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

## AstralMango

I'm Mango and I've made this workbook to keep my progress, get better at lucid dreaming, and keep my motivation up. My usual bedtime is from 9:30pm - 10:30pm and I sleep for eight hours on average.

*Reality Checks*

-Examining hands
-Nose plug
-Memory
-Dream Control

*Short-Term Goals*

-To fly and use telekinesis
-Run around naked

*Long-Term Goals*

-Have great dream recall to the point where all my dreams are very vivid like real life
-Get lucid regularly

*Dream Recall History*

-Average used to be 2-3 dreams a night

*Current Techniques*

-Short WBTBs
-DILD/MILD
-Mindful meditation
-Self awareness

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## AstralMango

Augh. I went to bed last night, confident that I would do a WBTB from my phone's alarm and then SSILD. Well, this is what happened: I went to bed at 11PM, woke up at 3AM (two hours early from my phone alarm) and I remembered a few vivid dreams. Thing is that I wasn't bothered to write them down, and I regret that. I turned off my phone alarm, not fucked to do SSILD anymore and sleep until 8AM. Then I recorded one dream I had and couldn't remember the other ones.

Wow. This is what laziness does to me. I _really_ need to stop doing that. >:

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## AstralMango

Tried SSILD three times last night but fell asleep during the earlier cycles. I forgot to walk around and get my mind aware so that's my fault. I remembered two dreams, though! One of them was a Dragonball Z dream. Very strange.

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## AstralMango

Well I've had an interesting day with voluntary work, but it has been stressing me out a bit so I hope my dreams don't suffer tonight! Last night, I didn't even bother with SSILD or WBTB because I had to wake up early. Hopefully I can do it tonight!

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## AstralMango

.

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## AstralMango

My dream signs have now changed. The most frequent one being natural disasters like volcanoes and tsunamis. Another one, less frequent, is being on the edge of a cliff. 

Going to have some chamomile tea later, read more things on Dream Views, and affirm to myself 'I'm going to have a lucid dream tonight'. Don't know which technique I'm going to use but I'll say this now: I'm not going to stick with one technique. Well, for now. I'd just like to experiment and see which one would be the best for me. 

(*facepalm* Neglecting this website and my workbook was a stupid mistake.)

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## AstralMango

Only recalled 2 short dreams and 1 fragment. I think playing PlayStation late at night isn't such a good idea... will try to remember to turn down lights a couple of hours before bed and do something relaxing like read a book. Didn't do any techniques at all. Should've said a dream recall mantra, haha.

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## NyxCC

Hey AstralMango, welcome back!  :smiley: 





> Don't know which technique I'm going to use but I'll say this now: I'm not going to stick with one technique. Well, for now. I'd just like to experiment and see which one would be the best for me.



Well, you can pick multiple techniques, just don't discart them straight away because they do take time to work. By the way have you seen this thread, it way give you some ideas about mixing techs. 

http://www.dreamviews.com/induction-...nique-mit.html

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## AstralMango

Thanks, Nyx! Never heard of MIT, I'll go check it out! <:

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## AstralMango

Went to bed at 10:30 last night. I turned down lights and did something relaxing a couple of hours before bed. Wrote down my whole day in my waking journal. I also had Chamomile tea to help me sleep. 

Ah, bad idea. I can only remember fragments and even then I can remember one for 5 seconds. I've noticed _any_ sleeping aid makes my recall go bye-bye in the past couple of months I've been absent. 

So... no more Chamomile then. I'll just stick within water.

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## AstralMango

Insomnia struck! I couldn't get to sleep 'till around 2:30am and had no recall due to only having a few hours of sleep. Well, there's always tonight.

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## NyxCC

Oh, noes! Better luck next time!

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## AstralMango

Maybe tomorrow, after I've read some more threads on DV, I'll start ADA and see how that works out. I've tried it in the past and I _think_ my dreams were vivid when I used it. Maybe my dream recall will come back when I start using it again.  :smiley:

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## AstralMango

Started ADA today. It's a lot of fun trying to focus senses and try and spot things I take for granted, but hard to stop my imagination running wild. Not worried though! I know I'm a beginner at this and that I'll get better at it! It's the afternoon now so I still have lots of time to do it. 

Now let's see how this'll affects my dream. Might not do much, but I've heard that it could take a while for my brain to "rewire" itself. Really excited for the upcoming results this technique will give.  ::D:

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## AstralMango

My dreams are slightly more vivid, but jeez, my recall sucks! I'm trying to recall dreams in the morning but they slip away. I suppose I'll have to look through my dream journal and look at past dreams before I go to sleep tonight!

