Thread: Pickman's Workbook

Turned in a little later at 1:05am. Went to sleep without waking up in the night like I usually do. Still had good dream recall, although my dreams are not as bizarre as they have been all week. Perhaps this is a sign that I'm almost recovered from the workout I did last weekend. So no lucidity tonight.

I turned in at around 12:50am, and I slept okay, waking up at 8:35am. Dream recall was not as good - I recalled parts of my dreams in good detail, but it was patchy. No lucids either.

I haven't done any exercise since the weekend (still waiting for my strained shoulder to recover) and my diet hasn't been that great either. Perhaps intense bouts of exercise and a clean diet should be part of the routine for anyone looking to lucid dream.

I've been a bit lazy with the updates this weekend. I have been busy over the past couple of days, so I must have just let it slide.

To be honest, there is nothing much to report from the weekend. I turned in at a reasonable on each night, around 12:30. Dream recall was reasonably good. Woke up at around the same time, which was 8am. I did not have a single lucid dream in that time. I think I need to get up to speed with the ADA and reality checking.

I did order some John's Wort tea last night, so when that comes through, I'll see what effect that has on my dreams.

Nothing much to report - I turned in at the usual time, around 12:45. I slept through until around 8am. My dreams were vivid, but not lucid, and I recall much of them.

One thing I have noticed about my dreams over the past week is that they have tended to provide the opportunities for doing the things in my own list of things I want to do in my lucid dreams. It's as if part of my subconscious (or whatever) recognizes that I want to become lucid, and is providing the signs and cues to snap me into lucidity, but I'm too dumb to pick up on them. I think I just need to really make reality checking into a habit.

Yea motivation and confidence seems to be key. This hobby was easier when I first learned about it and was really excited. I was getting all kinds of really cool things to happen at first. Things have slowed down for me but I will continue on! I think I will start reality checking again too.

I turned in at a reasonable time last night, around 12:45. I slept well until 7am when I was woken up by someone else in the house being really loud. I couldn't get back to sleep. But my dream recall was good, even though there was no lucidity.

I'm thinking about experimenting with affirmations. Maybe write something on to my hand like "LD" to prompt frequent reality checks.

Originally Posted by Infinityjester

Yea motivation and confidence seems to be key. This hobby was easier when I first learned about it and was really excited. I was getting all kinds of really cool things to happen at first. Things have slowed down for me but I will continue on! I think I will start reality checking again too.

True, it does seem to be so much easier when you are new to this and really enthusiastic. Not that I've lost my enthusiasm for this, it's more like life finds a way of changing your priorities. I'm still focusing on this though - I've given myself until the end of the year to completely focus on reality checking daily to see how effective my techniques are.

Yesterday I really got into the reality checking. Writing "LD" on my palm in biro meant that I saw it each time I went on break at work, and it prompted me to do a reality check, about every half an hour. This got me into the habit of doing it outside work more often.

Unfortunately I did not get any lucid dreams last night. I turned in at around 1am, later than usual, but I made the mistake of possibly overindulging in sugary foods before turning in. My dream recall was reasonably good, but there was no lucidity. I got up at around 8:20am.

I've been a bit slack with the updates this weekend, so I thought I should log in and update with a general overview of how (un)successful this weekend has been.

I have been turning in at a reasonable time, around 12:30, but I haven't been sleeping too well. Usually I wake up with a coughing fit, or I get interrupted all night. I've come down with a bit of a cold recently, so I think my body seems to be more concerned with recovery than being lucid in my dreams.

So yeah, not brilliant.

Hope you feel better soon, Pickman.

Originally Posted by NyxCC

Hope you feel better soon, Pickman.

Thanks - it seemed to just be one of those colds that last about a day or so, so I'm fine now.

Last night I turned in way too late at 1:30am, and my dream recall was patchy. I woke up slightly earlier at around 7:30am. Need to get my sleeping pattern back under control.

I realize I haven't updated for a couple of days, so here is my update for the past two days.

I have had two near Lucid experiences over the past couple of nights. First, a couple of nights ago I had a false awakening after attempting to DEILD when waking up during the night. I turned in at a good time, around 12:30, and I managed to recall a decent amount of my dreams when I woke up. The false awakening was so weird, it should have led to lucidity, but it didn't. I felt like crap (as I did when I actually woke up) and staggered out of my room to the bathroom to take a shower, only to find that someone had cluttered up the landing with stuff from the living room - sofa cushions, bags of other stuff, etc. After kicking them out of the way and clambering over what was left, I made it to the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

What I saw in the mirror horrified me. Normally, I'm a white guy with short dark-blonde hair. I looked in the mirror to see that I had dyed my hair jet black. The roots were starting to show. And even worse than that, I had grown this horrible thin line of facial hair down from my sideburns, that culminated in a small goatee on my chin. That was dyed black as well.

