90 Day Beginner LD Rate Improvement Experiment

SUMMARY
For those tl;dr people.
90 days of techniques that are supposed to induce lucidity in the average beginner. Results will be recorded and analyzed to see if the methods do, in fact, work - when compiled.

BACKGROUND

I've been practicing lucid dreaming for a few years (since the end of 2008) and have had moderate success. I've researched and compiled a few simple methods that are supposed to help beginners, and have decided to implement them in a 90-day trial to see if they boost my success rate.

I welcome others to also participate, but ask that their results are recorded in a separate thread, to keep things neat.
Post a link in this thread so I can follow your success as well! Please don't begin the experiment without having the intention to dedicate yourself and follow through.

Fun fact: A third of the way through the experiment, it should be less difficult to motivate yourself, as it takes approximately thirty days to develop a habit.

INTRODUCTION

• It's been proven that waking up in the middle of the night and walking around the room increases the likeliness of a lucid dream.
• Focusing on lucid dreaming for an hour or more before falling asleep has also been observed to improve the rate of success.
• Reality checks greatly improve the likelihood of experiencing a lucid dream.
• If awoken in the middle of the night, dreams are more likely to be remembered than if not awoken.
• Keeping a dream journal helps to identify dream signs, which help to induce lucidity in the DILD (Dream Induced Lucid Dream) method.
• Repetition with purpose of a statement about dreaming throughout the day improves likelihood of lucid dreams.

Assuming all of the above, I believe that if all of the techniques are implemented, lucid dreaming will be accomplished quicker than if only one or a few were used.

My first goal is to use each of them daily, and record each night's (or day's, in the case of naps) dreams in the hopes of seeing an effect on the amount and quality of lucid dreams.

THE EXPERIMENT

DAY PORTION

• Reality checks are to be used frequently - such as the nose-pinch, looking at hands, general awareness (shadows facing the right direction?), and electronic checks.
• Write down dreams and update an online dream journal daily (or whenever possible, considering the state of my laptop).
• Hourly make a mnemonic statement of sorts - "I will be aware of whether or not I am dreaming."
• For as long as possible before going to bed, thoughts should be centered around dreaming. Suggested activities include reading through previous entries in the dream journal and/or identifying dream signs, as well as identifying goals or intentions that are aspired to be followed through with upon lucidity.

NIGHT PORTION

• An alarm will be set for halfway through the expected amount of sleep. (i.e. out of 7 hours of sleep, 3.5 hours into the night). Upon waking, the extent of dreams will be recorded by a voice recorder to be interpreted and written down in the morning.
• At the same time, a reality check will be performed followed by getting up and walking around the room or visiting the restroom, then going back to bed.
• A mnemonic device will be repeated (same as is used during the day) until sleep resumes.
• Again, upon waking, dreams will be recorded via voice recorder to be interpreted later.

DREAM CONTROL
Each time a lucid is achieved, the dream will be 'grounded' by feeling the textures of nearby objects and closely observing the surroundings for long enough to stabilize the dream. Then, tasks will be completed, such as the Tasks of the Month or something else.

I will be using the 'logical' method of dream control. There is probably another name for it, but this is where instead of forcing things to happen (which can disrupt the stability of the dream, as has often been the case in the past for me) a reason for things to happen is thought of and the dream responds accordingly. i.e. You want to shape-shift, so you think "Of course I'll shape-shift, because it's a full moon and I am a werewolf." You want a hot person to show up at your front door, so you think "I just heard the doorbell ring, ______ is probably here looking for sugar for a recipe!" And so on. However, doubt often invalidates this method.

SOURCES/RECOMMENDED

Lucid Dreaming Guide for Beginners
How to Lucid Dream - wikiHow

KNOWN PARTICIPANTS

N/A

This format will be used for each post. Anything out of the ordinary, that doesn't fit under one of the fields, will go under 'additional information.' This thread will be serving as a dream journal during the experiment.

Dream Recall: Vivid recall of one dream, very faint recall of another.
Improvement?: Yes.

Lucid Dream(s): No.
Improvement?: No.

Dreams:
Dream One - 4:31 AM, 2010/9/26
Audio: "The world was based around having sex, and that isn't really surprising considering the movie I was watching last night ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pie_(film) ). And it was porn, and we were, like, farmers... [pause] 'N I was a dude. And this one chick was after me and I was like, "You slut." [incomprehensible words]"

Translated dream: Cannot recall the actual dream.

Dream Two - 8:57 AM, 2010/9/26
Audio: "My dad picked us up from school in a taxi that was supposed to be a school bus, and there was supposed to be a homecoming dance the next day. And then...we were at my house, and suddenly X's room was there, and we started having to rip out his walls, which were covered in spider webs. And then we went to my room, and E (who is a girl) was like, "Do you wanna have sex?" and I was like "Okay." Then the police called 'n demanded that we take out the screens in my window. And then, so we did that, and then we had to go to the bathroom. She went to the bathroom, and I went to the bathroom, and my cat was there, meowing really loud. And then there was another part of the dream, where we were at like this place, and we went there every day like it was supposed to be a school or something, and there were controls, and I was controlling it. Oh yeah, and back in my room I told E to follow my cat, and we ended up in my room and the cat vanished, and we never ended up having sex, and then I woke up."

