# Lucid Dreaming > DV Academy > Current Courses > DILD >  >  Iriba's Workbook

## Iriba

Hello i am iriba, but my real name is bruno. I am 18 years old and i've been trying to lucid dream over 3 years. 

*So, what have you been during these 3 years?*

I've been practicing different techniques some as WBTB, MILD, ADA
But i think i got the wrong concept of ADA i think, because i try to be self-aware of everything specially my senses. (I'm not sure if ADA it's really that)
on these 3 years i got 2 LD's but i didn't get true lucid there, nothing like hyper-realistic dream. Just a normal dream where i knew i was dreaming.

*Have you tried any other methods?*

Recently, i've been trying mindfulness meditation, and quicker reality checks, no deep questions like "Where am I" "What am i doing here?" a guy told me
that would waste a lot of my time and i wont trigger lucidity in my dreams.

*How good is your recall?*

I can say my recall is not that bad, i can remember 1-2 dreams every day


*What are your dreamsigns?*

Honestly, i don't know, my dreams are very random and always with different environments, that includes people and stuff.
so i am yet to discover that :p


*Any questions/doubts you have?*

Yes i do, about ADA and mindfulness, In ADA. i'm not sure if i am supposed to try to focus all my senses
and be self-aware all of my body, or i just have to focus 1 thing at a time (e.g my taste, sight, tact)
Because i get exhausted very quickly and eventually i forget to continue ADA when i focus all my senses

About mindfulness, it's a similar question, when i'm meditating, i've been trying to focus only on my breathe
for now, but should i focus all my senses?

*Is there anything you want to tell us?*

Well, to be honest, i find it hard to believe that there are dreams like real life because i never had one
,per more i try to fake my emotions and believe, deeply i know that i find it hard to believe.
But i believe if i can have 1 of those hyper-realistic dreams at least once, the rest of them will come
easier, because i will know they exist.


I hope i can count with help of everyone here  :smiley:

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## fogelbise

Welcome  :smiley:  Just some quick responses for now due to my personal time constraints.

you might consider dropping ADA since it sounds draining for you. If you want something similar at all (but I don't think this is crucial) perhaps consider SAT and just one sense at least for now. I have decent success without using either.When was the last time you tried WBTB and how often do you try it? How long do you stay up and what do you do while awake and upon going to sleep?Try to increase recallI bet you have dream signs...uncovering them can take some effort. Look up common dream signs and search your DJ to see if they come up from time to time.Focusing on breath is a good one for a number of reasons. You don't want to overload yourself with too many senses to focus on.Dreams like real life...they are usually different for me in some way whether it is something that is missing/odd/weird or something that is more amazing than real life.

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## Iriba

> Welcome  Just some quick responses for now due to my personal time constraints.
> 
> you might consider dropping ADA since it sounds draining for you. If you want something similar at all (but I don't think this is crucial) perhaps consider SAT and just one sense at least for now. I have decent success without using either.When was the last time you tried WBTB and how often do you try it? How long do you stay up and what do you do while awake and upon going to sleep?Try to increase recallI bet you have dream signs...uncovering them can take some effort. Look up common dream signs and search your DJ to see if they come up from time to time.Focusing on breath is a good one for a number of reasons. You don't want to overload yourself with too many senses to focus on.Dreams like real life...they are usually different for me in some way whether it is something that is missing/odd/weird or something that is more amazing than real life.



Progress today:

I remembered 4 dreams in one night, they were quite vivid, also 1 of them
i was lucid, but it felt again like a normal dream, i couldn't control it.  :Sad: 





> you might consider dropping ADA since it sounds draining for you. If you want something similar at all (but I don't think this is crucial) perhaps consider SAT and just one sense at least for now. I have decent success without using either.



Yes i might give a look into that technique, i also changed ADA for mindfulness because i get tired
when i try to focus all the senses. thanks for support!






> When was the last time you tried WBTB and how often do you try it? How long do you stay up and what do you do while awake and upon going to sleep?



I tried last week-end, i do it every week-ends because on week i have school early and i have to get up, so i haven't time for WBTB
I stay up around 10-20 minutes, i always turn my pc on and come on dreamviews, i also reality check.


Thanks for support!

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## Iriba

Progress: 

I've been thinking about training my sighting sense and self awareness sense

This consists in: I try to make my sight and self aware in this world into a big RC. With my sighting sense ill pay attention to my periferic vison and pay attention to real world vivid details and colors.

Tell me what you guys think about it please

I have a feeling this technique will increase my vividness into my dreams.

With my self awareness i'll think such things as "look. Im right here. My body is in this world i am real."

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## fogelbise

I went back and looked at some of your other posts on the website and you have gotten a lot of good advice. I would like to try a different approach to help you. Before that...in regards to your response to my questions regarding your use of WBTB...That all sounds good although you might consider reducing your exposure to blue light which can be found in computer displays and smart phone displays a few hours before bed and also during WBTB. There are also apps to filter out the blue light. Research including a study from Harvard have shown the negative effect of blue light on melatonin production which can affect circadian rhythm and sleep.

Back to the approach I would like to try...I would like to start by having you list all the things (in detail) that you have done in regards to your lucid dreaming day and night practices just *since Thursday.*

Also could you tell me more about the latest lucid dream that you couldn't control.

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## Iriba

> I went back and looked at some of your other posts on the website and you have gotten a lot of good advice. I would like to try a different approach to help you. Before that...in regards to your response to my questions regarding your use of WBTB...That all sounds good although you might consider reducing your exposure to blue light which can be found in computer displays and smart phone displays a few hours before bed and also during WBTB. There are also apps to filter out the blue light. Research including a study from Harvard have shown the negative effect of blue light on melatonin production which can affect circadian rhythm and sleep.
> 
> Back to the approach I would like to try...I would like to start by having you list all the things (in detail) that you have done in regards to your lucid dreaming day and night practices just *since Thursday.*
> 
> Also could you tell me more about the latest lucid dream that you couldn't control.




Yeah i had a program like that on my pc, but i forgot the name =/
i think it was flux or something like that.

Well, what i have done to try lucid dream:

-ADA
-MILD
-WBTB

Recently i've been trying to:

-Train my sight awareness (like i explained above)
-Training my visualization skills
-Mindfulness meditation

I'm not sure if these are good things if i want to LD
People suggested me mindfulness, i just added sight awareness
and visualization skills to my list.
i couldn't train more ADA because i always lost concentration so fastly.
However it's happening the same with only 1 sense, with my sight.
So i'm training mindfulness, so i can try to focus for longer periods.

