# Lucid Dreaming > DV Academy > Current Courses > Intro Class >  >  Caenis' Workbook

## Caenis

Short term goals:
Increase awareness
Use mantras more effectively
Successfully use WBTB
Increase awareness/lucidity in dreams
Stabilize next lucid dream

Long term goals:
Be aware all day (ADA)
Have a lucid dream once a week
Experiment with dream sharing
Experiment with time dilation

RC: I completed 4-6 reality checks today, poking my palm with my finger and then counting my fingers.  A couple times throughout the day I also tried to become more aware of my surroundings, noticing the sights, sounds, and my own movements.

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## fOrceez

Hello and welcome  :smiley:  What method do you plan on focusing on?

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## Caenis

Thanks for the reminder, fOrceez.

I'm currently using MILD/DILD.  I'm trying to remember to use mantras while I'm falling asleep.  I've also been easing into using ADA.

While I'm in this class, I'll focus on:
DILD/MILD (including mantras)
ADA
WBTB

I've had one LD with my current method, so I'll be focusing on improving my awareness and using WBTB.

As for today's update, I did about 6 RCs, finger in the palm and counting my fingers.  I have been double and triple checking clocks.  Continued attempts at ADA.  I had two dreams today, but had very poor recall for both of them.

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## Caenis

I woke up this morning after about 4.5 hours of sleep, my dream had just ended.  It was a perfect opportunity to try WBTB, so I wrote down the dream I just had and went on DV for a while.  I wound up staying up for about two hours, and couldn't fall asleep after that.  Whoops.  Probably didn't help that I slept about 10-11 hours yesterday.  I'll try WBTB again tonight if I'm not too tired.

I questioned the events in my dream twice this morning, which is an improvement.  If I question my dream at all, it's usually only once a dream.  
1.  I was a transgendered lady in my dream, but I had a child.  I questioned if it was possible for me to give birth, when my original sex was male.  Then I decided if it was not my child, it must have been my sister's that I was raising as my own.
2.  I was with my family, but I didn't recognize them physically.  I knew it was weird, but the dream continued on and I forgot about my skepticism.

I did about a dozen RCs today.  Poking my palm with my finger and counting my fingers, then triple checking clock times.
To increase my awareness, I have been reminding myself of what I am doing currently and why.  I have also been thinking about the sequence of events in my day.

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## fOrceez

Excellent! Questioning things in your dreams is a great improvement, that daily awareness WILL be very beneficial to your lucid dreaming. Once you keep it up for a long amount of time, even sporadically (but frequently), it is going to get you lots and lot of lucid dreams. Keep it up, mate! 
Also, if you decide to do a WBTB, instead of doing general awareness, RC, question your reality, RC, etc etc. That will almost guarantee you a DILD/MILD if you are in the right mindset.  :smiley:

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## Caenis

Thanks fOrceez.  I'll remember to RC and question my reality more later today when I do WBTB again.  I need to remember to question reality and RC more when I first wake up.

I managed to do my WBTB earlier, I used my alarm to wake me up this time.  I slept for about six hours though, so I think tonight I'll try to get four and a half or five hours of sleep instead of six.  I stayed up for about 40 minutes, and performed a few RCs.  Went back to bed, trying the mantras again.  I couldn't remember any full dreams, just dream fragments.

I performed about a dozen RCs again today.  I focus on poking my hand and counting my fingers, but I have started to do the nose plug and flipping light switches as well.  I had some multivitamins laying around, so I took one earlier this evening.  I'll see if that helps make my dream more vivid tonight.

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## Caenis

I have kept a physical dream journal since early March, so in the past two months, I have noticed these dream signs.  I am classifying major dream signs as DCs/objects that are seen in almost every dream.  I define minor dream signs as being seen once every week or two on average.  Items are listed according to to the frequency I have seen them.

*Major Dream Signs:*
House/Family - Most commonly seen relatives are my sister and fatherSchool/Friends - Most commonly seen are college friends

*Minor Dream Signs:*
Water - Often pools, waterfalls, or rainFiancéDriving, or being in a carNon-fiancé intimacy - May be emotional or sexual, my fiancé does not exist in these dreamsMy pet pig, or a group of pigsBathroomsComputer Screen - Usually no more than a screen, I can interact with the screen without touching anything.  There is no keyboard, and I can usually see nothing but the screen.

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## Caenis

Generally the same RCs today as yesterday.  I woke up this morning to do WBTB, but I was sleepy and lazy and fell back asleep soon after.  Before waking up for my WBTB my dreams were fragmented, but after the WBTB I had a relatively clear dream.  No moments of awareness or control though.  The multivitamin also did not seem to help, though I wound up taking it three hours before I went to sleep.  I'll probably eat a banana tonight if I get the chance.

I'll be offline/scarce until Saturday, but I'll post my updates and dreams when I return.

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## OpheliaBlue

Well hurry up and return already.. it's Saturday!!  :tongue2:

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## Caenis

Okay, so I'm posting Sunday instead of Saturday.  Whoops!

So let's see.  The 26th and 27th my RCs were generally the same.  I did about 8 each day.  I've been utilizing the nose plug RC more frequently lately after poking my palm and counting my fingers.  Being in the car is a dream sign I see about twice a week, so I have been trying to have more moments of awareness while driving, and questioning reality while being the passenger.  I have been placing a dot on the back of my hand to remind me to RC when I'm around friends/family as well.  In addition, while on my laptop, I am diverting my eyes away from the screen more often to look at the machine as a whole, since I only ever see computer screens in dreams.

WBTBs have been unsuccessful for the past three nights.  The first two nights I was not in my house and had a little difficulty sleeping, and last night I was very tired from the prior nights of unsound sleep.  I woke up two of the three nights naturally, but was too tired to remain awake for long.  I had a mix of dream fragments and non-lucid dreams in the past few days.  I expect my dream recall to become better again now that I am home.

RCs and questioning reality has been a little lax today, but I still did it about 6 times, mostly when with my family.

I ate half of a banana about half an hour ago.  I'll be going to bed soon, so hopefully that will improve my dreams vividness.

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## fOrceez

Sunday instead of Saturday? Unforgivable - 10 points from Slytherin. As for WBTBs, I would recommend questioning your reality as soon as you wake up until the very end of your WBTB.  Good luck with your recall! By the way, i'm not sure how you sleep; but make sure you keep all worries aside. "Let sleep take you" as if you're in a meditation. Don't be thinking about 10,000 things at once while going to sleep, it really screws recall/lucidity for me.

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## paigeyemps

Hooray for bananas!  ::banana::  ::banana::  ::banana::

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## fOrceez

apple juice>banana

..it tastes better!

