New Kid On The Block

Hallo all! This is my first post on Dream Views, and I hope it isn't my last!

I've been interested in lucid dreaming for about a year now, and have been trying the various methods. When the methods really work for me, it's WONDERFUL!!!

The main obstacle I have, though, isn't visualization or anything; I seem to be a massive insomniac! I won't dance around the bush here; I mainly came to Dream Views to see if there was any way to LD as an insomniac consistently. That doesn't mean I wouldn't like to become part of the community here, though!

The information on the forums and site is great! Really put together well. I hope I can help!

Welcome to DV, Richter

It's good that you're not a complete noob to LDing. You may find some of the stuff in the tutorials section useful.

Happy lucid dreaming, and good look with the insomnia!!

:welcome:

Welcome to the forum :)

Do you do reality checks or have a dream journal? They really help to induce LD's.

I keep a dream journal, one with many entries, but only about 3 are really lucid. My problem, like I said before , is that I can't fall asleep. I haven't figured out how to awaken from dreams directly yet, so I must rely on an alarm clock. Problem is it's hard to plan when my REM periods will be, since I don't know exactly when I'll actually start sleeping! I think I have a good idea of what my dreamsigns may be, though!

As for reality testing, I use a digital watch to remind me when I should do so. I just started reality testing, though, as I was really focusing to improve my remembrance of dreams at first.

I actually heard on a chat room that insomnia might even help with having LDs, but I took it to mean only using the WILD method. I think I could handle rembering to do a Reality Check in dreams with practice, but the real sticker is falling asleep.

Do you guys have any methods you use to fall asleep when you LD? I know this isn't an insomnia clinic, but it's really slowing my progress. Any help would be mucho appreciated.

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Originally Posted by Richter

Do you guys have any methods you use to fall asleep when you LD? I know this isn't an insomnia clinic, but it's really slowing my progress. Any help would be mucho appreciated.
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Hey Richter,

I feel for you my friend, I suffered a great deal of insomnia for a year or two a year or two ago. I found that the "disorder" was actually a highly "suggestible" one; the more I thought about my inability to sleep and especially when I talked about it, the more intense it would become. When I realised this (and it takes a lot of self-analysis and honesty) I decided to use the "suggestibility" to solve the problem. Hypnosis is what helped me out of that dark hole.

At first I got a Hypnosis CD specifically for insomnia. On the CD it emphasised the importance of exercise during the day, balanced meals and not taking any drugs that would counteract the sleeping process (most do, don't forget about caffeine!). I followed these instructions and after only five days, the hypnosis was putting me to sleep! I was a hard case to crack as well (well I THOUGHT I would be), but all it took was five days. After that it always worked. This recording had a "Theta Brainwave Pattern" underlying the words which really seemed to make me sleepy, so I would recommend that.

After a while (less than a month) I didn't need the CD and I began getting full-nights of sleep! I could even go to bed at 10:30pm and wake up at 8:30am. Now when ever I have trouble (which is really not often, there IS a light at the end of the tunnel) I use a self-hypnosis technique, negating the need for CD's. It is as follows:

Imagine in your mind's eye, a white board. Imagine yourself drawing as big a circle as will fit on the board. Now, within that circle write the number 99. Once you have done this (and you don't need to see pictures, it is more like 'creative memory') imagine yourself rubbing out the "9" on the right and replacing it with an "8" and so on until you reach "00".

Now your intent when doing this is key. At first you may simply want to get to sleep. So as often as you can do it, while counting down, suggest to yourself that your body and mind are relaxing and that with each count your ability to do so is getting stronger. Suggest that some time before you reach the number "0" you will fall into a peaceful, restful and rejuvenating sleep. If you make it all the way to "0" fear not because if you have done this successfully you are guaranteed to have lowered your brainwaves from the jangle of waking "Beta" to the metaphysical and relaxing "Alpha" at least, and most likely a long way toward "Theta" which is sleep/hypnosis/dreaming, which means that you have are not far from sleep (and in a state very conducive to Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming (WILD).

Of course, this is much easier said than done and it will take practice. Be gentle with yourself and have a good laugh when you find that you can't concentrate enough to even get to 90. (Seemingly) uncontrollable thought plays a huge part in insomnia (that would make a good name for an album or even a band, "In Insomnia") but can definitely be overcome.

By practicing this countdown technique you will be able to recognise these errant thoughts a lot easier because all of a sudden you'll realise, "hey, I'm not counting! What was I just thinking about? What number am I up to?" When you do identify the intruding thought perhaps you could write it on the whiteboard and rub it off, letting it go. If you don't want to mess up your nice big circle though you could perhaps imagine putting the thought(s) into bubbles and letting them float away. Not only will you be getting to sleep and but you will be soothing your poor burned-out mind to the point where it can actually switch off (a state Zen monks, meditators, Buddhists and martial artists strive for in their journey toward "Enlightenment")

When you have started to get good rest from this and your daily lifestyle reflects that, you could move on to more involved suggestions, like being able to recall your dreams after waking and then before- during your dreams. Then you can even program locations, answers to questions, characters and lucidity itself- this is called "incubation". It is fun to be creative with these things and very productive- there's a long time between "100" and "0" so go ahead and knock yourself out (pun intended).

I wish you the best fortune ('cause luck has nothing to do with it),

Dae,

Rob.

Hey welcome to DV!

Well, thanks for all the replies. Daen, you are certainly the most helpful yet; many people have no experience with the subject like you do!

If I had one quality that would help me the most with LDs, it's that I have good visualization, so the whiteboard method is one I will try this very night.

As for suggestibility/hypnosis; to be honest I've never really put much faith into self-help tapes, but I can't ignore the fact that so many people swear by them. I'm gonna have to shell out $10 and get a CD, but one question: Where may I purchase such recordings? I don't think they sell them at Wal-Mart... Then again, I never really looked! :P I'm willing to try anything once.

I feel like I'm on the brink of having LDs more than three times a year, so here's to hoping.

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Originally Posted by Richter

Well, thanks for all the replies. Daen, you are certainly the most helpful yet; many people have no experience with the subject like you do!
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Dear Richter,

It is a pleasure to be of service. As for teh Hypnosis CD's, the one that I used I bought here in Australia, from a well-known Australian hypnotist. His name is Rick Collingworth. Check out this website, it has his "dicography" of Hypnotic recordings, including the one for Insomnia...

http://www.liquidfitness.com/Categor...?CategoryID=11

Catch you 'round,

Rob.