werty52's Workbook

I'm pretty new to the whole lucid dreaming business, here's how it all started: I woke from an amazing dream one morning, I was thoroughly inspired by this dream as it encompassed an incredible story arc. It started off in our world, and somehow me and my friends transitioned to this fantasy world where magic and magical creatures existed (basically a D&D world - with a hint of steam-punk). I just HAD to write it down and maybe write a book out of it or a D&D campaign... But I forgot it too fast, I had terrible dream recall. A week later I thought "What if I do this lucid dreaming thing and recreate it?"... And so I spurred on in a quest to reclaim that awesome dreamworld, I don't have much hope for being able to bring it back but I know now that I'll be prepared for future awesome dreams.

I also have mild insomnia, subsequently from researching into lucid dreaming I've learned more about my sleeping patterns and improved them too.

Favourite smiley ==> :awesomed:

Reality Checks:
-Push my finger through the palm of my hand.
-Stretch the skin on my hand.
-Count the fingers on my hands.
-Plug my nose and breathe in.
-Occasionally I'll check in the mirror or think of where I was 10 minutes ago.

Dream Signs:
-Close friends (Daniel, Sam, Matt, Olly).
-Geology related things (quite broad, but things such as being in university, my classmates, going on a field trip).
-Home.
-Arenas/Tournaments (Happens quite a lot, may also include fighting).

Short-Term Goals:
-Increase the duration of my lucid dreams.
-Do all the superficial stuff (Fly, swim, shout 'woohoo' really loudly, etc).
-Focus on my senses, primarily test my hearing (since I'm severely deaf IRL, thought it might be cool).
-Lucid dream once a week

Long-Term Goals:
-Improve my presentation skills before I have to do my presentation of field work next year.
-Create a dreamworld like the one that inspired me originally.
-Lucid dream once a night

Lucid/Dream Recall History:
-Been writing out my dreams in a journal every morning, then typing them up again on DV. I remember typically 2-3 dreams, occasionally remembering 4-5 on a good night, or <2 when I've had a bad sleep. Had my first lucid dream 16 days into learning, then my second another 13-16 days later. My third came quicker, about 3 days later I think. My start into lucid dreaming is somewhat difficult because of studies.

Current Technique:
-WBTB + SSILD + DILD: I set my alarm for 3ish, then do SSILD cycles and I'll usually have higher awareness in a dream which leads to a DILD. I believe strongly in the reinforcement of one's intent, and that I should be summoning it and trying to communicate the idea to myself that I CAN lucid dream - this has worked for me in attaining both my 2nd and 3rd lucid dreams.

Past 2 nights have been rough sleeps, probably due to exams stressing me out, less than a week away now. I'll have more time to spare by about mid-November.

I've been doing SSILD every almost every night now since the 7th of October. It's incredibly dependent on the amount of rest I've had and how determined I am.

Welcome to Intro class, Werty! :)

While you may not be able to have exactly the same dream (but who knows?), you can definitely try to create a similar world while lucid and even incubate a non lucid dream. If you are inspired by something that already exists, such as a video game or movie, then it will be easier to soak up the details and then dream about them, rather than creating an imaginary world from scratch. Best of luck in your lucid quest! :)

Thanks, I had no idea DV was so big until I explored it a bit more and found this place :D

I can't wait to have more lucid dreams and have a go at my goals, most of my exams will be out of the way in the next few days, once that's done I'll be straight back into it :awesomed:

Fired up my reality checks again today, I'll have a bit more time now to put aside for lucid dreaming :).
Even tried a SSILD last night but I was still a bit too sidetracked by exams to expect much.

Tonight I'm going to try a SSILD and FILD, it'll be my first attempt at FILD and my alarm is set for 3:25am :)

Felt like I nearly got lucid last night, I'll try again tonight and hopefully I'll fall asleep a bit fast too instead of rolling around in bed for a few hours >_<

Had a good go at getting RCs back on track today too.

Didn't get much out of the SSILD + FILD combo last night, but it's only day 2 of 30 :) plenty of time. Also I slept great but had terrible dream recall, just couldn't remember my dreams when I woke up during the night, and when I did I just couldn't cement them to memory.

My plan for tonight is to do SSILD and then FILD after, rather than simultaneously, and go to bed between 9-10 and try to get myself tired during the day so I can fall asleep faster.

Edit: I'm also going to start writing out a phrase with my right hand (I'm naturally left-handed) to see if this has any effect on my lucid dreaming frequency. I'll try my best to keep this up daily and write it out 23 times (that's how many lines there are on one page of the paper I'll be writing on).

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Edit: I'm also going to start writing out a phrase with my right hand (I'm naturally left-handed) to see if this has any effect on my lucid dreaming frequency. I'll try my best to keep this up daily and write it out 23 times (that's how many lines there are on one page of the paper I'll be writing on).

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I can think of a good phrase to write: I'm dreaming! :)

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Originally Posted by NyxCC

I can think of a good phrase to write: I'm dreaming! :)

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I'll give it a shot, I've tried a few so far. My hand writing has improved too which is cool :)

Dreams were okayish last night, had a standard 2 dream recall which is good since I went to bed quite late - hopefully that doesn't make it harder to fall asleep tonight >_<.

I didn't get around to trying FILD + SSILD. FILD is quite daunting as a technique, I haven't tried to do a WILD-type technique like that before. I've heard SSILD being described as a 'mental anchor', and I don't really consider it similar to WILD type techniques since you usually get lucid by DILD as a result of SSILD. So FILD is new territory and at the moment confusing, I just don't know if I'm suitable for WILD-type techniques.

Goal for today + tonight: Do as many RCs as I can today, write out phrase, meditate for a while, and go to bed between 9-10. Wake up at 3:25am, perform SSILD + FILD, go back to sleep.

How long is your wbtb? You might consider making it a bit longer, this will help increase awareness. :)

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Originally Posted by NyxCC

How long is your wbtb? You might consider making it a bit longer, this will help increase awareness. :)

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I didn't know that WBTB worked like that, I generally try not to wake myself up too much so I don't have insomnia kick in (I've had this happen a few times since trying it).

It's not that long though, last night I went toilet and then ate a banana. So maybe 5 minutes? Also my alarm shocked me awake since it was beneath my pillow -.- I pretty much lost the dream I was having and fell straight back to sleep, then woke up an hour later.

