Thread: Pennyroyal's workbook

Originally Posted by PennyRoyal

I've had some good luck with DEILD, I wouldn't say that I feel comfortable with them.

What exactly is the difference between a DEILD and WILD? I've attempted maybe 10-15 WILDs following a WBTB or afternoon nap. They havn't resulted in a LD but I have certainly experienced some strange sensations.

I'd say that a DEILD is really just a special type of WILD. Think of it as performing a WILD at the most opportune possible time.

A WILD means that you carry your waking conscious along far enough so that it's still active when a dream begins. During a well-timed DEILD, you are primed to slip straight back into REM since you have just briefly awoken from an existing dream. You only have to carry your waking consciousness for a very short period of time before the dream begins with you still lucid.

The timing of DEILD essentially makes it a WILD on easy mode. This means that many of the same tricks and techniques of a successful WILD apply to DEILD.

Hope that helps!

Yes sir, it sure does.

I guess that would explain why I was able to DEILD without much effort but havn't had any luck with WILD yet.

Other things I'd like to accomplish in my dreams.

Speak with the the recurring girl from my childhood dreams.

Create a place that I can go back to repeatedly - similar to the Hallway of Worlds in the Riftwar Saga. Essentially It's a never ending hallway with doors that lead to other worlds or different locations on each world. I figured maybe this could be an easy way to enter whatever Dreamscape I'm thinking of.

Meditate with a Tibetan monk, Play guitar with Muddy Waters, Fly in the form of a peregrine falcon , Use Sonido/Shunpo, See The Beatles/Nirvana/Led Zeppelin/Sublime/Pink Floyd live since it's no longer a possibility.

Ok, I think it's time to refocus now that I'm feeling a bit more confident in my ability to LD. I changed my mind and decided to count the 4 dreams that I remembered from my past and count them for my recall this month. After all, my memory could have been triggered on a dream that I've had recently instead.

Status of March Goals: 14 more Dreams in my DJ, 2 More Lucid dreams, Break something in my next Lucid. (31 Journaled Dreams, 4 Lucids, Stabilize a Dream)

Daytime Practices:
Sporadically do Critical state testing (Am I dreaming? Are my surroundings normal? Does my body feel normal? What was I doing 5-10 minutes ago? What was I doing 5-10 minutes before that? Reality Check)

Nighttime Practices:
MILD before bed;
When going to sleep set intention to wake up after and remember every dream
after waking up set intention to become aware in Dream state "When I dream, I realize it's a dream" while simultaneously envisioning myself becoming aware that I'm dreaming.

I didn't have any NLD recall, but during a WBTB of 20mins after ~7 Hours of sleep I took a catnap and had a short DILD.

Last night I got REALLY close to breaking something in my dream. The object that presented itself has some meaning to me so intending to break it made me double check that I was dreaming and I woke up . I was so intent on completing the totm that I didn't even think to stabilize the dream lol.

Originally Posted by PennyRoyal

Last night I got REALLY close to breaking something in my dream. The object that presented itself has some meaning to me so intending to break it made me double check that I was dreaming and I woke up . I was so intent on completing the totm that I didn't even think to stabilize the dream lol.

Well double dog DOO-DOO I know that's really frustrating. In your next LD you should just grab the nearest thing that you don't give a shit about and chuck it at the wall. It's actually quite cathartic.

So my question for you is once you realized you were dreaming, did you set out for your goal right then, or what happened? I'm just curious as to the chain of events that occurred from the onset of lucidity to the moment you found the object that held special meaning to you.

At any rate, congrats on your catnap DILD!

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

Well double dog DOO-DOO I know that's really frustrating. In your next LD you should just grab the nearest thing that you don't give a shit about and chuck it at the wall. It's actually quite cathartic.

So my question for you is once you realized you were dreaming, did you set out for your goal right then, or what happened? I'm just curious as to the chain of events that occurred from the onset of lucidity to the moment you found the object that held special meaning to you.

