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

## HanZartaC

Hello there!
My name is Hans. I am 16 years old and started to get into Lucid Dreaming on Wednesday.
I first learned about it a couple of years ago by my brother who had an LD without trying. Then I did some research, and I think I had an LD, I'm not sure. But anyway now I'm getting really interested and excited about it. I have studied and read and done research on the subject for a couple of days now. I do a noseplug every 5-10 minutes, or every time I enter a new room. I RC very frequently, however more rarely I really _question_ reality. Once an hour I look around, pay attention to my environment, look at it, touch it, smell it and realize how it affects me and how I affect it. I do this and then RC, I truly question if it's real and believe it's a dream, and I ask where I was last? How did I get here? Where am I going next?. So I think my awareness is quite good.

Now there is one problem I _do_ have. *Dream Recall*. I try to remember my dreams. On Wednesday, I remembered one dream which I wrote down. On Thursday I remembered two dreams. Friday I remembered no dreams, and neither on Saturday. I have been reading up on recall, and learned that when I wake up, I shouldn't move or open my eyes, and immediately try to remember my dream and write it down in my journal. I will try this tonight. I might also try to wake myself up between late cycles to remember my dreams.

Every night I have been attempting WILD several times. I have failed and not really gotten close. I now realize that I shouldn't jump straight onto the most difficult method of LD induction. So I will try to continue with DILD and MILD w/ WBTB. So if I have understood MILD correctly, when I perform WBTB, I repeat a mantra before I go to sleep and visualize a dream? I think my mantra would be something along the lines of: "I noseplug in my dreams". Then I visualize a dream and fall asleep? And I assume I would do this before I go to bed too and also WBTB?

Anyway I think what I need to focus on now primarily is improving my Dream Recall and to say mantras (I usually say: "I remember my dreams perfectly and lucid dream") more often in my daytime. I will also try the MILD technique paired with WBTB. I'll brush up on MILD and let you know tomorrow how it all went!
Thank you and sweet dreams!  ::D:

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## fogelbise

> Hello there!
> My name is Hans. I am 16 years old and started to get into Lucid Dreaming on Wednesday.



Welcome HanZartaC! I think you will find that there are many nice people all around these forums so don't be shy to post in any of the forum threads that you find interesting. In here you can log your progress and/or post questions and I, or a teacher like myself, will attempt to check in frequently.





> I do a noseplug every 5-10 minutes, or every time I enter a new room. I RC very frequently, however more rarely I really _question_ reality. Once an hour I look around, pay attention to my environment, look at it, touch it, smell it and realize how it affects me and how I affect it. I do this and then RC, I truly question if it's real and believe it's a dream, and I ask where I was last? How did I get here? Where am I going next?. So I think my awareness is quite good.



It is obvious that you have been reading up! Nice!  :smiley:  Your once an hour practice looks right on target though it can take some time to get the feeling for Sageous' RRC - which is what it sounds like you were describing in part of the above. The RC that you are doing every 10 minutes or so may be difficult to keep up, but if you can do it in the short term it is more likely to show up in your dreams sooner. Just watch out for the fact that the RC might show that you are awake during the dream because you are doing it so often and during those every 10 minute RCs you are probably not expecting anything but for it to show that you are awake. This is where it is also good to have several RCs...it only takes a few extra seconds, for example, to look at your hands and try a finger or thumb through your palm in addition to your nose plug.





> Now there is one problem I _do_ have. *Dream Recall*. I try to remember my dreams. On Wednesday, I remembered one dream which I wrote down. On Thursday I remembered two dreams. Friday I remembered no dreams, and neither on Saturday. I have been reading up on recall, and learned that when I wake up, I shouldn't move or open my eyes, and immediately try to remember my dream and write it down in my journal. I will try this tonight. I might also try to wake myself up between late cycles to remember my dreams.



Good plan! Post in here how it goes and if you still need some help with recall I can point you in a few directions such as writing your mantra in addition to only reciting it and I have another recall improvement technique if recall is not improving yet. Once you get it down and commit to keeping your DJ you can still have up and down days but you will definitely see an improvement from where you are at currently.





> Every night I have been attempting WILD several times. I have failed and not really gotten close. I now realize that I shouldn't jump straight onto the most difficult method of LD induction. So I will try to continue with DILD and MILD w/ WBTB. So if I have understood MILD correctly, when I perform WBTB, I repeat a mantra before I go to sleep and visualize a dream? I think my mantra would be something along the lines of: "I noseplug in my dreams". Then I visualize a dream and fall asleep? And I assume I would do this before I go to bed too and also WBTB?



You seem to have a fairly good handle on things in the above quote. Yes, I would definitely not focus on WILDs until you have a dozen or more LDs unless you really want to. With MILD and DILD the mantras are useful and you probably will also want to imagine something like "when I see this" or "as soon as I do the nose plug I will also do a few other RCs and then I will remember what I wanted to do in my lucid dream." That would not be your mantra, that would just be something along the lines of what you can imagine during the day and as your are going to bed and/or during a WBTB. *It is also important to imagine the RC working at least in your once an hour sessions and think about how you will react. We recommend a controlled excitement...you will want to avoid getting overly excited when you first become lucid.





> Anyway I think what I need to focus on now primarily is improving my Dream Recall and to say mantras (I usually say: "I remember my dreams perfectly and lucid dream") more often in my daytime. I will also try the MILD technique paired with WBTB. I'll brush up on MILD and let you know tomorrow how it all went!
> Thank you and sweet dreams!



Definitely a good start. Yes, definitely let us know how it went.  :smiley:

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## HanZartaC

Thank you so much for the warm welcome! I can tell I'm going to learn and make friends and have fun here at DV!  ::D: 

Yes I will start doing more RC's and try to imagine it being a dream. And I have a question about the RRC's, I think I'm doing it right, but I'm not sure. I usually just look around me and examine the environment and ask myself how I got here, where was I last (all the way to waking up), and where I'm going next. Is that right? Is there anything else than that? I will try to do these more frequently and correctly. And I usually do them quite randomly, but frequently. Is there a way or "rule" to doing RC's? When should I do them? Is it whenever I see/do something in particular? Or just as often as I can? It's easy to forget to do them, which I don't think would be helpful towards DILD.

Okay so when I went to bed yesterday I listened to some theta waves isochronic tones to relax, then I repeated the mantra: "I noseplug in my dreams and realize that I'm dreaming" over and over, but it was easy to forget because I was relaxed and tired. Then I tried to visualize myself at the beach in vivid detail, but like the mantra it was easy to lose track because I was relaxed and tired. I think I need a simpler mantra for daytime use and nighttime. It wasn't that easy to fall asleep because I was visualizing and repeating the mantra. Am I supposed to visualize and repeat mantra, then _stop_ and try to sleep, or repeat and visualize _until_ I fall asleep?

Anyway, about two sleep cycles later I woke up naturally, which is a step in the right direction because I am a deep sleeper. I barely remembered a dream, only the setting and scene actually. It was a workplace, a building. Not very big, it was very modern architecture with white walls and a lot of glass and windows and light brown floor with spacious room. There were many rooms and stairs. It's hard to remember, but I'm pretty sure I was working there. I wrote it in my DJ and returned to sleep. About 5 hours later after I went to bed for the first time, I did the WBTB. I stayed up for about 5 minutes, I got a drink of water and went on DV to read about MILD. I then went to bed and listened to some beach waves, I tried to relax and repeat my mantra: "I noseplug in my dreams and realize that I'm dreaming" (a bit long, not sure) and then I visualized the beach again. I fell asleep easier this time then the first time trying to MILD. However I did not have a LD. I woke up later not remembering any dreams, but later throughout the day I remembered my dream, at least some of it. It was about my mom getting a phone call saying my grandmother had died, very unpleasant, which was a wake-up call to visit her more often  ::D: 





> Good plan! Post in here how it goes and if you still need some help with recall I can point you in a few directions such as writing your mantra in addition to only reciting it and I have another recall improvement technique if recall is not improving yet. Once you get it down and commit to keeping your DJ you can still have up and down days but you will definitely see an improvement from where you are at currently.



Yes, I could definitely use some pointers and advice for recall and mantras. I think I should reconsider my mantras and how to use them. Any help with mantras and recall techniques would be very appreciated!  ::D:  Oh and do you have any other tips or advice towards my DILD/MILD attempt?
Thank you  ::D:

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## fogelbise

> Thank you so much for the warm welcome! I can tell I'm going to learn and make friends and have fun here at DV!



It is a great group of dreamers and you will fit right in!  :smiley: 





> Yes I will start doing more RC's and try to imagine it being a dream. And I have a question about the RRC's, I think I'm doing it right, but I'm not sure. I usually just look around me and examine the environment and ask myself how I got here, where was I last (all the way to waking up), and where I'm going next. Is that right? Is there anything else than that? I will try to do these more frequently and correctly. And I usually do them quite randomly, but frequently.



This sounds about right. The short answer from my perspective is to *really STOP and look around in wonder*.  For any RRC specifics I would encourage you to do a little back and forth on one of Sageous' threads (the expert) that covers it. If so, you could post your question here: http://www.dreamviews.com/wild/12557...mentals-q.html which is really long but lots of good reads especially if you look for Sageous' posts. But a simple shorter rundown can be found here: http://www.dreamviews.com/wild/13181...prep-part.html which may be the one that you read. It is in the WILD section but applies to DILD awareness work as well (I am not recommending WILD at this point unless you are highly motivated to).





> 1.Is there a way or "rule" to doing RC's? When should I do them? 2.Is it whenever I see/do something in particular? 3.Or just as often as I can? It's easy to forget to do them, which I don't think would be helpful towards DILD.



(I added the numbers for ease answering) 1.Not so much about rules as a about a state of mind and pointers to keep in mind such as really imagining that you could be dreaming and then thinking about how you will react the moment that you become lucid (stop, look around, touch things and you can practice all these things if no one is around) Definitely check out this link and post some questions in there as well...good stuff: http://www.dreamviews.com/induction-...hecks-rcs.html  2.Depends on your focus but if you can do it both randomly approximately once an hour no matter what in addition to every time you pass through a door, into a different area, or other threshold that is great as well. For random alerts to remind me I use Awoken for Android.  3.The app I mentioned or similar app will help with that.





> Okay so when I went to bed yesterday I listened to some theta waves isochronic tones to relax, then I repeated the mantra: "I noseplug in my dreams and realize that I'm dreaming" over and over, but it was easy to forget because I was relaxed and tired. Then I tried to visualize myself at the beach in vivid detail, but like the mantra it was easy to lose track because I was relaxed and tired. I think I need a simpler mantra for daytime use and nighttime. It wasn't that easy to fall asleep because I was visualizing and repeating the mantra. Am I supposed to visualize and repeat mantra, then _stop_ and try to sleep, or repeat and visualize _until_ I fall asleep?



For DILD yes, do the visualization and mantra perhaps sitting up and then lay down and go to sleep. Shifting to laying down may be enough to put your mind into "go to sleep" mode. As far as feeling too sleepy, perhaps practice during the day both the mantra and visualization. You can also simplify your mantra to something like "I RC and realize that I am dreaming."





> Anyway, about two sleep cycles later I woke up naturally, which is a step in the right direction because I am a deep sleeper. I barely remembered a dream, only the setting and scene actually. It was a workplace, a building. Not very big, it was very modern architecture with white walls and a lot of glass and windows and light brown floor with spacious room. There were many rooms and stairs. It's hard to remember, but I'm pretty sure I was working there. I wrote it in my DJ and returned to sleep. About 5 hours later after I went to bed for the first time, I did the WBTB. I stayed up for about 5 minutes, I got a drink of water and went on DV to read about MILD. I then went to bed and listened to some beach waves, I tried to relax and repeat my mantra: "I noseplug in my dreams and realize that I'm dreaming" (a bit long, not sure) and then I visualized the beach again. I fell asleep easier this time then the first time trying to MILD. However I did not have a LD. I woke up later not remembering any dreams, but later throughout the day I remembered my dream, at least some of it. It was about my mom getting a phone call saying my grandmother had died, very unpleasant, which was a wake-up call to visit her more often



Good progress in here! If you had an LD already I would have been surprised but it may not be too much longer.  :smiley:  But you should expect one, it helps to really expect one.







> Yes, I could definitely use some pointers and advice for recall and mantras. I think I should reconsider my mantras and how to use them.  Any help with mantras and recall techniques would be very appreciated!  Oh and do you have any other tips or advice towards my DILD/MILD attempt?
> Thank you



See above on mantras and keep them present tense like you are doing. On recall try handwriting a recall mantra 30 times per day...adding 10 more the next day if no improvement and 10 less if you do see nice improvement. Something like "I remember my dreams." Whew...you wore me out a little with lots of questions...of course it is also getting late here so hopefully not too many typos.  :smiley:

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## HanZartaC

> Good progress in here! If you had an LD already I would have been surprised but it may not be too much longer.  But you should expect one, it helps to really expect one.