After waking again I did my SSILD cycles pretty well, and tried FILD but kept forgetting or moving around to get comfortable.


Goal tonight: Do RCs throughout the day, write out my phrases, have a warm cup of milk before going to bed, then do WBTB at 4am instead of 3:25am to do my SSILD and FILD techniques.

Taking a break from things for a while, a lot on my plate at the moment that I need to sort through. I'll return within the next 3 days most likely, and then I'll be able to start things up again.

The moment I said I was taking a break I just kind of felt that I would have a lucid dream. And I did! Hoorah. Still going to stay on break for a the next few days though.

For when I start back up again, my goal:
Next lucid dream I MUST stabilize first, instead of flying all the time :superman:

Getting back into everything again. Rejoined the 30 day SSILD trial thread.

Goal tonight:
-WBTB, no alarm since I don't think I really need it.
-Do SSILD, 7 short cycles + 4 long cycles.
-Redo after each successive wakening.

Congrats on the bonus ld, werty! Very halloween themed! :D

Longest lucid dream so far, ~3 minutes.
I had done pretty good on the SSILD cycles after a natural WBTB, and I've slightly modified it. Basically I'll go through the cycles, and then for every ~5mins I'm awake after, I'll go through another couple short cycles just to hold onto that awareness.

In the dream I kind of just knew I was dreaming, upon realizing this I said "Stabilize", but nothing happened, I knew I had to act quick to lock down the lucid dream. "Stabilize", still nothing. "STABILIZE!" I yelled as loud as I could, then suddenly it was like the world around me just got a bit brighter. Epic. Didn't do much cool stuff, but it'll definitely be a new chapter in my dream journal.

Finally managed to not fly off for once and stabilize first thing :D cracked down on those bad habits ^^.

Goal Tonight: Write mantra. WBTB. SSILD.

Well done! :) I sometimes find that the mere act of shouting helps solifidy the dream, so maybe something similar happened to you. Loved all the detail, especially those dust particles. Realizing the toddler was you must have felt strange?

By the way, have you checked this month's tasks?

http://www.dreamviews.com/tasks-mont...er-2014-a.html

Yeh the shouting really helped solidify it I think, like it was a conduit for my force of will to stabilize the dream.
Haha the weirdest thing about the toddler was how it looked :D Because I knew at the time that I didn't look like that, its face was just so alien in some ways.

I've only ever heard of them really, since I thought it'd be ages until I could even attempt stuff in a LD. I'll give them a shot though :awesomed:

Never too early to start with the tasks. They can be quite helpful with prolonging dreams too. :)

Going to have another break since my final exam is tomorrow afternoon.

Should be back onto everything in a day or 2.

Last night I went through the SSILD cycles after a WBTB at 5am, but I was still really tired since it had taken me 3 hours to fall asleep in the first place. Then after the WBTB I couldn't get back to sleep for another hour.

Goal Today: Write out mantra, do reality checks throughout the day, WBTB at ~4am, do SSILD cycles.

Try a simple short meditation technique - focus on the lack of thoughts, on your inner silence (you can even visualize it as a sphere somewhere) and then try to hold on to it for as long as possible. A few minutes (even with small interruptions) of internal silence spent in bed can be quite an effective way to help one fall asleep. This may even work as an intentional or unintentional wild anchor.

Just moved back home for the holidays so now I'll have more time free.
I'll have to catch up on sleep mostly tonight, I only had 5 hours last night.

Goal tonight: early to bed to catch up on sleep, do SSILD cycles

I'm going to definitely get through my SSILD cycles and try to have a lucid dream tonight, I think I'm finally rested and prepared enough now.

Goal: WBTB at ~4ish, get up and walk about for ~5 minutes, eat a banana, go back to bed and do the SSILD cycles. Hopefully I can punch through them properly tonight. I'm really excited now since I finally have some actual spare time to dedicate towards this

Keep getting into bad sleep cycles now that it's the holidays...

Goal: SSILD cycles, eat a banana at WBTB time (~4-5), write down dream during this time.

Keep it up Werty! Vacation times are a great opportunity to hone one's ld skills. :D

I have been doing some dream stuff but I haven't gotten around to putting anything on DV yet, will do so later in this week

Busy busy busy... I haven't had the luxury of time this holidays. Fortunately I still think about lucid dreaming every day, and I had a random unexpected WILD.

The typical jaw vibrations that signify a WILD for me were there, and I managed to slip into this WILD better than any others, not experiencing any teeth breaking unlike the last one O_O phew.

Hopefully this is a sign of progress even though I haven't been able to do any dream journaling or focus on any techniques.

I think I'll finally be able to get back into the swing of things with lucid dreaming, my vacation time was well spent with my family and wasn't completely devoid of lucid dreaming :)
I ended up with another couple lucid dreams and have learnt a bit about how my WILDs progress and how to stabilize while I'm having my LDs.

Goals for the next few weeks:
-Read up on techniques again to confirm that I'm doing it properly
-Get used to making a dream journal again

Welcome back and congrats on your recent lds! :goodjob:

Haha thanks :) I plan on getting the tasks of the months done next time, I really want to test my control and memory in dreams after last nights dreams.

Bam, 2 lucids in 2 nights, good progress. All I've used is my dream journal for recall and WBTB+SSILD for lucidity, seems like an easy way to get lucid.
My problem at this point is that I've noticed my lucids aren't quite strong, as if there's still some kind of veil over my eyes. I'd like to set myself goals each night, see how that affects my in-dream intentions.

That's great, congrats on the lds! :D

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My problem at this point is that I've noticed my lucids aren't quite strong, as if there's still some kind of veil over my eyes. I'd like to set myself goals each night, see how that affects my in-dream intentions.

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Do you mean you are having some visual problems or was it rather an issue of clarity of mind? I read your entry, looks like a good ld and your idea to change the scary woman to a normal one was brilliant. I remember a lot of my early lds often involved some sort of confrontation or scare, so it took me a while to figure out some ways to deal with pesky DCs. There are many options from hugging to completely ignoring DCs. Making a nasty DC a friendlier one like you did is also a great idea. :goodjob2:

Clarity of mind mostly, if I think about what I would do in a lucid dream now, I would instantly have a limitless list... But when I'm in a lucid dream the thought never crosses my mind, I'll end up engrossed with whatever the dream world puts in front of me, or I'll just randomly wander/explore without purpose.

