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Welcome to my Workbook!:welcome:
Reality Checks:
-nose pinch
-jumping up to fly
Dream Sign:
-waking up to a different bedroom
Short-Term Goals:
-Become proficient at DEILD
Long-Term Goals:
-Dream about whatever I want, whenever I want.
Lucid/Dream Recall History:
-able to recall 3-7 dreams per night on average
-30 lucid dreams a month on average
Current Technique:
-I review my lucid goals and then stare at the darkness behind my eyelids until I see the dream. (DILD)
Mantras
none
Hey Shawn! Great-looking workbook and I see that you've also got a nice dream journal going with all of the lucid dreams you've had so far. That's perfect.
I know that you're wondering whether there's anything you should change, but it looks to me like you're doing everything right. I think that sticking with one technique (especially a proven one like MILD) should be a good way to work through the next several weeks. That'll give you long enough to zero in on what works best for you and make the small adjustments necessary to find your personal flow.
You are building off of a great base. Looking forward to seeing more!
Thanks CanisLucidis! It's good to know I'm on the right track!
I believe I thought of a better mantra- "I awake. Reality check. I'm dreaming. Stabilize.". Hopefully, over time, that will get me to instinctively do a reality check anytime I wake up in a dream.
I'll also work on identifying HI more. Maybe if I become proficient at identifying HI I can identify longer dreams better too.
I'm going to be tired after my upcoming Friday night serving shift so I should sleep well tonight!
Welcome to the Intro Class, Shawn!
:welcome:
CanisLucidis is right, you're on to a really good start! The only thing I would suggest is that you do reality checks everytime you wake up, wherever you may be. You already have the idea with the mantra and reality checking when you wake up in a dream. Doing reality checks every time you wake up for real can help solidify this, and the practice will carry on into your dream, so if ever you have false awakenings, you can easily catch them! :)
Good luck, and keep us posted!
Yeah, reality checks is one of the things I can really improve on. I'll work on doing reality checks when I wake up and when I see something unusual. For example, last night when I was greeting guests as usual while serving, I smile and offer a warm greeting and guests over 12 years old smile back, but kids under 12 give me strange looks like :shock: or :? or :disconcerted:. Is simply thinking "Am I dreaming" or "Reality check" a good reality check? I need a good discreet reality check to do in public as kids would give me even stranger looks if I plugged my nose!
Anyway, last night no lucidity again.
I went to bed at around 11:20. Here are the times I woke up and some notes about what happened each time before each time I woke up.
1:40-no dreams
2:45-no dreams
4:00-I had a dream about making cookies. I forgot the eggs though.
5:54-I stayed up 1.5 hours during a WILD attempt. I ended up sleeping normally and had a dream about my composing computer program Noteworthy Composer. I seemed to be picking music for some computer project. There was a much larger variety of choices to choose from in my dream.
6:50-I had a dream where I was at work in the kitchen and I set down a rounded glass cube a bit bigger than the size of a die. Then from the cube came a female voice similar to the steriotypical fortune teller head inside a crystal ball. I forgot most of what she said but I'm sure she said "bear with me". After it was done talking I locked the cube up in a box with a complex locking mechanism.
7:55-I didn't sleep after the dream but I had some nice HI of 5 cars parking all at once at a McDonalds and of the ocean lit up during dawn.
I seem to be indecisive about which mantra to use. I started off with "I'm awake. Reality check. I'm dreaming. Stabilize." then tried "I'm awake. Reality check. I'm dreaming." then "I will have a lucid dream" then "I will have a lucid dream NOW" then "I'm dreaming". I'm leaning towards "I'm dreaming" because that's the only mantra that has given me any results.
Looking back at my dream journal my dry spell started when I changed my technique that was giving me some decent results in an effort to make it even better. At the time, I wasn't satisfied with a lucid every other day but after over a week of no lucids it doesn't sound too bad now! I'm going try to go back to my old technique that was working well for me before I changed it and hit a dry spell.
I copied the technique from my dream journal-
This technique is an all day cycle. When I wake up, I do a reality check to make sure I'm awake. Then I write my dreams in my dream journal. As soon as I done with my dream journal I think "I'm awake", enter "awake" mode and I start my day. As I'm in "awake" mode, as much as possible, I take slow breaths and in between my breaths, I think "I'm awake". As soon as my day is over, I relax and make sure my mind is clear. When I'm relaxed and I'm just about to close my eyes to go to sleep think when "I close my eyes to enter dreaming mode, anything is possible". I close my eyes and take deep breaths at first thinking "I'm dreaming" in between breaths. I take deep breaths until I feel completely relaxed. Then I switch to slow soft breaths still thinking "I'm dreaming" in between breaths. If I still have trouble going to sleep doing this I visually transport myself to the most relaxing location possible and continue with slow, soft breaths until I go to sleep. Then I hopefully lucid dream at will all night! When I think I'm awake, I do a reality check to make sure I'm awake and the cycle continues until I become proficent at lucid dreaming. If I need to work on my dream control, when I have time, I will relax and think "As I enter dreaming mode, anything is possible". I will then work on my visualization and daydreaming thinking "I'm dreaming" in between slow soft breaths. When I'm finished, I'll think "I'm awake".
:banana:
Oh wow, a lucid every other day?! :P
Your recall is great, I dont even think I can journal the dreams everytime i wake up. I usually just write them down when I finally wake up x)
Anyway, keep it up, and let us know how it turns out with the switching back of techniques ;)
Good, good. "Am I dreaming?" may not be quite enough. As for discrete reality checks, here are a few ideas:Quote:
Originally Posted by TwilightShawn
-Remember how you got here in detail. What were you doing 15 minutes ago (or before you got where you are now)?
-Look at text once, look away, check it again
-Check your hands for any oddities
One more that I have heard about but not tried myself:
-Try to breathe in through your mouth while it's closed
I know what you mean about the urge to switch techniques. I think we've all been there in some area of life. Not necessarily with LD inducement techniques, but I can think of several times in life where "something worked so well that I stopped doing it." :D Sometimes we just can't help ourselves. Chalk it up as an easy learning experience.Quote:
Originally Posted by TwilightShawn
When you go back to your technique, give it at least two weeks (and probably longer.) If it's giving you an LD every two days, that's great! I can't speak for the other staff members but I'd be thrilled to get one every other day for the rest of my life. That's over 180 LDs per year. In 5 years you'd rack up nearly 1000 lucid dreams! Do you know how many people in the world have experienced 1000 lucid dreams? Well, neither do I. But it is damn few. :)
One other note on techniques. A subtle point to remember is that the technique simply enables you to employ your ability to lucid dream. The technique only aided you. That every other day lucid dreamer? That was you, not your technique. Always think of yourself this way and with this much confidence. Not only is this true, but it will help you along as an LDer. Simply knowing that you can and will have frequent lucid dreams is so important.
Good luck and keep us up to date! You are doing great so far.
Thanks everybody for their support! Those reality checks are just what I need CanisLucidis. Thank you!:D
No lucidity last night again. I was very busy during work and very tired afterwards so my awareness and recall wasn't anywhere near it needed to be.
I went to bed at 10:30.
1:30-I had a dream that I can't remember visually but I think it was just a lot of talking. I remember hearing somebody saying "It's delirious" at the end.
3:30-Had a dream I was at a mountainous amusement park heading towards a gray roller coaster that twisted down a hill.
5:10-No recall
6:30-No recall
7:00-I just hear "Old McDonald" playing at the end
7:50-I just hear "I'm Lovin' You" playing at the end
Yeah, it was one of those nights. At the beginning of the night, I was having lots of HI of still having to greet and wait on more tables! This gradually disipated as the night went on. It actually took me a few minutes to realize I don't have to wait on these imaginary guests! So, you could say my head was spinning from it being so busy at work. I was still yawning after 9.5 hours of sleep.
Today should be better!:D
I ended my dryspell! :banana:
I went to bed at 11:30
1:30-I was in a class with a few others celebrating the end of my lucid dryspell. I didn't get lucid though. :roll:
3:10-No recall
5:05-I had a dream where I was at my old house. I thought to myself "I'm dreaming, so I might as well look around to see if I see anything.". I noticed my golf clubs where shaking. I went to see what was causing them to shake and found it was just my late dog just scratching himself next to my clubs. I woke up. I thought about adding this dream to my count but I opted not to because I had barely any lucidity, if any.
7:00-Lucid #6 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views
8:10-All I remember was, accompanied by classical music, Mozart getting congratulated for something by Emporer Joseph and being surronded by a bunch of ladies while asking where his credit card was. :confused:
Throughout the night, I was getting closer to performing my technique with a clearer mind. Now that I got some good results, it should breed more confidence which should lead to more success.
Sensational! Hey, that LD sounds really, really fun too (at least the part before the ride suddenly ended.) This will be a great base to build off of.
Also, nice job not getting thrown off by the false awakening. It's cool that you wound up just floating out of bed! Did you have to do anything to cause this? False awakenings still manage to fool me all the time so if I could learn to float around like a balloon that'd be perfect! :)
Keep up the great work!
The levitating was involuntary. I don't know what caused it. Beginners luck maybe! :)
The entire dream was pretty fun! I need to remember to stabilize though and keep my emotions under control so the dreams last longer. I'll just make a note of while I'm visualizing what I want to dream.
Great plan. Shawn, you are really doing well here. Great techniques, excellent records, and getting plenty of sleep. The fact that you roused yourself at every waking and took records is just great.
You're setting a good example, one that I in particular should pay attention to! Getting a proper amount of sleep and taking every waking seriously are important growth areas I need to focus on and you already have them dialed in.
For stabilization, my recommendation is that if you feel any instability, try to gently set aside thoughts of "Oh no, it's falling apart!" Calmly rub those hands together and give them a really good, detailed look, all the while reminding yourself that you are dreaming. Look for that detail and it will really start to pop. Allow yourself to be fascinated by the dream scene's vividness and stability (but hold on to your awareness!) I guarantee that you'll be amazed at what your mind will produce for you!
Keep doing what you're doing!
I love Disneyland dreams!!
Anyway, congrats on lucid #6! I commented in your journal.
The last couple of nights I haven't had any success. My recall has gone down too. I think I'm trying too hard and over stressing myself. I've tried to WILD a couple of times and have been unsucessful. In my most recent attempt I counted to 3800!
But, at the end of this morning I tried to loosen up a bit and have a more relaxed, positive, playful attitude without trying to lucid dream. My recall improved quite a bit with my last two dreams. I'll post my last two dreams in the dream snippets section after I post this. I think it's clear now my mindset has an important role in my lucid induction technique.
I found a free, full online version of "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming" on the internet http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ar...iddreaming.pdf
I really like this book so I'll try to read the whole thing.
I'll stick with my technique that has given me success in the past. I'll give more attention to dreamsigns to help me become lucid more.
There is one I use in discreet situations that seems to work pretty well. This typically works best if your hand is not empty. It could even be resting on something. First, ask the question: What is in my hand? Evaluate the answer and how it got that way. Then try to push one of your fingers through the object that your hand is in contact with. This should provide a pretty good reality check. Pushing your hand/fingers through things can always be a good RC in any situation.Quote:
Originally Posted by TwilightShawn
:)
It sounds like you've already figured out what to do. Stick with the already-excellent technique you're currently using. Give it at least a couple of weeks to work for you, and ideally even longer. Something that had given me a spurt of every-other-day lucids would probably have my heart forever. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by TwilightShawn
Don't forget to relax and enjoy. You've had exceptionally good results so far. Just great stuff. Now let those good results give you confidence but don't let them saddle you with unrealistic expectations or stress.
Never, ever forget that we're all just here to play! :) Always allow yourself maximum fun and minimum stress.