Yeah I say to myself: "Okay, I didn't have an LD last night, but I _know_ I will have one tonight!"  ::D: 






> See above on mantras and keep them present tense like you are doing. On recall try handwriting a recall mantra 30 times per day...adding 10 more the next day if no improvement and 10 less if you do see nice improvement. Something like "I remember my dreams." Whew...you wore me out a little with lots of questions...of course it is also getting late here so hopefully not too many typos.



Thank you so much for answering all of my questions! It was a handful yes, but now I know a lot more and will try it all out. So I think I know how to do RC's and RRC's correctly and I'll try to remind myself somehow, I think I'm going to try to do a big RRC every time I'm in a new environment, or if I'm in the same place for a while, every one or two hours or so.

And I will do some small RC's as often as I can. And I will try that mantra out and I will write it, thanks for the advice!  ::D:  I'm going to handwrite "I remember my dreams" 30 times, and I'm going to repeat to myself before bed "I RC and realize that I'm dreaming" which I think is a better mantra. I'll try doing it while sitting up so I don't drift off.

Anyway yesterday I didn't attempt a WBTB or MILD. To be honest, I think I slacked off a little yesterday, which I shouldn't have done. I had a lot to do. I tried to do RC's as often as i could, and RRC's as often as I could. I didn't really repeat mantra's or visualize either. I should have put more effort in, I guess I was just busy and didn't feel motivated, but that's why most fail, right? I just have to be consistent and put the effort in. Do you have any suggestions for motivation?

So yeah I went to sleep, and I hoped that I would wake up naturally again so I could record my dream, but I didn't. I suspect it's because I didn't follow my regular sleep schedule. And I think I read that it's important to go to bed and wake up at the same time, I will try that.
So I woke up later, and I remembered one dream, it was very short, but instead of only remembering the scene and setting, I actually remembered some of the plot too and what I was doing. But it was still very short. So I will try this out, and maybe attempt a MILD+WBTB. Do you think it's a good idea to try it out or not? Should I only focus on DILD and improving recall? Anyway, I'll repeat the mantra and visualize before I go to bed, in addition to doing it in daytime.  ::D: 
Thank you  :smiley:

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## fogelbise

> Yeah I say to myself: "Okay, I didn't have an LD last night, but I _know_ I will have one tonight!"



Great!  :smiley: 





> Anyway yesterday I didn't attempt a WBTB or MILD. To be honest, I think I slacked off a little yesterday, which I shouldn't have done. I had a lot to do. I tried to do RC's as often as i could, and RRC's as often as I could. I didn't really repeat mantra's or visualize either. I should have put more effort in, I guess I was just busy and didn't feel motivated, but that's why most fail, right? I just have to be consistent and put the effort in. Do you have any suggestions for motivation?



Go back and read some of your favorite dreams from your DJ. Even regular dreams can be very fun to relive through reading them. I say this often but when I do go and read some of mine it really surprises me how much of a boost it gives me. Also, a competition is good motivation, check this out, lower league you can still get rack up good points for recall and if you get lucid during the competition, how great would that be! Many beginners in there, don't be shy..it will probably start in several days but the host will let us know...Link: http://www.dreamviews.com/general-lu...read-16-a.html





> So yeah I went to sleep, and I hoped that I would wake up naturally again so I could record my dream, but I didn't. I suspect it's because I didn't follow my regular sleep schedule. And I think I read that it's important to go to bed and wake up at the same time, I will try that.
> So I woke up later, and I remembered one dream, it was very short, but instead of only remembering the scene and setting, I actually remembered some of the plot too and what I was doing.



Good, this is progress!  :smiley: 





> So I will try this out, and maybe attempt a MILD+WBTB. Do you think it's a good idea to try it out or not? Should I only focus on DILD and improving recall? Anyway, I'll repeat the mantra and visualize before I go to bed, in addition to doing it in daytime. 
> Thank you



Sure, they use a lot of the same components. What does your MILD consist of?

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## HanZartaC

Okay I might sign up, and I will read my dreams! I also feel like my first lucid dream will keep motivating me too.

So anyway, yesterday I wrote "I remember my dreams" 44 times (just to be sure), and then I read it back to me 10 times!! (Just to be even more sure) I also tried to do the RC's as often as I could remember. When I went to bed, I sat up and repeated my mantra "I RC and realize I'm dreaming" for a couple of minutes, then I started to visualize a dream I imagined and imagined doing an RC and waking up in the dream (that's what my MILD consists of), then I went to bed. When I woke up I didn't remember any dreams, I tried to think back but I couldn't. So I thought that I would remember my dream(s) later throughout the day which happens to me sometimes. That didn't happen, so I don't remember any dreams from last night. But I guess there's up and down days?

So yeah I'll just keep working and hoping to see some improvement  ::D:

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## fogelbise

Quick response before bed...yes, can have up and down days. Try writing the mantra a few more days and see if helps. The other tip I was going to mention is to recall your day' s various events and details as a day journal it can help dream recall.  If you want to join competition, sign up by Thursday...it starts in a little over 24 hours.

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## HanZartaC

Hi fogelbise!
I'm sorry I have not been writing for a while. I've been busy and I started losing interest. I experienced what many new dreamers experienced, "giving up". I didn't exactly give up, but I started losing interest and didn't do as many RC's or remembered dreams. But then guess what happened last night? I HAD MY FIRST LD!! So yeah I had a DILD last night and it was awesome! I was dreaming that I was at a mall with my family, it all seemed weird because I've never been there before, and the stores were weird and there were a lot of people from my school, so I nose plugged, I was already pretty sure I was dreaming though. So I nose plugged and I could breathe, the I looked at my hand and I had a large sixth finger! I started getting excited because it was so real, and the dream started fading. But then I started rubbing my hands and I got back in with clarity. I tried to fly through the halls, but I could only jump very high and long. Then I just did some random shit. I wish I remembered what I wanted to do, but I didn't know it was that hard to remember from real life. Do you have any ideas or tips on that?

I forgot to say that now that I reached my first goal, having an LD, that will really kick start my motivation to keep going and trying harder. It was a DILD by the way, but I guess you could tell from the story.  :smiley:

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## gab

Heeeey, welcome to The Club! Congrats  ::breakitdown:: 

Indeed, now that you know you can and how, more are on their way.

2 RCs, that's great. Looking at hands and counting fingers is my favorite one, because it's just so much fun to count more than 5 fingers, lol. It allways gets me laughing. 

There is something very easy you can do to help you remember things you want to do in your lucid.

1. Write your goal into your dream journal
2. Daydream about it
3. Draw a picture of it

and the really weird one:

4. Practice it in waking life. During day, stand up in your room and pretend you just got lucid. Now go through the motions of your goal. 

I practiced yelling commands and stabilizing. Close your windows, lol, and yell out a command "clarity now", "stabilize now"...

Touch your clothes, your feet, arms, the ground, smell the air...

Then let's say you want to throw fireballs - pretend you just made a fireball in your hand and throw it! It may sound funny, but it does work.

Also, raising your daytime awareness helps you carry more memory and awareness into your dream. Pay attention to details of your day as you go through it. 

Good luck and happy dreams ::alien::

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## DeadDream

> Hello there!
> Every night I have been attempting WILD several times. I have failed and not really gotten close. I now realize that I shouldn't jump straight onto the most difficult method of LD induction. So I will try to continue with DILD and MILD w/ WBTB.



Hey, don't believe it is hard to have a wild, everyone in here says it is hard, but i think this isn't true. I had a few LDs and I can only remember to do a RC in one dream (And I did it after I questioned myself if I was dreaming, only to check out how it feels to plug your nose and been able to breath). To get a wild you got to relax and get sleepy, if you want to move, scratch or do whatever you like to get comfy you must do it. And after you have found your comfortable position try to stay in this position.  Try to visualize your next dream, try to convince yourself you are going to get a wild or a LD. After some time (if you didn't loose your consciousness yet) you should feel your body tired and really heavy, at this moment i usually like to do some kind of RC (actually it isn't a RC). I try to rise my arm and then just let it fall in the mattress and then ask myself how it felt. You will realize if you are in SP or HH or whatever state you are in, after a few tries im sure you will get it. Also some times it helps me to set an alarm that isn't hard to turn off for 3 or 4 hours later.

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## HanZartaC

> Heeeey, welcome to The Club! Congrats 
> 
> Indeed, now that you know you can and how, more are on their way.
> 
> 2 RCs, that's great. Looking at hands and counting fingers is my favorite one, because it's just so much fun to count more than 5 fingers, lol. It allways gets me laughing. 
> 
> There is something very easy you can do to help you remember things you want to do in your lucid.
> 
> 1. Write your goal into your dream journal
> ...



Thank you so much Gab! I will try it out!
And last week I had another LD! But it was kind of unclear and my lucidity was low, but last night I had my first BETTER LD. I was more lucid, and the dream was more stable and clear, and I had more control. I could fly and summoned a surfing board. But in all of my LD's, I don't have a lot of dream control, I can fly and summon, but I am still sort of following the dream story, I can't just do whatever I wanna do, I am following my dream memory instead of my waking life memory. I also am not 100% aware. For gods sake I was afraid of surfing because it might ruin the iPad I was holding in my hand. In dreams there are no consequences. So do you have any tips on increasing dream control, and lucidity? Thank you very much!

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## HanZartaC

> Hey, don't believe it is hard to have a wild, everyone in here says it is hard, but i think this isn't true. I had a few LDs and I can only remember to do a RC in one dream (And I did it after I questioned myself if I was dreaming, only to check out how it feels to plug your nose and been able to breath). To get a wild you got to relax and get sleepy, if you want to move, scratch or do whatever you like to get comfy you must do it. And after you have found your comfortable position try to stay in this position.  Try to visualize your next dream, try to convince yourself you are going to get a wild or a LD. After some time (if you didn't loose your consciousness yet) you should feel your body tired and really heavy, at this moment i usually like to do some kind of RC (actually it isn't a RC). I try to rise my arm and then just let it fall in the mattress and then ask myself how it felt. You will realize if you are in SP or HH or whatever state you are in, after a few tries im sure you will get it. Also some times it helps me to set an alarm that isn't hard to turn off for 3 or 4 hours later.



Thank you, you have inspired me to try WILD again. I will try it later, right now I'm just focusing on having lucids and increasing dream control. But thank you for the tips and explanation of WILD. I appreciate it!  :smiley:

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## fogelbise

> Thank you, you have inspired me to try WILD again. I will try it later, right now I'm just focusing on having lucids and increasing dream control. But thank you for the tips and explanation of WILD. I appreciate it!



I think that this is a good plan. I apologize for not responding directly earlier than now but I saw that gab had answered. I hope all is going well. Let me know if you have any questions. In any paths that you take, I recommend that you customize it to you.

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## HanZartaC

> I think that this is a good plan. I apologize for not responding directly earlier than now but I saw that gab had answered. I hope all is going well. Let me know if you have any questions. In any paths that you take, I recommend that you customize it to you.



Tank you very much, and don't worry about it. Oh and Happy New Year! I hope you have a great 2014 with many possibilities, and thank you for helping me on my lucid journey to my inner self, I wouldn't have had my 3LD's without you. And regards to post #12, do you have any tips on increasing dream control, lucidity, stability, and clarity?

Again, thank you for your help.  :smiley:

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## fogelbise

I am guessing that you need a combination of daytime work and dream time tactics. In order to remember to do the dream time tactics, you need to put in the daytime work. I agree with gab's suggestion to practice during the day. The simplest step is one of the most important ones: stop, really stop and wonder various times during the day...the focus here will take some time and introspection to get down but you can start by simply asking yourself how you got to the room you were in or what you were doing 15 minutes before. Pretend "hey wait the last thing I remember I was laying in bed...I'm dreaming!" Then practice how you will proceed during your next LD. Gab's suggestions here are also great.. "Touch your clothes, your feet, arms, the ground, smell the air..." I also like focusing in on one item in the dreamworld and closely examining it. Whatever you do don't worry too much about stability or the other items just enjoy and do your best to remember your plans to take control.

Edit: I wanted to add that you can also remind yourself as you go "I am dreaming" while rubbing your hands together (or touching items). You can practice this as well.

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## HanZartaC

WOW!

Hello Fogelbise! I regret leaving without any regards or goodbyes. I want to apologize and I also want to explain why I left. Quite simply, I lost motivation. I started slacking off and after New Year's Eve, I couldn't remember any dreams anymore. Three weeks before that, I had three lucid dreams in three weeks. So I lost motivation when I didn't have a fourth lucid dream in the fourth week. I wanted to force myself to stay motivated, however that was worse than anything. I then continued my waking life, while trying to get lucid dreams from time to time, with little effort. Now however, I decided to go on Dreamviews for old time's sake, and I read some stories. Now I remember what fun it was to lucid dream and have those amazing, vivid experiences. My motivation and inspiration have jumped through the lucid roof! I hope that I can return to Dreamviews as if nothing happened. I also hope you would accept me as your student again and being willing to share your knowledge with me. I am very happy to have returned to Dreamviews. I will start trying to lucid dreams.

