Thread: Dreamer's Workbook [Intro Class]

8 June, 2014

My sleeping pattern is a mess again. I hardly got any sleep, and woke up without much energy for writing a detailed DJ entry. I jotted down a few notes:

Nightclub + Dream Trance

9 June, 2014

Atras Visits Australia + Drugs In Pots

10 June, 2014

Jee's Suicide, OP's Dualism, Political Rebellion

Phew, it took me ages to catch up on those DJ entries. I'm trying to weigh up the pros and cons of voice recording my dreams. In terms of recall, it's much easier to just rattle off anything I remember. But in terms of being able to easily transfer it to a coherent written entry, it sucks. It takes way longer than just checking my sleepy spelling errors and doing some font formatting. When I write notes on my phone, I can scroll up and add bits I remember to the appropriate sections. But when I do a voice recording, it gets recorded in fragments because I'll remember details to add after I've already moved on from that part of the dream. Then it takes a while to keep rewinding the voice recording to transcribe it in the right order. I suppose doing the voice recordings would still be beneficial for recall, even if I chose not to record the dreams in a written journal. But keeping a journal on DV and updating this workbook with my entries has really kept me really motivated - it's like homework I know I need to do, and I can't make excuses about being tired in the morning.

I keep meaning to start making my way through the tutorials for this class, but other things keep coming up. Even when I have time to come on DV for a while, I find like 5 PMs that I need to reply to, and then I'm too tired to concentrate on reading tutorials and taking them in properly.
So I think I need to make a formal commitment that tomorrow, I WILL read at least one tutorial from the list, as a priority over doing other things on DV. You have written evidence here, so feel free to tell me off if I don't report back soon, haha.
Even without tutorials, this workbook has been really beneficial in motivating me to work on my recall and DJ. So, thanks for checking in and sticking with me, NyxCC.

11 June, 2014

I only slept for a couple of hours before I had to get up again, so I didn't dream for very long.
I'm having sooo many Layer Zero dreams lately - I really need to start RCing more while I'm on DV so I don't miss these!

Conversations with Darkmatters & dutchraptor

12 June, 2014

This one was fun! I felt like I had good dream control and remained confident even when the dream destabilised.

Meeting CanisLucidus & June Tasks *Lucid *TOTM

Must resist temptation...
I'm going to read a tutorial right now!

I can't believe how distractible I am! Five hours later, I have finally made it through one tutorial, haha. And I didn't even reply to those messages, I got distracted with other things!
I'll edit my original post with a checklist of the tutorials listed in the Intro Class lessons.
Edit: Actually, is it possible to add in a new #2 post specifically for this list? My intro post is already pretty long. I'm not sure what the mod capabilities are for stuff like that.

Today I can check off Puffin's DILD Guide.
I was good to reinforce some of those ideas. I haven't been practising mindfulness as much as I'd like to lately, so this was some extra inspiration to get back into that.
I have a few questions:

What are you thoughts on visual cues? By that I mean, for example, making a mark on my hand to remind me to focus on my awareness whenever I notice it. Do you think it's counterproductive to the purpose of the exercise (sporadic awareness)?
What if I combined the digital clock/reading RC with a visual cue, like writing a 2-digit number on my hand? I may or may not reproduce the number in dreams, but either way, any time I think about/notice my hand, I will hopefully question whether I'm aware in that moment.

I didn't sleep last night because I'm trying to fix my sleep/wake times.
Instead, I went through my DJ entries from the last week, and noted anything that appeared multiple times.
I'll probably start doing this on a weekly basis.

Dream Signs
Dates: 6-13 June

People:
- Housemate
- Atras
- Mum
- Grandpop
- Uncle

Characters:
- teachers/guides

Places:
- my kitchen, and places that are meant to be my kitchen

Environments:
- in a car

Scenarios/Events:
- being around drugs/cigarettes
- talking/thinking about dreaming
- my anxious dog being comfortable around people
- FA: writing in DJ
- using DV
- hiding/sneaking
- making films
- forbidden sexual encounters
- electronics failing

Emotions:
- stress/fear
- sadness
- close bond/connection with DC

Objects:
- food/drink
- makeup

Hey Dreamer, awesome performance this month!

Edit: Actually, is it possible to add in a new #2 post specifically for this list? My intro post is already pretty long. I'm not sure what the mod capabilities are for stuff like that.

I'm not sure we can add anything after the first post since the system arranges the posts by time. I could theoretically insert it in place of your original post number two. Your idea to post this weekly might be the best option to do this though.

What are you thoughts on visual cues? By that I mean, for example, making a mark on my hand to remind me to focus on my awareness whenever I notice it. Do you think it's counterproductive to the purpose of the exercise (sporadic awareness)?

That's fine I guess even if it's a little reminder, you are going to remember to look at your hand sporadically, right?