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## Chicken

> I have kept a physical dream journal since early March, so in the past two months, I have noticed these dream signs.  I am classifying major dream signs as DCs/objects that are seen in almost every dream.  I define minor dream signs as being seen once every week or two on average.  Items are listed according to to the frequency I have seen them.
> 
> *Major Dream Signs:*
> House/Family - Most commonly seen relatives are my sister and fatherSchool/Friends - Most commonly seen are college friends
> 
> *Minor Dream Signs:*
> Water - Often pools, waterfalls, or rainFiancéDriving, or being in a carNon-fiancé intimacy - May be emotional or sexual, my fiancé does not exist in these dreamsMy pet pig, or a group of pigsBathroomsComputer Screen - Usually no more than a screen, I can interact with the screen without touching anything.  There is no keyboard, and I can usually see nothing but the screen.



You have a pet pig? How cool is that  ::D:  What kind of pig is it?

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## OpheliaBlue

I got my fingers crossed for you killer  :smiley:

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## Caenis

Opheliablue:
Thanks for the encouragement.   :smiley: 

fOrceez:
I much prefer the taste of apple juice, but drinking before bed either keeps me up, or makes me wake up three or four times to take a piss.  I take about 20 minutes to fall asleep, and somehow that's enough time for beverages to run into my bladder.

I've been trying to use the mantras as a sort of meditation, but it's difficult to focus only on the mantras.  I can't help but think.  Being exhausted helps cut down on the amount of thoughts.  Dream recall seems pretty stable currently: I remembered one dream and a dream fragment yesterday, and two full dreams today.  After eating the banana, I didn't notice a significant difference in dream vividness.  I'll be eating half a banana tonight too to continue the experiment.  I will also try to maintain my awareness during my next WBTB.





> You have a pet pig? How cool is that What kind of pig is it?



Vietnamese Pot-bellied pig.  His name is Hamlet.  He doesn't live with us anymore, my parents are paying for him to stay at a farm currently.  So...I guess he's not really ours anymore, but I still consider him family.  He was our pet for 14 or 15 years.  We visit him sometimes.  He's an angry pig, but I wouldn't want him any other way.

As for today's update, I was very good about RCing while with my family, and having moments of awareness.  Lots of hand poking, finger counting and nose plugging.  Maybe about a dozen times, I should really start counting these things.  I also flip switches from time to time and notice the effects.  I did a WBTB last night, I wrote down my dream, did some more RCs and tried to be a little aware.  I was up for about 40 minutes overall.

Fortunately, so long as I'm not exhausted, WBTBs seem pretty easy for me, even natural.  I set an alarm just in case, but since my dream recall has improved, I usually wake up after 4-5 hours with a dream fresh in my head.  It also gives me an excuse to write down my first dream before going back to sleep, so it becomes much more likely for me to remember two dreams in one night.

I have written all of my dreams from the past few nights.  I've been busy, so it's hard to type them all up.  I'll put them all in my DJ tomorrow though.  Thanks for the patience.

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## fOrceez

> I've been trying to use the mantras as a sort of meditation, but it's difficult to focus only on the mantras.  I can't help but think.  Being exhausted helps cut down on the amount of thoughts.  Dream recall seems pretty stable currently: I remembered one dream and a dream fragment yesterday, and two full dreams today.  After eating the banana, I didn't notice a significant difference in dream vividness.  I'll be eating half a banana tonight too to continue the experiment.  I will also try to maintain my awareness during my next WBTB.



 Yeah, it is surprising how hard it can be to just focus on one thing. The "trick" is to not give up. You'll definitely get better at it, and i'm sure you'll be happy with the progress  ::D:

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## Chicken

That is sooo cool  ::D:  I have a pet sheep myself, she lives at a petting zoo where I work every wednesday. She is hand raised because her mother didn't want her so she is really used to people, espacially the people who fed her and plays with her. She is 7 months old now and really big (she is a large breed) but when I let her out of her stable she will run after me and do the silliest jumps like she is a baby lamb. As you probably can tell, I love her very much!

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## Caenis

I won't give up, fOrceez!  I see encouraging signs every now and then, so at least I can see some progress.





> That is sooo cool  I have a pet sheep myself, she lives at a petting zoo where I work every wednesday. She is hand raised because her mother didn't want her so she is really used to people, espacially the people who fed her and plays with her. She is 7 months old now and really big (she is a large breed) but when I let her out of her stable she will run after me and do the silliest jumps like she is a baby lamb. As you probably can tell, I love her very much!



 :smiley:   That's nice.  You're lucky that your sheep is affectionate and playful.  Must be cool to work at a petting zoo.  I have a great admiration for fat animals, so it wouldn't be good for me to work at a place like that.  I'd overfeed all the animals.

I've been trying to maintain awareness for longer periods of time today.  I performed about 10 RCs again today.  I'll be experimenting with VILD this week, as I think it will be easier for me to do the mantras while visualizing a scene.  My first LD was from mantas and a VILD, so I want to see if the VILD had helped me, or if it was a coincidence.  I had been trying to incubate a dream that incorporated a RC, but didn't realize it was considered a VILD.

I ate half a banana yesterday, and I didn't notice a big change in vividness.  Once we have ripe bananas, I'll try a full one before bed.  I did a WBTB, but I didn't stay up for very long.  I was too tired to stay out of bed for long.  I didn't bother writing my dream down either, but I thought about it for a while.  I remembered most of it later in the morning, so I was still able to write it down.  I shouldn't be so lazy.

I noticed something in my dream from a few nights ago.  I had difficulty doing a math problem in my head.  Granted, it was something like 178/1253, but I didn't even try to estimate the percentage.  I just gave up.  In prior dreams, I've found it difficult or impossible to visualize and count.  I contemplating include visualization and math as part of my RC/awareness routine.

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## Chicken

> I won't give up, fOrceez!  I see encouraging signs every now and then, so at least I can see some progress.
> 
> 
>   That's nice.  You're lucky that your sheep is affectionate and playful.  Must be cool to work at a petting zoo.  I have a great admiration for fat animals, so it wouldn't be good for me to work at a place like that.  I'd overfeed all the animals.



LOL  ::lol::  Most off the animals are already too fat!

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## OpheliaBlue

I have trouble with some basic cognitive skills in my LDs as well. In my dreams in general. I just kinda balled it up with device failure in general. Brains count as devices right?





> I have a great admiration for fat animals, so it wouldn't be good for me to work at a place like that.  I'd overfeed all the animals.



Haha when I first read that, I thought you were leading up to the fact that you wanted to eat them.

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## Mydera

> I had some multivitamins laying around, so I took one earlier this evening. I'll see if that helps make my dream more vivid tonight.