About my "Lucid" i will recall it here like i have in my journal:

"Today i dreamt i was in my home's kitchen and i was looking
at the clock on microwave, i looked it was 1:38
then i looked away and looked at the clock again. now it was 1:39
i looked away again and then i looked at the clock again, it was 1:40 now.
Now i knew that i was dreaming and i was thinking "The time changed!"
My mom came to kitchen and i told her "Mom! i'm lucid"


Anyway, if you could help me on some problems.
I can't always focus on my sight awareness i lose my focus and forget to continue
my awareness, if there is any tips you can help with please.

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## fogelbise

It sounds like you could still be overloading yourself by trying to do ADA even with one sense. If you want my advice, I would suggest simplifying it further as mentioned above and dropping ADA unless you really like it or feel a connection to it.  Specifically, I recommend that you instead, periodically through the day, really stop and look around and ask "Am I dreaming?" Try to get a little excited during at least some of these RC's by thinking about all of the fun things your could do if you were in fact dreaming right that moment. I recommend doing this at *random* times throughout the day, 10 or more times per day. There are apps that have truly random alarms (like Awoken for Android) to remind you to do this or you can use other methods to remind yourself if you don't have a smartphone to download an app to. 

I have a suggestion to add more self-awareness to this RC I described above and another different suggestion for increasing mindfulness (note to self: lidybug) but I suggest that you first work on my above suggestion for 10 days straight and report back before adding too many components to your day practices. Also, in my previous response I was really looking for details, step by step what you do (first I do this, think this, then do this...including an example), but if you can follow my suggestion in this response for now, perhaps we will re-visit my request from several days ago at a later date.

By the way, do you ever experience hypnagogic images, sounds or feelings when going to sleep, especially after WBTB? Have you ever tried SSILD (to be used with WBTB)?

_*If you like the advice here or anywhere in the forums, don't forget to hit the like button below._

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## Iriba

> It sounds like you could still be overloading yourself by trying to do ADA even with one sense. If you want my advice, I would suggest simplifying it further as mentioned above and dropping ADA unless you really like it or feel a connection to it.  Specifically, I recommend that you instead, periodically through the day, really stop and look around and ask "Am I dreaming?" Try to get a little excited during at least some of these RC's by thinking about all of the fun things your could do if you were in fact dreaming right that moment. I recommend doing this at *random* times throughout the day, 10 or more times per day. There are apps that have truly random alarms (like Awoken for Android) to remind you to do this or you can use other methods to remind yourself if you don't have a smartphone to download an app to. 
> 
> I have a suggestion to add more self-awareness to this RC I described above and another different suggestion for increasing mindfulness (note to self: lidybug) but I suggest that you first work on my above suggestion for 10 days straight and report back before adding too many components to your day practices. Also, in my previous response I was really looking for details, step by step what you do (first I do this, think this, then do this...including an example), but if you can follow my suggestion in this response for now, perhaps we will re-visit my request from several days ago at a later date.
> 
> By the way, do you ever experience hypnagogic images, sounds or feelings when going to sleep, especially after WBTB? Have you ever tried SSILD (to be used with WBTB)?
> 
> _*If you like the advice here or anywhere in the forums, don't forget to hit the like button below._



Yeah i forgot to say, my ADA also consists in stopping and asking if i'm dreaming
at random times. But if i drop ADA, how am i supposed to get my dreams
clearer so i can perceive i'm in a dream?

About SSILD, i wanted to do it tonight but only could
WBTB, for some reason i can't sleep when i try to SSILD.
my mind stays "active"
I only felt sleep paralysis like 3 times when i WBTB'ed

And tonight's dream was kinda more vivid than the other ones.
With my self awareness of thinking "I'm here" on the dream
there were some moments where i was almost on the dream
world. It's a hard thing to explain. I think it was due to my self awareness.
I also did a RC in that dream but didn't work.

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## fogelbise

All of this sounds like progress with attempting an RC in your dream last night and also the LD you mentioned in post #6 above. Perhaps you should continue with your current methods. The answers you find yourself are often more effective.

By the way, if you have an RC fail during a dream, it is a good idea to have a 2nd or 3rd RC you can try next which greatly increases your odds of the RC showing that you are dreaming.

Edit: Do you ever experience hypnagogic images, sounds or feelings when going to sleep, especially after WBTB?

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## Iriba

> All of this sounds like progress with attempting an RC in your dream last night and also the LD you mentioned in post #6 above. Perhaps you should continue with your current methods. The answers you find yourself are often more effective.
> 
> By the way, if you have an RC fail during a dream, it is a good idea to have a 2nd or 3rd RC you can try next which greatly increases your odds of the RC showing that you are dreaming.
> 
> Edit: Do you ever experience hypnagogic images, sounds or feelings when going to sleep, especially after WBTB?




Sorry for late response, responding to your question
yes i do have 2-3 more RC's after the hand's one.
but i use hands and nose one on my dreams with more frequency.
And no, i never experienced any hypnagogic images, sounds or feelings.
I'm currently trying to SSILD every week-ends, but for some reason
i can't sleep when i do it  :Sad:

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## fogelbise

Although you shouldn't pay attention to HH's, I think that maintaining awareness into the falling asleep process greatly increases the chances that you will experience them and lucid dreams. What usually happens when you try SSILD?

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## Iriba

Progress:

Few days ago i had a dream where my "Sight awareness"
appeared. i'll write a little of my dream focused on that part

"I went to the living room and everything was more clear now
there was more light and i knew i was there, for a fraction of seconds
i felt like my body was there, on the dream environment"

I think this happened due to my train on "Sight awareness"
But recently i can hardly focus on it, can only focus like 2 minutes then i get distracted.






> Although you shouldn't pay attention to HH's, I think that maintaining awareness into the falling asleep process greatly increases the chances that you will experience them and lucid dreams. What usually happens when you try SSILD?



I couldn't sleep if i would try to maintain awareness if i want to sleep too.
for some reason i only can sleep without leaving my mind
completely "Empty" If i start to think
"i have to be aware"
"I'm aware that i'm breathing"
I can't sleep  :Sad:

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## Iriba

any suggestions people?

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## fogelbise

> any suggestions people?



Were you asking anything specific here?..or perhaps your were only referring to this:





> I couldn't sleep if i would try to maintain awareness if i want to sleep too.
>  for some reason i only can sleep without leaving my mind
>  completely "Empty" If i start to think
>  "i have to be aware"
>  "I'm aware that i'm breathing"
>  I can't sleep



With this challenge of getting back to sleep in mind, any awareness work that you do at bedtime or during the night...try to do the awareness work while sitting up in bed or near your bed. When you are done, then simply lay down afterwards in just the same way you have probably done most of your life...just laying down to go to sleep. If you were asking something else, please  specify.

