G'day

[fukawi1]

G'day, no prizes for guessing where I'm from. So a little relevant info about me. Ever since I was a kid, I have struggled with difficulties getting to sleep, not so much sustaining it though.. I have tried every trick in the book, and most to no avail, even sleeping pills, which i really did not like the side effects. Which brings me to: Illegal drugs (way to make a first impression 'ey). I smoke pot. I am a bit of a stress head, and it really takes the edge off and helps me relax when I get home from work. I have noticed (even before finding articles about LD on StumbleUpon) that the weed pretty much wipes out my ability to recall my dreams. But when I am smoking I can fall asleep in an hour or so, where as when I'm not smoking (for days, or even after being off it for 3+months), it takes me 3-5 torturous hours to fall asleep. None the less I am working on keeping to a minimum, perhaps weekends only, hoping to improve my recall, but I am still not sure what to do about the difficulties falling asleep. I have had no notable experiences with lucidity while dreaming that I can recall in my life... I can recall on occasions where I have been lying awake for hours unable to sleep, where I have wondered if possibly I had actually been asleep and dreaming that I was awake, unable to sleep. I guess this would have been a good time to do an RC had I known of them at the time. I recall being a fairly active and vivid (although, non lucid) dreamer, when I'm off the weed. And having reasonable recall without any conscious effort. I have mixed thoughts about what it is i hope to achieve by experimenting with LD'ing. I guess an ideal situation would be where I stay of the wacky tobaccy long enough to get hooked on LD'ing and that alone is enough to get me to sleep at night... I am curious about the idea of being able to explore my subconscious as there are many things about myself and things I do, that I can not consciously explain, and i find that somewhat irksome. I have started doing RC's (blocking nose, hands, and looking at a clock every time I see one) throughout the day and asking myself if I may be dreaming whenever something odd happens, when I hear a noise, or the (ordinarily quiet) dog barks out of nowhere. I am also getting into the habit of using mnemonics as I am falling asleep, directed towards becoming lucid, and recall. And I every morning I am trying to recall and record what I can remember, which is very little. The Dream Views site, and forum, has been the most complete, and well organised collection information I have found in my research on the subject, for which I think you are all to be commended.. I think I'ma shut up now...

[JoannaB]

Welcome to DV! So while I have no experience with weed myself, but my understanding from others is that weed actually inhibits REM sleep, so while smoking you are less likely to have any dreams - not just not recall them, but actually not have them (though I may be wrong on that). However, weed will increase the amount of deep sleep you have, the restorative part of sleep where you do not dream but rest more, so I have heard from someone who smokes that he feels more rested and calm after such a good night sleep. I have also read that after going off of weed, one can have very vivid dreams, and that those are more likely to initially be nightmares though, but if one is ok with that, then one may have good opportunities for lucid dreaming soon after. Even though I have no experience with weed (and choose to not have any personally) but I have had in the past very good experience with becoming more effective at lucid dreaming due to nightmares, because nightmares are so different from my waking life that I learned to recognize them as just dreams, and as I became more proficient at lucid dreaming I learned to change nightmares into empowering experiences, and also learned not to fear them but avtually to enjoy them. Have you considered alternatives to weed? There are different options out there to help one fall asleep, so weed is not the only option. Just saying, and please do not misunderstand my comment as my judging you, because I am not. Even though I personally have never smoked, but it has never made much sense to me why alcohol is legal and weed is not. Some of the alternatives to weed might help you fall asleep without inhibiting your REM sleep if you prefer. Personally, I find my own dreams a fascinating way to gain additional insights into my own mind, and so I highly recommend dreaming, both non-lucid and lucid dreams. Come to think of it, I also do not fall asleep easily. I usually lie awake a while, and do not fall asleep right away, and sometimes I fall asleep only after having reached a state of minor frustration and annoyance over why I cannot fall asleep yet. Obviously though my difficulties of falling asleep must be much less severe than yours because I have never felt the need to seek help. The only exception is that when I am sick I like to take NyQuil (cold medicine with sleeping aid) to help me fall asleep easier to increase my amount of sleep to help me heal, and sometimes I drink warm milk before bed to make me sleepy. But as I said, I am sure my difficulties are minor compared to yours.

[nito89]

Greetings, fukawi1 and welcome to DV. I am a somewhat experienced pot smoker, ive been smoking constantly for about 6 years now. I understand what you mean when you say no recall, but i have actually come to learn that this i untrue (at least for me) If you are willing to really force yourself to journal and spend some time each night before sleep using a mantra (something along the lines of "I remember my dreams") you'll find that you can build up your recall again. My recall at its peak was insane, then i got lazy again (dammmmn ) but i found the main difference between smoking and being sober for a few days was that my dreams seemed more vivid and much less mundane (when im high i will dream of sitting around with friends, wandering about alone etc). Its good to see that your starting with your RC's thats gonna help you no end. My main advise with the weed smoking would be, its obvious you like your pot, theres no need to stop FULLY, but try to leave a good 1-2 hours without smoking before bed and keep yourself hydrated, i find that when i am slightly dehydrated my recall is practically 0 anyway. I hope you find this useful and best of luck in your future LD experiences, my Aussie friend .