If the vitamin didn't help much at first with your recall and vividness, I totally encourage you to take it every night before bed for a week, then make your decision to take it or not after 7-10 of taking it.  I take a vitamin as well, and it took a week of taking it every night for it to really start working on my dreams, but it upped my recall from 1 dream a night to at least 3 or 4. On the bright side, skipping it a night every now and then there's no big change. It usually takes not taking it for three or four days for the effect to wear off. It may not work for you, but as long as it's not hurting anything, it's worth giving it a good try!

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## Caenis

You're a lucky lady, Chicken.  I hope you're enjoying the fat animals.  Frankly, I like fat animals because they're cute.  Round, squishy, and they waddle.





> I have trouble with some basic cognitive skills in my LDs as well. In my dreams in general. I just kinda balled it up with device failure in general. Brains count as devices right?
> 
> Haha when I first read that, I thought you were leading up to the fact that you wanted to eat them.



Heh, nah, I enjoy eating all sorts of animals, but not friends.

You make a good point.  It's not so much that the brain is a device, but that it doesn't work the way you'd expect it to work.





> If the vitamin didn't help much at first with your recall and vividness, I totally encourage you to take it every night before bed for a week, then make your decision to take it or not after 7-10 of taking it.  I take a vitamin as well, and it took a week of taking it every night for it to really start working on my dreams, but it upped my recall from 1 dream a night to at least 3 or 4. On the bright side, skipping it a night every now and then there's no big change. It usually takes not taking it for three or four days for the effect to wear off. It may not work for you, but as long as it's not hurting anything, it's worth giving it a good try!



Right, right, forgot about the vitamin.  Thanks for the reminder, Mydera.  I'll have to see if I can manage taking them, my current vitamins are huge.  It's no wonder I didn't take them when I bought them.  If these don't work out, I'll see if I can just find a smaller pill.  Or stick with bananas.  I'm glad that the vitamin worked so well for you.   :smiley: 

As for today, not much to report on.  I had a dream where I had breasts.  I looked at them and thought they were out of place, but then continued with the dream.   ::roll::   I woke up for WBTB, but fell back asleep immediately.  I've been too lax about that.

VILD didn't work last night either, but I only started thinking about it before bed.  Today I have been thinking about the scene I'm incubating throughout the day, so hopefully that'll improve my chances at succeeding with VILD tonight.

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## OpheliaBlue

I used to miss lucidity opportunities when switching genders in my dreams too. Or sometimes, like you said, just a part of me became the opposite sex. And I just thought it was normal too. After several years though, it became so recurring in my dreams that it actually helped me get lucid.

Anyway, best of luck with the vitamins and VILDs Caenis!

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## Caenis

Thanks Ophelia.  I think the vitamin might be helping.  I've been taking it the past three nights, and I had a dream this morning that was longer than usual and more vivid.  Most of the colors were still subdued, but the dream was very detailed.  Unfortunately, I decided to hop on Skype while writing my dream down, and forgot some of the details while chatting with my fiancée.  I was very disappointed.  I'll keep taking the vitamin though and see if I continue to have more vivid dreams.   :smiley: 

Wednesday and Thursday mornings I did the WBTB and VILD, but I had a lot of dream fragments.  This morning I forgot about VILD and WBTB, but I did remember a long detailed dream.  Since I had a lot of dream fragments over the past few days, I didn't see much point in writing anything down in my DJ.

So not much to report on currently.  I've been making a list of stuff I want to do in LDs to help my motivation--flying, owning a horde of pigs, creating epic facial hair--a lot of minor stuff that could be cool to do in a dream.

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## OpheliaBlue

Hey ordinarily when you VILD, are you incubating a scene that you are really drawn to? I ask this because it always helps motivate me, as well as remember to do it, when it's a place I really really want to be. Just throwing it at you.





> I've been making a list of stuff I want to do in LDs to help my motivation--flying, owning a horde of pigs, creating epic facial hair--a lot of minor stuff that could be cool to do in a dream.



Hahahaa.. you have a very unique lucid to-do list there Caenis.

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## Caenis

> Hey ordinarily when you VILD, are you incubating a scene that you are really drawn to? I ask this because it always helps motivate me, as well as remember to do it, when it's a place I really really want to be. Just throwing it at you.
> 
> 
> Hahahaa.. you have a very unique lucid to-do list there Caenis.



Well, I read the VILD tutorial, and it seemed to suggest something relatively simple.  So I've been imagining just my fiancé and I in a room holding hands, and my fiancé tells me I'm dreaming.  When I first tried VILD, I imagined my fiancé and I together in fancy clothing and holding hands.  I imagined myself remembering to RC, since my RCs focus on me using my hands.

I guess I just got lucky my first time.  I was incubating that dream/scene, but that wasn't the scene that was in my dream.  I had imagined the scene and repeated the mantras while drifting off, and then suddenly I was at a pool.  I realized I had just appeared there, there was nothing at all before that.  I remembered doing mantras and incubating a dream before.  So I instantly knew I was dreaming and just as soon as I finished saying "I'm dreaming" I woke up.

I'm sure you have/had a couple of unusual goals yourself, Ophelia, most people would.   :smiley:   I think the majority of my goals are pretty typical actually, I'm trying to come up with more creative ones.

I had two dreams last night, but they weren't very interesting.  I was too lazy to write the first down when I did my WBTB, so I only remembered the main details.  My WBTBs recently have been very short, so I think I should make them longer again.  The least I should do is write down my dreams during it.  My bed has been too cozy recently, it's been difficult to leave it for long.  I might switch to a B6 supplement instead of my multivitamin, purely because the supplement is smaller and a lot easier to swallow.

RCs have been fine.  I'm remembering to do them more often with people than by myself.  There are very few moments in my dreams where I am by myself.

Edit:
I was just standing in the kitchen with the faucet running, and I suddenly remembered another segment from my first dream.  I dropped my laptop in a small pool/tub of water.  I managed to forget in my dream that water would ruin my laptop, then panicked once it hit the water.  Glad I remembered a little more of my dream 12 hours after I woke up.

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## Caenis

*Spoiler* for _Updated Dream Signs_: 




This is just for my own benefit.  I realized I missed a few dream signs before.  I can't edit my old post, so I'm just pasting this and making a few changes.

Since April 1, I have noticed these dream signs.  I am classifying major dream signs as DCs/objects that are seen in almost every dream.  I define minor dream signs as being seen once or twice every week on average.  Items are listed according to to the frequency I have seen them.

