Review: Lucid Sleep Dreams Self Hypnosis & Guided Meditation

[AMFW]

Long time lurker, haven't posted in awhile. Found the "Lucid Sleep Dreams Self Hypnosis & Guided Meditation" iPhone app by Erick Brown couple of days ago and thought I'd share about it. It didn't have any ratings, and at $3.99 it's a little pricey. I tried it, and had success the second night. I managed to float, push through a wall like I was a ghost, and change the scenery a little before I forgot about being lucid. You start the app by choosing a theme (Stream, Ocean, Rain, Music), what you'd like to happen at the end of the session (Wake up, sleep, delayed wake), and decide if you'd like a long or short induction. After this, Brown leads you in guided relaxation. Once relaxed, he then guides you in visualizing yourself in a comfortable place, and has you imagine yourself doing various G-rated lucid activities. In one of the themes (they have different stories), I summoned a DC, dismissed her, and floated off the ground. I've also started noticing the color red in my waking world, which reminds me to reality check. Brown is easy to listen to, but he doesn't quite jolt me into real-body awareness most of the time. The only time this fails is when he has me breathe in, smelling the world around me (I usually respond in real life, when I should be doing it with my dream body). Even tired, I am able to stay awake to the end of his story, by which point I'm typically in HH. Because of this, I think some of you who're better than I am at WILDing might find this a good aid for that. I've used the app four or five times (before bed, and after about 5 hours of sleep). There's a recommendation of using it for three weeks, so that all that suggestion has time to do its work, I guess. I'll keep using it, and let you know how it goes. -- AMFW

[AMFW]

Night 3: Used the app before sleeping, and again after 5 hrs of sleep. I normally drop off to sleep before the major WILD transition, but last night I knew when I hit it. The bed felt like it spun and then flipped around in a half vertical loop. I knew what it was, but it startled me back to a more awake state. I saw a few pre-dream flashes, but I don't recall any lucids. I dream all the time, but lucids are every other week if I'm lucky, so on the whole the night was in the right direction.

[stjimmy]

Keep letting us know!

[AMFW]

TLDR: The long induction puts me to sleep. The short induction helps me stay just alert enough to hit what I think are HH/bits of disconnected dreams. I like using it. I've gone through the different combinations now. The background theme is a long (perhaps, looping, I can't tell) track of music or water. A long induction takes you down one path, where you're literally descending stairs as you fall into trance state and your subconscious is encouraged to take over. I realized this morning (the end of Day 5) that I've not made it to the end without falling asleep. According to the app, this is OK, and you still get the benefits of the hypnosis when this happens. Maybe someone with more experience with hypnosis can comment on if this is true. Anyway, I'm asleep, so I don't know consciously what happens at the end of this one. I'll try it again tonight, when I'm not coming down off of a long week. A short induction I've completed a couple of times, and fallen asleep on a couple of times. This is because there are pauses between speech that are just long enough for me to nod off. The nice thing about the app, for me, is that it takes SOME effort to stay alert to finish it (I do it while going to sleep), but not so much that I'm TOO alert. A main benefit for me is that I can feel that relaxed heaviness and tingling that means I've reached a transition point to the next stage. Without the app, counting backwards from 500 (and similar methods) normally put me to sleep too early. So I feel like I'm making progress. Question for people who have more experience with this: When the narrator is encouraging me to see images, am I supposed to be imagining them, or really "seeing" them on the back of my eyelids? There's enough verbal story going on that I can imagine it like I was reading a book. I'm wondering if I should be trying to conjure up images I can really see, instead. I've tried this both ways, and I can see flashes that look like what is being described, sometimes. I'm pretty sure they're pieces of dreams, just not fully formed or anything I know how to transition into. I don't have much experience to compare this to, as the couple of times I've WILDed I've gone from this stage straight into a dream without noticing any transition. A few times before, I've seen these dream pieces (not with this app) form a scene, like a still picture, but have not been able to enter the dream. I'm noticing red more often. In the app, it's encouraged to see that color as a dreamsign. There's definitely a placebo effect with hypnosis. I figure, that can only be a help here.

