Emnition's workbook

Reality Checks:
- Pushing my fingers through my palm
- Reading the word 'Awake', which I've written on my left hand


Dream Signs:
- I'm studying abroad for one year. People from my homecountry still appear in my dreams.
- People speaking in my native language, while they're not able to in waking life.
- Famous actors/actresses (though less frequent now that I watch less movies).
- Being somewhere I've never been before

Short-Term Goals:
- Having a LD once a week
- Increasing the length of my LDs (I always wake up within a minute)
- Performing RCs more often

Long-Term Goals:
- Having a LD several times per week
- Having enough control over my LDs to decide my own actions

Lucid/Dream Recall History:
- I can recall atleast 1 dream every night and often more, though the details are sometimes vague. On a good night I might recall up to 4 dreams in detail.
- I'm not sure how many LDs I've had, but my best guess would be around 10.

Current Technique:
- I'll be trying DILD for the next 3 weeks


I have to say I'm already happy I signed up for DV. Just writing down my goals makes me realise that I need to be more concrete in what I wish to accomplish and gives my motivation a little boost!

Welcome to Intro class, Emnition! :) Let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks NyxCC!

I've been travelling for a few days last week so I haven't recorded everything in my DJ (also there were 2 nights with barely any sleep). Plus, since I'm keeping a physical DJ I'd like to share just the dreams which stand out. In the last week I've had 2 dreams which I feel are worth mentioning.

The first one occurred during one of the nights I was on the travel. I barely remember anything, but what I do remember is that I was walking near a church during the day with atleast 1 other person and that I stood still for a moment because I was thinking to myself that I should be more aware of my surroundings. I don't remember it leading to me doing a RC though.

My second happened just last night. I dreamt that I just returned from my trip (which is actually true) and looked into my pantry to find that my bread had become moldy. I looked for the expiration date, which said 3 november. In my head that date wasn't due until about 5 more days, so I was surprised by my bread having mold already. It was also frozen as if I had actually stored it in the freezer, so I wondered if freezing it had caused it to mold faster. Then I decided to throw it out, along with the milk which had probably gone bad. I didn't do an RC.


I've added something to my RC: first I look at my left hand, where I've written "Awake". I confirm that the word "Awake" is written there, then tell myself that I am in a dream and that I will be able to push the fingers of my left hand through the palm of my left hand and that Awake will have turned into "Dream" once I look back at it. After that I look at my hands and count my fingers, to stay focused on my hands just a bit longer. I remember a lucid somewhere in the past month where I desperately wanted to stabilise the dream by looking at my hands, but my hands remained out of my field of vision and I can't recall my hands ever being in my field of vision when dreaming.

I just remembered something I realised a long time ago: I don't have all my senses in my dreams. I am only able to see and hear in my dreams. The only exception I can recall is having legcramp once while flying during a lucid. Until at least the end of this month I want to be more aware of the items I pick up or move around. I've carried people on my back in dreams and lifted items without feeling any weight whatsoever. I used to be unable to read in dreams because the words were blurry, until I started focussing on it more in waking life. Perhaps becoming lucid will become easier if I unlock more senses. Does anyone have any experience with this?

You can actually use the lack of senses as a dream sign, and also as a reality check. In the case of reading for example, you can try reading things during the day and see if they change or not, if you are able to comprehend them, etc. If the letters change, then it's a dream. Also, gravity in dreams may be different from real life. You can fly, lift heavy objects, etc. Try to be more aware if the gravity is normal when going about your day. Think as often as possible about these dream signs so next time you encounter them you can become lucid. :goodjob2:

Thanks for the tips :) I'm already using the reading as a reality check (see first post), but I'll definitely be paying more attention to gravity/weight to increase my awareness.

On another note, I started a new DJ today because my other one was full, feel really excited about it! Sorta feels like starting fresh. Also I remembered 5 dreams last night. At first I could recall only one, but I knew I had more and while journalling the first I could suddenly remember 4 more.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Emnition

I just remembered something I realised a long time ago: I don't have all my senses in my dreams. I am only able to see and hear in my dreams. The only exception I can recall is having legcramp once while flying during a lucid.

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next time once you realize you dreaming try to rub you hands together, you should be able to feel it
then take off your shoes and walk barefoot
also think of something to do and keep doing it
such as walk up to every dream character you see one after another and hug them

you should feel all of these things, and having a goal, like walk to next DC and hug will give you an intention
then tell yourself after every 5 hugs or whatever, rub your hands again or look at them remind yourself the dream can't end
till you have interacted with like 100 of them or something

feeling and having an intention should buy you maybe 5 minutes+

make the goal to just keep going, move quickly from one to the next

try never closing your dream eyes, if you lose the dream, just rub your hands and believe that the dream will return
if there are no people do something else like pick flowers etc just keep moving and doing whatever over and over
like every 15 seconds or so, and stabilizing every min/few minutes

also if no people just call out and say something like "I demand add more people" or what ever

Thank you as well for the tips, cooleymd.

