Thread: Squirrelly Workbook

12/15/22

sleep time: 11:00
wake time: 5:30~6:00

Reality Checks:
- trying to breathe through pinched nose
- checking if surroundings feel 'hazy'
- thumb through hand

Dream Signs:
- cat or squirrel (chasing each other)
- white opalescent animal
- chaseing something on floating platforms
-strange architecture/mixture of nature + buildings

Lucid/Dream Recall History:
- recalled dream somewhat well
- did not achieve lucidity

Current Technique:
-DILD - unsuccessful
-attempted WBTB since I woke up early; found it hard to keep balance between wake and sleep; achieved weak LD for a second, but could not go back to sleep

12/16/22

sleep time: 11:30
wake time: ~4:30

Very anxious & difficult time falling asleep.

Reality Checks (unsuccessful so far; start doing them at work or when busy since my dreams feel very hectic):
- trying to breathe through pinched nose
- checking if surroundings feel 'hazy'
- thumb through hand

Dream Signs:
- cat or squirrel (chasing each other)
- white opalescent animal
- chaseing something on floating platforms
- strange architecture/mixture of nature + buildings

Short-Term Goals:
- find good balance between wake and sleep for WBTB

Lucid/Dream Recall History:
- did not recall dreams tonight; just remember there were at least 3

Current Technique:
-DILD - unsuccessful
-attempted WBTB again since i woke up early at around 2 or 3. very weak lucidity; just barely aware I was dreaming but lost lucidity quickly and just went along with the dream. probably from being very tired.

12/17

sleep time: 11:00
wake time: 7:30

Was insanely tired both physically and mentally. Had 0 dream recall and slept like a rock.
Unsuccessful at DILD, had no attempt at WBTB.

12/18

sleep time: 11:30
wake time: 8:10

took a tylenol.

Very strange tonight. I think I dreamt about lucid dreaming without being lucid. At least, it didnt feel like lucid dreams I had previously, I had no control, and i had very little recall, but I knew I was in a dream.

some fragments I remember are falling into the 'void' (A place I have been before during meditation and AP, but never during a dream.) and out of the haze seeing scary demon faces materialize. They looked like Aztec Quetzalcoatl depictions or maybe like Japanese masks, but its hard to tell since they were so hazy. I demanded to see the one in my psyche trying to scare me and then saw a figure materialize in the distance and walk toward me. I felt no fear during this, but im sure I would have if i was lucid. I dont remember anything after this.

This fragment may or may not be connected to the other dream I remember from tonight. I dont remember if they are separate, or if i fell into the void from the other dream. This other dream was also very abnormal for me. It did not feel hazy like my dreams usually do.

I don't remember what brought on the 'lucidity', but I would assume it was DILD. Though it is strange that I dont remember the moment at which I became lucid, or if I was lucid at all.

Slept all night; did not attempt WBTB.

12/19

sleep time: 11:30
wake time: 7:20

slept like a rock. 0 recall. probably from hectic christmas preparations.

have been doing reality checks throughout the day (probably about once every 20 minutes) despite busy times. trying the finger through the hand technique is more discrete than the nose plugging.

12/20

sleep time: 11:00
wake time: ~6:00

very little dream recall. except that there were 2 and the second one was a nightmare: closeups of an anorexic lady who kept saying 'I can recover. I can get better' while her body kept changing in grotesque ways.

the nightmare woke me up and I decided to do MILD with a mantra. I kept saying 'this is a dream' as I was trying to fall asleep, but the mantra kept getting distorted which would startle me and I would have to start over. I think i started to hear hypnogogic hallucinations, since I heard footsteps with nobody there.

Ill try MILD again since I have had success inducing OBE in that way and i may be able to induce LD as well.

12/21

sleep time: ~1:30
wake time: 7:10

was picking up people from airport & slept late. 0 recall. will post again once I have something to post about.

1/3

sleep time ~12:00
wake time 6:30

My dream recall is back. I dremt a bit about the movie I saw last night.