Translated dream: There was a building that was supposed to be a school. An elderly lady ran it, so I suppose she would be considered our teacher. However, it was a bit more like a day care for teenagers. There was a board that looked like a sound board (for those who have ever seen one) and I was using it to run the controls on it. The building morphed into my middle school, and the bell rang, so I grabbed my stuff and walked out to find that I had missed the bus. This was a previous dream sign. My dad picked us up from school in what looked very much like a Ford police cruiser but yellow. He was in front of two other cars, and E and I got into the car and he drove us home. There was going to be a homecoming dance the next day, and I realized I hadn't gotten anything for it but didn't want to worry about it. When we got home, E and I went down to my bedroom. For some reason, it was unfinished, without carpet or even walls - just concrete and a bed, much like a cot found in a prison cell. She looked at me and asked, "Do you want to have sex?" I nodded and agreed, said yes. She told me she wanted to do it in some strange position, where you stood shoulder to shoulder with the person, and I just wondered how that would be managed. I Google image'd examples, and still had no clue how it would work. Suddenly, the police called, and I picked up the phone. They demanded that we take out the screens in the windows, so we took them out and started to go upstairs. On the way, we noticed X's room. He's a guy I had a thing with a few months ago, and his room was in my house for who knows why. For some reason, we started to take out his walls, and pry them open and off the cement and wood. On the side that had been attached to the foundation, they were covered in spider webs, and it was disgusting. Then, we went back down to my room. E and I were ready to get on with the hot lesbian sex, but she suddenly got up and walked to the bathroom. I followed her because I found that I also had to pee. The bathroom, like the rest of the basement, was unfinished - it was cement, and lacked a door. My cat was there (who is dead) and he meowed very loudly, repeatedly. I reached down to pet him, and he purred faintly then followed E into the bathroom. After she walked out, I walked in, and sat on the toilet. I held a towel out in front of me, despite the fact that I was entirely naked and she would be seeing me like that in a few moments anyways. She was getting irritated with me, and telling me to hurry up or we'd never be able to do it. I told her I was going as fast as I could, then got up and flushed the toilet and walked out. My cat was still meowing loudly, so I told her to follow him. He vanished somewhere along the way, but we ended up back in my room. Then, I woke up.

Additional information:
I did get up at 4:30 and walk around my room, as well as record that dream. I went back to sleep, but I don't think I was set on having an LD at that point. Tonight I'm going to focus more when I wake up.

Dream Recall: Two dreams, not immediately recalled though.
Improvement?: No.

Lucid Dream(s): No.
Improvement?: No.

Dreams:
Dream One - N/A
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: My friend K has been going through some rough times with a guy friend of hers (potential boyfriend, they had a 'thing,' to put it in high school terms). The other night, she was telling me about how she was planning on writing him to tell him she wanted to end it all, because recently he's put her through hell. In this dream, she messaged me on Facebook telling me how she was distraught and had sent him the message, then showed me her letter. It was about a paragraph long, and it essentially described how she couldn't go on talking to him because he had hurt her so much. But she said how sorry she was, and how messed up she was over it. She said she was "crying as she wrote it," which isn't something she would've said in real life.

Dream Two - N/A
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: I was recently talking to my mom about getting my ears re-pierced, and so it didn't really surprise me when I had this dream. I was standing in front of the mirror, "had just woken up" (my mindset in the dream, although I had no actual recollection of waking up and walking to the bathroom...coincidentally, it looked nothing like any of the bathrooms I've ever had in my house at any point in my life). The bathroom was basically just a mirror and a counter; everything 'behind' me in the mirror was pure white. It was just me. I was looking at myself, and I had 12 piercings in my ears. There were three pairs of two on each of my ears. Each pair was close together, the matching earrings on one ear, and no two pairs were the same earrings. There was one set of hoops, and the rest were studs of some sort.

Additional information:
In regards to the first dream, I can read in dreams, although other people can't. Fun fact for the day. Also, I didn't sleep very well on this particular night, so it's not really any wonder that I don't have very good recall.

Dream Recall: Six dreams recalled.
Improvement?: Yes.

Lucid Dream(s): No.
Improvement?: No.