I am volunteering my valuable time here in hopes of helping others experience what I have experienced and more. Besides thoughtful replies, hitting the like button also shows that you appreciate that someone is taking the time to respond. That doesn't mean that you have to like everything. Since you quoted the following before, I am assuming that you read this and that you don't like any of the assistance you are getting here so far. Is this the case? :




> *If you like the advice here or anywhere in the forums, don't forget to hit the like button below.




Why don't you also give this a try...the link will take you to the specific post I am referring you to: http://www.dreamviews.com/dild/14763...ml#post2103552

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## Iriba

Im not saying i dont appreciate the help of everyone here thats why i made workbook here
Anyway back on topic. I am currently trying to train my sight awareness but its still confusing because i dont know what to focus in my sight maybe  the clarity
The self awareness that im here but i cant be aware all day sometimes i get distracted

And i am appreciating for those who are trying to help me  :smiley:

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## fogelbise

> I am currently trying to train my sight awareness but its still confusing because i dont know what to focus in my sight maybe  the clarity



You are basically noticing the little things that you normally look past. Look around you...see that reflection on a shiny object that you never really paid attention to before. See the shadows that you can see even indoors with no light even on, shadows from diffused light filter in from outside.





> The self awareness that im here but i cant be aware all day sometimes i get distracted



Don't worry about all day, I can't do all day and I have been doing it for a while. Just remind yourself as often as you can and build it up like a muscle.

Why not sign up for a cheap or free meditation course? In the US we have local community colleges where you can take cheap courses and I am sure you have something similar where you are.

(And I still didn't get the like button clicked...Any chance you are just trolling??)

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## Iriba

> You are basically noticing the little things that you normally look past. Look around you...see that reflection on a shiny object that you never really paid attention to before. See the shadows that you can see even indoors with no light even on, shadows from diffused light filter in from outside.
> 
> Don't worry about all day, I can't do all day and I have been doing it for a while. Just remind yourself as often as you can and build it up like a muscle.
> 
> Why not sign up for a cheap or free meditation course? In the US we have local community colleges where you can take cheap courses and I am sure you have something similar where you are.
> 
> (And I still didn't get the like button clicked...Any chance you are just trolling??)



It's not that i am noticing the little things
i'm more worried to make my dreams hyper-realistic as some of you have
And my theory is that comes by focusing the clarity of reality first.
or the self-awareness "i'm here" moment.
But if i am wrong please correct me

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## Iriba

Any help please?

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## fogelbise

> It's not that i am noticing the little things
> i'm more worried to make my dreams hyper-realistic as some of you have
> And my theory is that comes by focusing the clarity of reality first.
> or the self-awareness "i'm here" moment.
> But if i am wrong please correct me



What I meant is that you specifically look for those little things in waking life...for example:



> You are basically noticing the little things that you normally look past. Look around you...see that reflection on a shiny object that you never really paid attention to before. See the shadows that you can see even indoors with no light even on, shadows from diffused light filter in from outside.
> 
>  Don't worry about all day, I can't do all day and I have been doing it for a while. Just remind yourself as often as you can and build it up like a muscle.



..so basically look for those things I mentioned in that last quote or things similar to that in your daytime practices. I don't always get hyper-realistic lucids, but you are right that this kind of daytime practice can help get them.

The self-awareness "I'm here" moments help in a little different way but are also very valuable. It can help you to truly realize your condition...that "this is all my dream...this is all me" while you are dreaming but also allow you to have the awareness to stop and take a moment to really look at your surroundings in your dream which can improve the clarity of the world you see in the dream.

I apologize for the delay in responding. I just had some vacation time away with family.

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## Iriba

Progress:

Yesterday i did a hand reality check on my dream   ,although it didnt work :/  .
 . I wonder if i'm getting closer to a lucid. But today my recall decreased, i couldnt even remember 1 dream, i slept at the same time, i meditated at the same time as well but yet my recall decreased, i have an idea how to increase it, but i need someone to tell me if i am doing the right thing or not

-Iriba

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## Iriba

Its really frustating that people are getting 50 lucids per month and im taking almost 3 years to have one, i need someone to help me, i want to see where im failing  :Sad:

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## FryingMan

> Progress:
> 
> Yesterday i did a hand reality check on my dream   ,although it didnt work :/  .
>  . I wonder if i'm getting closer to a lucid. But today my recall decreased, i couldnt even remember 1 dream, i slept at the same time, i meditated at the same time as well but yet my recall decreased, i have an idea how to increase it, but i need someone to tell me if i am doing the right thing or not
> 
> -Iriba



Hi Iriba,
   If you did a RC in your dream, you were (and are) sooooo close to lucidity!   Can you write a bit more about that part of your dream?  What were you thinking and doing at that time that made you do the hand check?

 I myself use nose pinch as my primary RC, I prefer it to hand check, which I only use when actually already lucid as a secondary confirmation, when I think of it (which is not very often).   You may want to try practicing nose pinch during your daily practice, so that you use it first in dreams.  Nose pinch is  considered by many to be the #1 most effective and reliable RC.

It's great that you're doing meditation.   Building mindfulness and self-awareness takes time.    Keep doing it, without expecting instant results.   Results will come over time.

I think a very good book for you to read is "Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life."    Learn to be happy with where you are now, not placing your hope of contentment in a future of lucid dreaming, but be happy to experience and be present in ever moment.   Not only will this increase your joy in life, it will lead to the mindset that is very conducive for lucid dreaming -- being aware in the moment, learning to observe and to be aware of your thoughts and feelings and reactions, being patient, stopping throughout your day and just following your breath, looking around in amazement at the world, actively living, not just coasting through life on auto-pilot.






> Its really frustating that people are getting 50 lucids per month and im taking almost 3 years to have one, i need someone to help me, i want to see where im failing



There is a lot that goes into lucid dreaming practice.   One of the main ingredients is a positive attitude.   I've found that feelings of frustration hinder my own practice, so I do my best to avoid them.   Don't focus on your count or other's counts, just keep working on self-awareness during the day and dream recall by night.

I'd like to understand your dream recall practice, if you could write here in more detail everything you do to recall dreams, we can start there and expand to other subjects later.   Dream recall is really important to lucid dreaming, spending effort on it is well worth it.