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## NyxCC

Have you considered using some recall related mantra pre bed? Or just mentally say to yourself something like "Now, I'm going to sleep and I will remember my dreams (when I wake up), my recall is improving, etc." You can also add "I will recognize that I'm dreaming and remember my dream". It certainly doesn't hurt to spend 5 mins before falling asleep doing this and you might get an ld as a bonus.  ::D:

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## AstralMango

Yeah, I should do that. _D'oh!_ I can't believe I forgot that MILDing is also good for dream recall! I'll need to re-read Naiya's MILD Guide for a little refreshment on things, haha.

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## AstralMango

Done MILD for the past couple of nights, mantra is, "I remember my dreams." Unfortunately I haven't had good sleep those last two nights. The storm going on at the moment keeps activating the security light outside my window and it's causing me to lose sleep! Better tell Dad about that... 

Anyway, dreams are slightly better to recall but I only get one very short dream a night. Gonna keep trying with this though!

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## TwitchLucidity

Well, obviously you get more then just one dream a night. Just can't remember them.

Anyways, good luck with MILD! MILD is great!

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## AstralMango

Hehe, that was what I meant. Should've said 'only remember one dream a night'. And thank you!

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## AstralMango

Still doing MILD to try and remember my dreams. Unfortunately it's not doing much at all. I might read a few posts around the site for any tips on recall but for now, I'm not doing any induction techniques for lucidity. Honestly, all I want is my recall back! It will come back soon, I know. I'll keep trying!

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## NyxCC

Any bright screens or lights before bed time by chance? For me this has a terrible impact on recall. Also, if my sleep schedule fluctuates a lot. Best of luck! You are going to get your awesome recall back!  :smiley:

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## AstralMango

Bright lights? Oh yeah, of course! I've been reading on my iPod before bed so this might be why. Thanks, Nyx!  ::D:

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## AstralMango

I've been feeling really exhausted this week, so I haven't bothered to do lucid dreaming related stuff (I'm bad!). I'll get back to it on Friday when I have the day off. I think it's the stress of school and all that jazz. 

Must practise ADA!

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## NyxCC

Lots of energy and relaxation to you!  ::hug::

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## AstralMango

Oh boy, oh boy! It's Thursday so now I gotta get off my lazy ass and get to it! Might give Harionago's technique (http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...nterested.html) a try in WBTB 'cause a week ago I _did_ say I was gonna post results, buuuut never got around to it haha.

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## AstralMango

Oh, jeez. Couldn't even get to sleep last night 'cause Dad closed the window yesterday! So no attempts. Will try again tonight with a MILD for dream recall.

*Edit:* Done a bit of ADA today (and still doing it until I go to bed). Maybe I should count the days and do a little experimenting; see how it affects my dream awareness and recall.

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## AstralMango

Woke up many times last night (even did a WBTB but couldn't sleep for another hour). I guess the ADA is helping a bit (also went to bed early and had no bright lights. Tried meditation but it was too noisy in the house). I may not remember full, vivid dreams, but I got a couple of short ones and quite a few fragments! 

Will post them all in my DJ in a couple of hours when the computer stops being crappy!

*Edit:* Posted! 29.3.14 - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

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## NyxCC

> Woke up many times last night (even did a WBTB but couldn't sleep for another hour)



You mean you couldn't fall asleep? Did you have lucidity on your mind when going back to bed? I find it useful to build a positive (but not too excited) expectation of having a lucid in times when insomnia strikes, so it's the last thing on my mind before I finally drop off to sleep. 

Congrats on the improvement in recall!  :smiley:

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## AstralMango

Woke up many times last night to remember fragments, then went back to sleep. It was only in WBTB that I couldn't sleep again. Hehe, sorry for the confusion! I did have positive thoughts of lucid dreaming on my mind when insomnia struck again, but for about 40 minutes maybe? Afterwards, all I thought of was, "Oh, come on! I just wanna sleep already!"

Thanks!  ::D:

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## AstralMango

Second day of ADA (plus RCs, of course). I didn't do a lot in the morning as I was still in bed and reading a book, but I delivered flyers today so I had lots'a time to do it then - plus it's an hour and a half of walking. Good exercise for the day!  ::D:  Other than ADA stuff, I've also been saying a mantra about once or twice an hour: "I have vivid, lucid dreams."

Now let's see what happens tonight!

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## AstralMango

I had good dreams last night, but they were a bit hard to remember when I woke up. The ADA is definitely doing something, though. Small, but it's still doing something. Soon I'll remember dreams without effort!  ::D:  Just gotta keep the awareness up.

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## AstralMango

Last couple of days my recall has been fluctuating a bit. The night before I remembered more detail, this morning it took a lot of effort to remember my dreams. It doesn't help that I don't realise I'm awake sooner, and I lose my dreams before wanting to write anything down (reeeaally annoying). 

Bed time has been a bit earlier than usual, and I've still been doing ADA. Also been reminding myself to have vivid, lucid dreams (by mantra). Hmm... I'm a little worried about my recall.

