Dragon's Workbook

Dragon's Workbook

Heyo. So, like I said, I discovered all of this back in January, but I lost interest, and haven't been focusing, so I don't really have much of a start. I feel like what I've had before will come back fast however :).

Reality Checks:
- Plugging Nose
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Dream Signs:
- Haven't focused on this yet

Short-Term Goals:
- Have a Lucid Dream within 2-4 weeks of this
- In LD, be able to stabilize and stay in the dream long enough to do something

Long-Term Goals:
- Shapeshift
- Have a successful WILD
- Have at least one LD a week
- Complete a task of the month
- Complete a task of the year


Lucid/Dream Recall History:
- My recall is on and off. Sometimes I remember and sometimes I don't. Also, for some reason, I seem to have a better recall at my dad's house than I do at my mom's house...
- When I do remember, 1-2 dreams a night
- 5 or 6 LDs so far. In one, I was able to stabilize it, and then fly for a bit. My first, it got windy, and I was able to stop the wind blowing.

Current Technique:
- DILD
- I want to focus on WILD + DEILD, but DILD is good enough to get the basics and stuff down

I'm sure that everything will come back to me soon enough. I never really kept a dream journal, and so I plan on actually starting one. I know that keeping a DJ will result in better recall however, and I am going to make an effort to keep one.

If I'm missing anything that I need to do, just tell me!

Also, for all the work and all, do we just post everything in a new post in our workbook?

Hey Dragon!

:welcome:

Workbook looks good :3 Interesting about the recall at your parents' place though. I wonder why that could be? And you're definitely right, dream journaling really boosts your recall and chances of lucidity, so get that one going!

And yep, just go ahead and make new posts in your workbook when you wanna share anything :D

Good luck, and if you have any questions, ask away!

Welcome DragonMaster21,

You are doing incredibly well for just starting!

The only thing I would say is that you will start seeing common threads on your dreams. Whatever they may be, they are called dream signs. They could be images, sounds, feelings, tastes, activities, emotions, events, plots, scenery, etc. Once you identify your dream signs, you can use your reality checks whenever you see a dream sign in waking life.
Of course, you already have the basis of reality checks down anyway, and that is to RC whenever something doesn't feel right. That is not always going to happen though, so regular reality checks are really helpful.

Anyhoo, carry on doing amazing lucid stuff! :superman:

Thanks both of you :) . When I have some more dreams written in my DJ, i'll be sure to keep an eye out for those reoccurring things.

Your workbook's looking good! You've already got a history with lucid dreaming, which gives you a great head start. You know you're capable of it and you know what it feels like. This is especially powerful for having more and more DILDs over time.

You're even doing some great stuff with dream control and flying came nice and early for you. Really impressive.

Hopefully you've gotten a start on your dream journal, but if you haven't yet, go for it! Given your strong LD history, focused dream journaling may be all it takes for the DILDs to start trickling in more frequently.

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Originally Posted by DragonMaster21

My first, it got windy, and I was able to stop the wind blowing.

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Nice!! I still struggle with changing the direction and force of wind in my dreams. :bowdown:

What was your approach to this?

Well, a few things. First, that happened a lot before in my dreams where another force controls, or doesn't allow me to do something, mostly this wind thing, so I was somewhat familiar with it. When it happened I got 'annoyed' I guess because it was stopping me from exploring a bit in the state of lucidity. I had been reading about controlling your dreams after stabilization, so I thought that I would try what I had been reading. Since it was my first LD, I had a pretty big desire to get rid of it, so then I imagined the wind ceasing to blow and everything being calm around me, and then I saw that it had stopped, but I woke up almost right afterward.
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Alright, I'm making this my first official day doing what I'm supposed to be doing xD.

Bed time: Around 9-10 pm
Wake up: 6:00 am on school days, 6-8 on non-school days

Why I want to lucid dream
-The ability to do things that aren't possible currently in the waking world
-Experience stuff that is unavailable for me, but possible in the waking world
-Explore my subconscious and possibly learn a bit more about me

Next LD Goals
-Stay lucid and in the dream for enough time to achieve some things
-Fly
-Talk to people, and see what they say if anything
-Do a little exploring

Night Routine
1. Read DJ before bed
2. Leave it open and with a pencil nearby before bed
2. Keep a DJ and add into it when I recall a dream

I'll also set up and maintain an online dream journal as soon as my recall increases.

Great tip, dude, thanks! Focusing on how calm and still the air around you feels sounds like a good way to go. I've tried powering through a couple of times (including my most recent LD) and the results are disappointing. (But usually pretty funny.)

Everything you have here for your plan looks great. Your waking and bed times should give you a good 8-9 hours of sleep every night, which should be a great baseline.

Your goals are good too. Really memorize them and think of them often! They are great for focusing the mind when you become lucid. It's sometimes a little easy to forget what you wanted to do but having a couple of very specific goals can help snap you out of any feelings of aimlessness. Of course, if the existing dream scene presents you with more interesting options, exploration is always a great option!

So things have been going well. I started up my dream journal again and started doing those reality checks during the day at times, etc. Yesterday was really the first day I remembered though. I actually had a LD last night though xD. I was in my driveway, and something (Can't remember what) made me realize that I was dreaming. I've also found that before in LDs, it's as if my brain or something decides for me because after I did the stabilizing, I just randomly thought to go jump in the air and fly. It wasn't really a decision, but I just did it. Not sure how to explain it.

I woke up in the morning, and forgot all about it. When I came into my room after getting ready for school, I remembered having it. :D

Well done on the reality checks and the DJ. And congratulations on the lucid dream! :D
Don't worry about the whole not decision thing, chances are you just didn't have complete control. More will come with practice :)

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Originally Posted by DragonMaster21

So things have been going well. I started up my dream journal again and started doing those reality checks during the day at times, etc. Yesterday was really the first day I remembered though. I actually had a LD last night though xD. I was in my driveway, and something (Can't remember what) made me realize that I was dreaming. I've also found that before in LDs, it's as if my brain or something decides for me because after I did the stabilizing, I just randomly thought to go jump in the air and fly. It wasn't really a decision, but I just did it. Not sure how to explain it.