This is a wonderful book. Laberge is the man on lucid dreaming and "Exploring" is a really good read.Quote:
Originally Posted by TwilightShawn
One thing you should note while reading it is how advanced Laberge was able to become with one technique (MILD) that is no more complex than your own technique! Laberge eventually became a nightly lucid dreamer this way. I wouldn't be surprised if with enough practice your current technique gave you similar results!
I agree with CanisLucidus. I have to remind myself of this quite often. This is totally from just my personal experience, but It seems that I have more frequent LDs when I am not stressing over it. The more I think about it the more I believe that lucid dreaming is about mental balance. Continue the mental prep but just let the rest happen... and believe in yourself.Quote:
Originally Posted by CanisLucidus
Another lucid! I rushed the preparation for this one a bit as I grew impatient as it took me 1.5-2 hours to fall asleep. I couldn't get comfortable and my mom waking up kept me awake. But hey, a lucid's a lucid. Once my preparation for the MILD gets better, I think I will get better at remembering to stabilize and keep my emotions under control. Lucid#7 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views
As I was reading "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming", Leberge basically says the key to being able to MILD is just knowing how to remember to carry out future intentions. I'm a restaurant server by trade and often part of the job is remembering to do certain tasks when you have to multi-task. Therefore, I've learned how to remember to do future tasks while I'm awake so that's give me a lot of confidence in my ability to MILD! This is definately the technique for me.
I have another crazy Friday night serving shift in store for me so we'll see how it goes tonight! :panic:
That's a really great way of putting it. (of course it is, it's Leberge). It makes me think about folks who live a mentally sedentary lifestyle, meaning those who DON'T have to really multi-task, might find MILDs more difficult. But I like that you wrote that Shawn, because it's yet another thing we can work on in our waking life to increase the chances of having a lucid dream: practicing things in the day that help you remember to carry out future tasks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawn
I read your dream, congrats on another lucid dream! I also love saying ciao! to DCs who aren't cooperating. As far as the frustration part leading to you waking up, and I say this alot to members here, it's good to have a short list of goals that you have prememorized. And as soon as something doesn't go your way in a lucid, you can always switch your focus to something that is more conducive to success. Even if it is a simple task. Frustration can be a major lucid killer, which is why it can be helpful to plan ahead. :)
I was somehow able to randomly induce SP this morning. Not once but twice! The first one I waited too long to enter the dream. The second one about 45 minutes later I didn't make the same mistake so it resulted in...Lucid #8 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views
I focused on stabilizing more and learned how to waterbend! :D
I was impressed with your dream control and your ability to get past the SP. Did you try WILD or was it more like DEILD?
It was a WILD. I didn't try WILDing. When I try to WILD it always leads to me staying awake. I've never intentionally induced a WILD. Yet, this was my 2nd WILD and 4th SP this past 3 weeks. I wish I knew how I did it but I don't! I'll just focus on MILDing and let the WILDs come as they wish. :yeah
Interesting. Perhaps, you just happened to hold awareness long enough to get to the SP. Do you remember holding awareness during the whole time or do you have a small memory gap and then you get SP? I'm trying to help you think through what happened so you understand, so no offense, but it sounds closer to DEILD (which is basically the same a WILD). Either way I have found that "trying" too much keeps me awake. When I am successful I feel as though I was in a meditative trance until SP or strong HI then I try to enter the dream (although lately SP has not been kind to me:|)Quote:
Originally Posted by TwilightShawn
Maybe that is a better idea. MILD or WILD, it seems you able to change technique when needed. Sometime I find that better than trying to force any one technique. Regardless, you are progressing amazingly well. Keep doing what you are doing!Quote:
Originally Posted by TwilightShawn
:flyaway:Lucid #9 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views:flyaway:The lucid part of this dream was pretty short as I haven't gotten used to stabilizing while flying. Also, I seem to have difficulty recalling dialogue in my dreams when I wake up. Other than that, my recall is getting better though. :)
Congrats on #9! That's a really cool dream. The lasers coming out of your hands in my favorite! And I wouldn't worry too much about the dialogue most of the time they don't make any sense anyway. I remember on particular lucid where I was really focusing on what a DC was saying and it was mostly gibberish.
I agree! Cool dream :3
I remember one time my DC said "fifty purple bagels 125 stabfest!" in my face.
O.o
I commented on the DJ entry, but again, great job, Rocket Man. Out into space without having to experience any unpleasant high G-force!
I wish I had a tip for you on hearing / recalling DCs better. For some reason, this isn't something I've had to repair before so don't exactly know how to go about it. Definitely keep listening to em and hopefully one of these days something will stick. Everyone's DCs tend to have their own unique way of doing things so this will be a fun thing for you to discover.
I had another lucid fragment. Lucid #11 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views
My stabilizing has really become lazy lately so I'm going to reread the "Dream Stabilization and Clarity Control" tutorial here and really try to put it into practice. I don't want any more dinky lucids!
I've been dream journaling for over 5 weeks straight now though (haven't missed a day I don't think) so my recall is getting to be pretty good! I slept for 12 hours and had no less than 8 dreams, both of which are records for me! :D It seems like every night now is like a fun adventure for me as I've been having 4-6 dreams a night.
I've found that I can fall asleep pretty quickly if I just relax my body and mind as much as I possibly can. I'm just trying to find the final piece to my technique that will allow me to become lucid consistantly. I'm trying to find a mindset to sleep on. Here are the ones I've narrowed down-the mindsets I keep as I'm relaxing with the "I'm dreaming" mantra.
1-Focus on the blackness and stabilize as soon as I see something.
2-Be sure to look out for anything unusual and stabilize when I see something.
3-Constantly decifer whether I'm awake or dreaming and stabilize when I find I'm dreaming.
Which one to choose! :panic:
I had my lucid tonight with mindset #1. Mindset #2 seems to be the most traditional and effective but I haven't had any success with it. Mindset #3 quickly becomes mundane so I haven't stuck with it long enough to see if it works. I think it might be effective though if I'm focused enough.
Good good good! Way to keep up with the recall and systematically zero in on what combination of steps works best for you. And top it all off with a crapload of sleep. :D
The stabilization, I think, will come. The tutorial should be a great place to start. I think that in general what works is to draw in as much detail from the dream scene as you can and try to get a real sense of your dream body (by probing, rubbing your hands together, or whatever comes to mind). You're just going to get better and better at this the more practice you have. Getting lucid as many times as you can and just giving yourself that practice will work wonders. I notice, for example, that OpheliaBlue and paigeyemps almost never need to bother with stabilization anymore. I think that at some point this process becomes almost completely natural and automatic. (Not always there yet myself, that's for sure!) :)
I think you've got a great series of steps laid out and it's exciting to watch how much success you're having. (I, too, am a fan of the "I'm dreaming" mantra.) :) You are doing it right! And I am terribly jealous/impressed by your 12 hours of sleep.
This is a great attitude and it's completely true. Sleep really becomes something to look forward to. This helps keep the practice exciting and sets you up with loads of positive expectations. So much better than thinking of bed time as simply "warping" you to the next day when you'll have to drag your butt out of bed to go to work.Quote:
Originally Posted by TwilightShawn
I think I'm getting close to a technique that works very well for me! In my usual trial and error, (read the following carefully) I discovered that if I convince myself that I'm dreaming while I'm still awake falling asleep, I'll be convinced that I'm dreaming when I'm dreaming and therefore will instantly become lucid if I don't miss a rem period or otherwise forget while I'm unconcious. This is basically a different way for me to remember I'm dreaming while I'm dreaming so it's a MILD technique.
A couple nights ago I tried this and became instantly lucid twice in a row. I just tried to convince myself I was dreaming, was in a void and I would walk into the dream as soon as I saw any sort of imagery. This resulted in Lucid #12 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views. All I remember from the second dream was that I was at a festival or fair type place and I instantly started actively listening too and looking at the dream characters to see what my mind would create; this was a sign I was lucid. I lost lucidity and forgot everything after that though so it won't go into my lucid count. I forgot to stabilize both instances so I changed my thinking to stabilizing as soon as I saw imagery.
So, last night I tried convincing myself I was dreaming while falling asleep, trying different mantras and such. I came very close to becoming lucid twice. In one dream, I was dreaming (I think) that I felt the vibrations that signaled a wake induced dream. I woke up in a different bed though and my dream ended just as I was about to do a reality check. The second time I was playing a wii or kinect type of video game where I was throwing baseballs into the screen and the game would tell how fast I was pitching (I topped out at 57 MPH, about 10 MPH more than my top speed IRL:D). My dream ended soon after I was thinking about how cool and fun this dream was. At the end of my sleep this morning though I decided that mantras seemed to be contradicting was I was trying to do. I was trying to convince myself I was dreaming because I wasn't convinced. I need to be convinced I'm dreaming while I'm falling asleep. I think the way to do this is to distort my perception of what a dream actually is. Just like that guy in "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming"
Here's my technique as it stands right now-Quote:
Twenty years ago I attended Tarthang Tulku’s workshop on Tibetan Buddhism
at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. Rinpoche (“precious jewel”), as we called
the teacher, had been forced to leave Tibet when the Chinese Communists had
invaded, and had “just gotten off the boat” from India. He therefore spoke precious
little English. The bits of his speech that weren’t already broken were frequently
broken with laughter. I had been expecting esoteric explanations of advanced theory,
but what I got was something incalculably more valuable.
Rinpoche would indicate the world around us with a casual sweep of the hand
and portentously announce: “This... dream!” Then he would laugh some more and
pointing at me or some other person or object, rather mysteriously it seemed, he
would insist: “This dream!” followed by more laughter. Rinpoche managed to get the
idea across to us (how, I don’t really know; I wouldn’t rule out telepathy, considering
how very few words were exchanged) that we were to attempt to think of all our
experiences as dreams and to try to maintain unbroken continuity of consciousness
between the two states of sleep and waking. I didn’t think I was doing very well with
the exercise, but on my way back to San Francisco after the weekend, I unexpectedly
found my world was in some way expanded.
I lie down and get into a comfortable position. I relax and take deep breaths until my body goes numb. Then, I close my eyes. As soon as I close my eyes, I'm dreaming. I dream that I'm in a void and am waiting patiently for a scene to stabilize. The color of this void might vary in color depending how bright it was at the moment I closed my eyes. I might hear sounds that mimic the real world but I'm well aware they're part of the dream and not real. I stabilize and anchor myself to this dream. If I notice any instability (thoughts that I'm awake) I will restabilize. I stay focused on patiently waiting for imagery to appear and once it does, I take my time stabilizing it and am good to go...
I'll see how it goes tonight. Even if it doesn't work out, it's fun to do! :D
That's a really interesting approach, Shawn. Very exciting, actually!
If I understand the strategy correctly, what you've done is shift the mnemonic trigger a bit. Basically, you are convincing yourself that the very next thing you see will be a dream scene. (Which is true!) It really moves MILD into the here and now. I notice this in the mantra that you (and coincidentally, I) selected: "I'm dreaming."
Personally, I love the sound of this. It's got all of the important elements: firm belief in success, a reliable mnemonic trigger, and a logical, straightforward mechanism. Looking forward to hearing more!
No success last night. The method, specifically the looking for imagery part, really seems to affect my recall as I didn't have any dreams using it. One interesting effect it has though is that I'm slower to decifer when I'm awake when I wake up.
I only had 2 non-lucids, another one at my Grandma's house. My grandma's house is definately my strongest dreamsign (who would have thought). I'll update my opening post with that.
I really like the "I'm dreaming" mantra. It's given me such great recall and success that I'm not sure I want to part with it. So, I think I should build my technique on the base of relaxing my body and mind as much as possible and mentally repeating "I'm dreaming" in between breaths. I know this technique gives me lots of non-lucids and conservatively 1-3 lucids a week.