Two nights ago I had a dream wherein I could feel for a short moment of time. It was pitchdark and someone put his arms around me from behind. I could feel the squishy softness of this person's body (or this thing, cause it might have been a mummy). During the rest of the dream I only had vision and sound. Perhaps having a sense of touch was caused by being deprived of my sight.

Last night I had a dream wherein I felt the need to do a rc for the first time since joining DV! I dreamt that I woke up and felt the need to do an rc to make sure I was really awake, as I had some false awakenings lately. Unfortunately I performed the rc way too hastily. I quickly glanced at some text and decided I wasn't dreaming.

I did have another dream last night, in this one I was lucid I guess. I was doing some taekwondo exercises and wanted to do a particular move but was concerned if it was a good idea to perform that move because of my knee injury (which is real). I quickly decided that I could do the move because this was a dream and I couldn't get hurt anyway. My memory of the dream stops after those few seconds. Though I said to myself that I was dreaming I'm doubting if I should really consider it a lucid, as it felt more like something I said to myself for no apparent reason. I didn't gain any clarity or in any way felt this dream was different from regular dreams, perhaps because it was over so quickly.

Last night I had another of those 'sort of lucid' dreams. In the dream I went out with friends using motorcycles. We got separated and I got totally lost. I remember thinking to myself: this is a really shitty dream, I hope when I stop dreaming and then start dreaming again I don't continue with this dream.

It's really cool you are having bursts of awareness like this so often. It would help to think about any goals you want to accomplish before going to sleep, so next time dream related thoughts occur, you can detach from the dream scenario and go about your goals. :)

I was thinking about what I REALLY want to do in a dream, but so far I haven't decided on anything yet.

Last night I had a real lucid, instead of one of those 'was I just lucid?' dreams. A monkey had put my thumb in his mouth, causing it to become purple and bloated. I was looking at both thumbs and thought the bloated one looked quite strange (aside from it being bloated and purple), as if it wasn't attached correctly. I looked closer and noticed I was mistaken but for some reason still decided to attempt to push two fingers from my left hand through my right palm, which worked. I immediately realised I was dreaming and got very excited, because I had attempted this technique on one other occasion long ago. Though it failed back then, I did also become lucid. Last night I was actually happier with the fact that the method worked than with the fact that I was lucid. I immediately realised that I should calm my excitement or else I would wake up. I'm not sure if I really woke up, but I did lose the dream. I frantically tried to look at my hands to pull myself back into the dream, but failed to do so. Then I thought really hard about pushing my fingers through my hand again, but it felt as if I wasn't in a dream at the time.

Good catch! Congrats on the ld! :goodjob:

Thanks!

Since it's a new month I guess this might be a good time to reflect.
» If you count the 'does this count as lucid?' dreams, I've had 3 lucids within 3 weeks, if not, just 1.
» I started out with doing RCs really frequently and thorough, but dumbed down a bit.
» I totally screwed up the weight thing. I only thought about it every once in a while.
» I wasn't consistent in self-affirming that I would have a lucid when I was in bed.

For the next 3 weeks:
» Have at least 2 lucids and of course preferably more (real lucids, not those semi ones).
» Continue doing RCs frequently.
» Consistently use self-affirmation.

Ow and I might have to explore a subconscious 'animal sucking on my fingers' fetish. Last night a yellow hamster or guinea pig put my finger in its mouth. :disconcerted:

As my inactivity suggests I haven't been doing well with my goals for this month. I have been extremely busy and neglected LDing for a while. I finally have some more time on my hands again and will focus again on LDing! The same goals I wrote down in my previous post still stand, but now for until the end of the year.

That went well... I have been backpacking for roughly 2 weeks and during that time I have neglected my LD goals quite a lot. I also didn't get much sleep (slept one night on the ground in a busstation!), mostly due to staying up late and waking up early regardless of any lack of sleep. Every once in a while I would do a reality check, but these were quite infrequent. I will make one more short trip, but aside from that my life has returned to normal, so time to commit again!

I have tried DILD for a few weeks with some success. I have already tried SSILD several months ago (also with some success) for a few days, but never consistently for a longer period of time. I want to try this method for atleast 2 weeks, achieving atleast 1 LD per week.

So far I've thought about doing SSILD every night, but made one critical error. Every time after waking up in the middle of the night I would think I was sufficiently awake to perform SSILD, but I wasn't and would fall asleep again too fast to complete the technique. From now on I'll make sure to get up for a short period of time to waken up a bit more.

Quote:

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So far I've thought about doing SSILD every night, but made one critical error. Every time after waking up in the middle of the night I would think I was sufficiently awake to perform SSILD, but I wasn't and would fall asleep again too fast to complete the technique. From now on I'll make sure to get up for a short period of time to waken up a bit more.

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Good point! I stive for at least a bit of wakefulness with micro-wbtbs (5min) and also try to stay awake longer (15-20) for normal ones. It helps raise awareness and prevents one from immediately falling asleep without having a chance to do any induction techs. Play around with the lenght to see how long is best for you.