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## Iriba

> Hi Iriba,
>    If you did a RC in your dream, you were (and are) sooooo close to lucidity!   Can you write a bit more about that part of your dream?  What were you thinking and doing at that time that made you do the hand check?
> 
>  I myself use nose pinch as my primary RC, I prefer it to hand check, which I only use when actually already lucid as a secondary confirmation, when I think of it (which is not very often).   You may want to try practicing nose pinch during your daily practice, so that you use it first in dreams.  Nose pinch is  considered by many to be the #1 most effective and reliable RC.
> 
> It's great that you're doing meditation.   Building mindfulness and self-awareness takes time.    Keep doing it, without expecting instant results.   Results will come over time.
> 
> I think a very good book for you to read is "Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life."    Learn to be happy with where you are now, not placing your hope of contentment in a future of lucid dreaming, but be happy to experience and be present in ever moment.   Not only will this increase your joy in life, it will lead to the mindset that is very conducive for lucid dreaming -- being aware in the moment, learning to observe and to be aware of your thoughts and feelings and reactions, being patient, stopping throughout your day and just following your breath, looking around in amazement at the world, actively living, not just coasting through life on auto-pilot.
> 
> ...




"Day 16 to 17

I was in a dark classroom, a police officer was explaining some things
And he was next to a computer, i could see the bright of the monitor, when i looked
behind me, there was my dad fixing something. I looked again at the monitor
and was paying attention to the clock. It was 12:30 when i looked at it
I stopped looking, and then looked again, it was now 12:32.
I stopped looking again, and then looked again, it was 12:35
And i thought to my self: "The time is running so fast!"


"Day 17 to day 18

I was near my aunt's neighboorhood, it was night time, and i said to myself
"I have to enter in this world, i have to get lucid!"
Right after i said that, i looked to my hands, but they looked normal. i had 5 fingers
on each"


The dreams had previous parts, but i took the most important ones that i consider.
Well, having 2 dreams followed by making reality checks, makes me feel excited
and great, but i still feel i'm missing something!

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## fogelbise

> The dreams had previous parts, but i took the most important ones that i consider.
> Well, having 2 dreams followed by making reality checks, makes me feel excited
> and great, but i still feel i'm missing something!



Take heart Bruno, you are close!!  :smiley:  It very well could be that when you are doing your reality checks while awake that you aren't expecting them to show that you are dreaming...so when you do your RC's in the dream you are expecting the same thing - for them to not work - and as a result you may just barely be missing that chance to become lucid. The fact that your RC's are showing up in your dreams is a great sign though! That doesn't happen for most people too often, and two consecutive days is very nice! *So what I would like you to try from now on is to expect for your RC's to work...expect that any waking moment could actually be a dream! Get excited about it when you do it. I also like to imagine that it is a dream and what I would do in that moment if that lady across the way were actually in my dream right now! Lucid dreaming is definitely on your mind as shown in that second dream you listed - day 17 to day 18, so another good sign! I truly think you are close to making a break through with a little added focus on your RC's during the day and setting good intentions and expectations before bed.

Don't forget to answer FryingMan's question quoted below...you should take advantage of all of this great help he is offering up.





> I'd like to understand your dream recall practice, if you could write here in more detail everything you do to recall dreams, we can start there and expand to other subjects later.   Dream recall is really important to lucid dreaming, spending effort on it is well worth it.

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## Iriba

> I'd like to understand your dream recall practice, if you could write here in more detail everything you do to recall dreams, we can start there and expand to other subjects later. Dream recall is really important to lucid dreaming, spending effort on it is well worth it.



Alright, i will write here exactly as it is in dream my journal  :smiley: 

"Day 16 to 17 november 2014

Today i dreamt i was in a dark classroom, i was seeing a bright light of a computer screen at my front
and a police officer. it was my friend's dad, he is actually a police officer. My dad was behind me
fixing something, i couldn't remember what, I looked closer to the computer screen and i was looking
at the clock on the right bottom of the computer screen, it was 12:30 AM then i looked away and looked again
at the clock, it was now 12:32 AM, looked away, and looked one more time now it was 12:35
and i thought to myself "The time is passing so fast!"


"Day 17 to 18 november 2014

Today i dreamt i was with my friend, we were running from wolves
we entered in a narrow cave that belonged to the wolves, the cave was a slide
we were lying down until we reach the bottom of it. Some seconds later we weren't
sliding anymore, because there wasn't enough sand. So i had to drive a little iron ball
to rebound on some pillars, now the point of view changed, i was seeing it as i was playing 
some 3D game, it hitted the right pillar, then the left one, then it went diagonal right and hitted
that pillar then the left one, and it entered on a narrow tube, and sand started to flow on the slide again
to lubrificate our bodies until we reach the bottom. We landed and we got to a part to jump to a platform
I jumped to the platform but that felt, my friend jumped after that felt down, i left that place and was exploring
the cave, now the cave was way enlarged than before, it looked like an underground hideout with a little
natural light coming from the left windows. i looked at my right and there was a concert, then i looked back and saw
my female friend. The scenary changed, I was near my aunt's neighboorhood, it was night time, and i said to myself
"I have to enter in this world, i have to get lucid!"
Right after i said that, i looked to my hands, but they looked normal. i had 5 fingers
on each"


Yeah i know my dreams are very non-sense and i feel sometimes i don't distrust at the real world enough
to reality check in the dream world, but i would like to hear your opinion if possible  :smiley:

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## FryingMan

> Alright, i will write here exactly as it is in dream my journal 
> 
> Yeah i know my dreams are very non-sense and i feel sometimes i don't distrust at the real world enough
> to reality check in the dream world, but i would like to hear your opinion if possible



Hi Iriba,
   What I was looking for was not the content of your dreams, but *how* you do dream recall.   Do you set any intentions?  How?  When?  How many times do you notice wakings during the night?   Are you able to notice wakings before you move, even roll over?   How long do you spend reaching for memories?    What is your mindset while trying to remember dreams?    How many dreams on average and how much detail (for this a pointer to your DV DJ can be helpful, you don't need to quote entire dreams here unless you think they're particularly important)

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## Iriba

> Hi Iriba,
>    What I was looking for was not the content of your dreams, but *how* you do dream recall.   Do you set any intentions?  How?  When?  How many times do you notice wakings during the night?   Are you able to notice wakings before you move, even roll over?   How long do you spend reaching for memories?    What is your mindset while trying to remember dreams?    How many dreams on average and how much detail (for this a pointer to your DV DJ can be helpful, you don't need to quote entire dreams here unless you think they're particularly important)



Oh, i misunderstand it, sorry. I don't set any intentions when i go to sleep
because for some reason i can't sleep while i am trying to intend something in my mind  :Sad: 
I'm not able to notice if i wake up during night or roll-over because i always have a deep sleep.
About memory, i consider it good, but sometimes it messes up, specially on minor details.
About remembering dreams, When i don't remember them, I don't usually force myself
because for some reason sometimes at night, i can remember them in all of a sudden.
In average i can remember 1-2 dreams a day sometimes 3, but sometimes i can't even remember 1.