*Major Dream Signs:*
House/Family - Most commonly seen relatives are my sister and fatherSchool/Friends - Most commonly seen are college friends

*Minor Dream Signs:*
FoodWater - Often pools, waterfalls, rain, a glass of water, or touching something wetDriving, or being in a carBoard or video gamesMyself or someone else being injured or illFiancéNon-fiancé intimacyComputer or Screen - Sometimes I see just a screen, but since I noticed that my dream sign is a screen without a computer, I've been imagining the rest of the computer more in my dreams.My pet pig, or a group of pigsBathrooms

I have made the effort to RC more around family and friends, but will start doing so when I am around minor dream signs as well.  I decided to also use mantras during the day, instead of just at night.  I will try to be more aware when I initially encounter my dream signs.



I took a B6 supplement and drank half a glass of apple juice before bed last night.  That seemed to work all right.  I woke up after three hours instead of my usual four and a half, and decided that was good enough for a WBTB, since I was already awake.  I remembered my dream, so I wrote it down.  It wasn't a very vivid dream, and it was a little confusing.  The weather wasn't stable, and a cartoon/webcomic character appeared in it.  I can't remember ever seeing animated characters in my dreams.

I've realized it would probably be more beneficial if I take the B6 supplement during the WBTB, so I'll do that tonight.  While I was awake, I had another small glass of apple juice.  Once I went back to sleep, I had a much more vivid dream.  Also a strange dream and a little dark, but good!  I think I'll have a bit of apple juice each time I go to sleep now.

Instead of using VILD last night, I tried using OreoBoy's Daydream Awareness Technique.  Similar to VILD, but instead of focusing on only one scene, I imagined myself in a lucid dream doing a lot of RCs and repeating "I'm dreaming."  It obviously didn't work, but it was cool to imagine being lucid.  =p

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## fOrceez

Hooray for apple juice!  ::D:  Yeah, Oreoboy's method is really effective for him. I haven't seen you on irc as much lately, but if you have any questions about Oreoboy's method, he is on chat most of the time  :smiley:

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## Caenis

> Hooray for apple juice!  Yeah, Oreoboy's method is really effective for him. I haven't seen you on irc as much lately, but if you have any questions about Oreoboy's method, he is on chat most of the time



I learned about a similar method from other lucid dreaming websites about two months ago (though their descriptions were less detailed), it seems to be a common technique.  Easy and entertaining for newbies too.  I'll be sure to ask Oreoboy any questions I have.   :smiley: 

I used DDA while initially falling asleep.  Then I woke up about 2.5 to 3 hours after falling asleep again.  I contemplated staying up, but I wanted to do a proper WBTB.  My alarm went off  an hour and a half later, and I turned it off and kept sleeping.  -.-  So I only had apple juice last night, and no supplement.  I also had really boring dreams that I didn't bother to write down.  Pretty detailed, but so much like real life.

I got about 6.5 or 7 hours of sleep, so I'm hoping I can take a nap and try again later today.  I'm tempted to try WILD.  I have immense difficulty keeping my mind active while falling asleep, but I'll give it a try.

Is it pointless to do a WBTB after three hours of sleep?

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## fOrceez

Hmm, it is recommended you sleep longer before doing a WBTB for WILD. But if you want to WBTB, go for it. If you decide not to WILD, you can always use the DDA  :smiley:

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## OpheliaBlue

> Is it pointless to do a WBTB after three hours of sleep?



You know, back when my son was waking up 6 times per night, I slept like crap. So most of my sleep, and subsequent LDs occurred during afternoon naps. And I was such a zombie until I was able to take that nap, that I used to consider a nap just a really delayed WBTB. Don't know if it can be truly characterized that way, but my napping lucids speak for themselves!

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## Caenis

If it's acceptable, instead of using VILD I'll use DDA.  As well as ADA, MILD/DILD and WBTB, of course.

After reading a lot on the forum yesterday, I decided to play isochronic tones while sleeping.  I drank some apple juice and practiced DDA while falling asleep.

I woke up at 9:30, remembered my dream but rolled back over.   ::roll::   Woke up by chance at 10:30 with a new dream fresh in my head.  I forgot most of the first, but in my second dream, I saw someone that was in the first dream.  I told him I had recently had a dream about him, but did not realize I was still dreaming.  Frustrating, but I considered it progress!

I wrote down my dream, had some apple juice and a B6 supplement.  I decided to try WILDing, but I had difficulty falling back asleep by that point.  So that didn't happen.  I stopped focusing on the isochronic tones and just let myself daydream about anything.

*Spoiler* for _Daydream, or LD?_: 



From my recent DJ entry.
I was with a friend, Dani, and she was drawing while sitting on the floor. There was a mirror reflecting her. I stared at Dani and the reflection in the mirror. They were not exact. I stared a little longer. There was no mirror! There were two Danis. I silently deduced, This isnt real. I walked over to the original Dani and grabbed her scalp with my right hand. It seemed logical at the time. I think I decided to plug my nose with my left hand too? My head suddenly felt like it was spinning very quickly and I became very dizzy. I became more aware that I was in bed.
It felt more like an elaborate daydream than a lucid dream, or maybe a mix between the two. I also didnt physically feel anythingclothing, Danis head, my body. The only thing I felt was the spinning/dizzy sensation at the very end.



Initially I assumed this was a daydream, but was it actually a lucid dream?

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## OpheliaBlue

> If it's acceptable, instead of using VILD I'll use DDA.  As well as ADA, MILD/DILD and WBTB, of course.



Ordinarily I would say pick one and stick with it, but I realize that it's important to experiment with what feels natural to you, and not many people grasp it right away. Which is something I was trying to attempt with Lesson III. Anyone who is ambivalent about selecting a technique can review the pros and cons and see which one is the best fit for further experimentation. So I say go for the DDA if you feel it's more you. Just give it a while before giving it up.

I look forward to reading the results!  :smiley:

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## Caenis

Thanks Ophelia.  I feel that DDA is more natural for me.   :smiley:   I've always either thought a lot, or imagined different scenarios before falling asleep.

Yesterday morning I had no dreams due to lack of sleep, and the morning before that I had rather boring dreams.  This morning I had to be up earlier than usual, so today I decided to use DEILD instead of WBTB in hopes of being able to sleep more.  I was finicking with my phone during the DEILDs, as the ringer was too loud.  I set my phone to vibrate instead.

My phone went off and woke me up again.  I grabbed my phone to change the settings again.  One of the settings was simply "1" rather than "Level 1" and my phone had two vibration settings instead of one.  I thought that was a little odd, but I reset the volume/vibrate settings and went back to sleep.  Of course that was a false awakening.  ::doh::   That was my first FA, so that was interesting at least.

A subsequent dream I had included my phone's vibrations into my dreams.  There was an earthquake.  At two points in the dream, I wondered how certain events could be possible.  My dream then created dream logic to make my doubts vanish.  It's a little frustrating that my dreams invent new logic, and I blindly accept the new dream logic.

