Thread: Bansheet's Workbook! :-)

Hey there! first I suppose I should tell a little about my self and my experience with lucid dreaming.

I'm an 18 year old boy. I kinda randomly stumbled upon lucid dreaming through a lot of coincidences (I don't believe in faith, but damn?!). I'm really excited about lucid dreaming both for the sake of exploring a new and amazing world and for the sake of personal development.
As I wrote in my other thread I have had problems with consistency in pretty much all aspects. I'm not really good at working hard since I've never really had to work hard to accomplish anything before... guess I'll just have to learn!


My progress so far:

I think I'm getting pretty good at really questioning wether I'm dreaming or not whenever I reality check. I will usually do a couple different reality checks and then I will try to remember what I have recently been doing and basically ask myself if I'm dreaming while looking around for weird stuff. I do reality checks whenever I feel like somethings out of the usual but my awareness is pretty lacking so I only notice unusual stuff a couple of times per day.

My sleeping pattern has improved a bit but still sucks. I have tendencys to stay on the computer all night even though I have to get up 06:15 in the morning.

I would really like to get into the habbit of meditating but I don't know where to start. I have taken a look at Sivason's Dream Yoga but it's a bit overwhelming for me at the moment.

So far I haven't had a lucid dream but my dream recall has increased around 60x or something which is pretty awesome by itself.
I feel that my dreams have given me a pretty good peak into the lucid dream world that I have never felt before due to my bad dream recall.
The first thing I learned was nn my first night with a dream journal when I had a very vivid nightmare. The fear felt increadibly real and affected me a lot. It really gave me a sneak peak at how real dreams can get.
The second thing was a lesson in dream control. I was playing handball in my dream a couple of nights ago. I haven't played for over a year so I suddenly remembered I was in surprisingly good shape... BAM! instantly got tired to the point where I could hardly run anymore.
The third and last thing my dreams have taught me so far was actually this night. I was playing handball again and I jumped from the left wing to shoot but I didn't feel like my jump was good enough. So I imagined Anders Eggert (left wing from the Danish national team) jump and I kinda saw it in slowmotion and could analyze his jump in my head and apply it to my own jump. If I was still playing handball I would really like to test if this could actually help me irl. It was an interesting experience.

... So I wrote a wall of text afterall... Guess I had a lot on my mind after 17 days of experience
If there is anything else you wanna know just ask!

Hey Bansheet, glad you joined the Intro class, and your workbook looks great! I only have time for a quick reply tonight, but I have to say: it's really interesting how you had some level of control in your handball dream. I have often found that in my dreams, and in other members' dreams, an increase in dream control means that lucid dreaming is not far down the road.

You know, when I first joined this site, I'd only had sporadic lucid dreams. But I wanted to increase their frequency. So about a week after joining, I had a dream (non lucid), that I was at Hogwarts and was supposed to use magic to reanimate a dead bug. I didn't realize at the time that it was a dream, but I was still able to consciously make it spin around on the floor before I woke up. It wasn't a lucid dream, but not long after that I began to have alot of lucids.

Anyway, I just wanted to share that because your dream reminded me of mine a little. Welcome To DreamViews and ask me any questions at all.

Thanks! attempting WBTB with WILD now I'll write how it goes

Managed to lie perfectly still for 1 hour and 20 min... got disturbed a lot by my family going to school/work so I couldn't fall asleep. I had woken up after close to 6 hours of sleep in the middle of a dream from my family making noice. Seemed like a good time to try WBTB...
Guess I'll try to go to bed earlier and set an alarm so that I can do it while my familiy is asleep next time. I feel like I got real close to a dream multiple times only to get yanked out by some stupid noice
However I think I now have better idea of how it feels when you start to dream during WILD so it wasn't a total waste.
I also tried to throw a mantra in there for good measure. "I know that I'm dreaming" (In my native language). Though obviously I have no idea if it would have helped since I didn't fall asleep.
Anyway on day 4 of writing in my dream journal everyday!!

