Cegtzh's Workbook [Intro Class]

Hello, I'm Cegtzh (or Eduardo, as you wish), and this is the fist time that I really commit myself to lucid dreaming, though is something that I wanted to do since long ago (as I narrate in my introduction). I guess that I feel like most of the people when first starts this journey, so excited and wanting to LD and seeing results as soon as possible, though I know this takes time, constancy, effort and motivation before having some success.

I've just started my DJ and doing RC one week ago, as well as changing my sleep schedule to have consistency (going to bed earlier and sleeping and waking up at the same hour every day). During this short period of time I had what I consider a huge progress as I went from being able to recall only one dream each week or less, to wake up one or two times during the night and being able to recall fragments from two or three dreams each night.

General information:
Sleep time: 11pm
Waking time: 8am

Reality Checks:
- Asking myself what have I been doing during the day
- Analyzing my environment
- Pinching nose
- finger through hand
- Watching at my hands

Dream Signs:
- Places, people or situations related to the city where I grew up
- Part of the dream takes place in a theatre / auditorium
- I'm in an old building or town, sometimes abandoned.

Short-Term Goals:
- Being able to recall at least three dreams each night and more details from them.
- Improve self awareness and remember to do RC during dreams
- Having my first fully LD

Mid-Term Goals:
- Having at least one LD each week.
- Being able to WBTB after waking up during the night.
- Manipulate some aspects of the dream
- Being able to recall some information from my waking life during a dream
- Achieve a monthly task from the forum

Long-Term Goals:
- LD in a daily basis
- Recall more information from my waking life during dreams
- Master dream manipulation
- Using the former abilities to give a deeper meaning to LD experiences, and use them as inspiration for my work in design.

Lucid/Dream Recall History:
- Since a few days ago I waking up after almost all of my sleep cycles from 4am, on and remembering dream fragments of most of them. I haven't had any lucid dream yet other than this, which I'm not sure if it was a legitimate or a faux LD.

Current Technique:
DILD

Looking good, cegtzh! You're getting plenty of sleep, practices are well-organized, and you've got good goals! I think you're set on a good course.

If you have any trouble hitting that first lucid dream, you can also consider moving up your first WBTB to a "short-term goal". WBTB is what really got my own LD practices going, so just keep it in mind as something big you can mix into your practices if you feel like you need to change things up.

Good luck and let us know how you do! :)

Thank you CanisLucidus for your response!, I had a bussy week and couldn't put much effort on my DJ and my concious attempts to LD, but I finally had some time to come back to the forum and hopefully getting back on track :D.

Last week I tried three times to WBTB after maybe my 4th sleep cycle, one of those I fell asleep and the other two I could't do it, I mean I reached the stage when your body is kind of sleeping (not SP, I dont know if it has a name), but could't go thorugh all the nREM stages, my mind was fully awake for about an hour until I gave up, change position and fell asleep after a few minutes. I don't know why, maybe I was trying to hard, or it was because I did it lying on my back when I usually sleep on my side. Or maybe I was just doing it all wrong!, I mean in other moments of my life I've got to that moment when your mind kind of switches to the process of sleeping and even had hypnagogic imagery and everything you should go through, but this time when I was trying to do it on purpose, I just couldn't get there. Does anybody has any advice on this?

Anyway, the last night that I unsuccessfully attempted WBTB I ended up having a short LD. I woke up a few minutes after I fell asleep (I guess), during SP, and immediately saw the opportunity to LD, so I ignored the "pain", closed my eyes and waited until a dream was formed, and a few seconds after I was inside a dream. I didn't think on doing a RC as I was sure that I was dreaming, I screamed "lucidity now" to stabilize the dream but it didn't work (though I saw the horizon shaking a little), so I tried to reach the only construction that appeared on the scene to find something to touch and explore how LDing felt like. I passed by some inoffensive DC but halfway there a group of nuns appeared and for some reason started throwing nuts to me (with shell), at first I though I could just "decide" that it would hurt me, but when I felt them hitting me I urged myself to reach the building to scape, as they where getting closer to me. Sadly, they finally reached me and I woke up. Is it normal that DC are so aggressive? In my first parcial lucid I was also attacked by DCs, I could certainly fly and get rid of them, but apparently during a dream it isn't the first thing that comes into my mind.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cegtzh

Thank you CanisLucidus for your response!, I had a bussy week and couldn't put much effort on my DJ and my concious attempts to LD, but I finally had some time to come back to the forum and hopefully getting back on track :D.

