Starting out, detailed experiences

Hi all, I'm new to this forum but not the idea of lucid dreaming. My purpose for this thread is to log my experiences, and possible help out some other people.

First off some background...

About 10 years ago (I was 16ish) I became interested in LD and astral projection (something I now believe to be the same thing (just my humble opinion)). I began working on my focus concentration through meditation. I became quite good, being able to maintain focus for extended periods of time (hours). At the time the internet was not what it was so I never really had access to good information and experiences from others. I was going off the ideas of astral projection at the time, which felt somewhat mystical to
me... so without the intention or motivation (real stead-fast belief that this was real) to Lucid dream my focus techniques went largely unrewarded. I only ever became lucid once that I can recall (my focus technique was similar to most WILD's, meditation and visualization) not knowing about the transition from awake to dreaming, I was understandable very scared, the experience has become clouded by time (10 years has passed) but I distinctly remember hearing my heartbeat like someone pounding a drum beside my head, was quite disturbing to me, passing though this stage, slipping to what I believed at the time to be the void, and becoming very excited and waking myself up.

Sadly, I gave up after this experience not understanding what had happened... (remember at the time I had researched astral projection, so I had expected something different from the experience). Since then, I have had a few DILD moments (only fleeting experiences like "Am I dreaming, omg I am, omg I just woke myself up") but nothing that really peaked my interest again.

Fast forward 10 years, new job, new life and some nasty habits picked up along the way. (which is partly why I'm writing this)

During those 10 years I became an avid pot smoker, 2-3 joints a night sometimes, and I developed the nasty habit of overeating during the late hours... not so much due to pot smoke as much to do with boredom...

So what does this have to do with LDing? Well I discovered your site about 2 weeks ago and became fiercely interested in Lucid dreaming again, since so long ago it felt like something mystical and not all that real... but now reading this site and some many others experiences I have realized this is very real and very possible.

Thus my journey began, but not to much success the first 2 weeks. I simply had the goal to increase my Dream recall since it had all but been abolished. Prior to a few days ago I remembered a dream once a month MAX if not once every six months! How sad!...

So I started cold turkey so to speak... falling asleep with the intention to remember my dreams that night... and well, this simply did not work... days passed with absolutely nothing. Could I have permanently impaired my REM cycle with the pot? was my biggest concern... I always knew there would be unforeseen consequences to this habit, but this terrified me.

So I decided I needed to change my approach, but being stubborn, would not give up the pot... yet;

First Night;

Quit eating after 7:30 pm (self explanatory) could digestion be hindering my REM cycle...

As I fell asleep I almost slipped into an LD right away, had a very strange dream of washing dishes with my wife, realizeing I was takeing dishes from what should have been the stove in my kitchen, and that I had done the dishes that night already I realized I was dreaming and woke up.

The strange part is this dream was not vivid at all, almost like watching black and white TV, was this HI? or a lucid moment from someone very inexperienced?

As I understood it, I don't enter REM until at least 90 mins or so after sleep, so how could I dream right after I fell asleep? If anyone can explain this I would love to hear it.

I recorded the experience on my tape recorder and went back to bed, attempting to WILD but failing miserably and falling asleep.

Woke up the next morning remembered nothing else, disappointed but not discouraged at this point.

Second night, I needed to take more drastic measures...

1. I dug up an old hypnosis/behavior change cassette I had used 10 years back to help relax.. (had anxiety problems at the time, and this is how the hypnosis tape came into my hands).. I call the tape "mirror of the mind" but if anyone is interested I can post the name of the guy and the actual title. This tape is something special I have used it for many things and it Always works.

Basically the first night I used it I planted the suggestion I wanted to remember my dreams that night.

2. "The big one" for me, quit smoking pot!!! Wow this is going to be decently hard because like I said at least a joint/night for me for years and years..