[AMFW]

Day 6, Day 7: Similar experiences with the app. Haven't made it through the long induction awake yet. My typical sleep schedule is to sleep for 5, then to wake up for wbtb and/or WILD attempt. The wake up certainly helps me remember my dreams, even without lucid success. For both nights 6 and 7, I didn't become classically lucid. However, I did act like I was, using dream powers both nights (summoning, flying (leaping over buildings, really)). Fun, if not exactly what I was looking for. I dream this way a lot though, so can't count it as due to the app.

[AMFW]

Day 17: 2 stable LDs, and a couple unstable I immediately woke up from. All were DILDs. I typically don't have these dreams before the second half of the night. Last night they were evenly split between the 5 hours I don't expect to dream, and the last few hours. There were no dreamsigns, and I didn't have to reality check. I found myself dreaming, and for no reason I'm aware of, I was saying, "Alright! Lucid dream, made it!" In two, that's about as far as I got before I woke. In the other two, I was calmer and stabilization tricks worked. (I lick my hands instead of rubbing them together. Gross, yeah, but I don't do it in real life -- that's the point. You could try kissing your elbow, or something similar. The physical sensation is what you're going for.) So, about the app. I've used it more than 21 times now, which means I've followed the instructions so I should be seeing improvements. Here's my Finished With Course Review: It's worth the $3.99 to me. I've paid for a bunch of other apps (binaural beats, etc) for $.99-$1.99, tried dreaming supplements at $20/bottle (ow), so you know where my tolerance for that is. My Real Improvements (YMMV): The short induction helps me fall asleep while thinking about lucid dreaming. It's a passive method (I'm listening to someone else think of what to say next), and I fall asleep before it ends, sometimes. The good here is that my mind is not TOO alert. When I use some of the other methods, MILD, VILD, etc., I'm more likely to stay too alert to sleep, or my mind wanders off topic before I sleep. I'm close to falling asleep for the whole time, and now I am always aware of the tingling numb "not quite asleep" phase. I'm regularly (say, 75% of the time) hitting what for me is a really good hypnagogic halucination stage. That's where I'll notice that the random patterns start to flash, or brighten in parts, or I'll see 1 or 2-second dream flashes. I have learned that once I see these, I'm going to drop off almost immediately, so it's a great time to remind myself that I'm excited about realizing I'm dreaming, one last time. [I've stayed awake past the drop off two or three times in the last couple of years, but WILDing is 99% accidental for me even when I plan for it, so I don't really try.] I've been a serious lucid dreaming hobbyist for a couple of years. This app helped me make more measurable gains than anything else I've tried. Probably because it's easy and passive. Placebo Stuff: The app claims to have a cumulative effect on you and that it makes becoming lucid easier and easier. I don't know enough about hypnosis to have an opinion; I've never tried it before. My LD successes are as likely to be part of my "Wow, got one! That was random." LD schedule as they are likely to be directly caused by the app. I have noticed, admittedly probably because I'm a willing test subject, that I really like the relaxing first half of the induction. I can start it, and within 10 minutes, I'm hitting the tingly numbness phase. That's even if I've had a rough day/had to fire someone at work. Final Results: I'm a Fan. Picky Stuff For Picky People: There's a distinct volume/recording level change between the first half of an induction, where the focus is on physically relaxing, and the second half, where the focus is on practicing mad lucid skillz. This is a little jarring to me. It may be on purpose, because I listen for it now, and it alerts me a little. "O yeah... lucid stuff coming." Physical Induction has two settings: Long (I fall asleep way early), and Short (works for me, but I could also use a version that was half as long). There are no real instructions on what hypnosis is, how it works, or how to use the app. The explanations of what the functions are, are fine. I would have liked to see a "How To Start" section that said something like, "Use this four or five times in the afternoon, while sitting in a chair, when you're not sleepy. This will work at night if you want to fall asleep to it too, but if you follow path X, you might have better results." [I just made that up entirely. I don't know if there IS a best path to using the app. I just use it when I'm going to sleep.] I'll check in once in a while and update this thread if I continue to improve while using the app. -- AMFW