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## AstralMango

No dreams recalled this morning. (Went to bed early. Still doing ADA, and some memory stuff now.) Gosh, I hope it's just a normal dry spell.

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## NyxCC

Oh, noes! Is it still too hot there? That might be contributing too. 

At least you are getting a good amount of sleep. You might experiment a bit with mild pre bed snacks (maybe a banana?) or different drinks (milk, apple juice, some water) or make your own recipe. Hope this helps!

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## AstralMango

Still a bit hot, yeah. I would try experimenting with different foods, but I'm afraid to mess up my recall. Like, I just want to build it up naturally and not depend on bedtime food. You know what I mean?

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## NyxCC

I understand what you mean. The effect of these won't be as dramatic compared to taking pure supplements though. One reason for the close to bed time mini-snacking is if your dinner is somewhat early on or too light (which is great) but there may be too long time with less nutrition for the brain, which may affect recall. This is something to consider.

Anyways, it's your call and I like the idea of trying to build the awareness & recall. Let us know how that goes. I think it helps to monitor what habits one has during the day to bed time to figure out what clicks when recall is good.  :smiley:

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## AstralMango

I've never considered that! Hmm... guess it's time for me to start eating bananas and other dream food! Thanks.  :smiley: 

*Lil' edit:* I've done lots of ADA today, and have been training my memory a bit (like asking myself what I was doing before). I've also been saying the mantra, "I remember my dreams vividly," 'cause my recall is a bit sketchy at the moment! Going to bed in just over half an hour ('bout 10pm).

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## AstralMango

Had a restless night last night; I woke up several times. I got a few dreams down (woohoo!) but man, I feel tired. I have a feeling I didn't sleep for eight hours last night. Oh well, I remembered dreams!

*Edit:* Done more ADA, RCing and memory exercises today. Been almost a week since I started ADA. Tonight I'm going all out: gonna say the mantra, "I have a lucid dream tonight," and I'm going to scoff peanut butter as I've heard it makes dreams really vivid (which I need because my recall has been shit as of late).

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## AstralMango

Only remembered one dream, but dang it had a lot going on! Not sure where it begins and ends. I've written down all the details. Now I'll try without peanut butter tonight and see what happens.

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## AstralMango

I haven't done ADA or RCs today; for the whole day I've been feeling like crap. I hope I'm not coming down with something. Anyway, I recalled four dreams this morning (two were fragments, one was a short FA and one was a long, vivid dream - though it took me _ages_ to remember it). So I'm happy with what I've recalled!

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## NyxCC

Feel better soon!  ::gab::  Very happy about the long vivid dream!

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## AstralMango

I'm feeling a bit better today; I think yesterday was just one of those 'off days'. I'll try to continue some ADA training today, and I'm also part of an experiment (http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...d-dreamer.html) so I'll do that too. Also, six dreams recorded this morning!  ::D:  Still not vivid and very hard to remember, but this tells me that my recall is finally getting somewhere.

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## NyxCC

Ah, good. And 6 dreams? That is awesome!  ::D:

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## AstralMango

One long, vivid dream recorded this morning (and like all my dreams lately, I've had to lie in bed for 10 minutes to remember it). I went to bed late and it was hot again last night, not to mention I got woken up by a cat fight at about 2am! Today I'm doing more ADA/RCs, and I'm doing exercise two of OPEN BETA - when I get around to reading it.

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## AstralMango

Remembered one dream and one fragment.

For some reason it's getting harder and harder to do ADA. I didn't do any at all today so I'll do some tomorrow. Did a few RCs today so that's good. I'm going to do SSILD tonight in WBTB just for the heck of it (if I can wake myself up, as step-mum has caught onto me using my phone alarm - she won't let me use it now! I guess lots of water will be needed tonight). SSILD gave me my last lucid months ago - a very memorable one too - so can't hurt to try, right?

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## AstralMango

Stayed up late last night, stressed over a couple of things and didn't end up doing any techniques. Remembered two dreams though. Man, I really want to start using my alarm on my phone again, but even on the quietest setting my step-sister would hear it from her room. Yeesh...

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## NyxCC

I guess she's not into lding then. With her super sensitive wakefulness, it could do her good.  :wink2: 

Happy about the recall.

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## AstralMango

No dreams recalled today. I hate it when my recall does this, and it does this a lot. I'm trying to think positively about my recall but it's hard to. Ugh, why does recall have to fluctuate? It's really annoying.

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## AstralMango

Feeling more motivated and have done SAT and a lot of RCs today. I only remembered two very short dreams (took a lot of effort) but I managed to keep a positive mindset about it all day. I'll eat a banana before going to bed and will say the mantra, "I remember my dreams." I'm also gonna risk my step-sister hearing my alarm and just set it.  ::D: 

Just wondering if I should move to the DILD class... been thinking about it all day haha.