I guess one way to put it from the more scientific perspective is that I'm not using the full capacity I have to think about my environment, desires, memories, etc that my brain would normally have greater access to in my waking state.

Thanks for the support :D I really appreciate the feedback

I see. On one hand all of this is dependent on your neurochemisty and how wakeful you are in your sleep. Longer wbtbs may help with regards to that. On the other hand, you can also try improving your clarity within the ld by shouting out something like "This is a dream" and also state any goals that you remember you want to do. This is especially helpful if you feel the dream scenario is taking over your lucidity and distracting you.

Thanks, I'll give it a try, I've had the whole shouting in a dream work for me once before. With extending my WBTBs I can sometimes have a hard time falling asleep again though :/ last night I barely got any sleep because I just couldn't fall asleep after a WBTB :(...

Goals at this point:
-Shout in a lucid dream to attain clarity
-State goals in a dream (Atm I'd like to try interacting with a dream character in a way I haven't before, like talking to one or fighting or something interesting and engaging)

Managed to get a lucid dream last night, I did something I don't usually do which is to look at my hands for a few minutes before turning off the lights and going to sleep. I remember just moving my hands in front of my face during the dream and realizing I was lucid. I'll try this again tonight.

Also managed an attempt at shouting 'clarity' but it came out pretty weak. I guess if I had to describe it, I would say that as I was coming through a fog of awakening into lucidity, I couldn't quite anchor myself there and lost grip, waking up.

I extended the length of the WBTB I usually go through at night, not sure if that helped yet.

Goals for tonight:
-try to look at my hands for a few minutes each time I wake up before falling back asleep
-shout 'clarity' in the dream
-state goals in the dream (same goal as last time, I reckon brawling or just talking sounds like fun)

Congrats on the lds! The pre bed hands looking technique is working extremely well! :D

The part where you were listening to the dream world was pretty cool.

Completely forgot that I almost had a WILD either last night or 2 nights ago. It's also the first time I haven't had that teeth grinding and cracking feeling in my mouth and jaw... Instead I thought I was biting the inside of my cheek -.- Which kind of made me lose the transition (also couldn't get back to sleep for a while and couldn't get the transition to happen again).

Note to self: I have to say, WILD is probably the more exciting of the lucid dream methods, that feeling of the world transforming is something else entirely. I think it might be time for me to try and learn how to WILD using the common technique.

Successful lucid last night, didn't go into caveman mode which is good, I had a long moment where I thought to myself to just do the TOTM but I couldn't really be bothered trying to remember it. If I get lucid tonight I'll give the Basic i TOTM a try, which is drink a potion to reveal the ultimate truth to myself if I remember correctly.

Nice, congrats! :) I can relate. Having goals is very helpful for preventing the caveman/woman mode. :tongue:

Hmm it's been a long time since I've posted an update... :-?

I guess I'll start with why I stopped posting: University.
Over the past few months I got caught up in my hardest semester at uni, the usual paper requirement here is 3 per semester and I took 5, then I didn't get any time off at the end because one of my papers is a full year independent research project... That really sucked :disconcerted:
One important thing to note though is that I hate speeches due to being deaf which has left me with a minor speech impediment, and I had to give a 10 minute speech that led to me having some extremely anxious nights for a couple months before the due date. Fortunately I scored really well :) 86/100
So that covers the 'why I've been absent' part...

Now, onto the lucid advancements: WILDs and spontaneous lucidity
On the really anxious nights I would occasionally become lucid, stress seems to spark my lucidity during the night I guess. I think this happened quite a lot towards the end, and something else started happening too...
...... I started getting some WILDs, which is something I've never explicitly practiced, but I have experienced them previously. These were pretty weird though since they just happened so naturally with no incentive, I'd just be trying to get to sleep and then feel myself slipping into a dream and then wa-lah, lucid. I think my ability to get lucid has increased despite not really practicing or recording dreams, also it seems like the detail is sharper in my dreams in general but I haven't paid much attention to this since it's been gradual - kind of just realized it as I'm writing to be honest...

Goals in the future:
None really, I have dream goals but my motivation is sorely lacking at this point, I'm interested but also not interested... Like I couldn't care whether or not I became lucid but I'm fine with it happening either way. I think my main problem is inspiration, I've been more focused on university for a while now so it might be correct to say my priorities have shifted. After all, originally I wanted to use lucid dreaming as a way to become more confident, I wanted to train myself to speak publicly through dream simulation - all for the goal of being able to present my speech. In the end I actually started engaging in more activities to teach myself to be comfortable in public situations. Glad I conquered that, much less stressful now.

I'll set a small goal for now:
3 dream journals a week.

Werty! Good to see you back! :)

It's great that you have managed to cope with all the work at university, getting good grades and having bonus lds and wilds on top of that!

Can you tell me, if you don't mind me asking, if there is difference between your senses and abilities in the dream world and the real world? By the way, I am firm beliver that one is capable of improving one's skills as well as confidence via lucid dream practice.

Your goals look good so far. I wish you a dream of inspiration that will help determine your next ideas!

Glad to be back :)

A difference in senses or abilities? Hmm... Like if I can hear properly? I guess there probably is, I haven't paid much attention to my senses, except for sight.

I haven't really noticed being deaf in dreams, although I have had nightmares about being deaf that weren't very realistic.
When I hear sounds in a dream I think it comes across more as a thought... A persons mouth moves simultaneously to mimic the sounds produced, but it's kind of an illusion since it's all inside my head, right? So the sounds come out unaltered I guess.
On the other hand, I think if I had a lucid dream and deliberately focused on the sounds then I would probably find I was still deaf :P it'd be a result of my awareness bringing me closely to reality.

There isn't usually a great deal of dialogue in my dreams, I struggle a lot with remembering it when there is, which might be why I haven't learnt a lot about this sense. I'm kind of interested now.. I'll try to figure it out over the next few days and see what my hearing is like, and if possible, what my other senses are like in the dream world.

In relation to other abilities, I'm usually more agile in my dreams and occasionally back flip :chuckle:.

