# Lucid Dreaming > DV Academy > Current Courses > Intro Class >  >  Kaizen's Workbook ॐ

## Kaizen

I somehow managed to miss this awesome workbook resource available,and only stumbled upon it out about it last night!
I've been dabbling haphazardly in lucid dreaming for the past 3 years now and just recently made a concerted effort in mastering this skillset/superpower when joining DV.
Although I'm not a full noob I think it would be best if I start from scratch in this setting,as the constant dabbling has made my learning proccess become stunted and unstructured.
Clean slate..here we go.  ::lol:: 

*Reality Checks:*

I currently use an application on my cellphone that rings a Tibetan gong every hour that reminds me to perform my reality checks.

I'm also trying to reality check at certain times of the day before certain actions to increase my prospective memory.(Upon awakening, before showing, eating breakfast etc)

The Major reality checks I currently use are:

-Looking at my hands closely for and discrepancies/put fingers through hand
-Read  written text twice and notice any changes
-Remember where I just came from and what I was just doing

And Minor when possible:

-Look at myself in the mirror for any discrepancies 
-Put my hand through a wall
-Switch a light on and off
-Examine something digital to see if it is working

*Dream Signs:*

Characters:

-My best friend(who now lives overseas)
- My brother
-My two cousins (who are brothers)
-My aunt and uncles family (whom I don't associate with anymore,mentally traumatic experience)
-Old school and university friends and teachers/lecturers (whom I never see anymore)

Places/Things
-Surfing
-Trains/train stations
-At school/ university/in a classroom (finished school 7 years ago and graduated 3 years ago)
-India and Portugal (where I used to live)
- Outdoor festivals/parties (which I still attend)
-In front of a mirror having to shave my goatee off

Emotions/Feelings

-Having to get somewhere/lateness
-Approval seeking/showing off
-Anxiety

*Short-Term Goals:*

-Identify details in dream signs and associate the with RC's

-Increase prospective memory

-Increase vividness of Dream Recall (dialogues,descriptions of dreamscapes ie colours, names, what dream characters where wearing etc)

-Stabilizing lucidity and maintaining lucid awareness

-Complete Basic Task of the Month every Month

*Long-Term Goals*

-Complete Advanced Task of the Month/year every month/year.

-Summon my Higher self/Spirit Guide/Inner power Animal and let him/she/it determine the direction of my life

-Summon my feminine side and become one with her/form a close relationship.

- Contact Hyper-Dimensional beings and entities and channel their messages for the human race (Pleidians, Sirians, Arcturians etc)

-Meditation,dream yoga practice and determining the nature of Prana/Chi/Life Force energy.

-Explore the energy centres of the subtle body fully (Chakras) to increase psychic ability

-Explore the nature of psychedelic consciousness through dream space.

-Converse with past leaders and influential people( Gandhi,Einstein, Tesla etc)

*Lucid/ Dream Recall*

-I've most likely had about 20+ lucid dreams so far, but they seem to end rather quickly as my stabilization is not yet solid.I always feel rushed when i become lucid,and need to calm myself more.

-My dream recall is pretty solid,usually remembering at least one full dream and many fragments each night.

*Current Technique*

-DILD using WBTB and MILD

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## Kaizen

Any advice on modification etc will be much appreciated,Thanks!
 ::D:

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## Kaizen

Night 1 of my formal workbook journey commences.

I plan on sleeping for 4.5 from hours from now(11:30pm) then WBTB with MILD.

I'll also be reviewing my previous nights dream and using a mantra (I will have vivid dreams tonight and will remember them) before going to sleep now.

See you on the other side ::lol::

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## Kaizen

I'm on WBTB at the moment after having slept for about 4.5 hours.

Overview of dreams /fragments:
- I'm in the proccess of having an arranged marriage and I find it to be a huge joke thinking it must be some kind of prank being pulled by friends. 
My new wife doesn't feel the same and she's straight face standing at the alter. I run outside the church-like building and see some Russian men selling Raw Cacoa chocolates in red mesh sacks out of a corner stall.
I buy two packets and begin eating one immediately.