No doobies, no food, and 1 hour before sleep planted suggestion that I would vividly remember my dreams from that night. Sure Enough 2:30am hit (I fell asleep around 12:30) I woke up from the most vivid dream I can recall for many years... It was very lengthy and had no cohesion, more details later (it was lengthy, I recorded this and was so excited, attempted WILD again but no success... That was it for the night...

So what have I learned so far...

1. Quit smokeing pot if you are haveing trouble with dream recall, I know some people don't and thats fine, but for me, I am not going to touch the stuff again (except some circumstances like occasions etc..) It was seriously like night and day, I know the hypnosis helped but I really fell this is the big one...

2. Self hypnosis is great for improving dream recall, try it if you are a beginner... the way I see it is my focus is very low right now, and why not let my subconscious do the work.

I'd love some feedback on the following;

Some possible dream signs I experienced;

Kitchens, and dishes?! Both dreams featured them prominently at some point throughout the duration.... what the hell ! I don't work in a kitchen btw

Universal dream signs (I guess?) experienced... Lack of cohesion, big time... possibly due to inexperience with dream recall

Dream went from night to day with no appreciable change in light levels.

EDIT: I knew the difference between night and day, its hard to explain, but it felt like night... the sky was dark etc, but it was still bright everywhere...

People were changing rapidly from moment to moment...

People exhibiting odd behavior (boss who is normally agreeable acting like a school yard bully, random guy took a digger into concrete for no appreciable reason haha!)

Leads me to physical weakness, boss was pushing me repeatedly and I was helpless to fight back...

Physics incorrect (A plastic pylon caused my honda civic to spin violently and totaled the front end, quite comical when I think about it, notably this seems like the start of the dream, or at least my first point of memory)

False awakenings? I kind of feel like this happened a number of times that night... I vaguely recall walking around, even possibly interacting (this is very vague... like a feeling we interacted but no memories) with my wife (she was sound asleep, a very sound sleeper, I would not be able to wake her without full being awake as it would take a lot of pestering) and hearing loud noises, yelling outside etc... but I can't remember the source and I can't make sense of what was said.... was like a jumble... recalling it seems like it went on for a while, but I can' t recall the details of the experience... and since I awoke from REM at 2:30, that means I slept from 12:30 or 1ish to 2:30 around 90 minutes... was I asleep the whole time possibly? I remember diligently reality checking that night, but during this experience I can't remember specifics and certainly can't remember doing any reality checks.

--------------

So that about sum's up my first 2 nights of dream activity after about 10 years of stagnation. I will try to keep people updated as I go.. Hopefully I can help some other Noobs, and veterans can give me some feedback

Wall o' text off, sorry for meandering here and there but thats just how my writing comes out, like a flow of consciousness thing...

Thanks for reading, If you did.... back to work, before I get fired...

What a post! Welcome to Dreamviews. As I first started reading, I had my doubts. But you put a smile on my face when you said you were willing to give up your addiction for the good of dreaming. Your hypothesis is correct: marijuana does hinder recall, and probably hinders lucidity as well. (And just think: when you finally lucid dream, you can smoke pot there with no adverse effects). I don't think that your past pot smoking will permanently affect you.

Your first dream sign seems pretty neat, along with your last. They'll provide a good start with reality checks. Reality check whenever you find yourself doing dishes, and whenever you wake up (even if you are sure you are awake!). Also, I expect pot will become a new dream sign for you. Tell yourself that the next time you are smoking pot, you are probably dreaming.

One more thing. If you want to log more of your dreaming experiences, why not start a dream journal?

Welcome to Dreamviews! I hope that many lucid dreams fly your way!

Great stuuf!

And feel free to post the name of that hypnosis audio tape :)

When I get home from work I definitely will, at some point I want to make an MP3 of this as well, as the cassette player stopping at the end of the tape can be extremely jarring..