Dream goals
-3 dream journals a week
-Determine how I hear in dreams

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Originally Posted by werty52

Glad to be back :)


When I hear sounds in a dream I think it comes across more as a thought... A persons mouth moves simultaneously to mimic the sounds produced, but it's kind of an illusion since it's all inside my head, right? So the sounds come out unaltered I guess.

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That is interesting. I think our brains are certainly capable of a great deal of precise simulation and we have no idea how it all happens. Just like in real life we pay attention to certain things, like whatever is going on at the moment, while at the same time a ton of other information is subconsciously processed and saved without us even knowing. And then the whole experience can be replayed and rehashed in dreams.

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There isn't usually a great deal of dialogue in my dreams, I struggle a lot with remembering it when there is, which might be why I haven't learnt a lot about this sense. I'm kind of interested now.. I'll try to figure it out over the next few days and see what my hearing is like, and if possible, what my other senses are like in the dream world.

In relation to other abilities, I'm usually more agile in my dreams and occasionally back flip :chuckle:.

Dream goals
-3 dream journals a week
-Determine how I hear in dreams

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Looking forward to reading about your observations. :) I think there are some distinctions to consider when paying attention to experiencing sounds in dreams. For instance, there is a difference between how the brain processes language from other sounds, like from moving objects or music. And there can be a difference between normal dreams and lucid dreams. Finally, even if one has a full experience of something, one may not be able to recall it. I usually don't remember much of dialogues in dreams too. There are a few other impressions I'll share next time as not to influence your experiment.

Managed to get lucid with a very small amount of effort (an unintentional WBTB) which led to a lucid which I remembered that I had a dream goal in, yet I couldn't remember what that goal was :D
Good to get back into the swing of things, I'm also feeling more interested and motivated about the whole thing.

Dream Goals:
-3 dream journals a week
-determine how I hear in dreams

That's awesome! Congrats, Werty! :)

Another lucid achieved but I screwed it up by smacking things out of peoples' hands and then trying to escape by flying which ended in me falling (and waking up) >_<.
The sleep I get each night is about 6 hours lately, which has been severely limiting my dream recall.
The lucid I obtained was pretty weak in retrospect, I wasn't prepared enough for it and I still don't have enough control on stability - I'm a bit curious as to whether or not being cooped up writing all day limits my awareness in dreams... I tend to people quite narrow-visioned after days like this.

Goals:
-3 dream journals a week
-determine how I hear in dreams
-need to improve dream clarity and stability

Haven't slept much in the past week, probably ~4 hours a night if I divide it up. Finally finished my final research report! :D

I'll be able to record my dreams again once I catch up on sleep after tonight and tomorrow.

Goals:
-3 dream journals a week
-determine how I hear in dreams
-need to improve dream clarity and stability

Things have calmed down so much lately, I feel no stress and I have heaps of free time. It's the first holiday I've had to myself in 2 years :)

Dreams have been crazy vivid, but I've had such a hard time cementing them to memory... To the point where I can't remember anything in the morning. Most of my dream journals have been small slices of a much larger dream scene, usually just the last couple minutes before waking up or something. I think it's because I'm so tired when I go to sleep because it's the holidays and my sleep cycle has gotten worse.

I must be getting close to 1 year registered and I've only had 30ish lucid dreams, which to me feels underwhelming. The amount of effort I have now compared to when I started is drastically different though. I'm still kind of lacking in interest these days, which I think may be due to not having someone to compete with... I usually get motivated when there's a competitive factor but I haven't even got anyone to really talk to about it :whyme:

I think I've accomplished the 3x dream journals a week goal, so I'll try maintain that and focus on dream clarity and stability next. Once that's done I can focus better on determining how I hear in dreams. Wouldn't be a bad idea to go to bed earlier too :laugh:

Goals:
-determine how I hear in dreams
-need to improve dream clarity and stability

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I'm still kind of lacking in interest these days, which I think may be due to not having someone to compete with... I usually get motivated when there's a competitive factor but I haven't even got anyone to really talk to about it

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Werty, don't know if you have heard but we actually run ld competitions here. The current one is just about to end this week, but I think there will be another one in the near future, so feel free to sign up then to see if this helps boost your motivation. We also have the DV buddy program (see my signature) where you can sign up to be paired with another member and discuss dreams and lding, share experiences and tips.

Another thing which can be great for motivation is just to be more involved around the forums - check out others' dream journals, be inspired, tell people what you like about their experiences, discuss strategies, check out how fellow intro class students are doing. I have to say that as a tutor, just sticking around DV and the intro class has helped me remain motivated, made me learn a ton and has prevented me from drifting too far away from dreaming at times. :)

I think you're right NyxCC, I've thought about what you said over the past week carefully. I guess if I want to get somewhere with lucid dreaming then I need to do something about it. I got complacent just with having the ability to lucid dream and forgot the reason I started lucid dreaming in the first place.

It'll be 1 year registered for me on the 3rd of October so I think that's a good date to meet a goal.
I've had 29 lucid dreams that I can properly remember, but that number doesn't make me feel too good when I think it's been nearly a year. So I'd like to bump it up to 45 by the time I reach 1 year registered :). Which is like a 50% increase, and a lucid dream every 2 nights roughly.
Hopefully that will be the starting point for a much bigger goal that I'd like to set afterwards, but I'll get to that at a later date.

So far so good, tried out my old SSILD technique and managed 2 lucids last night.

31/45 and 14 more to go.

Way to go, werty! :)

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Originally Posted by werty52

So far so good, tried out my old SSILD technique and managed 2 lucids last night.

31/45 and 14 more to go.

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Congratulations, werty! 2 in a night... excellent work! :goodjob2:

With a performance like that, you're well on your way to reaching your goal! :) Keep up the great work.

Finished an exam and then had a field trip that left at 7:25am.. :cantsleep: Insomnia had kicked in that night and I just barely slept :(. Going to try my SSILD technique again tonight as I don't have anything on tomorrow. I'm going to aim to have another 2 lucids tonight.

21 nights left + 14 lucids to go

18 nights left + 13 lucids to go. I had food poisoning over the past couple days which really hacked away my ability to dream.
Also managed to test out my sense of taste which is a small goal I had been wanting to try out. Hopefully I'll remember to test my hearing next time.