-I scan over a Google map from birds eye view. The map shows the freeway and the curving exit that I'm meant to take.The road is surrounded by lush trees.

-I operate a Gatling gun on a helicopter,and somehow fly the craft too.The entire scene looks cartoonified as I fly over the sea.

So BTB now. I'll be using MILD with a mantra,and my lucid goals are to stabilize the dream and perhaps complete the task of the month.

See you in a bit! ::wink::

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## Kaizen

Unfortunately no lucid dreams last night  :Sad: 

On returning to sleep after WBTB I found it particularly difficult to fall asleep while repeating my mantra and visualizing the dreamscape.
It was almost as if the concentrating mind prevented drowsiness.
I have experienced this before while in early morning meditation,although in that case I didn't want to dose off so the concentration helped.

Any thoughts or tips?

The dreams i had weren't particularly vivid,and recall was fragmented.I attribute this to me being extremely tired when going to bed initially,but who knows.

Dream summaries/Fragments:

-I looked at various sites on the internet for plane tickets to South America while lying on a double bed. Next to me a  loud, plump quintessential Spanish woman with black hair,a corset top and black knickers on knelt beside me. I could sense a male presence in the room. She started ranting in Spanish,something about "poquito".
I returned the banter with a couple Portuguese phrases like "tash Fish,Ta bong,toet beng".
I watched as the computer visualization on the screen was flying (or was I??) over the Earth and started moving through the depths of the Amazon jungle.
I observed entranced.

- I sat in a toilet cubicle with Brandon,and old friend,while he showed me the new cellphone designs.
He then takes a medium sized onion out of his pocket and proceeds to cut it in half with a sharp knife.
According to him this was the new telephonic device of choice. 

-I stand in the very front of the dance floor where the stage is lit up red and indigo at a big festival in Goa,India.
My good Indian friend,Shai, happened to be DJing. He played some deep fractal psychedelic trance.
 Another friend, Samantha, encouraged me to try to hula hoop. I prefer Poi but think "what the heck" and give it a go.
I managed to do a couple of moves without looking completely retarded.

My cellphone starts vibrating and ringing in my pocket. It's Penelope from South Portugal.
I scurry into a quiet corner shop away from the chaos, examining the weird latex party masks and translucent glowing gum boots while answering the phone and speaking to her.
"I'm in Goa!I wanna meet up with you!",She exclaims.
"Sure I'm available right now,come to this party I'm at",I reply.
"Umm actually i forgot, I can't right now because the forum post didn't get enough hits, but your cousin is somewhere close by so maybe you can meet with her instead.",she hungs up.

Confused by the  odd phone call ,I simply shrug it off.

Soon after I get a message from my Ex-girlfriend asking if I posted something on her Facebook wall. 
"Not that I remember",I text in return.
I go check her profile directly after my reply and notice she has new photos with her bf plastered all over her wall from the "crocodile dundee" camping trip the just went on, next to the same river where I attended the Rainbow Gathering.
I could feel a slight spark,a tinge of jealousy ignite in my chest.

When I walked out of the party store the dream scene had changed slightly. A large yellow roller coaster stood at the forefront of my vision.
All my friends where jumping on and signaled for me to do the same as it would set off soon.
I sprinted to the very back seat and made it just in time.
As the roller coaster jolted into motion I began putting the seatbelt on, and to my dismay mine didn't clip into place. It was broken!
We began to lurch forward up the steep incline to where a sheer drop lay.I shouted for it to stop but the ride continued slowly upward to the summit.
I figured my best bet would be to hold on for dear life.

Luckily,the ride was fairly tame,and from what i can remember i managed to not fall out of the seat.

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## Kaizen

The entire day I felt lethargic and agitated. I figured some Yoga would help,and attended a late night  heated room class.
During the class one of the students directly to the right of me passed out,almost taking me with him to the floor in the process!
My friend and i carried him unconscious out to get some fresh air.

On arriving at home i realized i had left my cellphone behind the reception desk.
My phone is the only alarm clock I have,and soon realised this may be a slight problem if i was wanting to WBTB.

