Thread: Xanous' Workbook

AWWAYEA! congrats

I almost DEILD last night but I got excited in SP again and ruined it. idk why I started that! It's really pissing me off. I got to figure out a way to detach a little more.

I will lucid dream tonight and not get excited when I DEILD
I will lucid dream tonight and not get excited when I DEILD
I will lucid dream tonight and not get excited when I DEILD
I will lucid dream tonight and not get excited when I DEILD
I will lucid dream tonight and not get excited when I DEILD
I will lucid dream tonight and not get excited when I DEILD
I will lucid dream tonight and not get excited when I DEILD

Autosuggestion DOES work because I believe!

I will lucid dream tonight and not get excited when I DEILD
I will lucid dream tonight and not get excited when I DEILD
I will lucid dream tonight and not get excited when I DEILD
I will lucid dream tonight and not get excited when I DEILD
I will lucid dream tonight and not get excited when I DEILD
I will lucid dream tonight and not get excited when I DEILD
I will lucid dream tonight and not get excited when I DEILD

Yes!

Heads up: It's almost October! I suggest making a new list of monthly goals you want to achieve, as well as reevaluate your DJ for possible new dream signs or any realizations

Epiphany!

I went on a 10mile bike ride today and thought a lot about lucid dreaming and what I told CanisLucidus. I got to a point were I was really struggling on one particularly nasty hill. My heart rate went way up and my breathing got fast and heavy. My mind started freaking out with racing thoughts. Like "OMG this is tough. It sucks. I can't make it. Maybe I should get off and walk" I immediately saw a connection with this and lucid dreaming. So, I decided to use my calming mediation like I do in my lucid dreams. I knew I could not calm my breath or heart rate but I could calm my mind. So I did that. I let my breathing and heart rate go wild but my mind was focused and calm. I concentrated on just the pavement as I continued to peddle. I noticed the rough surface, the tiny peddles, the cracks in the asphalt, ect. I remembered that the best way to forget about something it to think of something else. The ride to the top of the hill became almost effortless and before I knew it was coasting down the other side.

So the main thing I realized was maybe I should not worry about getting excited with my heavy breathing and heartbeat. Trying to control it only put focus and attention to it and make me more awake. I don't even know why this became an issue for me. Maybe I read something or heard something someplace?For all I know I did that all the time anyway. Its all mindset, focus, and awareness. The rest is just noise. On the next hill I did the same thing but more defined. Focus on the road, keep a calm mind, and ignore the noise. I really think this will work on my next DEILD/WILD.

Another thing. I started a mantra while riding the last half. "The next time I am dreaming I will know that I am dreaming" I fell into a sort of motion trance and begin to see words in large white letters "Remember" and "Tonight" appear in my minds eye. My mantra changed into "The next time we are dreaming we will know we are dreaming." I got a vision of myself merging with the subC version of myself and we became one. It was fascinating and exciting. I cannot wait to dream tonight.

Well that's my thought for today. hopefully this will be useful to someone.

That's really great, Xanous! That's why I love LDing so much, because it can have a positive effect on your waking life and normal activities as well. Another great thing it has helped me with is the awareness. Now, when I listen to lectures, the info gets absorbed so much better, kind of life how I practice awareness for LDing. Yours is a pretty good example of how our LDing practices can benefit us in the waking world too. Thanks for sharing

Yes exactly! Its really cool when you realize that there is more to it than dreaming.

Originally Posted by paigeyemps

Heads up: It's almost October! I suggest making a new list of monthly goals you want to achieve, as well as reevaluate your DJ for possible new dream signs or any realizations

That's always a good idea for everyone. Here's mine:

Dreamsigns In Oder of Most Frequent
Superpowers
Beach/Ocean/water
Strange things in SKY
Wife
Parents/House
Food - eating/cooking/ect.
Electronic Gadget Failure
Exes
Ghost/Demons
Zombies
Skyrim
About Lucid Dreaming

GOALS:
*Spiritual/Transendance:
**Talk to my higher self
**Talk to God or a version of God

*Normal:
**Get back to at least 1 ld/week
**Transform into a vamp
**TOTM
**Improve superpowers
**Orbit earth
**Meditate while lucid

*Non Dream
**Meditate more
**Dream yoga 1x day
**Increase/Maintain RCs and Awareness

Originally Posted by Xanous

Epiphany!

