Thread: Quietness's Workbook

Congrats quietness!

Do you find any difference in your dreams when you sleep on a certain side?

Yeah. I have better recall when I sleep on my right, and the stories are more consistent, I think (I have to track back and check my dreams since I started sleeping on my right side). When I wake up on my left side or just plain on my back, I have a hard time remembering my dream. (T_T)

Nice! I noticed I sleep better on my left, and with my arms over my head. x) When I lie down that way, my dreams are somewhat more vivid.

Nice! I noticed I sleep better on my left, and with my arms over my head. x) When I lie down that way, my dreams are somewhat more vivid.

That's awesome! Are you female? The Tibetan Yoga book said that guys should sleep on their right and ladies on their left side. So I guess it does have merit. (O_o)

Also, I just realized I already had 13 LDs written on my DJ here! (>_<) I thought I only had 4! I can read them back to see what I did right.

I drank apple juice an hour ago, so hopefully that will also help (^_^) No incense tonight though, so I can see how effective just taking apple juice will be.

That's so funny, I'm a woman and I sleep better on my right. Why do I always gotta be the weird one

Anyway, good luck with the apple juice. It really helps increase how vivid dreams are, and subsequently dream recall. And anytime you increase dream clarity and recall together, you just up your chances for lucidity.

Also, I looove sandalwood, it's my favorite scent. I have a bunch of sandalwood soap from Caswell Massey and I find it really calming. I bough sandalwood incense from a renaissance festival earlier this year, but I haven't lit them yet. We should do an experiment on it! After your apple juice one, of course.

Yep, I'm female. :3

@Ophie: you're weird!!

/me shuns Ophie

After the apple juice, I wasn't able to remember my dream (T_T) I guess it wasn't as effective for me. (T_T) But at least I got an interesting dream the day after (^_^) I'll post it soon. <3

LOL @ Ophelia (>_<) I didn't use to like sandalwood. Maybe because I was using a bad quality one. (^_^)

Here's the link for my latest dream (^_^) Not lucid, but I'm working on the ADA every single day. I keep forgetting doing MILD though, and I had to skip WBTB a few times because of some conflict in sched.

Your last dream was certainly interesting and seemed very enjoyable, which is a reminder to not only look for LD's, because ND's can be really fun too.
About ADA, it's great that your presistent and hard working. ADA can have amazing results. You just wait and see for yourself!
Keep on Dreaming !

Thank you, Areyoume (^_^) I tried ADA before, I think via Sageous' tutorial, but I couldn't hack it (@_@) For some reason, I find it easier now, although I have to make sure I don't make it something mechanical

I've been having a hard time remembering dreams lately. I drank fresh apple juice but not much difference

I had an interesting dream/daydream while trying to fall asleep for an entire hour. I had coffee around lunch, forgetting that I was planning to sleep. So I keep partially waking up (that in-between state of sleeping and awake, but more awake then asleep), and I keep diving back in the dream, but still hazy.

I think you should keep plugging away at ADA. Some days will be harder than others. There is no need to wear yourself out over it. Just back off when you feel like that. Besides, I am not sure the true ADA is possible but its the TRYING that is important.

Thanx ^_^ Actually, I'm doing ADA kinda fine. Better than before, I think. I just find it ironic because I thought it will help me become more aware in my dreams. :/ Maybe I'm too mechanical about it, but I'm not sure. I think this trouble started the night when I started studying Enochian in depth. I've been having more difficulty remembering dreams since then. But I couldn't be too sure.

Zombies and stuff. Strangely, I was not afraid. It was more adventurous than anything, although the smell was simply ghastly o.O Dreams that smell are probably the worst kinds, unless it's a good smell.

I said this in your DJ already, but would it be cool if in your next lucid dream, you find that t-shirt that acts as a portal. I wonder what all the different things/props/devices that dreamers have used as a portal or to transport. I've used phasing through mirrors or walls or the floor, but nothing fancier than that.

Anyway, cool zombie dream.

Yea I agree with Ophie. I have done this little trick one time:

I took off my shirt. That moment while it's halfway off and covers your face? I used that moment to change dream scen, do by the time I got it completely off, i was in another place.. It worked quite well. i haven't done it again though, as i dont see the need to because of other possibilities. But that was a cool experience.

nice dream!

*dream scene, so by the time

Thank you. (^_^) I've been too busy lately due to a major event, and I think the stress discouraged me from remembering my dreams at all (T_T) But last night, I had an interesting dream.