Another reason why I have gotten my motivation and inspiration back is because I have remembered a lot of dreams with detailed lately, so I'm going to dust of my old dream journal, start practicing the techniques, and also re-learn some of them.

Thank you, and I hope you've had a great year so far!

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## fogelbise

> I also hope you would accept me as your student again and being willing to share your knowledge with me.



Absolutely  :smiley:  ...Welcome back! Let me know how I can help. For me, I find motivation in reading my past dream journals...even non lucid dream journals can be motivating, reading interesting dreams you might have.

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## HanZartaC

> Absolutely  ...Welcome back! Let me know how I can help. For me, I find motivation in reading my past dream journals...even non lucid dream journals can be motivating, reading interesting dreams you might have.



Great! That was good news.
So I read through my dream journal and it was so much fun. I chuckled and reminisced about my dream past. It did increase my motivation. I didn't have any results last night, though, which I didn't expect anyway because my sleep pattern has been bad. I slept six hours, which isn't enough. This brings me to my next question. How long should I sleep? I wake up at 6AM every weekday. And should I start waking up at the same time everyday and maintain the same sleep schedule?

Also, I have been motivated to try a WILD soon. Is it too soon? And I am also confused as to when I need to perform the WBTB. Do I wake up before my next REM period? And how do I know when that is?

Anyways, I'm gonna continue with my RCs and DJs and see where it gets me. I have also been wanting to try meditation. Do you think it will help? Thank you!  :smiley:

----------


## fogelbise

> I slept six hours, which isn't enough. This brings me to my next question. How long should I sleep? I wake up at 6AM every weekday. And should I start waking up at the same time everyday and maintain the same sleep schedule?



Everyone is different, but I would think that 8 hours would be better for lucid dreaming unless you are one of those people who function better on a little less sleep. Have you ever slept about 8 hours a day on a regular basis? A regular schedule is supposed to be better, but I cheat on the weekends and sleep longer myself.





> Also, I have been motivated to try a WILD soon. Is it too soon? And I am also confused as to when I need to perform the WBTB. Do I wake up before my next REM period? And how do I know when that is?



In general it is more advanced, but it doesn't hurt to try. Have you seen this simple procedure that if it doesn't turn into a WILD could lead you to a DILD later? > http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...nterested.html





> Anyways, I'm gonna continue with my RCs and DJs and see where it gets me. I have also been wanting to try meditation. Do you think it will help? Thank you!



I feel that meditation can help you control thoughts coming into your head which can be useful for getting back to sleep during WBTB and WILD attempts. I also hear that it has many other benefits, but I don't have a lot of experience with meditation though.

----------


## HanZartaC

> Everyone is different, but I would think that 8 hours would be better for lucid dreaming unless you are one of those people who function better on a little less sleep. Have you ever slept about 8 hours a day on a regular basis? A regular schedule is supposed to be better, but I cheat on the weekends and sleep longer myself.



Okay, so I slept ~9hrs last night, and I felt quite well-rested in the morning! I will try to maintain a regular sleep schedule. Hopefully I will see some results by doing this.





> In general it is more advanced, but it doesn't hurt to try. Have you seen this simple procedure that if it doesn't turn into a WILD could lead you to a DILD later? > http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...nterested.html



Haha I actually tried that last night before I read this post. I read that thread and it was quite interesting. So I attempted this WILD yesterday. I performed my WBTB at around 6hrs and 10minutes after I fell asleep, because I think that is about 20 minutes from when my REM period starts. I was tired and it was hard to get out of bed (good sign?), but I managed to go to the bathroom, splash a little water on my face, and drink some water. Then I went back to bed, and I got comfortable after a little while. In fact, I got so comfortable that I forgot to visualize the rhythmical motion. So I fell asleep. I didn't start the anchor right away because it would just keep me awake, so I wanted to wait for that "sleepy" moment, but I got too sleepy to remember. This lead me to two questions:

1. Am I supposed to WBTB when I _hit_ my next REM period, or WBTB a little bit before so I give myself time to fall asleep _into_ the REM period?

2. How can I prevent myself from staying awake during WILD, or getting too sleepy and forgetting to do the anchor thing?





> I feel that meditation can help you control thoughts coming into your head which can be useful for getting back to sleep during WBTB and WILD attempts. I also hear that it has many other benefits, but I don't have a lot of experience with meditation though.



Okay, however, after some thinking, I think I will wait, seeing as I might have enough things on my plate as it is. I did pick up another technique though. I read about the *Confident Knowing Technique*. It is basically self-affirmation and suggestion. Sort of like a MILD. So I did that a few times today, and it made me feel quite confident! It even inspired me to write a list over things I want to do in the LD that I WILL HAVE!  ::D:  

I will provide you with a link in case you haven't read it:

http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...technique.html

----------


## fogelbise

> 1. Am I supposed to WBTB when I _hit_ my next REM period, or WBTB a little bit before so I give myself time to fall asleep _into_ the REM period?
> 
> 2. How can I prevent myself from staying awake during WILD, or getting too sleepy and forgetting to do the anchor thing?



1. Towards the latter part of your sleep, REM cycles are closer together as you probably have learned. If you are going for DILDs then the timing is less important and you will find your sleep less disrupted if you wake at the end of one of your REM cycles. When you are in the latter part of your sleep, you will reach the next REM cycle quicker which is ideal for WILDing. 2. I would definitely lean towards the sleepy side since you can't lucid dream if you don't get back to sleep. Relaxation techniques are good for returning to sleepiness. Making sure to not let waking life worries enter your mind is important as well. If they do come up, then writing them down and committing to taking care of it the next day or on some schedule should set your mind at ease. You might also want to pose your questions to our resident WILD experts: Sageous or Sivason. Sageous runs the WILD section of the academy and Sivason the Dream Yoga section.





> It even inspired me to write a list over things I want to do in the LD that I WILL HAVE!



 I like that confidence!  ::D:

----------


## HanZartaC

> 2. I would definitely lean towards the sleepy side since you can't lucid dream if you don't get back to sleep. Relaxation techniques are good for returning to sleepiness. You might also want to pose your questions to our resident WILD experts: Sageous or Sivason. Sageous runs the WILD section of the academy and Sivason the Dream Yoga section.



Yes that makes sense, though my question was really about how I can _avoid_ falling asleep, and make the anchor keep my mind aware whilst falling asleep. I think what I should do is to extend my WBTB instead of just staying WBTB-ing for just two minutes or so. I also think I should replace the "walking" with an actual mantra. I think that would work better for me. The mantra I have chosen is "find me there". I read it somewhere and I really liked it. I think it will work quite well for me. I would love to credit the creator of the mantra but I don't remember who wrote it or where. Anyway, I think that should help me WILDing, but I will ask Sageous Sivason. Thank you for pointing me to them.

Anayway, here is how it went last night. I went to bed early (trying to keep the same sleep schedule), but I couldn't fall asleep. I think I should try some relaxation techniques for that. I had also set two alarms, one at 6 hours and 30 minutes later and one at 7 hours and 30 minutes later, however I fell asleep an hour later, so I guess it would've been 5 hours and 30 minutes and 6 hours and 30 minutes. The first alarm didn't wake me, and I suspect it was because I was in the REM period and I was dreaming. The second alarm woke me up. Then I did a short WBTB and tried to WILD. I was too sleepy and fell asleep as the "walking" didn't help me stay awake, though I went over this in the first paragraph. Then I woke up later. So, I didn't remember any dreams, _although_ I remembered a dream fragment! This made me happy, because any progress is good progress, right? I remembered checking the time on my phone, it was 7:24AM. That's all I remembered. I spent time thinking about that "dream" throughout today, and I started remembering more and more. I woke up fully clothed, checked the time, and got nervous because school started in six minutes, so I had to hurry, and I went to school. That's it.

So all of this lead me to two questions:

*1. Do you have any tips or techniques for relaxing and falling asleep quickly even if you're not very tired?

     2. My dream recall is improving ever so slightly, do you have any tips or techniques on making more progress on my dream recall?*

*EDIT:*

I just wanted to add that I believe that the dream fragment was a false awakening, wasn't it? I don't remember very well, but I think I remember waking up, isn't that the definition of FA?

----------


## fogelbise

> Yes that makes sense, though my question was really about how I can avoid falling asleep, and make the anchor keep my mind aware whilst falling asleep.



It is a tricky balancing act. The simplest solution is that you would just need to wake up more before laying back down. But my advice still stands, unless you have plenty of sleep to spare. Falling asleep during a WILD can often turn into DILDs and you also end up getting more sleep typically.





> So, I didn't remember any dreams, _although_ I remembered a dream fragment! This made me happy, because any progress is good progress, right?



Absolutely! Celebrate the small successes while reaching for more. It provides helpful momentum I feel.





> So all of this lead me to two questions:
> 
> *1. Do you have any tips or techniques for relaxing and falling asleep quickly even if you're not very tired?*



I would start with the simple stuff I mentioned above but if you still have trouble falling asleep you can use this: The 61 Point relaxation Technique - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views and there are other tips I can point you too if these don't do the trick.





> *2. My dream recall is improving ever so slightly, do you have any tips or techniques on making more progress on my dream recall?*



 http://www.dreamviews.com/dream-sign...reams-try.html If you find it too time consuming let me know. I have some tweaks but they can reduce the effect.





> *EDIT:*
> 
> I just wanted to add that I believe that the dream fragment was a false awakening, wasn't it? I don't remember very well, but I think I remember waking up, isn't that the definition of FA?



It could have been. If you had the sensation of waking up but you were in fact still dreaming, then absolutely. Sometimes you don't remember that waking moment but maybe you remember rolling over to write in your dream journal the dream you just had only to wake up later and find that you haven't written anything yet and were just dreaming about writing in your dream journal.

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## HanZartaC

Okay so some progress have been made. Yesterday I went to bed, I tried to relax while listening to theta waves. I used a technique similar to the one you mentioned. I did the same thing, except I relaxed entire body parts instead of points. It worked well for me and I fell asleep quickly. So that's good.

Moving on to the WBTB. Oh boy...
I woke up ~6 and a half hours later feeling aware and awake. I stayed awake for 8 minutes precisely before going back to bed. Now here's the problem: I got comfy and relaxed, but *I could not sleep*. I stayed awake for quite some time. Even when I gave up on the WILD I couldn't sleep. I slept until maybe half an hour before I needed to wake up. So I think the timing was wrong, and I should probably try the 61 point technique instead of my own one.

Anyway, when I woke up, after a while, I remembered something. A dream fragment. Not any dream fragment, a more _vivid_ and more _detailed_ one than the one from the night before. My dream recall is improving even more! Also my phone was involved, again. *Could it be a dreamsign?*

~3PM, deprived of REM sleep with a slight headache, I decided to take a nap. I already posted this at another thread that focuses on WILD, so I don't think I'll include it. But I got farther than I've ever gotten, so even more progress have been made. I'm gonna try again tonight. And I'll let you know of anything happens.

Just a side note. I know this is a DILD class, so I will try to avoid getting sidetracked with WILDs unless it concerns DILD. I will try to only post dream recall and DILD progress and whatnot. However I will still attempt WILDs, they fascinate me and it's a skill I want to learn. That's all I wanted to say!  ::D:

----------


## fogelbise

Sleeplessness is no fun. That is why I suggested to lean towards the sleepy side of the balancing act and nights you can sleep in.





> Also my phone was involved, again. Could it be a dreamsign?



Perhaps! They tend to look different or do strange things.

----------


## HanZartaC

Okay, so I forgot to write yesterday, so I'll do it now.

Friday night:
It took me a while to fall asleep, probably because I wasn't following my sleep schedule. However, five hours later for my WBTB I woke up naturally! This is a step in the right direction considering I'm a heavy/deep sleeper. Nothing really else happened, I forgot to do the dream recall technique friday night and yesterday, but I will do it tonight. I didn't remember any dreams, but I think I remember some images...

Saturday Night:
April 27th was the date, the date where I got back into lucid dreaming! I'm back baby! I had my fourth LD last night!. But from the beginning...
I fell asleep quite quickly. Six hours later I was woken up by the alarm. Note to self: Never EVER do six hours for a WBTB because I am too awake at that time. So I had a hard time sleeping, but I tried to WILD anyway. I got comfortable, tried to relax, listened to theta waves and beach waves, and eventually fell asleep. I was trying to WILD, but I fell asleep. I wish I stayed with WILD because the dream was _right_ around the corner. Anyway I fell asleep and entered the dream without lucidity. (I'm just gonna get to the point in the dream). I was in a house, more and more people came. It was a family vacation. We went out and I noticed I wasn't wearing a shirt, and I realized I was dreaming! It was a weird trigger, but I think I did an RC too though. It felt really real, and I was even convinced by my cousin that it wasn't a dream. But then I realized that it in fact was a dream! Oh and when my dad tripped, he started hovering over the ground, so it was obviously a dream. I started floating a little bit, and the dream ended abruptly because I got a little...*ahem*...excited, if you know what I mean...  :;-): 
This has been the best lucid dream I have ever had. My dream control has been improving, though my dream self-control has not  :smiley: . I was able to summon simple objects and float. So yeah! I am really happy about this and I think that I am progressing. This has really motivated me to keep getting better.

