James' Workbook

Lucid Dreaming is Easy

"Stop thinking and just do it"
(http://www.dreamviews.com/f12/silver...eaming-117015/)
(http://www.dreamviews.com/f11/how-ta...eaming-120910/)

My Method

Reality Checks:
I randomly use R.C. whenever the thought of lucid dreaming pops into my mind like in this guide: http://www.dreamviews.com/f11/best-t...2/#post1973553. I use the finger through the palm R.C. as well as the nose plug R.C. In addition, every morning I reality check to prevent false awakenings!

My Mantra:
I want to repeat this mantra before bed, while in the theta state to ensure that it becomes part of my subconscious.
"I Dream Aware"
This guide is great for outlining how to do this: http://www.dreamviews.com/f12/buildi...6/#post1971436.

WBTB:
Currently working on finding the ideal time after bed and the ideal amount of time to stay awake for..

WILD:
I will be using WILD as my method of induction until I achieve a WILD. I have tried many times with no success yet but I WILL have a WILD before I die :D

My Goals

Short-Term Goals:
- Increase dream recall: 3/night (Almost there, usually remember 2, sometimes 3)
- Create habit: R.C. after waking up every morning
- Create habit: Remain perfectly still upon wakeup
- Lucid Dream #4 (Increased Awareness)
- Fly in a LD (Complete)

Long-Term Goals:
- WILD method of LD at will.
- Finish a list of 100 awesome things to do in a LD which I am still making.
- Finish the LD task of the month.


Dream Journal: http://www.dreamviews.com/blogs/balinup13/

Hey balinup, looks like you're off to a great start!

I share those same dreamsigns with you: my old school, and work. In fact, the LD i had yesterday morning started off when I fell asleep thinking about work, and I immediately began dreaming about being at work. That triggered lucidity because I suddenly remembered that I had just been thinking about work in bed not moments ago. Anyway, just thought I'd share.

So you're improving your recall, that's great. I'm guessing it's the WBTB and journaling that helping? And that night time routine guide is really helpful, it sets up your mind for lucidity from the start. Just remember when you do the reality checks, to step up your level of awareness at the same time. That's the key. ;)

Yeah well I have only tried WBTB a couple times with no lucididty, but I am wondering how long I should really stay up? :D I am pretty sure it is mostly the journaling that has helped! Also, could you clarify what you mean about stepping up my awareness at the same time?! I am very faithful to the r.c.'s but have had no luck! Thanks so much for the class by the way, this is such a great idea.

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Originally Posted by balinup13

Yeah well I have only tried WBTB a couple times with no lucididty, but I am wondering how long I should really stay up? :D

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That's a really great question. There was actually an experiment performed by the Lucidity Institute on that, and I believe the most successful result was staying up for 1 hour. What I've found personally is anywhere between 30min-1hour. That's just one factor though, it's also important to have the right amount of sleep prior. Again, I believe 5-6 hours of sleep before the WBTB was the popular result. I'll have to find it again to make sure about that. Me personally, I need 6-7 at least. Gotta have that beauty sleep haha.

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I am pretty sure it is mostly the journaling that has helped!

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Journaling definitely helps. I try to make myself record the lucid AND the nonlucid ones. It's great to go back and reread your own dreams too. When ever I have a "lucid dry spell" I just go back and read over my past lucid entries, and sometimes that's just enough to put my mind back in gear for more lucids.

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Also, could you clarify what you mean about stepping up my awareness at the same time?! I am very faithful to the r.c.'s but have had no luck! Thanks so much for the class by the way, this is such a great idea.

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I could go on and on about this, so for the sake of tl:dr, I'll just link you to the awareness lesson on DVA. The meditation section's not finished yet, but the rest is gold: http://www.dreamviews.com/f151/begin...on-iii-135003/

Give that a read over when you have the time, then ask me if you have any questions about it. :)

Just wanted to drop by and give you a warm
:welcome:

Gonna try the new bedtime ritual tonight and for the next 2 weeks! What ya guys think?! :)

Sounds great! One thing I wanted to add though. I suggest maybe writing up a list of things you want to do once you get lucid (lucid goals). You can read them every once in a while, and if you can, read them before bed. This will boost your motivation, as well as give you something specific to do once you get lucid, rather than panic and come up blank on things do :)

Recalled 3 detailed dreams last night!! which was pretty cool:D still no lucid yet:p okay paigeyemps I will start that list :) Thanks!

Excited for another night to try my hand at LD! Tonight I am going to try WBTB again but only for 20 minutes because last time I tried 30 minutes and could not fall asleep really after that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by balinup13

Excited for another night to try my hand at LD! Tonight I am going to try WBTB again but only for 20 minutes because last time I tried 30 minutes and could not fall asleep really after that.