I went on a 10mile bike ride today and thought a lot about lucid dreaming and what I told CanisLucidus. I got to a point were I was really struggling on one particularly nasty hill. My heart rate went way up and my breathing got fast and heavy. My mind started freaking out with racing thoughts. Like "OMG this is tough. It sucks. I can't make it. Maybe I should get off and walk" I immediately saw a connection with this and lucid dreaming. So, I decided to use my calming mediation like I do in my lucid dreams. I knew I could not calm my breath or heart rate but I could calm my mind. So I did that. I let my breathing and heart rate go wild but my mind was focused and calm. I concentrated on just the pavement as I continued to peddle. I noticed the rough surface, the tiny peddles, the cracks in the asphalt, ect. I remembered that the best way to forget about something it to think of something else. The ride to the top of the hill became almost effortless and before I knew it was coasting down the other side.

So the main thing I realized was maybe I should not worry about getting excited with my heavy breathing and heartbeat. Trying to control it only put focus and attention to it and make me more awake. I don't even know why this became an issue for me. Maybe I read something or heard something someplace?For all I know I did that all the time anyway. Its all mindset, focus, and awareness. The rest is just noise. On the next hill I did the same thing but more defined. Focus on the road, keep a calm mind, and ignore the noise. I really think this will work on my next DEILD/WILD.

This is a really outstanding post. I've even bookmarked this one.

This approach makes so much sense. I've even found that this is the best way to get to sleep -- deep breaths, focusing on nothing but breathing. Everything else is just, as you say, noise. The worst thing in the world to do is toss and turn and fret about not being able to sleep. Focusing on the problem can make the problem so much bigger.

I have the feeling that this advice (or advice much like it) applies over and over again in lucid dreaming.

While I feel that I've picked up the basics behind meditation just by incidental exposure while studying lucid dreaming, is there one particular source or practice that you've found worked best for you?

Thanks! It was just some thoughts I had. I really find that if I try to focus on my breath I feel like I can't breath. It's strange. And I have no special meditation technique. I just do the basic idea of clearing my mind and relax. (I should probably develop it though) There was one thing I used to do that was similar to the 61 point relaxation I can't remember exactly what it was... Some audio thing I downloaded. Sometimes I do a shortened version of that.

You two guys have the best workbooks I swear. I love reading about your brainstorms and ideas. That bike-ride reference was amazing Xanous. I was JUST riding my bike today, and I couldn't get up one hill. I got off and walked it lol. But you know, I remember being engulfed by my comforter in one lucid dream, and rather than fretting over it and wasting all my lucid time and energy, I just ignored it and walked out the bedroom door and it vanished. I need to do the opposite and ignore my discomfort on my next bike ride lol. But wow, what perfect timing to read your post, because I JUST had that issue with biking up that hill.

That might be useful for my lucid vision problem too. If other tips and tricks don't work, I could try focusing on one of my other senses until it comes back. This is great stuff guys, what inspiration!

Synchronicity.

Ohey! Congrats on breaking your dry spell!

Thanks! It was very anti-climatic but it was still nice. Now I can move on. lol. I did think to try TOTM but failed.

That's still nice, at least you got the chance and remembered right? I wish I'd have one soon. The tasks are really awesome!

OK so I had a really long post typed but my cats are going nuts and caused the power cord to my laptop to come unplugged. BLEH! It's been a really bad morning already.

Basically, What I was wanting to say is this: I think I will need to put WILD/DEILD on hold for awhile except for the occasional WILD attempt on the weekend. I still think I need to practice but expect to fail. MILD and DILD will be my main concentration until I can sort out why my DEILD is broken.