Good luck with your dreams. I too used to lucid dream quite often, then it stopped. Wasnt really focused on it and pretty much lost memory of my dreams. Had a really vivd dream(not lucid) a week ago or so, found this site, did searches on the net and got started on taking control again. The day I started a journal, I have had something to write every morning. My recall seems to be in great shape but having problems becoming lucid. I just cant catch myself dreaming. I wake up 2 or 3 times a night naturally and think about it, but back to sleep and dreaming. No lucidity. Not giving up by any means. The lucids I used to have are still fresh in my mind from 10 years ago. Theres almost nothing that compares with them. I even think Ive been to Heaven in a lucid before.Didnt see God or Jesus or any of that, but the place was just.....felt like love. The most vivid of all of my lucids.

Ocean morning / The rainbow
Michael H. Samuelson
The National Center for Health Promotion (1986)

As you can see it's quite old, good luck finding a copy... If anyone is interested.. I don't think they would have too much problem with an MP3 reproduction seeing as how the copyright is 22 years old.

A Google search finds the guy quite easily seems he moved on to become a motivational speaker...

So last night was not so good. Used the same technique, although I was having trouble focusing during my hypnosis so I doubt my planted suggestion made a huge impact.

I had a bout of food poisoning on the weekend and I still don't feel recovered completely, which is probably drawing a lot of my focus

I will be back at it tonight but last night can't help but feel like a set-back

I wouldnt sweat it, ive been trying for about a week now and havent been lucky. I think I got close this morning, but fell asleep. Also, I think im trying to hard, and you might be too. Good luck.

Well last night was a little better, making progress I guess you could say. Woke up right at 2:30am, same time I awoke a few nights ago with a very vivid dream. But this time I woke up and right away my thoughts shifted to my air conditioner, which had froze over and was making clunking noises, couldn't remember any dreams (I did a reality check at this point) but i was indeed awake.

Went back to sleep

Woke up at 6am when my wife got up (1.5 hours before I get up for work) went back to bed and had a vivid dream. When I recorded the dream down later, I realized the dream had featured a clock (It said 9:30 haha) anyhow.. one of my attempts at reality checks is to use the digital clock, every time I check the time I do a reality check also.

Seems my unconscious may be beginning to incorporate the clock face as something important (when I close my eyes I can still see the super bright red numbers etc)... it just hasn't put it together with the reality checks... It was like the clock was the most stand out feature in the dream but I just didn't take the next step.

Also, I believe co-workers may be a dream sign for me. 2/2 vividly remembered dreams this week featured a co-worker. Work is very stressful right now though, so this may be a false sign (if thats possible)..

Also another question for vets but I'm going to start a new post, if anyone is reading I'd love advice on that one too!

Definitely looking forward to the weekend, lots of going back to bed in the morning...

I dont want to seem like im following your threads around, but I feel like im in the same boat as you are. I can get right to the edge but either fall asleep or get too anxious and blow it. Last night I made it to sleep paralysis( only about 3 seconds worth) and got anxious(not scared) and lost it. I did find that doing certain things with your eyes really brought on the SP and the feeling of fading out. Almost like trying to read the back of your eyelids. On a side note..does anyone know if your eyes cross at anytime during sleep? Good luck.

No worries man, thats why I started the thread, a sounding board helps.

As far as I know eyes don't cross during sleep, they roll up-wards slightly but I think thats it. (Save, REM movement)

I find I definitely have that problem... anytime I get close to sleep paralysis or any sensation or vision I think "OMG it's starting" then I get snapped back to reality...

Also another problem I have is swallowing... I always get the urge, should I do it or suppress it?

I think you have to swallow, if not you become uncomfortable. I found that with your eyes closed...if you can picture your body from the neck down, lying in bed,(almost like you had your eyes open and were looking down the length of your body) it helped detach you from your senses, so to say. I was able to do this several times and it would bring on the sensations of SP, but I would get anxious and ruin it. I assume the anxiety will slowly fade away and success will be had. I have never TRIED to lucid dream before, it always happened naturally or by accident. Im sure we are trying to hard.