Thread: DawgBone's Workbook

Hey DawgBone, welcome to the class. I've read about the idea that lucid dreaming is just another dimension, and I agree it's a fascinating idea. Have you had a life-changing LD? Sounds like you speak from experience.

So what other goals do you have for LDing? What are your dream signs? What induction technique are you using?

Hi Caenis,

I've had a few LDs which were as vivid and detailed as physical reality, and I was totally conscious. They really got my attention. A major goal is to have one of these each week. (two if I get greedy)

I don't have many consistent dream signs that I have been able to identify. Being in college again is one. Talking with a deceased relative is another. I'm currently trying to identify more.

My major technique is DILD, sometimes WBTB after taking some galantamine/choline. I'm very interested in learning both MILD and WILD.

My goals, other than flying and an occasional erotic encounter, are just basically to explore. I'm less interested in manipulating the dreamworld than I am in learning from it. Robert Monroe made his best progress when he stopped trying to control and direct and instead asked for guidance. That is basically my point of view.

But I would like to try to visit the Akashic Records at some point.

Originally Posted by DawgBone

I've had a few LDs which were as vivid and detailed as physical reality, and I was totally conscious. They really got my attention. A major goal is to have one of these each week. (two if I get greedy)

Sounds amazing. I haven't had that experience yet, but I hope to soon. I hope you succeed in having such realistic LDs soon!

Exploring LDs is certainly fascinating. Keep us updated with what you learn.

Journal:
I started a Dreamviews DJ about a year ago, but have been inactive for some time. Recorded a new dream on Monday. It was not lucid, but was fairly interesting. I will not record all my dreams in the Dreamviews DJ, just the good ones. I'm keeping a separate journal that will include everything.

Reality Checking:
I have a watch with a vibrating alarm which I am going to start using for this. It has an hourly alarm and 5 individually settable alarms. When I goes off during the day, I'll do an RC. I'll use the nose pinch technique.

Waking Journal:
This technique was mentioned in Monday's Chat. Sounds like a good way of increasing general awareness. I can expand my private DJ to include the events of the day.

Nutrition:
As suggested in Lesson One, I going to pick up some bananas, milk and fish.

Books:
The Lucid Dreamer - Malcolm Godwin
Lucid Dreaming - Robert Waggoner
Journeys Out of Body - Robert Monroe

Doing some reading before bedtime instead of watching reruns of Desperate Housewives is probably a good idea.

:--)

Originally Posted by DawgBone

Waking Journal:
This technique was mentioned in Monday's Chat. Sounds like a good way of increasing general awareness. I can expand my private DJ to include the events of the day.

The waking journal is supposedly supposed to help with dream recall, here's the thread discussing the method, but I haven't read through the entire thread to see if awareness has increased for anyone who used it. If you find that it does increase awareness, let us know! I would be much more interested in using a waking journal to increase awareness.

Reading LD stuff before bed is a very good idea! I usually visit DV before bed, but I want to get into the habit of reading more of LaBerge's book before going to sleep. I hope those LD books are interesting.

Originally Posted by Caenis

The waking journal is supposedly supposed to help with dream recall, here's the thread discussing the method, but I haven't read through the entire thread to see if awareness has increased for anyone who used it. If you find that it does increase awareness, let us know! I would be much more interested in using a waking journal to increase awareness.

Reading LD stuff before bed is a very good idea! I usually visit DV before bed, but I want to get into the habit of reading more of LaBerge's book before going to sleep. I hope those LD books are interesting.

Thanks for the link!

Caenis:

I read through the waking journal thread. Several people reported having success with it. But I'm not sure that a diary-type record, recorded at the end of the day, is the best approach. The idea, it seems to me, is to improve awareness, not just memory. What we want is Zen-like, living in the Now, as opposed to thinking about the grocery list.

I think I will try this:

I'm already using a vibrating wristwatch to remind me to do RCs. I going to add short entries into the waking journal each time I do one of these RCs. I work at a computer most of the day so this will be easy to do. The entries will report what I am doing, hearing, seeing, feeling, tasting and thinking at the time. It will basically force me to Experience the Now several times a day.