What happened was this morning I sort of accidently DIELD into SP. Very normal for me. It's my main way to get lucid. BUT ever since the wildly epic Cretaceous TOTM I get so freaken excited. My breathing/heartbeat gets fast. I know this is bad so I end up focusing too much attention on controlling my breathing that I wake up too much and lose it. Sageous is trying to drill it into my head that all noise is to be ignored and he is right, but when you have had so many DEILDs the same exact way over and over its hard to change. I know that I have bypassed SP a few times but I didn't know it until after the fact. It's funny because I used to find myself in SP not so long ago and I would freak out because I didn't understand it. I would fight it so hard but I would be stuck in it for a long time before I could wake up. So either I need to fight against SP like I used (just a little)to or try not to care when it happens, or try to bypass it completely. I am not sure but it's frustrating. I miss SPing out of bed and trying to stabilize and find away out of my house. It's always a fun challenge.

Anyway, I get so incredibly pissed off when I fail now. To the point that I could not go back to sleep and got up an hour and a half early. Bullocks! I am going to to have to take a step back and chill a little because the amount of frustration is beyond what it should be. I am really juiced about the TOTM but maybe I should let it go this month, and Matte87's competition for that matter. I mean I will try if I get a chance but I really want to work past this issue.

So my main tech will be MILD and DILD. I took some time and searched how to DILD for fun. I found out about VILD which is a type of MILD but more deffined. I am really jazzed to try it and I'll focus on this before bed, during WBTB and after any other awakenings (May trigger DEILD but oh well).


So new routine:

RC when I see these dream signs: any family member, when I look at the sky, when I use my phone for any reason, or anything odd in general.
Remember awareness a few time a day. I'll not try to do it as much a I have. I think my brain gets tired lol.
Meditation/Dream Yoga when possible. Alone time is an issue.
Day journal every evening regardless of recall. I think it helps awareness and trigger lucidity.
Bed time 9PM
VILD before bed and after any awakening
WBTB 3:30ish
VILD or WILD only on Saturday mornings
And of course always record DJ notes on phone.

Bout to be late for work. I just wanted to add a thought. I breifly looked over old LDs. Looks like DILD is my main LD after all so no worries, Im golden. I just have a lot of DEILDs afterward and rarely do I DEILD/WILD alone. Plus I wrote someplace that I just waited SP out. HMMMMM. OK I remember that. How to beat the excitement? Think of something else? Perhaps. This requires more thought. I remember in the past I would hit a block like this and my life was so stressfull already that I would quit. Not this time. This time I'll work through it. Gaaa! I need to leave. Stupid have-to-go-to-work. D

This sounds like a great plan! From your description, it does seem like you're feeling amped up and excited, which I guess does make WILD a tricky pain in the ass to attempt.

So is the main motivator for suspending your DEILD practice to just save yourself some frustration? How about just using DEILD as a quick "Hail Mary" any time you happen to wake up from a dream that you still remember? Just give it like 30 seconds before giving up to go take a leak? It's such a quick technique, unlike WILD, that at least you don't risk much of your time. I guess for me it's easy to let it go because my percentage with DEILD has always been so low that I can't get too upset about it.

VILD sounds interesting. It's quite similar to MILD in many ways. I didn't realize how much MILD was based on visual incubation until I re-read Laberge. It seems like the main difference between MILD and VILD is that with VILD you are building a completely new dream scene of your choosing and sticking the reality check in there. (With MILD, Laberge recommended using your most recent remembered dream, which is what I've been using.)

Sounds cool. I'm just doing a lot of MILD these days so don't be surprised to find me looking over and stealing ideas from you.

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

This sounds like a great plan! From your description, it does seem like you're feeling amped up and excited, which I guess does make WILD a tricky pain in the ass to attempt.

Yes I went back into my DJ and I will looks at my workbook later but I recorded failing a few months ago because of excitement. So, I got around it once I can do it again.

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

So is the main motivator for suspending your DEILD practice to just save yourself some frustration? How about just using DEILD as a quick "Hail Mary" any time you happen to wake up from a dream that you still remember? Just give it like 30 seconds before giving up to go take a leak? It's such a quick technique, unlike WILD, that at least you don't risk much of your time. I guess for me it's easy to let it go because my percentage with DEILD has always been so low that I can't get too upset about it.

Yes I was just surprise at how upset I was. I figured it wasn't worth it. Now that I have calmed myself, I can't just not DEILD because, like last night, it is spontaneous...a lot. I do like your "Hail Mary" idea and perhaps that was the approach I took before. I will give it 30 secs and if it happens great but if it doesn't then whatever. I think that it was happening more frequently that I wanted to master it. But focusing on it too much destroys it completely.