I surrendered to the situation, and decided i would try WBTB, but naturally.
Having no worries of an alarm seemed quite relaxing,and i managed to fall asleep effortlessly,having vivid strings of non- lucid dreams.
Here's one of them. 
Surfing in the City(Pt 1) - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Upon awaking and writing down the last dream I had i continued to lie in my bed and held awareness with my eyes close.
What happen after was strange, and a first for me.
I seemed to slip in and out of "mini" dreams...some being semi lucid.
I remember one of them where I distinctly felt i was lying in  my bed with eyes closed,seeing only darkness.

Then it was as if some hypnogogic images converted into a dream,and when I looked around i was on some kind of bunk bed in a dream.
Soon after i lost lucidity, or there was only a surface layer of lucidity.

This happened more than once.

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## NyxCC

Hey Kaizen, welcome to intro class!  :smiley: 

Your ld schedule looks great so far!





> On returning to sleep after WBTB I found it particularly difficult to fall asleep while repeating my mantra and visualizing the dreamscape.
> It was almost as if the concentrating mind prevented drowsiness.
> I have experienced this before while in early morning meditation,although in that case I didn't want to dose off so the concentration helped.
> 
> Any thoughts or tips?



Whether I'm trying to wild or just to fall asleep, I usually focus on my body, trying to feel it becoming more relaxed and light. You can also combine this with focus on inner silence or on your breath, this usually does the trick. Hope this helps!

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## Kaizen

Thanks for the info NyxCC :smiley: 
About to do some a meditation to relax the body,followed by a dream incubation and mantra.
I plan on a WBTB at 4.5 hours after I fall asleep.
Wish me luck ! ::alien::

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## Kaizen

So the past 3 nights I've had plenty of dreams (3-4 a night - check DJ) and my recall is improving dramatically, although no full blow lucid awareness.
One or two dreams i'd actually be speaking to Dc's about lucid dreaming,trying some arbitrary induction method or have a weird pseudo- lucid state where I'm only on the surface layer awareness but easily slip back into the dream state.

I find this fairly strange because before I started the workbook i seemed to have them more frequently,and now it seems as though there's some added pressure to perform and get results which is actually hindering the process.

The night of the 29th when I performed a WBTB i found it difficult to get back to bed.
Once i did eventually fall asleep I was extremely tired. That night i had many dreams,but none lucid.
The following night I slept over at my girlfriends place so i thought id take a break.

Last night I performed a WBTB, waking myself after 6 hours of sleep.
I decided to stay in my bed during the initial wake up and dream journaling so it would be easier to fall asleep going BTB.
The method worked for falling asleep quicker, but the MILD was slightly more difficult to perform having the groggyness from not getting out of bed.
Alas no lucids last night either  :Sad: 

I'll be trying WBTB tonight after a 4.5 hour sleep,with focused MILD, but trying not to worry about the results too much as i feel this is the very thing that is holding me back.

Anyone else have a similar experience?or advice on the situation?
thanks

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## Kaizen

Also a little miscellaneous question: How do I add something to my name? Wish to add a little AUM sign to it. (ॐ)  :smiley:

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## Kaizen

Managed to have a short but sweet lucid dream last night after WBTB,followed by a False awakening that I caught ::lol:: 
It was almost like a hybrid false awakening sleep paralysis vibe. Strange nonetheless.

You can read the full dream here:

The Quintuple Rainbow (*Lucid) - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Any comments,tips, advice or just plain fun banter will be much appreciated  :Big laugh: 

Keep smiling fellow Oneironauts!

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## NyxCC

Congrats on the ld, Kaizen!  :smiley:  Great dream control with the stretchy hands! The rainbow must have been quite a sight.





> One or two dreams i'd actually be speaking to Dc's about lucid dreaming,trying some arbitrary induction method or have a weird pseudo- lucid state where I'm only on the surface layer awareness but easily slip back into the dream state.



This is pretty good! In-dream wilds are awesome. 