I woke up in the morning, and forgot all about it. When I came into my room after getting ready for school, I remembered having it. :D

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Very nice, congratulations on the lucid! I'm really glad that you managed to snag it later in the day and bring that memory back.

It sounds like you didn't wake up from the dream in the end but rather lost lucidity...? Does that sound right? I ask because although it can be a bummer to wake up from a good lucid, the positive there is that you are extremely likely to carry fresh, vivid memories of the dream with you. If you can get straight to your dream journal, you can usually write it all down and get it locked in forever.

Indeed, perhaps I lost lucidity. I'm not too sure as I don't really remember it.

I've decided to work on WILD and DEILD together. They both seem like something that will work out for me. My recall has also been good. I've been remembering about a dream or two a night which is nice as before I didn't really have much recall.

Hi dragon. Congrats on the lucid! WILD/DEILD often lead to a whole other type of lucid but it can take a lot of patience. I hope you nail it though. It's my favorite but I still love DILDs. DEILDs are a great way to keep the dream going when you wake up too soon.

Thank you :)

Just a quick question about WBTB :) and a couple other things. First is: How exactly (or in a general sense) does WBTB increase chances of a LD or recall? I'd just like to know, at least, the basic mechanics.

I can tell my recall is improving. Last night, I woke up remembering many, many different dreams and fragments. Unfortunately, at the time I didn't have my DJ to write down the details. Maybe I'll start utilizing mine here on the forums :D . I've also found another person who is working on the same methods as me, and we've decided to start collaborate and share progress a bit, which I think will be both fun and helpful.

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Just a quick question about WBTB and a couple other things. First is: How exactly (or in a general sense) does WBTB increase chances of a LD or recall?

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I've just started with WBTB, but I think this way it works is when you wake up, you're tired and eager to go back to bed. So when you go back to bed after staying up for 10-30min (whatever you want) you obviously fall asleep faster. This is extremely useful for WILDs and MILDs. One thing I've noticed is the when you combine MILD and WBTB it becomes a bit like a WILD. For example, when I try to MILD after using WBTB I find (especially if I use visualisation) that hypnagogic imagery begins occurs.

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Originally Posted by DragonMaster21

Just a quick question about WBTB :) and a couple other things. First is: How exactly (or in a general sense) does WBTB increase chances of a LD or recall? I'd just like to know, at least, the basic mechanics.

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In addition to the previous answer:

When you WBTB, you are waking up at your REM period, which is usually 4-6 hours (may vary). Then you stay up for an amount of time, which also varies for everyone. What that does is make your mind awake, while your body is still kinda sleepy. When you go back to bed, you continue to sleep in your REM period (where most vivid dreams occur) but this time, you have a newly-attained awareness, and that can greatly increase your chances to realize you are dreaming.

:)

Ah, thank you for the answers :) .

I'd like to participate in the chat for the intro course, however whenever I get the PM from Ophelia about it, It's always in the middle of school so I can't make it D:

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Originally Posted by DragonMaster21

Ah, thank you for the answers :) .

I'd like to participate in the chat for the intro course, however whenever I get the PM from Ophelia about it, It's always in the middle of school so I can't make it D:

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Awww, sorry about that. What's a good time for you? I know it's hard for me to reach all time zones with just the 2 classes per week. But to let you know, there's one this friday night. I haven't scheduled the exact hour yet because I'm waiting to hear when the best time is for some folks. Know what, even better: I'll create a new poll thread for it. I'll link you in a moment.

edit: here ya go - http://www.dreamviews.com/f151/vote-...-times-138878/

Thank you :D . I understand the thing with the timezones and such ;) . My schedule is also a bit wonky ^^.

Yikes, last night did not turn out so well. I went to bed around 9:45, and set my alarm clock for a WBTB at around 2:30 (Which was a mistake I guess. I'll explain later.) I was then suddenly woken by my cat opening the door to my room at around 11. Put him out, and went back to sleep. I woke up from my alarm at 2:30, which was also very sudden. I remember reading somewhere, it's best to do WBTB when you wake up naturally at night because the alarm will pull you awake quickly and abruptly, and I think this is what happened. Stayed awake a bit and read, and then attempted a WILD. I feel asleep however...and woke up an hour later. Went back to sleep, and woke up by my alarm for school. I don't recall a single dream. I believe this is because of all the alarms :P

Any suggestions for WBTB?

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Any suggestions for WBTB?

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Hey DragonMaster21! I'm sorry to hear that your WBTB didn't go quite like you'd hoped, but I'm glad that you put in a great effort on it. I winced at the part where your cat woke you up at the wrong time. That sort of thing can be rough and do tend to throw things off a bit.

As you alluded to, I do think that WBTB is best when done naturally, although I totally understand why this just isn't possible for everyone. I tend to have a brief natural awakening after 4-6 hours of sleep, and if I'm not too tired, I'll try to use this as a WBTB.

There are a few things that you can do to make a natural awakening more likely. One is to drink some water, apple juice, or whatever you like shortly before bed. This will tend to help you wake up.

In addition, you can cultivate the habit of naturally waking by resolving to be aware during your own natural wakings and get out of bed. I relied on drinking pre-bed "pee water" for a while until I just got used to waking up around that same time, however briefly. Now, any night that I get enough sleep I tend to wake up around that time and have the choice to pursue WBTB. If I skip this natural waking, it usually means that I was simply too tired to notice it and needed the sleep anyway. We don't want to burn ourselves out!

So my best advice would first try to go to bed thinking that you will wake up at a particular time. If you got to bed at 9:45, say that you will try to wake up at 3:00. Your body may surprise you by complying! Secondarily, experiment with drinking some water or other drink before bed. Finally, if you can look into other alarm methods such as some kind of buzzer (Xanous uses his phone in airplane mode for this), you might find that this is more gentle. I have less experience with using alarms for WBTB. In my case, I simply realized that I was waking up, but simply rolling over, going back to sleep, and forgetting that it ever happened. :)

I will try that tonight :) . Thanks!