Dreams:
Dream One - 28/9/10
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: My mom and three siblings were with me. It was A, S, and J. Only A is actually my sibling in real life, but S and J were my mom's ex-boyfriend's children. We were standing in a movie theatre/general store type thing. There were up to six aisle's on the right, and the check-out counter looked like the snack counter at a movie theater, with the listing of movies above the counter. Someone came around the counter as I was standing there, to talk to a fellow employee. I overheard them ask, "How much are we getting paid, $2.50?" I turned in shock at the low payment, only to realize that one of the employees was my friend's older sister. I automatically assumed they were tipped heavily. Then, I was distracted by my mom, who emerged from one of the aisles followed by my siblings with a shopping cart filled with what turned out to be Monster energies, which looked nothing like Monster energies. They were like the standard can, but extremely tall - about three times taller than a typical energy drink's can. We all got different flavors, and mine was orange. We checked out, and then went out to the car, where we fought over who sat where. J (the youngest) called shotgun, so S and I got into the back seat and I sat on the left, she sat on the right. It was a bench seat, so there was a seat between us, but neither of us wanted to sit next to A so we told him to get in the far back (where a third row of seating typically was, but the seats were down, so it was serving as a trunk). He decided that instead, he would lay on the floor, so we rolled our eyes and let him do that, even though it would be less comfortable than just agreeing and going into the back. The car suddenly started moving, but not with the sudden jolt that tells you that you began moving suddenly - more like the dream skipped, as in a movie where it skips the boring stuff where everyone's putting on their seat belts and whatnot. We were going up and down the hills on the way to the town where we go to school, and I didn't recognize the roads at first because forests seemed to have filled the areas where there weren't trees beforehand. Also, it was winter, and the land was blanketed in what looked like freshly fallen snow, which I attribute to the coldness that's been around lately with Autumn rolling in. I asked where we were, and S said, "I don't know, where were we?" Then I realized, and said, "Ohhh! We're on our way towards the school. Well I feel dumb, considering we go this way on the bus every day." (I no longer ride the bus.) She agreed, and then abruptly the car went over a hill, did a roll, and everything vanished for a few seconds. It was completely white, and when I 'resurfaced' I had no idea where anyone was. I started looking around, for my siblings or my mom. I wandered aimlessly over the hill, screaming their names and looking for them. After a few minutes of this, I saw S. My brothers A and J were nowhere to be seen, but I had forgotten about them. I started looking for my mom, and we gradually started to meander in the direction of the school, which was just about a mile farther up the road. (I go to school/will soon live in a small town.) We got to the top of a hill and all of a sudden saw a huge pickup truck (looked like a Nissan Titan on steroids) headed straight towards us, with its headlights on for no apparent reason. I assumed it was a pedophile - not sure how I came to that conclusion - and at the time, I was with just S. I told her to turn and run, and we did. We raced down the hill at top-speed, and as we reached the top of the next one, we threw ourselves into the bush. For some reason, there were three, from what I could make out, people, selling grape juice like a lemonade stand. We hid behind their stand and as the so-called "pedophile" passed, they started to shout at us to "get out, get out!" Moments later, we did, and in the field next to us I saw my brothers J and A riding a scooter - electric Razor type thing. I called them to us, and we made our way the rest of the way into town. As we got there, the dreamscape turned into a water-park setting, with a bunch of small lockers you could pay to use on the right and the actual waterpark on the inside. My siblings said that they were going to go inside, and started to get excited, and I said "Well I'm going to look for my mom. Because for all I know, she could be out in the cold dying!" All of a sudden, my mom walked into view from behind the lockers, in a peach bathing suit with a sun hat on. "No I'm not!" she said. I stared at her in disbelief and I got very mad, very fast, just looking at her. I started to yell at her, tears jumping into my eyes. "You didn't think you could tell ME that? You didn't think I would be worried?! Is it so hard to just call me and tell me that oh, I don't know, you're not DEAD?!" I started to cry, and turned around and began to run away. To my surprise, there was a large group of people gathered, sitting on boulders in various places around the courtyard area just behind us. I ran up the hill, looking away from all of them, ashamed that I made such a scene. I kept my eyes on the ground as I ran away, tears streaming down my face. The dream ended.

Dream Two - 28/9/10
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: This dream began with the same setting that the first dream ended with (the courtyard). Everyone was with a suitor or a significant other, and I started to have a breakdown, because I appeared to be the only single person within sight. I was running away, like in the last dream, trying to get away. As I was on the brink of escaping the prison-like area, I almost bumped into an old friend of mine (no longer really a friend, but not an enemy, per se) who was looking into the eyes of a tall, sexy blonde. He chuckled softly and leaned his forehead against hers, kissed her briefly, then withdrew. I started to sob, because even she - who is essentially the needy type of girl that no boy wants - could get a great guy, and I couldn't. The dream ended.

Dream Three - Sometime after 3:30 AM, 28/9/10
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: I had a brief dream that was a False Awakening. I got up and went into the bathroom, then went into my dad's bedroom and turned on the light. I was checking to see if he was home, as he was out late playing Poker. He was in bed, so I turned off the light and went back to bed.

