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Cedwards' Workbook
I'm not really new to lucid dreaming, but my lucid dreaming could use a lot of work. And self-discipline. So, I might as well go back to basics!
Reality Checks:
- Nose Pinch
- Examining text and numbers
- Asking myself what I was just doing
Dream Signs:
- Big buildings
- Elevators
- Snakes
- Food
- Water
- Realizing that I haven't studied enough for a class
- Maps
- Driving
Short-Term Goals:
- Increase lucid dreaming time
- Transport to places more effectively
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Long-Term Goals:
- Find a dream guide
- Build worlds to visit in dreams
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Lucid/Dream Recall History:
- Decent. Depends on how my sleep schedule. I usually remember dreams from each night, which sometimes take a while to write down the next day. Then again, sometimes I don't seem to remember anything from the night before. It also depends on how much I have been dream journalling.
Current Technique:
- DILD, trying to get the hang of WILDing
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Day 1
Night time routine: I might try to establish a more regular routine. This is what I usually do:
Lay down. Read scripture and pray. I usually fall asleep kind of quickly after this. That's what happened last night. Last night I was also dealing with some respiratory issues, had caffeinated tea in the evening, took melatonin, and then took nighttime cold medicine.
Dream Recall: A good bit of recall. The dream journal takes up at least a page, typed.
Time spent dreaming: A little hard to tell, because I don't quite remember where my dreams started or ended. If feels like altogether I was experiencing things for, maybe, 20-30 minutes. Maybe more.
Other notes: Yesterday evening I was intending to try to induce a dream about the Dream Base, with the intention of finding the library. I did some writing ahead of time, describing myself in the present tense as though I were in the dream. My dreams did include elements such as a library (I think), an ocean-like body of water, and statues. However, I often dream about libraries and water. Not so much about statues though. These were glow-in-the-dark statues too, which, perhaps, were inspired by the column/globe and beacon. I plan to try this again tonight, with more intentional incubation.
Went to bed around 12:30. I have been having some respiratory problems, and in the evening I had a cup of tea (which seems to help sometimes). This being caffeinated, I took some melatonin to counteract the sleeplessness. Then I took some nighttime cold medicine. I think I fell asleep rather quickly after Devotions.
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Day 2
Bedtime: 12:00 - 12:30. Spent more time reading in the evening than usual (other than studying or Scripture reading). I had intended to try MILDing again, aiming for a dream about the Dream Base library. But then I got absorbed in the adventure story I was reading, and changed my mind to putting in a pier at the Dream Base where we could have a ship and sea voyages. I don't know that changing my intention is always a good idea. I also tried a little of Sivason's dream yoga visualization exercise, laying down and trying to change the patterns and colors that I see. I think I also ended up taking about 3mg of melatonin. Scripture reading, prayer, and then focusing on a mantra.
Dream Recall: Still fairly decent. Almost another page worth. But it didn't come to me all at once in the morning.
Time spent dreaming: Maybe about 10 minutes or so. But there was more that I don't seem to fully recall at the moment.
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Day 3
Lucid? No
Bedtime:Perhaps I should keep a more detailed record of my bedtime. I think it was somewhere around 11:00-12:00, but I'm not 100% sure. Lay down, read the Bible, prayed, did some of Sivason's visualization practice, visualized myself at the Dream base, and repeated "remember that you're dreaming" to myself as I fell asleep, I think.
WBTB:Woke up about 3:00. Was awake for about 30 minutes - 1 hour. Used the bathroom, recorded some dreams as quick notes (including "little guys eating each other?").
Woke up around 8:15-8:30.
Dream Recall: Decent, but started getting ready for Church in the morning so I didn't finish jotting down the second half of the night's dreams until this afternoon.
Time Spent Dreaming: A bit hard to tell, since what I have at the moment is mostly quick notes.
Other notes:I had a dream in which I was at a former workplace that I often dream about. I think I recognized it as a dream sign, but did not become lucid. This workplace was a hospital and I probably did not want to risk touching my nose to do the nose pinch RC. I think I might have tried reading something posted in an elevator instead, and I might have ended up being distracted.
Notable Reality Check moments today:(1) Walking down the hall at the University thinking about home, and saw something posted on a bulletin board about something (not sure what) that was asking for people to let them borrow something that reminded me of home. Did a nose pinch, and possibly reading RC. (2) Walking outside, thinking about my great grandparents. For some reason I wasn't sure for a moment if any of my great-grandparents were still alive. Stopped and did a nose pinch RC. (3) We have been having another Polar Vortex here. But we have had some warmer weather, and I saw some spring plants growing. Sometimes I dream that it's snowing at unusual times (like during the summer), so when I saw the snow and ice and spring plants I stopped and did a reading RC. (4) Remembered to do an RC and try to seriously question whether or not I was dreaming when I entered a public restroom. Another common dream sign, which I seem to miss for some reason.