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In addition, you can cultivate the habit of naturally waking by resolving to be aware during your own natural wakings and get out of bed. I relied on drinking pre-bed "pee water" for a while until I just got used to waking up around that same time, however briefly. Now, any night that I get enough sleep I tend to wake up around that time and have the choice to pursue WBTB. If I skip this natural waking, it usually means that I was simply too tired to notice it and needed the sleep anyway. We don't want to burn ourselves out!

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I am guilty of burning myself out. I was having a hot streak there for a while. It's probably not the best idea. I find that when I don't use an alarm I tend to wake up anyway and have that same choice. Or when I am really rested I notice that I begin to wake up just before the alarm. CL is right. Waking up natural is preferred as I have better recall this way. It may just take some time to train yourself and find what works best for you.

Last night went quite well :) .

One of my dreams, I suddenly just became aware I was dreaming. The feel sort of changed, nothing weird happened to made me realize it. I woke up immediately though :\. It was nice though. First 'lucid' dream since I got back into this. I woke up though eyes closed and perfectly still, and I just imagined where I just was. It was pretty much perfect, and I could feel myself starting to transition. I can't explain what I felt, and I remember hearing a couple beeps or something, not sure xD. I didn't pay much attention to them. Towards the end, I lost concentration though. Definitely the closest I have come to a DEILD. While I am disappointed it wasn't successful completely, I am happy at my progress :).

Great job, Dragon!

I think that's a really great thing when you start getting lucid spontaneously. It means that your awareness is getting better! I often find myself getting lucid for no apparent reason, it's quite hard to explain. But I call it "dream atmosphere", where something in the dream just feels off, maybe the gravity or the air. But usually you don't really notice yourself gradually getting lucid, you just snap into lucidity at some point. You know what I mean? :D

Yes, I know exactly what you mean xD.

Anyways. I haven't really been keeping my DJ updated. That's always been something for me. I hardly wrote in my DJ. I'm going to make it my goal for the next couple weeks to write in it every night no matter what. Even if it's one word or a page, it'll suffice. I'm also getting sick again :|. Restless night last night.

Good idea. And hey, you know even if you don't recall anything, you can write in your DJ why you think that happened, and what you did the previous night that might have affected it. That way, you can evaluate your attempts better. :D

I've noticed my recall improving, even though last night was (I believe) the third night after I started writing in my DJ again. I'm now to remembering about two dreams/fragments a night. Last night, I had a long dream about a zombie apocalypse (Just in time for the 21st =P) and a cat that was riding on a dog...? I've always had the though in the back of my mind, "Why haven't I had at least one DILD or LD since I started again?" I actually have, but they were both short (as in, waking up nearly immediately). I believe this is because my recall has been so terrible, and I hadn't been writing/analyzing within my DJ. When you write in your DJ, and read it over, you start to notice more and more weird things, which leads to you realizing similar things that occur in your dreams. So overall, I'm continuing with my goal, and still writing in my DJ :) .

My recall is doing good! I'm still remembering ~2 dreams a night. However, instead of being fragments, they are getting longer and longer :)

Still working on recall, doing fine.

Started doing RCs during the day when things seem weird and/or out of place. I'm planning on finding the best times for WBTB and WILD now. I'll start at a time, say 4 hours after I fall asleep, and set my alarm then. Then, I'll do the WBTB and then WILD attempt, and see how it goes. If it goes well, I'll make a list and add '4 hours' to the list. Then, I may do the same time for the next day or two, and see how it goes. If I get similar, good results, I'll put a star by it. I'll keep doing that, and keep increasing the increment (4 hours, 4.5, 5, 5.5) until I've done enough, and see which times seemed to be most successful.

I'll also be keeping track of the times I wake up naturally, to determine my REM cycle timing.

Decided to give SSILD a try tonight :) . I'll post about it in the morning!

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Originally Posted by DragonMaster21

Decided to give SSILD a try tonight :) . I'll post about it in the morning!

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Ah yes, SSILD! The first technique that I was consistently successful with and still my primary after all this time. Good luck with your trial tonight and let me know if any questions arise. I'm looking forward to hearing how it goes!

I dont know why but SSILD is a really good method.

Well, I gave it a try :) .

I don't know what time I woke up, but I woke up naturally sometime in the middle of the night. I got up, used the bathroom, and sat in bed a bit, and then did the SSILD. I then fell back asleep. Nothing interesting happened, except I woke up, not sure how much later, and my hands were tingling. It felt like they were 'asleep' (Cutting the circulation to them =P), which is probably what happened since I slept with them under the pillow where my head was. Then I fell back asleep. I remembered a bunch of fragments though, more than usual. I think that this method would be more successful for me if I were to work on my recall again, since I wasn't able to write in my DJ for a while!

I just went over your first workbook post, and something caught my eye: you have more dream recall at your dad's than at your mom's. I have a couple of questions regarding this: who do you live with more, mom or dad? Also, when you have more recall at your dad's, does that equate to more LDs at your dad's as well?

Well, it seems to not be as prominent of an 'issue' now. I don't really feel like I have better recall at one house or the other now, but it's rather equal. I live with my mom more, but now I'm with my dad everyone weekend, which changed the schedule. At first, my first couple lucid dreams were at my mom's house, and then after I stopped focusing on LDing, I had a couple LDs at both my dad and mom's house.

Wow. I joined DVs and learned about Lucid Dreaming a year ago. Time flies!!!

Anyways, I'll be gone until January 7th. See you all then ;)

Well, Dreamviews works on my phone now, so Ill make a quick update post!