At any rate, congrats on your catnap DILD!

I realized I'm dreaming then I believe my exact inner monologue was "F--- yea! I'm going outside" as I was opening the door I thought.. Oh MAN! I have to break something! Ta-da! My little ceramic friend was there

So close! I'll get it next time lol.

I'm having trouble staying consistent with a technique. Some nights I use MILD, some nights I try to WILD, some nights SSILD, etc. I've just been doing whatever feels right.

I feel like I'm not making much progress or that my success is waning, then I check my DJ and realize that I've stayed fairly consistent. I think my motivation might be slipping. I still REALLY want to master this skill but I'm starting to feel myself taking the exercises less seriously. Obviously nobody can motivate myself but me, however I feel like I need a little something to get it kick started.

I found a book titled "Lucid Dreams in 30 days: The Creative Sleep Program". While I'm know the whole 30 day bit shouldn't be taken literally, I'm hoping that it will give some structure to my Daily/Nightly routines which will help me with staying consistent and hopefully amp up my motivation a bit.

I had a short Lucid in the later hours of my sleep today (I MAY have slept in until noon for a total of 12 hrs sleep ). Anyway, in short I was watching a movie on my laptop and a character gave me a wave and a wink which caused me to realize the Dream State. The short moment of Lucidity was followed by my trying to "enter the dream" by phasing into my laptop screen...

Any suggestions on how I can recharge my motivation would be greatly appreciated.

There are several things that I do to keep my motivation going. Some may be right for you and others may not be. Pick and choose from the ideas that appeal to you!

My primary motivator is the cool stuff I want to do in an LD! I have 2, perhaps 3 things max that I am super amped about making happen in an LD. Stuff that I know I am just going to fight like crazy to get done once a dream starts! Right now, I want to complete the Angel Falls Task of the Year so bad that I can taste it. Next, I want to find the note that I left for myself for Advanced Task of the Month. And finally, I want to do the gladiator fight Task of the Year. I imagine doing this stuff for MILD, get excited about it during the day, and motivate the crap out of myself thinking about it.

I'm getting all pumped right now! Damn!!

Okay, taking my meds now. Anyway, pick 2 or 3 things you are seriously excited about. Anything. It's your dream! Make yourself happy!

More concretely, I find participating in the Task of the Month really motivating. I like that feeling of working toward something that a bunch of other lucid dreamers are all thinking about, borrowing ideas, and sharing thoughts on how to get a certain task done. For me, this is hugely motivating. (And I did these when I was quite new... if you are ever super bored and looking for a laugh, watching how I flailed and failed at September Task of the Month 2012 might be mildly amusing.)

I know that you have occasionally done B6, apple juice, and some tryptophan-rich foods as lucid aids. I like to have my "lucid aids" scheduled throughout the week so I can get all excited about, "Oooh! B6 night tonight! Should have some badass dreams ahead." I find that much more motivating than having it be haphazard.

And I don't know whether this helps or not, but keep in mind that your success motivates me and your other peers as well. When you journal up alucid dream, I read that and think, "Hey! I want me one of those too!" Experiencing a victory is awesome. Sharing a victory is that little bit sweeter.

I was laying in bed several nights ago, I was just visualizing what I would do if I were to become lucid that night. I ended up getting very engrossed in the visualization before drifting off to sleep. It would be awesome to do this in a lucid so I decided to write out and expand on it as a Dream idea. Each night before i go to bed I'll write out the next part of the 'Dream Story' so to speak to give myself something to incubate before i go to sleep.

I'm walking alone in the middle of nowhere at a leisurely pace. Admiring the landscape - kind of a desert area, very flat not many trees or shrubs. I stop and gaze up at the sky for a while to appreciate how many stars you can see in sky when there aren't so many city lights around. I wish that I could survive the vacuum of space and just fly to the closest galaxy and observe the beauty from up close. Below me the ground starts to rumble slightly, I kneel down and place a hand on the earth. The earth beneath me heaves upward at alarming speed. The distance between myself and the blackness of space closes quickly as I ascend on a massive mountain being formed beneath me in a matter of moments. I stand up and whoop in excitement my arms out to my sides.