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Good thinking. Making precise little notes like this in your workbook is a great idea. It not only helps us keep up with what you're trying but will also serve as an excellent record for you to look back over in the months ahead. It's always tougher than I expect to remember the details of what I tried several weeks ago without a written record!

I also really like your attitude. Every night is an opportunity to go for an LD (or at the very least get a really cool non-lucid written down!) So much better than thinking of sleep as this great black void that instantly transports you to the next day's worries.

This great attitude and your attention to detail will take you far!

Thanks Canis:) I tried WBTB last night for twenty minutes and it still felt like too long..I think 15 might be perfect because I was still yawning at 15 minutes but at 20 I felt way too awake and it took me an hour to fall back asleep. On the other hand I had 3 really cool dreams. It feels like when I do WBTB I always remember my dreams better for some reason. Another thing I wanted to add was that I had another freaking dream about lucid dreaming! In one of my dreams I stole this guy's lucid dream journal and was reading his entries!!! WHYYYYYYY!!? ahh so close:D anyway let me know what you think:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by balinup13

It feels like when I do WBTB I always remember my dreams better for some reason.

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Yeah, same experience here. Your awareness is just so much higher after a WBTB and you're heading into those late, long REM cycles. That tends to give you your all-around best shot at recall. My recall dipped a bit in the past two days, but the post-WBTB dreams managed to hold on.

Having said that, as your recall improves, you'll find lots of interesting stuff happening before the WBTB as well. Early stuff can be a bit more abstract, choppy, and illogical at times, but the vast majority of dreams are at least somewhat cool.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by balinup13

Another thing I wanted to add was that I had another freaking dream about lucid dreaming! In one of my dreams I stole this guy's lucid dream journal and was reading his entries!!! WHYYYYYYY!!? ahh so close:D anyway let me know what you think:)

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Oh man, I totally get this! I really do. All I can say is that this really does happen to pretty much everybody as they get into this! It's equal parts hilarious and agonizing. All you can do is get a laugh out of it, forgive yourself, and emphasize to yourself to look for these signs. Take the time to review that dream and at that portion, really emphasize what you should have noticed in order to become lucid. The more mnemonic tripwires you can leave for yourself, the better!

One of my old "close calls" when I was starting out was a dream where I was hanging out in a place called "The Lucid Sports Bar". Every television in the place showed people doing all of these amazing sports that you can only play while having a lucid dream. I just sat there watching, imagining how wonderful it would be if only I could have a lucid dream like these people. :lol: I mean, come on! Reality check, maaaan!

Seriously, though, it's all good stuff. This means that the idea of becoming conscious in a dream is permeating your thought processes. When this kind of thing happens, you are getting very close. You're changing in all the right ways. :goodjob:

OH MY GOD...okay guys here's a long post I need your help..
Either I had my first lucid dream, or I just had the most realistic lucid dream experience within a normal dream..I can't seem to decide so i need your help!
First off, I can't remember how I became lucid to start it off. And this brings me to my first question
1) Is it possible to not remember all of the details in your lucid dream especially if it was a loooong one?
Also, is it possible to perform a reality check in a dream that works but somehow you keep dreaming? Because mid way through the dream i counted my fingers and holy shit, I counted six.. they were kind of blurry as i counted though and it seemed as if my hands just added a finger as I was counting? Either way I said oh my god I am still dreaming.

Now for the dream..from the beginning of this dream I knew I was dreaming. I really don't remember how but I did. It starts out in a warehouse with my roomate and my friend. I first off know that I want to fly and I begin to use the trick that I read about with lucid flying by focusing on an object. I swear I would focus on an object and then zoom over to it throughout the warehouse. Then for some reason I don't remember what happened in between this and the next scene. In the next scene I am flying overhead my friends who are driving in a car. They drive off a cliff and I fly down into the water that the car is sinking into and pick up the car to allow my friends to get out of the car. Then as we are in the water swimming I have the desire to fly back up on top of the cliff. At first I can't do it for some reason. Then after a second I focus on the top of the cliff and fly up to it. I take off from the top of the cliff and fly through the sky showing off my skills to my friends. Throughout this entire dream by the way, I am telling myself "oh my god I finally had a lucid dream I can't believe this". Then I forgot what happens between this and the next scene. In the next scene, I am in a glass elevator that is within a dam on an island. I remember flying around the island and really thinking this elevator is cool because it takes us up and down the waterfall of the dam. Next scene..haha. I am at a hospital area waiting in a line and I remember that I read that expectations in lucid dreams allow for something to happen so i test this. I really want a coffee so i go over to a counter in the waiting room and say that I expect a coffee to appear after i turn around. The first time i turn around it doesn't work. However, the next time I really try to expect and when I turn around I see a coffee on the table. I am freaking euphoric at this point and really can't believe this is happening. Next I decide to check out the bathroom in the hospital and I walk into a stall that is very dirty. I practice expecting the next stall to be pristine and clean and I walk into a stall that is just as I expected. After this I don't remember what happens..but I find myself in a room with my roomate. On his computer he has loaded a game of Mario or something that takes place on an island. The moment he starts the game I am transported to the island and find myself soaring over Mario's island. Me and my roommate discuss how cool it is to be in the game and flying over this island. After we explore we decide to drive home. I remember driving in the car and listening to the Lucid radio. I can't freaking believe that I just had a lucid dream and I tell my roommate that I need to write it down so that I remember it when I wake up better. Then I wake up.