First, On the two nights ive been on mu trip, Ive remembered a ton of dream fragments. Somewhere around 5 each night. Not sure why. I went to bed earlier than usual both nights; one at 8:30 and one at 8. Also, last night I had an LD :D. One of the times I woke up, I went to the bathroom, and then sat in bed a bit, before I did SSILD. While I was falling asleep, I started thinking about something, and my dream was actaully very similar. However, this dream was short, unstable, and fuzzy, an I woke up right afterwards. A lucid is a lucid though, glad I had one :D

No updates really. I've still been working on my recall, WILD and DEILD, and recently SSILD :)

So, I had a False Awakening last night :cheeky: , which was the second one I've ever had (The first one was when I was little, I got out of bed, went to the bathroom, and got sucked down the toilet ._.). I remember waking up, and then writing in my DJ, and then going back to bad. I woke up this morning though, and that memory no longer seemed like I actually woke up. I also don't have my DJ at my dad's house with me, so it had to have been a dream xD. I've been in the habit of doing reality checks whenever I wake up, so hopefully if I get more False Awakenings, I'll remember to RC :P

Oh cool, yeah just keep up the reality check routine and it'll sink in soon :) good luck!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I haven't really had a lot to update on.

However, two nights ago, I had two Lucid Dreams :D . One was DILD and the other was DEILD/DILD :p . I went to bed at 9pm, and can't remember when I woke up at night. My throat was hurting when I woke up, so I got up to get some water. As I did this, I said some mantras and did some reality checks. After I got water, my throat still hurt, so I ate a bit of honey (which really helped ;D). I went back to bed after this. In my dream, I was on top of these large cliffs overlooking the ocean. It was a spectacular sight. Towards the end, I decided to jump into the water, so I jumped and went in. As I stopped sinking, I started realizing that the atmosphere was different, and realized that I was dreaming.

I felt myself starting to wake up, so I decided to try and DEILD. I remembered something that I had read about Xanous doing in his DJ (He imagined riding his bike, and the movement of his legs), and thought of this eagle that I had seen earlier in my dream. I started imagining that I was moving my arms like I had wings, and suddenly it felt real instead of just imagining. Then, I felt like I was waking up, but I actually woke up into a dream, but I wasn't lucid. As I leaned over towards my bedside table, a voice started whispering 'state' which for some reason made me think that something was trying to tell me I was dreaming. I did an RC, and I knew I was dreaming, but when I stood up to stabilize the dream, everything became blurry and I woke up.

I was not disappointed by the shortness because they were the first since back towards the end of December, and I nearly had a successful DEILD. I'm feeling confident that I will have more now :D

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Originally Posted by DragonMaster21

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I haven't really had a lot to update on.

However, two nights ago, I had two Lucid Dreams :D . One was DILD and the other was DEILD/DILD :p . I went to bed at 9pm, and can't remember when I woke up at night. My throat was hurting when I woke up, so I got up to get some water. As I did this, I said some mantras and did some reality checks. After I got water, my throat still hurt, so I ate a bit of honey (which really helped ;D). I went back to bed after this. In my dream, I was on top of these large cliffs overlooking the ocean. It was a spectacular sight. Towards the end, I decided to jump into the water, so I jumped and went in. As I stopped sinking, I started realizing that the atmosphere was different, and realized that I was dreaming.

I felt myself starting to wake up, so I decided to try and DEILD. I remembered something that I had read about Xanous doing in his DJ (He imagined riding his bike, and the movement of his legs), and thought of this eagle that I had seen earlier in my dream. I started imagining that I was moving my arms like I had wings, and suddenly it felt real instead of just imagining. Then, I felt like I was waking up, but I actually woke up into a dream, but I wasn't lucid. As I leaned over towards my bedside table, a voice started whispering 'state' which for some reason made me think that something was trying to tell me I was dreaming. I did an RC, and I knew I was dreaming, but when I stood up to stabilize the dream, everything became blurry and I woke up.

I was not disappointed by the shortness because they were the first since back towards the end of December, and I nearly had a successful DEILD. I'm feeling confident that I will have more now :D

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Alright! This has got me really excited. I'm glad the simple motion visualization is helping people WILD/DEILD. Congrats on the LD! I am especially impressed that the FA didn't totally fool you.

Last night I had another LD, but it was a pretty bad one ^^. I was in a bed and the atmosphere felt weird, and I knew I was dreaming, but as soon as I became Lucid. I couldnt move, and then I woke up a bit afterwards :P. These past two nights Ive had trouble falling asleep after I get up and do a WBTB, but I think its from it being too hot and noises. Tonight ill be sleeping in my own room so itll actually be quie when I wake up at night

I've been having issues with going to sleep after WBTB. Maybe try skipping a few nights and just work on recall. It should help.

I know what you mean about wbtb DragonMaster. It seems like the body feels like its time to get up so it wakes itself up. After a while, you will be able to control how that affects you. You can choose to be sleepy, or awake. At the brain level, its a matter of chemicals, and we can consciously control a lot of that action. It basically takes time and effort, as usual. :)

Hmm. I wish I could post something about improvement, but I've actually been slacking on my DJ lately. For some reason I just don't write in it when I wake up. I just need a slap or something to get it started again :P

*SLAP*

There that should do it. :D

No, I understand. Sometimes I struggle to write things down. It's usually when I am just really too tired to care. Have you been getting enough sleep?

:D . I have been getting a good amount of sleep, but I am generally groggy when I wake up in the morning. Ill try and work a little harder though ;D

you dont need to write down the whole dream when you first wake up. That killed my motivation for DJing for a long time. Try using keywords and small phrases that will help you remember for later. Then you can recall the dreams later and write out the entirety of the dreams.

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Originally Posted by DragonMaster21

:D . I have been getting a good amount of sleep, but I am generally groggy when I wake up in the morning. Ill try and work a little harder though ;D

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It might just be a motivation issue. I know I feel horribly tired sometime when I wake from the dream and it takes all I got just to input a few keywords or sentences. No worries. You'll get there.

Good idea, Chimpertainment.