EDIT: Just realized that what caused me to give up was a sudden pain/discomfort. I assumed it was just from lying in the same position for too long... but perhaps stuff would have happened if I had endured just a little more?

Good to have you here, Bansheet!

Originally Posted by Bansheet

Guess I'll try to go to bed earlier and set an alarm so that I can do it while my familiy is asleep next time. I feel like I got real close to a dream multiple times only to get yanked out by some stupid noice
However I think I now have better idea of how it feels when you start to dream during WILD so it wasn't a total waste.

It's a bummer about the noise but I completely agree -- practicing to get the feel of your induction technique, the experience of WBTB, etc. is very valuable.

The important thing to remember is that you don't have to get it on the first night. You don't even have to get it on the 2nd. You just have to be the guy who learns from every experience, and keeps showing up until it falls into place. I'm speaking from experience here, because the gap between my first (totally accidental) lucid dream and my second was two solid months!

Originally Posted by Bansheet

Anyway on day 4 of writing in my dream journal everyday!!

Great work! Keep these good habits up. As you're already learning, the payoff in terms of dream recall is tremendous.

Originally Posted by Bansheet

EDIT: Just realized that what caused me to give up was a sudden pain/discomfort. I assumed it was just from lying in the same position for too long... but perhaps stuff would have happened if I had endured just a little more?

This is always a bit of a toughie, but speaking only for myself, I am not going to go under if I'm feeling any pain or significant discomfort. While you don't want to be arbitrarily changing position during a WILD attempt, I've simply never been able to WILD or DEILD while actively experiencing any form of suffereing.

The best approach is to find a really comfortable position you can stay in for a long time, hold still, and get really relaxed. For me, that's stomach sleep or side sleep w/ me slightly snuggling myself. Find a position or set of go-to positions that you can remain in for a long time without feeling that need to move. But once suffering starts, you probably have no option but to get to a new position. IMO. Best to find a position that avoids suffering entirely, if you can.

Good luck and keep us up to date!

Hey bansheet! Welcome

Originally Posted by paigeyemps

Hey bansheet! Welcome

Thanks, and thanks for the help in chat yesterday!

Good to have you here, Bansheet!

Thanks!

This is always a bit of a toughie, but speaking only for myself, I am not going to go under if I'm feeling any pain or significant discomfort. While you don't want to be arbitrarily changing position during a WILD attempt, I've simply never been able to WILD or DEILD while actively experiencing any form of suffereing.

The best approach is to find a really comfortable position you can stay in for a long time, hold still, and get really relaxed. For me, that's stomach sleep or side sleep w/ me slightly snuggling myself. Find a position or set of go-to positions that you can remain in for a long time without feeling that need to move. But once suffering starts, you probably have no option but to get to a new position. IMO. Best to find a position that avoids suffering entirely, if you can.

I usually sleep on my side but I can't lie in that position comfortably for a long time so I lie on my back with hands folded in my lap which is very comfortable to me. I did lie there for 1 hour and 20 min whitout problems. I don't recall the pain/discomfort very well cause I reacted to it almost instantly but I do know that it was very sudden which is a sign of going into SP as far as I know. I never experienced SP in my life though so I don't really expect it to happen, but who knows?
Again I think the reason that it didn't work was because of the disturbances + I might have been thinking too hard about it. I was trying to mix a mantra into the equation aswell. Maybe it's better to seperate MILD and WILD?

Anyway I might have found a new technique, it's very much like MILD. I was researching hypnosis cause I saw a couple videos on youtube and I thought it was cool So I happened to find a technique for self hypnosis (which doesn't stink from far away of bullshit). If all goes well I should be able to hypnotise myself to lucid dream!
I suppose MILD is actually kind of softcore selfhypnosis when you think about it.
Well I'll explore the technique more and get back to you. If you want me to, I can link/explain more

hmmm... After researching self hypnosis in relation to lucid dreaming a bit I have realized that I'm not exactly revolutionary
Anyway it doesn't seem to be a very well explored subject so I will definetly explore it more and I'm sure it'll help me have frequent lucid dreams one day!