Oh and I also remembered a non-lucid dream. Whew! Two vivid dreams in a row? I am very happy about this. And in this NLD, I also wasn't wearing a shirt. I'm weirded out, I have no idea why I wouldn't wear shirts in my dreams. I don't know, maybe another dream sign? Most lucid dreamers would ask their subconsciousness deep questions about themselves, next time I'm asking why the hell I'm not wearing a shirt!

So yeah now I just want to continue practicing getting LDs. I also want to practice my dream control, instead of starting with a handful of roofies and a hot girl, which ended in waking up. Lol  :smiley: 
...I really have no shame.

*EDIT:*

I just wanted to add that in the lucid dream, I felt like my senses were amplified. It was the most real lucid I've ever had, with clarity and control. I still need to work on control though. Funny, I didn't have to stabilize the dream for once, when I got lucid, the dream didn't change or start to fade. Have you ever felt like your senses were heightened in a dream?

----------


## HanZartaC

Okay another progress report. It's gonna be thin.
So no progress has been made, rather the opposite. No dreams remembered and no lucid dreams. I tried a WBTB with a little prospective memory (Just saying "It's critical that I remember when I'm dreaming" and "It's critical that I remember to remember my dreams" once). Then I tried SSILD, but I'm not sure if I did it right. I don't think I focused enough, or long enough on the senses. However I am motivated to try another WILD tonight. I'm not giving up! My last lucid dream really spiked my motivation. I am going to try counting as an anchor, I will try counting to 20, then space off a little, then count to 20 again. I got this from one of Sivason's posts. Do you think that will work? However I don't want to get sidetracked off WILDs and SSILDs considering it's a DILD class. Though I am motivated to try different techniques. I am going to continue with RRC/RCs and writing in my dream journal. I will also try some more in-depth prospective memory during my WBTB, and continue to experiment with my WILD technique. I think I'll revisit SSILD at some point during this week too. I'll let you know how it all went tomorrow.

*EDIT:*

I tried the Dream Recall technique, but it didn't prove useful to me. I will try it again tonight. *Did you say you had some tweaks to it? Do you have any other advice on dream recall? And do you recommend waking up after every dream (with an alarm, I'm a deep sleeper) to try to remember my dream? And also, do you have any ideas/advice on my "plan" above?*

----------


## fogelbise

Congrats HanZartaC on what sounded like a very nice lucid dream!!  :smiley:  





> I'm weirded out, I have no idea why I wouldn't wear shirts in my dreams. I don't know, maybe another dream sign?



Missing clothes is a common dream theme/sign. You could definitely use it as a dream sign if you don't normally walk around shirtless in a particular scenario.





> Have you ever felt like your senses were heightened in a dream?



Absolutely! You may also notice heightened senses in waking life.





> Did you say you had some tweaks to it?



Only if you are remembering so much that you find it tiring. Is that the case?





> Do you have any other advice on dream recall?



Recite a mantra before bed that when you feel yourself back in bed (waking up) that you will lay still, keeping your eyes closed. When you wake you will ask yourself "What was I just dreaming?"





> And do you recommend waking up after every dream (with an alarm, I'm a deep sleeper) to try to remember my dream?



Not after every dream by alarm. Drink a lot of water before bed which will wake you up more gently. Resist the urge to jump up straight to the bathroom and use the mantra/plan above when you do wake needing to go to the bathroom.





> And also, do you have any ideas/advice on my "plan" above?



Which part?

Again, congrats on your LD!! Ride that exhilaration to continue your progress! To further success!  :smiley:

----------


## HanZartaC

> Congrats HanZartaC on what sounded like a very nice lucid dream!!



Thank you! I couldn't have made it without you, fogelbise!  :smiley:  It was also only 6 days after I got back to lucid dreaming so hopefully another one is right around the corner!





> Missing clothes is a common dream theme/sign. You could definitely use it as a dream sign if you don't normally walk around shirtless in a particular scenario.



Okay so it's not just me! I never walk around shirtless, so maybe that's something I can try to be aware of.





> Absolutely! You may also notice heightened senses in waking life.



Yes! I know exactly what you're talking about. I'm also taking sivason's Dream Yoga class. The first basic skills lesson focuses on heightened sensory awareness during waking life. I can see how it relates to dreaming. It is very interesting, but it is not easy. Though it is my fourth day I think so I'm gonna keep practicing.





> Only if you are remembering so much that you find it tiring. Is that the case?



It is not tiring, I do remember my whole day in detail, but it's tiring in the sense that it's worthless if it's not paying off.





> Recite a mantra before bed that when you feel yourself back in bed (waking up) that you will lay still, keeping your eyes closed. When you wake you will ask yourself "What was I just dreaming?"
> 
> Not after every dream by alarm. Drink a lot of water before bed which will wake you up more gently. Resist the urge to jump up straight to the bathroom and use the mantra/plan above when you do wake needing to go to the bathroom.



Okay, I will definitely try these techniques. So I recite the mantra before bed, and during my natural WBTB? Hopefully that will work. My dream recall is disappointing. I remember no dreams, and I feel lucky if I remember a fragment or a short dream. At this point I am willing to try anything. How long does it on average take for dream recall to improve through dream journaling? I've heard 2-4 weeks. I've been doing it for one week so I can't expect much, but hopefully it will improve.





> Which part?



I was just describing my short-term plan. I will continue with RRCs/RCs and dream journaling (and other dream recall techniques). I will also continue experimenting with my WILD technique. I will try prospective memory and mantras during a natural WBTB. I will also revisit the SSILD. Oh and guess what happened last night again, it took me 2 hours to fall asleep. I try to get ~9hrs of sleep every night, but sometimes my body just doesn't want to. How can I fix this? I've tried binaural beats (which worked after a while) and some relaxation techniques. Do you have any suggestions?





> Again, congrats on your LD!! Ride that exhilaration to continue your progress! To further success!



Thank you! Again you've really helped me to achieve it. Also I noticed that my LD was triggered simply by awareness, I never RC'd once during the dream. Do you think I should try ADA? I'm not sure, but I feel like it's something for me. Again thank you very much!  :smiley:

----------


## HanZartaC

Okay so I have made progress! Yesterday was a very busy day, so unfortunately I had to wait to try the new techniques. I didn't get to do as many RRC's/RC's. I went to bed a little later than usual, again, I had a lot to do yesterday so I had to put lucid dreaming on hold. I fell asleep fairly quickly because I was tired after a long day. I decided to cancel my WILD attempt and I just wanted to sleep. When I woke up, I woke up during the end of a dream. I remembered the whole dream. It was quite vivid and long. I didn't have time to write it down yet but I remember most, if not all of it. I will write it down when I have the chance to. I am pretty sure that I remembered the dream because I woke up at the end of it. I hope I can continue like this and improve recall. 

I will try to practice the new techniques, and continue with the same ones. I haven't practiced dream yoga in a while, which I will try to continue to do. Today, and yesterday have both been busy days, so I will try to get back into lucid dreaming for real tomorrow. Though I will probably attempt a WILD tonight depending on when I go to bed. Other than that there isn't really a lot to say.

----------


## fogelbise

> Thank you! I couldn't have made it without you, fogelbise!  It was also only 6 days after I got back to lucid dreaming so hopefully another one is right around the corner!



It's all you HanZartaC! I appreciate that very nice compliment though.  :smiley:  I think the next one could very well be right around the corner!





> It is not tiring, I do remember my whole day in detail, but it's tiring in the sense that it's worthless if it's not paying off.



It also has the benefit of "flexing your memory muscle" for general memory as well, but it sounds like you have pretty good memory if you are remembering your whole day in detail. The tweaks are to recall a general overview of your day and then pick a smaller segment to recall in detail. Each day choose a different segment of the day to remember (e.g. lunch, breakfast, driving to work). The tweak shortens the time the exercise takes.





> So I recite the mantra before bed, and during my natural WBTB?  How long does it on average take for dream recall to improve through dream journaling?



Yes, anytime before bed and ideally also during WBTB *as long as it doesn't wake you up too much. Sometimes these sort of things keep me awake even at bedtime, so earlier in the evening is an alternative. / Different for everyone, but with DJing, mantras and if you can keep trying the day recall, between 2 or 3 of those things I think you will see improvement soon.





> I was just describing my short-term plan. I will continue with RRCs/RCs and dream journaling (and other dream recall techniques). I will also continue experimenting with my WILD technique. I will try prospective memory and mantras during a natural WBTB.



Sounds good, especially RC/RRC combo. Prospective memory exercises are best done during the day since you have trouble since you have trouble getting back to sleep. Mantras can have a prospective memory component such as "I remember I am dreaming when I see ____." 





> Oh and guess what happened last night again, it took me 2 hours to fall asleep. I try to get ~9hrs of sleep every night, but sometimes my body just doesn't want to. How can I fix this? I've tried binaural beats (which worked after a while) and some relaxation techniques. Do you have any suggestions?



Was this at bedtime or during WBTB? Look at FryingMan's profile and search his past posts. He came up with a variety of methods to get back to sleep. For me, it took practice to calm my thoughts and release any day time worries (usually mentally "checking off" any worries, but sometimes I needed to get up and set a reminder on my phone or roll over and jot down a note in my DJ  regarding what I plan to do to take care of a day time worry in order to stop thinking about it and drift off to sleep.)





> Thank you! Again you've really helped me to achieve it. Also I noticed that my LD was triggered simply by awareness, I never RC'd once during the dream. Do you think I should try ADA? I'm not sure, but I feel like it's something for me. Again thank you very much!



It is very encouraging to hear such kind words. Sometimes it feels like my time spent helping in the workbooks falls on deaf ears or goes unappreciated...so thank you.  :smiley:  As far as ADA, I think it is a good thing taken slowly...it can get very involved. Whatever you do, I highly recommend that you also keep up the RRC/RC. I feel that it was the primary reason I was so present and so much in control in most of my lucid dreams including good memory from waking life to help remember tasks and all. For ADA-like exercises I really like what this author is suggesting in this link: http://www.dreamviews.com/blogs/cvdmehden/ Scroll to bottom for chapter one, then continue if you like it. I believe he will be adding the other chapters later but he started beta versions of them elsewhere on DV already (you can check under his profile - past posts).

*Edit*: I was working on my reply yesterday when your last post came in so responding to it now.





> When I woke up, I woke up during the end of a dream. I remembered the whole dream. It was quite vivid and long.



Very nice!

Also if you want to just continue with the dream yoga instead of the link I put above, it also helps with ADA.

----------


## HanZartaC

> It's all you HanZartaC! I appreciate that very nice compliment though.  I think the next one could very well be right around the corner!



Hopefully it will, I haven'y gotten back into lucid dreaming completely yet. I'm still performing RC's, though not as many RRC's. Also yesterday I was sick with a fever so I spent my entire day in bed. Hopefully I'll get back today.





> It also has the benefit of "flexing your memory muscle" for general memory as well, but it sounds like you have pretty good memory if you are remembering your whole day in detail. The tweaks are to recall a general overview of your day and then pick a smaller segment to recall in detail. Each day choose a different segment of the day to remember (e.g. lunch, breakfast, driving to work). The tweak shortens the time the exercise takes.



That's true, though my waking life memory is very good. I can do well on tests without studying, I am very grateful for this ability as some people need to study a lot for tests. I can remember my whole day in flashbacks almost, so I'm not sure if I even need to write things down, but maybe just think about it. But if I shorten it, like you suggested, then it might be more worthwhile doing as it would be less tiring. I will definitely try this.





> Yes, anytime before bed and ideally also during WBTB *as long as it doesn't wake you up too much. Sometimes these sort of things keep me awake even at bedtime, so earlier in the evening is an alternative. / Different for everyone, but with DJing, mantras and if you can keep trying the day recall, between 2 or 3 of those things I think you will see improvement soon.



Okay it is motivating to hear that. I will try the prospective memory, mantras and the DJ exercise and see if it works. I think I will attempt a WBTB, it doesn't take me long to fall asleep during WBTB's, only occasionally at bedtime. As long as the WBTB is not at six hours where I am too awake. Around five hours works well for me. I think it's close to my REM period, and I am very tired at that point. I think I'll combine the mantra with prospective memory and say "I must remember to remember my dreams". *What do you think about that?*





> Sounds good, especially RC/RRC combo. Prospective memory exercises are best done during the day since you have trouble since you have trouble getting back to sleep. Mantras can have a prospective memory component such as "I remember I am dreaming when I see ____."