For example, when the earthquake was happening in my dream, I realized that the character might not make it out of the building alive--it was collapsing.  I thought, "It's a pretty old building, it wouldn't have exit signs.  I doubt the man will make it out alive," (this portion of my dream also was based of an anime, thus was animated).  As soon as I thought that, green exit signs appeared, and the character easily found the exit.  I didn't question the sudden appearance of the exit signs at all.

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## Caenis

On the morning of the 13th, I had a dream where the main character thought he was lucid dreaming.  I can't remember if I was the man, or if I was observing the dream at that point.  He believed he was lucid dreaming, and he was able to float around.  I think he was told he was lucid dreaming by two other men.  Turns out that the other men were just distracting him so the man wouldn't go to a beautiful woman's room to have sex.   ::roll:: 

Dream recall from last night was pretty poor.  I remembered my first dream, but didn't write it down.  It's difficult to take the time to write dreams if I have stuff to do in the mornings.  I have no obligations tomorrow, so I'll write down my dreams in detail tomorrow.  I've been favoring the nose plug RC lately, but still check my hands from time to time.  I'm still attempting to practice more awareness lately.

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## OpheliaBlue

> On the morning of the 13th, I had a dream where the main character thought he was lucid dreaming.  I can't remember if I was the man, or if I was observing the dream at that point.  He believed he was lucid dreaming, and he was able to float around.  I think he was told he was lucid dreaming by two other men.  Turns out that the other men were just distracting him so the man wouldn't go to a beautiful woman's room to have sex.



That's really weird, were you lucid yourself? I also noticed in the last dream you posted in your journal, that your fiancé's older sister brought up lucid dreaming as well. Dreams like these most often are build-ups to achieving lucidity yourself. Just keep doing those daily RCs, especially when the subject of lucid dreaming comes up. Like right now!!  ::D:

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## Caenis

> That's really weird, were you lucid yourself? I also noticed in the last dream you posted in your journal, that your fiancé's older sister brought up lucid dreaming as well. Dreams like these most often are build-ups to achieving lucidity yourself. Just keep doing those daily RCs, especially when the subject of lucid dreaming comes up. Like right now!!



No, I wasn't lucid.  I wasn't myself, I was observing from the perspective of the DC, and the DC thought he was having a lucid dream.  It was one of those confusing dreams about lucid dreaming.  I was a passive, invisible observer watching the dream.  Definitely layer zero.  Definitely improvements.   :smiley: 

The past two days I remembered 3 dreams a night, which is pretty cool, but I only vividly remember two dreams per night.  The third dream I had today I checked the clock 3 times.  First it was 2:50, then a few minutes later, it was 3:50.  Then a short while later, it was 3:15.  Such a good opportunity was missed!  I'll have to remember to be more aware when looking at the time.  I'll try to start asking myself what the time was when I last checked the clock, what I have been doing for that amount of time, and if time went forward or backward.

I also want to remember to RC when I first encounter my dream signs.  I remember to RC, but I sometimes RC after I've been around the dream sign for a while.

When I woke up today, my body felt a little...tingly?  Different than usual.  I was wondering if I could WILD/DEILD that way, but I was too awake to succeed.  When I gave up and got out of bed, my body felt a little heavy initially.

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## OpheliaBlue

> When I woke up today, my body felt a little...tingly?  Different than usual.  I was wondering if I could WILD/DEILD that way, but I was too awake to succeed.  When I gave up and got out of bed, my body felt a little heavy initially.



Whenever I DEILD, I do get vibrations and if I relax and let them take over, I slip into a lucid state without skipping a beat. Sometimes I have a feeling like I'm on the brink of those vibrations, and I do this weird thing where I exhale gently, look down and a bit cross-eyed under my closed lids. I can do this right now as I'm fully awake, and it almost simulates the onset of the vibrations. I suddenly just feel really aware of my whole body when I do it.

I'm telling you this because I wonder if it would work the next time you get the tingly feelings you just described. I've been dying to teach someone how to do this, it's really hard to explain it. But it's definitely worth a try.

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## Caenis

> Whenever I DEILD, I do get vibrations and if I relax and let them take over, I slip into a lucid state without skipping a beat. Sometimes I have a feeling like I'm on the brink of those vibrations, and I do this weird thing where I exhale gently, look down and a bit cross-eyed under my closed lids. I can do this right now as I'm fully awake, and it almost simulates the onset of the vibrations. I suddenly just feel really aware of my whole body when I do it.
> 
> I'm telling you this because I wonder if it would work the next time you get the tingly feelings you just described. I've been dying to teach someone how to do this, it's really hard to explain it. But it's definitely worth a try.



I haven't had a chance to try this again unfortunately, I had a busy weekend.  Yesterday I remembered a fragment or two, but didn't write them down, and today I remembered one dream.  I have a few hours until the last chat, so I'll give it another go.

I was probably a little too lax yesterday with my RCs and awareness.  We had a family gathering, and I got about 4 hours of sleep, so it was difficult to keep myself from running on automatic.

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## OpheliaBlue

Yeah I slept crappy last night too and it messed me up a little as well.

Hope you had better luck the next time!

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## Caenis

I went to bed less than an hour after my last post in this thread to sleep more and to try to have one more LD.  I decided to try DEILD so I could have as many opportunities as possible to get a LD.  I don't remember waking up after every dream though, so I set my phone alarm to do the work for me.  This attempt was both a success and a failure.

My subconscious decided to do me a big favor by discussing lucid dreaming within the dream.  As soon as I successfully completed my reality check, my alarm went off.  Full details in my DJ.  That was disappointing, but I didn't expect to get so close to having a lucid dream before this class ended.  The deadlines seem surprisingly helpful!

Now that the class is over, I'm going to experiment with the following:
1.  Remember more of my dreams
2.  Remember my dreams more vividly (I stopped drinking apple juice this week, so I'll start drinking that before bed again)
3.  Try DEILD once I remember more of my dreams
4.  Make more specific goals and challenges for myself, to be completed in a set amount of time

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## Caenis

I just reread the announcement, so we can keep using the workbooks?

I had a lucid dream this morning!   ::D:   I seem to be having a lot more luck with DEILD, so I'll be incorporating that regularly from now on.

Long rambling DJ entry.  It was a lot different than I expected it to be.  My first LD only lasted a moment, but it felt like a huge epiphany.  This one I was doing random shit.  It was cool, but I had expected to be able to feel more.  A lot of what I saw was really vague and fuzzy too.  I really had to focus in order to see any detail.  Once I was doing what the dream wanted me to do, everything became a lot more vivid.  It was difficult to see what I had created because I had to focus on it a lot, but if I followed the dream, I didn't have to focus to create anything.