The mountain abruptly stops and I shoot off into space with the momentum, I place my arms at my sides and rocket head first out of our solar system with increasing speed. My hair whips around madly and stars are stretched into long beams of light that blaze past me. I close my eyes and enjoy the feeling of acceleration. Suddenly everything is still and calm. I open my eyes and sit cross legged in the air. I'm floating above the Andromeda galaxy. I stare and appreciate the behemoth cluster of stars and gas that swirl slowly and gracefully. I decide to search for sentient life in the galaxy and glide slowly downward. But that is another dream for another time.

My primary motivator is the cool stuff I want to do in an LD! I have 2, perhaps 3 things max that I am super amped about making happen in an LD. Stuff that I know I am just going to fight like crazy to get done once a dream starts! Right now, I want to complete the Angel Falls Task of the Year so bad that I can taste it. Next, I want to find the note that I left for myself for Advanced Task of the Month. And finally, I want to do the gladiator fight Task of the Year. I imagine doing this stuff for MILD, get excited about it during the day, and motivate the crap out of myself thinking about it.

Thanks, I'll definitely put this into better practice. I definitely have a handful of things I really want to do, I'll have to focus on a few and just get myself super excited about completing them.

I'm getting all pumped right now! Damn!!

Hahaha! You had me pumped by the end of that too!

More concretely, I find participating in the Task of the Month really motivating. I like that feeling of working toward something that a bunch of other lucid dreamers are all thinking about, borrowing ideas, and sharing thoughts on how to get a certain task done. For me, this is hugely motivating. (And I did these when I was quite new... if you are ever super bored and looking for a laugh, watching how I flailed and failed at September Task of the Month 2012 might be mildly amusing.)

I have definitely been intending to complete a totm, I'll have to start participating in the threads to keep myself excited

I like to have my "lucid aids" scheduled throughout the week so I can get all excited

Oh I really like this, I'll have to do that.

And I don't know whether this helps or not, but keep in mind that your success motivates me and your other peers as well. When you journal up alucid dream, I read that and think, "Hey! I want me one of those too!" Experiencing a victory is awesome. Sharing a victory is that little bit sweeter.

It actually does help CL, thanks a lot.

Originally Posted by PennyRoyal

I was laying in bed several nights ago, I was just visualizing what I would do if I were to become lucid that night. I ended up getting very engrossed in the visualization before drifting off to sleep. It would be awesome to do this in a lucid so I decided to write out and expand on it as a Dream idea. Each night before i go to bed I'll write out the next part of the 'Dream Story' so to speak to give myself something to incubate before i go to sleep.

Oh man, great idea! Combined dream incubation and motivational practice. This is especially perfect for the creatively inclined. I like it!

Your story's perfect, too. It really captures the essence of what excites me about lucid dreaming -- being able to experience things that we can otherwise only imagine.

It really is a privilege having these doors open to us and, crucially, knowing that they're there to walk through.

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

being able to experience things that we can otherwise only imagine.

This is the main reason that that initially attracted me to Lucid Dreaming. There are just some things in life that I will not be able to experience, which really frustrates me lol.

Now I found a loophole of sorts

March Goals Update:

1 Dream Every night or 31 Dreams total (26/31) 5 more dreams with 2 weeks left in March, plenty of time!
4 Lucid Dreams total for the month of march (4/4) This mornings short Lucid was my fourth this month, anything else is just icing on the cake!

Day 1 and 2 "The Creative Sleep Program": They recommend Day 1 and 2 setting up your Dream journal and focusing your intent gently before bed of intending to remember your dreams.