I know now that looking for imagery seems to harm my recall so I'm not going to add that part yet. Trying to convince myself I'm dreaming makes it harder for me to sleep because I'm thinking too much so I'm not going to add that part yet either. I know that imagining things doesn't harm my ability to sleep. In fact, it seems to enhance it. So, imagining I'm in a void should be okay to add.
I thought about getting ear plugs and a sleep mask to help me imagine I'm in a void. Earplugs seem like a pain as they don't last forever so I have to keep buying them (They would cost about 25$ a year), I would have to insert them just right every night to avoid injuring myself, and I'm not sure what effect they would have on my dreams themselves. The sleep mask though only has a one time cost of about 6$, the darkness would really help me imagine I'm in a void and it might even improve my sleep further. And it would reletively confient to use as well. So, I'm going to buy a sleep mask. Who cares what others think! :P
Here's my technique as it stands right now
I lie down, put on my sleep mask and close my eyes. I mentally repeat "I'm dreaming" in between breaths while relaxing my body and mind as much as I possibily can. I continue repeating I'm dream while imagining myself in a void until I go to sleep.
If I'm understanding correctly, it sounds like the "looking for imagery" technique jumbled your recall a bit but you still managed to recall 2 dreams? Really, that's not terribly bad. Still, if you are getting the sense that it's compromising your recall, moving on to other ideas makes sense.
Since you're reluctant to use ear plugs, is there any chance that some sort of white noise machine could help you feel like you are experiencing a void? That would be much closer to a one-time cost and you'd be very unlikely to injure yourself with it. :)
It's a real pleasure reading your workbook. It's great that you are taking the time to methodically note down your thoughts as you evolve. I think that you are going to love having this to review as you continue to refine your techniques over the months and years ahead.
I actually didn't recall any dreams with the "looking for imagery" technique last night. I recalled both dreams with the "I'm dreaming" mantra and by trying to convince myself I'm dreaming. After 7 hours of sleeping without dreams I was getting a bit desperate to dream so I figured that the "looking for imagery" part of my technique was the culprit of my poor recall, given that it has in past nights as well while I was testing it. So I ditched it and managed a couple of dreams the last 2 hours.
Personally, I don't really like the concept of white noise. My dreams are typically very silent except for dialogue so I don't associate noise with dreaming. I feel silence would better convince me I'm dreaming. While shopping I was actually looking at noise cancelling headphones. They ran out so I wasn't able to test them but they cost $50 for the Sony brand (the only type they had), an investment I'd be willing to make if they worked well.
My new sleep mask is awesome! I got "The Bathery" Luxury Padded Sleep Mask at Target for $6.22 after tax. With it on I can't see anything! I can't even tell if my eyes are closed or not. I'm looking forward to trying it out tonight!
Yeah it's good to be able to know what works for you and what does not. I think it's good to be able discern that be flexible when needed.
With that sleep mask on, I think you will have a built in reality check. If you can see and you know you went to bed with a mask on then BAM! Lucid. No worries about false awakenings. Just a thought.
Another bad night for recall! Only 1 dream and 2 fragments. Ugh!
It's okay though because looking back at my previous posts and writings here, I noticed a pretty strong pattern that tells me what I need to do.
It all comes back to this old technique I came up with a while ago (9/15):
My adjusted technique-
This technique is an all day cycle. When I wake up, I do a reality check to make sure I'm awake. Then I write my dreams in my dream journal. As soon as I done with my dream journal I think "I'm awake", enter "awake" mode and I start my day. As I'm in "awake" mode, as much as possible, I take slow breaths and in between my breaths, I think "I'm awake". As soon as my day is over, I relax and make sure my mind is clear. When I'm relaxed and I'm just about to close my eyes to go to sleep think "When I close my eyes to enter dreaming mode, anything is possible". I close my eyes and take deep breaths at first thinking "I'm dreaming" in between breaths. I take deep breaths until I feel completely relaxed. Then I switch to slow soft breaths still thinking "I'm dreaming" in between breaths. If I still have trouble going to sleep doing this I visually transport myself to the most relaxing location possible and continue with slow, soft breaths until I go to sleep. Then I hopefully lucid dream at will all night! When I think I'm awake, I do a reality check to make sure I'm awake and the cycle continues until I become proficent at lucid dreaming. If I need to work on my dream control, when I have time, I will relax and think "As I enter dreaming mode, anything is possible". I will then work on my visualization and daydreaming thinking "I'm dreaming" in between slow soft breaths. When I'm finished, I'll think "I'm awake".
Then I wrote:
I seems simple enough that I can be consistant with it every day. Hopefully, I see some results!
I had 4 lucids the next 6 nights.
Then I dropped the technique. No lucids for 10 nights.
Then I went back to the technique. But not all the way! 7 lucids in the last 25 nights.
There's more! If I look at the DILDs themsleves, I notice they gradually diminish in quality each time I go back to my good old technique. Hmm... why could this be? Also, why is it I had instant lucidity right after I created the technique but didn't after stopped and started doing it again? Did I leave something else out?
Could it be because that I've not been doing the ADA part of the technique, thinking "I'm awake" in between breaths! I think so! My best DILDs came as I was doing this! Could I not be getting instant lucidity anymore because I stopped saying "As I close my eyes to enter dreaming mode, anything is possible". I think so!
So, I think I ought to go back to my old adjusted technique (all the way this time!) and build off of that without eliminating any of the components. I guess this is why we write stuff down! I should add the date when journalling as well to make it easier to find patterns like this in the future. Also, now that I learned the importance of ADA, I should research it again and see what I could do better.
Aside from all this, with my new sleep mask, it should be easier for me to sleep in the morning when it's light outside. Since most of my lucids come during this time, I could experiment with a longer WBTB, say 2 hours, during the time when my mom waking up keeps me from going back to sleep. Since sleeping 10 hours doesn't seem to increase my lucid count more than if I sleep 8. I could sleep for 8 hours so I have more time during the day to boot. I'll try sleeping from 1-7 and from 9-11 when I work nights (which is mostly the case now). I could probably go to bed 1 or 2 hours earlier if I get bored during the night. I might even be able to sleep from 10-5 and 7-9 if I'm really tired at night and I could bump that schedule back an hour if I have to work during the day.
More quality lucids for me! :D
Looks like your fastidious record keeping is paying off! This is the way to do it: write it down, react, and adjust. Keeping these long-term written records will help keep you aware of broader patterns in your personal sleep and dreaming habits. This is IMO the most efficient way to conduct the "experiment of one" that we've all begun to find our personal best routes to lucidity.
Your analysis is so thorough here that I can only add my encouragement and compliments. Well done! :goodjob2:
I had the most unusual lucid last night. Lucid #13 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views. It was my first WILD (maybe a SSILD?) that came without any vibrations, after only 3 hours of sleep, after only a minute or two after lying down, where I had no control whatsoever, and where I was another animal throughout the entire dream. It was pretty obvious, given the context of the dream, that I was a dog even though I was never really aware of my dream body, if I had one. I found it tough to stabilize, given I didn't have any hands since I was a dog and since I had no control over the dream. It was a cool dream though, even if it lasted only 20 seconds. I found it tough to sleep the rest of the night because I kept thinking about the dream the rest of the night and I think it came at the end of a rem period, given I was very tired before the dream and very awake after.
Congrats Shawn! I read your journal. That's pretty interesting. That reminds me of my dream where I was lucid, but I was a tumbleweed. Yep, and no control whatsoever. Hahah :D
I wasn't having any success this morning. I started thinking about how natural LDers have lucid dreams. They just go to sleep and wait for the next dream to begin without any techniques and are already lucid when the dream starts. I thought, "Hey, I could do that! I'll just lie down and wait for the dream to begin. I know when I'm dreaming! (IRL at least)". So that's what I did. I just lied down and waited for my next dream to begin without any techniques. Bam! Lucid#14 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views. I forgot to stabilize again, but I think this little dream is important in my development as a lucid dreamer. I went to sleep waiting for a dream to begin so therefore I was looking for signs of a dream beginning. Because of this, I was immediately looking for dream signs as the dream began. If this technique works consistantly I might even become a natural! Fingers crossed! :D
Ahahaha well whaddya know! Raking in the lucids huh? :P
Great technique! I love the sheer confidence of it. If you've proven that you're capable of having lucid dreams, why shouldn't you be able to do it all the time? Ultimately everybody can once they acquire enough skill.Quote:
Originally Posted by TwilightShawn
Once you accept that, what's hold you back? Nothing! It's just what you're supposed to be doing when you dream. That's the ultimate "MILD", isn't it? :)
What do you mean, become a natural? :shadewink:Quote:
Originally Posted by TwilightShawn
I think I was a bit overzealous yesterday when I implied I might become a natural. I'm never going to become a natural. I night of non-lucids like last night will ground me real quick. :oops:
Last night, I was either dreaming faster than I was expecting or I would let my awareness wander off before I was dreaming. I have to be ready for and expecting a dream at any time for the method to work. I like the method though. I'll keep working at it.
Usually my weekend serving shifts are so busy and mentally exhausting that when I'm trying to go to bed that night, my mind will create imaginary guests that I feel obligated to serve! It's so wierd! It makes it tough to concentrate and be as aware as I need to be which probably explains my lack of lucids on the weekend.
I'm not so sure! You're just starting out and you're getting better all the time.Quote:
Originally Posted by TwilightShawn
It's my honest belief that nearly anybody is capable of having a lucid dream every single night. It takes work, patience, a good attitude, and a great deal of learning and self-awareness. Maybe we're not there yet but I believe that we can get there. Just don't be surprised if this takes a while! :)
Keep up the great work and the deep thinking!
Another lucid fragment! Ugh! I decided to try the waiting for imagery technique again and got this-Lucid#15 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views. I think I entered the void because my mind couldn't decide what to come up with for a dreamscape. I should have tried imagining something while spinning, running, or shouting "lights on!". I'll know better next time. It's only fitting this month ended with another pathetic DILD I suppose. Novemember 1st is tommarow!
I really want to come up with a consistant approach this month to get some more consistancy. This last month I did a lot of trial and error with techniques and I kept going to bed at different times.
Heres the plan for this month. Every day I'll try to make an effort to notice as much as I can. (ADA) I'll sleep from 11-8. I'll go to bed repeating "I'm dreaming" in between soft breaths while looking for imagery to stabilize. I know that the "looking for imagery technique seems to result in poor recall but when I do see something, it usually seems to result in lucidity. It's also a fun technique to do which will keep me motivated! Anyway, I'll write down all my dreams in my IRL dream journal. When dreaming my #1 priority is to stabilize my dreams! When my dreams are nice and stable I'll work on my dream powers and work on remembering more details from my dreams, especially dialogue. Hopefully a consistant approach will make me lucid more consistantly and will result in more stabiltity.
This month in my lucid dreams I flew on a flying saucer, I waterbended, I flew to space, and I was a dog. Those were my favorite lucids this month. Even though I really liked only 4 out of my 10 lucids this month, one memorable lucid a week doesn't sound too bad. I can't wait to see what's in store for this month!
That sounds like really great progress, Shawn. Try not to call bland lucids pathetic though! Every experience is practice, and practice makes perfect. Lol, cheesy, but true ;)
Hooray for waterbending!
I had another lucid this morning! Lucid#16 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views. This one seemed more stable, even though I forgot to stabilize again. This was probably because a DC assured me I had plenty of time, though unfortunatly his estimate was off! It was really nice to have a one minute DILD again though!
Anyway, to induce this dream I really took my time and focused on doing one breath and repetition of my mantra at a time while assuring myself that after one of the repetitions a dream would start.
I was very close to having a second lucid. In the next dream, I thought I might be dreaming but was never sure. One of my goals is to have 2 lucids in one night.