Ok, I haven't been keeping up writing in my DJ at all. For some reason, I just wake up and don't write in it. I keep saying that I will try harder, but I never do. I always end up stopping. Maybe I'll try keeping an audio DJ for a bit.

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Originally Posted by DragonMaster21

Ok, I haven't been keeping up writing in my DJ at all. For some reason, I just wake up and don't write in it. I keep saying that I will try harder, but I never do. I always end up stopping. Maybe I'll try keeping an audio DJ for a bit.

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Sure, the audio DJ sounds like a great experiment to try. I've often thought that this could work really well but practical matters (Wife is going to hear if I start muttering into my phone) have convinced me to stick to the pen-and-paper tag book for now.

Hey, did you ever get the chance to try out Chimpertainment's suggestion of just writing some keywords for the dreams when you wake up? This can be surprisingly effective. After a while, writing out the entire dream took so long and became so burdensome that I just couldn't stick with doing it anymore. I wound up switching to this approach, and now it just requires at most a couple of minutes to get all the keywords down. (And that's on a big recall night.) The fact that the task becomes so easy is quite motivating (at least for me.)

I then type up the full versions online some time when things are less hectic. You could type up full versions on DreamViews later in the day when you have a break. (I use a Google Drive doc for non-lucids and post all lucids to DV.)

One motivational tip that should apply to either approach: keep the dream journal or phone on your bedside table, within immediate reach. Form a habit of not getting out of bed until you pick it up. If you wake up having to whiz really badly, that's okay -- grab the DJ and take it with you. Just make sure that you have it in your hands before you get out of bed. That should help keep it on your mind.

Let us know how your experiments go!

Well, I've been writing down the keywords instead of the full thing, which I've found a lot easier. One thing that was keeping me from writing was because I didn't feel like writing a ton about it. Keywords are perfect and I like using them :D.

The other night I nearly had a LD, or rather I did, but I don't remember what happened after I RCed. Something made me realize I was in a dream, but then my vision blacked out, and that was all I remembered in the morning :cheeky:

awesome!

Any experience with LD shows increased awareness and helps that ability to discern between waking and dream reality. So keep that up :goodjob:

and remember to remember :)
Recall is a basic of dreaming, and the better the recall, the more enjoyable the experience. Any effort given to recall will be rewarded with a greater connection to the dream. In turn, that enhances that ability to know if its a dream or not.
and lastly, memory exercises before bed are very helpful in boosting recall. The most common I've seen so far is reading your dream journal before sleeping. Any other number of memory exercises are effective icing on the cake and go a long way.

Fair Sailing :offtobed:

I had a LD last night :D. It also lasted a bit longer than what I usually have, which was pretty cool.

I was in my house looking out the window. I saw someone from my ski team skiing in my backyard. I thought that was weird, since my yard didn't have enough snow, and you just don't ski in your backyard xD. I did the nose plug RC, and confirmed I was dreaming. I had no goals though, or just didn't remember any. First I stabilized by touching a few things and spinning around. I was just happy that I had a LD, so I decided to just try and hover. I jumped, and I didn't come down immediately, but I floated down. Then, I did a few other things, and woke up.

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Originally Posted by DragonMaster21

I had a LD last night :D. It also lasted a bit longer than what I usually have, which was pretty cool.

I was in my house looking out the window. I saw someone from my ski team skiing in my backyard. I thought that was weird, since my yard didn't have enough snow, and you just don't ski in your backyard xD. I did the nose plug RC, and confirmed I was dreaming. I had no goals though, or just didn't remember any. First I stabilized by touching a few things and spinning around. I was just happy that I had a LD, so I decided to just try and hover. I jumped, and I didn't come down immediately, but I floated down. Then, I did a few other things, and woke up.

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Woooot congrats!

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Then, I did a few other things, and woke up.

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Eeehhhhh? ;D

xD lol. I meant a few other things, like I did stuff but I don't remember exactly what, not...the other way :cheeky:

Haha. I was thinking the same as paigey at first too :P

Anyway, congrats on the lucid! That's good that you had the level of awareness to question your environment, and then reality check it. That's the golden ticket to DILDs :)

So for the past week or so, throughout the day, I've been doing ADA and Reality Checks. I've noticed an increase of awareness in my dreams, and multiple times where I became more aware, but not lucid. Close though :D

I had an LD last night (or rather this morning). I went to bed repeating a mantra in my head. At 6 in the morning, my alarm went off because I forgot to turn it off from the school week ._. Then, I was still tired so I checked my phone, then fell asleep with the thought of Lucid Dreaming in my head. It was a pretty long, and generally confusing dream, but then I was in this house. Suddenly I became aware, and realized I was dreaming. I ran outside, and then I decided to RC and stabilize and stuff. I was in this huge field of lush green grass. The colors were a bit off though. Everything seemed too vibrant.

I had no balance though. Whenever I tried to walk, I fell over, and couldn't stand back up. Then, the scene faded into a black nothing. So I closed my eyes, and said "When I open my eyes, it will be light again." I think I transitioned into another dream scene though, and lost lucidity.

It was a bit frustrating when I couldn't walk though. Otherwise...yay :D

I had another LD last night :banana: .

This time, I was in school. I was going to do something (don't remember what), but decided not to. I was then like 'Oh, I can do it because i'm dreaming.' After that I was like 'OH, I'm dreaming!' I did the finger through palm RC because I lately had been wanting to because I wanted to see what it was like, but it ended up being like I expected. Then, I decided to try and fly up to the roof of the school, and I jumped, but instead of flying up, it was sort of a power jump. I floated up higher than normal, right in front of this other kid. He seemed a bit startled. When I landed, I decided to run on all fours, like some sort of animal. I decided to try and morph into a cheetah, so I started running down the hallway and imagining it. I don't know if I ever did completely though because I didn't look at myself, and woke up once I reached the end of the hallway.

Good times!

:banana:

more ldeeez pleeazz

I love the LD, man! :goodjob: The power jump (what I call "the Hulk jump") is still such a reliable method of transportation on those times when you're just not feeling the flying. Even though I love flying, I still love to occasionally spend some time getting around with the big leaps.