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Day 9?
Got away from dream journalling and lucid work for a while. Hopefully I will get back soon. Things have gotten rather busy.
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OK, let's try to get back to this. Things seem to be settling down somewhat. Hopefully I can keep this going for more than 4 days.
Day 1, restart
Lucid? No
Bedtime:Somewhere around 12:30-1:00, I think. But I'm not too sure. Took some melatonin to help me sleep. Took a few minutes to get to sleep because I was worrying about a friend and got up at least once to help with something.
Woke up around 10:30.
Dream Recall: Decent.
Time Spent Dreaming: "Feels like" 20 min to half hour total, but maybe less than that.
Missed dreamsigns: Planning a route, visiting a junk store
Other notes:One of my dreams involved a place that looked a bit like what I imagine the Dream Base to look like, which I have still been trying to reach. Interestingly, the plot seemed to be related to the plot of someone else's dream journal I had been reading last night.
Notable Reality Check moments today: I took a walk to the nearby railroad tracks, because I sometimes dream about trains. Did some RC's there. Continued walking, and saw a sign about Florida, and one referring to a "Gold Rush". Both Florida and gold prospecting are dreamsigns, so I did a couple of RC's there, too. As I continued walking, I found a junk store. This is another dreamsign, and one that I dreamed about last night. So I went in and looked around, did an RC or two. There was a little dog in the store. Sometimes dogs are a dreamsign, although they seem to be less so lately.
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Day 3
Lucid? No
Bedtime:Somewhere around 1:00am, I think. Took some melatonin to help me sleep.
Woke up around 9:30.
Dream Recall: On the lower side of the scale, but not too horrible.
Time Spent Dreaming: "Feels like" 20 min or so total.
Missed dreamsigns: Public restroom, women going into said restroom (men's room), former home
Other notes: I forgot to update this journal yesterday. After having visited the tracks on Saturday, I did end up dreaming again about railroad tracks that night. This might have been because of the visit, or because where I am now you can hear trains throughout the night. Despite having visited the tracks on Saturday in part to practice reality checking, I did not do an RC when I dreamed about them. I suspect that there is a lag between when I start getting back into the reality check habit and when the habit carries over into my dreams. Hopefully I'll start catching these things soon.
Notable Reality Check moments today: Not much so far out of the ordinary. I did some driving, which is a dreamsign, but is also not too unusual while I'm awake.
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Day 4
Lucid? No
Bedtime: Somewhere around 11:30 or 12:00, I think. I need to get better at noticing this, I guess.
Woke up around 7:00 and couldn't get back to sleep.
Missed dreamsigns: none that I can remember
Other notes: I dreamed about a place that I sometimes have recurring dreams about. It might be based on a building on my old college campus that I went to very rarely. I don't know why I would have recurring dreams about this building - it was where the business office was, or something like that. Maybe I should start thinking of this as a dreamsign. This dream also had a plot element that seemed to be based on another dream journal that I was reading yesterday.
Notable reality check moments today: I saw a man from a company that a friend works at. I never heard of (or probably just never noticed) this company before she started talking about it. Later, I saw a semi truck from the same company parked in someone's driveway.
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Day 5
Lucid? No
Bedtime: Took some melatonin. Probably went to sleep somewhere around midnight or a bit later. Still not sure.
Woke up around 8:00, perhaps? Maybe a bit later.
Dream recall: moderately decent, I suppose
Missed dreamsigns: airport, train, former home :facepalm:
Notable reality check moments today: nothing too unusual. I did watch a TV show involving a train. This show also featured someone having a dream.
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Day 6
Lucid? Almost, but I don't remember if so.
Bedtime: Had a cup of tea earlier in the evening, and wasn't asleep until after 1:00am.
Woke up: Around 8:00
Dream recall: moderately low
Missed dreamsigns: fish
Other notes: I was having a hard time remembering anything when I first woke up. I saw some fish while walking by a lake this morning, which reminded me of a part of a dream, and then was able to recall more. I had a dream where I visited a former workplace for a reunion. When I was there, I realized that this is a dreamsign, and I think was commenting to myself the possibility that it was a dream. I might even have been thinking to myself that logically, even if I don't feel like it's a dream, it probably is. I remember thinking about doing a reality check, but I don't seem to remember what happened after that. A good sign though.