WOW So many people are racking in lucids today (or yesterday) :lol:
Congratulations :party:
I had trouble sleeping for much of the night to my mantra for some reason which isn't usual for me. The first couple of dreams I had were centered around cooking shows so I figured I was hungry too. I ate a banana. I tried thinking less during my next MILD attempt. I still had trouble going to sleep but ended up having a dream with a brief moment of lucidity; not long enough to add to my count though. My next attempt I dropped my mantra all together. Then I had a long, pretty weird lucid (3-4 minutes is long for me which this dream was!)Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views - Shawn's Lucid Dreams - Dream Journals. This is definately the weirdest lucid I've had! I figured out how fast I could fly as well! San Francisco Bay, in a straight line, is about 18 miles from my Grandma's house. I think once I was in the air, it took me about 5 seconds to get there. That comes out to 12960 MPH :lol:! It's real nice that my dreams are getting more stable! Can't wait till tonight!
Sounds like a lot of fun man! Stability is that basic key to future success! keep that up!
I had a rough week mentally this week, but I feel like I'm starting to get back on track. I had my first lucid in a while!Lucid #18 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views. I had mixed feelings about this one. It was entertaining and I was able to recall some dialogue but it was also short and it occured at my work. One of my lucid goals I've had for a couple of months has been to summon my attractive former co-worker I hardly ever get to see anymore. IRL she happened to drop by for a random visit so I have a fresh image of her at least :content:. Anyway, I think I was more aware tonight because when I was first going to sleep, I had a HH of hearing whipped cream come out of the bottle. (Earlier that night I squirted some whipped cream into my mouth which was awesome :cheeky:). I almost got lucid the next dream but not quite. Hopefully I get more lucids next week! This weekend is going to be very busy given it's veteran's day tomarrow! :o
I don't know why but this cracked me up!Quote:
Originally Posted by TwilightShawn
I've had a tough few weeks myself. Hope you don't let it get you down. Things always get better!
Nice job on the LD!
Congratulations on the lucid! We're all going to have rough weeks here and there. It's just the nature of real life. But enjoy the nice bounce back!
You know, the fact that this LD took place at your workplace doesn't strike me as a bad thing at all. If your goal was to meet up with your attractive coworker, work seems like the perfect place for the scene to be constructed. While a work dream would normally be kind of boring, the fact that you wound up in the last place that you saw this person seems to me like you were helping yourself along.
Keep it up. You're in great shape.
I had two lucid fragments today. I didn't count the first one because I was only lucid for a couple of seconds and then lost lucidity and forgot most of the dream. The second one I counted! Lucid #19 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views. The recurring nightmare I had as a child came back! Probably for the first time in 7 or 8 years so obviously I wasn't expecting it. Next time it comes I want to see where the force takes me! Anyway, I'm glad I remembered to stabilize. I think the dream ended because my REM period ended as I woke up just after 7.5 hours of sleep. I've been experimenting with dropping my mantra and simply going to sleep focusing on trying to lucid dream, no technique in particular. I seem to be having some success with this.
I think my nightmare might have possibly come from inadvertly sleeping in an unusual position-sleeping on my left side rather than my right and my arm draped over my head. I had peaceful dreams before that so it probably didn't come from stress.
Happy Veterans day everybody! Veterans day happens to be probably the busiest day for me at work as everybody else is off and we give free meals to veterans. I'm going to be serving so most likely more stress, crazy dreams, nightmares ect. for me tonight! The rest of my schedule is really easy this week though so I'm looking forward to some good dreaming! :sleepmeditate2:
Cool, glad to hear that's working! The best part of this successful experiment is that it drives home the point that techniques are merely helpers. The one who becomes lucid is you. The learning you're doing and the experience you're gathering are the things turning you into such a successful lucid dreamer. They're your foundation.Quote:
Originally Posted by TwilightShawn
Happy Veterans Day!
I had two lucids today! Not very high quality lucids but still lucid netherless. The first one I was drowsily thinking about how I was dreaming while watching a couple of cycles of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The second was a false awakening in which I immediatly became lucid. I heard somebody calling my name and I was flying (literally) around the house looking for them. Then my mom woke me up. :roll:
I've been thinking about the definition of a lucid dream. It seems pretty unanimous around the internet that it's a dream in which you're aware you're dreaming.
Then there's my lucid count. Including this morning, since joining dreamviews, I've had 7 dreams in which I was aware I was dreaming that I haven't added to my lucid count. These are all low quality, barely lucid dreams but still lucid dreams netherless. I haven't added these mostly because I feel they would be boring to read. Then there's the 20-30 lucids before dreamviews that I remember. Given the definition of a lucid dream, something tells me I should add these to my count. And maybe only posting my more interesting dreams to my dream journal will make these lower quality lucids easier to add.
Right now, my technique is simply trying my best to lucid dream as I fall asleep. It seems like if I just maintain my concentration as I fall asleep and don't miss a rem period, I enter my next dream immediatly lucid! It's worked 4 times over the last 3 days! Pretty exciting stuff! :D
Great job on the LDs! It sounds like you are doing WILD? Are doing that WBTB? I am confused what you mean by not missing a REM period. Do you mean you wake up at each REM cycle and concentrate on awareness as you fall back to sleep? Anyway, that's a great rate of success and I'm glad its working for you. And btw I rarely use mantra I find it keeps me too awake.
No, I'm still doing MILD and WBTB. I fall asleep with the mindset of trying my best to lucid dream while waiting for the dream to appear. By waiting for the dream to appear I'm basically falling asleep looking for dream signs. My technique works by remembering that I'm looking for dream signs while I'm dreaming. That's why I call it a MILD technique. I figure this technique doesn't work if I skip a REM period because I figure that I forget that I'm looking for dream signs during the REM period that I skipped.
Also, yesterday or the day before I was looking for ways to keep my mind from wandering to make the technique more effective as my technique doesn't work if my mind is on anything else by the time I fall asleep. I found this link. How To Stop Your Mind Wandering | PeakGenius.com Blog. I've been using the focus bursts technique to keep my mind from wandering.
Ah I see. I will have to check that link out when I get time. Thanks. :D
Today just got back from my dad's house where I spent 3 nights. I had 2 lucids. The first one was pretty interesting. After watching Looney Tunes with my dad just before bed I went to sleep thinking how cool it would be to enter a cartoon on tv. I think the second or third dream I had started with me watching a cartoon on tv so I immediately became lucid and was able to enter the tv! Unfortunatly I didn't have the sense to absorb much detail but I went through several rooms filled with 2d cartoon ghosts or projections. The scene was so complex with so many characters I couldn't focus on anything! The scene then shifted to a mall where my dream ended shortly thereafter. I didn't write it up in my dream journal because I couldn't remember many details.
A couple nights earlier I finally got to experience real ocean waves in a dream which I think was one of my lucid goals. The waves and the sounds were so realistic! I was lucid but I didn't add the dream to my count because I was thinking what I was seeing was HI, not a dream. I think I might have incubated this dream as well. I think I'm getting better at incubation!
Last night, I had a very weird and random lucid, unlike any dream I've ever had. I remembered enough detail that I added a DJ entry.An Unusual DIELD-Lucid #43 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views. It's really nice to have the dream journal back!
Right now my technique is simply waiting for and anticipating my next dream as I fall asleep. I find that keeping my thoughts dream oriented helps to keep my mind from wandering. I've been doing trial and error of variations of this technique, trying to figure out what works and what doesn't. I hope to refine my technique so I have a precise method that consistantly works.
My lucids are becoming short again! I need to really take my time with the hand technique of stabilization and to not get so caught up in the plot of the dream at the beginning when I need to stabilize. It's harder than it sounds! I need lots of practice.
I just had my first lucid nap! I didn't get to do much in the dream. It took me a minute or two to realize I was dreaming. I woke up in a false awakening in another bed, tried going back to sleep, felt some vibrations, and revisualized the dream with my closed dream eyes. Then, I basically just really tried to take my time with the hand examination technique. I forgot to do the verbal commands! The dream was real vivid though, maybe my REM period ended. I really want to figure out this stablization thing.
What makes me really excited though is I induced this lucid with a new mantra I created. It worked on the first try! It's a double mantra-
breath
"I try my best to lucid dream..."
breath
"by waiting for the dream."
repeat
I did have a banana and a power bar which had 100% vitimin b6, but other than that, all I had to do was focus on the mantra. I didn't even have to think about relaxing; the mantra did it for me. My body seemed to be more relaxed with each repetition. Also, the mantra takes enough thought to perform that my mind doesn't have a chance to wander. I think this mantra might be super effective! I'll have to try it out a few more times though.
This also means I've had a lucid 3 days in a row for the first time! I'll try to make it 4! :banana:
Three days in a row is phenomenal! I don't care how many bananas and power bars you have to eat, I'm 100% behind you on making it four in a row! :D
Congratulations on the first lucid nap! I still have no idea what makes some of these attempts succeed and others fail entirely. Was the time of day a factor you think?
To your continued success! :goodjob:
Wooow that's great! Congratulations! :party:
I'm not sure the time of day was a factor yesterday. It was around 11:30 I went to sleep. I was sleeping a lot that day to make up for my relative lack of sleep at my Dad's house. I think it was my sleepiness combined with the relaxing power of the mantra that did it.
I had another lucid today! You're not my girl! Go away!-Lucid #45 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views. My mantra wasn't working tonight so I dropped it on the last dream and ended up getting lucid anyway. I tried the behind the hand trick of summoning for the first time. I've got to pick somewhere less crowded :P.
About stabilizing, I starting to find that my dreams last longer if I interact more with the dream. This must be why my non-lucids last longer than my lucids. In my non-lucids I seem to be more involved with the plot of the dream. Also, my lucids typically end when I'm not interacting with anything in the dream.
I like your ideas about stabilizing. That's a great thought that makes a lot of sense. Ill have to keep that in mind next time. Awesome job on the lucids!
Again, well done on the lucids! :rockon:
Same with my dreams :) I'm pretty sure it's because the more we get involved and interact with the dream, the more we are anchored into it, and the more our attention is focused on it.Quote:
About stabilizing, I starting to find that my dreams last longer if I interact more with the dream. This must be why my non-lucids last longer than my lucids. In my non-lucids I seem to be more involved with the plot of the dream. Also, my lucids typically end when I'm not interacting with anything in the dream.
Here's to more lucids! :cheers:
I had 2 more lucids tonight. I think I've become proficent at inducing lucid dreams, seeing I've had 8 the past 8 nights. I think tonight I perfected my technique as well.
My technique:
I go to sleep actively and quietly waiting for the dream.
I find thinking about quietly waiting for the dream keeps my mind from wandering off from the task of actively waiting for the dream. If my mind wanders too much, I lose too much awareness and I don't get lucid, so I believe thinking about quietly waiting for the dream is the last piece of the puzzle that is my lucid induction technique. Now, I think I can start focusing more on becoming proficent at stabilizing.
In my lucids tonight, I just did random stuff, trying to figure out how to stabilize the dream. The first one, I ended up in the living room of what I think was my uncle's house. I tried interacting with the dream as much as possible and was surprised to find that the dream still ended quickly. After I woke up, I started analyzing my past longer lucid dreams to see if I could find a trend. I found that in my longer lucid dreams, I never stayed in one scene too long. I kept moving around, changing scenes and even my longer lucids would end when I stayed in one place for an extended period of time. Also in my shorter lucids I typically wouldn't change scenes too much. I got lucid the next dream and tried moving around more, changing scenes more rapidly. It worked! My first lucid was probably about 30 seconds. My second was much longer, a couple minutes at least. My second one ended while I was "trespassing" on a DC's property and after spying on them a bit jumped in their pool to piss them off. The pool was really shallow and I ended up lying down at the bottom which woke me up. Serves me right I guess.