> I find this fairly strange because before I started the workbook i seemed to have them more frequently,and now it seems as though there's some added pressure to perform and get results which is actually hindering the process.
> 
> I'll be trying WBTB tonight after a 4.5 hour sleep,with focused MILD, but trying not to worry about the results too much as i feel this is the very thing that is holding me back.



You don't need to worry about the results as much. The class is self paced and there is no rush. It takes a while to figure out what works for you - this is a process that everyone goes through. The important thing is to be motivated and also be consistent with the practices and results will follow. ::goodjob2:: 





> Also a little miscellaneous question: How do I add something to my name? Wish to add a little AUM sign to it. (ॐ)



You can write something just _below_ your name, by going to control panel and then edit profile, where it says current user title.

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## Kaizen

Last night was spectacular.I had two,maybe 3,LONG lucid dreams and completed the TOTM.
And what makes it even more amazing is that they occurred BEFORE my WBTB!
I believe it had something to do with the ADA tutorial i read and  implemented before my sleep during meditation.

I didn't even RC or stabilize.Everything was just so vivid, there was no need to. :Big laugh: 

Aliens Attack the Airport (Pt1) (*Lucid) (TOTM) - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

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## NyxCC

Awesome! Congrats on your first wings and the long lds!  ::D: 

Didn't find the entry with the meditation? That must be coming soon I guess!

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## Kaizen

Thanks Nyxcc ::lol:: 

Part two of the dream is now up:

Aliens Attack the Airport (Part 2) (*Lucid) - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Hiked up the mountain with my GF yesterday and didn't bother to WBTB partly because exhaustion and also not wanting to wake up her up...although I'm recalling many vivid non-lucids.
May have to spend some more time with the dreams and less with the GF haha! ::rolllaugh::

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## Kaizen

> Didn't find the entry with the meditation? That must be coming soon I guess!



I was referring to the Vipassana(sensation) meditation I performed just before going to bed.Goes along the same lines of ADA and i feel it contributed to me become vividly lucid that night  :smiley: 

In Part two of the dream you will also read that I performed another meditation while lucid with interesting results.

Very interested to delve deeper into realms of altered states of consciousness within a LD  ::alien:: 

Up up and away!

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## Kaizen

Also, any idea how i can change my name to add an "ॐ" sign to it?

Thanks  :smiley:

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## NyxCC

You can write something below your name (where Dream Guide is written below mine for example), by going to *Control pane*l and then *edit profile*, where it says current user title. 

If you want to change the user name itself, then that costs community hall points. 

Thanks for the explanation. Will read your entry!  :smiley:

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## Kaizen

I'm on a WBTB at the moment,after a surfing/train dream. I've noticed that these are another two dream signs which appear often in my dreams.
I'll be doing some MILD before going BTB and i hope to complete the Expecto Patronus task when lucid.
See you on the other side. ::D:

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## Kaizen

No luck last night  :Sad: 
I did,however, realize a new dream sign that seems to appear often in my non-lucid dreams.
I feel that I'm somehow leaving lucidity up to chance.
Although I complete RC's regularly (every hour with an alarm) I somehow believe that my prospective memory is not being stimulated.
My hypothesis on the irregularity of lucidity is that I need to start linking my RC's with my dreamsigns.
I'm choosing to stick to the MILD with WBTB for another week before attempting another technique

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## Kaizen

Just updated my dream signs to include surfing and trains,these seem to be popping up more than often. ::lol::

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## NyxCC

> Although I complete RC's regularly (every hour with an alarm) I somehow believe that my prospective memory is not being stimulated.
> My hypothesis on the irregularity of lucidity is that I need to start linking my RC's with my dreamsigns.



Yes, it would be good if you can link RCs with dream signs, upon encountering them or if not possible then by imagining them. When you do your RCs, do you truly consider you could be dreaming right now? Are you excited? You can also try stimulating your prospective memory by projecting your intent forward, feel how the RC will result in an ld, something like incubating a deja vu, incubate the dream with your RC.