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## AstralMango

Still no dream recall for the past couple of days. I've also been waking in middle of night without use of alarm, but honestly I wish I had never woken up; it took two hours to get back to sleep again! So frustrating...

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## AstralMango

Wheeee, dry spell is broken! I remembered 3 dreams last night. But once again, when I woke up at like 4am, I couldn't get back to sleep. It was really hot in my room. I really need a fan, but the day my step-mum decides to get fans is the day when pigs fly (in waking life, of course).

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## NyxCC

Congrats on the recall!  ::goodjob2:: 

Also, I wish those pigs could learn to fly and sooner!  :armflap:

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## AstralMango

Oh, I didn't really go on DV today. Whoops. Recalled two dreams last night. Due to me having that dream recall dry spell, I haven't even done ADA/SAT or any RCs for the past few days. Yeesh, I feel lazy now. I think it's gonna take a bit of a while to get used to awareness training again. I just feel like I'm back at square one. Hmm...

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## NyxCC

It's easy to lose momentum when it comes to ld routine. I often find I need to start all over again. Maybe pick up a tech you haven't done in a while to bring some fresh excitement?  :Happy:

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## AstralMango

I think that'll do something, yeah. I was considering WILD, but I wanna check out that RILD one and do that for the next few weeks or so. I'll still do the occasional reality check though, just to keep my mind on lucid dreaming.

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## AstralMango

Set an alarm last night (woke a few minutes before alarm) and didn't write in DJ - I remembered dreams in the morning anyway. I did RILD and tried to imagine myself jumping on my bed. I was concentrating on it too much and I felt my 'tiredness' turning into 'alertness', so I stopped and fell asleep with no motion in mind. Dang. Well, there's always tonight. I can mix this in with SSILD; if I'm too alert for RILD I can do a few SSILD cycles. Win win, I guess.

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## AstralMango

Tried again last night. Meh, shouldn't have tried. I stayed up 'till midnight and that ruined my dream recall.

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## AstralMango

No dream recall again! Another dry spell straight after the last one... great. Trying to be optimistic, but it's pretty hard to.

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## AstralMango

Tonight I might try a WILD. If I'm not bothered to WILD, I can try out a few SSILD cycles. I'm determined to have my next lucid dream as I haven't had one in months. I might also try out SAT and RCs again, as I've been slacking a lot!

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## AstralMango

> *Originally posted by NyxCC:*
> 
> Personally, I'd suggest a few things to boost recall as well as keep you in optimal shape for lding.
> 
> - Regular exercise - while this may not be as obvious, regular exercise has huge benefits for sleep, dreaming, lding, etc. It helps your brain function better, improves quality of sleep, and even helps you grow neurons and helps maintain neurotransmitters in optimum levels.
> - Good nutrition during day and possible mini-pre bed snacks to supply needed nutrients for recall or lding
> - avoiding bright lights/screens before bed time
> - regular sleep schedule and good amount of sleep
> - daily awareness - here there's a broad range of things you can do to boost your awarness from meditation, to mindfulness exercises, RCs, ADA, etc., be in the here and now 
> ...



Reference for dream recall!

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## NyxCC

Keep up the motivation Astralmango, I know you can do it!  :smiley: 

Ouch, it's been too long of a holiday, it's always extra difficult for me to concentrate during those times.  :tongue2:  

By the way, what's this RILD tech you mentioned earlier?

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## AstralMango

Yeah, been pretty difficult. Oh, the RILD is here: http://www.dreamviews.com/attaining-...nterested.html People are calling it RILD for Rhythm Induced Lucid Dream, so I'm just goin' with it.

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## NyxCC

Looks like a good technique! Thanks for the link!  :smiley:

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## AstralMango

I've been researching more into WILD 'cause I might try it out. Like you said, Nyx: I probably need something new.  ::D:  To be honest, I'm pretty excited about the transition process when I end up getting one. Also: I said a mantra last night to remember my dreams (and I also said 'Task of the Month' haha) and I remember 2 dreams and two fragments. Sweet!

*Edit:* Huh, just realised I'm really inconsistent when it comes to techniques. Gotta work on that. All righty, bed time.

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## AstralMango

Had insomnia last night and couldn't get to sleep until 2am, so I didn't attempt WBTB or WILD. I still remembered a few dreams, so I guess that's all right! Also, it's starting to get colder so I'm pretty happy with that.

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## NyxCC

I guess the welcome party was to blame!  :tongue2:

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## AstralMango

Okay, I've been very unmotivated the past couple of months and now I'm getting my arse into gear, since my motivation is back. Don't wanna waste it.  ::mrgreen::  I'll be doing a few things: memory training, SAT, RCs, and saying the mantra, "I'm having a lucid dream tonight." And to keep my mind on track of things, I'll be putting Day 1, Day 2, etc. Of course I'll still keep my mind on lucid dreaming since I'm on DV all the time!

