Thread: Pickman's Workbook

8th September Update.

I turned in at 12:30. At 3:40am I woke up. I decided to get up and attempt WBTB, but failed. I think I was just too tired. I woke up again at 8:30am.

I was a little slack on the reality testing today. Will have to get back into it tomorrow.

9th September Update - Second Lucid Dream Sucess!

This time I had some success with the DILD technique, so the reality checking is paying off. I turned in at around 12:30 (getting better at turning in at a reasonable time). Before I turned in I told myself repeatedly "I will become lucid in my dreams tonight", so this could have been a success with the MILD technique, although my attempts at using this in the past have rarely been successful.

The dream started off as non-lucid, and I recall a lot of it. It became lucid when I found myself running through my city to get to an appointment I was missing. I found myself noticing landmarks from other cities I've been to, and the place seemed to be a combination of various cities rather than just my home city. I was so stressed about being late for this appointment that it took me a while to figure out that this was a dream. Then the thought came to me "Why am I stressing about this appointment - this is just a dream!" It was as if I had just been going along with this dream narrative, and when I decided to break the narrative because I didn't like it anymore, that's when I became lucid.

So I found myself on a street, wondering what to do now that I was lucid. The weather was really nice and sunny, and there were only a few people wandering around the street. The only DC who was close to me was this young man who spoke to me in an American accent, saying "Dude!..." (forgotten the rest). Then he handed me a box full of green beans, asking me to try them. I took a bite out of them, but they tasted dry, like cardboard. Possibly the weirdest DC interaction I've ever had.

Around this time I started having difficulties maintaining the visuals of the dream. I could vaguely feel my head on the pillow. I wish I could have prolonged this dream further. I think all the running I did previously had raised my heart rate to the point where I was too excitable to remain in the state.

10th & 11th September Update.

Writing about two days at once, since my internet cut out recently.

Nothing too interesting to report. I turned in at 12:45 on both nights, I slept well until around the 7:30-8am time when I woke up. Dream recall was reasonably good, but no lucid dreams.

12th & 13th September Update.

Another belated update. The 12th of September was pretty much the same as the previous two nights. Last night I turned in t 12:30, and woke up at 4:30am. I attempted a WBTB, but it failed - I guess I was too tired. I woke up at 8am, and I couldn't recall any dreams.

14th September Update.

I managed to turn in at a reasonable time, around 12:30. I woke up at 4am with the feeling of something in my eye. It was quite painful, and it has been there all day. I will be seeing a doctor tomorrow morning.

After turning in, I managed to sleep despite the irritation. I managed to recall a lot of my dreams. I had a really long dream about being in a martial arts academy, and flirting with a DC who works in a local nightclub that exists in real life. I took two and a half pages in my notebook.

I wonder if sleeping in that much pain affected my dream recall, or just made my dreams crazy.

15th September Update.

I turned in early at around 12:30 and got up at 6:55am. I had to get straight up to go to the doctors, so no time to record my dreams. I barely recall much of it anyway - something about meeting a comedian. That's it.

16th September Update.

I turned in at 12:30 again, but it I had another early morning appointment to get up for. I only had the time to get up and get ready, so no time to record my dreams. And none of my dreams were lucid either.

17th & 18th September Update.

I've been pretty good with turning in consistently at 12:30, although last night I turned in at 1am again. Last night I attempted the SSILD technique described by CosmicIron in the Induction Techniques forum. I tried it when waking up at 5am. It didn't work for me - it just sent me to sleep when running through each of the senses. I was too tired to concentrate. It might have worked if I was not so tired though.

19th & 20th September Update.

Nothing much to report other than my dream recall is consistently good and I have been sticking to a reasonable sleep routine. I think it's about time to start on lesson 2, since I've got the sleeping pattern thing down. Will hopefully have more to post on this tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Pickman

I need to get my sleep routine in order, so here is what I am planning to do:

First, I should start to record my dreams from my bedside notes into my DJ.

Second, I need to have some kind of stretching routine to improve my flexibility. When I used to do yoga, I would have a routine that I would for for 15 minutes before bed, and my sleep was really deep and restful. I'm going to start off with something a little less time consuming. I intend to do a workout from MobilityWOD | All human beings should be able to perform basic maintenance on themselves. , which is a little less time consuming, but I could ramp it up for a bit longer as the time goes on.

