Midnight Fire's Workbook

Reality Checks:
- Counting the number of fingers on my hand (usually I have more in a dream)
- The Palm Push
- Blocking nose and trying to breath
- Checking the time twice
- Location - where am I, where was I a 5 min ago, where will I be in 5min?

Short-Term Goals:
- Get 7+ hours of sleep each night
- Do 10+ Reality Checks each day
- Change reality check triggers to work on developing prospective memory every few days
- Do a reality check every time I wake up
- Try to 'catch' natural waking throughout the night rather than using alarm clock for WBTB & wake up after every dream

Long-Term Goals:
- Develop 2-3 prospective memory triggers
- Lucid Dream regularly
- Good recall and good control in lucid dreams

Lucid/Dream Recall History:
- I have remembered and recorded dreams almost every single night for the last 2 1/2 months although on most nights I only remember 1 dream or fragments of two. Lately I have been working on remembering more details although the fact I sometimes only get 5 1/2-6 hours sleep seems to affect this.

Current Technique:

During the week before bed: - intention setting, mini meditation/breathing - limited sleep time
On the weekend:
- WBTB
- MILD

Motivation to Lucid Dream:
-To learn and make use of dream time
-To explore consciousness
-To increase my awareness during daily life
-To have a greater understanding and experience of reality
-To experience doing things I haven't been able to do like flying
-To overcome fears
-To visit different parts of the world/ different lands/dimensions

Welcome to Intro class, Midnightfire! That's a really cool username! :)

Be sure to let us know if you have any questions. Have a great time!

Week Progress and Struggles

My biggest challenge is getting enough sleep to allow me to practice WBTB and even just to remember enough dreams and to remain aware/focused during the day! I generally work till around 7:30-8pm and then wake up at 4:30am most days. This gives me very little time to wind down before sleep so I often find it hard to get to sleep quickly as my mind is still alert and wired. It gives me very little room to adjust my sleeping hours or practice WBTB as just getting in a minimum 7 hours I have to make sure there are no distractions. This week was not very good for that as many things went wrong (like getting a virus on my computer that took 2 days to get rid of and resulted in me not being able to sleep early).

Monday
Sleep: 10pm
Wake: 4:30am
Approx hours of sleep: 6 ½
Techniques: Performed box breathing before sleep for relaxation. Said affirmation I will remember my dreams.
I remembered one dream, three paragraphs worth.

Tuesday
Sleep: 10pm
Wake: 5am
approx. hours of sleep: 7
Techniques: Affirmation before bed
Fragments of 2-3 differnt dreams, 3 paragraphs worth.

Wednesday
Sleep: 10pm
Wake: 4:35am
Approx Hours of sleep: 6 ½
Techniques: Affirmation before bed

2 dreams, 3 paragraphs worth

Thursday
Sleep: 10:30pm
Wake: 5am
Approx Hours of sleep: 6 ½
Techniques: Affirmations before bed
Remembered a very small fragment (1 paragraph)

Friday
Sleep: 9:15pm
Wake: 4:30am
Approx Hours of sleep: 7 hrs, 15 min
Techniques: Affirmations
3 small flashes of dreams. Thought I would remember more with more sleep =/

Saturday
Sleep: 9:25pm
Wake: 11:20pm, 2:30am, 5:55am
Approx Hours of sleep: 8
Techniques: Affirmation to wake after each dream and remember them. Breathing exercise described in this thread. http://www.dreamviews.com/sleep-heal...nduce-obe.html

Used it to go to sleep on my back and it worked, though only for a short time it seems. Woke up two hours later feeling as if I hadn’t actually slept but then remembered I had been dreaming. Then used MILD and also drank apple juice.

Wake One: after two hours sleep – vivid dream, wrote a whole page.
went back to sleep using MILD visualisation and mantra – I am dreaming, counting back from 100 to 1.

Wake two: I had set my alarm to wake me at 3:30am after 6 hrs sleep to do WBTB. Since I woke up at 2:30 I decided to turn off my alarm and just do the WBTB then. I got up and drank some apple juice I had juiced 2 apples fresh before going to bed. This seemed to have no effect on my dreams however.
Wrote down a small fragment of dream – barely a paragraph.