I'm pretty sure that the Zen monks don't do it this way, but then they probably don't have vibrating wristwatches …

Originally Posted by DawgBone

Caenis:

I read through the waking journal thread. Several people reported having success with it. But I'm not sure that a diary-type record, recorded at the end of the day, is the best approach. The idea, it seems to me, is to improve awareness, not just memory. What we want is Zen-like, living in the Now, as opposed to thinking about the grocery list.

I think I will try this:

I'm already using a vibrating wristwatch to remind me to do RCs. I going to add short entries into the waking journal each time I do one of these RCs. I work at a computer most of the day so this will be easy to do. The entries will report what I am doing, hearing, seeing, feeling, tasting and thinking at the time. It will basically force me to Experience the Now several times a day.

I'm pretty sure that the Zen monks don't do it this way, but then they probably don't have vibrating wristwatches …

That's a great idea! I like the way you think, sir. Sounds like a good way to RC, improve memory and become more aware! Will you review what you read before you go to sleep at night, or just document what you're experiencing throughout the day? I only have one recommendation: don't rely only on the watch for RCs and awareness. You likely won't have a vibrating watch in your dreams after all.

...Although.... Once it becomes habit for you to RC and become aware when your watch vibrates, maybe you can wear the watch to bed and set it to vibrate when you're sleeping. Does it automatically turn it off? That would be an interesting experiment.

Originally Posted by Caenis

That's a great idea! I like the way you think, sir. Sounds like a good way to RC, improve memory and become more aware! Will you review what you read before you go to sleep at night, or just document what you're experiencing throughout the day?

I plan on reviewing it.

I only have one recommendation: don't rely only on the watch for RCs and awareness. You likely won't have a vibrating watch in your dreams after all.

That's a good point. I'm interested in lucid aids of various kinds: supplements, sleep masks, Zeo applications, etc. But you don't want to become dependent on those things. They should be embellishments of a person's basic skills, not a substitution for the skills.

*** DB quickly does an RC without a vibrating wristwatch ***

...Although.... Once it becomes habit for you to RC and become aware when your watch vibrates, maybe you can wear the watch to bed and set it to vibrate when you're sleeping. Does it automatically turn it off? That would be an interesting experiment.

Now there's an interesting idea! As a matter of fact, I think that there is a bluetooth gadget that you wear like a wristwatch. I can be programmed and used in conjunction with a smart phone LD application. All sorts of possibilities.

Thanks for the feedback, Caenis.

I finally read this whole thread. You two really have some excellent ideas. I love the idea of recording things "in the now," improving not memory, but awareness as you put it DawgBone.

I read your Carpenter dream. I like how you take the time to interpret its meaning, instead of simply classifying it as lucid or not. I look forward to reading more of your dreams, and seeing how the wristwatch experiment works out for you!

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

I finally read this whole thread. You two really have some excellent ideas. I love the idea of recording things "in the now," improving not memory, but awareness as you put it DawgBone.

I read your Carpenter dream. I like how you take the time to interpret its meaning, instead of simply classifying it as lucid or not. I look forward to reading more of your dreams, and seeing how the wristwatch experiment works out for you!

Tx, Ophelia! I'm enjoying your class a lot. We have a good group of interesting people.

Hey DawgBone, any updates to give us? How's the waking journal going? Any comments about the LD books you've been reading? Have you had any interesting dreams since the carpenter dream? Have you started meditation and yoga again, or do you have plans of starting them again soon?

Originally Posted by Caenis

Hey DawgBone, any updates to give us? How's the waking journal going? Any comments about the LD books you've been reading? Have you had any interesting dreams since the carpenter dream? Have you started meditation and yoga again, or do you have plans of starting them again soon?

