Nav's Workbook

Well, if I am going to jump on in, it might as well be with both feet. After reading a number of posts and other workbooks, I believe this will be a great help to developing technique and ability.The interesting thing to me is that my LDs seem to follow a timeline. They are not generally very sporadic. More to come as this is developed.


Reality Checks:
- I've never used an RC before because my dream signs have always been very recognizable by me. I am hoping that refining this will help me respond faster and realize I am lucid.
- I am practicing looking at my hands.
- I am practicing poking my finger through my hand.
-

Dream Signs:
- melting or unusually "rubbery" objects
- blurry or indistiguishable faces
- people talking without their mouths moving

Short-Term Goals:
- Become more aware of my surroundings, specifically when dreaming.
- Recognize being in a dream sooner to maximize on the time I am in the dream.
- Gain more control over what is happening in my dreams
- Begin keeping a more in depth and regular dream journal.

Long-Term Goals:
- To connect the dots of my recurring dreams and the common recurring people in them
- Establish an in depth dream journal
- (more long term goals to come)

Lucid/Dream Recall History:
- I can recall having LDs as early as around 7 years old. Although I never knew this is what they were, however when I would recognize that I was dreaming I have been able to interact with that dream as I chose.
- I have had both DILDs as well as WILDs, I just didn't know they had a name for them.
-The most recent LD was 8-25-2015.

Current Technique:
- DILD

Welcome to the class, Nav! :)

It's quite interesting that your lds are following a time pattern, could you elaborate more on that?

I will try, and it may make for some LONG reads lol but....

This will take a bit of thought and looking through some old dream journals (which are probably packed away in the attic somewhere lol), but I will try to summarize. Not ALL of my LDs are part of this, but many of them are.

The earliest I can remember being able to realize I was dreaming and then act on my own within those dreams, is probably around age 7 or so. I just thought it was a normal part of dreaming. When I was about 17, I kept having a recurring dream about a place my little brother and I used to hang out, he was 12. It was an old abandoned mechanic's garage...very cool place to just hang out in and spend time with my brother, we did this in real life (waking life?), the dreams were just about this place. In the dream I was always being chased, and just before I was caught, I would wake up. The dream wasn't about me, it was a younger boy, but I was seeing everything through his point of view. Once I recognized that it was a dream, I chose not to deviate from the "scenario" or "path" of the dream, but instead i was able to look around and pay much closer attention to what was happening, and then try not to wake up at the point of capture.........this went on for weeks and weeks. LOOONG story short. Because of the dream, I went their one day in real life and looked all around the area that the dream took place. I found a backpack with a notepad and disposable camera in it. I turned this in to the Sheriff's Department; it had belonged to a boy that had been missing for quite some time. I don't know if that ever helped solve anything or not, but it kind of shook me up a little bit

That story doesn't play into the dreams I have been having, but it was a turning point in how I have approached dreams since then. While my dreams might not always have a specific meaning, I often attempt to observe as many details as possible and write them down when I wake up. I remember them much better when they are lucid.

With all of that being said, the next bit I will have to summarize some, as there are many many details over the course of at least 15 years, that go together. They are not always lucid to begin with, sometimes they are recurring until I recognize it is a dream and become lucid and interact in some way:

There are 2 common characters that are in just about every single LD, I only know them by Lucy and Rebecca. They have no ties to anyone or anything outside of dreams, but they sort of have their own personalities and have taught me things.....this probably sounds weird, but this is why I don't talk about it much. I met Rebecca first, probably mid 2000, and Lucy in late 2000 early 2001.

When this specific "set" of dreams started, the era in the dream was around the 1400-1500s. This took place at a castle, somewhere in Europe. I've woke up and drawn some of this a few times. There was a This is a bit foggy as most of this was taking place in 2000 and I don't have all of my notes handy. There was some type of conflict taking place and some guy that was part of it. I just remember him being....dominant, for lack of better terms. When I was able to act on my own within the dream, he became very angry ( I've read others experiencing people getting angry at them when they became lucid and changed something...).