11 days of consecutive DJ'ing! (though some entries have been: "can't remember any dreams from tonight....").
My bed times are getting better. I tend to get around 6-7 hours on week days now (up from 3-4). Getting to bed at 10 pm is just soooo god damn hard!!!!
Anyway I think I should get some kind of bedtime routine to really get my mind fixed on lucid dreaming. More often than not I would go to bed without the slightest thought of LD'ing even crossing my mind.
I'll try to work out a routine that works for me and really focuses on gaining lucidity and recall.

I will remain ever vigilant and keep on fighting on my quest to explore the marvelous world of my dreams!!

... don't know why I wrote that... cheers! ^^

Last night something amazing happened! I read through Masterminds dream recall thread just before going to bed. I decided toget a physical day journal today but I figured it couldn't hurt to do it in my head while listening to some Nat King Cole. Only got a few hours into my day but some very detailed hours since I had been focusing on awareness the entire morning. Guess what? I recall 2 dreams that takes a shared second place as my most vivid dreams ever I also think I might have gotten slightly lucid at the end of the second one! I remember thinking: "aww, it is just a dream... but it's an awesome dream!" ^^ Not a 100% sure that I wasn't awake when thinking it though since it's very vague in my memory.
Can't wait to see what happens when I do it physically + maybe some meditation or mantras

That's great bansheet! Congratulations on the super-vivid, almost lucid dream!

This "in your head" approach is exactly what I do to bring up dream recall as well. I also stumbled across Mastermind's dream recall thread and did some physical daytime journaling whenever my dream recall was down in the dumps. The approach is amazingly effective (at least for me.) But when I found that life was simply too busy to accommodate this new habit, I shifted to mentally running through the day just like you do. Basically, every couple of hours, I replay the last several hours of my day in ultra fast-forward, running through what I did, where I went, what I saw, the faces of strangers that I'd passed... everything I could remember! It's not quite as powerful as the waking journal for me, but it's a great technique nonetheless.

I'm also looking forward to seeing how the physical journal works for you. I love the idea of utilizing meditation and mantras for improved recall but just haven't done much with this myself yet. You're making me want to try it out though! Let us know how it goes for you!

Yeah the approach really do seem to be amazingly effective! (although I can't figure out why, exactly )
I'm gonna write in my physical journal tonight, go early to bed, visualize some dreaming and maybe throw in a mantra. Hopefully I'll have some exciting dreams!
I'm really pumped for this. Honestly I just feel like going to bed right now (17:30) but I probably wouldn't be able to sleep

With the physical journal I had 2 dreams in 6 hours compared to 2 dreams in 12 hours yesterday (didn't go to school yesterday). So it definetly works

Welcome Bansheet!

Thought I could add a little here when it comes to meditation. Simply sitting in a chair, having good posture, and relaxing for five minutes every day is quite helpful for dreaming. It enhances your ability to be aware while your senses are not being used.
Here are some simple steps for meditating...
1. Sit in a chair and find a comfortable, relaxed position
2. Close your eyes
3. Focus on your breath, inhaling and exhaling. Counting your breath to ten then restarting can help focus.

Do that for five minutes. Doing that right before bed can be very helpful or any time of the day.

I just have to focus on my breath? I thought visualizing a dream or repeating mantras would be more helpfull but I don't know much about meditation
The last two nights I've tried to visualize dreams while falling asleep, but not really too focused.
I've also started practicing ADA. Basically I just try to be in the moment noticing everything around me as much as possible instead of dwelling on my thoughts. It's kinda fun I've noticed so much stuff like a weird staircase I've passed every morning for the last 1.5 year that I never noticed before

yes, simply focusing on your breathing is the most basic practice of meditation. There are many other ways to meditate, but that is the starting point.
Think about the times when you first wake up, perhaps between sleep cycles or at the end of a nights sleep, think of the pre-sleep stages, and the that state of mind right before entering a dream. All these states of mind can be enhanced by an overall awareness. This is what meditation creates; overall awareness. So when you are laying there in the dark, you will be able to remain aware, know if you are dreaming, etc.. You don't necessarily need meditation to build that awareness, but it does help.