Thanks for the tip NyxCC. I've been playing around with the length and so far haven't discovered my 'sweet spot'. Last night I did have a lucid though. I believe I went to bed around midnight and set my alarm for 5 or 6 am, though I can't remember if the alarm woke me up or if I woke up on my own, as that has happened quite a lot lately. I went to the toilet and tried to crack a puzzle for a few minutes and then went back to bed. I started using the SSILD method but fell asleep quite quick.

I woke up several hours later and after a much longer time of just laying in bed and eventually doing SSILD for a short period of time I dozed off. In this dream I eventually went to the toilet and noticed that the door was different. I first told myself that it was fine and that I didn't need to do an RC and quickly changed my mind because this is exactly the type of thing that requires an RC. I closed my eyes and told myself I was dreaming several times, which at this point I truly believed. I then succesfully pushed the fingers of my left hand through my right hand. I was in bed immediately with my eyes closed, afraid to open them because it might cause me to open my eyes in the real world. I then started experiencing my first ever OBE. I could feel my body being lifted off the bed about 50 centimeters, I slowly rotated 90 degrees to the left, back again and then drifted back to bed. All the while I was too 'conscious' about the whole experience. I was thinking that I should let it happen and not get too excited, but then started thinking about a friend who told me about his bad OBE experiences and I was hoping I wouldn't have a bad experience and was wondering if I really wanted to have an OBE. Around that point is the moment I rotated back and drifted back into my bed.

Nice, congrats on the ld, Emnition! :)

About your OBE experience, just try to be as relaxed as possible if a similar situation happens again. Also, focus on what you would like to do next, like explore around etc. It can help to hum a positive tune in one's mind too, that sets a positive mood and is more likely to yield a positive experience.

Clearly I haven't been posting enough lately. Time for some changes! From now on I'll post 2 times per week as a way of forcing myself to be more active in pursuing lucidity. I haven't achieved anything noteworthy since my last post. However, I did just decide to give Dream Yoga a go as it seems very interesting and I can see the connection with SSILD.

You might want to set some goals for you to achieve to help get back on track :).

For example:

- post 5 dreams
- find most reoccuring dream signs
- read old journal entries
- try to recall a dream in as much detail as possible

These should help get one's mind back to dreaming and when you are ready you can go for some induction goals as well.

- Do SSILD on three nights/wbtb

Finally able to update! I wanted to do so on wednesday already but my internet has been acting up. Anyways: I am working on completing basic lesson 1 from Dream Yoga. For those unfamiliar, there are some alternatives and I've chosen to focus on my sense of touch. I've also downloaded a reminder app (Daybell for iOS for anyone interested) which plays a sound every 2 hours to remind me of this.

NyxCC I really like your suggestion of doing SSILD only 3 nights a week. Previously I wanted to do it every single night, but if you slip up 1 night that quickly opens the door to slipping up more often. For the coming week I will do SSILD on this saturday, next week monday, wednesday and friday. Tonight before going to bed I will read my last 5 DJ entries to see if I can notice some common themes. I'm also considering moving away from recording my dreams in a physical DJ to using DV, so that others may point out any dreamsigns I may have missed.

I'm glad to say I did everything I said I would do.

I looked through my last 5 dreams and the first thing I noticed was the regular occurence of one specific friend. She was in 3/5 dreams, though I didn't dream about her on friday- or saturdaynight. What I did notice in every single dream was that it played out in locations where I have never been before, or locations where I have been but which looked completely different than in waking life.

The last 2 nights I had dreams in which I noticed something was slightly off, but wasn't aware enough to question my reality. One time it was due to me having more courage than I would ever have in waking life to do a particular parkour move, the other was because I believed my bed to have been rotated 90 degrees from its regular position. Case in point: this bed was in my room, but my room looked absolutely nothing like my room in waking life.

I continued with Dream Yoga and when reading through it again I realised that I'm not following the program strictly and am actually already giving the more difficult tasks a try, with some degree of success.

Finally, I did attempt to SSILD last night (or I suppose I should say early this morning). This didn't go very well. I went to bed very late, so when it was SSILD time a few housemates were already up and having a conversation right outside my room, making it difficult for me to focus.

According to my schedule I should've attempted SSILD on monday. That was a total failure. I didn't sleep well at all that night due to a couple of people in my dormitory having some very loud conversations *ahemshoutingcontestahem* in the middle of the night. I'll spare you guys the rant of all the horrible things I imagined doing to them. To compensate I attempted to SSILD last night as well. I had a fair amount of sleep and woke up early in the morning and stayed awake for about 15 minutes. When it was time for me to go back to sleep I found it very difficult to focus on the techniques. I figure it's not only the amount of time you stay awake before going back to bed, but also the activity you do. Next time I'll attempt something a little more brain challenging. Furthermore, since my last update I've had a dream in which I hastily did an RC. Too hastily, it failed and I thought nothing of it.