I'm going to cheat and just count tomorrow as Day 3 since I have been practicing their recommendations for Day 1&2 for the past few weeks. (Setting intention for recalling dreams, and Keeping a Dream journal)

I was laying in bed several nights ago, I was just visualizing what I would do if I were to become lucid that night. I ended up getting very engrossed in the visualization before drifting off to sleep. It would be awesome to do this in a lucid so I decided to write out and expand on it as a Dream idea. Each night before i go to bed I'll write out the next part of the 'Dream Story' so to speak to give myself something to incubate before i go to sleep.

I'm walking alone in the middle of nowhere at a leisurely pace. Admiring the landscape - kind of a desert area, very flat not many trees or shrubs. I stop and gaze up at the sky for a while to appreciate how many stars you can see in sky when there aren't so many city lights around. I wish that I could survive the vacuum of space and just fly to the closest galaxy and observe the beauty from up close. Below me the ground starts to rumble slightly, I kneel down and place a hand on the earth. The earth beneath me heaves upward at alarming speed. The distance between myself and the blackness of space closes quickly as I ascend on a massive mountain being formed beneath me in a matter of moments. I stand up and whoop in excitement my arms out to my sides.

The mountain abruptly stops and I shoot off into space with the momentum, I place my arms at my sides and rocket head first out of our solar system with increasing speed. My hair whips around madly and stars are stretched into long beams of light that blaze past me. I close my eyes and enjoy the feeling of acceleration. Suddenly everything is still and calm. I open my eyes and sit cross legged in the air. I'm floating above the Andromeda galaxy. I stare and appreciate the behemoth cluster of stars and gas that swirl slowly and gracefully.

I descend into the galaxy. I fly through cosmic dust, past small satellites and asteroids coming closer to the first solar system I encounter. The first planet I see is a massive gas giant much like Jupiter, it glows an eerie swamp-like green. I glide past the giant and continue inwards towards this system's star. I start to squint as I look directly at it, then realize this is my world and the star is nothing more than brilliantly beautiful. I close my eyes and bask in it's light. I look to my left and see a small quaint looking planet. I see what I believe are city lights and excitement wells up inside of me - sentient life!

I soar into the atmosphere of the planet and touch down on a city street much like New York. I look around and ponder the odds of an alien race possessing cities that look like ours. I glance around and notice that there isn't any sign of life. No cars driving, no people walking. But everywhere there are brilliant billboards and advertisements. On the ground in front of me I notice a manhole lid is not completely secure. I walk over and slide it aside and peer down into the sewer. With nothing better to do I shrug and descend into the sewer. I walk through the labyrinth of tunnels and drains, eventually I notice a peculiar door on the left down the tunnel in front of me - light spilling from underneath. I cautiously approach the door and open it just enough so that I can see inside. It appears that nobody is there so I peek my head in and have a look around. I walk inside and it appears to be a small "hide-out" area. I notice an old couch and sit down while I take in my surroundings. Suddenly right in front of me is a man sized rat in a kimono.

I break into an ear to ear grin so enthusiastically my physical body does as well which brings me back from the cusp of sleep.

I kind of just let my "dream body" wander through the visualization and made things up on the fly, by the time I made it to Master Splinter my thoughts were hazy and I was about to fall asleep. I'm really hoping that continuing this tonight might turn into a badass Ninja Turtle Dream lol

Day 3: The Creative Sleep Program Dream Incubation
Daytime-
Day 3 suggests that you consider the possible influences of your surroundings while you sleep. Are your surroundings rich and stimulating or sterile and piled with paperwork brought home from the office? Is it generally quiet? Is the temperature typically comfortable? Most importantly, what emotional message do you receive from your sleep environment? I sleep in my room obviously, I don't find it particularly uncomfortable in any fashion. It could certainly use a cleaning right about now, I'll take care of that tonight before bed for peace of mind tonight.

Night -
Choose a meaningful situation in which you have direct influence over. Choose some 'objects' to place in your sleeping environment, pictures or anything relevant to the chosen topic. As you choose them calmly focus your intent to dream about the chosen situation or matter of concern. Before sleep take a few moments to focus on a phrase to set your intent on the dream. Write the phrase in your dream journal and turn in for bed. As you fall asleep picture the relevant objects you have placed around your room and quietly remind yourself to dream about the subject at hand. Remind yourself to remember the related dream.