So I've miserably failed at keeping a steady sleeping schedule so far into the winter holidays. But despite this minor defeat I've discovered something: I naturally wake up almost exactly 8 hours and 45 minutes after I got to bed. Means I should go to bed at 21:30 to get up at 06:15...
Luckely we're moving to the city in 2 weeks from now and I can sleep till around 07:00 instead!
Anyway I suspect that waking up naturally could greatly help me bring my absence from school down!
- and remember more dreams on week days which is nice too


EDIT: by the way, I found some dream signs now. They're not really signs I can get used to noticing in real life but still interesting.

FINALY
my first lucid dream, yay! :-)

Here's a link to my DJ where I have also listed my thoughts about the dream:

Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views - Bansheet - Dream Journals

It was truly an amazing experience. I'm kinda suprized as to how crazy and trippy it was though

Originally Posted by Bansheet

FINALY
my first lucid dream, yay! :-)

Here's a link to my DJ where I have also listed my thoughts about the dream:

Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views - Bansheet - Dream Journals

It was truly an amazing experience. I'm kinda suprized as to how crazy and trippy it was though

You should update that LD count that you don't have set! And congrats again.

Originally Posted by Kraom

You should update that LD count that you don't have set! And congrats again.

Oh yeah, I should! and thanks again

So glad you had that first lucid! I read about alot of firsts in this class, so I'm glad it's working for folks

How have the last few days gone? Recall still treating you well? Inquiring minds want to know

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

So glad you had that first lucid! I read about alot of firsts in this class, so I'm glad it's working for folks

How have the last few days gone? Recall still treating you well? Inquiring minds want to know

My recall is as bad/good as ever
basically I recall up to 3 dreams if I'm trying and usually 0-1 dreams if I'm not.
I tried to WILD without getting to bed with the sound of my laptop being on next to my bed as an external anchor. Well... next time I better get out of bed for a little while before I try

On another note I've never been as confident about lucid dreaming as I am now!
I'm quite busy at the moment but even though I don't have a lot of time and energy to invest in lucid dreaming I believe I'll have more lucid dreams soon. Finaly experiencing a lucid dream feels like solving the last piece of the puzzle. I have known for quite a while that I probably couldn't get a lot more knowledagble about lucid dreaming without experiencing it. That's why I made sure to take note of all the sensations and stuff while in the dream. And that's why I feel so confident that not only will I soon experience more DILD's but also will I be able to WILD pretty much on demand with some practice and figuring out the timing of wbtb etc.

Oh and my ADA is improving naturally simply because I've taken a liking to being more aware of my surroundings
I think it's extremely beneficial to not see it as a necessary chore.

Originally Posted by Bansheet

My recall is as bad/good as ever
basically I recall up to 3 dreams if I'm trying and usually 0-1 dreams if I'm not.
I tried to WILD without getting to bed with the sound of my laptop being on next to my bed as an external anchor. Well... next time I better get out of bed for a little while before I try

On another note I've never been as confident about lucid dreaming as I am now!
I'm quite busy at the moment but even though I don't have a lot of time and energy to invest in lucid dreaming I believe I'll have more lucid dreams soon. Finaly experiencing a lucid dream feels like solving the last piece of the puzzle. I have known for quite a while that I probably couldn't get a lot more knowledagble about lucid dreaming without experiencing it. That's why I made sure to take note of all the sensations and stuff while in the dream. And that's why I feel so confident that not only will I soon experience more DILD's but also will I be able to WILD pretty much on demand with some practice and figuring out the timing of wbtb etc.

Oh and my ADA is improving naturally simply because I've taken a liking to being more aware of my surroundings
I think it's extremely beneficial to not see it as a necessary chore.

I am absolutely loving the positive attitude! Keep it up