I'm excited that I had the LD, but I wasn't excited during the LD.  It was just very weird.  I spent a lot of time doing RCs and stabilizing.  Staring at my hands was fascinating.  They looked and acted so different from my real hands.  My palms _merged_ when I pressed them together.  I thought it was pretty cool when I decided to wake up too.  I've never done that before.

I was frustrated during the dream that feeling anything was very difficult.  I had expected the dream to feel more like reality.  I'm extremely pleased though!  I'm going to keep in mind a few specific things to do in the dream (set RCs, one or two stabilization techniques, two or three ideas for what to do during the LD).  If I plan it out a little more, I should have a better experience.

I have no idea when the bus thing happened.  o_o  I know it happened during the beginning or middle of the dream, but I can't be sure.  My theory is that the bus scene was when I realized I was lucid.  Maybe I changed from being in my parents' car to the bus?  Shame I can't remember.

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## Caenis

RCs:
Nose plug
Reading text, most often the time
Counting fingers

Induction Techniques and other methods to help promote LDs:
MILD
DILD
SAT/ADA
WBTB
DEILD
I'll be experimenting with drinking milk before bed during this course as well.  I'll be taking a daily vitamin with some B6 in it.

Plan for next lucid:
Stabilize via rubbing my hands, touching objects, or verbal commands.  Find or create a mirror, examine myself in it, and enter the mirror to find my fiancee.  Ask my fiancee to take me somewhere.

I only remember one dream from last night, and saw a few notable dream signs: my family, water (the ocean), food (cupcakes), and cars (I was a passenger).  I was a tiny bit aware briefly in my dream.  A young girl was playing the viola superbly.  I wondered how in the world she could be so good at such a young age, and how she could remain so good without practicing regularly.  I didn't have a body while watching her either, I was just watching the dream like one watches a movie.

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## melanieb

> Whenever I DEILD, I do get vibrations.......I'm telling you this because I wonder if it would work the next time you get the tingly feelings you just described. I've been dying to teach someone how to do this, it's really hard to explain it. But it's definitely worth a try.




I think I should try this more.





> Now that the class is over, I'm going to experiment with the following:
> 1.  Remember more of my dreams
> 2.  Remember my dreams more vividly (I stopped drinking apple juice this week, so I'll start drinking that before bed again)
> 3.  Try DEILD once I remember more of my dreams
> 4.  Make more specific goals and challenges for myself, to be completed in a set amount of time



I like these goals! Try some milk also!

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## OpheliaBlue

Cupcakes as a dream sign? Funny, I've had warm doughnuts and warm chocolate chip cookies as mine several times in the past, though it was usually when I was dieting.  :tongue2: 

So which induction technique is the winner for you these days.. the DEILD? I know I've said it a zillion times, but DEILD has always been my technique of choice. And I don't know if I've noted this before, but DEILDs work on naps too. Just for future reference.

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## Caenis

Yes Ophelia, I've settled on DEILD.  Probably DEILD and WBTB together.  I'm still tinkering around and seeing what would be best, but DEILD seems to have given me the most progress so far.  I know that DEILDS work for naps too, you've mentioned it to me before.   :smiley:   I haven't tried DEILDing during a nap yet, but I want to soon.

I'm drinking milk, but I haven't been drinking much before bed.  I'll drink more and see how that affects my dreams.  I'm hoping to have a lucid dream by Friday or Saturday.  *crosses fingers*  I think I'll post in my workbook each night before bed from now on, as part of my bedtime routine.  I don't have much of a routine currently, so I should develop one.

I did my typical RCs today, but I was lax with awareness because I was with a friend and gaming.  I think I should practice awareness more while in company, and especially while gaming.  I tend to lose track of everything else while gaming.  I had a dream and a few fragments from last night, but nothing too interesting.  Now that I'm trying to DEILD, my dreams are getting fuzzy.  It's difficult to tell where one dream ends and another begins.  I've also found that certain events in my first dream will happen again in the second, but with minor differences.  It's interesting and confusing.

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## Caenis

I had another dream and a few fragments last night, nothing too notable.  I'm trying to RC whenever someone mentions dreaming.  I never realized how frequently it's mentioned by others or in movies/shows.  I spent five hours playing a video game today, so I probably didn't RC or use as much awareness as usual.  I find it enormously difficult to not become completely absorbed in the game.  As I tell more of my friends that I'm trying to LD, we talk about it more, which reminds me to RC and be aware, so that's handy.

I did a short WBTB yesterday, but decided to not DEILD, I've read that DEILDing every night can be counterproductive.  I'm tempted to DEILD tonight, but I'll save it for the weekend.

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## OpheliaBlue

> I did a short WBTB yesterday, but decided to not DEILD, I've read that DEILDing every night can be counterproductive.  I'm tempted to DEILD tonight, but I'll save it for the weekend.



Really? Where did you read that.. I'm intrigued!

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## Caenis

> Really? Where did you read that.. I'm intrigued!



Purebred's WBTB DEILD Tutorial





> Do not try more than 3 - 4 times per week or you will end up getting Dry Spell. Why? Because unsuccessful experiences lead to the drop of motivation, which leads to the Dry Spell.



As always, this would depend on the person.  Seems like reasonable advice to me though.

I was with my family for most of the day, so I almost completely forgot about awareness and RCing while with them.  I only remembered one dream from last night, and it was pretty fuzzy by the time I was able to write it down.  I nuzzled a woman's bosom in the dream.  It was very cozy.

I'll be using DEILD tonight.  Hopefully that'll give me results, I'm itching to have another LD.  I'm wondering if this workbook activity before bed was a good idea.  I'm so tired when I type these things, maybe I should just read before bed instead.  Or maybe I should do this earlier in the night.  ...Could be good if I went to bed at a set hour too.

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## Caenis

I've been lazy and haven't done many WBTBs recently.  When doing WBTB, I would usually remember two dreams a night, easily, so I'll go back to doing that.  In a few weeks, I might return to drinking apple juice as well instead of milk.  It's been harder for me to move/think after waking up from a dream, so I'd like to improve that so my recall improves again.  It's not bad, but I liked remembering two dreams per night.

I decided to try DEILD again this morning.  I set my alarms yesterday morning, but completely slept through them.  I increased my phone volume last night, I still can't wake up very easily on my own.  I read my previous LD last night before bed, and had a LD later this morning.  I was so fascinated with stabilizing last time that I did a pretty decent job of stabilizing it.  This time I wanted to rush into the dream, so I didn't stabilize very effectively.  I mainly used a command, "Lucidity now" to stabilize.  Probably not the best command to use when I'm lucid already.