Hey Caenis, My dream recall has taken a nosedive. That sometimes happens when I try too hard. :-(

I did have one interesting dream. I was in a college art class. Being in college again is one of my regular dream signs, but I failed to recognize it. Rats! Still I met a very interesting DC who knew me and introduced herself. Her name was Lisa Kerr. I've never had a DC introduce themselves like that or volunteer their name. It was unexpected and quite unusual. The name 'Kerr' is a play on the word 'cur', for dog (as in DawgBone). And Lisa probably refers to an interesting teacher/channeler named Lisa Renee. By combining 'dog' with the name of a metaphysical teacher, the dream is giving me further encouragement to pursue dreaming, meditation, yoga, etc. It is basically the same dream as the carpenter dream.

The waking journal and wristwatch RC technique has real promise, I think. It will force me to be aware a dozen times a day, and hopefully will raise my awareness generally. That may take months of steady work. I'm also going to add an affirmation/mantra each time I do the technique, so it will also have elements of a MILD.

In order to break out of this slump, I going to do a WBTB tonight, sleeping for about 4 hours, getting up and working for 1 1/2 hours and then going back to bed. I will probably take some galantamine and choline.

See you at the chat on Tuesday.

Cool dream DawgBone. You know, MY name is Lisa!

Good luck on your WBTB and see you in chat.

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

Cool dream DawgBone. You know, MY name is Lisa!

I'll be darn! Now that is interesting!

Like most people, I occasionally have precognitive dreams, but this was more like a clairvoyant dream. The fact that I met her in a class is right on target.

I'll have to write this one up for my dream journal.

My WBTB last night was lucid! The first time in several months.

My plan was to fly to a park where I jog several times a week and see what my jogging path looks like from an aerial view. Well, as soon as I became lucid, I remembered the plan and took off. Unfortunately, I was in some western state, 2000 miles from where I wanted to go. I never got to the park, but did enjoy flying around. I should have tried to teleport to get there instantly instead of trying to fly.

I then had an FA and found myself in a commune. The members of Ophelia's class had purchased a large, old house and we all lived there! This part was not lucid, but very funny.

I have had some success with WBTB. Generally I just do DILD in the second half of the night, and it sometimes works. A major goal at this point is to learn WILD for the second half and then chain multiple dreams with DEILD.

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

Cool dream DawgBone. You know, MY name is Lisa!

Good luck on your WBTB and see you in chat.

Originally Posted by DawgBone

I'll be darn! Now that is interesting!

Like most people, I occasionally have precognitive dreams, but this was more like a clairvoyant dream. The fact that I met her in a class is right on target.

I'll have to write this one up for my dream journal.

That's amazing. Don't think I've had any precognitive dreams myself. I remember a few times as a kid some minor details in my dream would overlap with something that'd happen the next day, but I think that was merely coincidence. Also, your knowledge of what your dreams mean is quite impressive too. I decided to try to figure out the meanings of my dreams, after reading your interpretations of your dreams. I can only pick out the very obvious things, or the residue. It's difficult for me to figure out much more than that.

Originally Posted by DawgBone

The waking journal and wristwatch RC technique has real promise, I think. It will force me to be aware a dozen times a day, and hopefully will raise my awareness generally. That may take months of steady work. I'm also going to add an affirmation/mantra each time I do the technique, so it will also have elements of a MILD.

Glad that you've been keeping up with the wristwatch and waking journal. I agree, it'll probably take a few months to have regular LDs with these techniques, but you're already seeing progress! Congrats on the DILD. Was your LD very vivid and life-like?

It's neat that you had a FA including the whole class too. Was the house similar/the same as your carpenter's house?

Originally Posted by Caenis

That's amazing. Don't think I've had any precognitive dreams myself. I remember a few times as a kid some minor details in my dream would overlap with something that'd happen the next day, but I think that was merely coincidence. Also, your knowledge of what your dreams mean is quite impressive too. I decided to try to figure out the meanings of my dreams, after reading your interpretations of your dreams. I can only pick out the very obvious things, or the residue. It's difficult for me to figure out much more than that.

Interpretation is like all the other skills we have to learn as LDers. The more you do it, the better you get.

When you start paying attention to dreams, giving them importance, your subconscious or Higher Self or Dream Guides, (whatever) will respond. Dreams get better when you give them energy and importance. Interesting how that works.

