major Dream Signs:

• House/Family - Most commonly seen relatives are my sister and father
• School/Friends - Most commonly seen are college friends

Minor Dream Signs:

• Food
• Water - Often pools, waterfalls, rain, a glass of water, or touching something wet
• Driving, or being in a car
• Board or video games
• Myself or someone else being injured or ill
• Fiancé
• Non-fiancé intimacy
• Computer or Screen - Sometimes I see just a screen, but since I noticed that my dream sign is a screen without a computer, I've been imagining the rest of the computer more in my dreams.
• My pet pig, or a group of pigs
• Bathrooms

I have made the effort to RC more around family and friends, but will start doing so when I am around minor dream signs as well. I decided to also use mantras during the day, instead of just at night. I will try to be more aware when I initially encounter my dream signs.

I took a B6 supplement and drank half a glass of apple juice before bed last night. That seemed to work all right. I woke up after three hours instead of my usual four and a half, and decided that was good enough for a WBTB, since I was already awake. I remembered my dream, so I wrote it down. It wasn't a very vivid dream, and it was a little confusing. The weather wasn't stable, and a cartoon/webcomic character appeared in it. I can't remember ever seeing animated characters in my dreams.

I've realized it would probably be more beneficial if I take the B6 supplement during the WBTB, so I'll do that tonight. While I was awake, I had another small glass of apple juice. Once I went back to sleep, I had a much more vivid dream. Also a strange dream and a little dark, but good! I think I'll have a bit of apple juice each time I go to sleep now.

Instead of using VILD last night, I tried using OreoBoy's Daydream Awareness Technique. Similar to VILD, but instead of focusing on only one scene, I imagined myself in a lucid dream doing a lot of RCs and repeating "I'm dreaming." It obviously didn't work, but it was cool to imagine being lucid. =p

Hooray for apple juice! Yeah, Oreoboy's method is really effective for him. I haven't seen you on irc as much lately, but if you have any questions about Oreoboy's method, he is on chat most of the time

Originally Posted by fOrceez

Hooray for apple juice! Yeah, Oreoboy's method is really effective for him. I haven't seen you on irc as much lately, but if you have any questions about Oreoboy's method, he is on chat most of the time

I learned about a similar method from other lucid dreaming websites about two months ago (though their descriptions were less detailed), it seems to be a common technique. Easy and entertaining for newbies too. I'll be sure to ask Oreoboy any questions I have.

I used DDA while initially falling asleep. Then I woke up about 2.5 to 3 hours after falling asleep again. I contemplated staying up, but I wanted to do a proper WBTB. My alarm went off an hour and a half later, and I turned it off and kept sleeping. -.- So I only had apple juice last night, and no supplement. I also had really boring dreams that I didn't bother to write down. Pretty detailed, but so much like real life.

I got about 6.5 or 7 hours of sleep, so I'm hoping I can take a nap and try again later today. I'm tempted to try WILD. I have immense difficulty keeping my mind active while falling asleep, but I'll give it a try.

Is it pointless to do a WBTB after three hours of sleep?

Hmm, it is recommended you sleep longer before doing a WBTB for WILD. But if you want to WBTB, go for it. If you decide not to WILD, you can always use the DDA

Originally Posted by Caenis

Is it pointless to do a WBTB after three hours of sleep?

You know, back when my son was waking up 6 times per night, I slept like crap. So most of my sleep, and subsequent LDs occurred during afternoon naps. And I was such a zombie until I was able to take that nap, that I used to consider a nap just a really delayed WBTB. Don't know if it can be truly characterized that way, but my napping lucids speak for themselves!

If it's acceptable, instead of using VILD I'll use DDA. As well as ADA, MILD/DILD and WBTB, of course.

After reading a lot on the forum yesterday, I decided to play isochronic tones while sleeping. I drank some apple juice and practiced DDA while falling asleep.

I woke up at 9:30, remembered my dream but rolled back over. Woke up by chance at 10:30 with a new dream fresh in my head. I forgot most of the first, but in my second dream, I saw someone that was in the first dream. I told him I had recently had a dream about him, but did not realize I was still dreaming. Frustrating, but I considered it progress!

I wrote down my dream, had some apple juice and a B6 supplement. I decided to try WILDing, but I had difficulty falling back asleep by that point. So that didn't happen. I stopped focusing on the isochronic tones and just let myself daydream about anything.