I summoned a mirror and tried to complete TOTM, but I don't remember seeing anything on the other side.  I think I had started to lose the dream by that point, so by the time I pushed my head (and arm?) through the mirror, I couldn't see much, if anything.  I tried to feel the cold glass as I pushed my face through, and that was the last thing I felt.

Glad I tried a command, but I think next time I'll try to stabilize by using touch, that worked rather well last time.

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## OpheliaBlue

Oh wow, that's cool that you got lucid and started the TOTM Caenis!

I hate not being able to see much in LDs. Maybe we should start them off by summoning a flashlight hehe.

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## Caenis

> Oh wow, that's cool that you got lucid and started the TOTM Caenis!
> 
> I hate not being able to see much in LDs. Maybe we should start them off by summoning a flashlight hehe.



Yeah, I thought it could be interesting.  I want to see my fiancee, so I figured a mirror portal could work.  The portals haven't agreed with me so far, but I will tame them yet!  That's a good idea Ophelia, I keep forgetting that making a dream brighter can help.  Maybe I'll summon a flashlight next time.   :smiley: 

Had an interesting dream last night.  It was another China dream.  I went to China in March, and I keep getting dreams about it.  Initially it was from the sheer embarrassment of nearly missing our flight home.  I traveled with my school, so...the plane waited for my family and I for an hour.  Thankfully the China dreams are no longer about being separated from the group.  I just get dreams where I'm on vacation in China.  Maybe I'm still getting the China dreams because I still feel guilty, even though my dreams no longer include separation from the group.  Maybe China vacations represent any world traveling.

I thought it was pretty cool that DawgBone could interpret his dreams so easily, so I'm trying it now too.  I'm finding it difficult to understand the meanings, and to face some of my unhappy thoughts coming out in the dreams.  I'll add my most recent dream soon and explain the potential meaning in my DV DJ.

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## Caenis

I decided to try using a waking journal, and to focus on mantras again.  I've been doing that the past two nights.

The other night I had a very unpleasant dream.  It was a very painful dream.  I woke up and was in a terrible sleeping position.   ::roll::   Absolutely terrible on my back.  I was miffed by that, and I didn't remember anything else.  However, last night I recorded five different fragments/short dreams.

Two of my dreams from last night had some sort of (small) awareness:
1. I saw an Asian co-worker of mine get pulled into a restaurant that turned everyone into Asians.  I was initially concerned, then realized "Wait, he IS Asian.  What will happen to him?"  He was turned into a different Asian, and seemingly lost his mind.
2. I was in a tower with some of my cousins, and there was something coming to kill us.  Someone lowered the temperature of the entire tower to absolute zero to kill/freeze our enemies.  "How can we survive at absolute zero?"  The dream continued on, and I forgot about my skepticism.

I also never updated my goals:

*Short term goals:*
Increase dream recall to at least 3 dreams each night
Increase usage of SAT
Increase awareness/lucidity in dreams
Stabilize next LDs more effectively
Complete TOTM for June--jump on a moving train

*Long term goals:*
Continue to decrease the number of days it takes me to have each LD*
Be aware all day (ADA)
Have a lucid dream twice a week
Complete TOTY
Experiment with dream sharing
Experiment with time dilation

*I want the amount of time between each LD to decrease each time.  For example, it took just over a month for me to have my second LD.  Three weeks after that, I had my 3rd LD.  Two weeks after that I had my 4th LD.  I want to continue this trend.

My goal for this week is to have a LD by June 22nd.

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## Wurlman

Lmfao "it turned everyone into Asians" I love it! That's good stuff

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## OpheliaBlue

Oh cool, I hadn't realized your time in between lucids keeps cutting in half. Well done man.





> 2. I was in a tower with some of my cousins, and there was something coming to kill us.  Someone lowered the temperature of the entire tower to absolute zero to kill/freeze our enemies.  "How can we survive at absolute zero?"  The dream continued on, and I forgot about my skepticism.



 ::doh:: 

Oh man that would piss me off. You even questioned it! I hate when that happens.

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## Caenis

> Lmfao "it turned everyone into Asians" I love it! That's good stuff



Yep.  Later on I tried to turn people back into their original races, and I accidentally turned an African-American man into a white man.  He was pretty upset about that.  My dreams are very silly, but they tend to entertain me.




> Oh man that would piss me off. You even questioned it! I hate when that happens.



Yeah, I miss a lot of the big stuff.  But eh, at least there's some awareness in my dreams.

I forgot to write in my waking journal last night.  However, my recall is still...good?  The past two nights I've had between 3 and 6 fragments remembered.  Or I'll remember good chunks of my dreams, but they're very fuzzy.  I'm glad I'm remembering a lot more, but I like remembering dreams vividly too.

Current mantras: I remember all of my dreams.  I always have lucid dreams.

I'm going for a lucid tonight!  I'm going to complete TOTM!  I'm a lucid dreaming BAMF.  :Shades wink:   No non-lucid shall stand in my way tonight.





> Make life take the lemons non-LDs back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons non-LDs, what am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson Caenis lemons non-LDs!

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## paigeyemps

HAHAHAHAHAHAAH them asians x)





[waitwhut, i'm asian too lol]

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## Caenis

I'll be gone for the next two nights, and then the weekend.  My phone seems to hate DV, so I probably won't be able to read/respond to much.  The darn thing crashes when I view a thread.

Decent dream recall, usually just 3 dreams a night or so.  Relatively normal dreams recently.  I'm trying to focus on SAT, I stopped focusing on that for the past week or two.

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## OpheliaBlue

Ok, see you when you get back.

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## Caenis

I woke up multiple times all of the nights that I was away, which was generally an inconvenience.  I did manage to have a lucid while away though!  It was a short and dark dream, and even less productive than my last LD, but it was a LD nonetheless!  I'm shooting to have another LD by the 23rd.  Hopefully I succeed this time!  My dreams are consistently not vivid, so I'm going to drink apple juice again tonight.  I had some great vivid dreams while drinking apple juice, so maybe there was something to that?  I've also dropped WBTB again.  I'll start doing WBTB again, now that I'm home.

In other news, I realized why I've been having the China dreams regularly!  I never competed an assignment for my Chinese history class, and my teacher is still waiting for it.  So instead of pointing out that I have an essay to write, my dream focuses on a trip to China.

I also tried to WILD this morning, but I was probably trying too hard to keep myself conscious.  Parts of me--particularly my arms--felt tingly at times, but it didn't seem to progress more than that.  Once or twice I got dizzy, but that also didn't last long.

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## paigeyemps

Ohhh congrats on the lucid! Lol China.

