Thread: AquaBlitz11's Workbook

How is the day ld work coming along?

As always, I've been practicing awareness and such, including RC. Going on with constant/slowly increasing rate. Repeating intentions throughout RCs.

That's great! Keep up the good work, Aquablitz! What you do accumulates over time and will start to show up in dreams.

August 31st 2015 night
Sleeping: 10:30 PM. Awake: 6:30 AM.
I was actually awake once before this, but fell asleep soon afterwards. Didn't take note of time. Of course, I forgot this fragment when I woke up another time.

September 1st 2015
Sleeping: 10:45 PM. Awake: 5:30 AM. So there, recalled one long dream before my awakening. That was quite interesting. This also made me remember a dream from quite some time ago.

After that, I just realized I talked to my friends about one of dream fragments by September 1st's evening.. I couldn't recall right now on what it was. However, dream content did happen in real life. It could be a dream fragment from either 30th or 31st. Argh, memory please.

There goes another night!

Recently, I've been quite bored with my progress. I didn't feel enough eager for lucid dreaming. It was probably how someone would feel mildly obsessed with the subject at first, but soon to feel neutral. I didn't know what to do, so I could only follow my routine chores. I just read through workbooks. Seeing people's progress on both day and night practice, people's success and failure. Until I stumbled upon some new one's, it turned into a slap for my face. What was I doing? Was I even aware of what I was trying? Was I letting myself unconsciously run on the same spot without going forward? Why didn't I notice I was doing absolutely nothing, and blaming environment for my failed attempts? I looked around myself, seeing newcomers starting out with higher speed. They were getting faster and faster. Was it me who was slowing down? Have I put my maximum effort or did I just say things without doing? I couldn't even answer my questions clearly.

My self-competition spirit woke me up. That actually made me feel eager to try things out again. The difference would be how I pour my effort to it. Well, sometimes, we need to see some reflection of our effort to wake up. I finally am. So there! I can finally sort my life out, so it feels a bit less busier. That way, I can also start working on lucid dreaming again. What could feel better than seeing my own progress?

For sake of progress tracking, September 2nd 2015 night. I slept at 10 PM and woke up at 6:30 AM by the next day. Recalled a long dream, with dream signs occurring. Sadly, I failed to recognize them while they ran through me for half an (dream) hour. There goes next attempt on September 3rd 2015, last night. I slept at 10:20 PM and woke up at 6:20 AM by next day. Recalled two dreams. Thanks to brief awakening when I was trying to recall a dream then fell asleep fast.

However, I do have a question. I've been wondering, how does separation of each dream feel? In case I'm trying to recall more dreams which follows each without a brief awakening. How do we know actual start and end of each dream? I can only feel that there was something before what I could recall in term of chronological. Does it normally feel like this, even if I didn't see them being formed first? That's all, just about dream recall.

I just realized, I should actually make some dream-specific goal for my lucid ones. Since my first lucid, I'm pretty sure I can do a decent dream control. So, I'll probably use it for some real life advantages. I haven't come up with nice idea for my piano arrangement I've to use soon yet. So, that's it! It's interesting to see how my subconscious can replicate myself playing a piano like a boss. (I just wish I could do that in real life. Is it possible to have my subconscious training my muscle memory, via dreams?) -cough- Enough I guess. Got some motivation to lucid tonight. 100% working way to produce a lucid dream. Seriously, Aqua, believe me.

Great review, Aquablitz! I'm happy you have found some motivation from reading other people's experiences. I usually wouldn't recommend comparing oneself to others as I feel every person is unique, has their own pace, etc. However, one can certainly learn a lot by reading about the journeys of others and be inspired from them.