[AMFW]

Last night after 5 hours of sleep, I changed a config setting so that the lucid dream instructions would repeat 11 times (I've only had this at 1 previously). I have been looking for an app that would introduce sounds to me while in REM that would help me realize that I was dreaming, and figured I'd try this app this way. Results: I was in and out of vivid dreams, false awakenings, and lucids for the rest of the night. A lot of it blurred together, so I'll just hit the highlights. Vivid dreams: Saw a coworker from a former job, talked for awhile about nothing, a BS session. It seemed completely "normal" to have this conversation in a staff room, even though it's been years since I was there. FA: I was convinced that I was up too early at one point. The bed, sheets, and cover felt real, and the alarm clock (15' away normally) said 5:45 when I looked. This is impossible IRL, as I don't wear contacts at night. I dreamed I was trying to go back to sleep to make the most of the last 45 minutes before I had to get up. LD: I found myself standing outside at night, in a field. For no reason I'm aware of, I just realized I was lucid, and said so loudly to the night. I remember being amused and surprised, because it was clearly due to the app (see below). I looked up at the sky and thought I'd like to see some shooting stars, green ones, since I was dreaming. [Didn't get them. Must keep trying!] There were a couple other lucids that just didn't last long. Weird "Inception" stuff: I listen to the radio a lot, mostly while commuting. While I was dreaming (including the lucids), I heard the app author's instructions get incorporated into my dreams as if he was a talk show host. I didn't dream of having a radio on... I just heard him saying things, and recognnized him. Some made sense, and some had that garbled text feel to me. In the dreams I didn't question him, even when logically he made no sense. I remember thinking I had the radio on too loud, as he was waking me up, and I turned down the app in one of the FAs. At one point the "show" was interrupted when the app author spoke to a screener about a caller. He gave the screener some "how to deal with this problem" instructions, using the same (hypnotic) droning monotone he uses in the app. I thought it was funny enough to remember. Thought I'd come share it with you all before I went to work. I'm going to try to repeat the same thing tonight in the same way.

[LdJake]

Well i just bought this app, and i will post my day-to-day results on this page

[AMFW]