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## FryingMan

Thank you for providing the information, there's a lot of useful information there  that I think you haven't yet mentioned about yourself on these forums!





> I don't set any intentions when i go to sleep
> because for some reason i can't sleep while i am trying to intend something in my mind



Setting intention is not the same thing as MILD, where you repeat a mantra over and over to yourself until you fall asleep.  I'd have trouble doing that too, especially at bedtime.   Setting intention is as simple as telling yourself once, at bedtime, "I remember my dreams."

It may not be important how many times you tell it to yourself -- with strong enough belief once may be enough.   But I personally probably tell it to myself around 10 times, or sometimes more.  Maybe for a full minute sometimes I'll repeat to myself "I remember my dreams," then I stop and empty my mind and aim to fall asleep.

I also sometimes mix in embellishments like "I completely remember my dreams from beginning to end," or "I have very vivid, long dreams."  Also, "I have interesting and meaningful dreams" (from LaBerge).

For DILD I use various statements like: "I'm dreaming."    "I recognize the dream state."   Or the full LaBerge (mouthful) "The next time I'm dreaming, I remember to recognize that I'm dreaming."   Sometimes (I think I got this from fogelbise) I'll say "The next thing I see is a dream."

The point here is that you do not need to hold these thoughts in your head until you fall asleep.  If you *can*, then that would probably make them more effective.    But don't worry.   Try telling yourself *once* right when you lie down for bed (or just before), and then aim directly for sleep with an empty mind.

Try telling yourself just once.   Then if you don't notice any issues with sleep, the next night, tell yourself twice or three times.  And so on, building up confidence in yourself that you can easily fall asleep after setting some intentions.

Setting intention is widely regarded as being *extremely* important in lucid dreaming.  The Tibetan monks who practice dream yoga consider setting strong intent to lucid dream during the night as one of the most important parts of the bedtime ritual in order to experience lucid dreams.

This is your first assignment: *Choose one or more short intention statements, and repeat them to yourself at bedtime.*  As I mentioned, start small (just one time), and over time build up to longer and longer setting intent times (more repetitions).   Really believe what you tell to yourself, and feel like the statement is a really important goal for you.    Our brains are really good at remembering important intents.





> I'm not able to notice if i wake up during night or roll-over because i always have a deep sleep.



This is another important piece of data about you, and maybe an important insight into your not reaching your lucidity goals. We all wake up at night briefly in between sleep cycles as dreams finish -- just most of the time we immediately fall back asleep and don't remember the waking, just like we don't remember much (or any) of the dreams of the previous REM cycle.   Like it or not, *learning to recognize these brief wakings and use them beneficially for lucid dreaming is a major part of a lot of lucid dreaming practice.*   Recognizing these wakings is an ability that can be learned and developed.  It's true that alarms can be used to wake in the middle of the night but there are problems with alarms, the main one being they wake you up too abruprtly and may end your sleeping for the night.   

The benefits of recognizing these wakings for dream recall and lucid dreaming are numerous: *1) you recall more dreams!*  If you recall 2-3 dreams at the end of the night, you very well may recall 2-3 dreams *per waking* for the night, resulting in 12-15 or more dreams recalled for the night.   Now, noticing *every* waking can sometimes be tiring, but that is how I started out: for my first 3 months I set intention to: remember dreams; wake after every dream; and become lucid.      I was so excited to wake all through the night and remember so many interesting, funny, weird, exciting dreams.   Being excited about dream recall is also really important in developing the ability to its highest level. *2) These wakings are a great time to renew your intention to become aware in dreams*: restate your intentions,  perform MILD, perform WILD, perform DEILD, or just get up a bit for a WBTB.  In short, the foundation of most of the approaches we use to promote lucidity all depend on the ability to notice wakings in the middle of the night.

So here is your second assignment: once you are comfortable setting intention before going to bed, *Set intention at bedtime to notice your wakings in the middle of the night.*  I personally used the statement "I wake up after every dream."  Some people think this is too strong and could result in actually waking up fully.  Another option is "I notice the wakings between sleep cycles."   A longer one I've used is "I wake up after every dream, remain still, and recall my dreams."   In these wakings, at first spend just a short time trying to recall dreams from the prior sleep cycle, maybe repeat one or two intents, and then aim directly to fall asleep again.

When recalling dreams, remember to remain physically still (noticing your wakings is important here, too: if you can realize you've woken up before you've moved, you can best recall your dreams at that moment), and stay mentally quiet.  You're not trying to "force" yourself to remember dreams, you're just trying to cast your mind back into your recent experience searching for memories (of dreams, since your "recent experience" was dreaming).  You can ask yourself "What was I just dreaming about?".    Spend some time on doing this, I'd recommend 10-15 minutes at least.   The best way to build great dream recall is to reach for dream memories *every time you find yourself awake.*

There are two concrete things for you to try.  If you can master them (or even just get a little bit better at them), I believe your chances for lucidity will improve quite a bit.    Realize that it may take you time to get good at doing these tasks, so be patient, and always maintain positive thoughts about your dreams and the practices you use to reach lucidity.

Let us know in this workbook how you progress!   Once you get good at these then we can start looking at DILD techniques like MILD.

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## Iriba

> Thank you for providing the information, there's a lot of useful information there  that I think you haven't yet mentioned about yourself on these forums!
> 
> 
> 
> Setting intention is not the same thing as MILD, where you repeat a mantra over and over to yourself until you fall asleep.  I'd have trouble doing that too, especially at bedtime.   Setting intention is as simple as telling yourself once, at bedtime, "I remember my dreams."
> 
> It may not be important how many times you tell it to yourself -- with strong enough belief once may be enough.   But I personally probably tell it to myself around 10 times, or sometimes more.  Maybe for a full minute sometimes I'll repeat to myself "I remember my dreams," then I stop and empty my mind and aim to fall asleep.
> 
> I also sometimes mix in embellishments like "I completely remember my dreams from beginning to end," or "I have very vivid, long dreams."  Also, "I have interesting and meaningful dreams" (from LaBerge).
> ...



