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ScottR's Workbook
Reality Checks:
- Nose plug
- Finger through hand
- Constant Text
Dream Signs:
- Driving (every dream I can remember before starting my DJ involves this)
- Schools
- My girlfriend
- Submerging my phone in water yet it still works
Short-Term Goals:
- Have a Lucid Dream (completed)
- Recall at least one dream every night this week (completed)
- Learn to stabilize my dreams (completed)
Long-Term Goals:
- Have one lucid dream per week on average
- Complete a task of the month every month
Lucid/Dream Recall History:
- I can remember two lucid dreams in the past, one I had little control of, the other I was able to fly in but lost lucidity shortly after returning to a familiar area.
- My dream recall has been very poor in the past, but recently it has improved immensely. More on that in the about me section.
Current Technique:
- DILD
Sleep Schedule:
- Work from 7-3 mon-fri and most nights the earliest I can go to sleep is midnight, so my sleep schedule is a little more primitive.
- Usually go to sleep at 12 am, wake up to an alarm at 4:30, and wake up for work at 6:30. I also take a two-three hour nap around 3:30 pm.
- My best dreams occur between 4:30am and 6:30 am, however, I also get a decent amount of REM during my after work nap. There is usually also a short dream before my 4:30 alarm goes off.
About Me:
I am a college senior at the University of Florida and get my most consistent sleep when I am there. During the summer I am home in NJ and have an early job that keeps me from sleeping as much as I'd like. I have wrestled for most of my life, and in High School I sustained several concussions participating in the sport, resulting in a Neurologists recommendation that I quit before my senior year. To date, I have sustained close to 20 concussions. Because of this my memory has taken a detrimental hit. I have significantly less memories of my life before college than I should, and my short term memory is now atrocious. Previous attempts at lucid dreaming have ended poorly for me, as my memory deficiencies hindered me from recalling anything more than a single snippet of dream no matter how hard I tried, which was very discouraging. Looking to treat this issue, I recently started taking Galantamine and Choline (usually recommended for Alzheimer's patients) and have seen improvements in my waking memory but not a great improvement in my dream memory. In the past week I started taking Calea Zacatechichi, the so called "dream herb", and have since seen extreme improvements in both my dream vividness and recall, now recalling two full dreams and one partial dream per day on average. This sudden improvement reignited my interest in Lucid Dreaming and eventually led me to this forum.
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Welcome to DVA man.
First off, since your primary sleep only is about 6 hours, you probably wont remember a great deal of dreaming.
That 3 hour nap though is gonna be prime time for lucid dreams. As you fall asleep for that nap, try repeating a mantra for as long as you can. Something like, "When I fall asleep, Ill know Im dreaming" over and over. Or, check out the WILD technique.
As far as your memory goes, start doing this exercise: At night, as youre in bed and going to sleep, rewind the day in your head and try to remember as much detail as you can up until the time you woke up. And just try to be more aware and present throughout the day in general. Youll find that ehen you rewind your day at night, you can figure out how/when you were most present that day, because youll remember that part more vivdly.
Good luck man!
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Hey Scott, wow that's quite a history you got there.
Let me just start by saying that I know none of us here on staff are trained doctors. The best I can do is make an observation, in my own way, based on what you've just told us. The thing that struck me the most was the fact that you said you are taking Galantamine and Choline. I think it's remarkable that you have already noticed an increase in your waking memory. Please don't be discouraged about not seeing an improvement in your dream memory yet. Remember, waking thought and dreaming thought are pretty different things. And one of the first differences that folks notice right off the bat, is that trying to use your waking mind to recall a dream memory is difficult because, there again, you're using a rational state of mind to try to recall something that's pretty darn irrational.
So to put all this plainly, you're not really in a different boat than the rest of us. You're gradually increasing your waking life memories, which is essential to increasing the opportunities for lucid dreaming. So a big high five there. Plus you have a really disciplined sleep schedule from what I just read (plus naps, which is awesome for recall and LDs, so well done there again!) At this point, the only thing I would add is, and especially in your case since you're concerned with short-term memory, is to Start A Dream Journal. I recommend ours highly: DreamViews Dream Journals.
Man, I could talk to you about so much more tonight but I've run out of time. PM me anytime ok?
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Goal For Next Lucid Dream:
1: have a lucid dream X
2: stabalize my LD by examining my hands X
3: anchor my LD and use voice commands X
4: successfully conjure something X
5: successfully use telekinesis X
6: successfully teleport
Motivations For Lucid Dreaming:
My main reason for wanting to LD is to have fun, create, and explore the capabilities of my unconcious mind. I also am drawn to achievements, so the concept of TOTM really interests me
Strange Things in Real Life:
-My girlfriend sent me some incomprehensible texts, performed an RC.
-Saw strange flashes in my room before bed, performed an RC, turned out to be just my brain.
-Fishtailed in my car in the rain today, performed an RC.
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Induction Attempts
MILD:
-6/7-6/8: Worked on my MILD for the first time in earnest tonight. Told myself "I get to sleep in tonight, I'm definitely going to LD" and honestly believed it. Also told myself that "I will do an RC whenever I'm driving/at school/see my GF". Plenty of dreams, plenty of dream signs, no lucidity.
WILD:
-6/7-6/8: I got to sleep in today so I figured I'd work on my WILD. Almost worked too. It was sometime around 9am, and I was trying to LD in my bed, but I soon slipped into a dream where I was trying to LD in my bed, guess I didn't open my dream eyes quite quick enough. So close, just need to concentrate a bit more next time.
-6/12: (SSILD) Went through a few sensory repetitions and experienced really strong vibrations. It startled me to the point where it actually kept me up.
-6/15: (SSILD & FILD) Again, very strong vibrations and a feeling of spinning. Not sure what to do with it though.
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Stabilization Attempts:
-6/9/13 (6:00-7:30am)I double checked and realized, oh, this really is a dream, and became lucid. I quickly started to study my hands, and looking up everything became crystal clear. I looked back at my hands but the dream was getting blurry. I tried taking off the safety glasses and ear muffs I was wearing, but the dream was fading and I woke up. I think the inability to stabilize was due to being at the end of my REM cycle.
-6/15/13: Had to perform RC's and look at my hands constantly to keep the LD from fading.
-6/21/13: Used "stabalize" voice command and anchored my dream. I was really exhausted before I went to bed (4 hours of sleep the night before) and only slept 4.5 hours tonight so my recall is fuzzy at best
-6/23/13: Stabilized two LD's beautifully tonight using a combo of hand studying, voice commands, and anchoring.
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Hey ScottR, looks like you are making some good progress. One suggestion on the FA: if you reality check when you first wake up, that can help with creating DILDs of a WILD is not successful because WILDs often start in the room in which you sleep. Its just that raised awareness around sleep, even when feeling tired, that will boost dream awareness.
Cheers :)
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Dream Control Skills:
Flying:
-First flight started as a free fall, superman style. Alternating between flying and falling, was able to pull up before hitting the ground. Very uncontrolled and had trouble orienting my body.
-Running jump take off, bird style flight. First attempt failed after one flap. Second attempt was succesful, very graceful.
Telekinesis:
-got a tin can to wiggle, but woke up.
-rolled a blunt
Conjuring:
-got a pizza cutter (was going for a hand mirror but I was in a kitchen) to appear behind me
-made tobacco and green tobacco leave materialize in front of me in cigarillo shape. Turned the tobacco to weed and dried out the leaves.
Teleportation:
