Porcupine's Workbook

Hello:)

I've decided to start this workbook in order to help me with my journey into lucid dreaming and also (especially) to bolster my self-discipline. My self-discipline and I have had a difficult relationship over the years.. Anyway, I joined DV a couple of weeks ago when I started getting interested in lucid dreaming. Now, I feel determined to get great at this thing!! I know it is going to be difficult and take training, effort and discipline but I am excited to get started.

Porcupine's Workbook

Reality Checks:
I use the noseplug and I count my fingers. Otherwise I practise being aware of my surroundings and questioning reality (why do I think this? Is that person acting strangely? Am I dreaming?).


Dream Signs:

- Running without getting tired.
- Flying.
- Cats, especially kittens.
- Children in danger/dead.
- Murder (as in: I murder someone and/or become responsible for disposing the body).
- Identity change.

I'll add to these when I become aware of more.


Short-Term Goals:

- Improve awareness in waking life (and have it impact my dreams).
- Have more vivid dreams.
- Have a better and more systematic dream journal.
And of course:
- Have more lucid dreams:biggrin:


Long-Term Goals:

- Have lots and lots of lucid dreams!
- Have great dream control.
- Have a lot of fun.


Lucid/Dream Recall History:
I currently remember at least 1 dream pr. night, often 3-4 or more. Some are fragmented, but most of the time one of them is longer and more story-driven (I'll try to figure out if the long dream consistently occurs at a certain time).

I've had 3 dreams recently that I believe had a touch of lucidity. I'll start a dream journal here on DV to record interesting dreams like these.


Current Technique:
DILD.
I'll look into other techniques as I go, but DILD is going to be my main one for at least a while. I have trouble falling asleep at night and have only been able to in one specific way for years. I create a story (or just drag up an old one) in my head and play it out until I fall asleep. Thinking about anything else, especially daily concerns or projects, completely ruins my chance of falling asleep. Therefore I don't expect to have great succes with MILD or WILD techniques without a lot of effort.

Day 1

I went to bed at 22:30.

Before bed I read the Task of the Month tread here on DV and skimmed some other members' DJs. I don't like reading my own DJ, so I'll try this for routine instead. As I went to bed I also told myself: "I dream what I want". This is my new mantra and was kindly provided by my roommate last night. After a short discussion (or maybe it was a lenghty one-sided explanation) of my lucid dreaming plans, he said to me: "Well, I'll see you tomorrow and dream... what you want!" (usually people say "dream sweetly" where I come from). So that is what I'll try to do:happyface:

I recorded 4 dreams in my "DJ" (a notepad containing only the barest key words). One of the dreams I didn't remember in the morning, two of the dreams were long and story-driven. The first of these occured shortly before I woke up at 4:30. The other occured later on.

Very late in the morning (I am off work today and could sleep in) I had this dream:
Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views - porcupine - Dream Journals

I'm not sure it was a LD, because the feel of it was very fuzzy and more like those semi-dreams I sometimes have after waking when I try to go back to a dream or make a story idea into a dream.

From now on I'm going to write more detailed DJ entries (to help me remember the dreams better) and I'll also try to record the time when I wake up - even if I don't remember dreaming.

Day 2

The night
I went to bed at 22:00. I had trouble falling asleep, I think it took me an hour. At 00:10 I woke from a long detailed dream. Writing it down woke me up pretty good, so I decided on trying WILD, even though I had previously decided not to. This was a really bad idea. I'm not saying that I can't learn it, but I had only slept for maybe an hour, and badly at that. I knew I had to get up early (6:00) and I really need my sleep, so that was also a concern. More importantly, I really haven't researched this technique! Anyway, I tried for some time. I lay completely still imagining myself walking around on a giant field of grass stretching from horizon to horizon. A couple of times I did feel like something was happening, but in the end all the mental work just woke me up more and more. I gave up, but it still took me another hour to get back to sleep:whyohwhy:

Then I dreamt I was lying sleepless in my bed (!!!), until my mom called to tell me (in the dream) that my cousin's baby was very ill and was dying (children in danger = dream sign). After this I had two more long detailed dreams, from which I woke feeling not at all rested.


The day
Today I have only practised awareness to a minimal degree - it's difficult for me to concentrate when I'm at work - but I did RC about 5 times.


Findings and evaluation
So that's 4 dreams remembered and recorded, but a bad night's sleep, which has affected me all day. Do I sound whiney? I feel whiney! At least I know that bad sleep doesn't affect my recall - actually I think I remember more details than usual.

WILD was obviously a bust, but I'm going to research the different techniques properly and start practising in weekends and holidays and such. For now I going to stick with DILD though.


Goals
- This weekend I'm going to practise awareness as much as possible!
- I'm going to give my self a task for the next LD (that I hope to get:happyface:): levitate from the ground.