What if I combined the digital clock/reading RC with a visual cue, like writing a 2-digit number on my hand? I may or may not reproduce the number in dreams, but either way, any time I think about/notice my hand, I will hopefully question whether I'm aware in that moment.

Same here, I think it should count as well. Why would you write a number on your hand? I once had a whole story develop from the lines on my hands during a dream, but I was already lucid.

Keep up the good work!

Thank you!

The number idea was just because the digits might change in a dream. Like, if I get used to seeing a number on my hand in waking life, and I reproduce that in a dream, then it might behave the same way as other text/digital clocks, where the digits tend to change after you look away. I figured if I'm going to make a reminder mark on my hand anyway, I might as well double up with a number RC.

My sleeping pattern has reverted back to its old terrible ways.
I've been recording my sleep/wake times in my phone, to keep track of how much sleep I'm getting (not much...)
My recall has suffered for it, so it's good incentive to keep trying to get into a good routine.

My dream challenge with CanisLucidus has been very motivating, and I still have one bonus TOTM to complete.
My reward for completing all 6 TOTMs will be to visit the Lucid Task Club and read/make some suggestions for next month. Hopefully I get this Father's Day task in time!

14th June, 2014

I skipped sleep completely the previous night to try to make myself tired at the right time, but I still couldn't fall asleep until my usual ridiculous hour.
I only slept for a little over 2 hours before it was time to start the day, but managed to recall a few fragments:

CanisLucidus' Recall Technique

15th June, 2014

I drank lots of apple juice before bed, and had this dream:

The Nice Postman

I woke up to pee after 2.5 hours (bit heavy on the apple juice, I guess.)
I drank some more apple juice, and went back to bed.
It took me ages to fall asleep, and I had no further recall when I woke up.

16th June, 2014

I could remember a fair bit from one dream, but it was in fragments and I'm not sure how they tied together.

The Newsroom

17th June, 2014

I recalled a few non-lucid fragments, including one about CanisLucidus. (We are having a competition to see who can have the most dreams about the other person.)
I don't think dream incubation had much to do with this one though... it was more likely day residue, since we'd been chatting on Skype all day.

Fragments (CL CoQ10)

18th June, 2014

Fragments

Smelly Armpits *Lucid

19th June, 2014

Didn't sleep again. I'm still trying (unsuccessfully) to get my sleeping pattern to match the sun.

I'm now trying a different method, which has worked better for me in the past.
Instead of trying to wind my body clock backwards, I'm staying up a bit later every day, to try to gradually move it forwards.
If this doesn't work, I might just give up and commit to a regular sleep schedule that works with my body clock. It's not interfering with my daily life at the moment, so I suppose it doesn't really matter if my circadian rhythm is a bit out.
The intermittent sleeping is having a negative effect on my recall, so I'd like to get that settled ASAP.

20th June, 2014

Many failed attempts at various induction techniques, but eventually I had a good DILD.

Impregnating CanisLucidus *Lucid *TOTM"]Impregnating CanisLucidus *Lucid *TOTM[/URL]

21st June, 2014

Fragments, Dream Sync

Interesting synchronicity!

22nd June, 2014

I recorded some fragments, but I haven't transferred them to my DJ.

I think I'm going to change my journalling habits a bit.
I will keep writing notes on my phone every morning to make sure my recall doesn't drop, but I won't worry about transferring fragments to my DJ unless I have a lot of free time.
I'll continue to post my LDs, and I'll probably also still post some non-LDs, but on busy days, I think my time could be better spent doing day practice/incubation.
I've tried to be pretty diligent about writing in my DJ every day lately because I wanted to track my dream signs, but I think I'll still get a good idea of what to look for without daily updates.
I'll see how I go!

25th June, 2014

Didn't sleep for 3 days... I have patches like that sometimes, which obviously doesn't help my dreaming along.
I might've had a bit of REM rebound last night, though.
I had a fun LD with CanisLucidus for the DV Members Dream Challenge x Task of the Year!
I'm also feeling like I'll be able to sleep at a regular time tonight, so here's hoping!

The Perfect Cookie for Canis *Lucid *TOTY

You mean at all? That's terrible!

Were you trying to fix your schedule? Congrats on the toty!!!

Yeah, no sleep at all...

It was initially an attempt to fix my schedule, but sometimes it backfires and I get a bit manic once I pass a certain tiredness threshold.
So it didn't go to plan, but it's 10pm now and I'm planning to be in bed by midnight. Hopefully this works!

Oh, and thank you! Hopefully it counts!

Ouch! I see. While I haven't missed more than a night's sleep, I can understand this. Sometimes there's this wakefulness the nights following insomnia night so it's hard to fall asleep too.

Ok, time to switch off all devices and get some sleep then. Sweet lucid dreams!