However, I do have a question. I've been wondering, how does separation of each dream feel? In case I'm trying to recall more dreams which follows each without a brief awakening. How do we know actual start and end of each dream? I can only feel that there was something before what I could recall in term of chronological. Does it normally feel like this, even if I didn't see them being formed first? That's all, just about dream recall

If you were to have an utopically perfect recall, which none of us do but we can sometimes have a glimpse of what's that like, then one REM period would actually be equal to one dream with a lot of scene changes. There is usually a sort of connection between the different scenes too, like an object or theme would reappear, the whole dream would just flow from one event to another. But in reality, it is difficult to remember that. Sometimes the transitions from one scene to another will be accompanied by a brief blackout. It is during this blackouts that it's the hardest to maintain consciousness in lucids as well as nlds. The result is fragmented recall.

Anyways, this not something to really worry about. Just try to remember as much as you can from any separate scene, run it through your mind several times. That often sparks a few more memories. It's best to work backwards with the scenes, trying to recall the most recent one first and then going back to as far as you can remember. Don't worry if you can't recall anything more after a bit, but keep practicing this back and forth method which is a great drill to improve recall in general.

Great idea about playing the piano! Having something to look forward to in your dream is a great motivational force and an induction tech in itself!

That would be how I'll motivate myself. Thanks for all the answers! Time to share out some progress!

September 4th 2015 night. I slept at 10:30 PM. I wasn't able to withstand gravitational force of my bed. Managed to recall a dream or two in my natural awakening. However, I forgot them all when I woke up at 7:30 AM. Sadly, I wasn't even able to recall my last dream. Shouldn't have continued sleeping. >< -threw the pillow-

Actually, things were interesting for September 5th 2015 night. Finally, FINALLY, another lucid to note! Recalled two dreams, with natural awakening separating. One of them was marked lucid. I was lucid (almost) all of the time as it was false awakening. I tried some dream controlling. I could effortlessly fly and did TK. That's great! Since my last lucid dream, I was able to spawn a dream character. I don't have to worry about dream controls then, I guess. It could be practiced and used for much better things. The thing right now would be my attempt to narrow the gap between each lucid dream.

brb lemme celebrate my lucidity in my own mind

Yay, that's fanstastic, Aquablitz, congrats on the ld and the effortless dream control!

Valleys come after hills, yay! Actually, nothing to celebrate. Sadly, I couldn't recall any dreams for last two nights. I recalled few fragments, but someone startled me on my wake up. Failed to concentrate so, gg, all lost. I tried my best recalling them. Anyways, two nights of dreams lost doesn't mean no more recalls onward. I'm willing to recall at least a dream or two tonight. Of course, putting more practices into it; I haven't concentrated too much on my intentions last time. Hoping best luck for myself. If I'm in another lucid dream, I'll simply go off with some higher dream controls. Fly, or anything I could think of by that moment. It feels much easier than getting lucid for me.

Recently, my dreams have shifted back to something illogical. That's great! I don't feel any stress from school right now. Although, I've problem recognizing dream signs. So, I'll just keep list of dream sign ranges I've found right now.

• Game contents
• Being at school
• Being at hotel (or anywhere for occasional camp)
• School friends
• Having conversations with strangers, as if we were friends/acquaintance

I'd love few more dreams recalled to strike some of them out.

Talking about dream signs, I wonder about one thing: dream guides. What's dream guide, actually? (dream characters there, not forum usergroups) I haven't been able to confirm the definitions for most people out there. People talk about them out of sudden without proper, fixed meaning. Dreams are getting more interesting as I continue to learn. Persistent dream characters... and such. I'd be happy to know some about this.

EDIT: I decided I should do a detailed overview. Just to remind myself of my goals and my progress. It can be found in my DILD class workbook.

There is no strict definition of dream guides. Usually, these are persistent characters that seem smarter and are more helpful than the rest of DCs. They can be present in both your lds as well as nlds. You never know when one of these will appear, so be on the lookout!

You can check Huy's DJ for examples of persitent rhealms and characters.

Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views - Hyu's Adventures - Dream Journals

This was a pretty rough week. 4 nights straight with no recalls, from September 6th to 9th. Things were better for last night. Slept at 10:45 PM. Awake once at 5 AM due to sudden rain/thunderstorm. Actually, it took me few minutes in bed to realize I was awake. My mind was already filled with random thoughts. However, I completely forgot them. I couldn't recall a single dream fragment when I realized it. I just checked the time and continued sleeping on.