Spoiler for Daydream, or LD?:

From my recent DJ entry.
I was with a friend, Dani, and she was drawing while sitting on the floor. There was a mirror reflecting her. I stared at Dani and the reflection in the mirror. They were not exact. I stared a little longer. …There was no mirror! There were two Danis. I silently deduced, “This isn’t real.” I walked over to the original Dani and grabbed her scalp with my right hand. It seemed logical at the time. I think I decided to plug my nose with my left hand too? My head suddenly felt like it was spinning very quickly and I became very dizzy. I became more aware that I was in bed.
It felt more like an elaborate daydream than a lucid dream, or maybe a mix between the two. I also didn’t physically feel anything—clothing, Dani’s head, my body. The only thing I felt was the spinning/dizzy sensation at the very end.

Initially I assumed this was a daydream, but was it actually a lucid dream?

Originally Posted by Caenis

If it's acceptable, instead of using VILD I'll use DDA. As well as ADA, MILD/DILD and WBTB, of course.

Ordinarily I would say pick one and stick with it, but I realize that it's important to experiment with what feels natural to you, and not many people grasp it right away. Which is something I was trying to attempt with Lesson III. Anyone who is ambivalent about selecting a technique can review the pros and cons and see which one is the best fit for further experimentation. So I say go for the DDA if you feel it's more you. Just give it a while before giving it up.

I look forward to reading the results!

Thanks Ophelia. I feel that DDA is more natural for me. I've always either thought a lot, or imagined different scenarios before falling asleep.

Yesterday morning I had no dreams due to lack of sleep, and the morning before that I had rather boring dreams. This morning I had to be up earlier than usual, so today I decided to use DEILD instead of WBTB in hopes of being able to sleep more. I was finicking with my phone during the DEILDs, as the ringer was too loud. I set my phone to vibrate instead.

My phone went off and woke me up again. I grabbed my phone to change the settings again. One of the settings was simply "1" rather than "Level 1" and my phone had two vibration settings instead of one. I thought that was a little odd, but I reset the volume/vibrate settings and went back to sleep. Of course that was a false awakening. That was my first FA, so that was interesting at least.

A subsequent dream I had included my phone's vibrations into my dreams. There was an earthquake. At two points in the dream, I wondered how certain events could be possible. My dream then created dream logic to make my doubts vanish. It's a little frustrating that my dreams invent new logic, and I blindly accept the new dream logic.

For example, when the earthquake was happening in my dream, I realized that the character might not make it out of the building alive--it was collapsing. I thought, "It's a pretty old building, it wouldn't have exit signs. I doubt the man will make it out alive," (this portion of my dream also was based of an anime, thus was animated). As soon as I thought that, green exit signs appeared, and the character easily found the exit. I didn't question the sudden appearance of the exit signs at all.

On the morning of the 13th, I had a dream where the main character thought he was lucid dreaming. I can't remember if I was the man, or if I was observing the dream at that point. He believed he was lucid dreaming, and he was able to float around. I think he was told he was lucid dreaming by two other men. Turns out that the other men were just distracting him so the man wouldn't go to a beautiful woman's room to have sex.

Dream recall from last night was pretty poor. I remembered my first dream, but didn't write it down. It's difficult to take the time to write dreams if I have stuff to do in the mornings. I have no obligations tomorrow, so I'll write down my dreams in detail tomorrow. I've been favoring the nose plug RC lately, but still check my hands from time to time. I'm still attempting to practice more awareness lately.

Originally Posted by Caenis

On the morning of the 13th, I had a dream where the main character thought he was lucid dreaming. I can't remember if I was the man, or if I was observing the dream at that point. He believed he was lucid dreaming, and he was able to float around. I think he was told he was lucid dreaming by two other men. Turns out that the other men were just distracting him so the man wouldn't go to a beautiful woman's room to have sex.

That's really weird, were you lucid yourself? I also noticed in the last dream you posted in your journal, that your fiancé's older sister brought up lucid dreaming as well. Dreams like these most often are build-ups to achieving lucidity yourself. Just keep doing those daily RCs, especially when the subject of lucid dreaming comes up. Like right now!!

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

That's really weird, were you lucid yourself? I also noticed in the last dream you posted in your journal, that your fiancé's older sister brought up lucid dreaming as well. Dreams like these most often are build-ups to achieving lucidity yourself. Just keep doing those daily RCs, especially when the subject of lucid dreaming comes up. Like right now!!

No, I wasn't lucid. I wasn't myself, I was observing from the perspective of the DC, and the DC thought he was having a lucid dream. It was one of those confusing dreams about lucid dreaming. I was a passive, invisible observer watching the dream. Definitely layer zero. Definitely improvements.

The past two days I remembered 3 dreams a night, which is pretty cool, but I only vividly remember two dreams per night. The third dream I had today I checked the clock 3 times. First it was 2:50, then a few minutes later, it was 3:50. Then a short while later, it was 3:15. Such a good opportunity was missed! I'll have to remember to be more aware when looking at the time. I'll try to start asking myself what the time was when I last checked the clock, what I have been doing for that amount of time, and if time went forward or backward.