Originally Posted by Caenis

Congrats on the DILD. Was your LD very vivid and life-like?

Thanks. It was only average in terms of vividness, but I'll take it! Learning how to increase vividness is one of my major goals.

Interesting synchronicity:

I been watching some old episodes of Star Trek Voyager on Netflix. The one I just watched was Season 4, Episode 13 "Waking Moments".

It's about a species that is physical but spends most of its time dreaming. The crew of Voyager got trapped in a shared lucid dream from which they could not awaken. They had many false awakenings, but it took some work to genuinely escape the dream.

Ha! Talk about timing ...

My dream recall has taken another nosedive, so I'm going to try another WBTB tonight. I'll probably take some galantamine and choline.

Wow, that sounds like a really interesting episode. Now that I'm paying more attention to my dreams, I realize how common it is for dreams to be incorporated into artistic works. A game I'm playing, Catherine, has all of the puzzle games in nightmares. Towards the end the character has a FA, and then realizes that he can ultimately beat anything the dreams throw at him, because they're HIS dreams. A webcomic I read has something called dream bubbles, and reminds me a bit of astral projection. Though most shows/games don't directly talk about lucid dreaming. It's rather impressive that shared dreaming was focused on.

=/ Sorry to read that your recall took a nosedive again. Is your recall usually this inconsistent, or is it because you're trying very hard to LD? Good luck with your WBTB!

Originally Posted by Caenis

Wow, that sounds like a really interesting episode. Now that I'm paying more attention to my dreams, I realize how common it is for dreams to be incorporated into artistic works. A game I'm playing, Catherine, has all of the puzzle games in nightmares. Towards the end the character has a FA, and then realizes that he can ultimately beat anything the dreams throw at him, because they're HIS dreams. A webcomic I read has something called dream bubbles, and reminds me a bit of astral projection. Though most shows/games don't directly talk about lucid dreaming. It's rather impressive that shared dreaming was focused on.

Interesting!

The WBTB last night was fairly successful. I recall two fragments and one long but not very eventful dream. I was not lucid in any of them. I did discover a new dream sign, an old friend who I haven't seen in ages.

At this point, WBTB is my best technique. I want to try to do it every night. One night per week I'll take some supplements. Supplements definitely help, but I don't want to become dependent on them. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to have fairly regular LDs just using WBTB, Knock wood …

I signed up for Sivason's class. It has already started, but he is still accepting students. The first two lessons are about awareness and techniques for developing awareness. Great stuff! Awareness is key to becoming lucid and probably will help increase the vividness of dreams and help with most other LD skills. Sivason cautions that it takes TIME and regular PRACTICE to develop these skills.

I've been reading Robert Waggoner's Lucid Dreaming. It is a fabulous book. It concentrates on dreaming as an alternate form of reality and emphasizes the meaning and significance of dreams. This is my point of view exactly. When I finish reading it, I'll post a review here.

I did a WBTB last night and hardly slept at all. :--(

It will probably take a week or so to adjust to this new schedule. I'll give it 2 weeks. I do think that this will be my best technique, eventually. I want to add WILD and DEILD to the second half of the night's sleep. That's my long term goal.

I did recognize a new dream sign, dogs. I've had several. When one of my former pets appears in a dream, it should be easy to recognize and do an RC.

You'll enjoy Sivason's class. I keep thinking about joining it, but I want to focus on this class for now. I read some of the lessons though, good stuff.

=/ Sucks that the WBTB didn't work too well for you. When I first started doing WBTB, I stayed up too long and wound up having a bi-phasic sleep schedule for a week or so.

Glad you found two new dream signs! The dog dream sign is fitting, since you are DawgBone.

In Thursday's chat, MerxYemps talked about deliberately incubating a dream sign. I thought that was a interesting technique, so I gave it a try. I tried to incubate a dream about a dog I had as a boy. As mentioned above, this one of my fairly regular DS. I found some old photos of him and looked at them several times during the day, stating my intention to see him that night during a dream.

Well, I didn't dream about my old pet, but I did have a dream about a dog! Definitely a near miss and encouraging. This is a technique worth practicing.