*Day 1:* Pretty good day. I did an RC once an hour along with SAT. I've also been doing some memory things, like remembering what I was doing before in detail. I've been saying that mantra to myself every time I did an RC (and when I remembered it during the day anyway). Now it's stuck in my head. Sweet!

Going to bed at same time, but I'll be off here and Skype earlier since bright lights before bed kills my recall.

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## AstralMango

Recalled a few dreams (even one long one) and I'm happy with that. Had a little insomnia though. I wanted to go to bed early but family forced me to watch a movie. (Was a good movie though - Cocoon.)

*Day 2:* I did do more of the mantras, awareness and all that jazz (though I didn't say the mantra as much as I would have liked). Did a lot of RCs. Today I was pretty occupied so finding the time - or remembering to do them - has been hard. I spent most of the day talking with friends, browsing DV and goin' on Skype. Tomorrow I have the day off so I should be able to find the time to do more of this, haha.

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## AstralMango

Recalled a lot of fragments and a couple of dreams. Dream recall seems to be getting slightly better. I'm still in bed though (and it's almost noon!) so I should really get up and start doing awareness.

*Day 3:* Even though I got out of bed late, today's been good. Did more memory exercises and awareness. I changed my mantra to, "I'm having a _long_ lucid dream tonight." Did a lot of RCs which is good. I've started to get into the habit of doing them upon waking so I may catch possible FAs.

Hmm, I wonder when Competition #18 will start?  ::mrgreen::

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## AstralMango

Ah, because I slept in yesterday I couldn't get to sleep until around one in the morning. Meh. I still remembered two dreams, so that's good! I really wanted to do a few SSILD cycles but I felt really tired. Tonight, then?

*Day 4:* I did _so much_ awareness and memory stuff today. Really happy with that! All right, bed.

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## AstralMango

Recalled a dream and a few fragments. No lucid yet. I went to bed early, then I decided to go on my iPod. Yeesh, bright lights. I have no idea why I did that and didn't read a book instead.

*Day 5:* As usual, a bit more done today. I really wanted to watch Cocoon 2 with the family, but at ten at night? Nope. And most of the stress with choosing a course for tertiary studies is gone; I chose a course and am now happy with the decision!

Oh, crap. I should probably go to sleep instead if being on an iPod. Heh.

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## NyxCC

Your post made me laugh. Ah, the temptation of bright lights.  ::lol::

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## AstralMango

Heh, I'm like a moth or something!

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## NyxCC

Lol! Yes, there might be quite a few of us here  ::flyaway:: .

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## AstralMango

Just a few fragments. Also feeling a bit crappy today, but I'll still try to do awareness.

*Day 6:* Gradually felt more better throughout the day thankfully. I forgot to do memory exercises (but I'm doing them now!) and RCs were done. Awareness in general was a bit low today. Ooh, I'm also pretty happy now! One of my friends happened to look over my shoulder when I was on here, and that sparked a conversation. He's also a lucid dreamer!  ::D:  So we talked for about half an hour while waiting at the bus stop. 

Really awesome! Wheeee!

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## AstralMango

I did recall something but they're fragments and really, really hard to remember or put together. Something to do with chasing a team of people on a dragon-shaped hotel and saving the world. 

*Day 7:* In the morning I did a bit of awareness and a few RCs, but by lunchtime I completely slacked off and did nothing. Maaaaan. Okay, gonna say a mantra ("I have a lucid dream tonight") as I'm going to sleep. Hoping I can also wake myself up for SSILD cycles too.

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## NyxCC

> One of my friends happened to look over my shoulder when I was on here, and that sparked a conversation. He's also a lucid dreamer!  So we talked for about half an hour while waiting at the bus stop.



That is awesome indeed!  ::D:  It's great to be able to talk about this to rl people who wouldn't reply with "this is boring, you're wasting your time, etc". 

The world lucid population is secretly growing!  ::happy::

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## AstralMango

Remembered two dreams. I didn't realise I was awake for a while, so it was hard to remember them. Probably gonna change my mantra to, "I remember my dreams," and keep everything else the same.

*Day 8:* Did a lot of memory 'flashbacks' today. Not so much on the awareness, but my RCs are okay. Said that mantra a bit.

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## AstralMango

Holy crap, my recall spiked a bit. Recalled five dreams (though a couple were fragments). One of them was an FA and I said to myself I had two short lucids. I think this means I'm close to lucidity!  ::D:  My motivation is pretty high now. Bring on the awareness training!

*Day 9:* As I said, I did a lot of awareness and all that jazz. And I had a good conversation on Skype about lucidity. That got me even more excited. Come on, subcon; work with me here! I can do this.