I think changing scenes stabilizes the dream by continuily keeping my mind in the dream, giving it something new to create. Perhaps the dream dies when my mind doesn't have anything new to create and the dream gets stale and crumbles apart. So, maybe the key to stabilizing the dream for me is to continously give my mind a new experience to create in order to keep my mind actively keeping the dream going. It's something I will continue to test in my next lucids.
8 in a row! Thats amazing! Do you do this WBTB? Would you say its more MILD or WILD?
No, not 8 days in a row. 8 lucids in 8 days. My streak before ended at 5 days in a row. I had 2 lucids today but right now its 2 days in a row. 8 lucids in 8 days sounds more impressive though. :D It's definatly MILD with short WBTBs (bathroom and water breaks). I'm not sure the WBTB is even neccessary though. I'm glad I found something that works!
Thats still really good. Im glad you found something that works!
You are so right on about stabilizing. Isnt that pretty much what stabilizing techinques do? I like how you focus less on the tech and get more to the point of it.
Wow, congratulations! Your performance lately has just been so totally on point. Impressive and inspiring!
Yeah, I'd say that anything which causes you to "dive into" the dream and force your mind to spool up fresh, interesting material will help keep you engaged. It doesn't even necessarily have to be a new scene. Getting yourself immersed in the detail and texture of your current environment works great, too.Quote:
I think changing scenes stabilizes the dream by continuily keeping my mind in the dream, giving it something new to create. Perhaps the dream dies when my mind doesn't have anything new to create and the dream gets stale and crumbles apart. So, maybe the key to stabilizing the dream for me is to continously give my mind a new experience to create in order to keep my mind actively keeping the dream going. It's something I will continue to test in my next lucids.
I noticed that some of the very advanced LDers like Paige and Ophelia don't really even bother with stabilization. It seems like they don't worry about losing stability, and just sort of naturally sink their claws into the dream. I think that this will come naturally for you as well after some time. At first you may have to do a lot rubbing your hands together, licking the road, or whatever, but you're getting lucid so often now that you are getting lots of practice.
Seriously, just having lots of lucid dreams is such a helpful step all by itself. I think that and some focused practice will get you where you want to be in no time!
Awesome Streak TwilightShawn! Im jealous ;)
I haven't had any fully lucid dreams the last couple of days. I've still had some semi-lucid and sub-lucid dreams though. I think this is because I haven't been trying as hard because I'm more confident in my method. So, tonight I'm going to try my hardest to have a fully lucid dream and stabilize it. I'll post my results tomarrow morning!
I think I tried too hard! I only recalled one dream and two fragments. I found something that doesn't work so that's progress!
I was thinking also maybe since eliminating all thoughts is so difficult, maybe I could use my wandering mind to my advantage. Maybe passively observing my thoughts might provide signs that I'm dreaming. I think tonight I might try a technique where I go to sleep simply observing what I'm thinking. If I think about anything unusual I do a reality check.
Don't worry about trying too hard, or not hard enough. It's completely normal to have lucid spikes and drops If you find a technique that has worked for you, nothing wrong with keeping at it. Just ride the highs and the lows as if they don't even matter :)
Let us know tomorrow how your wandering mind idea worked! :)
Well my wandering mind idea didn't work out at all! I had some very random dreams but no awareness. I think I'll stick with the technique that works for me and ride out this dry spell. Thanks OpheliaBlue!
I saw the movie Inception for the first time last night. It was original and interesting-a good movie! I was eager to go to sleep after seeing it to see what kind of dreams I would have. My second dream was lucid! I'll post it to the dream snippets. A couple of dreams later I had "Bigfoot" and Lightspeed!-Lucid #52 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views. I don't know how to describe the things I was seeing in space better than "shiny shapes". I started getting a bit dizzy as well after my second burst of lightspeed!
It seems like I'm back on track as far as my induction technique. I can't wait for tonight!
What! That's awesome. Great job shawn! :party:
Thanks Paige! Its great to see you back!
Thanks, it's great to be back. I'm looking forward to reading people's workbooks. Really helps me out with my own mindset, and your experiences are interesting and a lot to learn from :D
I haven't had any lucids last two nights. No worries this time though! I've been experimenting with dropping the WBTB from my nighttime routine. I've noticed a considerable decrease in awareness in my dreams as a result. Now I know that WBTB is a crucial part of my success! A short 2-5 minute WBTB has worked well for me in the past but I might experiment with longer times to see what effect it has.
Also, my recall has been a bit off last couple of nights. I've been skimping on my dream journal too. I've only recalled two dreams last two nights. I figure with my method I'm lucid in only 5-10% of my dreams so I've found recall is crucial to my success as well. I found this link though http://www.dreamviews.com/f15/dream-...endium-132328/. It has motivated me to improve my recall! I could only imagine how much more fun I would have if I averaged 8 long, vivid dreams a night! So, I'm going try to recommit to writing down all my dreams in detail to see how good I could get my recall. That sounds like a good way to spend my WBTB.
Oh that is definitely a great idea to experiment with your WBTB time. I found mine to be optimum if I WBTB at the extremes – a few minutes OR about 2 hours. Of course it took me a while to figure it out, but even though I spent many sleepless nights with trial and error, in the end, it was all worth it.
I hope you figure out your most optimum times! :D
I broke another little dryspell with Lucid #54 tonight. I didn't do much though. It started out when I was on a roller coaster type slide in the dark. After a bit the slide turned into an actual roller coaster. I exited the rollercoaster and found myself at an amusement park. From there I just explored the dream world a bit, seeing what my mind would create. Lots of fat, ugly girls! Come on subconcious! Anyway, it was nice to have a full lucid.
I also had two lucid fragments the night before and another the night before that. It seems like all I have to do to become lucid is to just watch the blackness behind my closed eyelids. If I watch long enough, I'll wake up in the dream wondering if I'm dreaming. I think the confidence that this technique has worked for me several times also helps.
Looking around and changing the scene and flying, for me, seems to be techniques to stabilize a dream. I think 10-20 seconds of me standing around ends the dream for me.
I noticed that all of my longest lucids seem to involve flying. Flying stabilizes the dream for me by keeping my mind active in the dream, and by changing the dream scene. Flying also allows me to think about my lucid goals while I'm in the air without distraction which helps me focus once I land. I still have to look around while I'm flying though to keep my mind active.
Hopefully I can remember all of this in my next lucids.
I had 2 lucids this morning, hardly any control though. The first one I caught a false awakening. Once I got out of bed though I inadvertly started to float around the room and wasn't able to get my feet on the ground. I tried phasing though the bathroom mirror but it was solid. My second was actually a WILD. I was able to take a bit of HI and expand it into a dream I was able to enter! Once in the dream I was able to walk around, but not very fast. My body felt heavy so I couldn't fly. I need to start thinking of lucid goals for unstable lucids like these.
Congrats on the lucids! I remember having a lucid once where I floated on the ceiling and can't get down no matter what I did. Boy was that a frustrating experience :O
Anyway, I had this experience which might give you some insight:
I wanted to fly but I couldn't, and everything seemed to be in slow motion. What I did was I started to let myself sink to the ground, and imagined that when I went through the ground, I would end up kind of falling from the sky (as if there's another world underground). It worked, and I started falling from the sky, and by that time I started to fly easily. :)
Thanks Piage! I'll have to try that next time.
I had a lucid. Still short, but I was able to sucessfully stabilize. The dream stabilized when I walked outside. :? The girls were cuter too which was nice. I think my dream was short because my rem ended.
I almost DEILDed! After one of my awakenings last night, a couple seconds after I closed my eyes, I saw a dream scene I could enter. I was thinking, how could I see this if my eyes are closed! Then I decided to wake up. :doh: I think I should start to learn how to DEILD now that I know that its possible for me to do so.
I'm going to make some updates to the first post.
That's awesome! DEILD is a great technique (like all others) and the best thing about it is you can use it as a backup for when you wake up in the night without planning to do any techniques.
http://www.dreamviews.com/f49/dutchr...ld-god-134760/
Just recognizing the dream you're about to reenter takes skill, so good job for doing that :)
I had a short accidental WILD this morning which I decided to write up Darn Dog!-Lucid #58 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views. My telekenisis skills are still very weak. Next time I'll try imagining an imaginary third hand which can grab objects. Also, I need to figure out how to be more efficent in my lucids so I don't get distracted so easily from my goals and I need to get in the habit of attempting to DEILD after I wake up. Lots to work on. At least the lucids are coming at a good rate!
Another lucid this morning. I tried summoning my dog I used to have to apogolize to him for trying to get rid of him on what would be the aniversary of his death. I know, right? :roll: Of course in this dream there were tons of dogs running around in a park to make it tough on me. For a second I thought I succesfully summoned him but when I looked closer he wasn't quite the same. I at least dedicated a lucid to my dog so that makes me feel better. If he randomly shows up in a dream I'll be sure to apoligize and play with him.
The dream seemed pretty stable as I was actively trying to summon my dog. It seems like motivation must be a part of stabilization as my dream quickly ended after I stopped trying to summon him and started wandering around. It seems like in order to keep the dream stable and have to have a goal and I have to be actively persuing it.
I remembered to stay still once to attempt DEILD to it's good to see a tiny bit of progress there. I must keep at it the develop this habit.
Right now my lucid dream induction technique is simply watching the blackness behind my eyelids until I see the dream as I fall asleep. I don't want to tinker with this technique anymore! It doesn't work every time but it works enough that I seem to be averaging 5 lucids a week. I've had 15 the last 3 weeks, not counting a few fragments. I'm happy with that! :D
Shawn, great work as usual! Those are some tremendous results. :goodjob:
If I understand the technique that you use, you are first performing a WBTB of about 5 minutes. (Is that the right length?) Next, you settle back down to sleep and watch the blackness behind your eyelids. At this point, are you attempting to WILD directly into the next dream scene? Or does this simply prep you for a DILD? I had thought that most of your LDs were DILDs, but I may very well have that wrong.
It's interesting that watching the blackness behind your eyelids is the first step (out of 3) of SSILD. SSILD just extends this to the sense of hearing and touch, cycling through them in order. Perhaps it's all about the eyelid part. :)
And I agree, if you are getting 15 LDs in 3 weeks, this technique very well could be your "last stop". I frankly don't see much need for further optimization! Keep up the great work.
I consider my technique a MILD technique in that when it works properly, I wake up in a dream knowing or suspecting I'm dreaming. So, it preps me up for a DILD. For example, my LD this morning was a DILD. I don't try to WILD as that nevers works but occasionally my technique leads to what I call an "accidental" WILD. My LD the morning before was one on those. I'm not sure if my technique requires a WBTB. I think before my LD this morning I got up to get some water and two PB oreos. If it is required it's just a minute or two.
My focus now though is on stabilization and DEILDing. Induction seems to be taken care of.
I'm going to try to eliminate the WBTB tonight. I think this will help train me to eliminate the temptation to move after a dream and I'll be able to see how my induction technique works without a WBTB. As soon as possible after all dreams I'll try to picture myself back in the dream where I left off until I feel it's impossible to DEILD. I'll only open my eyes a minute after a lucid, when its too light outside to sleep, or if I really need to drink or pee.
Next time I'm lucid, I'll experiment with flying as a stabilization and teleportation technique. I think I can fly a lot faster if I spin while flying so I think I could use this as a teleportation technique if I visualize where I want to go while spinning. A lot of my longer lucids have included flying as well so I think it might help with stabilization. Also, if I'm in my desired location for my lucid goal, it will help me to actively persue that goal which should also help with stabilization. If this works I think I'll be on my way to developing a system for having consistantly stable lucids.
Sometimes I have lucids that are so unstable I'm not able to fly. I can identify these lucids by how heavy my body feels. So, I should have a secondary goal that I could perform while stationary. If I acheive a lucid goal while stationary, perhaps the stability will increase enough to where I could fly.