Sorry to hear this. :( Hope you are feeling better.

Had a large amount of complications come up in RL which completely put a hold on dream-related stuff.

I've remembered a few dreams over the past week or so but haven't been able to write them up. Now things are probably going to go back to normal with dreaming, but I won't be able to attain my 45 LD mark. But I am at 32, so I thought that maybe reaching 35 in the next 3 nights would be a small achievement to cap off the years' subscription :).

-32/35 lucids

At any rate, your results are really good! :) It's great that you've managed to keep up the efforts despite all the challenges and distractions, etc. It's people like you who end up being awesome lucid dreamers because they never give up.

33/35, tonight is the last night I think... I was working until 3:15am last night so that really went bad. Couldn't recall anything and I had maybe 4-5 hours sleep.
The one lucid I've managed to have was pretty horrific too, and it was weak as hell. 2 lucids in 1 night? I'm going all out today + tonight.
I'm a little excited about the challenge.

It still says '6 months registered' for the achievement so I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm still trying to reach 35 lucids :).
I'm now at 100 DJ entries too, it's gotten easier to recall my dreams again which I'm pretty happy about.
I'm in the DreamViews Buddy Program now with Emnition so hopefully we start to really see some progress for us both.

Goals:
-determine how I hear in dreams
-need to improve lucid dream clarity and stability

Happy DV and lucidversary! :) I would wait a few more days to see if the badge updates. If it doesn't we might report it to the bugs thread in meta.

Happy to hear you've joined the Buddy program. I think you guys will make an excellent team. :)

Me and Emnition have started a challenge with each other to see who can attain a lucid first with the DEILD technique. My first night was rubbish and I had an unexpected bout of insomnia >_<. My dream recall has improved I think, and I've started testing a few phone apps for lucid dreaming. Mainly to find an alarm that will switch off after a few seconds rather than several minutes -.- since I realized if I wake up to an alarm while trying to DEILD it won't turn off unless I get up and turn it off which would ruin my attempt at DEILD.

I figure it's been a year registered but it hasn't updated so maybe it is a bug, I'll keep an eye on it for a couple more days.

Nice! Good luck to both of you! :)

Yay, I can see that the badge is updated now!

Ah, you're right! Haha that's good to see :)

Me and Emnition are still continuing with the challenge, I managed to have a lucid but it was with the SSILD technique instead. My dream recall has been pretty good except for last night, likely due to the accumulative effects of a bad sleeping pattern. My final exams are coming up within the next month (1 is in 6 days) so things might get stressful and I might have to prioritize study over sleep. But I'll tackle the issue if it comes up.

As I'm writing this I started thinking about the clarity in my lucid :/.. I kind of felt like I need to do something to break through and properly stabilize myself and improve the clarity. I don't know what, but I think the only way I can properly find out is by having lots of lucids in a short period of time. Otherwise I feel like my ability to achieve lucidity will stay the same and stagnate.

The dream challenge is still ongoing with Emnition, I feel like I'm really on track with motivation for lucid dreaming. For now my priorities are focused on exam studies but I am having a severe problem of procrastination (even now since I'm taking the time to type this lol). I have almost sorted out my sleeping pattern which I decided to do because I don't think I can DEILD properly without it. For now I've been waking at 7:30am over the past few days and trying to get to bed by 10:30pm.

I had a WILD experience last night, I really suck at WILDs O_O. I lack the balancing to guide myself into the dream but that will change with experience I think, plus it's been a long time since I've had a WILD. I also remembered how to SSILD more effectively again, which I tried last night and it probably caused me to WILD. Instead of getting comfy I just lay down on my back with my arms by my side, that helped me keep focus on the cycles. The problem was that I seemed to get too aware at some point and took a while longer to fall asleep.

Another thing that's new is that I'm using the Brainbuddy app to quit porn/masturbation. I've been aware that porn was harmful and masturbating to it changes how you think so I've tried quitting it before. Sometimes successfully. But I've relapsed a few times by telling myself that just a little is pretty harmless. Now I'd like to quit masturbation + porn completely and sort out my brains dopamine levels and reward systems. The app seems really good and it keeps track of a lot of things so it's just a matter of willpower to hold off and see what changes happen :D. I've heard that it boosts your confidence, you become more aware, makes you less socially anxious, some people (I imagine <20 year olds) have gotten deeper voices, more muscle etc. Just random stuff like that. Another reason people seem to quit is ED, but I don't have that issue ^_^. I think I'll be getting some pretty intense dreams as a result of this, but I'd also like to see how it may effect dream recall, chance for lucidity etc.

Nice! Congrats on the Wild! This is the third post about wilding and ssild that I read about today. I think there's something in the air. :D

Good luck with the new app! I think that quitting anything can be very helpful and once you do that one or few times you can accomplish anything. There's a book on that topic. Actually, Emnition also mentioned this book to me recently - the Power of Habit. He read the whole book so you can ask him all about it. :)

I started meditating a little bit because the Brainbuddy app told me too (just breathing in and out for like 5 minutes). Since then I've read A LOT of articles and watched hours of videos about how porn changes the brain and the effects this has on someone. I'm completely astounded by it to be honest :boggle: my mind has been blown. It's made me realize that even though you could say it's 'normal' socially, it isn't healthy and there aren't any benefits. I have been poisoning my young mind :crying:.

So I've been clean about 9 days now and the effects so far:
-Better sleeps (feels like I have better recall but that's automatic with a good sleep regardless :P)
-More active during the day
-Bored with the computer (forcing me to do more)
-Actually interested in my studies (I no longer automatically procrastinate for hours)
-Socializing more
-Been in a good mood, hard to feel down when you sit outside in the sun rather than kill time at the computer

I also decided to get more interested in meditating :meditate:
My interest in it has always been on and off so I never really got into it. I also picked up ADA today and gave it a try, it honestly nearly gave me a headache towards the end of the day.
I hate the feeling that I'm on autopilot and I've never known how to combat it so I'm planning on sticking with meditation + ADA.
My plan is to increase my awareness/mindfulness throughout the day as I'm aware of how unaware I am. This should hopefully allow me to improve frequency of and stability + clarity during my lucid dreams.

So far I've noticed it's difficult to maintain ADA while on the computer, talking to someone or studying. I found it really hard to get into it at first too, like swimming against a current. For future reference I managed on and off 6 hours today. I've started doing more reality checks randomly too to help maintain my awareness.