Dream Four - 28/9/10
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: I was skiing with a group of my friends. We were on two trails, sort of going cross country, but we were supposed to be playing instruments as we did. It was like marching band, except in the winter. However, I have no clue how to play any instrument (maybe a small amount of guitar, piano, drums, or bass, but nothing that's actually considered being able to play it). I was taking a small crash-course thing on how to play the pieces we were supposed to play on trombone, but by the end of the ten minutes we had to practice I didn't know anything. We began our performances, each groups divided. Two of my friends gave me a bit of crap because I didn't know what I was doing and I kept messing up trying to move and play at the same time, but it wasn't too bad. Afterwards, there were many people meandering about. I saw a hot guy, who happened to be on crutches, his leg in a cast. I approached him just as he walked past me, and tapped him on the shoulder. I offered him a friendly smile and asked, "Hey, I couldn't help but notice...what happened to your leg?" He smiled back politely and said, "Ah, I have a rare disease. It's called (some weird name I can't remember)." I frowned a little bit and said, "Oh, it looks painful." He shrugged. "Yeah, it hurts like hell, but it's okay." I smiled a little bit uncertainly then my friends came up and interrupted. The dream ended.

Dream Five - 28/9/10
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: In this dream, there was some sort of fraternity. Someone was narrating, as if it was their story, like people sometimes do in movies where they tell a short portion then let the film tell the rest of the story. Myself and a small group of other girls were crammed naked into a public shower, from an aerial view. Then, it panned out, and then came back to just me standing by myself in the corner trying to get enough warm water. It panned out again, and suddenly there was a huge crowd of people. Everyone was trying to make their way to the double doors (glass) in a large room, waiting for some sort of starting signal. The signal went off, and everyone raced down the hallway. Everyone was looking for something, which would be redeemable for a scholarship. The first person to return with it would get a full ride. I needed it, but they said that if anyone waited for ten extra seconds, we would be able to fly... So I waited. I was watching the clock anxiously, and the second (pun not intended) they rang the second bell I leaped forward. I started to fly; I could feel wings flapping, the feel of wind rushing through my feathers. It was quite vivid as I flew down the hallway, but after I reached the end of it, I glided to the ground and started to sprint, then leaped upward again to fly once more. It seemed like I couldn't stay up for very long, which I now attribute to the size of my rather small wings. The only other person who stayed behind was pulling ahead of me, and suddenly they found the object. They grabbed it, and then the dream skipped and we were back in the crowded room. He was deemed the winner of the challenge and the scholarship. Dream ended.

Dream Six - 28/9/10
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: I think this dream was actually the first one I had in the night, but the chronological order of my dreams is usually slightly askew so I don't really mind. My brother, my dad and I were looking for new houses. We had found one, and were inside it, looking around. Suddenly, I saw a small kitten, hiding behind a small shelf that seemed to hold a TV. It was black. The kitten was an orange tabby, and looked to be a month or two old. I picked it up and started to stroke it, then carried it out of the room to show my brother and dad. They naturally went "Awww!" when they saw it. (This dream is a little bit foggy...I did sleep for a really long time and considering it was probably the first, that does make sense.) There was something about another house down the hill. Then, I took the kitten outside and found another one, identical to it. Both kittens started to play on the other side of a hedge, and I went back inside. My brother and dad stood there and the next thing I knew, my brother shot one of the kittens with a BB-gun, and it collapsed dead. I was shocked, and stared at him, before he picked up the gun to shoot the second one too. Then the dream ended.

Additional information:
I stayed home from school sick today, so I slept for about 11 hours. Thus I had a lot of dreams. And I'm pleasantly surprised with my jump in recall.

I would like to join this experiment. I've been having no luck on getting a Lucid dream yet. I've tried every method possible and posted on multiple experiment threads to no avail. But lately I've been very lazy and so that could be the reason to my lack of success. But I will now just stick to this thread and post here. I will be has committed has I can be no fooling around for me this time. I hope I can learn some new stuff here and finally have my first Lucid Dream here. Thanks. I will comment tomorrow on my dream or at least post the link here.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MrBlonde

I would like to join this experiment. I've been having no luck on getting a Lucid dream yet. I've tried every method possible and posted on multiple experiment threads to no avail. But lately I've been very lazy and so that could be the reason to my lack of success. But I will now just stick to this thread and post here. I will be has committed has I can be no fooling around for me this time. I hope I can learn some new stuff here and finally have my first Lucid Dream here. Thanks. I will comment tomorrow on my dream or at least post the link here.

---

Like I said in the first post, I think it would be beneficial to keep other peoples' posts in other threads so that everything stays neat and isn't confusing. Thanks for joining! I'll put up the link to your thread in the first post when you post it.

Dream Recall: Two dreams recalled.
Improvement?: No

Lucid Dream(s): No.
Improvement?: No.

Dreams:
Dream One - 29/9/10
Audio: "This girl told me I was supposed to be this one ________." (Rough audio, uncertain as to what it actually said.)

Translated dream: I don't remember what actually happened in this dream, but I do remember the dream character. She was a medium height, and she was pretty. She had high cheek bones, flawless pale skin, and sleek light brown, almost hinting at strawberry colored hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was dressed in all black, like some sort of secret agent.