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## NyxCC

That sounds awesome! Congrats on the recall and lucid related dreams! You're subcon's totally on it!  ::D:

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## AstralMango

No lucid last night, but holy shit my dream recall was amazing. _Seven dreams!_ Aaah, love ya, subcon!  :smiley:  I might try and sneak a nap in later. 

*Day 10:* Ah, no nap. At least I did awareness and all that. Also did flyers today and got wet cause it suddenly started raining. I was soaked!

My dad and step mum have friends around and since my room is right next to the lounge, I can hear _every conversation_ and all the loud music they're playing. Man, if only they understood my dream life. Like, seriously. I love my sleep.

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## martakartus

Jesus, seven dreams  ::wtf2::  that is a freaking lot hahaha  :smiley:

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## AstralMango

Heh, yeah it is a lot. Most I've ever remembered. A few were fragments though.  :wink2:

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## AstralMango

Recalled two dreams. They were pretty awesome (one of 'em was a cool Harry Potter dream) so I might write them up in my DV dream journal if my iPod decides to load faster.

*Day 11:* Did a lot of the usual. Also installed F.lux onto the computer. Unfortunately not my iPod; I really don't want to jailbreak it. Wish there was an inbuilt thingy-ma-bob for red lights on phones and other technology. It's totally needed.

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## AstralMango

Feeling a bit ill. I couldn't get much sleep last night because I had awful stomach pains; paracetamol didn't work either. So I'm taking a break today.

*NO DAY 12.*

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## NyxCC

Oh, noes! I hope you feel better soon!  ::hug::

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## Oakoi

^^
Yaa Hope you feel better maangoooface

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## AstralMango

Well, I think I've wallowed around in self pity long enough. I need to get out of this stupid rut. Anyway, I'm trying out MILD, reality checks again and the 'what was I doing before this moment' thing. My dream recall is crap at the moment, but I'm sure with dream journaling and intent, I'll get my recall back in no time.

I wanna try out a new mantra just for kicks. I've been hooked onto Gravity Falls - which does have dreaming elements in a couple of episodes. The mantra: "I know when I'm dreaming; Bill Cipher is my dream guide." He's a dream demon so it makes sense, and if I see him in my dreams, then perhaps it will trigger something. I mean, seeing a floating triangle is strange, right?  :Big laugh: 

And oh! Six months, really? Feels shorter than that.

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## NyxCC

AM!  :smiley:  

The Bill Cipher idea is really cool! Reminds me of creating tulpas in a way too. 

Have a great time!  :smiley:

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## Ginsan

Wow it's been six months o.0  Gongratulations on being back! It's quite a coincidence because the last few days I have been meditating en getting my dream recall back! I even had a glimpse of lucidity a few times. So I might remove the dust from my old workbook any time now  :tongue2:

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## CanisLucidus

Hey AstralMango!!  Welcome back!   ::happy::   It's so great to see you back here!

Don't worry about the time off.  Now that you're back putting in consistent effort, you'll get your dream recall back.

Enjoy the journey back!  Be patient with yourself and take pleasure in the process of returning to your dreams.  And let us know any way that we can help you along on the road back to lucid dreaming.   ::content::

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## AstralMango

Haven't said my mantra that much today. I'm sort of trying to get my mnemonic memory better by doing memory exercises. I'm still doing reality checks and the 'what was I doing before' thing as well - pretty much, I'm going over what happened throughout the day in my mind. 

Also - I recorded a dream last night despite only getting 4 hours of sleep!  ::mrgreen::  Gosh, I hate having trouble sleeping though. I think it was the excitement of getting back into lucid dreaming practises that caused it.

I'm also trying to make triggering words that will *trigger* me to do reality checks. Words like 'weird' and 'strange' and any other similar words - plus 'dreaming' - as I tend to say them to myself in my dreams. If I can get these words to trigger something in my mind then I'll gain lucidity for sure. Actually, has anyone tried the triggering thing before? I'd like to hear opinions or experiences of it.

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## NyxCC

> I'm also trying to make triggering words that will trigger me to do reality checks. Words like 'weird' and 'strange' and any other similar words - plus 'dreaming' - as I tend to say them to myself in my dreams. If I can get these words to trigger something in my mind then I'll gain lucidity for sure. Actually, has anyone tried the triggering thing before? I'd like to hear opinions or experiences of it.