I also want to remember to RC when I first encounter my dream signs. I remember to RC, but I sometimes RC after I've been around the dream sign for a while.

When I woke up today, my body felt a little...tingly? Different than usual. I was wondering if I could WILD/DEILD that way, but I was too awake to succeed. When I gave up and got out of bed, my body felt a little heavy initially.

Originally Posted by Caenis

When I woke up today, my body felt a little...tingly? Different than usual. I was wondering if I could WILD/DEILD that way, but I was too awake to succeed. When I gave up and got out of bed, my body felt a little heavy initially.

Whenever I DEILD, I do get vibrations and if I relax and let them take over, I slip into a lucid state without skipping a beat. Sometimes I have a feeling like I'm on the brink of those vibrations, and I do this weird thing where I exhale gently, look down and a bit cross-eyed under my closed lids. I can do this right now as I'm fully awake, and it almost simulates the onset of the vibrations. I suddenly just feel really aware of my whole body when I do it.

I'm telling you this because I wonder if it would work the next time you get the tingly feelings you just described. I've been dying to teach someone how to do this, it's really hard to explain it. But it's definitely worth a try.

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

Whenever I DEILD, I do get vibrations and if I relax and let them take over, I slip into a lucid state without skipping a beat. Sometimes I have a feeling like I'm on the brink of those vibrations, and I do this weird thing where I exhale gently, look down and a bit cross-eyed under my closed lids. I can do this right now as I'm fully awake, and it almost simulates the onset of the vibrations. I suddenly just feel really aware of my whole body when I do it.

I'm telling you this because I wonder if it would work the next time you get the tingly feelings you just described. I've been dying to teach someone how to do this, it's really hard to explain it. But it's definitely worth a try.

I haven't had a chance to try this again unfortunately, I had a busy weekend. Yesterday I remembered a fragment or two, but didn't write them down, and today I remembered one dream. I have a few hours until the last chat, so I'll give it another go.

I was probably a little too lax yesterday with my RCs and awareness. We had a family gathering, and I got about 4 hours of sleep, so it was difficult to keep myself from running on automatic.

Yeah I slept crappy last night too and it messed me up a little as well.

Hope you had better luck the next time!

I went to bed less than an hour after my last post in this thread to sleep more and to try to have one more LD. I decided to try DEILD so I could have as many opportunities as possible to get a LD. I don't remember waking up after every dream though, so I set my phone alarm to do the work for me. This attempt was both a success and a failure.

My subconscious decided to do me a big favor by discussing lucid dreaming within the dream. As soon as I successfully completed my reality check, my alarm went off. Full details in my DJ. That was disappointing, but I didn't expect to get so close to having a lucid dream before this class ended. The deadlines seem surprisingly helpful!

Now that the class is over, I'm going to experiment with the following:
1. Remember more of my dreams
2. Remember my dreams more vividly (I stopped drinking apple juice this week, so I'll start drinking that before bed again)
3. Try DEILD once I remember more of my dreams
4. Make more specific goals and challenges for myself, to be completed in a set amount of time

I just reread the announcement, so we can keep using the workbooks?

I had a lucid dream this morning! I seem to be having a lot more luck with DEILD, so I'll be incorporating that regularly from now on.

Long rambling DJ entry. It was a lot different than I expected it to be. My first LD only lasted a moment, but it felt like a huge epiphany. This one I was doing random shit. It was cool, but I had expected to be able to feel more. A lot of what I saw was really vague and fuzzy too. I really had to focus in order to see any detail. Once I was doing what the dream wanted me to do, everything became a lot more vivid. It was difficult to see what I had created because I had to focus on it a lot, but if I followed the dream, I didn't have to focus to create anything.

I'm excited that I had the LD, but I wasn't excited during the LD. It was just very weird. I spent a lot of time doing RCs and stabilizing. Staring at my hands was fascinating. They looked and acted so different from my real hands. My palms merged when I pressed them together. I thought it was pretty cool when I decided to wake up too. I've never done that before.

I was frustrated during the dream that feeling anything was very difficult. I had expected the dream to feel more like reality. I'm extremely pleased though! I'm going to keep in mind a few specific things to do in the dream (set RCs, one or two stabilization techniques, two or three ideas for what to do during the LD). If I plan it out a little more, I should have a better experience.

I have no idea when the bus thing happened. o_o I know it happened during the beginning or middle of the dream, but I can't be sure. My theory is that the bus scene was when I realized I was lucid. Maybe I changed from being in my parents' car to the bus? Shame I can't remember.