Dream Two - 29/9/10
Audio: "There was some sort of bully or something at school, I can't remember everything. I'll remember later probably."

Translated dream: I did remember later. I was in school, walking up and down the hallways. The lockers, which are blue, each had a picture of a girl taped onto them. It was evidently a freshman Friday, as there was apparently a vicious rumor going around about the girl. However, that's all I remember from that dream.

Additional information:
Didn't sleep very well this night.

Dream Recall: Two dreams recalled.
Improvement?: No

Lucid Dream(s): No.
Improvement?: No.

Dreams:
Dream One - 30/9/10
Audio: "There was a very controlled group... [pause] The person that was in the experiment was someone that I could see (something I can't quite understand?)."

Translated dream: No recall of this dream.

Dream Two - 30/9/10
Audio: "The guy was really old so it was um... [extended pause] cheating on his wife."

Translated dream: No recall of this dream either.

Additional information:
After hearing the audio of the second dream, I feel like my subconscious has some sort of prejudice. Odd. Didn't sleep well on this night either.

Dream Recall: None...
Improvement?: No

Lucid Dream(s): No.
Improvement?: No.

Dreams:
Dream One - 2:30 AM, 1/10/10
Audio: "I was talking to T about my guitar. We went over the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 thing."

Translated dream: Not sure what the audio was talking about. No recall of this dream.

Additional information:
Looks like I had a short bout of my insomnia resurfacing. Should probably invest in getting my Ambien prescription filled.

Dream Recall: Five dreams recalled, awoke early in the night but can't remember that dream.
Improvement?: Yes.

Lucid Dream(s): No.
Improvement?: No.

Dreams:
Dream One - 2/10/2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: The dream began in some expensive looking home. The premise was that I was getting married, to an overly large person who in hindsight I can't recall whether they were a girl or a boy. I was marrying them for their money. (Apparently in my dreams, I am a gold digger.) They were extremely obese, and the dream progressed to the point where we were 'married.' The ceremony never actually took place in the dream, but I remember the partner unbuttoning their shirt (looked like the buttons were fit to burst anyway) and revealing their plenty of fat rolls. The dream ended here. Luckily for my innocence.

Dream Two - 2/10/2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: I think this dream was linked to the last one somehow. I remember ending up in a bathtub with someone else, who seemed obese enough to be the person in the last dream. They insisted to let them 'take care of' me. I was completely naked. The rest of the dream was extremely creepy. >.<

Dream Three - 2/10/2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: This dream was a really sexual dream that I don't really feel like posting all over the internet. It involved another girl o_o

Dream Four - 2/10/2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: This dream I remember being in a desert/beach-like area, then trekking across it and ending up with a few other people. I was talking to my dad, and told him I was going to go take a bath. Once inside the bathroom, which had only a door and a few walls separating it from the rest of the world and wasn't inside an actual house, I turned on the bathwater and tried to flush the toilet for no reason at all. The toilet flushed, and when I went to get in the bath it was about to overflow. Instead of getting in, I just turned off the water and let the bath drain, then left. It was rather weird.

Dream Five - 2/10/2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: I was in my biology room, listening to a teacher instruct us as to how the tryouts for the school floor hockey team would be arranged. I don't quite remember what he said, but he explained that the changing rooms were on the right (which is where the closet is in the actual room). There was a piece of tape dividing half of the room, and the left half was team red and the right was team blue. We would be scrimmaging to decide who made the real team. To my dismay, I noticed that my ex (S) was there. Recently, he spoke to me and we got in a huge fight, so it's not a real surprise he was there. We were dismissed to the changing rooms, where we put on full-body suits that were red or blue and prepared to start the game. Each team would divide into offense and defense, and we'd have one person trying to score goals. The plan changed so that we would not be scrimmaging against each other per se but rather competing to get the best score without opposition. I did my best to pretend that my ex didn't exist, and started to play the game. We were playing with a small rubber ball, and I used my stick to pass it up to our goal-scorer. This continued for the rest of the game (for the sake of boredom, I won't go into details). My biology teacher called a halt and switched up our teams. I was put on the red team with the rest of the relatively good players, but I didn't notice when he put me on the team. I was wondering which team I was on, and he went into the hallway so I followed him to ask. He told me "I put you on the red team, you must have missed it when I made the hand gesture pointing you that way." So I went to the changing room and struggled to switch into a red suit, only to go out and find my team wearing orange and already playing. I quickly realized that the suit was reversible and it was orange on the other side. Then, that portion ended, and my ex approached me and started to argue with me to tell me we should stay friends and keep talking to each other. I can't remember the exact conversation, but he wasn't acting like himself at all. He was pleading with me. We were dismissed from the tryouts and told to leave, so I did. At the end of the hallway was the staircase and two door-like portals. I went onto the staircase and watched people go into the portals (girls in the left portal boys in the right) riding motorcycles which were small and quite quiet, but sounding like they needed a good tune-up. I followed into one, and found myself on an escalator that went down into a store in a mall. The dream ended.

