DreamingNow's Workbook

[dreamingnow]

Hi Everyone! I am so happy this site exists. I have been trying to LD off and on for almost a year. The most I have accomplished is a few, second-long LDs that fade away the moment I realize I am lucid. I believe my biggest problem is lack of motivation. It is hard for me to put in effort without feeling like I am getting any results. I hope keeping a workbook and talking with others who share my interest in lucid dreaming will help me accomplish my goals and become proficient at LDing. Reality Checks -Pinch Nose -Fingers through Palm -Reverse Reality Check Dream Signs I categorize my dreams into the 4 categories LaBerge talks about in his book. I have realized that most of my dreams involve being in strange or impossible situations. For example, one time I had a dream that I was standing on a platform in the middle of the sky. I cannot believe I did not recognize the absurdness of that Short-Term Goals Have a lucid dream that lasts more than a few minutes Stabilize LD Meditate Daily Long-Term Goals Be able to have lucid dreams on demand (not just spontaneously) Summon DCs Teleport Lucid/ Dream Recall History I almost always remember one dream upon waking in the morning, although sometimes it is very short (under 50 words). Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night remembering dreams but instead of writing them down I try to reenter the dream and fall back asleep. I have not had a real LD yet that has lasted more than a few seconds. The closest I have come to having a WILD was when I woke up in the middle of the night, stayed up for around 20 minutes, and went back to bed. I lay on my back for what felt like over an hour, and then suddenly I felt like I was floating and this loud buzzing and vibration started shooting through my body. After a few seconds, it suddenly stopped and I was back in my room lying on my bed. I was disappointed that I was not in a dream, and I rolled over and went back to sleep. Looking back, however, I wonder if I was actually in a dram at this point and did not realize it. Techniques Reality Checks Dream Journal WBTB/ WILD (I feel that I get closer to a successful WILD with each attempt) I will try to meditate daily (some silently and possibly some guided mediation if anyone has any suggestions about that) I also have an REM Dreamer (Europe's version of the NovaDreamer), but I have not used it much because I never remember seeing the cues in my dreams. I may give that a try though. My Sleep Times During the week, I am usually pretty structured. I will usually go to bed around 10:30, and my alarm wakes me up at quarter to 6, so I usually get a little over 7 hours a night. During the weekend, I go to bed between 11 and midnight, and I sleep until around 10. Reasons for Wanting to LD The main reason I have for wanting to do this is the sheer joy. Being able to do the impossible (flying, teleporting, exploring space, etc.) are all things I am really excited to attempt when I become lucid in a dream. I also think it would be interesting to look into communicating with my subconscious, and the other sorts of things Robert Waggoner talks about. I know that lucid dreaming is something I am capable of. I can't wait until I become lucid!

[dreamingnow]

April 14th Yesterday I tried to meditate silently, but I was only ten minutes into it before I was interrupted by my extremely loud family returning home, and I did not have another chance to return to quiet meditation after that. I went to bed around 11:30, and I recall waking up sometime in the middle of the night, but I immediately fell back to sleep. I woke up again at 7:40. I think I vaguely remembered a dream,but it slipped away too quickly for me to write it down. I have an REM Dreamer (similar to NovaDreamer) that I put on at this point. It woke me up by flashing lights and emitting sounds at 8:20, at which point I remembered a very short nonlucid dream and wrote it down. I went back to sleep and woke up again at 9:50. I remembered another fragment and wrote it down, and then I knew I was up for the day. It will take some time to calibrate the REM Dreamer to the point where it is being incorporated into my dreams but not waking me up. I had wanted to try a WBTB/ WILD, but I did not set an alarm as I have done in the past and instead tried to wake up naturally.

[NyxCC]

Welcome to Intro class dreamingnow! What a great choice of name! So, I gather you have recently gotten the REM Dreamer mask? Never tried one of those myself, but I think they can be of some help to lding, whether by making us expect lds or by triggering them via stimuli. Enjoy the journey to lucidity and let us know if you have any questions.

[dreamingnow]

Welcome to Intro class dreamingnow! What a great choice of name! So, I gather you have recently gotten the REM Dreamer mask? Never tried one of those myself, but I think they can be of some help to lding, whether by making us expect lds or by triggering them via stimuli. Enjoy the journey to lucidity and let us know if you have any questions. Thanks NyxCC! I have only used it a few times, and I still need to figure out the best setting because so far it has only succeeded in waking me up. I am hopeful once I get it right it may help me to become lucid in a dream though.