Wake three: Wrote down 1 large paragraph of a dream.
Then had to get up for work.

Sunday
Sleep: 9:50pm
Wake: 6:30am
Approx hrs. sleep: 8 ½ hrs sleep
Techniques: Affirmation to remember dreams, failed WBTB
Went to sleep, slept dead and woke up at 6:30am Didn’t remember much dreams – fragments of 4 – but only enough to write 2 paragraphs in total.

Decided to do WBTB as still felt sleepy. Stayed up for only about 5 min, to write dream and have some calea. But then I didn’t fall asleep again. Tried for over an hour and got relaxed but couldn’t fall asleep – had too much sleep. Should have used alarm to wake up earlier.

Goals for next week
Over the week, losing 30 min each night to get minimum 7hrs really added up leaving me feeling really drained. I think I may actually need 7 ½ regularly these days but a lot of it is actually about being able to sleep soundly and not get insomnia.
Goals for this week is to:
sleep by 9/9:30ish

Focus on waking up ‘naturally’ after each dream rather than using an alarm clock so that I can have more opportunities for WBTB during the week rather than saving it for the weekend.
I will be travelling which may present difficulties or may bring more opportunities :)

I see the early wake work schedule presents a difficulty. You are doing pretty much what I would have suggested - try to go to bed as early as possible and rely on bed time techs and obviously not long wbtbs during the week. If you have any natural wakes - like after each or any REM, night toilet breaks, then you may use those as micro wbtb - use techs like mantras, mild, ssild that don't wake you up much but can still direct your thoughts to lucid dreaming before drifting off to sleep. The weekends look like a good opportunity to catch up on sleep as well as incorporate wbtbs. In addition, you can try boosting your chances with more day work - RCs, critical thinking, ADA, autosuggestion.

Have a great time travelling and sweet lucid dreams! :)

Last few weeks + Brief Lucid

Last few weeks I was away and got more sleep consistently than I have ever got in my entire life as I can remember. 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 hours per night. I've always been interested to see if I get this much sleep if I will actually wake up refreshed in the morning and be able to get up easily, but alas that doesn't seem to be the case (that being said perhaps I would if it wasn't so cold).

During this time I continued to write down my dreams in the morning, set intentions before going to sleep and I even tried setting intention during Yoga Nidra and using a lucid-dreaming related mantra with japa meditation.

Dream Recall Patterns

I have been observing influences that seem to affect how many dreams I recall.

*Initially I thought the amount of sleep was an important factor in remembering dreams. Now while I think it may be important in how many dreams you actually have, I am guessing what point in the cycle I wake up actually has a stronger impact on remembering dreams. I've slept 6 hours and remembered many dreams, and other times slept 8+ hours and remembered virtually nothing.

*Stress seems to affect dream recall - as I was on a 12 day intensive course where we did stuff from 6am to 8pm I think there wasn't as much brain power left to remember dreams

*Most dream recall seems to depend on how many times I wake up during the night, and whether I take a moment to remember those dreams each time

I did have one brief lucid dream after I woke up then went back to sleep. It was the one morning I didn't have to get up for the 6am start, although some people did. I think I could hear them moving around outside and this kept me in a lighter sleep which made me aware that I was dreaming. The lucid only lasted what felt 30sec-1 min and I didn't take the time to ground myself or anything. Still happy that I experienced it though :)

Just wondering why I am so bad at taking the time to ground myself, perhaps I'm not doing reality checks slow enough.

Last few days practising sensory awareness meditation. I focused on sounds and it was interesting to be able to be aware of far away sounds, close sounds and the static of the room/in my head (?) all at the same time.

Congrats on the ld! :)

Quote:

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Just wondering why I am so bad at taking the time to ground myself, perhaps I'm not doing reality checks slow enough

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Can you describe what you did before the dream ended? Sometimes, when I am not expecting an ld and subsequnently get lucid, I don't have a goal and I pretty much spend the time being completely idle in the dream. :roll: This usually leads to a premature end. It's best to have a goal of something to do, but if you don't recall any task, just remember to be as involved as possible in the dream. Examine the environment, touch the nearest objects, etc.

