Thread: Pickman's Workbook

Hi, this is my workbook in which I will attempt to log my efforts on a daily basis. I like this method as it holds me to account and keeps me working on this regularly.

Reality Checks:
-Checking clocks (the time is always wrong)
- Finger through the palm of the hand

Dream Signs:
-The Moon (if visible in the sky, the phase of the moon seems to change each time I look at it in my dreams. Often the phase is completely different to waking reality.)
-Seeing pets that have been deceased for years

Short-Term Goals:
-At least one lucid dream a week
-Find the right technique for me


Long-Term Goals:
-The ability to lucid dream on a regular basis
-Master WILD


Lucid/Dream Recall History:
-I have had sporadic lucid dreams over the years, but they have started to become a little more frequent as I take an interest in the subject. I had one success with MILD which I haven't been able to replicate since I didn't persist with it.

Current Technique:
-DILD

Welcome Pickman!

glad to have you here

14th August Update

I turned in at around 12:40, although it is difficult to place when I woke up, because I kept on waking up at around 7am. This would have been a perfect time to practice the technique where you go back into the dream from waking up (forgotten the acronym). Unfortunately I was concerned about my neck muscles which I have recently strained. I woke up to find myself lying on my side instead of my back, which does not help. I felt the pain in my neck, which also didn't help. So I had to move myself to put my body in a better position, and disrupted what could have been a transition into a lucid dream. Better luck tonight I suppose.

15th August Update

I turned at 1am, which isn't ideal. While lying in bed, I think I nearly accomplished a WILD. I started seeing dream images in my mind while lying still on my back. But then I dropped off.

At first my dreams were non-lucid. I was in a passive state for the first dream, where I was sending e-mails and text messages to an old flatmate from my University days. Then I started taking a more active role in my dreams, when I dreamed that I met another ex-flatmate from Uni and we were setting up a catering business. As soon as business came into the picture, it's like my mind just switched on and I started coming up with ideas to discuss with him.

I woke up at around 7am, but then I had what might have been a success, I'm really not sure. I think I dropped off, and I found myself walking along a path that runs alongside a building in my city. It was night and there were no street lights on. It felt more like a daydream, because I was still aware of my body lying on the bed. I knew this wasn't waking reality, but when I tried to turn the streetlights on with the power of my mind, I couldn't do it, which suggests that it was more than a daydream.

Then I found myself further up the path at the local bus station. In the distance I could see 3-4 tornadoes. One of them came across the car park in my direction. I didn't feel any strong winds that would have suggested the close proximity of a tornado, but instead of asking myself "Is this a dream?", I just thought "RUN". I think my survival instinct got there before my desire to check my surroundings.

So what was this? A success, or a near-miss? I think it was at least a near-miss, but I would appreciate any input on this.

16th August Update

Not much to report. I turned in at around 1:10am, which again, is not ideal. All I remember about my non-lucid dream is a crumbling old house (possibly a reflection of my state of mind due to poor sleep) and a short set from Bill Hicks. There was no lucidity, although I wish I could remember what Bill Hicks was saying.

17th August Update

Another non-lucid dream, too boring to mention. There was the possibility of going into another WILD state when I woke up early this morning, but I seem to have this automatic reaction on waking to turn on my side, breaking the dreaming state. I think it is because I always want to check the time on my alarm clock, or reach down and write my dream down on my notepad. This is something to work on.

18th August Update

This morning I had the same problem as the previous morning - my instinct to move out of position as soon as I wake up. This is something I will have to work on. I think that if I can lie still I should have some chance of achieving a WILD after a dream.

Other than that, just another non-lucid dream that I can barely remember. I have noticed that my dream recall seems to get worse as my diet turns to crap. I wake up feeling drained of energy as well. I have spent the past week overindulging, but since I am back at work tomorrow I can start to clean up my diet and my routine.

19th August Update.

I am still experiencing the same problem with poor dream recall, and moving upon waking. The best I can do right now is work on my night-time routine, as I have been turning in at 1am a lot recently. I am sure that my dream recall should improve once I stop browsing the internet at night and eating food that bloats me.

20th August Update.

There was some progress last night. I turned in at 12:50 instead of past 1am, which is a small change in the right direction. I did some stretches in the dark before bed and that seemed to help.

Dream recall is getting better since my diet cleared up. I still think there is a link, even if I don't have the science to back it up - just a pet theory of mine.

Not only was dream recall better, but the colours in this dream were vivid and amazing. I saw a beautiful sunset that seemed to shine right into my house. One of those sunsets that has a pinkish-orange glow to it. My bedroom had a huge canvas painting behind my bed that looked stunning, and gave me ideas for redecorating my room. There were some other weird moments involving other dream characters - a flirtation with someone from work, my brother trying to kill a group of people with a bomb and failing, seeing my nan's dog who died about ten years ago (this should have made me lucid), and getting some great advice from an African-American guy that I wish I could remember.

The dream ended with three huge blimps from the old Command & Conquer: Red Alert games that were coming to bomb my city. I looked out my window at the sea to see five black helicopters emerge from the water and fly overhead. No bombs fell, everything was fine, and I woke up. There were so many things that should have made me lucid but didn't.

I'm not sure if we are supposed to use these workbooks as dream journals - is that okay?

21st August Update.

