iceTwy's workbook

Hello, folks! I'm iceTwy, a Frenchie who has been on DV for over a year. I have never really been active (hence why my latest DJ entry is from 2011) although I've had the chance to meet a few members of the DV community, with whom I managed to stay in good terms. Hopefully I will realize all my LD-related wishes and become, if a not an amazing LDer, a regular one.

Reality Checks:
- Finger through palm.
- Nose pinching & breathing
- Looking at a digital clock.

Dream Signs:
- School-related stuff (friends, being in the middle of an exam, etc).
- Music!
- Sexual fetishes.

Short-Term Goals:
- Remember my dreams every night
- Attaining a LD within two or three weeks
- Meet some DCs or even a DG.

Long-Term Goals:
- Manage to have a LD every now and then (once or twice a week would be amazing!)
- Achieving all the goals listed in my signature.
- Achieving a DreamViews GOTM.

Lucid/Dream Recall History:
- All my dreams are written down in my DJ.

Current Technique:
- Puffin's SAT technique mixed with KingYoshi's ADA.

I'm going to settle down with Puffin's SAT technique for a good month or so, meaning I'll have enough time to work on my awareness & constantly remind myself to do reality checks. That being said, I'll have to start going to sleep at a decent time!

Dream Journal updated (26 Nov 2012): A stressful night... - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Quick note; this night, I attempted to incubate a dream I had on the previous night - in which one of my former school friends was involved; she was apparently waiting for someone or something to happen in a trade fair, and she was sitting down in a sofa meanwhile - following RareCola's MILD technique and it seems I almost succeeded. Unfortunately, my dad started snoring and it disturbed me, and the dream started changing (I remember being some sort of bodyguard or journalist standing on the red carpet at a cinema festival, while I gazed at a group of actors and actresses sat down at a huge table). I was somehow half-conscious during this process, but I finally woke up and rolled over in my bed... then I tried to sleep but it wasn't a good night at all, anyway.

Hey iceTwy, welcome to the Intro Class!

:welcome:

Just wondering, do you usually do dream incubation?

I usually don't, as I just prefer going to bed straight away (and I'm not the kind of person whom shut down their PCs half an hour before sleeping!). However I've been trying that out for two nights and it seems to be a pretty interesting side to look at so I might dig further into it.

However, isn't it somewhat useless when you haven't recalled a dream from the previous night? That's what happened to me yesterday - I'm a bit on my nerves due to an important exam I'll take tomorrow, so I couldn't recall a single dream upon awaking - and I'm wondering whether I should do dream incubation tonight.

Thanks for your welcome, though!

Another thing; I'm not really good at keeping a tight sleep schedule. I tend to go to sleep later than I should although I try to sleep 7h30 a night, but my sleep time often narrows down to 7h or a bit less. As I pointed out in the post above, I work on my computer until I'm about to go to bed; how badly does that affect my sleep?

If you need to work late into the night on your computer, one tip that I might suggest is to install "f.lux": f.lux: software to make your life better. This is a free program that makes your display adapt its color to the appropriate time of day. The general idea is that at night, you don't want your monitor to look like the sun and throw off your sleep cycle.

I've found that it helps me transition a bit better from computer to sleep. Might be worth a try!

Right. I've come to a point where I can't stand snoring anymore. I barely sleep at night and I wake up feeling like a mindless zombie. It simply can't continue that way yet there's no f*cking way to stop it. Help?

Right! Back after this episode of frustration - I've installed f.lux, we'll see whether it works ;)

I used earplugs last night, and although it cut the annoying snoring, I couldn't really fall asleep. I was a tad excited but nothing exaggerated either, so I should have been able to sleep properly - unfortunately it didn't quite go that way. Think I need to open the window in my room as I woke up twice sweating.

I've finally had a good night of sleep! Opening my window up worked, I feel rested.. something I haven't been for the past week. I didn't really focus on remembering my dreams, but now I've found my sleep back, I will begin actively repeating mantras. I was wondering, though - what about repeating mantras during the day and not right before going to bed?