Yeah I've been slacking off with the RRC's, due to being busy and sick. But I also think it's a little confusing to do the RRC's. I usually spend more than an hour in the same environment, and sometimes, I don't know how I affect my environment and vice versa. I feel like my RRC's are very short and sometimes meaningless. *At this point I could really use some advice. What do you do for awareness exercises/reality checks? How often? How long for? Etc.*





> Was this at bedtime or during WBTB? Look at FryingMan's profile and search his past posts. He came up with a variety of methods to get back to sleep. For me, it took practice to calm my thoughts and release any day time worries (usually mentally "checking off" any worries, but sometimes I needed to get up and set a reminder on my phone or roll over and jot down a note in my DJ  regarding what I plan to do to take care of a day time worry in order to stop thinking about it and drift off to sleep.)



This was during bedtime. Okay I'll take a look at FryingMan's posts. I get what you're saying, but for me, it's not that I _mentally_ can't fall asleep, but _physically_. Hopefully I'll learn something from FryingMan.  ::D: 





> It is very encouraging to hear such kind words. Sometimes it feels like my time spent helping in the workbooks falls on deaf ears or goes unappreciated...so thank you.



Well you're time spent in my workbook is very helpful! I learn a lot, things that I could not learn from tutorials or other posts. I always read that people are different and everything is different for everyone, so 
personalized help is perfect. It really is. Thank you  ::D: 





> As far as ADA, I think it is a good thing taken slowly...it can get very involved. Whatever you do, I highly recommend that you also keep up the RRC/RC. I feel that it was the primary reason I was so present and so much in control in most of my lucid dreams including good memory from waking life to help remember tasks and all. For ADA-like exercises I really like what this author is suggesting in this link: http://www.dreamviews.com/blogs/cvdmehden/ Scroll to bottom for chapter one, then continue if you like it. I believe he will be adding the other chapters later but he started beta versions of them elsewhere on DV already (you can check under his profile - past posts).



Okay, my question above applies to this part too. I have been reading some of cvdmehden's chapters and I like what I read. I haven't tried his exercises though but I will. *Have you been trying them out? Have they proven successful?*





> *Edit*: I was working on my reply yesterday when your last post came in so responding to it now.
> 
> Very nice!
> 
> Also if you want to just continue with the dream yoga instead of the link I put above, it also helps with ADA.



Okay, I really want to continue with Dream Yoga, do you think I should do just one of them? *So yeah I'm kind of lost with awareness exercises and I could use some guidance here.*

Thank you in advance!  ::D:

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## fogelbise

> Around five hours works well for me. I think it's close to my REM period, and I am very tired at that point. I think I'll combine the mantra with prospective memory and say "I must remember to remember my dreams". What do you think about that?



This sounds good to me. If I were to make one change, it would be to make it more present tense like "I remember to remember my dreams!" (the exclamation or inflection when saying/thinking it replaces the word "must")





> Yeah I've been slacking off with the RRC's, due to being busy and sick. But I also think it's a little confusing to do the RRC's. I usually spend more than an hour in the same environment, and sometimes, I don't know how I affect my environment and vice versa. I feel like my RRC's are very short and sometimes meaningless. At this point I could really use some advice. What do you do for awareness exercises/reality checks? How often? How long for? Etc.



Sageous is the expert on RRCs but when it really started clicking for me it had more to do with the "really stop and look around in wonder" part. So I use a random reminder (android app "awoken"), averaging once an hour, to remind me to RRC/RC and I really stop what I am doing and really look around with wonder + what was I thinking about ~20 minutes or so ago. I also got good at visualizing myself in whatever environment I am in. A little shortcut you can try and see if it feels different is when you are looking around also make sure you have a good sense of you in that environment. Have you ever noticed how you don't normally "see" your nose when looking around but if you close one eye, your nose stands out more. It was always visible, you just stopped paying attention to it or "seeing" it. Instead of closing an eye while looking around I like to put my fingers around my mouth much like the way a guy might stroke his mustache and beard (or goatee) and when doing so you feel a little shift while looking around and feel yourself much more so in that moment.





> I have been reading some of cvdmehden's chapters and I like what I read. I haven't tried his exercises though but I will. Have you been trying them out? Have they proven successful?



I am having frequent LDs and more vivid dreams that could have been aided by his exercises. I know for sure that I am experiencing and seeing the world around me better IWL since starting the exercises and found them to be fun.





> Okay, I really want to continue with Dream Yoga, do you think I should do just one of them? So yeah I'm kind of lost with awareness exercises and I could use some guidance here.



You can definitely do both if you want but definitely at least Dream Yoga based on your statement above. Go with your gut feeling.  :smiley:

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## HanZartaC

Thank you very much! That cleared things up for me. I will try the same thing. I have an app which reminds me every hour to do an RC. I will try to do the RC more like an RRC and do as you stated above. The exercises don't seem too hard, so I will try them, cvdmehden's that is. I have also decided to continue with Dream Yoga, even though it is difficult and I'm not sure if I am doing it right, but I will talk to sivason about that. 

Also, I have not attempted a WILD/WBTB/mantra or the dream recall techniques. It is simply due to the fact that I am still ill and have just been slacking off a little and not having the energy/motivation to do it. I think I will try it tonight (I have said that many times so don't take my word for it), but I'll see what happens. I am eager to get back into lucid dreaming though.

There is not a lot more to say than that. I will hopefully try the new techniques out, and get better so that I will have the energy and motivation to perform thorough RRC's. I think I had some questions, but I don't remember them. If I do I'll post them here.

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## fogelbise

> I have an app which reminds me every hour to do an RC.



Just one quick note here. If it is exactly every hour, try to find an app that randomizes the time. My first app was exactly every hour, and although I would change the start time frequently, my mind's internal timer was basically expecting the alarm just before it came which is not ideal. It is better if the alarm is unexpected and whatever moment you are in at the time, you take the time to really stop and look around in wonder.

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## HanZartaC

> Just one quick note here. If it is exactly every hour, try to find an app that randomizes the time. My first app was exactly every hour, and although I would change the start time frequently, my mind's internal timer was basically expecting the alarm just before it came which is not ideal. It is better if the alarm is unexpected and whatever moment you are in at the time, you take the time to really stop and look around in wonder.



Actually, I have noticed the same thing. I expect it to happen, and I know when it's happening. Every day, it changes the time it reminds me, but throughout the day it is the same time. I will try to find another app I can use. Maybe the Awoken app exists for iPhone. I'll look into that.

Anyway, last night I got back into lucid dreaming. I am feeling a lot better and have more energy and motivation. I am still a little sick, but not too sick for LDing!  ::D:  So I did my WBTB after five hours, then I tried some prospective memory mantras. All I did was repeating "I remember to remember my dreams" and "I remember to remember that I'm dreaming when I'm dreaming". I repeated it a couple of times before I went back to bed. I was going to try WILD, but I fell asleep before I could start doing my anchor, I have some questions about WILD but I think I'll ask Sageous just because this is a DILD class.

When I woke up, I remembered at least one long vivid dream. I remembered another one, which I suspect was a lucid dream. I remembered dreaming something about another person and I in my bedroom. I was saying I'm lucid to the other person and something like that. It was either a _very_ low lucidity lucid dream, or just me dreaming about a lucid dream. I'm not sure which one it is, so I'm not going to count it. Anyway when I remembered the long vivid dream in the shower, I was ecstatic. I am really happy about this and will continue with the prospective memory mantra, and I will try writing the mantra too. I did not get to try the other dream recall technique, the one about writing your day, but I don't think it's worth my time. I don't think it's going to help my dream recall. So I will continue doing what I'm doing, and I will try to further improve on my RRC's, which are already improving. So yeah, progress makes me happy!

*EDIT:*

I just wanted to add to this. Even though it has only been one night, I am feeling confident towards the new exercises. Oh and given that I will stop doing the "waking life journal" dream recall exercise, do you have any other exercises for dream recall? I'm going to continue the prospective memory+WBTB mantra thing, and I am going to try _writing it tonight_. I think prospective memory is going to help me. I will also train my prospective memory.

Just one more quick thing as a note to self: Write down the dream in my journal _immediately_ after I remember it, instead of relying on memory so that I can write it down later. Now I only remember a part of it and some other fragments of it. I also think I'm going to pick up LaBerge's book as I haven't already. I think there are some prospective memory exercises there in addition to a ton of others. I will try these things tonight an wrote about it tomorrow.

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## fogelbise

Nice progress! Well, you might not need anything new for recall then...just keep working on the methods you are using and perhaps add writing your mantra as you mentioned and you should continue to progress.  :smiley:  Keep up the good work!

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## HanZartaC

> Nice progress! Well, you might not need anything new for recall then...just keep working on the methods you are using and perhaps add writing your mantra as you mentioned and you should continue to progress.  Keep up the good work!



Thank you, fogelbise! I am very grateful for the advice you have given me. Last night I WBTB and I started writing "I remember to remember my dreams" and "I remember when I'm dreaming". I wrote both of them around 15 times each, then I said them out loud a couple of times while sitting on my bedside, and then I went to bed while saying them internally, then I went on to WILD. 

WILD ended because I fell asleep. I tried the "counting to 20 then drifting off then counting to 20" anchor, but it didn't work for me because when I drifted off maybe the third time, I fell asleep. I need an anchor which helps me stay aware. I think, in further helping with my prospective memory mantra MILD thing (I still don't know what to call it), I will use "Remember" as a mantra, or "Remember to remember" because it's a little longer and will maybe keep me more aware.

So how did all of this go, you might ask? Haha, well when I did the WBTB I faintly remembered a dream, but I was too tired to remember vividly, so I didn't write it down (HUGE MISTAKE). When I woke up, I again faintly remembered a dream or two. All of my dreams last night are a little foggy, and I let it slip out of my hands and I remember one fragment now. I think I need a bigger journal just because I have a small one and it's harder to write in it, especially in bed.

Anyway, I am ecstatic to see that the techniques are paying off. I hope that my dream recall will increase even further as I keep practicing it. I have never ever remembered three dreams in one night, even if they weren't vivid. I mean I think the were vivid, but I just let them slip. I will take care of this issue though.

*EDIT:*

I feel like I'm editing all of my posts lol. It's just that I remember things and experience new things and want to add them. Hope you don't mind.  ::D:  So I just wanted to add that I ordered LaBerge's book, EWOLD. It should come tomorrow. I am very excited because I think I can learn a lot from the master itself (except you  :wink2:  ). Have you read this book? I feel like it's a necessity for anyone interested in lucid dreaming. It might not be to those on DV because of the extensive information found in the forums though.

Also, I asked Sageous a question about WILD in the WILD attempts thread. I got a quick response and it cleared up some questions for me. I will post my results tomorrow there.

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## fogelbise

3 dreams, very nice!  :smiley:  Keep up the nice progress!





> Have you read this book?



I started reading it and set it aside somewhere. I will have to find it and get back to it! Everyone says that it is a great foundation for lucid dreaming and I thought the parts I had read were good. It should definitely be worth your time.

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## HanZartaC

> 3 dreams, very nice!  Keep up the nice progress!



Thank you! It keeps motivating me and I am pretty sure I will have another LD soon!  :smiley: 





> I started reading it and set it aside somewhere. I will have to find it and get back to it! Everyone says that it is a great foundation for lucid dreaming and I thought the parts I had read were good. It should definitely be worth your time.



Yeah I think it could be interesting. Also, I found an app which reminds me to RRC at random intervals between 30-60min! It is unexpected and works pretty well, it also improves my RRC's. I think that's it so I'll continue doing what I'm doing and update on progress tomorrow!  :smiley:

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## HanZartaC

Yay my book came! LaBerge's book came which I am pretty happy about. Now I have something meaningful and LD related to do during my WBTB's! I think I will enjoy his book and learn new exercises.

Also, I am almost completely healthy again and feel great! My cold is going away, which means the RRC's are getting better. I am taking the effort to do them at unexpected times.

Last night I went to bed and I couldn't fall asleep. I think I just can't sleep 9hrs, I can't fall asleep 15 hours after I wake up. There might be a way to make it work for me. I think I'll revisit the Delta binaural beats again. It is getting bothersome having to change the alarm to an hour later for my WBTB. Do you have any tips? I was looking at FryingMan's posts but I couldn't really find anything. I don't think the 61-point relaxation technique will work either. Binaural beats might work, I'll give it a shot tonight. *Do you have any suggestions for falling asleep quickly (10-30min?)*

So I fell asleep after about an hour. When i woke up, I didn't remember any dreams *yet...*As I was in the shower, it all came back to me (Haha I can already picture this as a movie), I remembered one event of a dream, I tried to remember what happened before that, and before that, I remembered all the way back to the beginning. As I was writing it down, I tried to remember what happened after that, and after that, all the way till the end. Suddenly, I remembered another dream. I was shocked, surprised, and very happy for remembering *two, vivid* dreams. *Here is the twist*...*I FELL ASLEEP THROUGH THE WBTB ALARM AND DIDN'T PERFORM MY TECHNIQUES!* *DUN* DUN _DUN_!

