Sharpshoey's Workbook

The Self awareness is getting easier for me, and I've finally wrapped my head around what you are supposed to do, and what works for me. I think I'm going to drop my ADA type awareness because it sounds like its not really needed and I find it really hard to keep up self awareness and an ADA type awareness. Also, with self awareness I am already looking for anything weird going on in the moment.

I also keep forgetting to do my yoga...I haven't done it in a week so I really need to start that again. I'm gonna make myself do it today. Also, I realized that the yoga will take ADA's place, because its basically doing the same thing, and the yoga will slowly build up until it just comes naturally. Then I will be able to do both ADA and Self awareness because they'll come naturally and I won't have to think about doing them.

Last night I had a CRAZY long dream. I swear it lasted the entire night. It might have been different dreams that just continued from one to the next. I only remembered one dream and I think the reason is because that dream was so long so it was the only thing on my mind.

I also had a second stupid dream that I'm not writing down. I fell asleep in my dream and had a dream, so it might have been from there, but I don't think so. I was going to the bathroom, happy that I was relieving myself, when I realized that I can't relieve myself because I was dreaming. Of course I realize I'm dreaming in a stupid dream like that. :bang:

I won't count that as a lucid though, hopefully I get another one soon!

Lol! Well, this is still an ld whether you count it or not. You will be surprised about the sort of pee experiments (to pee or not to pee) and lds that have circulated around here. :lol:

One funny read:

The Torrent - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Lol...I gave that DJ entry a read and it was pretty funny! And I guess I will count it as an ld, I was just kinda frustrated because I would become lucid in a dream lasting for 5 seconds of me peeing. Anyways, thanks for the link I enjoyed the read.

Also, do you think I should continue doing the yoga. I always forget to do it because I feel like its too hard to fit into my schedule, and its a pain to fit it in. I've learned that if you don't like something in LDing don't do it, but is that different for Dream Yoga?

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Also, do you think I should continue doing the yoga. I always forget to do it because I feel like its too hard to fit into my schedule, and its a pain to fit it in. I've learned that if you don't like something in LDing don't do it, but is that different for Dream Yoga?

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Is this question still valid, I saw you posting an update in the yoga class? If the exercises are too strenous you can try making your own version of them. See if various ways of doing them make it easier or more interesting. At any rate these exercises should help improve your focus, so doing anything related whether it's from that class or from somewhere else like ADA or meditation is a plus.

Ya I posted the update beforehand. I will try to continue to do the yoga, it doesn't take that much time. If I make myself do something, after a while I don't mind doing it anymore.

Also, the last 2 nights I haven't been able to record any dreams, but tonight I will be able to record again. That's about it for updates, nothing really interesting has happened.

Last night I had 3 LD's! I either became lucid in three different dreams that continue from one another, or I became lucid three different times in the same dream at different settings. It was crazy because at one point I decided I better do an RC and when I did the nose plug I could breathe through my nose. I thought that was because I hadn't squeezed hard enough because I was positive I wasn't dreaming. Then I counted my fingers really fast just to check and sure enough I counted six fingers. I was really caught off guard. I'm so excited about last night, it felt like my hard work finally paid off and I haven't had an LD in a while.

If I just became lucid three different times in the same dream, would that still count as 3 LD's?

Way to go, Sharpshoey! :goodjob:

We don't have a single ld accounting standard here, lol, but my usual personal rule of thumb is different place, different ld. :P

I need to start posting more consistently again, as it keeps my motivation up more. I haven't been able to record my Dreams the last week because I keep on sleeping through my alarm clock, hopefully I an get back into writing them down in the near future. I'll really focus on that tonight.

My self awareness is getting a lot better and I'm looking forward to when it really starts to pay off and I'm getting a lucid a night.

I also keep putting off updating my dream journal on DV, and I need to stop doing that and just get it done.

Still haven't gotten anything written n my DJ for this week. A week off is not good but maybe I needed it. Anyways, I'm forcing myself to get back into it and this weekend I'm forcing myself to get caught up on my DV DJ. Hopefully my recall doesn't take a hit for this.

So this post is regarding my Dream Journaling. So I have already been waking up pretty early every day to be able to write all my dreams down. This causes me to be tired the rest of the day, and sports just add onto that. My recall is starting to get a lot better and pretty soon I'm going to have to start waking up way earlier to get all my dreams down. It also is just hard for me to be writing for an hour straight using an actual pencil. So I was thinking, I keep my ipod right next to my bed. Would it be fine if I post all my dreams on DV from my Ipod? Or do you not recommend that? It would be a lot easier and it would go quicker. And because of that I would have more motivation in writing out dreams.