Additional information:
I feel like my subconscious is trying to convince me that I'm a lesbian or bisexual. Which I'm not. How odd.

I couldn't edit the other post. So I made another post so I can show the link to the thread.


http://www.dreamviews.com/f32/90-day...1/#post1542790

I can't edit my first post either to add your link yet but I did send a message to the admin to see if we can get that fixed... I'm not liking the time frame to edit your posts deal. I'll keep an eye on your thread!

Dream Recall: One medium-length dream recalled.
Improvement?: Yes.

Lucid Dream(s): No.
Improvement?: No.

Dreams:
Dream One - 3 Oct. 2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: Very summarized summary is that I found myself inside Hogwarts, then ended up having to leave. I started to cry like a baby.

Additional information:
I already wrote out the entire post but it was lost. Didn't feel like rewriting the entire thing...

Dream Recall: One dream, kind of foggy recall.
Improvement?: No.

Lucid Dream(s): No.
Improvement?: No.

Dreams:
Dream One - 4 Oct. 2010
Audio: "B was there and we were in the school or something and there was an apocolyptic attitude. And E and E2 were there because I went to E's and she had an axe."

Translated dream: I remember being in my school. For some reason, I was at the Middle School instead of the High School. The entire place was practically deserted. I was with my good friend B (who's like a brother to me) and we were wandering around in that wary manner where you feel like something's about to jump out at you. We were both armed. The lights were dimmed, and we were near the front doors; no light was coming from the doors however, making the place

Dream Recall: No recall.
Improvement?: No.

Lucid Dream(s): No.
Improvement?: No.

Dreams: N/A

Additional information: Insomnia has been striking lately. And lately when I wake up in the middle of the night I don't have a clear head.

Dream Recall: No recall.
Improvement?: No.

Lucid Dream(s): No.
Improvement?: No.

Dreams:
Dream One - 4 Oct. 2010
Audio: "In the school, I was freaking out."

Translated dream: No recall of the dream.

Additional information:
This is frustrating.

** The date in the post above is incorrect and should have been the 6th.

Dream Recall: One dream recorded but not recalled, two recalled, and two fragments.
Improvement?: Yes.

Lucid Dream(s): No.
Improvement?: No.

Dreams:
Dream One - 7 Oct. 2010
Audio: "I was at home, and I was talking to B about cutting and I can't really remember what the other thing was."

Translated dream: No recall of the dream.

Dream Two - 7 Oct. 2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: I was in my least favorite class, Honors (Advanced Placement) English. It's not my least favorite because of the material, but because of the teacher. She's a huge bitch, and I don't like her at all. Anyways, I was in her class texting, and all of a sudden she yelled my name and told me to come to her desk. I did, and she told me to give her my phone. I started to cry, and tell her that she didn't understand - that I needed it, for reasons she wouldn't get. In the dream, one of my friends was suicidal or something along those lines.

Dream Three - 7 Oct. 2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: The setting was underneath some sort of bridge or something. I was standing beneath it, and it was rather large - at least a couple hundred feet across, far above us. I was observing as my good friend S and X (from a previous entry) were coming to a confrontation. She had the same thing that happened between X and me happen to her, so I was interested in what she would say. She walked up to him, and she started to yell at him about how he was a player and how she hated him and so on... can't remember the details.

Dream Four - 7 Oct. 2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: (Fragment) We were standing a short distance away from what appeared to be a large Ark, like Noah's Ark without the animals.

Dream Five - 7 Oct. 2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: (Fragment) There was a barn with stalls (for horses) and the dream was based around horseback riding. There were also a bunch of pastures and such but I can't remember much more.

Additional information:
Took 3 mg of melatonin. Think that helped.

** The date in the post above is incorrect and should have been the 6th.

Dream Recall: One vivid dream recalled.
Improvement?: No.

Lucid Dream(s): SEMI-LUCID.
Improvement?: Yes.

Dreams:
Dream One - 8 Oct. 2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: I executed the FILD technique and I was on the very verge of success. I was literally inside a dream and knew I was dreaming, but after a few seconds, I lost it and everything went black. Because of the stress of wishing I had further success with this, I forgot my other dreams completely.

Additional information:
I'm SO CLOSE!

I had a lock-in and didn't sleep on this particular night. When I got around to taking an 8-hour nap later, I think my mind was just too tired and so I didn't dream at all either.

Dream Recall: Three dreams recalled.
Improvement?: No.

Lucid Dream(s): No.
Improvement?: No.

Dreams:
Dream One - 10 Oct. 2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: I had a dream I was with my friend. M and I were in a room of a house, her laying on a hospital bed and me sitting next to her. We were going to use the Inception technique to induce lucidity. (Uhder, how did I miss this?!). She went first, and took the wire and attached it to her wrist. For some reason, it started to suck her blood from her arm. I started to freak out, mainly because getting blood drawn freaks me out and I hate doing it, but also because that's not what the machine is supposed to do... Then, her blood stopped flowing, and she yanked it away from her arm.