I don't really like bringing my waking life problems to sleep with me, but for the sake of following their plan I will do so. I can see why using something that you are emotionally vested in might make it easier to set your intent to dream. We'll see

Originally Posted by PennyRoyal

I kind of just let my "dream body" wander through the visualization and made things up on the fly, by the time I made it to Master Splinter my thoughts were hazy and I was about to fall asleep. I'm really hoping that continuing this tonight might turn into a badass Ninja Turtle Dream lol

I love this continuous story you've got going on! And now that Splinter and the Ninja Turtles will perhaps be making an appearance, it's has gotten even more awesome! Cowabunga dude!!

Originally Posted by PennyRoyal

I don't really like bringing my waking life problems to sleep with me, but for the sake of following their plan I will do so. I can see why using something that you are emotionally vested in might make it easier to set your intent to dream. We'll see

That's interesting. Do they insist that it be something that contains any negative emotion? I wonder if it would be acceptable to choose something infused with positive emotion. Maybe a hobby? Playing out a zerg rush?

Do they insist that it be something that contains any negative emotion?

No, not negative just meaningful. When I first read this I was about an hour from a job interview so I guess my stress was just influencing the way I was thinking. Their examples are 'behavior towards your mother in law, how you react to a pressing matter in your personal or professional life' Just kind of sounded like a bummer to me :p

I wonder if it would be acceptable to choose something infused with positive emotion. Maybe a hobby? Playing out a zerg rush?

That's a pretty fantastic idea. I've already had a few starcraft dreams, maybe i can steer it away from PLAYING Starcraft. I've been doing that enough during the day. I never have a physical body though in the starcraft dreams. Always first person with my own body in varying ages - except for these. I just noticed that.

Originally Posted by PennyRoyal

Day 3: The Creative Sleep Program: Dream Incubation

I ended up staying up way late the night I was supposed to do this. Spent no time setting intention in the way they wanted, had no recall, etc.

Thanks to CL's suggestion I decided to use Starcraft as the thing that was 'meaningful' to incubate. Specifically, I've been really close to getting the 1000 wins achievment for the SC2 Ladder. I don't really take much stock in getting the achievements usually but it's the last one, and took me about 2.5-3 years to get to that benchmark. Anyhow last night instead of getting my last 10 wins before going to bed, I purposely left them for later so that when I went to sleep I could imagine how it would feel when I won the last game, etc, etc. They suggest leaving pictures or items around related to the incubation. My girlfriend made a few origami zerg units. I just put them out on my desk and left my computer screen on some fan art of Kerrigan. I thought about these as I imagined getting the 1000th win.

I thought this was kind of cheesy as I was trying to go to bed, but I just didn't pay the negative thoughts any mind and focused on the exercise as I went to sleep.

Results

I did indeed have the same Starcraft dream several times last night. I'm sure that playing for a while before bed helped the incubation considering I've had them all week. But that can be a lesson learned for incubating dreams in the future as well.

Day 4: Dream Incubation cont.

Pick a creative need that is of some pressing concern
I really want to complete the March Task of the Month!

Daytime - spend some time thinking about your creative dilemma. calmly tell yourself that you will express a solution in your dreams. Gather some objects that remind you of the issue at hand and place them in your sleeping environment.
I'll put El Burro in my room tonight, I love you buddy.. but I'm going to break you into a million pieces next time.

Bed time - create a phrase or a simple illustration that best expresses your problem and enter it on a fresh page of your Dream Journal. Continue to focus on the phrase or illustration as you drift off to sleep. Tell yourself that you will have a relevant dream and remember it immediately upon awakening I'll make a phrase and do a little drawing of the ToTM wings in my DJ.