Im going to try doing reality checks while reading/watching TV to question the suspension of disbelief. Ive noticed my dreams are a lot like movies so i think this may help.

Not a bad idea! Any particular checks you have in mind?

I have been testing this using the nose plugging and finger-through-palm method. Its way more difficult than doing reality checks throughout the day! I can get maybe 10-30 reality checks in during the day, but when I try doing it while watching a movie or reading the suspension of disbelief is really strong and i am lucky if I get in 1 reality check at all.

1/14

sleep time: ~11:00
wake time: ~5:45

interesting situation again. I dreamed about lucid dreaming again, but this time I remember how it came about.

I was in my childhood bed as an adult and was keeping my eyes very slightly open as i usually did to check if I was in sleep paralysis. then I moved my arms to see if I could move. I could, but it was getting difficult, so i got out of bed right away to prevent the sleep paralysis. This room was attached to an open courtyard. There were rooms arranged in a ring pattern around the courtyard. I went to check it out, but saw a shadow shape crouched in the corner. I couldn't tell what this was, it looked like some ai generated shape, so i did the nose plugging reality check. I could still breathe so I determined I was dreaming. I tried flying like I usually did in LD as a kid, but couldn't get off the ground. Then I tried leaving the building by going through a wall, but was blocked like in a videogame. I realised this must mean the dream is trying to show me something so i walked through all the rooms . they were all my "ex's" rooms (these dont exist in real life, only in the dream). then my cat woke me up.

This time and the last time these dreams about LD are connected to memories of SP. I know Im not actually lucid dreaming because I dont feel lucid. these dont feel like lucid dreams i have had before. Is this common? Im not sure what to do here. I think my subconscious is telling me Im too scared to LD again, but i dont know how to get over the fear.

1/15

sleep time: ~12:00
wake time: ~9:00

I think im nearly there! Im doing reality checks in my dreams so its just a matter of time until i get lucid! i think intentionally watching TV to do reality checks has been helping.

Dream: ......I was back in Korea and was taking a shower in a dingy, dirty hotel. something about this gave me dejavu so I did the nose plug check. For some reason, i couldnt breathe through my nose in this dream, so that convinced me i was irl. I looked at the grime of the shower and determined it had to be real since it was so detailed. Then i looked around the room and the architecture didn't look strange, so i was completely convinced this was not a dream.

1/20

sleep time: ~12
wake time: 5:10
wake time 2 : 6:30

had a short lucid again! this time without an RC. also it was unmistakably lucid.

new goals:
When inside of a lucid dream, practice the dream control techniques. Post your results in your workbook.
If you have a lucid dream and find yourself losing it, practice the stabilisation techniques listed here. Post your results in your workbook.

Visit somewhere you know from waking life, take note of all its surroundings, are there any subtle differences?
Swim underwater and attempt to breathe, were you able to?

focusing on sensory cues helped strengthen it.

1/23

sleep time: ~11
wake time: ~9

another short lucid tonight.

once i relized i was dreaming, the dream faded into a white mist. I tried to re-create the dream by yelling out 'Dream, give me more clarity!' but it stayed hazy white. I also tried to summon a dream character from a previous dream in a similar manner, but i only saw a hazy humanoid shape. i lost lucidity soon after.

1/31

sleep time: ~12, but the one that matters is ~5:45am
wake time: ~8:30

Very interesting situation! I went from a semi-lucid dream to a short AP. If i had known I wasn't fully awake yet i would have experimented more in-dream!
here is the DJ entry

This is a quite cool transition. Do you also get a lot of these spontaneous APs?

Sort of.. I had hypnogogic hallucinations very often as a child which later turned into intense sleep paralysis episodes. I guess I would describe this as AP but without "leaving my body" to go explore. I usually havent been able to control it or do it intentionally.

this is the first time ive had this particular transition, but once or twice I have been able to use MILD or a lucid dream to AP. I'm very interested as to what AP really is because it is not the same as a LD to me. They feel very distinct. I usually feel physical effects of AP on my body after I fully wake up (usually tingling or pain), but this doesn't happen with LD.