Great observations on sleep and recall by the way. Looks like you were in the zone the last few weeks! Keep it up! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NyxCC

Can you describe what you did before the dream ended? Sometimes, when I am not expecting an ld and subsequnently get lucid, I don't have a goal and I pretty much spend the time being completely idle in the dream.

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Yes I think the lucid did take me by surprise as I was putting more focus on other things rather than lucid dreaming practice during that day and the ones around it.

The lucid was very short - I realised I was dreaming, turned around to face a glass door and decided to walk through it rather than open the door. When I did, the glass turned into a flimsy type of plastic that just fell away. Then I floated up in the air after this and it went back into a dream.

I feel like maybe it's my prospective memory is still so bad that I am struggling to remember my intentions/purposes when I am lucid. =/ When I choose things to do a RC (ie. every time a see a certain object) I tend to remember only about 5 min after seeing it rather than directly when I see it.

That's not so bad then. Your dream was shorter because you lost lucidity and not due waking up. What helps me in such instances is at the beginning of each dream to say out loud that this is a dream and reaffirm my intentions. This usually solves the issues of falling back into a nld. If you add a dream goal to your reaffirmation that would be even better. :)

Week Progress

No lucid dreams, but have been remembering more dreams. 2-3 every night instead of 1-2. Perhaps because I started to add them on the Lightened Dream program on my computer got me thinking about them more so I remembered more? (But I stopped doing that now as it's getting too confusing working out how to categorise and link dream signs etc.)

I had one dream that was very vivid were I thought I was awake and not dreaming but wasn't 100% sure so I looked at my hand, counted my fingers, tried to push my fingers through my palm, (nothing happened) still wasn't convinced so tried to stretch a finger, nothing happened, then got lost into the dream again :(
I think that if I had done a reverse reality check and thought about what I was doing 5 min before that I might have become lucid.

*Update*

So last night I had a dream in which I was at a restaurant and I was sitting with my friend who got her food. I then realised I had absolutely no clue as to whether I had ordered any food - and whether I had ordered a drink or a main meal or both. I was sitting there absolutely shocked that I could not remember something that I would have either done or not done just a short while ago.

So this was much like the reverse reality checks I have been practising. And yet I didn't do a reality check/question if it was a dream. :/

You're getting really close, Midnightfire. Next time you may even remember these past dreams and it will finally click! :goodjob2:

By the way, what is this Lightened Dream program you are using?

:)

The Lightened Dream program is like a dream journal on your computer that can track your dream signs and themes etc. in the dreams and make graphs etc. And it also has a few other functions like it can remind you to do RC and as you type in it there is every now and then subliminal text (too fast to notice) to remind to check if dreaming and so on.

I was randomly looking through the really old posts on the forum, and there was a tutorial for "Liquid Dream". The Lightened Dream seems to be the updated version of the program. But even with the tutorial I can't figure how to do the graphs and move things where I want it so I've gone back to old-fashion hand written journal haha.

That looks like a really cool program, I must check it out in greater detail sometimes. It also seems that it's developed by one one of our members here. In such a case, if you have any questions regarding the graphs, perhaps you might drop him a PM. :)

THanks for the tip NyxCC - I didn't realise it was designed by one of the dreamview members that's cool!

Last Few Weeks Progress and Set Backs

Have been continuing on with RC, Reverse RC and trying Prospective memory which I still am struggling to remember more than one thing to trigger per day. :(

I had one brief moment of lucidity where I became lucid in the sky but as soon as I tried to do anything I fell and lost lucidity :(

Last week I have hardly remembered anything, I know that I had lots of dreams but it's like they are all blurs and flashes behind a cloud and I can't make out anything clear enough to record. This has happened three nights in a row, but I am only getting around 6hrs of sleep so hopefully will improve if I can get more sleep.

Thinking about trying Dream Leaf.