Day 4: Creative sleep program Results

I wasn't able to become Lucid last night and complete the ToTM. However, I DID have a nonlucid of myself breaking a giant trenching machine lol.

Originally Posted by PennyRoyal

Thanks to CL's suggestion I decided to use Starcraft as the thing that was 'meaningful' to incubate. Specifically, I've been really close to getting the 1000 wins achievment for the SC2 Ladder. I don't really take much stock in getting the achievements usually but it's the last one, and took me about 2.5-3 years to get to that benchmark. Anyhow last night instead of getting my last 10 wins before going to bed, I purposely left them for later so that when I went to sleep I could imagine how it would feel when I won the last game, etc, etc. They suggest leaving pictures or items around related to the incubation. My girlfriend made a few origami zerg units. I just put them out on my desk and left my computer screen on some fan art of Kerrigan. I thought about these as I imagined getting the 1000th win.

Awesome! That's great stuff, man. I love this notion of really going all out with incubation. My incubation is a real work in progress and I've got quite a long way to go, so these ideas really get my interest. Could be very useful for those of us who need a little extra boost in our dream incubation abilities.

And I of course love the origami zerg units! I need my Wife to make an origami Angel Falls or something.

And wow, 1000 SC2 wins? You are hardcore.

I'll put El Burro in my room tonight, I love you buddy.. but I'm going to break you into a million pieces next time.

El Burro's DC will forgive you. He wants Task of the Month just as badly as you do!

Thanks for the update. I am learning a lot and getting a great deal of inspiration from these recent entries!

Awesome! That's great stuff, man. I love this notion of really going all out with incubation. My incubation is a real work in progress and I've got quite a long way to go, so these ideas really get my interest. Could be very useful for those of us who need a little extra boost in our dream incubation abilities.

It's interesting. I was really hesitant about going all out like the book recommended because it was kind of cheesy. But hey.. I had a dream about starcraft the first night, and last night i did dream about breaking schtuff even if it wasnt the outcome I wanted exactly

I need my Wife to make an origami Angel Falls or something.

Lol Id like to see that, quite the undertaking.

And wow, 1000 SC2 wins? You are hardcore.

It's a lot of games played, they didn't count how many losses I had to get to make it to 1000 It did take me a good 2 years to finally get it though.

I'm glad you're getting something out of this too. I was recording it here so I don't have to clog my Dreamjournal with a bunch of notes, so good that someone else is gaining from it as well.

Having a basis of Dream Incubation to work with - now we take the Program One step further! lol

First is a detailed exploration of your waking reality.

- Choose a location reminiscent of your dream scenes you have in your dreams.

I'm dedicated to doing this right, but not enough to get in my car and drive to another location after I worked 8 hours. I went out on my balcony and observed from there




- Notice exactly where you are in relation to everything else. Take it all in and give yourself time to absorb the aesthetic and emotional impact of your surroundings.

It was PERFECT outside. The temperature was such that I could barely place whether I was feeling warm or cool, and there was a nice refreshing breeze. The trees swayed so surreally, and the fresh mown grass as well as the tree leaves were all vibrant in the setting sunlight that I actually had to RC haha. I felt very content and relaxed.

-Then consider that the place you chose is a reflection of your own personality and imagination. Out of all the places you could have gone, you came here. Ask yourself the following questions; What is it about this place that reminds me of my Dreams? Observe people around you, think about how everybody you see also has dreams

This made me laugh out loud. Even if I was tired from my day, I would probably choose my balcony anyway. I'm a simple man with simple pleasures and I often just dream about being at home, or another house I've lived in.

-Consider the possibility that those around you have also dreamed of this spot. How many things around you (buildings, products, artifacts) were inspired by unconscious images while somsone was dreaming? Could everything from the street you live on, to your personal tastes, at least on some level be a conscious expression of images from your own and other's Dreams?

I found this VERY interesting, I had never considered these thoughts before - what around me may have been inspired by the creators dreams?

- Get up and walk around, notice possible dream images around you