Sounds like you have gotten a true energy boost from your behavior changing strategy. :)

Not sure how you got started on the path of this habit you're trying to change, but it comes to mind, especially after reading your post that this has to do with some sort of societal values or so. Some people may do it because others do it, just like one would pick up smoking or any similar habit. Without going into a long ramble, I think that if you go back to the point of why you started this and how you trigger such behavior and really understand your inner workings, then it will be easier to start undoing all of this.

Feeling pretty good already, my social anxiety has gotten better. Hopefully this keeps up as I want to see how far this abstinence will take me.

Well it started when I was around 12-13 and from there I can remember how it all progressed. It seemed pretty normal for people my age when everyone was getting hyped about sex. It was probably more a result of playing computer and then having that access to high-speed internet, where it becomes more of a free-for-all. There's really nothing holding you back at that point since looking at porn is literally a click of the finger away.

Played guitar in public today with a friend which I wouldn't normally do. Also managed to maintain ADA from 8-12 but my focus has completely plummeted. Managed some meditation this early morning (7:15-7:30) and intermittently a bit more throughout the day with some guided meditation ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEya...uxI4iG2UUuHN4z

http://www.dreamviews.com/dreamviews...ml#post2176901
Just finished listening to the audio Sensei made and it made me think a bit about my future with lucid dreaming. I'm ~1 year in with 35 lucid dreams, and one day I think I'll be able to make it to that '1000 lucid dreams' milestone. But I don't know when I'll get there, I don't have a clue how long it'll take :). This is fine with me because like Sensei said, the time is going to pass anyways so it doesn't matter how long it takes to finish a goal. But in saying this, I want to do it sooner than later :chuckle:.

So now it's time for an update of how things have progressed over the past 3 months (last one was #42). Motivation, goals, success, etc. How much has changed and where am I headed?

Since booting up LDing again:

Dream Recall
Then: My dream recall was terrible. Dream recall was basically this: IF I woke up after a dream then I would think about the dream and 'cement' it to memory. Then I would probably write it up once I got back home after a long day of university. I started with the goal of writing my dreams up 3x a week.
Now: I recall 2-4 dreams a night by making notes after every dream cycle. My dreams are pretty vivid and I tend to lack the literary skills to articulate everything sometimes. I make sure I journal my dreams every morning prior to starting my day so that it's fresh enough to add unwritten details too.

Lucidity
Then: Usually I'd just use SSILD to obtain lucidity, and I have even had quite a few stress-induced lucids. I wasn't particularly interested in learning any new techniques.
Now: SSILD is still the only technique I can use with some level of proficiency. I've started practicing DEILD (though I'm terrible at it) and haven't had any lucids from it yet. I've also started using meditation and All-Day-Awareness (ADA) as a way to increase my mindfulness to achieve more frequent DILDs (just started this within the past 10 days so the fruits of my labour are yet unseen). I plan to start Dream Yoga soon too.

Sleep Cycle
Then: My sleeping pattern sucked and this made any and all attempts to practice LDing much more difficult. Late nights finishing assignments, watching too much anime or talking to friends until past midnight... I also suffer from mild insomnia, just like my mom. It took me 2-4 hours a night to fall asleep, coupled with the late nights and the necessity of getting up early for university. I have tried many times to fix this by doing things like reading before bed, dimming light before bed, no computer for an hour before bed, etc. It just didn't work. So I began experimenting a bit on how deal with it.
Now: I feel tired when I sleep in too long and I feel tired if I go to bed late and wake up late in the day. So I get up at the same time and go to bed at the same time :). I've settled on using running as a way to burn myself out, along with just spending time in the sun and keep away from the computer throughout the day. Also I think the whole Brainbuddy thing has helped a lot too. It's taking me like 1 hour to fall asleep now, which is incredible to me.

Motivation
Then: I had previously lacked the motivation, focus and perseverance to properly stay on track with LDing. I didn't know why at the time but I couldn't motivate myself for ANYTHING. I found it hard to stick to anything for a long period of time. I could DO things, I just couldn't continue doing those things (I think Sensei's audio mentions something about this too).
Now: All I can say is "Brainbuddy app". It hasn't been long since I started it (11 days) but I've noticed changes already. I've just found a lot of energy lately and I've started taking up more hobbies to fill the time instead of idling in front of a computer screen. Also the meditation + ADA I've been doing has helped my focus and desire to persevere in everything.

Health
Then: I had my first 'serious' injury last year in July, spraining my ankle really badly after falling 15-20m off a cliff. The time spent unable to walk was pretty crucial for kindling my motivation to start running. I started running more seriously around this time and wanted to be able to run to the peak of the mountain I live at the base of, without stopping to catch my breath. I had also started eating way healthier, just because money was an issue (I completely stopped buying all sugary things and learnt a lot about frugal living).
Now: About 1-2(?) weeks ago I ran to the top of the mountain I live next to without stopping for the first time, and have done it several times now. Also my food habits have improved and my sleeping has improved (as mentioned before). I spent a lot more time outside in the sun and have been doing more activities in general. The use of Brainbuddy has aided me quite a bit since I started using it as well, and I think it will pay off health-wise even more later on. Another thing to mention is that I think last year I found a dwindling interest in video games. Over the past month I just dropped all interest in watching anime too and started reading manga instead. Now I barely glance at manga and I started reading ETWOLD again.

Awareness
Then: Not much I can say other than that I was conscious of how every day just seemed to slip by. A friend once said to me a few years ago that he was suffering from depersonalization disorder, and said he felt like a backseat driver to his own life. While I was never like that, I still feel that it sums up how a lack of awareness can leave you.
Now: I've started meditating straight after waking up (6:30-7:30ish) along with doing other mindfulness + breath meditation throughout the day. I've just started with ADA and it's pretty hard :cheeky:. There isn't much I can say with how it's affected me since I just started though. I'm keen to see how it will affect me and whether I will attain more lucids from it. One thing's for certain: it feels good to meditate.

A lot has changed I guess, and hopefully it's uphill from here.