Congrats on the ld, Midnightfire! It's great that even with the few setbacks you have been successful with inducing lucidity. :)

About recall - I agree about the impact of less sleep on recall. I've noticed the same thing for mine. Hope you're able to catch up on sleep soon.

Regarding the RCs - have you considered making a short checklist for these and maybe have a look at it every once in a while - at the beginning and end of the day as minimum, for example.

Thank you NyxCC for your continued encouragement and advice, it is much appreciated :)
Okay I am using an app now called Prospector which gives me a list of four prospective memory things to RC each day. Now I just need to remember to look at the list more often!

Last 2 weeks

For the last two weeks I have put my focus in trying to improve my dream recall by giving myself new Dream Recall Tasks and changing the way that I set up my dream journal and writing a week summary.

Week One

Sleep average: 6 1/2 hours each night
Days Remembered Dreams: 6 (zero on Wed)
Dream number average per night: 2
Total number of recall, including fragments: 11

Also summerised common themes and characters

Week 2

Sleep average: 7 hours
Day's remembered dreams: 7
Dream no. average: 2
Total dream recall: 12 dreams and fragments
Achievements: Recalled dreams 10 days out of 14 nights, 4 including at least 2 dreams each night

Recalled a dream 4+ pages long - my longest dream recall ever! It made me realise a lot of my dream fragments which could appear to be separate dreams could actually be one long dream, as this dream had many different scenes, the difference being that I recalled the transition from one to the next. I would really like to work on elongating my dream recall of individual dreams. I did take the "red pill" 3 hours before bed (dream leaf) before I had this dream, which included a almost lucid experience of getting torn apart by a bear - and waking up before it was completed. In this dream, I had the experience of the bear's claws digging into my torso, and the awareness that I was going to witness myself being torn apart slowly rather than losing consciousness quickly. I had the perception that this is an 'experience of consciousness" that many 'consciousnesses" experience everyday. It is both horrifying, and neutral (neither 'good" or "bad) but rather part of life, a part of consciousness experience.

Four pages worth of notes - this is a record indeed. I think the most I have ever written is about two pages and it took me about two hours to write (I guess there's also the recalling part that takes forever). I absolutely agree about the dream scenes flowing one right after the other. I think this would be the case if we always had perfect recall.

Very interesting experience with the consciousness dream. It kind of makes sense. Thanks for sharing. :)

Last Month:

I have been remembering longer dreams (average 1- 1 1/2 pages instead of just 1 paragraph. But not necessarily more dreams.
Possibly because of focusing on getting more sleep.
Have been making an effort to light off by 10pm. But finding it more and more difficult to sleep straight away which is making all practices more difficult.

Sometimes when I lie to go to sleep, I can "catch" the drowsy, relaxed feeling and "talk myself' into going to sleep (ie. relax, getting sleepy etc.) and that works. But more than often I don't feel the least sleepy at all and takes 30-60 min to fall asleep. Then I wake up 6-7 hours later absolutely drained/exhausted. I am a little bit worried that some of the lucid dreaming practices are making it harder for me to sleep (maybe I am stressing more about it even though during the week nights my only focus is to remember the dreams).

On the weekends I have been practising WBTB and MILD to no apparent success. I also have been trying SILD. I have also tried alarms with my own voice saying "you are dreaming" or something too the effect at different levels. The idea not to wake me up but they always do. Other times to wake me up but so that I don't have to get up with the hope that I will fall back asleep easier, doesn't work very well.

Looking back at my few lucid dreams I noticed that every time was after i went to sleep at 9:30pm, woke at 4:30am, and then went to sleep again until around 7am. This is interesting because I usually set my alarm for after 4-5 hours sleep for WBTB because I worry if I sleep more than that I wont get back to sleep at all. But every time I did become lucid was after 7 hours of sleep.