Haha in all seriousness though, I slept through the alarm which was supposed to wake me up for my WBTB after five hours. It was either some technical problems or me being a deep sleeper, or both! I am happy that I don't have to rely on my techniques every night for improving dream recall. It seems like they have a longer effect than just one night. It is very motivating and keeps me being persistent and consistent.

I am making another attempt for WILD and MILD (I guess the techniques are considered MILD, aren't they?). Also, last WILD attempt I tried counting to 20, drift off, then counting to 20, drift off as the anchor. I fell asleep after the third drift off. Now I am going to try using a mantra as an anchor, and in the spirit of the MILD technique, it will be: _"Remember"_. I post my results in the 'morrow! Also, you may notice my fancy signature! I finally got around to making one, it's quite simple really, just LD's and goals.

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## HanZartaC

Okay so last night I made some more progress. I fell asleep after an hour again, I think I only need 8 hours, but I want a full 6 cycles of sleep, so I'm not giving up. I woke up extremely tired and groggy for my WBTB. I got up and did the exercise. I went back to sleep trying to WILD. I repeated "Remember" in my head on every exhale. I got auditory hallucinations too, I've never gotten that before. I heard a sort of chime in the wind. I fell asleep unconsciously quickly. I have asked Sageous already what I did wrong, *but do you have any ideas?*

When I woke up, I didn't remember any dreams, but then I went in the shower haha. I remembered mostly everything, and I tried to go through the dream to remember more, which I did. It was long and vivid, as usual.  :wink2: 

*Highlight of the dream:* A girl had a vagina under her foot, and yes, I did...

Other than that nothing else happened. I'll continue with what I'm doing and see what happens!

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## fogelbise

Your shower dream recall seems to be working great for you! Nice! Yes, perhaps you are better off with just 8 hours of sleep and that may help with the other issues you are having with getting to sleep quickly. I am out of ideas but I did remember FryingMan had put together a long list of things he found out about sleeping quickly in one of his posts several months back.

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## HanZartaC

> Your shower dream recall seems to be working great for you! Nice! Yes, perhaps you are better off with just 8 hours of sleep and that may help with the other issues you are having with getting to sleep quickly. I am out of ideas but I did remember FryingMan had put together a long list of things he found out about sleeping quickly in one of his posts several months back.



Yeah the shower is where I remember most of my dreams, I don't know why, it's weird, but I'm not complaining! Yeah I'll just sleep 8 hours until I'm able to sleep 9. I think I'll PM FryingMan and ask him for a link. I think I had something else to say, but I forgot, so I'll let you know if I remember.

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## HanZartaC

Okay nothing else has happened. I have not remembered or had any lucid dreams. I have not done my RRC's as carefully, nor have I done WBTB's, PM exercises, or WILD attempts. My sleep pattern has been shifted, and I have not been paying attention to it. What's going on!? Am I slacking off? Have I quit trying? No, none of the above! The explanation is quite simple...

On Friday it was my birthday!  ::breakitdown::  So the first thing I remembered when I woke up was not, "What was I just dreaming about?". Friday was very busy for me. We went out of town this weekend too and my sleeping pattern has been shifted. Now that I've gotten back it's going to take a little effort to get my sleeping rhythm back, and my RRC's and my dream recall back. I am not worried about any of it though, as my exercises have proven to work. I will attempt a WBTB+MILD+WILD tonight too.

On Sunday it was two weeks since my last LD. Hopefully I have will have one soon.

*Oh and one more thing*, I am actually slightly worried about the RRC's. Sageous said:





> Here’s what to do: At random intervals during the day – at least once an hour but no more than three times in that hour – stop what you’re doing and wonder. Just hold still for a second and remember where you were five minutes ago, imagine where you’ll be in five minutes, and know that everything you’re doing right now has an effect on everything and everyone around you, and everything and everyone around you has an effect on you – even if you don’t realize it.



*Will this exercise only help with WILDs, or will it help with DILD's too? Am I supposed to ask how things affect me and vice versa? I don't feel like there is any "affect" going on at all times. These are my concerns.*

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

Okay, I meant to post this on Sunday, but now it's Wednesday. Anyway I attempted the WBTB+WILD+MILD last night, but I slept through the alarm. I think I'm going to try a little earlier tonight. I'm going to try to wake up after 4.5 hours. I think it might work better, because I am way too tired for 5 hours. I will try that, and I might ask Sageous these questions too, if you think that's better.

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## fogelbise

> On Friday it was my birthday!  
> 
> *Oh and one more thing*, I am actually slightly worried about the RRC's. Sageous said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...



-Happy belated birthday!

-I feel it definitely helps with DILDs too! My understanding is that it is an exercise to strengthen self-awareness and memory. Remembering where you were or what you were thinking 5 minutes or 15 minutes ago works on both of those things. It is very hard to get the feeling of your "affect going on at all times" but Sageous does state "even if you don't realize it" and it is something that may take time and practice to feel the shift. Try this: really stop what you are doing during the RRC and just slowly look around in wonder. Next, look at one object and tap your index finger on your nose while looking at the object...see if you feel a little shift. I liken it to what Laberge describes as "I am he who is aware!" (I am the one who is experiencing this awareness, a perspective on self-awareness).

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## HanZartaC

> -Happy belated birthday!



Thank you very much!  ::D: 





> -I feel it definitely helps with DILDs too! My understanding is that it is an exercise to strengthen self-awareness and memory. Remembering where you were or what you were thinking 5 minutes or 15 minutes ago works on both of those things. It is very hard to get the feeling of your "affect going on at all times" but Sageous does state "even if you don't realize it" and it is something that may take time and practice to feel the shift. Try this: really stop what you are doing during the RRC and just slowly look around in wonder. Next, look at one object and tap your index finger on your nose while looking at the object...see if you feel a little shift. I liken it to what Laberge describes as "I am he who is aware!" (I am the one who is experiencing this awareness, a perspective on self-awareness).



Okay that really did clear a lot of things up for me. I guess the hard part for me is really just putting the effort into doing them and doing them correctly. I will try what you suggested. I will also try the good ol' WBTB at 4.5 hours. I'll let you know how it went!

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## fogelbise

I hope all is well Hans. Please consider this challenge for yourself as well...it is something I thought of especially for the younger DV members:

Link to specific post in>>http://www.dreamviews.com/dild/15062...ml#post2089545

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## HanZartaC

> I hope all is well Hans. Please consider this challenge for yourself as well...it is something I thought of especially for the younger DV members:
> 
> Link to specific post in>>http://www.dreamviews.com/dild/15062...ml#post2089545



fogelbise, I cannot thank you enough. You are clearly meant to teach. It has been days since I have done a proper RRC. I attempted a WBTB earlier this week but I didn't feel like doing it so I went back to bed. I haven't remembered a dream in a while, just one very small fragment. My sleep pattern has been way off and unbalanced. I obviously have not been trying, and I lost complete interest and motivation (almost) in lucid dreaming. I was in fact even contemplating writing an official indefinite goodbye post in my workbook, so rah I can return fully motivated instead of pressuring myself. As you know, the end of the school-year is nearing upon me, and a lot of things are happening. I also have another problem. I have never ever been able to keep several interests. For example, I might be very interested in a subject or activity, then suddenly I become interested in something else and I lose my former interest like that *snaps fingers*! This is very bothersome, as I can't choose a future easily. On the other hand I guess it is a good trait as well, as I can explore many things and find what I like. I have always seen myself as an explorer, I am very curious. Last weekend this happened, I lost interest in lucid dreaming. However, your post described exactly what I am going through. It was incredibly inspiring. Sadly I can't say my motivation, inspiration, and interest has spiked, but they have gone up at least enough for me to try a WBTB MILD WILD combo. I have promised to myself that I will go through with it. I also think I'll read my dreams and my goals as you suggested the last time I had the same issue. I also think part of why I stopped trying is because, well, I think RRC's are bothersome and boring. I know it's a bad excuse, but I might be really busy, then my phone reminds me to RRC and I put it off. Do you think I could substitute RRC's with something? I don't think they have proven very successful to me. 

I am sorry for making you read that wall of text. But I want you to know that I appreciate you teaching me!  :smiley: 
May 5th-9th was teacher appreciation week, I'm a little late, but I want to thank you for taking time out of your day to share knowledge and wisdom and guiding a dreamer. 

Thank you!  :smiley: 
-Hans

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## HanZartaC

Okay just in case it was kind of hard to read my last post, but I had one question:

*The RRC's don't really work with me, what do you advise? Should I replace it? With what?*

Anyway last night was when I got my interest back. I set my alarm for a WBTB, and I went to sleep. I was tired, and I was thinking "lucid dreaming" over and over in my head. I slept through the alarm, and guess what happened when I woke up!

I remembered a very long, vivid, and detailed dream. It was a very interesting one and I have never had experienced anything like it. So I dreamt I was at a big house, non-lucid, and then I fell asleep in the dream, and I dreamt I was a spy at some palace, then I woke up from that dream and came back to the first dream. Insane, right? Well it doesn't stop there. Then I went to bed somewhere else in the same house, the I dreamt that I was at a similar palace, I broke a vase and was chased by guards. Then I woke up again and returned to the same first house in the same first dream! Crazy! Then I fell asleep again and dreamt another long dream! Then I woke up, same place, then I fell asleep and dreamt, but here's the twist...

*I got lucid!!*

So I got lucid, with some memory from waking life! I remembered the basic task 1 from TOTM May! I was in my bedroom and I wanted to do shots with a DC. I tried to teleport to a city where I could find a bar. I wasn't able to though. I tried and tried and it didn't work, then I tried spinning while imagining being there. It worked halfway. My bed became part of a street and a wall turned to brick. I woke up, for real this time!

So this is pretty weird right? I know t just sounds like I teleported but it wasn't like that. I fell asleep, and I entered a dream pretty quickly, but not immediately. It wasn't like teleportation, I didn't have any memory of my dreaming "waking life" in the 2nd layer dream! I hope this made sense, because it feels a little like inception. I'm gonna write it down as soon as I get to!

I learned one extremely important thing...*The Power of Intention!* The only thing I did was set an intention, and repeating "lucid dreaming" in my head a number of times before sleeping. I might write a post under Attaining Lucid dreaming about this experience and the power of intention. What do you think? I've never started a thread before, but I guess your challenge included writing more on the forum. I think it's a good idea! So yeah I'll try the WBTB again tonight, and when I fix my sleep pattern it might be easier to wake up to an alarm.

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## fogelbise

Further down is one of the most under-utilized threads on DV, IMHO.





> fogelbise, I cannot thank you enough. You are clearly meant to teach. 
> ...
> I am sorry for making you read that wall of text. But I want you to know that I appreciate you teaching me! 
> May 5th-9th was teacher appreciation week, I'm a little late, but I want to thank you for taking time out of your day to share knowledge and wisdom and guiding a dreamer. 
> 
> Thank you! 
> -Hans



That was some of the nicest comments I have ever read about me here at DV! Thank you Hans!  ::D: 





> *The RRC's don't really work with me, what do you advise? Should I replace it? With what?*



Well, perhaps you can come back to it later and work with something else that will help with the same things, namely self-awareness and memory. What lucid dreaming practices do you enjoy the most? For memory, you can work on prospective memory with several daily targets that when you see them you remember to RC. For self-awareness, I think that "seeing" yourself from different viewpoints is very useful. In the following thread examples are given of you driving a car and seeing a bird sitting on a fence and imagine seeing yourself driving by from that bird's point of view. Or from the point of view of the driver passing in another car...or the kid looking out the back window of her parents car. Here is a link to one of the posts and feel free to peruse the thread as well. Link: http://www.dreamviews.com/beyond-dre...ml#post1782695  You will see great praise about the idea from Sageous and others.





> Anyway last night was when I got my interest back.
> ...
> *I got lucid!!*



That sounded like a very interesting dream! Write down as much as you can if you haven't already...it should provide for some good motivation in the future! You'll always have what you included here, but perhaps you can copy and paste what is here into your DV DJ and add some other details for your future reading pleasure (and other's).

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## HanZartaC

Hello, fogelbise!
I have returned from the dead and non-lucid. I apologize for just leaving like that, and I guess what happened was that I started losing interest. I felt it coming for a few weeks, but I tried to keep my interest in lucid dreaming. I was going to write a "goodbye" post until I returned, but I guess with exams and other things keeping me busy, it got postponed until it would just be awkward. Anyway, you may be wondering why I have returned...

So I quit lucid dreaming in May-June, because I wasn't showing a lot of progress, nor interest. I decided to not dwell on it, and just take a break from lucid dreaming. I felt a lot better after that, because I didn't have to keep worrying about losing my interest in it. My heart has always been with lucid dreaming, and from time to time I considered returning to it, but I decided to wait till the moment was right and I was ready. Well that moment has arrived! By the way, my sleep pattern has been a monster, but I'll fix that when school starts.  ::D: 

So I went to bed around 1AM last night, and I fell asleep right away. I woke up at around 9:40AM and stayed half-awake until I dozed off at around 10:40-11AM. _I fell asleep_.