My next lucid goal is to swim with dolphins. I still have a vivid visual of Honolulu when I went there a couple years ago. I'll try to teleport myself there or somewhere simular. My secondary goal is to summon and flirt with an attractive lady. I'll summon using the hand behind the back technique which has worked for me several times. We'll see how it goes!
No lucids last night. It seems that WBTB is required, not neccesarilly for the technique itself, but for my own comfort. I remembered two dreams, one of which I remembered to stay still afterwards. I seem to get the urge to move my legs first if I forget to move.
I admit WBTB for me is required. Even if I have a nap later in the day and have a lucid, it feels like just a really delayed WBTB. I guess for me it just helps create that perfect balance of awake yet sleepy, and aware yet dreamy. Better luck tonight!
I love that you fly all the time :)
I had two WILDs this morning. The first one ended pretty quickly but the second was one of the longest I've had! I posted it to dream snippets because I couldn't remember it in much detail. I may have met my dream guide! I'll see if she shows up in other lucids. Going with the flow seemed to help stabilize the dream.
I fulfilled my main lucid goal this morning :D Swim with Dolphins-Lucid #62 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views. My idea of spinning while flying to teleport myself worked well! Also, I found that sort of narrating what was happening while in the dream helped with control.
My dream control seems to be gradually getting better. I've mastered flying and I'm getting better at teleporting and summoning. Telekenisis, however, is definately the weak link in my dream control arsenal. I have hardly any skills! Maybe narrating to myself what I want to happen while it's happening will help with this as it might help me expect it to happen.
If possible, I want to try to stop thinking about stabilization while in the dream to help eliminate certain schema I might have. My last two lucids have been nice and stable without any thoughts of stabilization. I still would like longer lucids however! I hear of people having 30-45 minute lucid dreams! My longest is about 4-5 minutes :P. I've been forgetting to attempt to DEILD after my dreams so I think that should be focus.
Haven't updated in a while.
I had a 5 or 6 dry spell due to a bit of stress then had 4 lucids in 2 nights and a semi lucid last night. I'm still trying to wrap my head around DEILDing. I'm gradually getting better at staying still more often but I'm still looking for that final piece which completes the technique-what to think while staying still. Maybe playing dead while picturing the last image of the dream I remember? Maybe not thinking at all? I still have lots of trial and error to do but I would appreciate some direction to get me on the right path.
Ive heard counting is a good practice while laying down. Personally, I like to sing songs in my head. Whatever keeps your mind active and your body still. It always helps to use something repetitive as well..
In a lucid dream this morning, I told a DC to tell me something important. He thought about it for a bit and gave it some thought...then he pointed to a picture of a skunk taped on the side of the house and said, "Vanhella's appearing in the park today...".
I also had a non-lucid dream exit induced dream so there was a bit of progress there. After a bit of reading up on DEILD, I starting to understand it more. To DEILD, I have to fall back asleep. Thinking too much tends to make it harder for me to go to sleep so I think to DEILD, I have to think as little as possible.
My lucidity has been streaky and inconsistant lately so I'm going to try to tweak my technique so I have lucid dreams more consistantly.
I'm going to try to go back to a mantra because I think it will help make my thinking more consistant which will help me achieve more consistant results.
My lucid induction technique-As I'm falling asleep I watch the darkness behind my closed eyelids and think "wait for the dream" in between breaths.
I chose "wait for the dream" as my mantra because I feel it will help me fall asleep looking for dream signs and therefore help me wake up in my dream looking for dream signs which is the key component of my technique. I could use this technique in my persuit for a DEILD as well. If I focus on the darkness and mantra rather than my body I stay perfectly still. Using only one technique will help keep everything simple and consistant which is what I'm after.
I'm getting real close to having a DEILD. I've been consistantly having more HH, false awakenings and non-lucid dream exit induced dreams after awakenings. Hopefully I get a DEILD soon!
"Wait for the Dream" I like that as a mantra. It's very positive: the dream IS coming for sure, you're just waiting for it. I definitely would like to see how this helps your progression to DEILD. Any results should be interesting.
The last couple of days have been topsy turvy at night. The first night I tried my mantra I had a bad day in waking life and a bad night of sleep. Yesterday, I had a good day in waking life and a good night of sleep. But, during that night, I had hardly any visual recall but good acoustic recall. I remembered the sounds of three dreams, one of which was a low level DILD fragment which I added to my count for confidence. I heard some beautiful music in my dreams even though I didn't listen to any music at all during the day; I was out golfing. I often listen to Mozart though so maybe my subconcious thought my concious mind was going through a withdrawal. The music in the first dream was in Latin or Italian which was interesting in that I don't know those languages conciously, though I often listen to music in those languages. It was in a fugal style though so I only had to know a couple of phrases for it to work.
My mantra doesn't seem to be working. I haven't noticed any increase in dream activity or awareness. My lucid this morning came after I completely dropped the mantra. I find it to be more enjoyable to go without a mantra anyway so I'm going to ditch it. I've had plenty of lucids without a mantra so I don't feel dependant on one.
I think stress might have played a role in my last dry spell so I'm going to try to keep things as stress free as I can. I'll just watch the back of my eyelids while my wandering mind does it's thing and see what happens. Maybe I'll try to visualize my fantasies.
After nearly all my dreams I remembered to stay still to DIELD. I got less excited when the background noise started to fade away and get taken over by the ringing in my ears. That's good for progress.
Last night, my game plan was just to fall asleep with the mindset of trying my best to lucid dream. No other techniques. I've had success with this in the past and wanted to see if it would work again. It did! http://www.dreamviews.com/blogs/twil...ucid-71-42455/My nightmares are somewhat quirky at times! :lol: I wasn't sure if this dream was a WILD or a false awakening.
I noticed increased awareness in another dream as well. I'll try the same game plan again tonight.
Very nice. Sometimes the simplest techniques work the best. I tend to think that it is all just a confidence trick. Building a healthy level of confidence can do wonders.
BTW that link didn't work for me. I wanted to know why you weren't sure if it was WILD or FA.
My dream started with my eyes closed and my vision faded from black to bright red. Saying that, it was probably a WILD but I didn't have the typical HH I have when I WILD so I wasn't sure. I believe I fixed the link. It was stuck in draft mode. Cheap Nightmare-Lucid #71 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views
I got real close to another lucid last night so I'm sticking with my technique.
I think I know what I need to do to DEILD. I have to keep and body and my mind real quiet to trick my body into falling back asleep. How to do that I'm not quite sure yet but I think I'll figure it out eventually. At least I have a good idea what I need to do.
Congrats...Everyones experience varies. I think that most agree that the definition of WILD is going from waking to dream without lost of consciousness. Also, I don't understand exactly the mechanics of DEILD but what you described is about all I do. Keeping the mind quiet especially after a lucid is the tricky part or me.
I suppose an update is in the works.
I've been losing a bit of progress trying to DEILD as I've been focusing on other things lately.
For stabilization I'm trying to give this tutorial another shot. Dream Stabilization and Clarity Tutorial - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views. I like systematic approaches and it seems like this would work well for me. In the past, I've been putting this technique off because when I tried it one time the dream ended. I've been intending to try this the last few nights but lately I've been getting too involved with the plot of my lucid dreams and I'm starting to consistantly forget how I'm getting lucid within the dream. The MILDs are starting to overpower the WILDs now which how thrown me off guard a bit.
As far as induction goes, I don't want to jinx myself again but I'm sticking with my game plan of falling asleep with the mindset of trying my best to lucid dream. I've had 8 lucids the last 7 days. I'm okay with this game plan if it doesn't work.
My confidence is high enough right now that I feel I'm a novice rather than a rookie now. I really want to master stabilization and DEILDing though. :armflap:
Very impressive! Congrats on all those lucids. I'm sure you'll get the hand of DEILDing soon.Quote:
Originally Posted by TwilightShawn
I was able to try the hand examination technique in a DILD last night. The dream ended shortly after I was done examining my hands.
I'm finding that my lucids always seem to end when I'm done completing a lucid goal or when I don't have any goals in mind. For example, last night my goal was to do the hand examination technique. I completed that goal and my dream ended without me having another goal in mind. I think I have to have be working towards a lucid goal at all times to keep my lucids stable.
For my next lucid goal, I'm going to try the Australia task for task of the year. I've riden a dolphin before in a lucid dream so this one seems the most attainable for me.
I haven't been as motivated lately to improve my lucid dreaming. I'm still having fun with it though and I hope to get my 100th lucid soon! The area I'm still focusing on most is stabilization. The hand examination technique doesn't seem to work that well for me.
The yelling technique worked surprisingly well for me to stabilize the dream. Have you tried that before? c:
What about something more interactive? I read that Xanous read that DarkMatters said something about making out with the dream. It may sound crazy, but I invite you to read a clip from Xanous's recent and awesome TOTY experience (I say "invite" but it's his dream.. hope you don't mind Xanous):Quote:
Originally Posted by TwilightShawn
Whole Dream. It's a really fantastic lucid dream, and a testament to taking control of your senses in the dream environment for the sake of stabilization. I highly recommend reading the whole thing when you get the chance.Quote:
I can see the yard but it is really dark and unstable still. I hear a noise and I begin to listen. It is the fan in my room. This is no good. I remember a funny post of DarkMatters where he is basically telling someone to make out with the dream to stabilize. I laugh a little and throw myself face first on the ground.
I start licking the sidewalk that leads from the street. I can feel the rough texture on my tongue. I am a little grossed out at how real it feels but I take this as a good thing. I go for more and I reach both hands out to feel the grass on both sides of the concrete. I grope and rub and feel and really make love to the dream. All of this helps a lot and I didn't even have to buy diner first.
I'm sure you have done just about everything there is, but maybe a couple suggestions?
Asking questions that you really want the answer to...Exploring the most interesting place you can think of...Testing the reality of the dream world...Making consistent DCs to interact with when you become lucid, like a lucid companion of sorts...Just go crazy with it! You are to the point where you can stretch yourself and go places no one else has gone. The fun stuff has begun ;)
Thanks for the suggestions guys! I appreciate it!
Last night, after my first awakening and a 1 minute WBTB I went back to sleep with the mindset of trying my best to become lucid. A few seconds later, I had a WILD-my 100th lucid! I remembered to try to make out with the dream so I remember licking the tv or something. I'm not sure if it helped or not. Anyway, I flew into outer space and dodged some asteroids and giant toy blocks. I tried to visit another planet but I ended up back where I started and the dream ended shortly after that. The dream lasted about a minute which is average for me.
My next dream was a DILD and I made out with a girl but the dream ended shortly after that. After I became lucid the dream lasted 15-20 seconds. My dreams always seem to fall apart if I hug and kiss a girl.
The next time I'm lucid I'll really try to focus on the details of the dream, sort of like ADA, and see if that helps.
:party: Congratulations on the 100th lucid, TwilightShawn! That's a huge accomplishment. It's great that it turned out to be such a cool dream, too. Nothing like spending the 100th lucid dream flying out into space and dodging asteroids while traveling from planet to planet! (Also: making out with a TV! :goodjob2:)
You should be very proud. Very, very few human beings accomplish what you have accomplished.
Here's to hundreds more. :meditate:
Well done!! Congrats on the lucid, and yep, what he said ^
:muffin:
I've been having trouble falling asleep lately so last night I tried counting slow breaths. It seemed to work pretty well as I feel asleep fast and I had good dream recall.
I want to try to build a consistant routine for everything. Routines for falling asleep, stabilizing lucid dreams, and waking up. The main problem I'm having is incorporating a MILD technique into a method of falling asleep quickly. I might have to go without a technique and see if I could still get lucid.
This is what I'll try tonight.