Woke up at 6:45 AM with a long dream. Interestingly, I did reality checks multiple times. It worked but I failed to conclude things in the way I should. Well, say. I was in a school, and I felt like snoozing off in class. I concluded that I fell asleep without noticing in class due to huge fatigue building up. (Nice, kid. How the hell did teachers not see you?) I could only think of exploring and a messing people up with controls. Of course, I did some. I woke up later, in my dream classroom. Ooooh, Inception. The dream continued a bit until I actually woke up.

With that, I couldn't say I was lucid. It was something like... dreaming about having a lucid dream. I wasn't aware or conscious by that time. Still, it was a great experience. Great to finally recall something by 6:45 AM. I wasn't expecting Five Nights at No Recalls.

Sounds crazy! Yes, it's possible to get those dream-within-a-dream dreams . Ultimately, it's up to you to determine whether it was lucid or not based on how your awareness feels at the moment. You get to know these awareness variations over time.

Speaking of crazy, I had a dream with/about you. It was very confusing too. You were asleep in my dream and I was trying to send you a message through the tablet so that you can know it's a dream and do some dream goals. I wasn't quite sure in what place I was either. Totally missed out the most obvious conclusion.

Absolutely weird.

I'm quite disappointed with this week. It was like... a week with every single recall destroyed. Recalled once on 10th as noted on last post. Did recall another dream for last night, and a fragment which was far too little for me to link other stories in. Whichever way, no less than 2 dreams is enough. I would be so damned if I have a full week with no recall. I slept in too long, waking up 11 AM also. Probably a thanks to super long sleep. I still, should get back on my regular sleep pattern. I've been out of my road for quite some time, due to interest in some other things coming up.

Felt a bit less motivated right now, finals coming up in a week also. Still, I'll keep on trying, at least with dream recalls. Lucidity is still my goal!

Good luck on the finals! Also, you never know, you still might be able to catch an FA an turn it into a luciid.

The valley was real. I wasn't just motivated enough. September 13th and 14th with no recalls, both sleeping at 11 PM and awake at 6:30 AM. However, I recalled a fragment from last night. I slept at 11 AM. I woke up at... err... assuming it was 6 AM via lighting and such. I'm sure it wasn't false awakening. Slept on, remembered a fragment. Woke up again at 7:20 AM due to mom trying to wake me up. That was sure late to get prepared for busy life. Still... not quite satisfied with how I'm still stuck down here yet.

Good to note that I reminded myself of another old dream. Just from staring at my closet on September 15th 2015, thinking about dreams. Couldn't remember too much details, unlike those memorable dreams.

I just thought of something while I was showering. Well, I guess it's probably time to try WILD; including some small WBTBs. Of course, this feels much more exciting than this week of nothingness. Even though I might get nothing, I can feel the excitement. Time to take it serious, I guess? So there, I'm heading off to try out some WILD when I'm woken up. Let's see how would this new experience be.

I'd be so damned if I find myself much better with WILD than DILD, like.. surprising result.

Sounds like a good plan! Best of luck and a ton of lds, whether wilds or dilds.

So, by that night. I did some WBTB, of course! But how so, my poor prospective memory. I almost forgot to try out WILD when I woke up in the middle of night. Still, I did try. Not enough effort, leading me into falling asleep unconsciously. Almost matching what I did in first days of newbie LD attempts. Still, by next morning, I recalled two fragments from separate dreams. Sadly, I couldn't recall anything more than that, except relating to my another forgotten dream. Finally recalled a full dream last night, and somehow reminded me of another old dream. And, now, I feel I'm back on my feet. My dream recall should raise up to its usual average. Geez, I hate the valleys. Anyways, let myself be lucid tonight!

September 18th 2015 night. A night with longest recall I've ever had. Still, I had problem connecting each scene though. It felt like any of other scenes can be connected to current one. I decided to put my dream up in form of Mental Map Recall. It they were actually separate dreams... Perhaps, memory can mess up sometimes.

