Thread: Herch's Workbook :sleeping:

Herch's Workbook

Reality Checks:
- count fingers on hand
- put finger through hand

Dream Signs:
- people from present in past places (context issue)
- scene elements from different places mixed together
- actions are illogical and would not happen in real life
- instantly change from one scene to the next

Short-Term Goals:
- increase dream recall
- have first lucid dream

Long-Term Goals:
- increase lucid dream frequency
- control lucid dreams

Lucid/Dream Recall History:
- .5 lucid dreams
- 27 dreams recalled (started 4/22/13)

Current Technique:
- all day awareness
- visualization
- read dream journal and notes before sleep
- meditation before sleep, focusing on dreams

Sleep time = 10-12pm until 5-5:45am

I sometimes wake up between 4-5:30am after the last dream and then can't fall back asleep.

I have read through all the different LD techniques and am going to try to mix a few together. The DILD and MILD seem to appeal to me the most. Currently I am doing reality checks throughout the day and am trying kingyoshi's ADA- All Day Awareness. Also, the sporadic awareness technique seems to blend well with these. When falling asleep, I focus on previous dreams and contemplate the process while preparing to sleep and eventually awaken. I think I have covered a few different areas here to increase my chances of the ever-elusive LD and perhaps stick with one method that I prefer.

Three or maybe four dreams recalled last night. It is fascinating how when I first wake up I only recall a hint of a dream but as I write the fog lifts and the dream expands. Write it down fast or its gone forever...

I expect the vividness to return to where it was two weeks ago before I took a break from my LD project. I was doing great for about two weeks, then life got stressful and I had to put it on hiatus. Now I feel like I am starting from square 2 again.

One more thing- it is sometimes hard to distinguish between different dreams and different scenes within the same dream. Sometimes I have movie-like dreams that run in sequence. For example, last night was a James Bond type adventure with 3-4 scenes. However, I am unsure if the last part where I went back to my apartment and confronted a squatter (I told myself the mission lasted months) was part of that dream or an entirely new one. Could it be both? Could a second dream pick up where the first left off?

Originally Posted by Herch80

Three or maybe four dreams recalled last night. It is fascinating how when I first wake up I only recall a hint of a dream but as I write the fog lifts and the dream expands. Write it down fast or its gone forever...

You are so right!

Anyway, welcome to the class Herch! You say you had .5 (a half?) a lucid dream before? I'm intrigued!

I expect the vividness to return to where it was two weeks ago before I took a break from my LD project. I was doing great for about two weeks, then life got stressful and I had to put it on hiatus. Now I feel like I am starting from square 2 again.

Happens to the best of us. At least once you start focusing on dreaming again, recall starts getting better and so does chances of inducing LDs (rather than just waiting for them to happen accidentally).

One more thing- it is sometimes hard to distinguish between different dreams and different scenes within the same dream. Sometimes I have movie-like dreams that run in sequence. For example, last night was a James Bond type adventure with 3-4 scenes. However, I am unsure if the last part where I went back to my apartment and confronted a squatter (I told myself the mission lasted months) was part of that dream or an entirely new one. Could it be both? Could a second dream pick up where the first left off?

The answer is yes. This has happened to me in lucid dreams as well as non lucid, where I have a dream that basically picked up where the last one left off, with maybe a few changes here and there. For me, it's just easier to make the distinction when I'm lucid (since I'm more aware of what's going on). When you're nonlucid, dreams don't have to be linear at all, and they can be one big jumble hump of a mess. Those dreams you reaaaally want to write down the moment you wake up. Trying to recall an irrational dream(s) with your rational waking mind seems to get harder and harder with every moment that passes after you wake up. I am guilty of this as well

One thing I have not come across in my reading on this subject, and this may be because I have not read ahead in LD because I am still a beginner, but will I always want to keep the dream journal going? Even after I am at about one LD a week or two, which will hopefully be in a few months or a year? I understand the necessity for doing it now, but as my dream recall and vividness increases, I could be writing for a half hour every morning, which seems like a lot and not something I could do for months on end.
Thanks for your help!

You know, DJing is one of those things that usually helps, but never hurts. I find that I can still LD even when I get lazy with my journal, but I don't recall as much of it when I wake up. So that little bit of homework every morning does help enhance the whole lucid lifestyle.

Once you get used to having lucids on a regular basis, you'll be able to gauge how intense you should be with your journal.

Ophelia, thanks for the help and feedback thus far. I appreciate the time you spend helping us on the forum reach our goals. You had asked about my .5 lucid dream. Basically I became aware of the dream momentarily and it was only for such a short period of time that it doesn't deserve full credit. I hardly even remembered it.

My normal sleep pattern has me waking up sometimes between 4-5am after a few REM cycles. Then I often go back to sleep for one more dream. As I understand the WILD technique or maybe WBTB, this is a prime situation for this LD strategy. I usually just do what I do before bed by focusing on dream recall, relaxation and thinking about the dream state. As easy as that sounds I do not feel I am where I need to be in that department.

This morning I recalled a few dreams, some vaguely as usual. I think I've watched too many scary movies in my life because a "bad guy" is often a theme. A funny thing happened in one of my dreams though- I found myself writing the dream journal on the side of a shower stall! I had my brain so focused on dream recall and writing it down in the morning that I started before the dream even ended!