RCs:
Nose plug
Reading text, most often the time
Counting fingers

Induction Techniques and other methods to help promote LDs:
MILD
DILD
SAT/ADA
WBTB
DEILD
I'll be experimenting with drinking milk before bed during this course as well. I'll be taking a daily vitamin with some B6 in it.

Plan for next lucid:
Stabilize via rubbing my hands, touching objects, or verbal commands. Find or create a mirror, examine myself in it, and enter the mirror to find my fiancee. Ask my fiancee to take me somewhere.

I only remember one dream from last night, and saw a few notable dream signs: my family, water (the ocean), food (cupcakes), and cars (I was a passenger). I was a tiny bit aware briefly in my dream. A young girl was playing the viola superbly. I wondered how in the world she could be so good at such a young age, and how she could remain so good without practicing regularly. I didn't have a body while watching her either, I was just watching the dream like one watches a movie.

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

Whenever I DEILD, I do get vibrations.......I'm telling you this because I wonder if it would work the next time you get the tingly feelings you just described. I've been dying to teach someone how to do this, it's really hard to explain it. But it's definitely worth a try.

I think I should try this more.

Originally Posted by Caenis

Now that the class is over, I'm going to experiment with the following:
1. Remember more of my dreams
2. Remember my dreams more vividly (I stopped drinking apple juice this week, so I'll start drinking that before bed again)
3. Try DEILD once I remember more of my dreams
4. Make more specific goals and challenges for myself, to be completed in a set amount of time

I like these goals! Try some milk also!

Cupcakes as a dream sign? Funny, I've had warm doughnuts and warm chocolate chip cookies as mine several times in the past, though it was usually when I was dieting.

So which induction technique is the winner for you these days.. the DEILD? I know I've said it a zillion times, but DEILD has always been my technique of choice. And I don't know if I've noted this before, but DEILDs work on naps too. Just for future reference.

Yes Ophelia, I've settled on DEILD. Probably DEILD and WBTB together. I'm still tinkering around and seeing what would be best, but DEILD seems to have given me the most progress so far. I know that DEILDS work for naps too, you've mentioned it to me before. I haven't tried DEILDing during a nap yet, but I want to soon.

I'm drinking milk, but I haven't been drinking much before bed. I'll drink more and see how that affects my dreams. I'm hoping to have a lucid dream by Friday or Saturday. *crosses fingers* I think I'll post in my workbook each night before bed from now on, as part of my bedtime routine. I don't have much of a routine currently, so I should develop one.

I did my typical RCs today, but I was lax with awareness because I was with a friend and gaming. I think I should practice awareness more while in company, and especially while gaming. I tend to lose track of everything else while gaming. I had a dream and a few fragments from last night, but nothing too interesting. Now that I'm trying to DEILD, my dreams are getting fuzzy. It's difficult to tell where one dream ends and another begins. I've also found that certain events in my first dream will happen again in the second, but with minor differences. It's interesting and confusing.

I had another dream and a few fragments last night, nothing too notable. I'm trying to RC whenever someone mentions dreaming. I never realized how frequently it's mentioned by others or in movies/shows. I spent five hours playing a video game today, so I probably didn't RC or use as much awareness as usual. I find it enormously difficult to not become completely absorbed in the game. As I tell more of my friends that I'm trying to LD, we talk about it more, which reminds me to RC and be aware, so that's handy.

I did a short WBTB yesterday, but decided to not DEILD, I've read that DEILDing every night can be counterproductive. I'm tempted to DEILD tonight, but I'll save it for the weekend.

Originally Posted by Caenis

I did a short WBTB yesterday, but decided to not DEILD, I've read that DEILDing every night can be counterproductive. I'm tempted to DEILD tonight, but I'll save it for the weekend.

Really? Where did you read that.. I'm intrigued!

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

Really? Where did you read that.. I'm intrigued!

Purebred's WBTB DEILD Tutorial

Originally Posted by Purebred

Do not try more than 3 - 4 times per week or you will end up getting Dry Spell. Why? Because unsuccessful experiences lead to the drop of motivation, which leads to the Dry Spell.

As always, this would depend on the person. Seems like reasonable advice to me though.

I was with my family for most of the day, so I almost completely forgot about awareness and RCing while with them. I only remembered one dream from last night, and it was pretty fuzzy by the time I was able to write it down. I nuzzled a woman's bosom in the dream. It was very cozy.

I'll be using DEILD tonight. Hopefully that'll give me results, I'm itching to have another LD. I'm wondering if this workbook activity before bed was a good idea. I'm so tired when I type these things, maybe I should just read before bed instead. Or maybe I should do this earlier in the night. ...Could be good if I went to bed at a set hour too.