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

VILD sounds interesting. It's quite similar to MILD in many ways. I didn't realize how much MILD was based on visual incubation until I re-read Laberge. It seems like the main difference between MILD and VILD is that with VILD you are building a completely new dream scene of your choosing and sticking the reality check in there. (With MILD, Laberge recommended using your most recent remembered dream, which is what I've been using.)

I visualize loads of stuff fairly easily at bedtime so this shouldn't be too difficult. I actually wrote up a fake dream full of details that I will post in my DJ later. I thought it would solidify it in my mind. I am really going to give this my full attention for awhile. I will post results.

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

Sounds cool. I'm just doing a lot of MILD these days so don't be surprised to find me looking over and stealing ideas from you.

That is what Dream Views is for. The sharing of ideas so that we all benefit. Steal away. I do the same.

I'm finally catching up on reading your workbook Xanous. I feel your frustration, and I wish I could magically fix this for you. I don't think there's anything wrong at all with taking a step back and letting the DILDs do their thing. I've taken tons of breaks and sometimes it's a good thing!

However, if you were to give DEILD another shot in the near future, and you find yourself in SP but getting too excited again, what if this time you tried to focus on the back of your eyelids, incubating a scene in your mind and waiting for it to appear there. Then once it appears, open your eyes and then try to move and see where you are. A variation of this has been working for me lately whenever I hit a similar rut with the vibrations.

Just my thoughts of course, and I like CanisLucidus' "Hail Mary" idea as well. And even though it may seem like sometimes that DEILDs and WILDs are sooo much more controlled approaches over the other types, the truth is, the proper conditions prior to can be just as random and spontaneous, like you said. At least for me and many others I talk to about it. Whichever way you go, VILD, DILD, MILD, WILD/DEILD, or all of the above, we got your back. I really feel you're just going through a lucid metamorphosis, and I'm excited to see what comes out of the cocoon!

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

I'm finally catching up on reading your workbook Xanous. I feel your frustration, and I wish I could magically fix this for you. I don't think there's anything wrong at all with taking a step back and letting the DILDs do their thing. I've taken tons of breaks and sometimes it's a good thing!

However, if you were to give DEILD another shot in the near future, and you find yourself in SP but getting too excited again, what if this time you tried to focus on the back of your eyelids, incubating a scene in your mind and waiting for it to appear there. Then once it appears, open your eyes and then try to move and see where you are. A variation of this has been working for me lately whenever I hit a similar rut with the vibrations.

Just my thoughts of course, and I like CanisLucidus' "Hail Mary" idea as well. And even though it may seem like sometimes that DEILDs and WILDs are sooo much more controlled approaches over the other types, the truth is, the proper conditions prior to can be just as random and spontaneous, like you said. At least for me and many others I talk to about it. Whichever way you go, VILD, DILD, MILD, WILD/DEILD, or all of the above, we got your back. I really feel you're just going through a lucid metamorphosis, and I'm excited to see what comes out of the cocoon!

LOL yeah when I have something to say, I like to post, work it out, get opinions, let someone else learn from it. And thanks what you said is really encouraging. I like the eyelids. I remember before it got easy the first time, I used to focus on the top of my head. Either way would be a good idea. I think I had a similar thought back in my epiphany post where I said the best way to forget something is to focus on something else, but for some reason I totally forgot about it. Also, its good to remember we all get into ruts, so thanks. I think you are right about the metamorphosis. I am just going to take a chill pill and let it play out. I really want to give a WBTB VILD/WILD attempt tonight. I usually give up if it doesn't happen in about 30 minutes. Other than that its VILD with any eye out for DEILD opportunity. Because even if I screw it up I still get to learn from it.

Well I am feeling better about things. I had a WILD and did the TOTM. I am not sure but I don't think there was any SP maybe it was really mild. I do know that I had strong HI and I totally formed a dream from it. That was a first for me. So I feel pretty good about that.

Aww nice!! Congrats Xanous

It's really really cool being able to form and enter your dream, and knowing you're conscious and awake the whole time!