[dreamingnow]

April 17th I know I have not posted in a few days. I will not let something like that happen again. Both days I planned to post at the end of the day then forgot. Last night was quite strange by my standards. I went to bed around 11. I was too tired to really try any technique. I then proceeded to wake up at 3:50, 4:50, 6:40, 8:10, and 9:40, all completely naturally. I do not normally wake up this much during the night. Each time I woke up I remembered a dream, some being shorter than others, and wrote them down. The most interesting thing about last night was the dream I had before I woke up at 6:40. At one point in this dream, I notice something strange and realize I must be dreaming. Upon this realization, my body immediately starts floating. I do not remember closing my eyes but now they are closed and all I see is black. I feel vibrations throughout my whole body. I tell myself to ignore them, as they are not important. They last for what I would guess to be about a minute, and then I am back in my bed. I am hopeful I might be dreaming at this point, but after a series of RCs I am forced to conclude that I am indeed awake. Has anyone else experienced something like this, only to be woken up? I was very disappointed when I realized I was awake. I will keep trying though!

[NyxCC]

Ahh, sounds like you were in the dream initially, then back to bed and possibly was about to have a wild/deild, but somehow the process went towards wake state instead of dream. Still, a really good sign! You are becoming more aware and expecting an ld, your body is almost doing it by itself!

[dreamingnow]

Ahh, sounds like you were in the dream initially, then back to bed and possibly was about to have a wild/deild, but somehow the process went towards wake state instead of dream. Still, a really good sign! You are becoming more aware and expecting an ld, your body is almost doing it by itself! Thank you for helping me understand it. I think I need to pay attention to when I am falling back asleep after waking from a dream. I usually feel like I am not falling asleep and will be laying there for a while, and the next thing I know I am waking up from a dream. Also, I have another question. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I will usually just jot down the main ideas of the dream I remember, providing it is not very significant. Will this hurt my dream recall in the long run? Should I be writing down all the details I can remember of all my dreams as a beginner to help boost my recall?

[dreamingnow]

April 18th Last night, I went to bed around 1 AM. I woke up around 8:40 remembering a decently long dream, although it was not a very significant one. Instead of writing down all the details, I just wrote the main ideas of it so I could go back to bed. I am not sure if this is the best thing to improve my recall, but I was too sleepy to think about that. I woke up again at 11:20 remembering a very short dream/ fragment. I have not been very good about day practice for LD (RCs, meditation, etc.), but I know that is something I need to start putting in the effort to do if I want to see results.

[dreamingnow]

April 19th I made the horrible mistake yesterday of drinking caffeine too late in the day. I went to bed around 11, and I thought I was going to sleep. I laid in bed until past 2 AM, when I finally drifted off. I woke up for the day at 7:30. I'll have to remember never to repeat THAT mistake

[NyxCC]

Thank you for helping me understand it. I think I need to pay attention to when I am falling back asleep after waking from a dream. I usually feel like I am not falling asleep and will be laying there for a while, and the next thing I know I am waking up from a dream. Also, I have another question. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I will usually just jot down the main ideas of the dream I remember, providing it is not very significant. Will this hurt my dream recall in the long run? Should I be writing down all the details I can remember of all my dreams as a beginner to help boost my recall? I think it's ok to jot down some key points, especially if you don't think the dream was something very special. It's difficult to wake up and write every detail as this can take forever in the least. My journalling strategy is to write down key sentences that will help recall the main plot later on, while at the same time I make sure I mentally tell myself the story in some detail (again the level of detail will depend on the importance of the dream or timing considerations). When you mentally tell a story to yourself the dream is more easily remembered. I especially use this when I have no time to write the ld or cool dream right away, but will add details later during the day or even next day. Anyways, try to find a journalling scheme that gives you personally a good level of recall and understanding of the dreams while not disturbing your other activites too much.

[dreamingnow]

April 20th I went to bed around 9 last night, and did not officially "try" any techniques. I woke up to my alarm at 5:50, remembering a decently detailed dream, and wrote it down. I know I probably should be entering my dreams here, but it already takes a while to copy them down the first time and I don't have the time or willpower to type them all up again.

[dreamingnow]

I think it's ok to jot down some key points, especially if you don't think the dream was something very special. It's difficult to wake up and write every detail as this can take forever in the least. My journalling strategy is to write down key sentences that will help recall the main plot later on, while at the same time I make sure I mentally tell myself the story in some detail (again the level of detail will depend on the importance of the dream or timing considerations). When you mentally tell a story to yourself the dream is more easily remembered. I especially use this when I have no time to write the ld or cool dream right away, but will add details later during the day or even next day. Anyways, try to find a journalling scheme that gives you personally a good level of recall and understanding of the dreams while not disturbing your other activites too much. OK thank you I will try different things to see what works.