I woke up, realized it was late, and Wednesday. The day I had to go to the city and pick up some things. I looked at the watch, 11AM it said. I got up and I went to a friends house, seeing as I had time for it. I believe I went to the beach first and my friend lived under that beach, in a basement. Somehow, at some point so far, I lost my pants. When I knew I had to go home, I was struggling to find my pants. I looked everywhere, and I started to wonder when I even took them off! I didn't have time to look for them though, so I just went home. My sister was saying something, and then I looked back on everything, how weird some of it was. I did the unthinkable, and nose plugged. In one ecstatic whiff of dream air, I triumphantly ran towards the window, jumped through the solid window glass, and started flying! I later returned to the same house, trying to turn the living room into another room. I could not for the love of God! I got very close, but decided to go somewhere where it was more likely to have a place like this. I tried to fly to New York. I flew up under the clouds, and it was the most amazing experience I have ever had. I saw the sunset, and the horizon and the clouds. I tried to fly up above the clouds, but it saw a pixelated vision, and went under the clouds. I flew maybe 30 seconds in dream time, which I thought was enough to get to New York, but I wound up in a familiar place, not New York. I tried teleporting instead, I went on top of a flat roof top, and placed down a teleporter, and went straight to New York. It wasn't _authentic_ New York though. I tried teleporting again, but I got to the same place, but just with a more cartoony NY effect. I jumped and grabbed a lamp post and grabbed a lady with my legs, asking her if I could do 10 pull-ups, she would teleport me to New York. I did the 10 pull-ups, but then I got lost in the lady's lips! I closed my eyes, and I woke up.

This...was my definite lucid dream. It was the most clear, aware, and lucid dream I have ever experienced. And I've experienced five!  ::D:  I want to continue with these dreams, and I guess I'll start with random RC's, writing dreams, and getting a good sleep pattern. I think, when I have a good sleep pattern, I'll start practicing WILD, or those mantra writing memory exercises I used to do. Those helped me remember dreams, and get lucid. I think it will be a smoother journey to lucidity this time, seeing how it is my third.  :smiley: 

I hope you would like to be my teacher again, it helped a lot before, and I could always use help!  ::D: 

*tl;dr* 
I got lucid, and I'm back!

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## fogelbise

Congrats on your lucid dream!  :smiley:   Welcome back as well.   :smiley:  I would be glad to help again. Let me know when you have questions and I encourage you to track what you are trying here in the workbook.

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## HanZartaC

Hello fogelbise.

I apologize for leaving after just coming back to DV and lucid dreaming. I guess it was because I just moved to another country and I had a lot of things on my mind. I am sorry, but as I explained the second time coming back to DV, I have a hard time keeping several interests/hobbies. I don't like it, because now I lost interest in another hobby because I got back to lucid dreaming. Oh yeah, I got back to lucid dreaming! I recently read an article about dreams and I got my interest back. Anyway, I have forgotten a lot of things, but I will focus on WILDs, DILDs and a little MILD. I'm out of the country at the moment, and not in the best sleeping arrangements, so I won't be able to attempt WILD or WBTB until I get back to my sleeping pattern after jet lag. Anyway, I will read this workbook and try to re-learn what I was doing before I quit. I remember doing prospective memory, it helped out with recall and a LDs I think. In my next lucid I will ask my subconscious why I can't keep several interests/how to keep several interests. Because the other hobby I just had was what I was dreaming about doing for a living (no pun intended). Anyway, I hope you will help me (again). I'm really sorry for leaving, and I hope I won't leave again. In the meantime, I remember not enjoying RC/RRC that much, but I try to pretend I'm dreaming and imagine what I would do in a dream to get the dreaming sense and wonder, then I RC. I will brush up on my previous MILD techniques and do them for recall and lucids. I hope all is well with you and that we can continue this teaching/learning relationship.

Thank you, stay lucid

- HanZartaC

Sorry for the wall of text btw, you'd think I would be good at writing return letters by now.  :smiley:

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## fogelbise

Welcome back Hans!  :smiley:  You are doing better than most younger students and you keep coming back to lucid dreaming so I think it is meant to be one of your life long hobbies. Remember that you can use LD's to practice any other hobbies, so they can go hand in hand. You are definitely facing a challenge while traveling and the jet lag when you come back but try to keep some dreaming practices going through that and check in here once a week if you can. Do at least your favorite practice(s).

Let's brainstorm some ideas on some fun way(s) for you to do RC's (and maybe RRC's later on.) Since you weren't enjoying them we shouldn't push that in the wrong way or it may push you away from any practices at all for a while again. Do you enjoy pretending that you are lucid during the day?..or considering for a moment several times a day that this object is a dream object...she is a DC...this is all a dream.?

Since that article about dreams brought back your interest you might consider automatic news updates on "lucid dream" or "lucid dreaming." I use Google News for this (search and then ask for email updates when new articles come up). "Dreams" may provide too many search results but you could also try "dream recall."

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## HanZartaC

> Welcome back Hans!  You are doing better than most younger students and you keep coming back to lucid dreaming so I think it is meant to be one of your life long hobbies. Remember that you can use LD's to practice any other hobbies, so they can go hand in hand. You are definitely facing a challenge while traveling and the jet lag when you come back but try to keep some dreaming practices going through that and check in here once a week if you can. Do at least your favorite practice(s).



Thank you so much, that really means a lot to me! If you believe I can keep this as a lifelong hobby, so do I.  :smiley:  In fact lucid dreaming would compliment my other hobby very much because it relies heavily on creativity and I could use lucid dreaming to my advantage. Yes I try to RC often but I won't be able to truly dedicate myself to it until I return. And I agree with you about the once a week thing. I put a lot of pressure on myself before when trying to do lucid dreaming fulltime. I would try several techniques at once and write everyday. I think from now on I will do the same thing, but on a weekly basis and not a daily basis. I will continue with the MILD/DILD/WBTB and not change or tweak it until I've tried it for a week. I will also probably only post once a week and collect questions for this so that I will have time to experience it myself. I hope this works out.





> Let's brainstorm some ideas on some fun way(s) for you to do RC's (and maybe RRC's later on.) Since you weren't enjoying them we shouldn't push that in the wrong way or it may push you away from any practices at all for a while again. Do you enjoy pretending that you are lucid during the day?..or considering for a moment several times a day that this object is a dream object...she is a DC...this is all a dream.



You're right, RRC's didn't help me and I had a hard time doing them. I can revisit them later though. I noseplug often, though. Yes! I love pretending to be dreaming and being lucid! I do it often and I really believe that I'm dreaming. I then imagine what I would be doing next if it was a lucid dream. *Is this useful? Does it help for DILD?*





> Since that article about dreams brought back your interest you might consider automatic news updates on "lucid dream" or "lucid dreaming." I use Google News for this (search and then ask for email updates when new articles come up). "Dreams" may provide too many search results but you could also try "dream recall."



Wow. That never popped into my head! I will try that. Thanks!  :smiley: 

Just so you know, when I return to my regular sleeping pattern, I will attempt WILDs again. WILD fascinates me and motivates me. What I want to try is something I read about visualization. I'll give you a link to it, but it consists of the anchor being visualization. I haven't gotten to try it for real yet, but it sounds promising. I think the biggest challenge for me considering WILD is finding when to wake up. I've heard 3-8 hours, I've heard 4-6 hours and 5-6 hours. *How do I find my WBTB time?*

Besides this, I will continue with my prospective memory mantra thing where I write "I remember to remember my dreams" and "I remember to remember that I'm dreaming when I'm dreaming" Then I say it out loud on my bedside, then I think it internally in bed. Then I will start WILD. But this will have to wait for jet lag to calm down. DILD doesn't have to wait though! *What should I do for DILD? Pretend I'm dreaming? Dream Journaling?*

Thank you!  ::D: 

*EDIT:*
I remember saying somewhere that I would give you a link to the WILD technique  I wanted to attempt: http://www.dreamviews.com/wake-initi...ore-sleep.html
However, I found another technique that I wanted to try more because *1.* I have to do it during a WBTB. *2.* It requires less visualization skills. Here it is: http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...technique.html When my visualization skills are higher I will attempt the one above, because I like the idea of visualizing as an anchor. *How would you recommend increasing visualization skills?* I can't keep an image for long, and it is not very clear. 

Also, what I said about only posting once a week, I want to take that back. I think I will post questions and progress reports frequently because it will help me stay more engaged and motivated. However I meant what I said about trying a technique for a week or so. I hope all of this works out.  :smiley: 

*EDIT EDIT:*
Sorry for all of the questions and edits, but I don't feel like editing, just adding. The questions will calm down and be more concentrated once I get more into lucid dreaming. I just wanted to add that most of my lucid dreams have been triggered by me noticing something weird. Ex. Being shirtless (twice I think), weird letters and unfamiliar place, etc. I don't know if this was because of the RRC's, or just my P-MILD exercises. Was it awareness? *How can I harness this to my advantage and develop a technique?*

Thank you, again!  ::D:

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## fogelbise

> I noseplug often, though. Yes! I love pretending to be dreaming and being lucid! I do it often and I really believe that I'm dreaming. I then imagine what I would be doing next if it was a lucid dream. *Is this useful? Does it help for DILD?*



RC's are a tried and true method but pretending to be lucid is believed to help induce DILD's. I think that pretending helps to induce and I know that it helps with remembering what you want to do and how you want to act when you do become lucid.  





> I've heard 3-8 hours, I've heard 4-6 hours and 5-6 hours. *How do I find my WBTB time?*



Several factors come into play here. Too late and some people have trouble getting back to sleep. Too early and you may not be rested and not be able to get your awareness "in the zone." I like waking up "naturally" by drinking water before bed which reduces the chances of a groggy wake up and interrupting a sleep cycle like alarms can do. When I wake up 4.5 to 6 hours after bedtime (almost every night) then I will make that my WBTB. Beyond 6 hours, micro-WBTB works better for me. Experiment and keep record of when you go to bed and when you get up for WBTB.





> *What should I do for DILD? Pretend I'm dreaming? Dream Journaling?*



Yes and the other things that you mentioned elsewhere including WBTB, RC's, MILD, mantras, prospective memory and more. Don't let the list overwhelm you though. These are just tools in your bag of tricks. The more that you are able to use effectively, the more I feel that you are increasing your odds of becoming lucid and doing so more frequently. Later on you may settle on a smaller set of favored practices that do the trick for you often enough.





> When my visualization skills are higher I will attempt the one above, because I like the idea of visualizing as an anchor. *How would you recommend increasing visualization skills?* I can't keep an image for long, and it is not very clear.



Sit quietly and pick and object study it briefly and close you eyes and reproduce the image as best as you can. Open them again and see what you missed, especially any strong colors? Shiny features? Shadows? Interestin Close them again and repeat until you are happy or want to rest. If happy move on to another object. Can you draw the basic lines of the object in your mind? Basic shapes are easier and may be best to start with (squares, circles, square ottoman, rectangular TV).





> Also, what I said about only posting once a week, I want to take that back. I think I will post questions and progress reports frequently because it will help me stay more engaged and motivated. However I meant what I said about trying a technique for a week or so. I hope all of this works out.



Sounds good.  :smiley: 





> I just wanted to add that most of my lucid dreams have been triggered by me noticing something weird. Ex. Being shirtless (twice I think), weird letters and unfamiliar place, etc. I don't know if this was because of the RRC's, or just my P-MILD exercises. Was it awareness? *How can I harness this to my advantage and develop a technique?*



I think it was awareness which is aided by the DILD practices discussed earlier. If you have no awareness you will miss the weirdest signs. If you have a little awareness then you have a chance to catch some weirdness when you have other tools working for you like mantras and prospective memory to watch out for a recurring dream sign. Either way you need some awareness and day practices and WBTB are huge here.

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## HanZartaC

> RC's are a tried and true method but pretending to be lucid is believed to help induce DILD's. I think that pretending helps to induce and I know that it helps with remembering what you want to do and how you want to act when you do become lucid.



Okay, so I'll continue with this. It always ends with an RC or two so that's good.  





> Several factors come into play here. Too late and some people have trouble getting back to sleep. Too early and you may not be rested and not be able to get your awareness "in the zone." I like waking up "naturally" by drinking water before bed which reduces the chances of a groggy wake up and interrupting a sleep cycle like alarms can do. When I wake up 4.5 to 6 hours after bedtime (almost every night) then I will make that my WBTB. Beyond 6 hours, micro-WBTB works better for me. Experiment and keep record of when you go to bed and when you get up for WBTB.