Notable reality check moments today: seeing a fish in the lake. Didn't do a reality check though.
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Day 8
Lucid? Almost. Picard-facepalm-worthy again.
Bedtime: Had a lot of tea during the day and into the evening. Also took a nap around 6:30pm, feeling tired out yesterday. Had some valerian a couple of hours before bed. Didn't get to sleep until after 2:00am.
Woke up: around 9:45
Dream recall: moderately low
Missed dreamsigns: library, literally sitting and talking with a lucid dreaming expert about lucid dreaming.
Notable reality check moments today: Trying to look at myself in a mirror, but the room I was in was too dimly lit so I moved to the bathroom. Flipped the switch, but the lights didn't come on. I did do reality checks, and kind of doubted that I was awake for a little bit. Mirror image being odd and lights not turning on are both classic dreamsigns for me.
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Seems like you are getting closer every day! Do you have any dream goals once you become lucid? That might help transition to a fully lucid state.
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Yes, my immediate goal is to go to the Dream Base, and try to find the library for the Task of the Year. After that I hope to find/build persistent realms, and maybe find a dream guide.
I have had some success with lucid dreaming in the past, but have been out of practice for a few months. It usually takes me a bit of time to get back into it, but it does seem like I get these almost-lucids when I'm on track.
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Day 9
Lucid? No
Bedtime: About 12:30am. Took some valerian before bed.
Woke up around 8:30.
Dream recall: moderate, probably would be better if I had had more time. Pretty busy day today.
Notable reality check moments today: visited a couple of places that I have not visited for a while, including a gas station.
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Day 10
Lucid? Yes!
Bedtime: around midnight, perhaps? Drank a lot of coffee in the evening, then took melatonin.
Woke up around 4:00 with heartburn. The melatonin seemed to have worn off, because I was having a difficult time getting back to sleep. I decided to do a WBTB. I read some dream journals on dreamviews, journaled my sleep/dream experience of the night so far, and took some valerian. Since I wasn't getting back to sleep very easily, I also did some non-dreaming related reading. I didn't get back to sleep until 8:00am. Woke up again about 11:15.
Dream recall: decent, or else I was just dreaming a lot. I haven't fully recalled all of the details.
Other notes: My awareness seemed to be on the lower side. I had some control, but I forgot my goals.
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Day 18
Lucid? Yes
Bedtime: Around midnight? 3mg melatonin before bed, WBTB around 3:30 for maybe a half hour.
Dream recall: decent.
Other notes: got lucid doing a nose pinch after an unlikely coincidence. I wasn't fully convinced, and I think I might have done one or two other RC's before deciding to try flying, which worked. Still, there are dreamsigns that I keep missing, which happens during the day occasionally as well. Especially common things like neighbors and driving.
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Day 38 (?)
I think I have graduated from the stage of simply trying to have lucid dreams on a somewhat regular basis. Now I'm trying to focus on making them last longer. I think with practice they might just become more stable and longer naturally, but I have also been looking into mindfulness as a way to help. I might check out the dream yoga class at some point.
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Day 39:
Some updates on a few basics:
Reality Checks:
- Nose Pinch
- Examining text and numbers
- Counting fingers
- Trying to push finger through hand
- Asking myself if the day's sequence of events seems logical
Recent Dream Signs:
- Libraries
- Fish
- Food
- Shopping
- Water/boats
Short-Term Goals:
- Increase lucid dreaming time
- Transport to places more effectively
Long-Term Goals:
- Find a dream guide
- Visit the persistent realm that I'm working on, and finding "Dreamstone", a mineral that greatly enhances lucid dream abilities
Lucid/Dream Recall History:
- Decent. Could probably stand to be a bit more diligent in my dream journaling.
Current Technique:
- DILD, trying to get the hang of WILDing. It seems that some WILD attempts have lead to me finding myself lucid in bed/on the couch, but I don't remember transitioning and don't remember what happened prior to finding myself in this state. These might have been WILDs, but I don't quite remember.
The "Dreamstone" thing is an experiment with schema. Through imagination, art, and writing, I'm building the idea of a mineral that acts like a lucid dreaming panacea, giving amazing lucid dreaming skills when consumed. Dreamstone (or Oneironite) is found in sizable concentrations in a particular region of the "Dreamstone Realm" (the above mentioned PR), although it could occur elsewhere. The Realm contains a race of Tolkein-esque Dwarves, and one in particular who is waiting for me to show up so that he can guide me to the Oneironite region. Anyway, I suppose I should stop rambling now...