Welcome aboard, LdJake. Best of luck, and do come back and post what happens! Last night, I tried this on not enough sleep. I went to bed early, then woke up earlier than normal, anticipating a 4:30 AM wake up for an early day. I dreamed a bit, but didn't remember anything post-worthy. Today, I worked a 13 hour day, got home at 7, went to bed at 9:30 (early). I fell asleep to the app (played the repeating "Middle" section once). Woke up about 2 AM to an alarm, and without moving much, reset the app to play the middle 11 times. The Volume setting on the iPod Touch has the indicator above the Vo in "Volume" (as displayed on the app). So... these dreams weren't technically lucid, but were fantastic. It's 3:35 AM, and I'm up typing 'em for you, and I don't journal (yes, I know). Dream 1: I am feeling myself flying. It's a dark night sky with a lot of clouds, and I can feel the water vapor in the air. I am aware that it's a passive scene. Somewhere there's a narrator explaining in a "PBS special" voice about technical aspects of flight. I realize that I'm soaring in one kind of old-world plane after another... line art drawings of impossible flying machines. The best was an under-plane shot a few hundred feet below me. I was in a biplane with very long, fowrard-swept wings. It was silent. For no reason, the dream transitioned to... Dream 2: I am on the back of a flying, dragon the size of a horse. It's flaming, literally on fire, but the heavy saddle and tackle are not burning. The tackle is so over the top, it's like something made for a camell, but it all seems to "fit" naturally, so I don't question. I'm enjoying the absolutely real feal of it. I know it's not real, but I am not highly aware that I'm dreaming. Another mount flies up to me. We're in some sort of battle, though this one is riderless. I anticipate that I can jump to the other, and take it, though it's a dangerous leap. So I pull up close, and leap. I pull up on the reins and fly down towards the gates of a stone-walled city, which open. People dressed in old world clothes welcome me, their conqueror, as I fly in. [Not at all on my list of dreams to have, but fun anyway. I'm listening to the induction text as I write, and a lot of it has to do with flight in general, so I guess this is what my subconscious did with it.] Dream 3: A false awakening. I think I'm trying to sleep, to WILD, in bed. It's a big bed in a studio, which I haven't lived in since college. I'm under the covers, which is not how I sleep normally, but I can breathe and see well. I "feel the shift" and realize I'm WILDing (in the dream), and look out of the covers to find my room has completely rearranged itself 180 degrees from a few moments prior. The dream ends. Dream 4: Another false awakening, I'm not sure. I dream that I'm awake and trying to WILD. I realize that one of the ways I can WILD (which almost never happens successfully) is to visualize letters/text. When I see it, it doesn't make logical sense, and I know that transition is moments away. Large, orange letters appear in my view. They're not normal letters, so I anticipate the change coming. The bed jerks suddenly up almost vertical, then back down, and I can feel the covers whipping about as if there was a wind. There was a lot of noise, nonsense I wasn't really afraid of, as I knew it was harmless, and I woke up. This was just a weird dream that went sideways.

[LdJake]

First night: i listened to the app and finished it and went to sleep, remembered a pretty crazy dream but no lucid, wish me luck tonight :/

[AMFW]

Last night, I went to sleep at my normal time, but set the app to loop the middle (lucid) instruction 11 times, just to see my response to it at the start of the night. I had a series of LDs (varying degrees) and FAs, and woke up after about 5 hours just before I'd normally wake to an alarm. The LDs were just as clear and interesting, confusing fun as others I've had. From this I conclude that my LDs are typically short (seconds to minutes, not hours). There's enough time for a trick or two until I lose focus, however I CAN use that time to practice extending the LD. So, that's really what I need to work on. I have read that LDs are better/longer in the morning hours because REM periods are longer. Which makes sense, but I think I need to get better at this in order to take advantage of the longer time window. Here's what I think is happening: I'm used to listening to the narrator inducing trance, and instructing me. If I listen when I'm really tired (like at the beginning of the night), I stay asleep while he's talking. Then as I get enough rest, the looping LD instruction gets picked up by my raising awareness as I come out of deeper sleep, and the fun starts. I could've sworn I'd been dreaming for hours and hours last night, when I woke to find I still had a few left to sleep. Which I like. I actually felt "full", and turned the iPod to a rainstorm loop (no binaural beats or anything) until getting up for work. Re: Cumulative Effect of using the app a lot: Supposedly this helps. It's true that I didn't get much success until after using the app for a couple of weeks. However, it was only at this stage that I started experimenting with it, using it with extended loops and at the (normally) wrong time of night.

[nechong]

hi, compare this to the rachael meddow, which one give higher success rate?

[starfox69]

Anyone know if this app is on android or if android has a similar app? Sounds pretty interesting and I'd like to try it out, but I'm not a fan of iOS

[Torquetoyield]

Do they have this app or another good one for Android devices?? I'd love to try it!

[Torquetoyield]

(Sorry, didn't see starfox's post)

[starfox69]

This app is on android, how ever its a straight port from iOS right down to the UI and can be a bit buggy at times (it crashes with out fail every time I finish a session) but aside from that its an amazing app. I haven't been using it for 2 weeks yet but I have noticed a slight increase in dream recall, although that could be due to other factors. Even if it doesn't help with lucid dreaming its an amazing app for guided meditation and I always feel completely relaxed and euphoric after I use it, defiantly worth the money.