I tried somewhere between 5-6 hours last night. I ended up just lying there for an hour for my WILD attempt. I was too tired to do the P-MILD exercises, but I did them earlier on the day for a nap. Anyway, my jet lag and sleep deprivation will calm down this week, then my WBTB will make more sense and work, I hope. I forgot about drinking a lot of water, but I'll try that tonight. I've tried it before and it works, but only in the later cycles, like around 6 hours. I've had trouble with 6 hours before, but recently (two attempts), it's been okay. When I have a normal sleeping pattern I'm gonna experiment with trial and failure to find the sweet spot!  :smiley: 
When I attempted WILD, it went better than ever. I came up with my own "mantra" when I started. I am a very musical person, I play a few instruments and I've played since 1st grade. That other hobby I was talking about was music-production. I often have music "on" in my brain. When I'm not thinking about anything special, I usually just hear music. I thought I could use this to my advantage. I imagined playing a small riff, not visualize, just hear and imagine. It worked out beautifully. I was able to drift off but I always came back, that's what's supposed to happen, right? anyway I don't think I was close to REM, but I think I experienced a little hypnagogia and delta sleep. I'll try again later with a natural awakening.  :smiley: 





> Yes and the other things that you mentioned elsewhere including WBTB, RC's, MILD, mantras, prospective memory and more. Don't let the list overwhelm you though. These are just tools in your bag of tricks. The more that you are able to use effectively, the more I feel that you are increasing your odds of becoming lucid and doing so more frequently. Later on you may settle on a smaller set of favored practices that do the trick for you often enough.







> Sit quietly and pick and object study it briefly and close you eyes and reproduce the image as best as you can. Open them again and see what you missed, especially any strong colors? Shiny features? Shadows? Interestin Close them again and repeat until you are happy or want to rest. If happy move on to another object. Can you draw the basic lines of the object in your mind? Basic shapes are easier and may be best to start with (squares, circles, square ottoman, rectangular TV).



Okay, I will try this. This can help with MILD and dream incubation also, right? Visualizing a dream scene when I'm better?





> I think it was awareness which is aided by the DILD practices discussed earlier. If you have no awareness you will miss the weirdest signs. If you have a little awareness then you have a chance to catch some weirdness when you have other tools working for you like mantras and prospective memory to watch out for a recurring dream sign. Either way you need some awareness and day practices and WBTB are huge here.



Okay, is pretending to be dreaming (which to me is looking around and looking at things as if my brain produced them, noticing more things) enough for awareness? I am also contemplating going back to dream yoga, but I want to start easy. I think I should make a list of things I want to do:

     1. PM exercises (I RC when I hit a target, 4-5 active at all times, thanks to FryingMan  :smiley: )
     2. Pretending to be dreaming, finish with 1-2 RC's
     3. Dream Yoga (Start off easy)
     4. WBTB + P-MILD (Natural WBTB, writing the sentences, reciting them, then thinking them)
     5. WILD (Music mantra, need to practice visualization for dream forming)
     6. Dream Journaling

Phew! What do you think? Next stop, Lucid-Town?  :smiley:  I hope I'll have success with this, but I will probably cut some things out depending on what works on what doesn't. Oh, almost forgot! I remember a  short, vivid non-lucid dream! It was quite creepy, involving spawning flying bugs everywhere, like millions  ::barf:: , but it ended with indoor fake snowing!  :smiley:

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## fogelbise

> I imagined playing a small riff, not visualize, just hear and imagine. It worked out beautifully. I was able to drift off but I always came back, that's what's supposed to happen, right?



I am not a WILD expert but I believe what you describe helps maintain awareness...but eventually you have to get to sleep and to REM of course. As you are working towards these WILD's you also increase your chances for a DILD even if you lose awareness before falling asleep. By the way, I know you've played with SSILD before...what about making your own version using your musical base? You already have the sound component set up. Perhaps you could start by visualizing the instrument briefly or more significantly, move to the sound of the music or the riff, and then move to the feeling of yourself playing the instrument - your fingers on the cords of the guitar or whatever instrument you are playing. SSILD (or your own version) can give you WILD's or DILD's.





> Okay, I will try this. This can help with MILD and dream incubation also, right? Visualizing a dream scene when I'm better?



I believe it helps in many different ways but I would only focus on it now if you enjoy it since I don't believe it is essential. Go with your gut feeling on this though.





> Okay, is pretending to be dreaming (which to me is looking around and looking at things as if my brain produced them, noticing more things) enough for awareness?



It may be enough for an occasional LD but continuing to work on RC's (at the end of pretending as you are doing seems fine) and WBTB's are also adding to your awareness.

Yes, next stop Lucid-Town indeed!  :smiley:

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## HanZartaC

Hi Fogelbise, and Happy New Year!  ::breakitdown::  I hope you have a great 2015!  ::D:  This brings me back to last New Year's Eve, where I quit LD'ing a couple of days afterwards. That won't happen this time!  :smiley: 





> I am not a WILD expert but I believe what you describe helps maintain awareness...but eventually you have to get to sleep and to REM of course. As you are working towards these WILD's you also increase your chances for a DILD even if you lose awareness before falling asleep. By the way, I know you've played with SSILD before...what about making your own version using your musical base? You already have the sound component set up. Perhaps you could start by visualizing the instrument briefly or more significantly, move to the sound of the music or the riff, and then move to the feeling of yourself playing the instrument - your fingers on the cords of the guitar or whatever instrument you are playing. SSILD (or your own version) can give you WILD's or DILD's.



Wow! That's brilliant! I will try that! I think I will wait a little while because, as I said, I want to give a technique a try before I move on. But that sounds promising.  :smiley: 





> I believe it helps in many different ways but I would only focus on it now if you enjoy it since I don't believe it is essential. Go with your gut feeling on this though.



Yeah you're probably right, I'll focus on what I already have going for me. I'll just get back to it later if I want to.





> It may be enough for an occasional LD but continuing to work on RC's (at the end of pretending as you are doing seems fine) and WBTB's are also adding to your awareness.



Okay I'll do this. I'm also trying to set prospective memory targets for RC's as well. I talked to FryingMan about a post he wrote about prospective memory, and he taught me useful exercises that could lead to LD's. The idea is that I would have 4-5 active targets going on at all times, being certain that I would encounter one of them during the day. He told me that the days he hit all of his targets, he would have a lucid dream. It was motivating and it sounded simple. I tried it a couple of days ago. I started out with basics; every time I drink something, eat something, feel cold, and hear fireworks (New Year's Eve). In the beginning, I would get a delayed reaction, but later on, when I heard fireworks (they were "spaced apart" and this was before 00:00) I reacted instantly! I haven't done any lately, but seeing as how prospective memory helped me before, I think flexing this muscle will give my WBTB P-MILD mantras a greater chance of effect. So for RC's: 1. Pretending to be dreaming at random intervals during the day, finished with two RC's  2. RC every time I see a target, 4-5 during a day for now, switch out targets as I go as I get better. As for dream recall, I remembered a very long vivid dream the night of New Year's Eve. I slept for quite a while as you can imagine, and I remembered a dream just as vivid as the one before, but a lot longer, with several dream scenes. I even remembered dialogue and sounds! Which I rarely do.  I will continue with WBTB+MILD (mantra writing) followed by WILD as well. Today I remembered no dreams because I only slept for five hours. The jet lag hit me after sleeping for so long the day before.

When I went to bed yesterday, I was hoping of getting eight hours of sleep, _so I set an intention of waking myself at 8AM (six hours after going to sleep) for my WBTB things._ As I didn't get to sleep, I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep eight hours, only six or five, so I decided not to WBTB after all because there would be no use. _But I didn't "erase" my intention_ I still woke up at 8AM (3 hours after falling asleep). I didn't need water or an alarm. So I'm confident that from now on, I will be able to find my natural WBTB time simply with an intention. I have had success with this before, but I'm still surprised because I'm such a heavy and deep sleeper.





> Yes, next stop Lucid-Town indeed!



I hope so too  :smiley:  *...No...I know so too!* Gotta keep that confidence up!  ::D:

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## fogelbise

Happy New Year to you as well!  ::D:  I agree, this year will be better and we can all make it a great one! Keep posting as you are doing here to help avoid any slackening into the new year.

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## HanZartaC

> Happy New Year to you as well!  I agree, this year will be better and we can all make it a great one! Keep posting as you are doing here to help avoid any slackening into the new year.



Yes I agree, and I definitely will! It's just that I don't get a lot of sleep because of jet lag, so no progress will be made yet, I think. Yesterday I didn't get a lot of sleep, so I didn't remember any dreams. Today I didn't get a lot of sleep, but when I woke up, I feel asleep. This gave me awareness, and I remembered a _looooong_, somewhat vivid (at some times, sometimes it was very foggy and sometimes it was incredibly vivid). I can't remember all of it, because it was so long. But this is progress, which I thought couldn't have been made!  :smiley:  It's so long, so I'll just give you a highlight:

_"I dreamt I woke up, and I decided to WILD immediately, I closed my eyes, images were coming, and it surrounded me! I made it! But I only dreamt about being lucid, sadly. Then I lost "lucidity" later, and the dream kept on going."
_
So my vacation ends tomorrow, which means I have to get a normal sleep schedule, once this is up and my jet lag is gone, I can start doing the WBTB+MILD+WILD again! I think I'm gonna get lucid this week. I can feel it!  ::D:  My dreams are increasing in awareness and clarity, however today it increased and decreased throughout the dream, but I feel like I always knew I was dreaming though. Strange.

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## fogelbise

This sounds like good progress!  :smiley:  Did you get to do anything before you "lost lucidity later?"

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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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## HanZartaC

Well hello!

To be honest, this was expected. However, this time it's different! As you probably remember, I had just gotten back to lucid dreaming, and was afraid of not having time for LD'ing when school started again. The week school started again was the most stressful week of my life, and I didn't have time for anything LD related. However, I'm back, after only a little over a month!  ::D:  I always kept my interest, but I haven't practiced LD'ing though. Anyway, I want to start anew! I think the reason I have been slacking off after a while after starting LD'ing, is because there are so many different techniques and combinations, I wanted to do them all! Having so much on my plate in addition to my waking life plate stressed me out. So this time, I will rely on the wisdom of the, well, wiser. You guys, that is, the teachers! 

I think you guys know what suits me best better than me. I like WILDing, and I will continue trying that, but besides that, what should I do? I really need help here. What I need is a detailed "workout-plan" that I can stick to easily. I think you know what I like and don't like. RRC's didn't pay off, but prospective memory did for a while. To be honest I've forgotten myself what I liked to do or what payed off. I just need a combination of daytime and nighttime practices tailored to me. I know this is a lot to ask for, but I feel like this is something we could do together.  :smiley:  

I have always been interested in dream yoga and meditation, I just never had the time to try it out. Dream recall has always been up and down, mostly down, but when I have a nice sleeping schedule that will improve. Mantras sometimes worked I think, I am good at intentions at least. I could set an intention to wake myself up at "that time", and it would work almost to the minute if my sleep schedule was consistent. I know you guys are knowledgeable, and I really hope you can help me.  ::D:  What I was hoping for is that we could work out a detailed plan that I could try for a while (a month?) and then tailor it to perfection! Also, there are a lot of techniques and combinations I don't know about, so please, throw them at my face if they are worth a shot!  ::D: 

I am happy to be back, and I hope you feel the same way. I really hope I can keep practicing LD'ing uninterrupted now, but I know for sure that I will always return. But how will I ever get good if I can't do it consistently? I guess I'll learn from experience, and that I can always pick my technique up once I have a plan down.

Thank you very much,
-Hans

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## FryingMan

I for a long time too was searching for the perfect "LD workout program."   There are a bewildering set of options.   sivason recently posted the following summary of how to get good at lucid dreaming that I really like:

http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...ml#post2147464

Also this:





> 1) Think about lucid dreaming all the time.
> 2) Develop super high levels of waking awareness
> 3) Work very hard on dream recall
> 4) Use a mantra every night as you fall asleep [and every time you fall asleep -- FryingMan]
> 5) Question reality non stop, all day long



 I think this pretty much says it all.

Now, how to turn that into a LD workout?

Two main things: 1) daytime: awareness, 2) nighttime: dream recall   Of course there  are more but those are the fundamentals.  Work really diligently on these and you'll go far.

Awareness work is generally straightforward to describe: just start paying attention, all the time.  Do not live life on auto-pilot, really try to focus and live in your present moment.   Realize also in the back of your mind that you are doing this with the ultimate goal of recognizing the dream state.   There are options like meditation, etc., and there are more links in the you can follow the DILD class's "important links" thread to keep you busy reading for a long time if you're interested in pursuring those approaches: 

important-informative-links

Go into each night of sleep with the understanding that night time is for *dreaming* (and rest), but not just blanking out and waking up in the morning with all that time gone from your life.  Expect that you will live great adventures in your dreams and look forward to them every night!

Finally, never give up.  Going on and off with lucid dreaming and dream recall will definitely stall progress.

You know dreaming is awesome, so just dedicate yourself to it.  Don't worry if it takes a long time: the time will pass anyway!

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