Little progress:

This!,  i think the first part of the teaching is working!
I started to use this mantra "I will remember my dream tonight"
Since 29th november i could remember almost all dreams i had
mostly 1 dream each night , except 1 day i didn't remember anything
because i had to wake up early in that day and i focused to sleep only.
Now i am aiming to other mantra which is "I will remember 2 dreams tonight"
But looking at my dream journal now, it feels like i'm getting better at MILD!
Thanks for this, i will keep my work!

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## FryingMan

> Little progress:
> 
> This!,  i think the first part of the teaching is working!
> I started to use this mantra "I will remember my dream tonight"
> Since 29th november i could remember almost all dreams i had
> mostly 1 dream each night , except 1 day i didn't remember anything
> because i had to wake up early in that day and i focused to sleep only.
> Now i am aiming to other mantra which is "I will remember 2 dreams tonight"
> But looking at my dream journal now, it feels like i'm getting better at MILD!
> Thanks for this, i will keep my work!



Excellent, I'm glad to hear this is helping!   One small suggestion: try it without "will", intentions are best done in present tense: "I remember my dreams".   It's ok to add "tonight" if you like, but without "tonight" the meaning is "I always remember my dreams."   It depends on what works best in your native language if it's not English.   Keep it up!    And if you can remember to, tell it to yourself a few times during the day as well: "I remember my dreams…. I remember my dreams."    Really put the feeling into it, and believe it, the more dreams you get, the more confidence you'll have and you'll start remembering more and more.

Great work, keep it up, and write back to let us know how it's going.

And remember, every time you find yourself awake, the first thing you should always do before moving is recalling dreams.

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## Iriba

Woke



> Excellent, I'm glad to hear this is helping!   One small suggestion: try it without "will", intentions are best done in present tense: "I remember my dreams".   It's ok to add "tonight" if you like, but without "tonight" the meaning is "I always remember my dreams."   It depends on what works best in your native language if it's not English.   Keep it up!    And if you can remember to, tell it to yourself a few times during the day as well: "I remember my dreams…. I remember my dreams."    Really put the feeling into it, and believe it, the more dreams you get, the more confidence you'll have and you'll start remembering more and more.
> 
> Great work, keep it up, and write back to let us know how it's going.
> 
> And remember, every time you find yourself awaked, the first thing you should always do before moving is recalling dreams.



Progress and bad news:

MILD keeps improving and usually i ca n remember m  y dreams when i use MILD, i tried already this mantra "i woke up during night" after some hours i woke up. So this makes me get more confidence in my MILD technique. Tonight i used a new mantra that i thought that could work
"i have a vivid dream" in this day i also drank some apple juice, that i heard it makes your dreams more vivid so i tried the mantra as well, but it was a normal dream

Bad news:

My dream recall is getting worse, i barely remember them, but as i said before, probably that dream was vivid enough to make me remember it today
Because of my mantra and the apple juice

Tell me what i should do please

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## FryingMan

Recall does increase and decrease naturally some days.  It doesn't mean your recall is "getting worse," it means just that for whatever reason, maybe you're a bit behind on sleep, maybe you moved too much, or you're thinking of other things.

Your assignment remains the same: keep setting intention at bedtime, particularly for dream recall ("I remember my dreams"), and work on doing dream recall every time you wake up.   Don't give up quickly when you reach for recall, remain calm and quiet and relaxed, and just let your mind drift to find any recent memories.

For example, just this morning I woke at one point with no immediate dream memories, but I realized that I had just been sleeping, and since it was late in the morning, I realized I must have been dreaming.  So, I  remained quiet and still, and soon my dream came back to me.

Just keep working on it.   Building better and stronger dream recall is a life-long discipline, so just keep at it!

It can help to review your waking memories throughout the day, too, to practice this access to memory.

edit: make sure to keep celebrating your successes!   Just a little while ago you said you couldn't set intention at bedtime because it kept you awake: now you can set intention apparently without any insomnia problems.   And you've had some good recall there for a while.   So be very happy with your successes, and look forward to every night.   I myself had no recall one recent night and almost none the next.   And then I had a big big night later, and some lucids earlier this week.  So low recall can happen to anybody, depending on their life circumstances.  And it doesn't mean anything is worse, and the very next night could be full of wonderful, vivid dreams.  Always look forwards with positive emotion and excitement to great dreams  every night, and most of the time  this is exactly what will happen!

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## Iriba

Hello fryingman, i've decided to take your advice into action, and yes my dream recall is getting better
because even the poor dreams i can remember them now, but something doesn't feel right, when i before
practiced ADA, even i could only keep it for 1 minute or less, in that time i got 2 lucid dreams
they didn't feel like real life, but i knew i was dreaming, when i left ADA and start practicing mindfulness
closing my eyes and feeling myself in this world, i never got a signal of a lucid dream again
and now all i do is trying to focus my self-awareness, that i am in this world, trying to carry it to dreams
but i can't also keep it for much time, i'm afraid i'm doing something wrong. or i've been doing it all this time.
And for some reason, now i find hard to believe, that lucid dreams are like real-life
i try to convince myself but there is always this doubt in deep of my heart.
I don't know what to do anymore, it's like i'm in a empty desert without any hint
As sometimes i ask myself "Have i been doing the right thing?"

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## FryingMan

Hi Iriba,
   Celebrate your successes with improving dream recall!   That's great news.

Ultimately you must follow your own path to self-awareness, in a way that feels right to you.   If "ADA" does it for you, then do it.   I think mindfulness (which basically is self-awareness, which is lucidity) is a better path, but that may not be for everybody.

What I'm working on now is integrating breath awareness into everything: meditation, waking awareness/mindfulness, relaxation for sleep, and looking for breath awareness in the dream world.    Successful lucid dreamers tend to figure out "one thing" that works for them and stick with it and get better and better at it -- try to find what makes sense and works for you.

The combination of waking self-awareness work and improving dream recall should eventually start creating a feeling in your dreams that "you are there," even if you're not yet lucid.    This process can take time -- it only really started happening a lot for me in the last couple of months.

I think it's important to incorporate into self-awareness work the realization that there are two states of consciousness, both real: waking and dreaming.   When I ground myself into my self-awareness in a mindful moment, I also think about the two states of consciousness and determine which one I am in at the moment.   It is important to keep your mind also on the concept of "dream" and "dreaming" and always be on the lookout for the dream state.