That cheetah transformation was really cool! I've been thinking more and more about doing some kind of animal transformation myself so I'm glad you thought to try it out. Too bad you didn't find yourself a mirror. :D

Congratulations!

I had four lucid dreams last night, and one lucid dream the night before :D . Last night was also weird because nearly everything happened in the same place, but it was all different dreams. I was at a mansion. One dream I was inside and at the pool of the mansion. One was in a dark room where I jumped out a large window into a huge lake. One was in the front yard. Finally, one was in the cookie factory that was in the basement.

You can read about it in my DJ :3

Holy cow!!! Congrats :party:

Gimme some of dat lucid pls.

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Originally Posted by DragonMaster21

I had four lucid dreams last night, and one lucid dream the night before :D . Last night was also weird because nearly everything happened in the same place, but it was all different dreams. I was at a mansion. One dream I was inside and at the pool of the mansion. One was in a dark room where I jumped out a large window into a huge lake. One was in the front yard. Finally, one was in the cookie factory that was in the basement.

You can read about it in my DJ :3

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Insane! Four in one night!! Never in my life, man... I am very, very impressed! :goodjob:

Whatever you did... do it again! And then teach me how you did it! :lol:

I'll check out that DJ entry...

Ugh...

I don't see why I can't stay motivated Dx. It's summer =P. Last summer, I started staying up late and going to bed late and stopped focusing on LDing. I'm doing the same thing so far this summer. This year I've been on and off about lucid dreaming, and I keep telling myself I'll stay motivated, but I never do. I really, really need to stay motivated this time. I have some problems with my family. I sleep in the basement. It's amazing. It's nice and cool even in the summer and isolated. The bad part is that I hear every sound from upstairs. I hear every step, voice, sound, whatever. My sisters and mom have a bad habit of staying up really late, like midnight. This, in turn, keeps me up. It's impossible for me to fall asleep with them talking and being so loud and stuff. I've told my mom multiple times, but nothing ever comes of it. I think that I should get some earplugs for sleeping at night.

Edit: Just found some and am going to order them. Apparently they block out sound really well, and a few people have slept through their alarm while wearing them. Should be just the thing :D

Hey DragonMaster, good idea about the earplugs! Another thing you should also do is write up a list of goals you wanna achieve and maybe tape them to your wall or something. It will also be very motivating to put up posters or drawings of lucid inspiration in your room, even just being in their midst can influence your lucidity.

Good luck!

I find that the best thing for motivation is find a couple of important goals and then get really, really excited about. Remember that lucid dreaming is an opportunity to do absolutely anything.

If you could do absolutely anything you wanted, what would it be? Okay. Now go have a lucid dream and do that. Like Paigey said, writing down your goals and even taping them to the wall is great. Anything that you can do to keep them in your mind and simply appreciate how amazing it would be to achieve them.

You should also consider checking out the Task of the Month. The basic tasks involve enough work to be a challenge yet are still within reach, even for a short lucid dream, if you're feeling rusty, etc.

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Originally Posted by DragonMaster21

Edit: Just found some and am going to order them. Apparently they block out sound really well, and a few people have slept through their alarm while wearing them. Should be just the thing :D

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Wow, sounds amazing! Hopefully they're not so effective that you could sleep through a smoke alarm or anything! :shock:

Thank you both, really :) .

Also, the earplugs are out for delivery now... :D . I'm actually really excited by the thought that I'll be able to go bed when I want to tonight and actually be able to sleep...Lucid dreams, here I come! :lol:. Edit: They were delivered :cheeky:

So I've really been working on ADA, RCs, etc, and have noticed an improvement in awareness in my dreams. Over my 10 day vacation, twice I became lucid, but the dreams were not vivid at all so I didn't stay lucid. I wasn't really expecting to remember any vivid or long dreams because I havent been keeping a DJ. I'm starting a DJ now though and will do WBTBs, with varying times because I'm also going to start working on WILD.

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Originally Posted by DragonMaster21

So I've really been working on ADA, RCs, etc, and have noticed an improvement in awareness in my dreams. Over my 10 day vacation, twice I became lucid, but the dreams were not vivid at all so I didn't stay lucid. I wasn't really expecting to remember any vivid or long dreams because I havent been keeping a DJ. I'm starting a DJ now though and will do WBTBs, with varying times because I'm also going to start working on WILD.

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Nice, Dragon, congrats on the two lucids! That's cool that you were able to hit them and get nice dream content even though you weren't journaling.

If you're having an issue where LDs aren't vivid enough when you start out, I'd recommend making it a goal to draw out the detail in your next lucid. Look at your hands, examining the detail of your palms close-up, the texture of the walls, the floor, just everything around you. Take the time to marvel at how detailed it is. Your brain will comply by providing you the detail that you need. That'll keep you hooked into the dream and let you have a longer experience.

Keep up the good work, man!

Thanks :D

Last night I couldn't sleep very well. I only remember dreaming about golf, but it's hard to explain how it felt. I know that I slept, but I woke up often, and when I fell asleep it didn't feel like very deep sleep at all. Tonight will be better!

Tonight I'm going to be starting the WBTBs. I think I'll start with 4.5 hours into sleep to start out with, and then try later times.

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Originally Posted by DragonMaster21

Tonight I'm going to be starting the WBTBs. I think I'll start with 4.5 hours into sleep to start out with, and then try later times.

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Sounds perfect! Keep good records of each attempt and you'll uncover a ton of great information about what works best for you.

Also, experimenting with WBTB length can also make a big difference. Some people do fine with a short WBTB while others get the best results with 30 minutes to an hour. Some people even go longer! The main thing is that your record keeping will help teach you your own personal formula.

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

Sounds perfect! Keep good records of each attempt and you'll uncover a ton of great information about what works best for you.