I don't think I have used such a technique before, but think it is a really good idea. Makes you more aware of what you are saying and thinking plus gets you into the habit of frequent RCs. Come to think of it, word triggers opens a wide area for RCs. One could use very specific triggers or frequent triggers such as "me" and "I" which means even more frequent RCs. Me? Who is that, where was I, etc. Fantastic idea, Astralmango!  ::D:

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## AstralMango

Making a thread about it seems _very_ tempting, but the problem is that I have no idea how to word it.  ::wink::

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## AstralMango

*21/11/14:* No dreams were remembered. I don't really mind though. I think I needed to catch up on lost sleep - I mean, I slept for a whole ten hours almost a week ago! Going on my iPod late at night may also have something to do with it, so I'm limiting my time on it. I usually go to bed at 9:30pm so I'll stop going on it much earlier than that.

*22/11/14:* Remembered two fragments and a dream. Bah, if I didn't quit trying to lucid dream a while ago, my recall would be a lot better. But yeah, last night I stayed up until nearly 11pm finding out that chat is, indeed, working again. At least I've got F.lux working...

*Edit:* Aha, it's the weekend. I think just for kicks I'll listen to a few hypnosis videos. I'm not saying they will work or not work. I'll see for myself! I need to relax after a long week anyway.

*Edit 2:* Decided I'm going to use MILD to try and induce a hover board racing dream. Even if I don't get lucid, hover boarding will still be heaps of fun!

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## AstralMango

Haven't recalled anything for the past two or three days. Just looking through some old posts in the workbook; I'll change my mantra to, "I remember my dreams," as that worked like a charm a while ago.  ::mrgreen::  Gonna keep up the daytime practises. Then I'll say that mantra as I'm going to bed and will couple it with some visualisation.

Oh! I've started meditation! It's an object meditation where you stare and stare at a certain object. This one was my pencil case and I managed to get about five minutes of a clear mind. Really amazing; I felt so relaxed. My vision kept turning everything into greyscale colours as I breathed in though. Was it meant to happen?

In the weekend I couldn't do much memory exercises as they were pretty slow days, but I did a lot of sporadic awareness and RCs. On Saturday night the clouds and the sunset made everything have a red sheen and I automatically checked to see if I was dreaming. My brother kept joking that it was the end of the world, haha.

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## AstralMango

Recalled a dream after waiting in bed for ten minutes. Eh, I went to bed super late 'cause of family movie night so it was expected. I only slept for six hours and I've been so tired today as a result. It's hard to do sporadic awareness and RCs and the usual, but I'm still managing to do it. Don't want to miss out on a day! I haven't been saying my mantra that much today, unfortunately. I'll repeat it to myself this arvo.

I listened to a few hypnosis tracks from YouTube just for fun. Only *one video* did pretty well; the other ones, not so much. The good one managed to make my mind drift and feel relaxed. I sort of missed out on half the affirmations but I hope my subconscious got it. Not sure if it was actually meant to happen so I sent that YouTube channel a comment.

Hopefully I'll meditate today!  ::D:

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## NyxCC

> Oh! I've started meditation! It's an object meditation where you stare and stare at a certain object. This one was my pencil case and I managed to get about five minutes of a clear mind. Really amazing; I felt so relaxed. My vision kept turning everything into greyscale colours as I breathed in though. Was it meant to happen?



Cool! Hope we won't get confused with all these labels and definitions as different places may have different names.  :tongue2:  With regards to that object meditation may refer to open or closed eye meditation of a real or imagined object.

You can certainly meditate while staring at an object. I call it gazing meditation, never mind the name. It's a really powerful form of meditation and can help calm the mind easily as well as to enter deeper stages of relaxation. I get vision distortions as well. Usually what happens when I gaze at objects for a long time is that those HI lights (you might be familiar with these upon falling asleep, basically colorlful lights swirling around) would appear with my eyes open and get overimposed on the background. This can make the object or whole room become covered in colorful fog or it can become greyish. It also correlates with slower brainwaves. 

Best of luck with your practices!  :smiley:

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## AstralMango

I'm losing track of what I'm actually doing during the day (I've forgotten about mantras. Crap. At least my dream recall is all right). So I'll write down a list here of things I should be/am doing. I'll also put this in my Notes app.

-sporadic (self) awareness
-RCs
-testing Dream Control
-reflecting back on what I've done during the day every hour or so (and remember the _whole_ day in the evening)
-meditation
-dream journaling 
-mantras/MILD during the day and before I go to sleep
-SSILD everytime I go to sleep
-going to bed early ish with no bright lights

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## AstralMango

I've just found out what mindful meditation is yesterday. Sounds a lot better than the meditation I tried before, to be honest (which was trying to clear my mind). This one is sort of like an easy variation of ADA. So I'm trying it out. I noticed a lot more details and all that because my thoughts weren't in the way. 

So I'm ditching the meditation I was doing before and going for this one. With the other one I was doing, I had to sit down or stay still but I absolutely hated that. I like to keep moving and see new things.  :smiley:  I've also been forgetting about SSILD. Welp.

My dream recall has been crap for about 5 days because of the migraines and shitty mood, but hopefully it will come right and get better. (I've also been forgoing writing in my DJ at all - even to write 'no dreams' - so yeah, I must get back into the habit.)

