Thread: Jaden's Workbook

Welcome to intro class Jaden!

Dream Signs:
-...Not really anything yet...

Have you been keeping a dream journal? It's very useful for tracking dream signs. You can also do so on this website, and you can tag your dreams which makes dream signs even easier to spot. You can try to recall things like the place where the dreams take part, event, people participating, any objects of interest, emotions, etc.

I do have a dream journal...well, technically 2 cause I had another but lost it a while back. Even though I record whatever dreams I can remember, the themes and everything all seem to be random. At first I though seeing some of my friends was a dream sign, but since I thought that, I've barely seen them in the dreams I remember, which aren't even that many at the moment.

The lack of apparent dream signs could be a dream sign in itself. For example, "I was with unknown people at an unknown location". Here, the unfamiliar place or people would be the dream sign. To be able to catch this dream sign during the day you could ask yourself where you are, who the participants are, etc. If you have no clue about the answer (or come up with an unusual explanation - me and Stallone are playing darts), chances are you are dreaming.

I encourage you to keep consistent records, bold, highlight, tag key items and you will see that patterns will emerge.

Well, the last two night I remembered some of my dream had something consistent for once. I could remember seeing what looked like gameplay from the GBA Fire Emblem game, though in a different location than any of the in game locations. I'm assuming that it's just because I've been playing it a lot, but I doubt it will stay consistent like this for long.

I also tried to wake up during REM sleep to see of that would help, but the alarm didn't wake me up as usual so no dice with that. I keep forgetting to do my reality checks and half the time I do, it's at a time where doing one is either impossible or would lead to a lot of awkwardness and such. Even when I do them, I'm not sure if I'm doing them mindfully or just doing them. So...yeah, not having the best progress...

I keep forgetting to do my reality checks and half the time I do, it's at a time where doing one is either impossible or would lead to a lot of awkwardness and such. Even when I do them, I'm not sure if I'm doing them mindfully or just doing them. So...yeah, not having the best progress...

Don't worry you'll get the hang of it. You can also do RCs that are not so obvious in the occasions where one may look weird performing them. A quick glance at your hands or a digital watch or even more inconspicuous ones - critical thinking, ask yourself where are you, what is going on, am I dreaming, is anything strange, etc. No need to run through all of these questions at once, just take a second to think about reality/the current situation.

Even when I do reality checks, I'm still not sure if I'm doing it right. I don't know what it feels like to be mindfull about things. I ask those question when doing reality checks, but I doubt that I actually believe that I could be dreaming in my mind. I'd do an rc, ask one of those questions, and then just move on, not knowing if I was being mindfull and aware or if I was just doing it like some chore...

Perhaps it would help to think about a lack of mindfulness instead. Have you ever talked on the phone with someone and at the same time done something else, maybe you were writing something and then you continued your conversation and went into the other room and when you came back you had no clue where you left the pen. That's because while you were holding the pen, all your attention was on the conversation and you didn't seem to consciously register what your hand had done. We often do this but to a different degree during our day. Some people even perform mechanical acts with hands and feet and have no idea they are even doing them. (Sure you can think of some funny examples )

Well, this is how you shouldn't do RCs. It's not just about counting fingers (although performing this on frequent basis may carry into dreams), it's about having all your attention for a brief moment focused on what you are doing MIND - FULL - all of it. What are you doing, you are most consciensciously trying to understand if this, the present moment is a dream or not, and to consider the possibility that it could be, to relate this to the moment in the future where you will know with certainty that it is a dream, because a moment will come when the RC will work.

I don't really understand that lack of mindfulness thing. Also, I do focus on whatever I'm doing when I do a reality check...whenever I remember anyway. My main problem is that I don't know if I'm being aware whenever I do them. Maybe I just misinterpreted what you said or something, I'm not sure.

Okay, just give them your best attention when performing, and of course do make sure you wonder about the state of reality when you do the RCs.

Well, I've been trying to be more aware when reality checking, though it's still hard for me to remember to do them even when I give myself reminders. I've also tried to get into meditation, since I've heard it helps with lucid dreaming and just life in general, but every time I've tried, I find myself uncomfortable. Whether I'm lying down in bed or sitting somewhere, I can't seem to get fully comfortable. This is true for when I try and go to sleep normally sometimes too. I also want to try drinking apple juice before bed since I've seen that it helps some people have more vivid dreams and because it's the closest aid I can get since supplements will be impossible for me to get. In terms of overall progress with recall, I can't say much. I've remembered a couple of dreams but nothing too great, just maybe a quick scene that was blurred and random.

About the meditation, you don't have to do it in the lotus position, any position that is comfortable enough is ok. But yeah, I can totally relate to not being comfortable even in bed. Happens to me too.

I know that I don't have to be in lotus position. I tried a bunch of different positions and I still felt uncomfortable. Guess I'm just not finding the right one for me or something.

Not much to report at the moment. Didn't remember a dream one day, remembered a weird dream the next, and didn't remember anything today. So...yeah.

Hope your recall improves soon. Have you been keeping a consistent sleep schedule?

So do I XD. In terms of sleep schedule, I generally go to sleep around 9:30-10:30 and wake up around 6:00-6:30 for school, though the time may very depending on schoolwork and other outside factors.

Ok. That's good. You can try repeating a mantra (in your mind) before bed like "I remember my dreams, I'm getting better at remembering my dreams, etc. "

Originally Posted by NyxCC

Ok. That's good. You can try repeating a mantra (in your mind) before bed like "I remember my dreams, I'm getting better at remembering my dreams, etc. "

Well, it's not exactly a mantra, but a couple days ago I started using this technique I saw. It essentially involves counting down from 100 and after each number say "I'm dreaming" while trying to visualizing a scene in my mind...not that good at the last part though.

Well, that sounds like a technique that can be very useful to perform after a wbtb. Did the guide say visualize a scene from previous dream and imagine yourself becoming lucid in it or just imagine a scene that you want to enter?

Yeah, something like that, though I'm not really that great at the visualizing part which is weird since I can usually visualize stuff in daydreams pretty well. Also, while this would probably be good for wbtb, I can't get myself to wake up with alarms. I've always just been a deep sleeper so they don't work for me.

Do you ever notice your natural wakes? We wake up naturally after each REM, the early ones may be harder to catch but after couple of hours of sleep, you may notice you woke up. You can use these wakes instead of an alarm, try tracking them down. Also, drinking a bit of water before bed may help them become more noticeable as we need to get up to visit the restroom.

Here's a podcast on the topic:

http://www.dreamviews.com/dreamviews...eamworlds.html

Hmm, I guess I've never noticed those. I'll try looking at that podcast and drinking some water before bed to see if that helps.

Nothing to report over the last few days. Tried using some of the techniques and drinking water. Remembered some of one dream yesterday. That's....about it.

Nothing much to report...again. Only remembered and wrote down one dream in the past few days. I remembered other dreams a couple other days, but I either forgot them instantly or just didn't have the energy to write them. I haven't really been doing any techniques...or reality checks...or anything...I just haven't been doing anything in general because of other stuff making me feel like crap or whatever. So...yeah

Sorry to hear that. If you feel very tired to journal, you can quickly write down key words or sentences after your final wake. That way you will still be paying some attention to dreams.