I didn't recall too much from last night. Just some fragments before waking up. Anyways, still, it seems like I can define my dream signs clearly again. It would be... same thing: game elements, school/classes. I only have to make sure I don't get lost in complex plots which make me forget about awareness.

Sorry for digging into old posts. Thanks to my inactivity here. I was too lazy to put up my dreams on Dreamviews. Now, I'm just going to work my way up to today. However, I came across something I've noted on my phone.

Originally Posted by NyxCC

Speaking of crazy, I had a dream with/about you. It was very confusing too. You were asleep in my dream and I was trying to send you a message through the tablet so that you can know it's a dream and do some dream goals. I wasn't quite sure in what place I was either. Totally missed out the most obvious conclusion.

I feel this was somehow connected to a false awakening fragment under all those long dreams which I forgot to talk about. Well, let's just nevermind that.

For progress tracking's sake, my dream recall is now on its constant rate.. I feel that I can recall at least a dream per night. If not, then at least a solid fragment. Recalled a dream last night from natural awakening at 2:31 AM. (I actually set my alarm clock at 2:45 AM for WBTB. RIP.) Of course, it contained my usual dream signs. Sadly, I didn't recognize them in my dream. Waking up at 6:30 AM, I also recalled a fragment of where I had been, but I couldn't remember what I was doing.

A dream per night isn't high, actually. However, it's still pleasing to recall dreams reliably every night. I'm aiming for more tonight. Tonight is a month mark to my first lucid dream, eh? So, let's get lucid tonight also!

Not a lucid dream, but nice progress. Thanks to a break between each exam, finals. I slept at 11 PM. I was supposed to wake up at 3:45 AM. But due to low sound for WBTB, I didn't wake up at all. I woke up at 5 AM, felt the dream lingering. However, I couldn't make a solid image out of it. Thus, no actual recalls.

I continued sleeping on, attempted WILDs. It was almost successful, but my consciousness dragged me out. Whenever I realized my dreams were formed, I would automatically come back and felt my body sleeping. Thus, waking up.

I gave up, slept unconsciously with those mantras repeated. Woke up another time at 7 AM with a long dream recall. As always, dream contents were more than too much to make me lucid. I still failed to recognize them. My real life body's sensation even came inside my dream. That made the whole dream felt funny, and I was a jerk there. I even ended up suiciding in embarrassment by jumping off from my school building's second floor. RIP life.

I could recall a fragment/dream also. Sadly, I forgot it as I continued sleeping. Woke up another time at 8:35 AM. At school again, seriously, if I had better prospective memory. -facepalm- I did make an intention to realize I was dreaming if I was at school, but I never recognized them. So, that was another dream. Finally got out of my bed.

So, a total of 4 dreams recognized, excluding those WILD starts. 2 dreams recalled on my last wake-up. It was quite pleasing. Still, if I could get lucid. I'd love improving my prospective memory though I don't have an idea on how I should do it. Specifying tasks didn't work well. My everyday life consists two types of actions: 1) those that appeared once in a blue moon, 2) those that appeared all throughout my day (includes what I'm doing here right now).

Lucidity is there, not too far from my reach. Lucid tonight!

Happy lucidversary! These are pretty good results, especially with only month worth of training. Keep up the good work, Aquablitz!

Thank you!

Progress tracking. Recalled two dreams on September 22nd, 2015. Recalled two dreams and a fragment on September 23rd, 2015. And, from this point, seemed like waking life interests did interfere, recalled a fragment on September 24th, 2015. A solid fragment on 25th. Recalled a long dream last night, however, not detailed. Also, a lot of small fragments/short dreams due to my naps after waking up. I'm not used to sleeping at midnight. Still glad I didn't wake up after noon on weekends, though.

Of course, after a long streak of multiple dreams per night recalls. I can feel the rate backing down to a dream/few fragments per night. It's much more reliable, comparing with my last valleys. Also, to be honest. I start feeling that I'm aiming for dream recalls rather than lucid. Not sure if my subconscious decides lucidity as high priority or not. Reality checks are still an unforgotten habit, I'm glad.