Falling asleep-Have a lucid goal in mind, lay on my back, relax, and repeatedly take slow, soft breaths. Keep a count on how many breaths it takes to induce a dream and record that number in my dream journal in my wake up routine.
Stabilizing-Say "I'm lucid". Rub my hands together as I say "Stabilize now". Try to feel the dream stabilizing. Once the dream is stable, ask myself "what's my lucid goal". Once I remember my goal, I try to get it done. If I feel the dream destabilizing, I attempt to stabilize it again.
Waking up-Try to DEILD for 20-30 seconds. Recall what I dreamed about. Write down my dream in my dream journal in as much detail as possible. Try to remember how many breaths it took to fall asleep. Repeat my falling asleep routine if I'm still tired.
I think this is a good routine. Simple and consistant. I can't wait to try it out tonight! My lucid goal is to create a thunderstorm outside.
Last night my plan didn't work too well. I can't seem go to sleep while counting or doing anything that requires mental thought. I found sleeping on my back was less than comfortable as well so I switched to sleeping on my side. I did pick up a DEILD Lucid #180 Carnival and Storm - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views but I forgot to stabilize. I think I'm going to pick another lucid goal for tonight as I don't think my goal of creating a thunderstorm is worth the effort.
Hey Shawn, congratulations on the DEILD! That's too bad about stabilization though, i'm sure you'll get to do it successfully next time. Dont worry about changing up your goals, it helps if it's something you REEEAALLY want, versus something that seems cool to you in concept only. Good luck!
Monthly update!
I got back to falling asleep fairly quickly which is nice.
My focus right now is improving my recall of all dreams (and stabilizing my lucids as well but that's another thread). I recently starting sharing some of my dreams on facebook for the few friends that are interested so I want to improve my recall so I can more accurately describe my dreams upon awakening and have more dreams to post as well. Right now my recall, when my sleep schedule is good, averages at about 1-2 full dreams per night and a few fragments. I think there's room for improvement there.
I'm feeling pretty good about tonight. We'll see how it goes! :sleepmeditate2:
Hey, that's pretty decent recall, congrats! Always remember that with dream recall, it's quality over quantity. It doesn't matter if you remember only one—if you remember it very vividly and in full detail then that's great! Keep it up :D
I've been trying to figure out how to write down my dreams as I recall them. This is even more important now that I have a competition coming up!
What seems to be working best for me right now is summarizing the dream in one sentence and then expanding upon it by adding pertinent details.
For example, my dreams from last night, both non-lucid, summarized in one sentence.
1-A guy caught a huge oyster in a lake and was trying to sell it in a store after converting it into a rocking chair.
2-I was trying to get a tv to work so I could play a baseball video game.
Then I'll expand on it
1-Two guys were at a lake when one of them disappeared. The other guy was a bit confused. Then scene changed to a store where the guy who disappeared was sitting on a giant oyster that he caught and converted into a rocking chair. The other guy came to visit him. The guy sitting said, "They love me here! They like giving me hugs!". The other guy said "We should get some of this shit, man". I'm not sure what he was referring to but the dream ended there.
2-I was in a house with my sister. From another room she was talking to me, trying make sure I was going to cook. I didn't pay attention to her because I was fiddling around with a tv, trying to get it to work. I somehow got the it to work and started playing a baseball video game on it. The first batter I had to face was a former male co-worker of mine.
Of course I seem to recall lucid dreams a bit differently than non lucid dreams so here is my latest lucid summarized in one sentence.
1-At my grandma's house I practiced my golf swing and let a polar bear chase me around in the backyard.
Expanded upon-
1-When I woke up from another dream, I noticed I was in a different house and became lucid. I decided to practice my golf swing. It was a bit more difficult than IRL because my body was heavier and the lack of gravity caused me to slide across the floor on my through swing. I decided to go outside. I was in my grandma's backyard when I saw a polar bear going towards me. I decided to tease it, staying just out of it's reach, to simulate what a near death experience might be like. It's wide open mouth came within inches of biting my head off. Though I got a nice adrenaline rush from this, it isn't something I would want to experience in real life. I decided I had enough and decided to get away from it. When I did, however, the polar bear summoned his crocodile friend from the bushes. The polar bear revealed his Australian accent when he said, "Just tryin to give ya a good time mate!". I woke up.
This seems to work well. I'm excited for the competition!
Congrats on the lucid, and that IS a good technique. Writing down keywords, or a sentence or two really helps make things quicker and prevents you from forgetting other dreams as you try to recall the current one. Some people say it is counterintuitive since you'll lose details of the current dream if you don't write them up right away. But personally think it's much better to have a number of keyworded dreams rather than just one detailed dream. My reason for it is because if you have the former, you have an idea of the different dreams you had, and you may have a bigger chance of remembering details throughout the day. :D
I picked up lucid #200 this morning! :breakitdown: The dream itself wasn't real impressive, just a false awakening I caught when I heard people running around the house. The dream was unstable so it lasted only 5-10 seconds after I became lucid.
It took me about 150 days to get my second hundred LDS. I'm getting more because I'm getting more proficient at DEILDing.
I'm going to change my username to Dolphin as soon as I receive the points I bought. I'm getting a little bored of TwilightShawn and I figure Dreamviews could use a $10 donation because it's awesome!
Congratulations on #200,TwilightShawnDolphin! That's great news. What an incredible milestone!
100 LDs in 150 days is a crazy rate -- works out to over 200 LDs a year! Pretty awesome!
Yay! A new month! A convenient time for setting goals :D
I think I'm pretty close to finally finalizing a definite nighttime routine for my dreaming activities.
Here's my game plan, lucid dreaming technique, nighttime routine or whatever you want to call it.
1.Fall asleep trying to think about as little as possible.
2.Upon becoming lucid, make sure the dream is vivid. If it's not, make it vivid by rubbing hands, looking around and focusing on details while saying "stabilize". Try to remember to keep it vivid during the dream.
3.Upon waking, attempt to DEILD by making the ringing in the ears as loud as possible.
4.If DEILDing fails, stay still and mentally back track as far back as the dream could be remembered.
5.Write down the dream in as much detail as I can going forward. Assess whether to get a snack or drink.
6.Repeat 1-5 until it's time to get up.
7.Type dreams in online Dream journal.
I'll try to stick with this routine for one month. If I find flaws with it, then I'll attempt to amend it and try it again the next month. My goal is 70 dreams and 20 lucid dreams for the month. The writing of dreams is most important though. I've got to get in a good habit of that.
Off to bed! We'll see how it goes!
Well, its been a week since I created my game plan in the post above. Its tough for me to stay motivated to do specific things for long periods of time.
The only thing I've been able to be consistent with is falling asleep trying to think about as little as possible. This is great for recall!
I find I'm only able to DILD if I'm getting plenty of sleep. Last night I was real tired but this worked to my advantage. I had a mini dry spell for a few days so I tried hard to have an LD with MILD. Instead I had an accidental WILD, my first one in several weeks.
I'm thinking I should get better at WILD to take advantage of those nights where I'm too tired to DILD.
Hi Dolphin! I hope you don't mind me posting a question in your workbook. I thought about sending a PM but here CL can chime in if he wants to or tell me if this is the wrong place to post this. I am intrigued by your wonderful success (nearly 300 LDs in your first year of trying to induce!) and I am looking to take my lucid dreaming to the next level and beyond. (I should create a workbook!! When I saw there was a workbook section I wrongly thought that it was for brand newbies...bad assumption since you are putting it to good use to fine tune what seems like a great system for you already.) I briefly scanned how you started out with your organized technique and the adjustments to it in your early DJ. I was wondering if you are just doing what is noted above in the post dated 9/30 or are you also using other components like the longer list you had in your early DJ (I looked at the oldest page and a half only). I saw one post mentioning that you had a dozen or so LDs before coming here and starting to induce them.
I don't mind questions in my workbook :). For the record, I had 232 lucid dreams in my first year with Dreamviews. After about 21 lucids I added the 19 I remembered before Dreamviews for a more accurate count.
You should create a workbook! I've used this workbook as a sort of electronic notepad where others can offer input which has helped me quite a bit.
I started to lucid dream consistently when I discovered that MILD works best for me. Then, I evolved my MILD technique through trail and error, posting my progress in my workbook.
Speaking of MILD, I find if I'm tired enough I might be able to use MILD as a WILD technique. I'm in need of a reliable WILD technique to lucid dream every day as its tough for me to DILD when I'm super tired, like after the busy nighttime serving shifts I've been getting more of.
Lately, in terms of lucid dreaming induction technique, I've just been trying to sleep thinking about as little as possible; meditating basically. I could only get lucid though if I get lots of sleep (10 hours/night). So, you might say that getting lots of sleep has been my technique lately. This is a DILD technique though, not a MILD... Hmmm...
Maybe I should go back to using my old MILD technique every night, the one I referred to in the 3rd paragraph.
My lucid induction technique-I fall asleep while keeping my mind clear and watching the blackness behind my closed eyelids.
This is a MILD technique because focusing on the back on my eyelids keeps me focused on lucid dreaming. I'm watching though, not thinking, so I should be able to benefit from good recall. If I'm too tired to have a MILD the technique might very well double as a WILD technique (Usually my WILDs come when I'm trying to MILD).
I'll try it out tonight. I'm going to be tired because I only got 8 hours of sleep last night after a super busy night work shift. We'll see if I can induce a WILD. :D
I'm going to edit the first post of this workbook. It's a bit outdated.
Thank you for all of that info! :D I am glad that you pointed out why it is a MILD technique, I was missing that fine point about how just focusing on the back of your eyelids provided you a focus on LDing. So is that all you really do when in bed when you are trying to MILD, just "fall asleep while keeping my mind clear and watching the blackness behind my closed eyelids?" I gather that you still do day work for LDing as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by dolphin
Yes, that's about it for my technique. Of course, you're doing it with the intention of waiting for the dream to start but that should be natural. I actually don't do any day work for LDing other than browsing around Dream views daily for an hour or three.
So you are doing this at the beginning of your sleep cycle...do usually doze off and then regain consciousness later in the night/cycle? So no more ADA for you? Do you WBTB? Thanks again!
Yes, I start my technique as soon as I close my eyes to go to sleep. I usually doze off and regain consciousness later in the night/cycle. With a successful MILD I usually get lucid very early in the dream or might even forget how I got lucid. I occasionally get WILDS and DEILDs with this technique as well. No more ADA for me. Sure, ADA might help me even more but I think I'm doing well enough without it. I like the convenience of not having to do day work to LD anyway. I sometimes do small WBTB (couple minutes) to get drinks and snacks. Oh, and another thing I'll mention is that I'm a restaurant server by trade. This might have trained my prospective memory a bit to help me MILD. Memory comes in handy when you're taking care of 5+ tables at once. Now that I think about it, before I discovered Dream views, I started to naturally lucid dream more once I became a server. I was even able to MILD (By falling asleep with the intention of trying my best to lucid dream) to induce a few lucid dreams before I knew what MILD was. It wasn't a search on lucid dream induction which lead me Dream views, it was actually a search about how to summon a co-worker I liked. :lol: Anyway, I think I can say I'm forced to do prospective memory exercises.
I've been in a bit of a slump as far as lucid dreaming goes. Only 1 low level lucid this past week. :? Lately, I've been relying on catching false awakenings for DILDs but I haven't been getting any.
I'm going to try to get proficient at WILD. All I have to do is combine a technique for falling asleep with one for me staying conscious. I think I'll try relaxing my body and mind to fall asleep while repeatedly counting to 100 to keep me conscious.
I might also try a new mantra, "I'll have a false awakening and catch it", to try to create false awakenings for DILDs.
I can't wait for the lucid dreaming competition to start!
I had 3 LDs last night, a WILD, MILD, and a DILD. One was a false awakening. :D
I hope my mantra continues to work to create false awakenings. That would be real nice.