Goals:
- Bump up my lucid count and practice dream stability. I want longer lucids :)

Just started my first day of dream yoga in Sivason's class. My dreams last night also felt strangely more distinguishable, it's kind of a weird feeling. I woke up from a dream cycle much earlier in the night than I would usually do too. Usually I skip waking from the first dream cycle (e.g. 11pm - 12:30am) because I just don't notice, so it was a first to tap into that dream cycle.

I checked the frequency of my LDs out of curiosity and noticed that there are some patterns. Lately it looks to be every 10 days. I've been trying to get lucid with SSILD but it's been unsuccessful which has led me to believe some other factor may have been responsible for me getting lucid. I've been doing what I normally do except better so I expected my LD rate to actually increase.

Cool new avatar!

So you live near a mountain? I already imagine the beautiful scenery. There are endless opportunities for awareness practice and recharging at such places. ADA is litterally waiting for you out there. :)

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Originally Posted by werty52

http://www.dreamviews.com/dreamviews...ml#post2176901

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This is definitely going on my to 'read' list. I'm interested :)

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Originally Posted by werty52

I had my first 'serious' injury last year in July, spraining my ankle really badly after falling 15-20m off a cliff.

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15 - 20m and all you did was sprain it?! :wtf2: My knee is jealous of your ankle

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Originally Posted by werty52

I had also started eating way healthier, just because money was an issue (I completely stopped buying all sugary things and learnt a lot about frugal living).

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I'm also looking to start eating healthier. Do you have any recommended sites/books where I can find tips?

It's great to see you've made progress and not only dream related :) Keep it up!

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So you live near a mountain?

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A few hills and mountainous scenery, some of which is densely forested with plenty of walking tracks :) Today is the day of my final exam, it starts in about 90 minutes? Super excited to be honest. After that I'll take a walk somewhere and enjoy the freedom from uni :yddd:

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15 - 20m and all you did was sprain it?! My knee is jealous of your ankle

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I think I wrote a poem about it and posted it somewhere in here http://www.dreamviews.com/artists-co...elings-21.html. I had managed to slow my fall by clawing at the wall I fell off, had a lot of cuts on my hands afterwards haha :P. Also I landed on sand and did a semi-roll so that minimized the impact a bit too.

Hmm I don't know about any sites or anything, I just kind of do my own thing. I don't buy takeaways ever, I try to cook full meals with a balance of veges and meat (if I can afford it). I also buy lots of fruit + frozen fruit that I can blend and make smoothies. I make my own cereal sometimes, or I'll just have plain porridge for brekkie. I've cut sugar and dairy (mostly) out of my diet too. I've done it gradually over time though so it never felt like a huge amount of effort

I've been on a dry spell for quite a while (16 days?). I've been putting a lot more effort into getting a lucid dream lately but haven't had much success. I discussed with Emnition what might be happening and we thought the primary reason could be mental fatigue, no PMO (since the dry spell started around the time I started this), or the lack of oversleeping.
I feel like I've done everything right: executing the SSILD method perfectly with no results, doing regular meditation, DJ recall is good, great sleep pattern, started DY and ADA. I'm really surprised I haven't achieved a lucid dream :uhm:. Lucid dreaming didn't seem this difficult before, I thought I could achieve a lucid 90% of the time if I got through the SSILD cycles but it's repeatedly failed lately :?.

I've been focusing a lot on DY, ADA and meditation today. I tried a 'lucid dreaming hypnosis' youtube video which turned out to be pretty cool. I treated it like meditation and found myself learning a lot about what it feels to fall asleep. Also found myself forming dreamlets by will, but they would dissolve rather quickly. I've also been repeating the mantra "Remember, I'm dreaming" throughout the day and doing lots of reality checks. I'm hoping all this effort today will help me break the dry spell tonight :)

Forget about having a dry spell, it is really unhelpful to focus on such thoughts. I've been following your posts and feel like you've been really energized by all the recent changes and practices. Your next ld is just round the corner! :)

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Forget about having a dry spell, it is really unhelpful to focus on such thoughts.

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I'll try not to focus on it then :) I'm really enjoying the processes involved with trying to get lucid each night too and for some reason I wake up happy.

Tried to SSILD last night and got through the cycles pretty easily with a bit of lapse in focus. I'm going to try re-read the SSILD tutorial to refresh it in my mind. Can't wait for a lucid dream, it's getting me excited :D. I feel like the next lucid will be a breakthrough too!

I re-read the SSILD tutorial and found a few differences, but after attempting it I didn't yield any results. One attempt isn't enough but I decided to focus on the DEILD challenge for now. If I'm going to have a lucid dream then it should be a DEILD :) hence why I've started intensive DEILD attempts during the night (about 8 alarms 15 minutes apart after 4-5 hours of sleep).

My dream recall dropped a bit after a few rough nights and my sleeping pattern shifted by about 2 hours (waking at 9am instead of 7am). I found myself caring less about getting lucid and instead just really enjoying these normal dreams I've been having lately. They just seem so awesome and more eventful, and also so vivid and detailed. I'm not overly focused on my lucid dry spell, but it's still confusing me - I definitely don't see normal dreams as failures though.

I've been slacking off with ADA and DY over the past few days and my motivation has declined which is probably related to this dreary grey weather we've had non-stop for nearly 2 weeks. Gimme sun!... But from this I've found the trick for me to have a highly aware day is to jump into mindfulness meditation related practices in the early morning. So from now on I'd like to set a more dedicated time of attaining that alert state, probably before I hop on the computer in the morning to write up my DJ. And also waking up earlier in the morning really makes me more aware too.

So I guess my focus is for now:
- Wake up at 6-7am again
- Do mindfulness meditation after breakfast or after journaling my dreams
- Spend less time reading my books, as I've nearly finished 4 books in 4 days :holycrap:

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Originally Posted by werty52

- Spend less time reading my books, as I've nearly finished 4 books in 4 days :holycrap:

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Something about not having enough free time.. :P

Lol Werty you are reading super fast. What kind of books are these? They must be interesting :).

I had a lucid dream finally :). Could have been a combination of a SSILD + MILD I think. I didn't recall it at all this morning... During my morning meditation I just remembered a really small detail, and after about 5 minutes I managed to rebuild the memory a bit :). Can't believe I forgot haha :cackle:

I really screwed up the lucid though, as I managed to 'teleport' but I had closed my eyes. When I tried to open them to the world again, I felt like it was really hard, and then I suddenly opened my eyes in real life. I honestly felt like this could have been a really long lucid dream too :crying:

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Lol Werty you are reading super fast. What kind of books are these? They must be interesting :).