Dream Two - 10 Oct. 2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: This dream was actually pretty vivid at some parts. I was standing on the western "coast" of Michigan. There was a fortress, somewhat like an old Greek structure with the white pillars and such. We were standing on the cement, looking out over the churning waves while we waited for someone. After a few moments, a large group of people arrived, and joined myself and the large crowd around me. When I turned around, I saw a person whose features I can't really remember, but I got the vibe from them that they were the pastor of the church in this dream, and everyone around me was from my church and other churches in the area or across the lake. There were a large group of old Viking-type ships tied to the edge of the platform, in which people had arrived. They were from the people who had crossed the lake to get to the ceremony which we were going to perform. The wind was harsh, and whipped against our faces. It wasn't uncomfortably cold but it wasn't warm either. It was like autumn weather. I can't remember what sort of clothes I was wearing, though. A group of people who I knew showed up. They were the people who I met on a mission trip over the summer, and they're from Minnesota. I was smiling and so glad that they were there.

Dream Three - 10 Oct. 2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: This dream was linked to the last dream, but not until the very end. It began that I was running down a street, in a vacant city. There was nobody visible. The street was made of cobblestone. Heaps of snow were lumped on the edges of the road, and I had a frantic feeling, as if I were searching for something, desperately. The edge of competition was sharp in the back of my mind as I raced down the somewhat narrow road. Solid buildings towered on each side of me, like I was in an alley that was significantly wider than usual. I reached the end of the street, and turned onto a much wider road, perpendicular to the street I was on. It opened out to the "ocean," full of dark, crashing waves.

Lying in the snow was a huge diamond - made of ice. It must've been three inches in diameter. I lunged forward, feeling as if I had finally found what I was looking for. It was the answer to the puzzle I was trying to solve. Just then, someone else appeared from what seemed like nowhere - maybe from around the corner, too. She was wearing tennis shoes, but that's all I can remember. The sound of her shoes against the ground was the crunch of ice and snow buckling under her weight. I was about five feet away when she reached the diamond and snatched it up.

I didn't stop; I kept running, trying to catch up with her so I could take it. I reached her, and started to hit her; she hit me back, and, being somewhat bigger than me, I decided it wasn't worth it and backed away. She ran, off to complete the contest. My thoughts were now even more panicked. What would I do? There were two hours left of the contest, and I had to find the biggest diamond, or I would lose. I can't recall what the stakes were, but they seemed huge and important. I turned around, looking for a diamond...

To my left, I saw a huge snowbank, full of crispy pieces of ice as it is in the very earliest stages of Spring when the snow begins to melt and then re-freezes. I bolted toward it and started to root around, shifting the blocks of ice when I suddenly spotted an even larger ice diamond than the other girl had found. It was about five inches in diameter. Instantly, my hands were on it. It was cold, and felt like glass. Its shape was perfect, not a flaw on it. Just moments later, I turned around, and my jaw dropped as I saw, and realized, something. There was a clock on the wall - and the glass over it was definitely made of the substance I was looking for. I realized that this would win the contest for me, hands down.

I picked up a rock, threw it at the clock. The sound of cracking glass splintered through the crisp winter air. I picked up another. Threw it again. The glass fell down to me, and I caught it in my hands unflinchingly. I turned, and I started to run as fast as I could. And the end of the wide road was a boat, like the Viking boats from the last dream. It was big, and someone was waiting for me in it - the man hosting the contest. He was young, in his early twenties, with short blond hair and striking blue eyes. He had a kind face, and was smiling slightly in encouragement as I raced in what seemed like slow motion towards the boat. I could hear the sound of my shoes gripping the pavement underneath me, the sound of small patches of ice crunching occasionally when I crossed them, and I reached the end of the road. I braced myself as I prepared to leap. I gripped the glass from the clock in one hand, and the free hand found the edge of the boat. I vaulted myself up and onto the boat, the waves crashing against its wooden sides, and the dream ended as my feet touched the deck with a hollow thump.

Additional information:
I think... tonight it might happen. Finally. Maybe.

Dream Recall: Three dreams recalled.
Improvement?: No.

Lucid Dream(s): Yes!
Improvement?: Yes.

Dreams:
Dream One - 11 Oct. 2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: I suddenly found myself inside a dream. I was lucid - I remember thinking something along the lines of "Wow, that was fast." I hadn't made my FILD attempt yet, so I attributed it to the "Inception" technique being discussed in the Attaining Lucidity forum which I tried out last night.

The dream was really fuzzy, not very clear at all, and it was short. My brother was there. I stared at him for a few seconds and then started trying to think of what I was supposed to do (my goal was to breathe underwater) and abruptly I woke up.