Instead of thinking "wait, when did I do this? I would never do this. I wasn't even drunk last night", my thoughts went straight to "what the hell do I do about this?" and "I hope to hell this dye isn't permanent." Then I woke up. So close to becoming lucid. I guess looking in the mirror is going to become another dream sign.

Then last night. after waking in the middle of the night, I attempted to DEILD. I went for the daydream tactic, and it almost worked. I didn't transition into my dream. Instead I found myself walking along a road near where I live. It was unusually quiet, and I had that "Is this a dream?" thought. I stopped and looked around me. The road was unusually quiet, no traffic or people. Usually I look around to find something to read, or check a clock, but there was nothing like that nearby. I tried the finger through palm technique, but that never works, and I was not quite convinced that I was dreaming. Then the dream became less lucid and turned into a non-lucid before I woke up.

Wow, you were so close both times! I think that means lucidity is on its way!

I am nowadays more inclined to take this feeling of uncertainty about the dreamstate "Is this a dream or not" as another dream sign.

No such luck last night. I turned in a little bit late at around 1am, had good dream recall, but nothing else. I woke up at 8am after an unsuccessful attempt at DEILD at 7:30am.

NyxxCC: I am coming to the same conclusion about the feeling of uncertainty being a good dream sign. I think my habit of checking my surroundings frequently like a routine might be reducing my likelihood of going lucid.

It's still good because it transfers to dreams. Maybe do the check with more feeling or awareness?

No update for two days, so I think I should probably update today. I have been turning in at reasonable times, but still no luck, despite pretty good dream recall. I attempted to DEILD after waking in the night, but found it difficult to get back to sleep while sleeping on my left side, so I turned back over to my right. SOmetimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Originally Posted by NyxCC

It's still good because it transfers to dreams. Maybe do the check with more feeling or awareness?

Yes, that was probably my problem from last time. I bear this in mind now whenever I do reality checks.

Apologies for the slackness. I think it's been three days since I've updated this workbook. I have the past week off work, and that seems to have thrown me off my usual working week sleep schedule, hence the lack of results. But I'm back to work tomorrow, so that should mean that I start updating this thing more regularly.

Other than that, my results have been pretty mediocre. I have turned in at a reasonable time, except for one night where I turned in at 1:20am. My dream recall has been brief and patchy, possibly due to some bad habits I've developed during my holiday. I always seem to wake up at 7:30-8am feeling like crap because of said bad habits.

Hopefully things will pick up once I go back to work and have less opportunity to overindulge.

Last night I turned in at my usual time, around 12:40am, but this time I spent the past hour or so with no TV or computer, just to improve the quality of my sleep. I spent about 15 minutes doing yoga stretches before I turned in. I woke up at 8:30am, well-rested, feeling okay, but no lucid dreams. Dream recall wasn't that great either. But at least I'm getting back into the rhythm of sleeping well. Hopefully that might yield better results as I get more into reality checking.

Turned in slightly later than usual at 1am, but I slept pretty well and my dream recall was a lot better. I had one of those dreams that was so weird that I should have turned lucid. I woke up at 7am and attempted a DEILD, but it didn't work. I couldn't get to sleep after that so I ended up getting up at 8am.

So I haven't updated over the weekend due to being too busy, but each night was pretty much the same. I turned in at a reasonable time, around 12:30, and usually I slept until 7am when I would attempt to DEILD, and fail, only to get up again at 8am.

My dream recall has been pretty good over that time. Last night I nearly had some success with a hypnagogic image that almost turned into a dream as I dozed off. I was following someone through a town centre, and I started to notice other people doing weird things. When I realized that I was entering a dream state, this jolted me awake. I tried to get back into it, but I just drifted off into sleep and a non-lucid dream.

No luck last night. I turned in far too late after spending too long in front of the PC. After turning in at 1am I woke up at 8:30am, with reasonably good dream recall but no lucidity.

Last night I had some trouble getting to sleep. I made the mistake of eating a slice of cake after my evening meal (which was at 11pm because of my job), and I think the sugar made my heart rate go crazy while I was trying to get to sleep. After a while, my focus went from attempting to WILD into a lucid dream, to just getting some sleep. I did eventually, but I can't remember any of my dreams.

A bit better last night. I turned in at around 1am, but without spending quite so long on my PC beforehand. My dream recall was a lot better, and I could have DEILD'd when I woke up in the night lying on my left (which I don't usually do). Instead I automatically turned over onto my right to catch up on sleep which I regret, because I think I could have DEILD'd if I had the chance. I woke up at 8:20am, feeling okay unlike yesterday.

Same as last night - I turned in at around 1am, dream recall was pretty good, but I didn't have any lucid dreams. I woke up at 8:20am, too late to attempt a DEILD.

How are your daytime practices going?