Third, I need to get back into meditation. Ideally I would like to do 30 minutes before bed, but I think 10-15 minutes would be more realistic, since I need to get back into it. I have a few meditation podcasts to listen to, so I could start there.

The stretching and meditation could be interchangeable, but the DJ work should be out of the way first, since it is more cerebral and I will need a break before getting to sleep.

Assuming that anyone is actually reading my workbook, what do you people think? Any suggestions? Is it good/bad?

First off, Pickman, great job with your record keeping!

Sorry for the slow response to your question. If we overlook a question that you need answered, don't hesitate to put it in the "Raise Your Hand" thread and we will make sure that it gets attention!

I think that every element of your routine sounds helpful, particularly recording your dreams in your DJ and doing some meditiation. The flexibility work sounds really promising, too, since it improves your sleep so much. The main guiding principle is to make sure that the routine will be realistic for you to perform while still getting plenty of sleep.

The #1 best feature of any nighttime routine is assuring yourself enough sleep. Whatever amount of sleep it is that you need, try to make sure that you get it as many nights as possible. This gives you by far the best dream recall, the best odds of lucidity, and the fastest progress with lucid dreaming skills.

Originally Posted by Pickman

5th September Update.

Turned in at 1am. Slept okay through to 7am, good dream recall, but I attempted to DEILD and failed. I needed the toilet so I thought I would try WBTB. This also failed.

It was getting close to 8am and I was about to give up, when I started to have this light dream, almost like a daydream, but I was in my local pharmacy which I don't generally daydream about. Then I saw a new character just emerge from a back room, and I realized that this could be more than daydream. But I had to get up soon, and so I couldn't do anything with it.

Nice job, congratulations on the close call! I bet that without the intrusion of waking life concerns (the fact that you needed to get up), you'd have very likely converted this one into an LD. These are the kinds of situations where going to bed a little earlier gives you an edge. You have more dream time still ahead of you and no waking life concerns to foul up your concentration.

Keep up the good work!

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the reply CanisLucidus, that's very helpful. You've probably noticed that I have already posted a few questions to the Raise Your Hand thread already, so that hasn't been a problem.

As for my routine, the stretching and DJ work hasn't always been manageable, but I have at least turned in at a regular hour.

As for last night, I had trouble sleeping. I turned in at around 12:30, but sleep was intermittent. I probably got around 3-4 hours sleep. My dreams went crazy and I recalled alot of them, since I probably woke up so close to the REM cycle.

Looking over Lesson 2, I'm going to have choose between practicing DILD or MILD. I always attempt DEILD if I wake up in the earlier hours of the morning anyway. I'll go over my options tomorrow.

So I haven't really had the the time to go over the induction techniques properly yet. Still turning in at a reasonable time though. My dream recall is reasonably good.

Whichever method I choose to go with, I will probably be studying WBTB and DEILD anyway, since I have a habit of waking up in the night or an hour or so before I intend to get up. This gives me a bit more opportunity for lucid dreams.

Last night I turned in at a good time, and woke up at around 5am after a long dream which I could recall in great detail. I decided that this would be a good time to try WBTB, and it nearly worked. I sat up and wrote my long dream down on a notebook for a little while before turning back in.

What followed was a long series of dreams in which I have just woken up and in the process of going about my morning. In some of these dreams, it all seemed so realistic, but I felt like doing a reality check anyway. But the reality checks didn't work. I tried pressing my finger through my hand, and I couldn't. So I still wasn't sure if I was dreaming, it seemed so realistic. It's a shame, because it would have made for an awesome lucid dream. One thing I forgot to do was trace my steps and ask myself how I got there. I should do that more often as a reality check.


Still deciding whether to experiment with MILD or DILD. I don't see why I couldn't do both, since DILD is reliant on daytime awareness and MILD is about some pre-bed ritual or mantra (it's been a while since I've read up on MILD so I could be wrong).

Originally Posted by Pickman

Still deciding whether to experiment with MILD or DILD. I don't see why I couldn't do both, since DILD is reliant on daytime awareness and MILD is about some pre-bed ritual or mantra (it's been a while since I've read up on MILD so I could be wrong).