And hooray for apple juice! Apple juice is..just...awesome. Gives me the best dreams as well.  ::D:

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## Caenis

Agreed, apple juice is very handy.  I think it helped last night, my dream was more vivid than usual.

I had a lot of difficulty staying asleep this morning, so that negatively affected my recall.  On the plus side, waking up regularly might have helped me become lucid!  I was on IRC, but I seemed to be aware that I was in my bedroom.  I heard my father and a friend chatting downstairs, and realized that my friend would have no reason to be at my house 7 in the morning.  I used the nose plug RC four times.  My friend's voice sounded extremely realistic, so I had to RC a few extra times to be confident I was dreaming.  I decided to stabilize and started rubbing my hands.  I realized I was rubbing my real hands.  >_<  I RCed again, and confirmed that I was awake.

I suspect I was in a light sleep, so perhaps taking the extra time to RC several times carefully caused me to wake up.  By the time I was trying to stabilize, I don't think I could see much, if anything.  I didn't think to keep looking around while I was RCing, I just focused on the RC and the results.

It's a little frustrating: for the past several LDs I've had, I thought I would need to visualize actions in order to do them, as if I was daydreaming.  When I finally remembered in a dream to stabilize with my dream body, I wind up using my real body to stabilize.

Balls.

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## OpheliaBlue

Balls indeed. I wonder if your LDs are happening too close to when you would wake up for good?

Still, congrats on getting lucid!

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## Caenis

Next time I lucid dream, I'll try the command "stabilize now."  I'll try staring at things more too, hopefully that'll solve the problem.

I am going to have a weird sleep schedule for a bit because I need to take D'Brickashaw out to the pond early in the mornings.  So I guess I'll just have a long WBTB or a bi-phasic sleep schedule for a bit!  We'll see if that positively affects my awareness while dreaming.

I had a non-LD this morning with a bit of control.  It's pretty interesting, when I control my non-LDs (I only have control for a short time), I make myself or the environment invisible to other DCs.  I don't have control in non-LDs often, but it's fascinating when it does happen.

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## SpaceCowboyDave

So you guys think apple juice definitely helps with recall?  I guess I'll have to buy some next time I go to the store.

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## Caenis

I've found it more helpful than milk, yes (milk is supposed to help induce LDs, but I had no LDs while drinking milk).  I've had my most vivid dreams recently while using apple juice.  It could just be the power of the mind, but hey, I'll take what I can get.

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## Caenis

So I've been waking up naturally the past few days in the middle of my sleep cycle, that's been cool.  I woke up twice this morning and remembered 4 dreams, also cool.  Sadly I only wrote down three words for my first dream, so...I can only remember a few minor details from that dream.  I wound up having two LDs on July 19th, so that made for an average of one LD a week in July.

I like paige's idea of having goals for August, so here's the list of goals:
1. Have more than 4 LDs in a month
2. Use the CALD technique when I'm lucid next, ask a random DC to help me out.
3. Create a DG for myself--Excaliboar.  He's going to be a very round boar with little stubby legs that can't support his weight.  He'll float, be a golden brown color, with forest green eyes.  I decided that instead of speaking to me, I'll just know what he's thinking.  He's part of me after all, so that shouldn't be an issue.  He may or may not have a ridiculously small top hat on.  He'll have a scar stretching down his back, just like me.  Once Excaliboar exists, I'll ask him to remind me that I'm dreaming too.
4. Basic surgery TOTM!
5. Consistently practice WBTB.
6. Keep reading Sageous' lessons and try to WILD once a week.
7. Keep track of the colors in my dreams, and try to use that to become lucid.

Last night I incubated finding Excaliboar and becoming lucid.  While I did not become lucid, I did see my pig, Hamlet in my dream.  And I reacted to him exactly as I imagined myself reacting to Excaliboar.  I had a zombie dream too, after telling Wurlman to have a zombie dream.  =|  I RCed a dozen times after I woke up to make sure zombies weren't going to jump out at me.

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## paigeyemps

Ahahaha that sounds neat! I especially like the part with the possible Top hat  :wink2: 

Good luck!

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## Caenis

All right, it's been a while, but I'm going to start up my workbook again.  I fell out of the habit of practicing awareness, RCing and writing my dreams down.  I am currently remembering 1-2 dreams per night, but they're not very vivid.  I haven't had a LD since August.

Goals for the next month:
1. Remember more than two dreams per night.
2. Use WBTB again.
3. Incorporate awareness into my routine.
4. Have one lucid dream.
5. Use mantras or DDA before falling asleep.

I'm a bit disappointed that most of my progress has been lost.  On the bright side, my dream recall isn't too shabby.

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## paigeyemps

Caenis! Welcome baccccck!!  :Party:

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## Chimpertainment

Its always good to focus on the basics no matter how advanced we become. A strong foundation and all that blah blah...  :smiley:

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## Caenis

Thanks paige, it's good to be back.   :smiley:   I hope I get back into the swing of things soon!  It's been far too long since I've had a LD.

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## CanisLucidus

> I'm a bit disappointed that most of my progress has been lost.  On the bright side, my dream recall isn't too shabby.



You're going to find that you've lost far less than you think.  Once you shake off the rust for a couple of days, I know you'll find that the old gears still turn just like they're supposed to.

Rather than _learning_ how, now you're just _remembering_ how.  And all of this with dream recall still intact!  That's a great place to be.   ::goodjob:: 

Welcome back!

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## Caenis

I suppose you're right Canis!  To help those gears turn faster, I'm going to read over my old LDs before I go to bed tonight.  I'll see if I can purchase some apple juice this week too, to help my dreams be a little more vivid.

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## OpheliaBlue

Yay welcome back Caenis!

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## Caenis

Finally had another lucid!  I don't think I did anything special that day either, it seemed to be one of those spontaneous lucids.  Didn't do much in the dream, but the fact that I had a lucid and remembered it was great.

So I'm making a few new goals for myself.
1.  Find a new DJ.  My old one is filled.  I bought a new one in the summer, but seem to have lost it.
2.  Go to bed earlier.
3.  Wake up earlier, preferably without an alarm.
4.  Write down my dreams again.
5.  Avoid nose plugging.  The nose plug RC works great, but the second time I use it, my vision always gets darker.  I am not sure if that's caused by my increased awareness, or the nose plug itself.  As such, I'm going to focus on my hands from now on--counting my fingers, poking my palms.  My hope is that focusing on my hands will help to stabilize my dreams as well as confirm my dream state.  Maybe I'll reserve the nose plug for when I'm driving.

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## paigeyemps

Hey Caenis, congrats!  :smiley:  interesting about your noseplug RC. Do you have any idea what could be causing it to do that?

----------