Dream recall is still going well, even if I did turn in at 1:20am. I still need to get this bedtime routine thing in order. I had to get up early this morning, so I couldn't just lie in bed and attempt a DEILD,because I knew that would make me oversleep. I did, however, note down the strange symbolism of my dream and spend the rest of the day trying to unpick it.

22nd August Update.

Turned in 1:20am again, which is not ideal. I'm going to have to spend this weekend settling down to a better schedule. Dream recall was minimal - I remembered a few parts here and there, but it was fragmented. I woke up early at 7:30am. I attempted a DEILD, but it just wasn't happening.

23rd August Update - My first successful lucid dream!

I turned in at 1am (again, not ideal, but I have this weekend to sort this out). After having a non-lucid dream that I recall much of, I woke up at 5:40am. I got up, went to the toilet, and went back to bed again with the intention of inducing a WBTB.

It really worked. I found myself sat on the edge of the bed, as if it was early in the morning, but I was about 80% sure that I was dreaming. I completely forgot to do any reality checks, but I was mostly sure that this was a dream. I walked out into the hallway to visit the bathroom like I normally do and saw my mother in the doorway of a bedroom. I spoke to her, and she seemed uncharacteristically docile, just answered my questions with yes/no answers. After returning from the bathroom, she was just stood there looking at nothing. I was certain that this was a dream.

But by the time I got back to my bedroom and started thinking about what I was going to do with my lucidity, I woke up. But this still counts, right?

24h August Update.

Not much to report. I turned in much too late (2am). I didn't sleep very well and woke up at around 7:30am. All I remember of my dreams is seeing tunnels filled with water, and being told by someone that the dead have to travel through water to reach the "other side".

25th August Update.

Once again, I turn in on Saturday night at 1am, and wake up the next morning at 8am. I only remember a dream about seeing old school friends, and not much else besides.

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?

26th August Update.

Turned in at around midnight, woke up at 8am. I can barely remember any of my dreams.

I finally got around to making a list of reasons why I would like to lucid dream. After getting all the fun stuff out of the way (flying, basejumping from skyscrapers, etc), I would like to do the following:
- See if I could practice and learn a new skill during a lucid dream session.
- Try and meditate, and see how this is different from meditation in waking life.
- Experience transformation into something non-human.
- Face a fear.

It has also occured to me that I have not been recording RC's in this workbook like I am supposed to. I suppose I had better start doing that in the future.

27th August Update.

I turned in at around 12:30 - an improvement on what I have been doing lately. I woke up at 8am.

I had a dream about still being at University and trying to figure out where myself and my flatmate (ex-flatmate in real life) were going to live next year. This was going to involve discussions with a Japanese businessman who was a landlord.

I performed RC's throughout the day, mostly at work. Mainly the finger through the palm thing, although I did try reading signs, looking away, then reading them again to see if they still read the same.

28th August Update.

I turned in at around 12:50 (starting to slip again). I had a dream, but I can't remember it. I woke up for the first time at 7am.

Between 7am and 8am when I finally got up, I had a series of dreams where I would doze off and wake up briefly. There could have been some great opportunities for DEILD's here, but I was so tired I that I never quite managed to take advantage of them.

I practiced the RC's throughout the day, as usual.

29th August Update.

Nothing much to report - I turned in at around 12:50, I had a dream that I could recall about half of, then woke up at 8am. Spending too long looking at a PC screen before turning in probably didn't help.

30th August Update.

Turned in at 1am, and I can't remember any dreams.

After waking at 7:30am, I had a near-DEILD experience. I was in one of those daydream like states while lying in bed, when one of the dream characters started acting independently, moving behind me. I took this as a sign that this could be the start of a lucid dream, but it never happened. I just woke up, and managed to get out of bed at 8am.

31st August Update.

Turned in at 1am again. I woke up at 7am, but I didn't have the time to record my dreams because there was some emergency with a burst water main to deal with and I didn't have the time to go back over my dreams.

That's all I have to report I'm afraid.

1st September Update.

Another crazy night - turned in at 1am, spent too long looking at a monitor screen, regretted it the next morning. I have a vague memory of attending a lecture in my dream, but that's it. I'm pretty knackered today after a few days where I haven't had any proper sleep, so hopefully I can get back on track.

2nd September Update.

Turned in 12:50am (getting better), and I recall some of my dreams. I was probably too tired to have the presence of mind to dream lucidly. I remember dreaming about a former colleague opening a comic book shop in my local city centre, and hiding from something in a cramped cabin in the woods. I woke up at 7:30am, and I could have gone down the DEILD route, but I had to get up early this morning.

3rd September update.

Turned in at 1:10am - not my fault this time. I had to deal with an annoying customer on ebay. Not what I needed before turning in.

Having said that, my dream recall seems to be back on the up. I woke up twice in the night after a dream cycle, which seemed to revolve about going back to University.

I woke up at 5:40am, and decided to attempt a WBTB. It didn't work.

Woke up again at 7am and attempted a DEILD. Again, failed.

I finally got up at 8:30am.

4th September Update.

I turned in at 1am, again, thanks to ebay. I woke up at 6:55am, well-rested, but I didn't have the time to record my dreams as I had a doctor appointment to get up for. I know I did have a lengthy dream but I couldn't remember any of it. Sorry for yet another boring report.

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.