After doing some more research I have found a potential reason to why I lucid dream when I went back to sleep around 4:30am.
Initially I thought it was that I needed 7 hours sleep + but now I found out it is possibly more to do with hormonal and circadian rhythms. The balance of hormones for sleep seem to follow the pattern of light and circadian rhythms more so than how much sleep you actually get. When you go to sleep your cortisol and serotonin levels are
depleted from the day, and melatonin kicks in. Serotonin and cortisol make you more alert and the amount is starting to build up again around 2am ish, by 4:30am+ they are higher levels getting ready to wake you up, but if you do WBTB around this time they can be used for higher alertness for lucid dreaming. The 4:30am-dawn is the peak time for lucid dreaming and OBEs because of this and it seems to be true for me. Just makes it hard that i normally get up for work at that time rather than go back to sleep.

What you say about circadian rhytms and hormones makes sense. Also, wbtbs especially longer ones help boost wakefulness neurotransmitters. :)

For the past few months I have:
* Been doing reality checks every day, minimum 5 (perhaps need to do more)

*Using Mantra’s before bed/as I fall asleep to attempt DILD
* Getting 7 hours sleep per night on average

* Using Dream Leaf Supplements and/or Lucid Dreaming Tea

* Attempted WBTB many nights

All with not many results. I thought perhaps the reason I am not remembering to remember to check if I am dreaming has to do with prospective memory. I often remember just after I have seen the trigger that I forgot to do a RC, so it was fairly accurate to begin calculating, and over time my prospective memory seems to have gotten better, although I don’t know if I’m just getting into a certain habit that isn’t actually developing the prospective memory:
29/11 Every time I see myself in the mirror:
Remembered : 3
Didn’t Remember : 6
30/11 Everytime I go through the white gate:
Remembered : 3
Didn’t remember : 7
1/12 Everytime I see myself in the mirror

Remebered: 3
Didn’t Remember : 5
2/12 Everytime I see myself in the mirror

Remembered: 5
didn’t remember: 2
3/12 Everytime I go through the white gate

Remembered: 4
Didn’t remember: none
4/12 Everytime I walk into my bedroom
Remembered: 13
didn’t Remember: 1
5/12 Everytime I see my cat walk indoors

Remembered: 2
Didn’t Remember: none

6/12 Everytime I see myself in a mirror

Remembered: 13
Didn’t Remember: 1

7/12 Everytime I turn on a tap:

Remembered: 7
Didn’t remember: 5

8/12/ Everytime I walk through the white gate:

Remembered: 9
Didn’t remember: none
9/12 Everytime I remove clothing:

Remembered: 5
Didn’t remember: none

12/12 Evertime I’m about to eat a meal
Remembered: 2
Didn’t remember: 3

13/ 12 Evertime I turn on a light switch:

Rememered: 9
didn’t: 5
14/12 Evertime I walk through the white gate

Remembered: 4
didn’t: 3

As can see, there is success but still a lot of missed RC opportunities. In some cases I wondered if perhaps because I was becoming good at remembering specific things as triggers, but not necessarily strengthening my prospective memory in the sense that whatever I decide should be a trigger i would remember on that day.

The last week of holidays I have done WBTB every night. I would try MILD but can’t usually recall my last dream when I wake up even after 6 hours of sleep even if around 4:30am. I am finding lately I tend to recall them after 7-8.
Problem with WBTB is that I need to keep it very brief. Anything longer than 5 minutes and I unlikely won’t fall asleep – or if I do, it is a very uncomfortable, almost dreamless sleep.
I can only come back to the trouble of not being aware enough in general so I’m tackling this with ‘mini’ meditations throughout the day on top of my RC which are a practice in awareness… but this seems like a long process and I do feel quite stuck on what else I should be/could be doing.

Hi Midnightfire! Judging by your updates, it seems you are getting better with the prospective memory exercise. Keep up the good work! You can try to incorporate a bit of randomness by writing down on a separate piece of paper, say 5-7 items to look for during the day and then each day randomly take a piece of paper to select the item. Repeat the process until you get even better results. Then, perhaps pick two items instead of just one. Be on the lookout for these habits to start showing in dreams.

Wish you a lucid 2016! :)

Thanks NyxCC, taking your advice and will stick with this for the next few weeks :D