So, for now, continue setting intention to remember dreams, and if you're not already, set intention to notice the wakings during the night, and if you feel you can, start doing short WBTBs during these times and MILD or SSILD to see if they work for you.   It is worth the investment in learning how to fall back asleep easily after WBTBs, as most frequent LDers do a lot of WBTB, it seems to help a lot in getting lucid.

And look for the form of self-awareness work that makes the most sense to you: ultimately, whatever form you choose, you should get very comfortable paying attention to yourself and your surroundings, and keep a corner of your mind on dreaming and the fact that being conscious means *you could be dreaming right now*.

You can keep a few questions in your head throughout the day that will help with this last thing: In any situation, think "How odd is this?"    Also, when going about your day, ask yourself "Why do I think I'm awake?"   The implication of both questions being you're looking to recognize the dream state.

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## Iriba

> Hi Iriba,
>    Celebrate your successes with improving dream recall!   That's great news.
> 
> Ultimately you must follow your own path to self-awareness, in a way that feels right to you.   If "ADA" does it for you, then do it.   I think mindfulness (which basically is self-awareness, which is lucidity) is a better path, but that may not be for everybody.
> 
> What I'm working on now is integrating breath awareness into everything: meditation, waking awareness/mindfulness, relaxation for sleep, and looking for breath awareness in the dream world.    Successful lucid dreamers tend to figure out "one thing" that works for them and stick with it and get better and better at it -- try to find what makes sense and works for you.
> 
> The combination of waking self-awareness work and improving dream recall should eventually start creating a feeling in your dreams that "you are there," even if you're not yet lucid.    This process can take time -- it only really started happening a lot for me in the last couple of months.
> 
> ...



I see, i could work on ADA. but to be honest i can hardly keep it, so i think i will mantain the mindfulness.
also, you mentioned the breathing awareness, i've been testing and it looks easier than the "i'm here" self-awareness.
Although, i don't understand how can breathing can take you to lucidity.
although you're saying eventually i'll start to feel i'll get a feeling "i'm here" in the dreams, that never occured to me.
in fact some of my dreams are a bit more vivid, but i still don't feel my body in the dream scene, like in real life.
About WBTB - i already do them whenever i have the time, and i can fall back asleep easily, but sometimes i don't really
am really awake, i'm just a little drowsy and go back to sleep again. Would that still count as a WBTB?

"And look for the form of self-awareness work that makes the most sense to you"
Well this would be the "I'm here" awareness, because
if i dont notice i'm in this world, how will i notice i'm in the dream world?
Also i like to be aware of the vivid colors of the real world, but many times
i distract myself and can't be aware of those things. i find a lot easier to be
aware to my breathing, just like i do with mindfulness. But again i say, i don't understand´
how can breathing awareness lead to lucidity, if you could explain that please.

Anyway i appreciate your time and patience trying to help me  :smiley: 
Happy new year!

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## FryingMan

Happy New Year!

About breathing:
From elsewhere on the internet, much thanks to the author "Mattson":





> *You are now aware you are breathing.* 
> Trippy huh?
> What if I told you in the span of time it took you to read the title and this part here you were lucid?
> That feeling you had upon reading the title is exactly what you want to feel to achieve lucidity. That is what lucidity feels like. What you just experienced is lucidity. You just experienced the most important feeling in the world.
> Notice how I speak in the past tense? The more you pay attention the closer your lucidity gets to oblivion. It is quite the balancing act.
> Familiarize yourself with this feeling. It is the key to lucid dreaming.
> The next time you do a reality check invoke this feeling. Become aware of your breathing. When you lay in bed to go to sleep don't chant a mantra to yourself. Just focus on your breathing as they come in and out... focus.
> Focus and lucidity are one in the same. Determination and lucidity are one in the same.
> They will come. Awareness is key. You now know what awareness feels like at its purest form.
> ...



Samatha meditation is focusing attention on your breathing.

Mindfulness practice uses focus on the breath to bring yourself into the present moment.

Relaxation for sleep uses the breath to go deeper and become more and more relaxed.

It's all focusing around the breath.  That's what I personally take from all this.  So I'm going "big" into investing into breath awareness.   Maybe it will make sense and work for you, too.

During the day, as many times as you feel like doing, just "STOP", take a big breath in and release it, becoming aware (lucid) of your present moment.   Stay in the present moment for a while before returning to what you were doing earlier, but try to maintain some mindfulness as you continue.

I suggest getting a great book, "Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life."   There are lots of books on mindfulness and meditation, I recommend books by B. Allan Wallace, in particular, "The Attention Revolution: Unlocking The Power Of The Focused Mind."  It's all about mindfulness and a lot about minding the breath.   It includes discussing daytime and nighttime practices of dream yoga.

I, too, like concentrating on the breath, it's not exhausting like ADA.   So I heartily encourage you to acquire and read these books.   They're both available as ebooks from Amazon so you don't have to wait for shipping.


About WBTB: find what works for you.   Some people need to get up for 30-45 minutes or more, some people just "grab some awareness" and head right back to sleep (a "micro" WBTB).     Experiment to see which version gives you the most effect on our dreaming.   And don't just try once, make a lot of attempts to find which one has the most effect.

Sometimes it can be hard to get back to sleep -- but work on relaxation, and (again) read the B. Allan Wallace book, it covers how to go about doing this in detail.

edit: a lot of edits, be sure to keep checking.   About "I'm here" awareness: do you ask "where" you are?    Always realize that there are two states of consciosuness: awake, and dreaming.   And *at any time*, you could be dreaming.   If you think "I'm awake," ask yourself, seriously, "Why do I think I'm awake?"

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## Iriba

> Happy New Year!
> 
> About breathing:
> From elsewhere on the internet, much thanks to the author "Mattson":
> 
> 
> 
> Samatha meditation is focusing attention on your breathing.
> 
> ...




Progress:

1/2015

something interesting happened after i read this, i was training
my breathing awareness and on the same night
i got a dream about a breathing disease, i meet a kid that had asthma
i found this really cool, feels like my subconscious is somehow "hearing me"

2/2015

Something strange happened in this day, i really didn't want
to go to bed because i was watching movies, somehow i got more motivated
with watching those movies than rather dreaming, maybe because in deep of me i thought
i was gonna fail again and lost motivation.
Most of times i go to sleep around midnight or 1 AM
to remember some dreams, if i go to sleep later than that
my recall becomes rusty and i can barely remember anything
Here comes the interesting part.
I went to sleep around 6AM
I didn't do any mantras, no technique, nothing.
i just wanted to sleep.
And i got lucid! although it didn't felt like real life,
and i didn't do any reality checks, i simply knew
that i was dreaming.