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Been reading the 'Panlong' series (also known as Coiling Dragon), which is a translated light novel. It's the first light novel series I've read, but I took the day off from reading it yesterday because I wanted to slow down :P

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Something about not having enough free time.. :P

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Haha I'll get back on track and use my time better :chuckle:

Awesome! Congrats werty! And you managed to do a teleport on top of that. :)

Panlong - that looks like a really good read *Nyx bookmarks this*.

Feels like it's been a while since I posted in my workbook. I successfully moved to the North Island and have successfully passed my university degree :) the job hunt has begun

My dream recall has gone down but I told Emnition that I would try to recall at least 3 dreams per night for the next 3 days, this should bring my recall up and then I'll take another step from there to improvement it even more. I want to get my recall better than it's been in the past and to a point where I can maintain it with ease.

No PMO has been great so far and I've seen some major changes in my social life. I've been really proactive lately too as I need to distract myself occasionally from those 'urges' :chuckle: exercise has been a great outlet and I learned that I can do one-handed push ups. I lost about 5kg too (while putting on a lot of muscle).

The hardest thing to keep up with is meditation, DY and ADA atm. It got harder when my laptop was broken (I only got it back 2 days ago).. I've still be doing them but the general amount of time I spent on them in a day is wayyy less. I'll be making a good effort to get back into them properly over the next couple days.

Congrats on your recent life developments werty! :)

So now you are at a new place - again this is very good for awareness - it is proven that when things around us change we are paying more attention. Good luck with the job search - hope you find something that you really like :).

I think I succeeded in a couple DEILDs last night and have finally reached 40 lucids. Although those two lucids were really... crazy O_O

I had been suffering from shitty recall for a while and decided to put an end to it since there's no way I would have remembered a lucid even if I succeeded. So I've been attempting to achieve my goal of recalling 3 dreams for 3 consecutive nights, but it kept going to shit since I couldn't remember my dreams. I started writing my dreams in full after each dream onto paper during the night. This has boosted my recall a lot in just two nights and has resulted in me noticing higher awareness (due to the numerous WBTBs from night time DJing) and 2 lucids to boot :D.

Me and Emnition started a challenge to get points based on a goal we set for ourselves and then we add up our points at the end of the week. I reckon this will help us progress even faster and I'm looking forward to smashing through some goals :cheeky:
My next goal I think will be either to:
- increase the quota for dreams per night (e.g. 4-5 dreams)
- start using another dream recall method to support it more
- something else..?

I feel like when I recall dreams I always miss out the start. Like my second dream from last night (#173 - Carny / Black Leech / Tripppyyy / Herion - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views).
From the http://www.dreamviews.com/dream-sign...ompendium.html it seems like you can recall up to 20 dreams a night to be called a 'master' in recall quantity but I just don't see how it's possible.

Congrats on the lds!

I think it's good to aim for higher recall. Apart from that, the categories in the compendium can be very difficult to fit into. In order to have the master recall, you'd have to wake up after every cycle and possibly write things down as even if you are able recall all the dreams, you are likely to forget the details later. You would also need to sleep many many hours in addition to waking up super frequenty. On top of that, if your recall were perfect each REM cycle would be more like a single dream that transitions from one place to another. So, the number of dreams would actually decrease...:boggle:

Thanks NyxCC :) I've managed to have a few more since my last post too.

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I think it's good to aim for higher recall. Apart from that, the categories in the compendium can be very difficult to fit into. In order to have the master recall, you'd have to wake up after every cycle and possibly write things down as even if you are able recall all the dreams, you are likely to forget the details later. You would also need to sleep many many hours in addition to waking up super frequenty.

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Atm I'm attempting to wake up after every cycle and write things down in full detail, it's really tiring :(. I end up spending up to 20 minutes writing some dreams (for the bigger ones at least). And like you said, I have to sleep a lot longer because of waking up all the time :/ (and my eyes can get sore sometimes).
But, aside from boosted dream recall, I've learnt a lot more about how dreams work and the amount of time I spend in a dream cycle.
I also didn't really believe nREM dreams were that much of a thing, now that I've actually had them (and a lucid nREM dream) I understand a lot better how people can reach that master recall stage.

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On top of that, if your recall were perfect each REM cycle would be more like a single dream that transitions from one place to another. So, the number of dreams would actually decrease...:boggle:

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Oh wow that's kind of new to me, I never really thought about that O_O.

Kind of on a break with lucid dreaming while I'm visiting family and stuff. My DJ is next to me but I'm too tired by the end of each day so that I just sleep like a brick. I also probably wouldn't have the time to write it up in the morning.

I've been attempting to develop my awareness to help myself stay focused and on the ball during the day. It's so that I can keep my energy up and not let the fatigue hit me, also to pay attention to details with the family members so I can better my relations with them.

Until the next time.. :offtobed:

Yes, these reunions can be very tiring indeed - especially if there is a lot of food involved :P. On the other hand, it's a great opportunity to practice relevant day skills - observation, mindfulness, recall.

Happy holidays!

Home sweet home, I'm back from my holiday visiting my daughter now. In 2 hours I'll also be getting 4 teeth pulled out :chuckle:

While on holiday I guess a few things happened, I was generally far too tired to recall most of my dreams but there were times when it was surprisingly good. I had no focus on anything dream related over the past 3 weeks but it's kind of nice to see that all the effort into lucid dreaming doesn't disappear when you're on a break. I'll be starting the challenge with Emnition tomorrow for a week. My goal this time is to practice dream recall (3 dreams a night) and meditation (1 hour a day).

Can't wait to be dreaming again!

How's the challenge going? Did you guys start already?

Yeh we just finished another challenge, it was a draw this time and we both did fairly bad :chuckle:.
I've felt pretty run down after getting my teeth pulled, but I'm better now.

We just set another challenge starting today: Em is doing DY and DJ, I'm sticking to a routine.
My routine is a workout schedule, DY, ADA, meditation and 2 dreams recalled a night. I really wanted to up the difficulty for myself this time so I'll see how it goes :)