[dreamingnow]

April 21 Went to bed around 10:30 woke up to alarm at 5:50. I remembered two different dreams. In the first, I was sitting in a room talking to my friend. I notice that while I can recall most of the conversation, I cannot recall the slightest details of the room we were in or our surroundings. I think this might have to do with what I focused on in the dream. I was focused on the conversation, so that is what stuck in my mind when I woke up in the morning. In the second dream, I am battling a character from an anime I have been watching. At one point I start shooting lasers at him out of my watch. I can't believe I missed the lucidity trigger in that one.

[dreamingnow]

April 22 Went to bed 11:30, woke up 5:45 (alarm). I only remembered a fragment of a dream. I think this may be at least partially due to the fact that I got less sleep than I would have liked.

[dreamingnow]

April 23 I went to bed at 11:30, and woke up to alarm at 5:45. I remembered a dream immediately upon waking, but it quickly slipped away before I could recall it and write it down. I tried recalling it while still lying in bed, but I couldn't "find it" in my head (if this makes any sense at all). It is very unusual for me to have nothing to write down. I think more sleep would be helpful, as I was up late last night studying. I will make a better effort tonight.

[dreamingnow]

April 28th I have not posted in several days since I have been extremely busy. My recall the past few days as been horrible, with no dream journal entries on multiple nights. I would wake up with at least a fleeting image of the dream, but it seemed to be instantly replaced with thoughts of the upcoming day. I think this is at least partially due to the fact that I have gotten very little sleep (usually under 7 hours) the last few nights, so when my alarm wakes me up in the morning I am very tired and not focused. I will try to do better, starting tonight. I hope I can get out of this quickly, because I have been on a good streak, remembering at least one dream a night for the last month or so before this.

[NyxCC]

Hope this period passes quickly and you're able to catch up on sleep!

[dreamingnow]

Hope this period passes quickly and you're able to catch up on sleep! Thanks NyxCC Your comment helped. I finally remembered a decent dream when I woke up this morning and I wrote it down. I am hoping to sleep later once the weekend comes.

[dreamingnow]

April 30th I went to bed around 11, woke up at 6 (finally) remembering a decent length dream that I wrote in my dream journal.

[dreamingnow]

May 1 Went to bed around 9. I listened to some type of "brainwave entrainment" for LDing while falling asleep. I woke up again at midnight but drifted back to sleep. My alarm woke me up at 6, and I remembered two different scenes. The most interesting thing was that in the second, I shouted "Fly!" and I lifted off the ground and started flying through the air. I have the strong feeling that there was more to this dream, but I only recalled enough details to form a coherent entry from this scene. Although I was able to fly, I do not think I was lucid.

[NyxCC]

Sounds like there was some potential in that dream for an ld maybe even a micro lucid moment. Do you fly often in dreams?

[dreamingnow]

Sounds like there was some potential in that dream for an ld maybe even a micro lucid moment. Do you fly often in dreams? Now that you mention it, it is a recurring theme in some of my dreams. I'd say around one in twelve. I never seem to realize the importance or impossibility of what I am doing though.

[dreamingnow]

June 13th Well, its been over a month since I last posted. I have not really progressed at all in terms of getting closer to lucid dreaming. I have started reading Love's book "Are You Dreaming?" and I am trying to stay diligent with reality checks, combing dreams for dreamsigns, and all that. I have not meditated at all in the past month unfortunately, something I am hoping to change.

[NyxCC]

Well, its been over a month since I last posted. I have not really progressed at all in terms of getting closer to lucid dreaming. I have started reading Love's book "Are You Dreaming?" and I am trying to stay diligent with reality checks, combing dreams for dreamsigns, and all that. Still, good that you have started reading an ld book and resumed the practices. LD books are great for inspiration and give plenty of induction ideas. I might follow your example and get something to read too.

[dreamingnow]

June 29th I have not been updating my workbook as regularly as I would have liked, but I have inproved. I have had a number of "almost lucid" dreams lately. There was one time where I acknowledged that I was in a dream to a DC but I still got caught up in the plot and emotions of the dream and did not do anything with this knowledge. I have also realized I am dreaming only to wake up almost immediately after. Furthermore, I have had multiple dreams where I am able to manipulate and control DCs, but I do not recall actively being aware that I was lucid. All of these would fall under the category of DILDs if they can even be counted as LDs. In a few of these, I suddenly realized I was dreaming and just knew it. I did not even think about performing RCs or anything of the sort. However, I was not able to recall a specific dream goal or thing I wanted to do (probably because I did not actually set one). I am still happy with the progress and hope to have a "real" lucid with better awareness soon. I am going to aim to do one of the TOTM.