I use my ipod touch as my dream journal where I also keep notes and links mostly from stuff I've learned here on the forum. It helps me edit them when later in the day or that night I remember something new from the dream. It is very convenient to sort dream signs and keep all my dream stuff together. I can also read in the dark during night or morning without turning on a light.

I think my brain is too good at tricky me into believing a dream is real. There was one dream a while ago where my daughter's stuffed monkey was with another little girl and I thought "that can't be right, that's Lily's monkey" and then all the sudden the dream changed and Lily was there with her monkey and gave it to the girl. I had almost caught on that it was a dream but my brain quickly corrected the error so that I would buy into the story. The dual nature of my brain is fascinating but keeping me from experiencing the LD.

I think my brain is too good at tricky me into believing a dream is real. There was one dream a while ago where my daughter's stuffed monkey was with another little girl and I thought "that can't be right, that's Lily's monkey" and then all the sudden the dream changed and Lily was there with her monkey and gave it to the girl. I had almost caught on that it was a dream but my brain quickly corrected the error so that I would buy into the story. The dual nature of my brain is fascinating but keeping me from experiencing the LD.

Hi Herch80,

Sounds like you are gaining more awareness in the dream. Those moments of questioning your environment or thinking "that can't be right" are those advantageous moments where we can reach out and grab lucidity. One of the more effective ways to induce lucid dreams is to, before bed, imagine yourself back in that dream when that moment occurs, then visualize and feel yourself becoming lucid. Play out what you might do when lucid, perhaps some goals you have, and when you dream, it should strengthen that feeling of questioning the dream.

Chimpertaintment, thanks for the feedback.

My visualization skills have improved during the day in the past week. I forget the source (LaBerge maybe?) but the technique is to look at something like an apple for several seconds and then close your eyes and try to picture it in your mind. That and simply trying to see colors when the eyes are closed has helped.
The all day awareness has been going well also. Sometimes I think it is simply noticing everything. If this is the case, pprogress is smooth.
Reality checks have surprisingly dropped off though. I feel like I am missing something or just plain don't feel like doing them. Weird thing is that I still spend time on the ADA and visualization and dream recall, yet the reality checks need improvement. I think they will get better though as the ADA becomes more routine.

The other night was like a long sequence of dreams and kind of an odd experience. I have been so focused on dream recall, that when I woke up in between dreams, I tried my best to recall every detail- which worked. However, I didn't write them down because I was too tired, and went back to sleep. So I was motivated to do the dream recall but not the writing element at 2-4am. It seems I am writing either my favorite dream of the night or the last one, that is the easiest to recall.

Yeah, reality checks and ada can be a bother. The key to them in my opinion is to make it feel like you are in a dream. When you look around for ada, say to yourself, "this is a dream cup" or "that is a dream tree" and really embody the dream mindset. For RCs, its the same idea, but try to become aware of yourself to see if your reality at that moment feels like a dream. Think of how a dream feels, how it usually behaves, and try something happens in dreams that doesn't happen in waking life.

just one further note on ADA: It can seem like all you are doing is noticing everything. However, the idea is that you will cross over these mind-sets into your dream. The questioning reality, the observing details of regular life that would be different in dreams etc. The idea of ADA is simply to build general awareness is waking life that will also be present in the dream. While being aware of your surroundings is good, the key is to be aware of yourself in your surroundings. Be aware of how you relate to your surroundings, and how you interact with your surroundings. Both through space and time. In other words, be aware of where you have been, where you are, and what time it is. Even these awareness building practices take time, so keep at it and you should see some improvement after a while.

My first lucid dream. I write this right after waking up, which oddly was an hour after I fell asleep.
about an hour before sleep I took omega-3 fish oil pill and b6 100mg downed them with apple juice. Read some of the DV forum. Cleared my mind of worries and tried to consider something pleasant.
Had a dream quickly after falling asleep. I was climbing a tree house with multiple platforms and steps in rollerskates. Considered taking them off as wearing them was weird and didnt want anyone to come by and see me. As I got one off, a woman and kid showed up and she was ugly and mean looking, sort of mad. I was kind of scared, then thought it was a dream so I would be OK no matter what she did- she couldnt hurt me. my view of her was then obstructed by the tree. When she got closer she turned darker and as she was very up close I freaked out and woke up.
Great. I get lucid and its something lame and nightmarish. I checked the clock and it read 11:30pm, which was less than an hour after I fell asleep. Well, since I was only asleep for maybe a half hour, it might be a long night of lucid dreams.
Morning notes: nope. First, it took me about an hour and a half to return to sleep. I had a few dreams that I decently recalled, but nothing noteworthy.

Congrats on the lucid Herch80!

yeah, sometimes the first few lucids can be a little dark, probably because the mind is not accustomed to being lucid. After a few lucids, that should smooth out nicely. good stuff!

I am stuck between lessons III and IV mostly because lesson IV says "when you are in a lucid dream" and I have yet to reach that point.
Some current strengths and weaknesses regarding my attempts at having LDs:

Pros:
Decent or good dream recall
Vivid dreams sometimes
Motivation is still there
Visualization skills have increased
Before bed routine od meditation is good

Cons:
Reality checks are not my thing, although I know they are important.
All Day Awareness started well, but is not sustainable. I can't be in a dream world all day (all day awareness) because too busy. Basically, I am too busy during the day to think about prepping for dream and sleep time.
Repeated failure might eat away at resolve to achieve the LD

I am once again reinvigorating my attempts. Perhaps I need to form a better strategy to make LDs happen?