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## AstralMango

My dream recall is terrible at the moment so I'll say my mantra, "I remember my dreams," as I'm going to sleep and during the day. No bright lights before bed (gonna be hard as I'm addicted to going on my iPod very late at night in bed). Thinking about dreams. Dream journalling. All that jazz. I've done mindful meditation for two days so far and it's pretty hard. I've never realised how much I'm thinking during the day. Like, my mind never gets some peace and quiet! Hell, we really are prisoners of our minds, aren't we? 

I'll be doing the meditation for a long time and will record my progress, seeing if its made any difference to my waking and dream life. So each post will have a week's worth of meditation practises, not including the last two days, and I'll edit my post at the end of each day to type in the progress.

*10/12/14:* Gosh, it was weird to catch what my brain was thinking. It seemed to catch on to random bits of music I listened to during the day and played over and over like a broken record. Most of it was annoying as they were pop songs I despise.

I'm noticing a lot more details with this exercise though. And I remembered three dreams. Took a while to remember, but much better than nothing! I also woke at 3am via alarm, but I forgot to actually get out of bed. Welp. Tomorrow then.

*11/12/14:* It was a bit harder to do yesterday. My recall is spiking a bit in quality and vividness, which is good. Both the dreams I remembered had something to do with astral projection or lucid dreaming. I even remembered a tiny detail, which was of me adjusting my diamond earring. It felt real-ish, but so far I'm not 'there' in dreams yet.

*12/12/14:* Didn't do much because a lot happened. I've noticed that I only do mindfulness when I'm calm or not doing much. That needs to change so that I'm doing mindfulness in other situations. Also, I recalled four fragments/short dreams last night.

*13/12/14:* Easy on that day. No dreams recalled.

*14/12/14:* Hard. No dreams recalled.

*15/12/14:* Didn't do it. I've been staying at home as my course finished. I need to actually be doing something to do mindfulness or else I'll forget. A few dreams were recalled last night but it took about 10 minutes to remember them. It's very hard for me to remember dreams and then everyone in my family remembers them vividly every night. Bloody fucking hell, what am I doing wrong? MILD doesn't seem to work for me either - I woke up in WBTB and remembered dreams, then I did MILD to remember dreams and I didn't remember any the next time I woke. Sigh.

*16/12/14:* Probably going to skip this day.

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## NyxCC

Your mindfulness exercise sounds awesome AstralMango. Indeed, there's so much going on in our heads. I also sometimes catch myself singing a seemingly random song and have even tried to trace where it came from. There is usually a word that triggers the song. Wait, what, a word trigger? Like for example, I would think 'this is sad' and then my mind will start playing a track "summertime sadness" and after a while I might become aware of the music and track back where it came from. It also happens if I read a certain word. Sometimes I get music from as far as my childhood!  :Boggle:

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## Ginsan

Hey what's up? You haven't posted anything, are you not having LDs anymore? Check out my workbook, I just made a new entry  = D

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## AstralMango

This post is just to check in and write down what I've been doing so I can look back on this.

I have been doing mindfulness - staying in the present moment and reflecting on what I did during the day, reality checks, and DJing. I will also do MILD before I go to sleep every night with the mantra, "I will lucid dream tonight."

I'm trying to get into the habit of winding down before bed, which means no bright lights and stuff like that to ruin my recall or keep me awake. I'm keeping my bed time consistent, except I'll be staying up past midnight on New Years Eve cause, y'know, 2016 is coming!  ::movingmrgreen::

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## AstralMango

Along with what I'm doing in the post above, I'm going to go through all my past DJ entries and reflect upon them. I will think "If I saw so-and-so, then I must be dreaming" or "If this happens, then I will be aware" and stuff like that. I'll even imagine myself going lucid. Hope this helps with my subconscious and lucidity. I need some lucids for the competition.
Go Team Crackle, go.  ::gab::

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## AstralMango

After a conversation with *ginsan* in chat, I'm adding an RC to the ones I already do: Wish for something! It's like how Timmy Turner from the Fairly Odd Parents wishes for something and his fairies grant it. I will also expect the wish to be granted, so it's partly an expectation RC.

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## AstralMango

Ah, haven't posted here in a while. I've had a couple of LDs in the past week or so, one of them induced with MILD (been doing RCs and mindfulness beforehand). Been slacking off a bit today.

For MILD, I say either "this is a dream" or "I am dreaming" before going to sleep along with visualisation, and I use it in WBTB too. My prospective memory is decent, so I'll try to keep up with MILD for a couple of months and see if it makes any big differences to my dreaming life.

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## NyxCC

Sounds like this tech's pretty effective for you. Congrats on the lds! 

Also, happy to see you!  :smiley:

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