So thanks so much for reading I really appreciate it guys!

What do you think? Does it sound like your LD's? Or just another insane dream???

First of all congratulations on your FIRST lucid dream! :awesomed:

There are different levels of lucidity and yes, you can forget parts or even all of a lucid dream, especially if you lose lucidity during the dream or false awakening. Just last Thursday, I had a lucid dream but I forgot the first part. I can't for the life of me remember how I became lucid. There have been other times were I would just be going about my day and something will trigger a memory and I will be like,"Oh my God. I had a lucid dream last night." I have even found that when I have a really long lucid dream I have hole and gaps in my memory of it. When you think about it, it makes sense. Do you remember every little detail in your waking life?

Reality checks are for confirming to yourself that you are dreaming and can even be used to stabilize the dream. So yes, it is possible to perform a reality check in a dream that works and you keep dreaming. Personally I rarely end up doing reality checks in my dreams because when you think about it you kind of have to be at least mildly lucid to even consider doing a reality check. I mean a real RC not just a habitual one. I think that once you get used to the lucid feeling you wont need them but that just my personal experience.

That was an awesome dream my dude. Good job!

Ah so excited, thanks so much Xanous!! I am so freakin happy finally hahah

No dream recall after two days:( oh well, just a dry spell! Hopefully I will get some good ones tonight!

Congrats on your first lucid dream James! And what Xanous said, it is totally normal to forget some details of lucid dreams. I not only forget details of my lucids, but sometimes I'm fuzzy on remembering how I became lucid. Most of the time it's because I don't journal my dream until hours later (bad habit :P ). It's also normal to phase in and out of lucidity within the dream, and I think that's just because you can get caught up in the story which can make you forget that you're lucid. And also what Xanous said about RCs. Once yo uget used to that lucid "feeling," you don't have to do RCs. Unless you just want to for fun. And it can help to stabilize the dream more, because it gives you something to focus on. I like looking at my hands, and even rubbing them together, because it reminds me that I am dreaming, this is my dream, and I am in control.

As for the dry spell, don't even worry about it. We all have them. And every dry spell ends :)

wooo back on track:) had two dreams last night!

Awesome congrats! Definitely remember to journal them too, either here on the site or somewhere else. That way you keep your recall going strong for your next lucid experience.

Welcome James!

So your first lucid experiences may not be full blown lucidity. Indeed as we progress as lucid dreamers, there are new experiences to be had, no matter what level we have attained.
That being said, some of your lucids might be hazy, or it might feel like you are behind yourself among other strange sensations. The key in my opinion is to find enjoyment in every experience within a dream.
No matter what happens, each additional experience gives you more perspective and that is always a good thing. :)

well keep up the goodness! we will be watching.... :silly:

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Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

That's a really great question. There was actually an experiment performed by the Lucidity Institute on that, and I believe the most successful result was staying up for 1 hour. What I've found personally is anywhere between 30min-1hour. That's just one factor though, it's also important to have the right amount of sleep prior. Again, I believe 5-6 hours of sleep before the WBTB was the popular result. I'll have to find it again to make sure about that. Me personally, I need 6-7 at least. Gotta have that beauty sleep haha.

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Sorry, I meant to follow up on that study. Here's the link if you want to read it.. really interesting: "An Hour of Wakefulness Before Morning Naps Makes Lucidity More Likely," by Stephen LaBerge, Leslie Phillips, & Lynne Levitan

Alright guys, after a really rough week of tests and such for college I am ready to get rolling again! I'm determined to have another LD before the end of the month! I am going to get focused on my dream journaling again, and I am going to continue attempting to MILD! I'll keep ya guys updated :D

Heyheyhey glad to hear it! :D good luckz000rs

Hey guys I have really been trying to ld for the last couple months so I think I need to go back to the drawing board. I am going to really focus on dream recall for a while and then I will look for a technique. Any thoughts or ideas on this.?

That's probably best.

Remember to write something in your journal even if you can't remember anything. Write down what you did that night that might have made things different, etc. Then you can tell us about your attempts and we'll do our best to help you out :)

good luck, and wb!