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## Kaizen

Thanks for the info NyxCC, much appreciated ::chuckle:: 

My practice has taken a slight dip over the past couple of days, as I've been spending lots of time  and late nights with the GF before she leaves to Norway tomorrow.
From tomorrow night onward i'll be full power again  :Cheeky: 

I've still been been keeping my dream journal up to date,having several dreams per night.
Last night I even dreamt that I was in a lucid dream lecture, talking to the old and wise female oneironaut about the techniques I've been using.
I'll post a full dream entry soon.

Also,I've been waking up in the middle of the night and experiencing a peculiar phenomenon.
Upon awakening I keep my eyes closed and concentrate on the blackness seen behind the eyelids.
After a short while it feels as though everything is vibrating and there's a sense of fear or presence of entities within the room.
I seem to snap out of it due to fear without holding onto the feeling too long.

Any ideas what this could be?

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## NyxCC

Seems to me that you might be starting a wild/transition. Don't focus on unpleasant or scary things, focus on the awesome dream that awaits.  :smiley:

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## Kaizen

Last night was quite the labyrinth of dreams.I performed a 6 hour WBTB.
 In total I had about 11 discernible dreams, one of them lucid and many  fairly fragmenty.
The lucid dream occoured before my WBTB,which has now happened on several occasions.Hmm,strange but I'm happy nonetheless. 

Here's the latter part of the lucid:

Expecto Pen in the Toilet (*Lucid)(TotM attempt) - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Today i'm working on ADA keeping at the WBTB with MILD tonight.

Have a peachy day!

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## NyxCC

Oh, that was a cool ld! Interesting stabilization tech that the DC taught you. You know what, maybe your spell did work, after all your arm took on a will of its own.  ::D:

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## Kaizen

Did a WBTB last night with MILD,without any lucid luck.
The WBTB I've been doing consists of a RC (checking hands), going to the toilet and journalling the dreams I just had.
This lasts about 30 - 40 minutes, then I do a MILD mantra before going BTB.

I've come to the realization that i'm not taking full advantage of my dreamsigns, which have been appearing more and more often.
 Just last night I had 3 separate dreams that I was surfing,one of which I was surfing in a competition against the devil and another where all the water in the sea dried up.
This drying up has happened numerous times in previous surfing dreams.
Another on of my common dream signs are trains, which again appeared as a gun heist on a train station with on of my very good friends(whom I never see anymore).
Lastly one that I find myself clean shaven when looking in the mirror.(I've had a goatee/moustache for over a year now,with no inclination if shaving it any time soon.)
This one also comes up fairly often.

The train DS is fairly easy for me to pair with an RC, as I live next to a train line so whenever i hear one going by I complete a RC.
I'm now doing a "look in the mirror" as often as i can to RC, as this fits in with the shaving DS.

The surfing DS is, however, a bit more difficult as i do not surf that often anymore.

Just to clarify how to incorporate this into my routine:

I would imagine myself surfing or being on a beach whenever I complete any RC's?

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## NyxCC

Yes, you can visualize yourself surfing and mentally add something along the lines "I'm surfing, (I realize) this is a dream" or any other mantra that feels right to you. You can also do a list of your DS and recite them in your mind or quietly if alone/at home. My general mantra is "I see DS, (I realize that) I'm dreaming", but you can also use "I do a RC" or something similar.

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## Kaizen

Thanks NyxCC, i'll add that to my practice.
I've come to a realization that I need to tailor my routine to my individual needs to see what works for me, as using standard techniques has so far proven sporadically successful.
I've expanded upon on ADA by moving through all my senses with awareness (visual, auditory,kinesthetic,olfactory and gustatory)before performing RC's.

This is what my routine looks like:

Gong goes off on my cellphone(periodically every hour)

I ask myself,"Am I dreaming?"