My mantras are:

-I will remember my dreams tonight.
-I will have lucid dreams tonight.
-I will realize I am in a dream.

I don't see anything wrong with repeating mantras throughout the day. You could probably even just tie it in to your daily awareness rituals. From time to time I'll read through my journal in the daytime. Really anything that puts the subject of lucidity in your mind more often is going to be helpful.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

I agree. That's a great idea, iceTwy. I do mantras throughout the day too, and mostly I use them along with awareness practice. I would think about my mantras, then perform a reality check or survey my surroundings. I find that many times in my dreams, I say my mantra without me realizing it's a dream. Hopefully doing RCs along with them can help.

Good luck!

Well. I went to bed really late (at 2:30AM instead of 11:30PM) and I've had a fantastic night. Remembered 2 dreams and 3 dream fragments, all of which I'm about to note down in my DJ in a minute. Slept well and I knew that I had not recalled anything upon being awoken so I stood still in my bed and focused on recalling all my dreams, and it worked. Yay!

Great job, iceTwy! And the snail dream you told us in chat was funny :lol:

Huhoh. I wrote too much. A snail having his birthday celebrated! - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Self-note: I should include a few basic questions in the RC. As far as I remember, Puffin's guide emphasizes on asking how you end up somewhere doing something and what you were doing previously. Considering the weird dreams I've had, this could help me in realizing that I'm dreaming.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by iceTwy

Self-note: I should include a few basic questions in the RC. As far as I remember, Puffin's guide emphasizes on asking how you end up somewhere doing something and what you were doing previously. Considering the weird dreams I've had, this could help me in realizing that I'm dreaming.

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I think that this is a great idea! You can think of it as just being a very comprehensive reality check.

Rather than just testing whether you can breathe through a pinched nose (for example), you think about your state of mind, the "plot" of the story you're acting out, your emotions, the shape of the world you find yourself in... everything! Where are you? Are you even you?

Over time you'll find that having these questions pop up at the right time in a dream can be enough to tip you off that you're dreaming (or at least that you ought to reality check.) Be prepared to miss lots and lots of weird dream material (I certainly do), but all it takes is that one flash of insight to get you lucid!

Good luck!

AAAARGH! Almost got a LD. I'll post my two dreams in the dream snippets thread but I was -ABOUT- to do a RC but two DCs distracted me and I didn't focus on doing the RC first of all. I'm still glad I got close to it ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by iceTwy

AAAARGH! Almost got a LD. I'll post my two dreams in the dream snippets thread but I was -ABOUT- to do a RC but two DCs distracted me and I didn't focus on doing the RC first of all. I'm still glad I got close to it ;)

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:lol: All I can say is that I feel your pain! I've been there before, man (many times!) and believe me when I say that this is a very good thing to have happen. You got really close and the odds just didn't fall in your favor that time.

The good news is that it means similar conditions will certainly arise in the future and get you lucid. Just review what happened in your mind in detail and resolve to recognize a situation like that as a dream the next time it happens.

It may not feel like a victory, but it is!

I hardly remember my dreams when I wake up, because I simply jump out of the bed in order not to be late; I will push my alarm back by 5 minutes to leave myself some time to recollect the dreams I had throughout the night.

WOAH! WBTB is absolute wizardry. Went to sleep at 11.50PM, woke up at 4AM and stayed up for 15 mins; next thing I know is that I could recall the longest dream in my life (which must have been an hour long). I'll write it down when I have some spare time on my hands, along with the two other dreams I remember. They were much more vivid than usual and I even planned a shared-dreaming sleep time with a friend of mine... in a dream!

Looks like my recall has dropped a bit, though I'm not worrying at all. Two nights ago, I did a 15 mins WBTB which led to the recall of a couple of dreams, but last night I simply decided to take some rest and sleep well. Thus I didn't WBTB and I don't remember any dream, but I'm feeling good ;).

Lots of WBTB to come this weekend!

Glad you'll have time to WBTB this weekend, looking forward to your results.

Are you going to do it the same way, to bed around midnight then up at 4am?