You absolutely can do both! You can think of "DILD" as being a broad category of experiences. Essentially, this is any lucid where you become lucid after passing into a non-lucid dream state. There are many ways to get there, including basic awareness and prospective memory work during the daytime, as well as MILD during WBTB or even pre-bed.

They are all designed to lead to DILDs. Think of MILD as a way to increase the likelihood of experiencing DILDs and I believe you'll see that you are on the right track!

Last night was not very eventful. Turned in slightly later at around 12:50, and woke up at 8am. I was well-rested, but I can barely remember any of my dreams.

Originally Posted by CanisLucidus

You absolutely can do both! You can think of "DILD" as being a broad category of experiences. Essentially, this is any lucid where you become lucid after passing into a non-lucid dream state. There are many ways to get there, including basic awareness and prospective memory work during the daytime, as well as MILD during WBTB or even pre-bed.

They are all designed to lead to DILDs. Think of MILD as a way to increase the likelihood of experiencing DILDs and I believe you'll see that you are on the right track!

Thanks for the input. So I can experiment with both MILD and DILD at the same time - that's great. I get to experiment with both techniques. I should also read more in-depth about WBTB and DEILD since I tend to wake up in the middle of the night or earlier in the morning. I've already had two successes with DEILD, so I might as well carry on.

There's too much material for me to go through tonight, so I might leave it until the weekend before coming up with a cohesive plan for my two week experiment.

The past couple of nights have been uneventful. Thursday night was fine - turned in at a reasonable time, recalled much of my dream and woke up at 8am.

Last night wasn't too good. I got home from work to find some relatives had come over to visit, so I turned in a bit later. I was also stressed out from the week, so getting to sleep was difficult.

I have decided for my new two week experiment to try out the DILD and MILD techniques that were linked in the lesson thread. For DILD, I intend to practice SAT (Spontaneous Awareness Technique) at least five times a day. For MILD, I thought I would try the Day Dream Awareness (DDA) technique, since I've already had some success with that during my DEILD's.

Nothing too interesting about last night. I turned in slightly later than usual, and I woke up at 8am with a few fragmented memories of my dream.

I spent the day practicing spontaneous awareness - I didn't keep count, but I'm sure I did it at least five times. I just have to keep it up for another two weeks.

Tonight I will have a go at the DDA technique.

I turned in slightly later than usual at around 1am, and had some difficulty getting off to sleep. I attempted the DDA technique, but it didn't seem to work. This is only day 1 though, so I'll see how it goes. I think that maybe being as tired as I was might have made me less likely to be lucid - my body/mind just wanted to sleep, never mind being lucid. Hopefully I will be more successful tonight if I turn in earlier.

Turned in at close to 1am last night, and woke up at 8am. I recall a long and intense dream, but nothing lucid. Still practicing spontaneous awareness and DDA, but no results as of yet.

Here's my update for the past couple of nights.

I would say both nights have been the same - I turned in maybe a little later than I intended, at aroud 12:50am. The night before last I had to get up early at 7:30am, so I couldn't lie back and attempt DEILD. But on both nights my dream recall has been really good. In fact, ever since starting this experiment, my dreams have gone crazy. The content of my dreams have certainly become a lot weirder since attempting ADD and SAT.

I might change things up a little tonight and attempt LogicInLife's RWI technique (as described here: http://www.dreamviews.com/induction-...technique.html )

So I didn't attempt RWI last night - I didn't have the time after getting home from work. My dream recall is still pretty good, and the content of my dreams are still incredibly weird and intense. The colours seem to be more vivid. I turned in close to 1am and woke up at 8am - starting to fall behind on the sleep routine, but it doesn't seem to be causing any problems for my dreams.

Turned in later last night at 1:20am and woke up at 7:30am - too late for WBTB, but early enough for DEILD. It didn't work though. I still recall much of my dreams.

I turned in at 12:50am, after doing the RWI writing technique a few hours earlier. I couldn't remember any of my dreams and woke up at 6:50am after something fell from my bookshelf and woke me up. I thought it might be a good opportunity to do WBTB, but I could not sleep. Not a great night. I'll still carry on with the RWI technique though.

Here's my update for the previous two nights. I have been turning in at around 12:45, but my dream recall is getting a bit hazier. Not sure why this is. I'm waking up at around 7:30am, which is good time to practice DEILD, but that's not working either.

I'm still doing the RWI technique, but I haven't had any lucid dreams from this just yet.