Last week I tried three times to WBTB after maybe my 4th sleep cycle, one of those I fell asleep and the other two I could't do it, I mean I reached the stage when your body is kind of sleeping (not SP, I dont know if it has a name), but could't go thorugh all the nREM stages, my mind was fully awake for about an hour until I gave up, change position and fell asleep after a few minutes. I don't know why, maybe I was trying to hard, or it was because I did it lying on my back when I usually sleep on my side. Or maybe I was just doing it all wrong!, I mean in other moments of my life I've got to that moment when your mind kind of switches to the process of sleeping and even had hypnagogic imagery and everything you should go through, but this time when I was trying to do it on purpose, I just couldn't get there. Does anybody has any advice on this?

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You're very welcome, Cegtzh, and I'm excited to see you off to such a great start! Congratulations on the lucid dream! :happy:

As for your troubles here, I can definitely give you some advice. I think you actually hit on it quite well yourself: it'll be counterproductive to try too hard. Or, in fact, to really even try at all!

All that a lucid dream requires is for you to fall asleep and somehow have your awareness intact. You can gather your awareness later (in a DILD) or take it with you as you fall asleep (in a WILD.) But in either case, we want the "falling asleep" part of things to unfold naturally.

Don't force anything, don't work too hard, and don't do much besides just observe and gently maintain your awareness. It's totally fine to lose your awareness, too, by the way, particularly if you're going for a DILD! You'll get it back later. :)

My advice is to avoid focusing on outcomes of any kind. Enjoy the quiet time to yourself, clear your mind of any thoughts apart from things related to MILD, positive autosuggestions, etc. I've often caught myself in a cycle of anxiety where my difficulty getting back to sleep will make me worry, which makes it harder to sleep, which worries me more, etc. Just break those cycles by caring only about clearing your mind and enjoying the peace of the dark and the dreams that are ahead of you. :content:

Quote:

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Anyway, the last night that I unsuccessfully attempted WBTB I ended up having a short LD. I woke up a few minutes after I fell asleep (I guess), during SP, and immediately saw the opportunity to LD, so I ignored the "pain", closed my eyes and waited until a dream was formed, and a few seconds after I was inside a dream. I didn't think on doing a RC as I was sure that I was dreaming, I screamed "lucidity now" to stabilize the dream but it didn't work (though I saw the horizon shaking a little), so I tried to reach the only construction that appeared on the scene to find something to touch and explore how LDing felt like. I passed by some inoffensive DC but halfway there a group of nuns appeared and for some reason started throwing nuts to me (with shell), at first I though I could just "decide" that it would hurt me, but when I felt them hitting me I urged myself to reach the building to scape, as they where getting closer to me. Sadly, they finally reached me and I woke up. Is it normal that DC are so aggressive? In my first parcial lucid I was also attacked by DCs, I could certainly fly and get rid of them, but apparently during a dream it isn't the first thing that comes into my mind.

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First of all, congratulations! Great job! The first lucid is a huge milestone. This'll be the first of many for you, I'm sure.

A quick note on SP: are you sure that you experienced sleep paralysis? Is this something that you're prone to? I just ask because it's a bit on the rare side. It's talked about a lot in lucid dreaming circles, but I've really never experienced it in actual waking life myself. I have, however, dreamt that I had it because it was discussed so much when I was reading about lucid dreaming! :chuckle:

Aggressive DCs... we've all gotten into situations at one time or another where a DC can be difficult, but something cool I've learned over time is that we have total control over the tone of the dream, if we only choose to use it. This is sometimes hard for me, but when my awareness is good, I find that turning the experience in a positive direction works wonders for turning hostile DCs into neutral or even friendly characters! You could decide that the nuns are throwing confetti, or that they're trying to throw nuts into your mouth, or that what they really want to do is give you a great big hug. :hugitout:

It can be challenging in the moment, but I think you'll find it effective! The next time that a situation becomes difficult, try projecting love or other positive emotions out. You'll find that the dream world reflects them back at you, and everything will usually improve! Remember: all of the energy in the dream comes from you and only you!

Good luck and keep up the good work!