Dream Two - 11 Oct. 2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: I had a long and very vivid dream all based around the premise of me being on a train. I was in the United States - what appeared to be Florida, or at least that's what I picked up from the mood of the dream. I wasn't traveling with my family, but I was in fact traveling north to be reunited with them after some circumstance that parted us. I think it was vacation or something of the sort. As the train came to a halt at a station, I saw my Uncle (who I haven't seen in a long time because his work requires him to be out of state for a time). I ran up to him and gave him a hug. The dream skipped a little bit - I can't remember some of it, but the next bit I remember was X (Can I just stop dreaming about him already? Geeeeez.) also being on the train.

He approached me and said hello, then started to banter on about some random crap I can't really remember. I do remember a portion of the dream where he owned a dog that I used to have but we got rid of, and I got in an argument with him telling him that I'd had the dog first until he finally believed me. The dream was long and didn't make much sense, but seemed very real at the time. I know there were other parts, I just can't think as to what they were - I was too busy trying to remember my lucid which I had early in the night to try to remember the details of this dream in the morning.

Dream Three - 10 Oct. 2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: I was standing on a hillside with a group of people. Some other part of the dream was concerning trees, but I can't remember that part with all that much clarity either. I remember there being a circle. A few friends and my brother were running around the circle, playing a game I had created... The point of the game was to chase each other, and cut the back of the person in front of you while also trying to escape the people behind you. It was played shirtless. Like tennis, quarters, or bloody knuckles, etc. the object of the game was to be the one who withstood the most pain.

As I watched, my brother was in front of my friend N. He was cut on the back a few times, and the next thing I knew N was in front of my brother. My brother struck out, carving a line down N's back that started to bleed. Again, he struck out, cut him again - in the same spot - opening up the wound and making it much deeper. For a third time, he sliced open the back of my friend and blood started to run down his body, but he still didn't quit. This was when the dream ended.

Additional information:
Just realized that I've had a lot of dreams about trains throughout my lifetime... Hmm. Also, I didn't sleep well at all last night. I fell asleep relatively quickly (using the "you're going down some stairs and each time you go down another stair you get more relaxed" technique I was prepared for bed pretty fast), but I woke up a ton last night and couldn't seem to stay asleep very long at a time. It sucked.

Also, the date on the last dream is CORRECT. I forgot to put it in the last post.

I hardly slept last night. I was tossing and turning for most of the night, and the only time I actually slept fitfully was the last 40 minutes which didn't contain a dream. I had dreams throughout the night, but I can't remember them, despite the prompts on my phone. Hopefully I'll sleep better tonight.

I've taken melatonin the past few nights and also haven't slept well. I'm not going to take it tonight and I'll see if that affects my nights' rest.

Dream Recall: Three dreams recalled.
Improvement?: Yes.

Lucid Dream(s): No.
Improvement?: No.

Dreams:
Dream One - 13 Oct. 2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: The dream was rather odd. Under some circumstances, I and a guy were hiding from... something. People, I think; our enemies for unknown reasons. We were in a small pond, surrounded by trees, in a dark and somewhat foreboding forest. The pond was about the size of a hot tub, with equal depth and circumference, but it was full of muck and completely disgusting. I cringed as we slipped into the waters, understanding that it was important for our survival but grossed out nonetheless. For some reason, I found myself naked. I was uncertain, thinking. I wanted a boyfriend, but N wasn't really my type. But could he be? Could I get over it, and love him anyway? The next thing I knew, I was hugging him. He picked me up and pulled me up to his side and whispered things to me. I remembered this scene from somewhere, remembered the uncertainty...

When I woke up, I remembered that it was from my summer "romance." X. Again.

Dream Two - 13 Oct. 2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: I think I remember something about snow. Being out skiing, at the local ski place that I used to go to all the time when I was a little bit younger. I stopped going there consistently around 6th or 7th grade. Anyways, I saw a cute blonde, shaggy hair. He had on a beanie. I can't remember if he skied or snowboarded, just that he was adorable. Instantly, I thought "I am so dumping N for this kid." In real life, I wouldn't do something like this (mainly because I wouldn't date N in the first place), but it made complete sense in the dream. So I texted N, telling him that I didn't think it would work out and that we were better off as "just friends." Then I continued to flirt with the insanely cute guy.

Dream Three - 13 Oct. 2010
Audio: N/A

Translated dream: I dreamed that I was awake. I was at school, in History. N is in my class. I was telling him about the first dream, that I had a dream that I was dating him and then dumped him for a hot guy.

Additional information:
I haven't been attempting FILD lately. I wanted to take a quick break from trying so hard before getting back in the game. This is consistent for the next few posts (up to 10/17/2010).

This thread looks as if it's died; however, the experiment is still currently running. My computer access, however, has been further limited. Until my laptop is completely fixed, it's unlikely that I will post unless I have a lucid (which hasn't happened recently, due to a severe increase in my insomnia).

The experiment is still on.

However, daily updates will not be seen frequently. Sorry!