Day 3

The night
I had a crazy night! I went to bed at 23:00 and woke at 03:30. I didn't remember any dreams, and I felt a little worried because I thought my good streak of 4 or more dreams was over. I went to the bathroom, and then, even though I had initially decided against it, I tried to SSILD. I went through the cycles, got very groggy, drifted off, woke up, reapeated. Now I think there may have been a couple of false awakenings in there. But I fell asleep and had a non-lucid where I was at my mom's house practising SSILD but kept getting interrupted. I woke again at 04:50 and tried to go trough the cycles again. I got through one cycle before fallig asleep, and getting a DILD!! The dream was semi-long and very vivid. I woke up from it and did something that I don't remember, but I entered back into the same dream! This time I entered already lucid. This dream was also long-ish and I even completed my goal from yesterday by levitating (I flew several metres into the air). I woke up (I think, or else a FA) and did something I don't remember, and entered into a third LD - again already lucid. This time my control was not good at all, and after som weirdness I tried spinning to create a new, more stable dream. I didn't get the dream I was aiming for, but it worked otherwise. The new dream was vivid and felt stable. From this dream I had a FA into a non-lucid (if that is possible?), and then I woke up at 06:11. I have logged all the LDs in my DJ:

Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views - porcupine - Dream Journals

After all this I couldn't get back to sleep because of the exitement. But I'm so glad I tried SSILD!


The day
I practised awareness today, but didn't do the first lesson of Dream Yoga as I had planned.


Findings and evaluation
- SSILD is definitely a go for now:happyface:
- Spinning in the dream worked well - I will keep practising.
- I used the hand-RC to stabilise the dreams several times. It is the only one I have used in-dream so far.
- FA! Never knew they could be so confusing. I'm going to RC routinely every time I wake up from now on.

- I'm a bit worried about my swift progress. I'm wonder if I want it too much and the quality of my LDs suffer. I know it must be near impossible to compare the level of clarity and "reality-feel" that different dreamers experience, but I still wonder if mine could be clearer. Maybe I'm being paranoid - unexpected success can do that to me:paranoid:


Goals
- Tonight I'm going to sleep normally. I'm pretty tired. DILDs are welcome though:happyface: (Is there a good way to STOP one from lucid dreaming if one wishes?)
- Next LD I'm going to try verbal commands.

Day 4

Quiet night, quiet day. Not much to write about. I slept in, didn't try to LD. I recall 3 dreams and 1 fragment. They all seem far away, and I'm too lazy to write them down. I practised awareness today, and tonight I plan on trying the SSILD technique again.

Porcupine, congrats on the ld series! :) I think this is great progress especially if you just got started with this. Ld quality and lenght improves over time, but still not all lds will be of the same quality and lenght. This is something normal but of course we all strive to make our dreams better and longer. One way to enhance dream quality is through anchoring - fully immense yourself in the dream, examine different objects with curiousity, tiny details, engage as many senses as possible.

Quote:

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Tonight I'm going to sleep normally. I'm pretty tired. DILDs are welcome though (Is there a good way to STOP one from lucid dreaming if one wishes?)

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Why would you want to stop having lucid dreams? I think it may be possible to so by stopping all the practices, then you may only have natural lds depending on your awareness. But most of the people here want more lds, even those who ld daily. It's a great opportunity to do fun things or engage in self-improvement. The only limit to what we can do in dreams is our imagination. :)

Day 5-7

Thanks for the advice NyxCC:happyface: I've been trying to anchor a little, but mostly by touching stuff. I'll try examining the details of the dream if I get the chance. And I didn't mean to make it sound like I wanted to stop LD! It was just a thought - curiosity:happyface: Say you're in a lucid dream, is it even possible to become non-lucid on purpose without waking up? I don't think I'll experient with that though. As you said, most people want more LDs, and that includes me.

I've been slacking these last few days. The SSILD attempts really messed with my sleep, so I'm afraid I've been spending the holidays sleeping in instead of practising and keeping my dream journal up to date. When I don't actively try, I seem to remember between 1 and 3 dreams or at least fragments. It is funny though, my memory is different when I don't wake up and write the dream down. The dream seems more like a movie that I saw than something I participated in. But still fun though, last night I transformed into a green dragon:happy:

Anyways, tonight I'm getting back in the game. Note pad is ready, self-discipline is reeled in and I'm exited!

Ok, thanks for the clarification. :D

Quote:

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It was just a thought - curiosity Say you're in a lucid dream, is it even possible to become non-lucid on purpose without waking up?

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Yes, it is possible, that also depends on the level of awareness one has in the dream. Sometimes we get carried away with dream contents and can lose lucidity. I guess it's possible to do it on purpose too. :P

The green dragon transformation sounds very cool! Now that you've done it in a normal dream, you may at some point do in in a ld! Sweet dreams!