Slow and steady progress should work best for my lazy lifestyle so I won't burn myself out. Anyways, let's get better tonight!

Edit: I don't feel well going back few weeks ago to write down my dreams on DV. My phone notes should be enough. Not even a motivation to write down Month #2 Summary like before. Would it be fine if I just let it like that?

No worries about the journalling online. As far as the summary is concerned, I'd recommend writing down something short for yourself to see where you are and what you want to do next.

There were countless things to pursue. They could pop up from time to time, depending on what I did. Long piano training sessions, practicing Chess skills¹, administering my Terraria servers, coding system plugins, reading some nice novels², adding more things to my fantasy and much more; I could spend my whole day for that. My established sleeping schedule went down to trash. I unconsciously replaced my LD thoughts with my interests and even forgot them.

I aimed for a week of vacation out of dreamland. Those dream recalls popped up on occasion to remind me of a time limit. However, I decided to put them off with this lovely excuse: "You know. I don't want to keep tracking my attempts with halfway effort. Get all or nothing.". On the other hand, I felt uneasy so I questioned my subconscious mind. Was LD held with high priority, but I tried to act like I didn't care? I continued on with my natural choice: excuses.

Just this morning as I journaled two dreams, I scrolled up along my notes and... Wait, sir. Was the date written correctly? Ermagawd, almost two weeks! TWO, WEEKS! 18 days left before my next month count which I should have gotten at least another lucid dream. I double-checked with myself if I've done my tasks already. So, yes. Time to officially return has arrived.

I needed to write some words to keep me up, to prevent me from being lazy. Seeing my self-promise messages broken last time was quite uneasy. This kind of motivation used to help me before. Thus, these long paragraphs here hereby stated that I'm now back on my track to put my effort as much as possible. I believe I'll be able to keep myself up this time, so... Let's do it tonight!

Absolute tonight goal! (Wait, it's 1 AM already.) Yes, I think I should have some concrete goals to achieve instead of waiting for my lucid dream just to try out some dream controls. To get back on my track, tonight, let me recall at least two dreams! Worst case scenario would be one, surely not zero. Still being a bit passive on getting lucid, but if it appears, be sure to confirm my curiosity noted on previous posts.

That's all I would write for tonight's attempts. I'll be sure to keep making progress as I usually did.

Spoiler for Progress Summary:

September 27th, 2015. I slept at midnight and woke up at 6:45 AM. Zero recalls.
September 28th, 2015. I slept at 2 AM of 29th and woke up at 12 PM. Two fragments but I didn't note them down; forgot.
September 29th, 2015. I slept at 1 AM of 30th and woke up at 10:45 AM. Zero recalls.
September 30th, 2015. I slept at midnight and woke up at 9 AM. A fragment recalled.
October 1st, 2015. I slept at midnight and woke up at 9:45 AM. One recognized awakening not noted. A dream and another fragment recalled.
October 2nd, 2015. I slept at 11 PM and woke up at 9 AM. Zero recalls.
October 3rd, 2015. I slept at 11 PM and woke up at 10 AM. One recognized awakening not noted. A dream recalled.
October 4th, 2015. I slept at 2:30 AM of 5th and woke up at 12 AM. One recognized awakening not noted. Zero recalls.
October 5th, 2015. I slept at 3 AM of 6th and woke up at 11 AM. One recognized awakening not noted. A dream forgotten. Two dreams recalled.
October 6th, 2015. I'm pretty sure I'll sleep somewhere after midnight. It's already 1 AM of 8th when I'm writing this.

Since I've been sleeping around midnight to 2 AM lately, I guess I'll just stick to this. I always get at least 8 hours of sleep regardless.

_______________
1. Don't blame me. I'm relatively new to this, but thanks to those stories which encouraged me to try this.
2. Something I should've discovered a year ago. Too late to party. People already forgot about this.