Also, experimenting with WBTB length can also make a big difference. Some people do fine with a short WBTB while others get the best results with 30 minutes to an hour. Some people even go longer! The main thing is that your record keeping will help teach you your own personal formula.

Good luck!

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I didn't even think about the length of the WBTB, just the time. Thanks for reminding me of that :) . I'll be sure to keep the length of time in mind in addition to when I wake up!

So last night I set an alarm to wake me up 4.5 hours after I went to sleep and I planned to do a 10 minute WBTB. I ended up waking up an hour and a half early, and then I got up and checked some stuff, and went back to sleep. I slept right through my alarm somehow... :confused: and had a long dream that I ended up only remembering parts of.

Starting DJ Again! 1 weird long dream - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Then, at 6:30 in the morning, my alarm went off. I checked the time I had set it to go off, and it was 3:45 am. :huh:

I had a short moment of lucidity in a dream last night that ended up with me falling off some stairs.

Pretty much, I spontaneously combusted became lucid at the top of a staircase. I decided to go down the stairs for some reason, and as I went I got a bit dizzy and the dream became less vivid. I remember having conversations about spinning around and how that sometimes can help. I started spinning, but I was still going down the stairs, and I lost complete control and balance, and fell down, then woke up.

Next time I won't spin on the stairs :P

I has two lucids dreams these past two nights :D . Both were pretty cool (in my opinion).

First dream: Middle School Teacher Teaching me how to WILD - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views
Second dream: Parents Telling me that I Couldn't Possibly be Lucid Dreaming - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

I completed goals in each of these dreams :D . They both were also more vivid and aware than my past LDs.

Wow great job! You have been having lucids quite a bit lately. And the best thing is that you've managed to do your goals :D i wish you more lucids, keep it up!

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Originally Posted by DragonMaster21

I has two lucids dreams these past two nights :D . Both were pretty cool (in my opinion).

First dream: Middle School Teacher Teaching me how to WILD - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views
Second dream: Parents Telling me that I Couldn't Possibly be Lucid Dreaming - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

I completed goals in each of these dreams :D . They both were also more vivid and aware than my past LDs.

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Great job, DragonMaster!! :happy: Congratulations on all of these recent lucids and for managing to follow through and achieve your goals!

Very impressive! I'll check out those DJ entries as well.

School is starting...which means homework and spending the entire day in classrooms, but it also means a stable sleep schedule! My sleep schedule during summer is just too hard to predict. I get into this mindset of 'I can go to bed as late as I want because I can wake up whenever I want'. With school, I'll be going to bed earlier, and waking up at the same time each day, which I think will really help :D

Also, I was just going through, reading the ToTY attempts...Just too funny xD

I agree! Your new, more stable sleep schedule should really help you here. Just be sure to get enough sleep... I sometimes remember staying up too late in school and that alarm clock's time didn't change. Sufficient sleep is vitally important for dream work (not to mention school performance, health, and a generally happy life.)

I guess it's obvious that I am a big, big fan of sleep. :)

Ha ha, there's some funny stuff in those TotY attempts... it's funny how much crazy stuff can happen when people start desperately going for difficult (IMO) multi-step tasks like that. Lots of fun!

Good luck and enjoy the new sleep schedule!

Sleep is always good :D . I know what you mean about the alarm clock...especially last year. It was difficult to get out of bed when the alarm went off, and certainly didn't remember any dreams those nights.

In light of the school year and new sleep pattern, I'm going to go ahead and redo the list that I had on the first post of this topic.

Reality Checks:
-Nose Plug
-Finger Through Hand

Dream Signs:
-Need to focus on this one!!!

Goals:
-Wingsuit
-Skydive...without deploying a parachute
-BASE jump, also without a parachute
-Shapeshift
-Complete ToTM Basic
-Complete ToTM Advanced
-Complete ToTM Bonus
-Go to space
-Visit another planet
-Throw potatos at every DC I see
-Wreak havoc at a sophisticated event
-Run around naked
-Screw around with DCs
1. Go into houses and turn furniture upside down
2. Ask them weird questions
3. Give them a present, such as a rotten banana or melted popsicle
4. Poke them continuously
5. Say weird things to them
6. In general, be a weird, weird guy to DCs

-Find and notice dream signs
-5 lucid dreams by the end of September
-10 WBTBs by the end of September
-Consistent sleep pattern

Long-Term Goals:
-ToTY
-1 lucid a week
-3 WILDs by the end of the year
-3 DEILDs by the end of the year

Lucid/Dream Recall History:
-My recall is good when I get enough sleep and keep a journal. I need to start keeping a dream journal again, and make sure I go to bed early enough to get a decent amount of sleep.

Current Technique:
-DILD with ADA, WBTB
-DEILD
-Going to start focusing on WILD as well

Alright then, that's that :D . I'll probably copy this into my dream journal to read over before I go to sleep, during WBTBs, and when I'm writing down my dreams to remind my self of goals. I'm going to go through and read the beginner class stuff, just to give myself a refresher and maybe pick something up that I may have been missing. I guess the first step now is to calculate when I should go to bed, and get up, and start a DJ :)

Also, I had a short weird lucid dream last night. Pretty much, it felt like a video game, and my actions controlled the game. Suddenly, I was aware, and never thought to myself I was dreaming, but knew I was. It was weird because I would move my body, then the game would move, but my view was of the game, if you get what I mean. I ran around for a bit, being a derp but not really doing much, then I woke up. I tried to DEILD back in, and I went back into the same dream scene, but I wasn't lucid. Then, there was a huge, smooth, cliff that people were climbing up, so I decided to climb up myself. I don't remember anything after that.

That's great! I love the specificity in your goals too. And congrats on the lucid :)

Congratulations on the lucid, DragonMaster! And I love the new goals write-up. You've got a lot of fun stuff laid out for yourself.