I think my exploration and practice of the Buddhism morality might be affecting my ability for dreams, but that's just my amateur opinion. I notice that my dreams are mostly composed of fantastical events, violence, etc., and the Buddhism mindset advocates kindness and peace. However, that's not something very memorable (@_@). I recently found myself reading Demons: The Fallen, Eyes of the Dragon, and a few pages of DarkTower, and I start to remember my dreams again, in all their fantastically violent colors. Try this dream for example.

My dreams also had peaceful ones, where I just walk and travel, and those were fun. But even those mostly disappeared during the time I've been exploring Buddhism. I like the religion very much, but I'm just concerned that the tenets and teachings might be affecting my dream recall, dream quality, and/or lucidity. I've been doing ADA mostly, but the lucidity wasn't that great either. I'm also thinking of writing dark stories, which will also evidently affect my dreams (and as mentioned in the Tibetan yoga book, what I see in dreams are supposed to be reflection of my mindset; hopefully, that doesn't mean I have some sort of a violent mindset ).

At this point, I'm not sure where to go. There are dozens of techniques I can try, and I'm at a loss where to start. Oh, and with the dreams last night, I went to sleep daydreaming.

I think that you dreaming about violent events doesn't necessarily reflect a bad nature. I think that it is inherent to have those thoughts, and usually you just don't reinforce them. Another thing is that it's totally normal for those kinds of themes to occur. Since you focus more on peace and happiness, there has to be a reference to it – something that can make you know that that is peace and happiness, and those references are the opposite of those things. It's
like: you know it's good because it's not bad, therefore it is inherent that bad thoughts are somewhere in there, you just don't focus on it.

Gahn I hope that makes sense, lol. Anyway, about the techniques: what do you think fits your lifestyle best? It all comes down to your comfort and preference. Or if you can't decide, no worries. You don't have to be tied down to a
particular technique, just keep up your dream recall and I'm sure you'll do alright with however you go about having your lucids.

Thanx, Paigeyemps (^_^) I think I'll continue sticking with the Dream Yoga + ADA, although the awareness is becoming a lot more challenging. It was easy the first several days, but over time it becomes challenging. Also, rather than exploring Tibetan Buddhism as a whole, I think I'll just focus on the Tibetan Dream Yoga for now. I was tempted to go into another technique, but it might set me back again to square one because it's a mostly different style. (T_T)

Hey Quietness! I'm sorry about all of the unpleasant dream content you've had lately, but I actually have sort of a different perspective that I hope will help you. See what you think.

First, nightmares are by definition terribly unpleasant experiences. If you're particularly distressed or ashamed of violent dream content, this could be creating a bit of a feedback loop where nightmares contain more and more of it. Nightmares are fantastic at pushing our buttons, and if you're repulsed by violent dream content, nightmares may be obnoxious enough to give you more of it. For that, I think that the best thing you can do is to simply take your dreams without judgment and consider them, as Dream Yoga would advise, "without grasping or aversion". They aren't you. They simply are. Try not to cling too tightly or push away too aggressively.

Now I'd like to see how you can turn this to your advantage. These nightmares sound like they are very different from your waking life thoughts and patterns. While this makes them feel shocking, alien, and unpleasant, it also makes them world-class dreamsigns. The only way that you can change them is to become lucid. So in a sense, your subconscious is offering you an opportunity to be shocked out of the complacency of dream. If you can translate your natural revulsion into a kickstart of your lucidity, you'll have everything you want.

So I would recommend the following. Any time you think of these dreams (or violence of any kind), give yourself a hard jolt of awareness. Look around you, almost frantically, and make absolutely sure you are not dreaming. You must get used to proving it to yourself any time thoughts or memories of this nature occur to you. You know that feeling of momentary panic when you forget to pay an important bill or forget to feed a pet at the usual time? That is the feeling you want. You need to leave yourself a hard kick of prospective memory that's pinned to these violent dreams. Any time you have an image of violence, you should instantly be thinking, "Holy crap! I forgot to make sure that I'm dreaming!" Habits like this can and will permeate through to the dream world.

Speaking from personal experience, there's nothing like the feeling of flowing from nightmare to lucid dream. You really could have an opportunity here! Ultimately, the choice is up to you, and I wish you luck in whatever you decide. Keep us updated on how you do!

Oh, I think there's a misunderstanding. I don't mind nightmares. Although some dreams are unpleasant, I never thought of them as draw backs, but more, as you have suggested, as dream signs.

My trouble is that my dreams have stopped becoming memorable, i.e. 'nightmarish,' and has thus become forgettable. That's why I mentioned that my exploration of the peaceful ways of Buddhism might be interfering with my LD attempts by making my dreams more peaceful.

Thank you for the tips. I am continuing with ADA and Tibetan Dream Yoga less the whole bit about Buddhism.