So, another month, another milestone. I got lucid #300 this morning. It took me 102 days to get my 3rd hundred LDs. I think I'm at the point were I don't have practice any LD techniques anymore to get lucid. I'll try going this month without practicing any LD techniques to see how many I'll get.
I didn't do to good with keeping up with my lucid routine last month so I'll create a new one. I'll make it simpler.
My Lucid Routine
1.Fall asleep by relaxing my body and thinking about as little as possible.
2.When I become lucid, stabilize and try to stay in the dream as long as possible.
3.Write down my dreams when I wake up.
4.Repeat 1-3 until I'm done sleeping for the day
I really want to work on mastering stabilization this month but that's another thread.
Wow! Congrats on the 300th ld Dolphin! Keep it up like that! :cheers:
Last night and this morning, I slept 13 hours and had 4 lucid dreams, not including one I forgot completely. Hopefully, I've found my ultimate lucid dreaming technique.
My lucid dreaming technique
1.Go to bed and relax.
2.Tell myself what I want to do in my next lucid dream.
3.Fall asleep thinking about as little as possible.
So, basically it's just auto suggestion, a DILD technique. This helps me remember my goals in LDs as well. I just need to work on dream control and stabilization.
I'm going to try to master DEILDing. Right now, I'm reliant on catching false awakenings to induce most of my LDs. This is all fine and good for LDing a few nights a week but I want to lucid dream every night. DEILD seems to be the easiest technique for me to achieve this. I've had enough DEILDs where I feel confident I could master it eventually.
Right now, what I'm trying to do is sleep on my back and focus on staying still after my dreams end.
Time to work on getting to the next level. I'll use this thread to post my progress. :)
I had 2 DEILDs this morning. In both of them I accidentally rolled onto my back. I had been sleeping on my side because I found sleeping on my back to be a bit uncomfortable.
But, I found that if I keep my mind clear, I'll naturally stay perfectly still. That's probably the key for me. I'll stick with this and hopefully I'll continue to improve.
I picked up another DEILD this morning, again from a non lucid dream. This one, I was sleeping on my side! So, it's nice to know I can get DEILDs from sleeping on my side, which I like to do.
I'm still having trouble DEILDing from lucid dreams though. I'll work on figuring that out.
I had 3 DILDs as well this morning. My technique right now is falling asleep thinking about as little as possible.
I think I've finally found a lucid dream induction technique that's consistent enough to allow me to lucid dream every night. It's just a simple MILD technique, nothing new really, but something I hadn't really tried before.
My lucid dream induction technique
I breathe and then think "I'm dreaming", trying to keep my mind clear of any other thoughts. I repeat this this until I fall asleep.
My goal with this technique is to incubate thoughts that I'm dreaming while I'm dreaming. The only time is doesn't work is when I don't have enough mental discipline to continue the technique.
I've tried the technique for 3 nights and have had 2,3, and 1 lucids on those nights. That's with a topsy-turvy sleep schedule.
I'm hoping that this technique allows me to master lucid dream induction and I can move on to mastering lucid dream stabilization and control. That's another thread though.
My new technique hasn't been working as well as I would like. No LDs the last couple of nights.
It's so typical that I find something new that I think will work forever and then share it on here, only to have it not work anymore! I think I jinx myself.
I want a routine though for consistency and I want to set something in stone. I think I'll go back to autosuggestion. I've had really good prolonged success with it in the past. I won't lucid dream every night but at least I'll still be consistent. I prefer consistent lucidity to streaky lucidity.
My lucid dream induction routine
I lie down, mentally review my lucid goals and then fall asleep thinking about as little as possible. I do a reality check upon awakening and then summarize the dream in my dream journal in one sentence. I repeat this with every awakening until the night is over.
See, I set it in stone! I'll try this for 2 weeks and post my results here.
I'll keep track of my progress right here. I'll just edit this post as time goes by.
Night 1-1 LD (Caught FA)
Night 2-5 LDs (2 Caught FA, 2 MILD, 1 DEILD)
Night 3-0 LD
Night 4-4 LDs (2 Caught FA, 2 DEILD)
Night 5-0 LD
Night 6-1 LD (Caught FA)
Night 7-0 LD
Night 8-2 LD (2 MILD)
Night 9-2 LD (2 MILD)
Night 10-0 LD
Night 11-2 LD (1 MILD, 1 DEILD)
Night 12-0 LD
Night 13-0 LD
Night 14-1 LD (Caught FA)
So the 14 days is up. Let's see...I had 18 LDs (7 Caught FA, 7 MILD, 4 DEILD) and I got lucid 8/14 nights. That's okay, I guess. I deviated from my original technique a bit, trying out different MILD techniques. That's probably why I didn't have a FA for a week.
Analyzing what has happened this last couple of weeks I'll tweak my technique to what I think is best.
My lucid dream induction technique
I review my lucid goals and then stare at the blackness behind my eyelids until I fall asleep.
Hopefully I can stick with this and catch lots of FAs!
Congrats on all the lds! Wow, you are getting a lot of FAs, good job catching those :goodjob2:. Is the high FA ratio (including their nld occurrence) something specific to you or do you think it is a result of the technique you use?
I think it must be because of the technique I use. I've had false awakenings as far as I can remember but I think staring at the back of my eyelids might give me more of them because that is part of the SSILD technique which is reported to increase the amount of false awakenings. Also, I'll naturally listen to the sound of my ears ringing too while I'm doing this, another part of SSILD. So, SSILD is probably the key.
That makes sense then. Keep up the good work. :)
I'm going to keep track of my progress with my technique on this post. I waited a couple of days to do this so I could start on the first. OCD, you know. I had 2 LDs (Caught FA, DILD) the day before and no LDs last night. Hopefully I can consistently have FAs and LDs with this technique.
Night 1-0 LD
Night 2-2 LD (Caught FA, DILD)
Night 3-0 LD
Night 4-0 LD
Night 5-0 LD
Night 6-3 LD (2 MILD, DEILD)
Night 7-2 LD (Caught FA, WILD)
Night 8-1 LD (Caught FA)
Night 9-3 LD (2 Caught FA, 1 DILD)
Night 10-0 LD
Night 11-4 LD (4 DILDs)
Night 12-2 LD (2 DILDs)
Night 13-2 LD (Caught FA, MILD)
Night 14-0 LD
Night 15-4 LD (Caught FA, 2 MILD, WILD)
Night 16-0 LD
Night 17-1 LD (1 MILD)
Night 18-0 LD
Night 19-3 LD (3 Caught FA)
Night 20-3 LD (2 Caught FA, DILD)
Night 21-0 LD
Night 22-1 LD (1 WILD)
Night 23-1 LD (1 MILD)
Night 24-0 LD
Night 25-3 LD (2 MILD, 1 DILD)
Night 26-0 LD
Night 27-2 LD (2 Caught FA)
Night 28-1 LD (Caught FA)
Night 29-2 LD (2 Caught FA)
Night 30-2 LD (Caught FA, DILD)
Awesome numbers you're hitting there, dolphin!
Nice work catching all those FAs, too. :)
Would you like the title of your workbook changed to your current username? I know it's been a while but it would take 2 seconds if you want it done.
Thanks ~ Dreamer ~!
Actually, I would more like to change the title of my dream control and stabilization workbook to "Dolphin's DCS Workbook" but you could also change this one to "Dolphin's Workbook" as well, if you like. It would be very much appreciated!
No probs, both are updated. :)
Things have been going better than ever. But, I think there's still room for improvement as I've been missing a lot of FAs lately, and I haven't got DEILDing down yet either. So, I make going to try to improve my technique to address those two things.
My lucid induction routine
I review my lucid goals and then stare at my eyelids until I fall asleep. Upon waking up from the dream, I immediately stare at my eyelids again for 10-20 seconds, noting anything unusual I see or hear. Once I feel there's no longer a chance at a DEILD or FA, I do a nose plug, recall the dream and write it down. I repeat this upon every awakening until the night is over.
I did this last night and caught a FA after I had missed 8 or so in a row in the previous nights. Hopefully this technique will help me break personal dreaming records!
So, good month for me. My modifications didn't pan out so well so I switched back to my original technique. I'm very set on this technique as it works well for me (42 LDs this month). I'll set this one in stone. Not changing it...like...ever.
My lucid induction technique
I review my lucid goals and then stare at the back of my eyelids until I fall asleep.
I've been having a good month, only 2 nights without a lucid...I want more DEILDs though!
For OCD reasons I'm just going to organize my game plan for lucidity here. Nothing new, really.
Before the Dream-I fall asleep by directing and keeping my eyes forward. I remind myself of my lucid goal during this process, ideally making it my last thought before I go unconscious.
After the Dream-I imagine my DIELD dream scene in attempt of inducing a DIELD. If nothing, I do a reality check in case it's a FA. If nothing still, I recall and write down my dream.
I find talking myself through this process helps me stay focused. Hopefully I can figure out DEILD!
Awesome results! :)
Do you do your tech only at bedtime or do you wbtb as well?
I don't do wbtb, unless I need something.
My awareness has been low in my dreams lately, but I'm starting to have WILDs consistently. I think I'm starting to transition into a WILD dreamer.
This technique I found from trial and error worked for me last night.⤵
technique:
I wait for HI and then make the ringing in my ears as loud as possible to turn it into a dream.
As I posted in the WILD thread, I randomly saw some yellow specks last night while trying to fall asleep and decided to try to make the ringing in my ears as loud as possible to see what happened. To my surprise, like magic, this immediately led to a dream scene of my room appearing.
If this worked I could use this to DEILD as well since if I often notice HI after a dream if I'm looking for it. I've also had many other experiences where I used the ear ringing to help me WILD. This all leads me to believe that this could be a highly effective technique.
I'm excited to try this tonight! I'm hoping this isn't fools gold I've found.
I had a DEILD last night using the same technique. I think this technique will be most effective for DEILDing, though I'm still trying to find the right balance of wakefulness/sleep to induce traditional WILDs as well.
I should add a mantra. Last night I didn't do one and missed my first 3 REM periods. I think my mantra helps keep my mind in the game.
technique:
I repeat "I'm dreaming" in between breaths until I notice HI. Then, I make the ringing in my ears as loud as possible to turn it into a dream, which I do after every awakening as well.
I getting close, hopefully.
I had another DILD and another DEILD last night. One more little change to my technique:
technique:
I stare at the blackness behind my eyelids and repeat I'm dreaming in between breaths until I'm dreaming. If I notice HI, I make the ringing in my ears as loud as possible to turn it into a dream, which I do after every awakening as well.
I added the staring behind the blackness because I feel it makes it more consistent. I think I'm happy with this. Hopefully, I could ride it for a long while.
That's awesome, dolphin! Congrats!
As always, I like the simplicity yet effectiveness of your techs! :)
I want to focus again on false awakenings. I'll focus on catching as many awakenings as possible and doing an rc after those awakenings. Hopefully I can figure out what to do pre-dream to induce more false awakenings.
I'll perform the following routine until the night's over.
1.Tell myself my next lucid goal.
2.Fall asleep with the intention of catching my next awakening.
3.When I catch the awakening, I do a nose plug and make sure whether or not I'm dreaming.
4.Once I'm not dreaming, I recall and record my dream.
I'll try to post my progress here for one month.
My recall was really bad last night. I even forgot a DILD I had! I remember was the DEILD I had afterwards. I think I'll scrap the whole FA thing.
As far as my technique goes, I'll just tell myself my lucid goal and wait for the dream to start. Then, I'll do an RC whenever I wake up.
I'm not sure what your average monthly rate is, but I dropped by the other thread and saw your latest count for March was 39! This is really good dolphin! I think the process of trying out new techniques and updating your results may have contributed to your success by keeping you motivated. :)