Have a great time! I see a lot of DCs getting a lot of potatoes chucked at them in the near future. :)

So last night I did a WBTB about 5 or 6 hours after going to bed. I got up, went to the bathroom, and then pulled up the computer. I started doing some art stuff for a while, and stayed awake for about 40 minutes. I attempted to WILD when I went back to bed. At one point, I started to drift into sleep while being aware, but my body had a slight jerk and snapped me out of it, so I went back to bed. The WBTB helped with recall though, and I remembered two dreams, but not a lot of the details:

Dream 1: Playing Legend of Zelda style game. I'm in a room, and my friend says, "Is that a __________?" (Don't remember what he said) then something appeared and I said, "Yes!"

Dream 2: I did a lot of traveling in this one, but at the end I was in my house. My sister was sleeping and it was already around 2:30 PM. Some teachers came over to say hi, and wanted to talk to my sister, but she was sleeping. They ended up leaving and my sister came down and was angry that she couldn't talk to the teachers. I said, "It's already 3:30 in the afternoon! You should have been awake by now."

I think that 40 minutes may have been a bit of a long WBTB for me. In past experience, waking up, going to the bathroom, and sitting in bed for 5 or 10 minutes was enough to help improve recall for that night.

I've really noticed an increase in dream recall lately. I haven't been writing down much, but I've been paying more attention to my dreams. I'll start writing them down tonight...or rather tomorrow morning when I wake up ;)

Good to hear! I myself have been getting kinda lazy with writing them down, though I try to. I also make sure that even if I end up not writing them down, that i still make the effort to recall them.

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Originally Posted by paigeyemps

Good to hear! I myself have been getting kinda lazy with writing them down, though I try to. I also make sure that even if I end up not writing them down, that i still make the effort to recall them.

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I've been doing that. Instead of writing them down, I've been trying to recall as many details as I could while laying in bed. I think writing them down will be more helpful though, especially for looking for dream signs.

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Originally Posted by DragonMaster21

I've been doing that. Instead of writing them down, I've been trying to recall as many details as I could while laying in bed. I think writing them down will be more helpful though, especially for looking for dream signs.

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Very true, and also just for rememberance in the future when you wanna reread old dreams :D

Had a lucid dream last night, yelled my ABCs, forgot the other tasks, and failed at Quidditch! :banana:

Became Lucid, Couldn't Remember ToTM - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

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Originally Posted by DragonMaster21

Had a lucid dream last night, yelled my ABCs, forgot the other tasks, and failed at Quidditch! :banana:

Became Lucid, Couldn't Remember ToTM - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

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!! Congrats :D :D :D Even with the Quidditch fail, it's still a very good attempt and definitely not a waste of lucidity.

Woo, 3 lucid dreams over the weekend!

Skiing...In a dream - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views
Long and Vivid Lucid Dream, for me! - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Woww!! Three in one weekend? Congratulations, DragonMaster! I'll have to check these out!

Ugh, I need to focus more :facepalm:

One of the problems that is coming back is not being able to go to sleep when I want because of my family. My room is in the basement so every noise made by my sisters and mom upstairs travels down in to my room. Earplugs help, but they don't block out the sound completely, and when I'm going to bed at night, I need it to be silent and any talking is especially annoying (even when I'm awake, hehe). I end up sitting on the computer listening to music until my sisters have gone to bed or until I'm too tired and I just use earplugs.

Like I've said a million times before, I just got out of the flow. I stopped journaling, then I stopped doing ADA, RCs, etc, then my recall started to go down, and now I'm pretty much where I'm started. I want to get back into lucid dreaming, like said a million times before as well, but I think I want to focus more on WILD (and DEILD) and WBTB. WILD has been something that has interested me and I would like to explore it more.

I guess we will see what happens, but I'm getting fed up...with my lazyness :P. It's been nearly two years since I discovered lucid dreaming, and I haven't made much progress towards where I (and most everyone) wants to be. I know a lot more about LDing and I can give good advice, but I can't actually stick with doing any of it for myself. I think it's time to actually take this seriously and focus, focus, focus!!! My next steps will be to get something for a dream journal and start journaling, then to do ADA, WBTB, DILDs, etc, and then to start trying out WILD.

I'm going to treat this like I did nearly two years ago when I was a starter, and go to sleep every night excited and hoping for a lucid dream. Seriously, the first two months I started lucid dreaming, I went to bed at 8:30 each night because I was so excited about getting a lucid dream. Obviously, it started working because I had my first lucid, then one a week later, and another one soon after.

Rant over :cheeky: . This will be fun :bliss: . :thanks: for all the help that you all have given me so far. I really appreciate it!

Wow, I haven't posted here in a while =P.

In my English class my teacher is doing a lot of stuff with the creative process, and she says that noticing things is part of it. An assignment we have is keeping a What I Noticed journal. We have to have 2 entries each week and it's basically like an awareness journal. We just need to take some time during the week and sit down and just be aware of ourselves and what is around us and write down what we notice. I really like it so far and it'll help me with my awareness in general. Next trimester, my English class is Literature of Self and Place or something, like Emerson, Thoreau, etc, and I think that'll be really interesting for self-awareness as well.

I feel like I have been making some progress with my lucid dreams. When I find myself lucid, I'm able to stabilize it and make it more vivid. I've also been succeeding in some DEILDs too which is really exciting and I'm very happy about that :D . School started two weeks ago and with that I started having a more consistent sleep schedule. Bed around 9:30 or so and wake up at 6. This has helped with recall quite a bit.

I've really been trying to visit the forum everyday and to practice and stay motivated. I've been reading through the dream journals as well. I think I'm going to start chatting on IRC soon. For some reason whenever I go to chat, I feel nervous. I don't know why :roll:

Going to start figuring out my optimal WBTB time after sleeping for x hours and amount of time to stay awake.

WBTB Time
4 hours 30 minutes
5 hours
5 hours 30 minutes
6 hours
6 hours 30 minutes
7 hours

WBTB Time to stay up
5 minutes
increments by five to
45 minutes (maybe an hour)

I'm just not sure how to go about testing the WBTB times for all the different wake up times. Any suggestions?