Also, I have heard some experienced LDers say that they don't DJ anymore because they think its unnecessary. I know that right now for a beginner like me it is really necessary but about when can someone quit DJing? And if you quit DJing when you get more experienced, is there something else you have to do to maintain recall?

I used to paper journal before, but also got the problem with my hand getting tired, plus some illegible writting :cheeky:, and it was taking me more time, so I decided to switch to digital. Right now, the tablet is the fastest and most convenient way for me to do it, altough I want to keep all entries in a single file. But for daily djing, it's really quite convenient. And of course easy to post on DV. So, if you think using the ipod is the fastest and most convenient way for you to journal, then definitely go ahead. :)

Time in the morning can be rather scarce, so you might want to jot down the story really fast to make sure you have the key details. One thing I do after every ld and some nlds is to do a mental review where I basically tell the whole story as if I am jouralling. This action really solidifies the dream in my mind, then I either write down the key words, short sentences or the entire story if time permits. But if you do this mental review plus key words, you can come back later whenever you have the time (better in the same day) to write the whole dream.

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Also, I have heard some experienced LDers say that they don't DJ anymore because they think its unnecessary. I know that right now for a beginner like me it is really necessary but about when can someone quit DJing? And if you quit DJing when you get more experienced, is there something else you have to do to maintain recall?

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Well, you saw what my system is. There may be some lders that don't journal because they employ a similar process, Sensei for example shares his dreams with his wife and also uses tags for key words. Most of the frequent lders here still use journalling for lds and non lds. It really helps us keep track of all the stuff that goes on in dreams and learn from past experiences, improve dream control, etc. To sum it up, we still dj but of course we try to fit journaling into our lifestyle and find more efficient ways to do it.

Thanks for the reply and is there any way that DV could crash and all my Dreams in my DJ could get lost? Because that would really suck :P I'm asking 'cause on my Ipod for some reason its hard to copy and paste text so putting it on 2 seperate places would sometimes be a pain if it won't copy and paste.

LD's 8, 9, and 10

Got some more LD's up on my DJ! I know I'm posting them out of order but I didn't have the full dream written out for these, all I had was notes so I decided I better type them out fast. Don't worry though, I'll get all caught up tomorrow...after about a month of putting it off :lol:

I'm still really stoked about getting those three LD's in one night! And I have a good feeling about tonight as well. Hopefully I'll have yet another LD to post about in the morning.

Here it is
Three Lucid Dreams in ONE Night! - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

It turns out I did have an extra LD to write out for you! I just had one last night! :happyme:

LD #11

here it is
Really Long Night for me - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

PS. All my other LD's that I'll type out today will be on the next post

Yay! Congrats on the ld! Your overall dream recall is great too. :goodjob:

FINALLY got my LD's up to date! I am never going to get behind in typing them again :P it took me about an hour that I could have been doing something else.

Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views - Sharpshoey's Lucid Journey - Dream Journals

Had crappy recall for some reason last night. I only remembered 2 dreams. Hopefully this isn't a sign of another bad recall phase.

I've noticed that suddenly my Self-Awareness practice just made a huge jump. At the beginning, I was struggling to stay aware for more than a minute and it took a while before I realized I'd zoned out. It was especially hard in school. Then, I still couldn't stay aware for more than a little bit but I kept catching myself almost right away or very soon after. That continued for a while and then all of a sudden, today and a little bit of yesterday I was able to keep up awareness for a very long time! I am really excited. Hopefully this is a sign that it will soon transfer fully over into my dreams.

EDIT: I forgot about the goals I put down when I first started my workbook. I realized I have just completed 2 of my short-term goals! I completed having a lucid dram per week...because if you look at how many lucids I've had in the time I've practiced, that comes out to one per less than a week. Also I am remembering one full dream per night. I haven't had enough lucids to grasp the basics of dream control so I couldn't cross that one out.

I realized that I am doing very good (at least for my standards) in terms of getting LD's. I have already about gotten as many LD's as last month (just one less) and I still have another half a month to go! So I am doing way better so far than last month. I'm really excited. :)

That's really great. Indeed, I think with more practice it becomes easier to be aware for longer and just be present in the current moment. And yes, all this should transfer to lds.