Around 2001 the time frame became somewhere in the late 1800s - early 1900s. There wasn't a whole lot going on, just lucid dreams and nothing overly critical. I would keep notes from time to time. It was a lot of fun, and many small adventures. During this time, Lucy explained to me how to dream like this with out going to sleep. And I was able to... I think the term used on the forums is WILD. I used to have a candle I would watch for about 3-5 minutes. I would then close my eyes and visualize that candle as if my eyes were still open. When I could see the candle lit on the shelf, and I could make the flame flicker in the direction I wanted or change color.... I knew I was dreaming. Once I was dreaming... it was awesome! It was like time stood still and felt like I was dreaming for hours and hours but would only be maybe 45mins to an hourish. During this time, there were a lot more adventures and the guy from the first set of dreams was there. He's dark, and I don't really know the word for it but even though he was humanish, he feels like a giant black wolf. He is the kind of thing or person you would avoid at all cost. I can remember clashing head to head with him a few times here and he eventually left everyone alone. I am not typically the kind of person to glorify myself....but I will be honest, it was pretty awesome when I would go into these dreams because I was seen as a protector or guardian by the people in the dreams. WILDs lasted about 8 months, and I decided to stop. Between WILD and DILD, it was almost exhausting at times.

The next few years would be an LD every couple of months or so.

About 2009 it jumped again to current time. In 2010 I had a dream, both Lucy & Rebecca were there, along with the guy from the very first sets of dreams, my wife and my children as well. This dream was teetering on lucid and just a dream I guess.... maybe some sleep paralysis or something, I really don't know because these terms are all new to me. Basically a guy and his buddies came into the apartment we were living in. I resisted, my wife and kids hid behind the bed. I was shoved down on the bed and this is when I couldn't move. I can remember being shot in the head. I didn't die, but to this day, as morbid or odd as it may sound I can still remember the sensation of the bullet entering my head and lodging in my brain. I had headaches for days afterward. In the dream, from when I was pushed down on to the bed, until I was able to wake myself up, I could not move, or talk, but I could see and hear. I have this all written down in a journal, again I will have to dig them out.

The next few years would be somewhat casual again, nothing major, a few LDs here and there but nothing overly significant. It is always current time. Either Lucy or Rebecca are always there or....of the same dream world, if that makes sense. Kind of like family, you know they are there, even if they are not right next to you, you can call them, etc.

About a few months ago, I started having a recurring dream with a girl in it, I think it is Lucy. Like in the beginning, being out of practice, it will take having the same dream a few times before I realize I am dreaming and can turn it into an LD. Once I do, I will observe the first few times before interacting with anything. This recurring dream has been progressing in a very odd way.....

I will let you get through all of this and make any comments before I write the rest lol..... I hope you guys like reading, because I do try to bring as much clarity as I can when I am explaining these things.

Hey Nav! Thanks a lot for taking time to write all this down! It was a very good read and helped clarify your story which is pretty interesting. The part with the backpack and the boy was very intriguing. This reminds me of a non-lucid dream of a certain place I've never been to before and then a few months after the dream, I visited the same place. It was the inner yard of a building that looked almost exactly as in my dream. This happened to me when I was a kid but I remember the dream up to this day. Anyways, I think it's great you have a good eye for detail and keep writing those down in your dream journal. :)

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They have no ties to anyone or anything outside of dreams, but they sort of have their own personalities and have taught me things.....this probably sounds weird, but this is why I don't talk about it much.

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Perhaps if you shared this with somebody you know, they might give you a few strange looks, but here on DV such things do happen every once in a while. There are people here that actually describe exactly what you are writing about - persistent characters appearing in non-lucid and lucid dreams, teaching them, also some sort of storyline going on. I can refer you to one dream journal in particular that you may be interested in:

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

Actually, your workbook entry had got me thinking about the contents of my dreams. I sometimes come across DCs I don't know irl but one of my problems is that I almost always forget how they look. However, I may have underestimated the appearance of people I know in dreams. Like one of my classmates, I have noticed that the storylines with her and a few others have developed over time. But then, I kind of began ignoring anything that was happening because it was non-lucid and those were just the good old DCs. Reading your account above made me realize it's time to pay more attention to what is going on in those non-lds to gain a deeper understanding. Thanks so much!

Looking forward to reading how your story continues! :)