I move through my VAKOG(visual,auditory, kinesthetic etc)with awareness

I perform at least 3 reality checks-
(checking hands,asking myself where I just came from,digital clock on my computer,read text twice,look at myself in the mirror,try to put my hand through a wall, plug my nose and breath)

I remember and recite my DS's in my mind along with a mantra "I see my DS and I realise that I am dreaming"

I end off with "When i am dreaming, I will realize that i am dreaming"

*Whenever i see anything to do with trains (one of my DS's) I perform reality checks.
I've also decided to find out my personal sleep cycle times for WBTB as I feel that setting my alarm for 6 hours is sometimes a shot in the dark.
Tonight I will note what times i naturally wake up, that way i can my WBTB perfectly.

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## Kaizen

I had a string of interesting non-lucid and lucid dreams last night. (3 or 4)

After a week dry spell I'm pretty stoked, even though the lucids where short lived and stabilization seemed to be a problem. I wasn't able to control my arms and it was as if they where dead, so hand rubbing didn't seem to be an option. 

Upon this realization I opted for a different technique  whereby I concentrated on an object intensely, looking at it closely. This worked only for as long as I remained staring at the object(i was in my own room, looking at the pattern on my duvet), and when I stopped the vividness faded to black. I managed to concentrate while in the void and ended up in another lucid dream, where the same "arm" phenomenon occurred.(Maybe that expecto the last time did work haha)

In a latter non-lucid dream my baby finger was broken and a numb sensation ran through it. My girlfriend helped bandage it and recommended we head to the hospital.
When I awoke from the dream I noticed that i had been sleeping on my hand and my finger was completely dead.

I figure that the same thing may have happened in the night, with me sleeping on my arms and paralyzing them. My dream body must have still been associated and connected to my WL body, and this was reflected in dreams by having dead uncontrollable arms.
My hypothesis at least.

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## Kaizen

I've also been using a natural WBTB technique instead of an alarm,which proved a success last night.
Went to sleep around 12:00 and woke up at 5am, wrote down the dream and performed MILD.

I'm gonna try to keep up the habit so eventually I will awaken spontaneously after longer REM cycles and journal the dreams.

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## NyxCC

Congrats on the lds. This sort of bug with the hands and even feet has happened to me as well. After some analysis, I concluded that I haven't fully entered and possibly was feeling the actual rem atonia/paralysis of my physical body. Luckily, this doesn't happen too often and sometimes goes away by itself depending on the circumstances of the dream and the possibility to proceed.

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## Kaizen

Yeah I figured it could have a number of contributing factors.
I guess this is why you should always have a backup up your sleeve.
Spinning once on your heel and surveying the dreamscape...ever tried that one?

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## NyxCC

Spinning isn't quite my thing but surveying the landscape definitely! Also, my last resort tech (apart from total wake) if nothing else works, is to add some music to it. Sing or try to play music from the environment, it will make for an awesome ld whether one is moving or not.  :smiley:

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## Kaizen

Alright awesome man,thanks for the info  ::lol:: 
Just to let you know,I've also started a Dream Yoga Workbook.
Thought I may as well start making progress early as mastering the yogic arts is my end goal...after I get good with frequency and stabilization of lucidity.
I'll still be posting basic LD related material here though.

You can check it out here:

http://www.dreamviews.com/dream-yoga...-workbook.html

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## NyxCC

Awesome! Have a great time with the yoga class!  :smiley: 

If you have any cool experiences to share (meditation or ld-wise), I'll be happy to read them.

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## Kaizen

It's been a couple of days since I last posted, i've been busy with WL priorities so I've slacked slightly,although my journalling has been continuous.
I did have a short lucid 2 nights ago, that was initiated by me realising one of my main dream signs, being at school.

I think this is the first time that one of my dream signs provided a portal to lucidity, as most of my previous ones have been completely spontaneous and random.
I've also found 2 new dream signs, being in a mall and going to burning man festival.
These have been popping up more and more often lately, and i didn't notice them as at first.

Starting fresh this week, with a peaceful and tranquil house (both housmates are away for a couple of days) and ample time to sleep in late with WBTB's.

Intensive week starts now  ::lol::

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## Kaizen

Aloha friends!I'm back :smiley: Took a little break but now I'm ready to go at it full power again !

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## NyxCC

Awesome! Welcome back!  :smiley: 

Hey I did a couple of asanas in my last ld. It was quite fun.

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