[CanisLucidus]

Hi fukawi1! Welcome to DreamViews! It's good to have you here. It's true that marijuana can put a dampener on your dream recall. The good news is that you're likely looking at some great REM rebound when/if you decide to take a break from cannabis! In fact, a relatively new (but already very successful) member named PennyRoyal is running an experiment to see the effect that quitting marijuana has on his dreaming. You may want to check it out! Here's a link: http://www.dreamviews.com/research/1...my-dreams.html As for the fundamentals, the route I took when I first joined DreamViews was to join the "Intro Class" offered in the DreamViews Academy. It's a low-key instructional course on building dream recall and the fundamentals of lucid dreaming. The support, advice, and community I received there was invaluable to finding my way in the art of dreaming. (And you'll see me hanging around there to this day!) If you'd like to learn from many of the same people that I learned from, this is the place to start. If you need any kind of assistance or to have a question answered, don't hesitate to PM me or any of the other Dream Guides. We'll be happy to help you out.

[PennyRoyal]

G'day, no prizes for guessing where I'm from. Aw man! But I know this one! I have mixed thoughts about what it is i hope to achieve by experimenting with LD'ing. I guess an ideal situation would be where I stay of the wacky tobaccy long enough to get hooked on LD'ing and that alone is enough to get me to sleep at night... I "self medicate" myself - although not for the purposing of sleeping, appetite issues here. I havn't outright QUIT since starting to learn - which is my intention, but I have cut back considerably(which in itself is an accomplishment for me ). What I've noticed for me so far is that if I don't smoke 5-6 hours before sleep I have a much easier time recalling dreams. Now in your case, using it to actually go to bed is a bit of a different situation. I've also started getting a lot more rest since becoming interested with LDing, another benefit! The Dream Views site, and forum, has been the most complete, and well organised collection information I have found in my research on the subject, for which I think you are all to be commended.. If you have questions ask any of the Dream Guides they have been an invaluable tool for me here on DV. Anyway, Welcome to Dreamviews!

[fukawi1]

Thanks for the warm welcome guy's and gal's.. A bit of an update so far: On the 5th, I abstained from smoking for 3-4 hours before going to bed... Interestingly, an hour or so after waking up in the morning, I saw a wasp, and remembered a very vague fragment of a what I think was dream about wasps, but could possibly have been me mis-remembering a conversation with a friend about bee's. I am leaning towards dream, since I am allergic to wasps, not bee's, and I used to keep bee's as a kid, so I don't think my brain would confuse the two. So my last toke was on the 7th at around lunchtime, and that night, I didn't remember a damned thing, not even falling asleep which took nearly 5hrs, and felt like I had been hit by a Kenworth when I woke up... Last night however, I took 200mg of B6, hoping that the more vivid the dream the easier it would be to recall. Which appears to have been true. It still took 4hrs to get to sleep, but managed to remember an A5 page worth. The dream related to seeing somebody I know, on my veranda, it wasn't until I went out to the deck for a smoke (of the non reefer variety), that it triggered my memory... So, I guess all this counts as progress, which after 3 nights, I am relatively impressed by, I was half expecting this to be a long arduous road with very slow progress that would ultimately cause me to choose weed over dreaming. But seeing progress this quickly is certainly motivating...

[nito89]

So, I guess all this counts as progress, which after 3 nights, I am relatively impressed by, I was half expecting this to be a long arduous road with very slow progress that would ultimately cause me to choose weed over dreaming. But seeing progress this quickly is certainly motivating... Wahey, progress! To be honest, the road to LD'ing is a lot easier than most people think, they just get put off because sometimes its a little too much effort for what people like first thing in the morning or last thing at night. one bit of advice though, 200mg of B6 is too much, you might want to half the tablet to 100mg or even 50 mg tablets. It'll work the same, just not such a high dose. Good luck with your future attempts, keep us updated.

[DarkStaid]

Hello and welcome Fukawi1 (I would abbreviate but I wouldn't want to be rude now ) I understand your situation, I have gone through loops/waves of remembering dreams ranging from many failed attempts to every rem cycle remembered, end result, its just like a muscle, use it and it will get stronger or don't and loose it. When you first start out you might not be able to remember any dreams at all even for weeks maybe just fragments as you've described. Working with those fragments I would say try not to analyse them if possible but just observe your feelings and you'll sometimes get further information escape your subconscious throughout the following moments or even the rest of the day (I've had multiple times where I wouldn't remember my dream until going to bed later that night using this process). Do this, keep a DJ (check out some guides on DR too) for as long as you wish to LD and I'll be extremely surprised if your not remembered the majority of your dreams in a couple months. As Nito89 said about the B6 watch your dosage but also be aware that your mind is what controls your thought processes and ultimately your recall, not your body, so if it works very well its most likely the placebo not the 'drugs' (so continue to take as it will work, I promise just believe me) Last night I got really drunk...at one point I fell behind the couch and smashed my wee head on the radiator...(a possible contribution to this detrimenting overhung soul maybe?) anyway this morning I woke from extremely vivid dreams and wrote them all down with ease, remembering every detail, possibly too much to write down, and have had this happen multiple times before. This might assist your query, I will be creating a thread about this to go into further details as I believe, obviously, that alcohol/weed does not suppress dream recall or prevent vivid dreams and/or lucidity, in short it occurs one is being more aware when in a drunk/high/alternate state of mind which follows into the night and dreams. So keep that in mind (being aware when possible that is) and also observe thoughts and feeling which float around your head after you wake to see if that helps after a couple of weeks, let us know ;D Goodluck but we know its not down to luck its down to B6, you just have to believe...

[willeex]

2 out of 17 of my LD's I went to bed high as a kite. I believe that it ruins your memory yes. But inhibit you from LD? No.