This really makes me think my subconscious don't want me to 
lose motivation and to keep going for higher goals and to keep
going through this hard task.
It almost makes me think he gave me a lucid dream on purpose
to keep going on and not give up
at least i like to think in this way.

What do you think?

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## fogelbise

Awesome Iriba! Congratulations on the LD!! I wouldn't be surprised if it was like me during some of the competitions. LD's would sometimes dry up when I was trying too hard but deciding to not worry if I got lucid would help in those situations. I was still doing the day work and night practices but I was just not worrying about it all. So I think it very well could have been due to all of the practices that you have been doing during these past days kicking in when you took the pressure off of yourself. Also the fact that you went to bed at such an unusual time may have played some kind of factor here as well. FryingMan is doing a great job helping you here!

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## FryingMan

Just returned from a trip, congrats!  I knew you could do it, and now, more importantly, *you* know you can do it.   Now it's simply a matter of keeping everything up, continuing the process of discovery and adjustment, patience, and continued determination. 

I'll comment more once I've slept a bit.

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## FryingMan

Hi Iriba,
  I just wrote a response to Mr Priority about how paying attention to waking life will result in better and more vivid dream recall / dream experiences which I'd like you to read:

http://www.dreamviews.com/dild/15521...ml#post2141471

I think it's very exciting that breath awareness came right away to your dreaming.  It is a sign that it may be a very good approach for you.  Keep it up for now: throughout the day, take a few deep breaths, and center yourself in the present moment.

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## Iriba

> Hi Iriba,
>   I just wrote a response to Mr Priority about how paying attention to waking life will result in better and more vivid dream recall / dream experiences which I'd like you to read:
> 
> http://www.dreamviews.com/dild/15521...ml#post2141471
> 
> I think it's very exciting that breath awareness came right away to your dreaming.  It is a sign that it may be a very good approach for you.  Keep it up for now: throughout the day, take a few deep breaths, and center yourself in the present moment.



It as indeed a good post although i already have some those things in mind :p
About the different perspective of the objects and space

here it is a little progress:

Seems like my MILD is still getting better, on 3 nights i mentally said
a mantra "I'm in home in my dream" and those 3 dreams were in my home
What it really bothers me, is that today i tried a different mantra "I'm seeing my friend
on my dream" and the dream automatically sent me to somewhere else.
Although i had the same confidence and determination that would work.
What did i fail in?
Why didn't it work?
This is why i'm replying here

Also about breathing awareness, i like to think that whenever i am aware that i am breathing
i am also aware that i'm in the present
It's like 2 Awareness senses in 1.

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## FryingMan

> It as indeed a good post although i already have some those things in mind :p
> About the different perspective of the objects and space
> 
> here it is a little progress:
> 
> Seems like my MILD is still getting better, on 3 nights i mentally said
> a mantra "I'm in home in my dream" and those 3 dreams were in my home
> What it really bothers me, is that today i tried a different mantra "I'm seeing my friend
> on my dream" and the dream automatically sent me to somewhere else.
> ...



It's great you had those incubation successes!   Unfortunately we can't tell you why you had those success and not the other one.   Can you think of anything that felt different about the one that didn't' work?   Maybe your home has stronger meaning to you and that's why it succeeded.    Incubation and dreaming is not exact, it is never like "do A and you'll always get B".   It's more like "do A over and over and think about it for a long time and eventually you'll start to get more and more B's over time."

It sounds like breathing awareness feels right to you, keep it up!   I like breathing awareness too, and just had breath awareness in my dream for the first time a few nights ago, which is exciting.

Let's keep up that breath awareness!

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## Iriba

> It's great you had those incubation successes!   Unfortunately we can't tell you why you had those success and not the other one.   Can you think of anything that felt different about the one that didn't' work?   Maybe your home has stronger meaning to you and that's why it succeeded.    Incubation and dreaming is not exact, it is never like "do A and you'll always get B".   It's more like "do A over and over and think about it for a long time and eventually you'll start to get more and more B's over time."
> 
> It sounds like breathing awareness feels right to you, keep it up!   I like breathing awareness too, and just had breath awareness in my dream for the first time a few nights ago, which is exciting.
> 
> Let's keep up that breath awareness!



Thank you for answering :p
it makes me very happy that incubation is working at me  :smiley: 
And as i read in other thread, the more i try with a different mantra
my subconscious will accept that idea.
Also i don't know why it works with my home, maybe because
most of time i'm at my home, i barely go for a walk or something.

But what is worrying me now is that i don't often do reality checks
in my dreams but i do a lot of them in real life. I don't understand why
i barely do them at my dreams.
I've been drinking apple juice for 2 weeks now, because i read that it increases
your dream vividness, i am also trying to increase my visualization for MILD, although
i'm not quite sure how to train that.

But my main problem is, why i barely do reality checks in my dreams?

----------


## FryingMan

If you have a lot of success in incubating dreams in your home, you might want to place more emphasis on daytime MILD visualiations where you see yourself in your home in a dream and tell yourself "I'm dreaming" and see yourself doing reality checks.

Doing a reality checks comes from a moment of raised awareness.   When doing RC in waking life, try to hold the awareness at high levels, don't just do the RC then forget about it.   I think fewer RCs but making them really high quality high awareness times is better than a ton of RCs where you just forget about it immediately.

I personally think it is good for LDing to get out of the house.   When I'm in my own home a lot without going out my dreams are more boring and I think it is harder to get lucid.    Get out and take lucid walks, in the country/a park, where it's quiet, and also in the city where there are lots of people and lots of hustle and bustle.    It's great practice maintaining your breath awareness in both places (quiet places and busy places).    A lot of my DCs are strangers, so when I'm out among strangers when awake, maintaining awareness and thinking about lucidity, it's easier to get lucid in dreams.

Do you talk to DCs a lot in dreams?    If so, try to talk to people in waking life and maintain your awareness while doing so.

You're doing great and making great progress.  Even if it feels slow to you, remember: slow progress IS progress!     Slow and steady wins the race.   You have many many years of great dreaming and LDing ahead of you: build the solid foundation now and you'll enjoy great dreams for decades to come.

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## FryingMan

Hello DILD class member,
  I'm making a one-time announcement to individual recently active workbooks to let you know about the new DILD class announcement thread.  Please subscribe to the announcement thread to see notifications of activities and other threads of particular interest/importance to DILD class members!

The first announcement is about the upcoming Sensei dreaming competition (starting on Thursday [in 2 days!], look for the official rules and scoring post on Wednesday).

http://www.dreamviews.com/dild/15591...uncements.html

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