Congrats on completing your two goals. You have been progressing very nicely and I'm really happy to read about it. Keep up the good work, Sharpshoey! :goodjob2:

I think I'm going to start doing WBTB on the weekdays too. I don't think I'll lose that much sleep. So if I am doing WBTB, would you recommend that I WILD or just MILD like I've been doing? I've never done WILD before and I've heard its one of the harder techniques. Or do you recommend I just wait until I have more experience with LDing before trying WILD?

Also when I WBTB, I just stay awake for a time and keep my mind focused solely on LDing right? Is there anything else I should be doing that will increase my chances even more of an LD? Or any tips that you might have would be great! :)

Also, I was just curious as to HOW self awareness works? All your doing is being more aware of what you are doing, but how does that help you become lucid? Even if you know what you are doing, that doesn't necessarily mean that you will tell if anything is out of place. And what if you are doing something you do in normal everyday life? How would you become lucid then?

LD #12 Last night! I did a WBTB and stayed awake too long so I couldn't fall asleep for a long time. I thought it would be worth it though if I still got an LD and I ended up getting one! I did my MILD but fell asleep an hour and a half after it so I don't know if that helped at all, but at least I got some more MILD practice in. That is two LD's in the last six days I think!

Here's the link:
WBTB and couldn't get to sleep right away but it was worth it! (LD #12) - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

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So if I am doing WBTB, would you recommend that I WILD or just MILD like I've been doing? I've never done WILD before and I've heard its one of the harder techniques. Or do you recommend I just wait until I have more experience with LDing before trying WILD?

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I'd say keep up with MILD, but if you feel like you can't resist trying for a wild, then do a wild attempt. For me, personally it has become easier to wild with more ld experience but a wild is not a guaranteed deal every time. One can get dilds post wild tries though.

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Also when I WBTB, I just stay awake for a time and keep my mind focused solely on LDing right? Is there anything else I should be doing that will increase my chances even more of an LD? Or any tips that you might have would be great!

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That sounds good. Keep your mind and expectations focused on lding and the tasks you want to complete. :)

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Also, I was just curious as to HOW self awareness works? All your doing is being more aware of what you are doing, but how does that help you become lucid? Even if you know what you are doing, that doesn't necessarily mean that you will tell if anything is out of place. And what if you are doing something you do in normal everyday life? How would you become lucid then?

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I suppose there are a few different mechanisms of how this works. For one thing, you become more alert in general noticing the whole situation more and this might give you clue that you are dreaming, especially if something is off.

But you are right, at other times nothing is off but it is still possible to become lucid for no apparent reason. It's rather difficult to say what triggered this, whether that is a random chemical fluctuation, a result of daily practice, or of frequent lding, because all these can increase your chances of becoming lucid. Also, it may be that the awareness practices allow you to develop a sense of detachment from activities, of being able to watch things from a distance as they happen, so to speak, and this enables you and your awareness to catch the difference between the dream world and the real world, i.e. directly knowing, withough any specific clue that one can reason out. This has been cited by Kingyoshi as well, that after practicing ADA for a long time, he can tell in which world he is because the dream world feels different.

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LD #12 Last night! I did a WBTB and stayed awake too long so I couldn't fall asleep for a long time. I thought it would be worth it though if I still got an LD and I ended up getting one! I did my MILD but fell asleep an hour and a half after it so I don't know if that helped at all, but at least I got some more MILD

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Yuhuu! Congrats! Well done not giving up and getting through the practice and having an ld. :D

Ld #13! That's 2 LD's in a row! I'll get that one up later.

I tried to find my Dream Guide and I "found him" but then he did something that made me less lucid. He said he was my Dream Guide, but now I'm not so sure. He doesn't seem to be it. Also, should I be looking for my Dream Guide? Or should I just wait for him/her to appear and try to practice things on my own for now?

I had to wake up really early last night so I couldn't remember any dreams, and even f I would've I wouldn't have had the chance to write them down.

The past two days my awareness level has dropped and I have to use more effort to keep it up. I'm guessing its because I've been a little tired. I feel like I'm not trying as hard as I can on awareness so I'm gonna try to push myself a little more.

Congrats on yet another ld, Sharpshoey! :D Looking forward to reading the full entry when you post it! It's cool that the DC said he was your dream guide, did you ask him to show you some tricks?