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

## Elaol

Hello everyone!

So, a little bit of background (sorry if this is too long)...

I am 23 yo psychology and psychotherapy student, I was one of the best students on the year. My interest are fairly odd, so people sometime find me weird, but I am who I am. 

I was always introverted child. I never had many friends, I just didn't feel like going among people. The bigger part of my childhood, I had spent with video games, books, etc. I always loved fantasy. The first book I read was Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix. Ever since then, I was hooked. My choice of video games was also driven by my love for fantasy. I never played Counter Strike as other children, I played Aion (MMO like WoW, but you have wings). I always loved flying. So, in second grade of high school I stumbled upon a video describing lucid dreaming. Instantly, I was hooked. But, my doctors said I shouldn't do it.

Fast forward to third year of Psychology studies. I was going through my books and I found a LD book. That started an avalanche of memories, excitement and scientific interest in the lucid dreaming. So, I said "Screw doctors, I wanna be lucid dreamer". My dream recall is really good, that is my biggest success. My knowledge about lucid dreaming is, in my opinion, extraordinary, because I have read many scientific books and forums as well. Nevertheless, although I have practiced many techniques, with more or less success. But I never found THE technique.

That's why I want to start this thread and systematically try out different techniques. A month each, if I see a technique promises, I will do another month. Right now, I am reading Sensei's topics and I have urge to try everything at once, so I hope this topic will give me both motivation and order, so I can get most out of every technique.

In the past two months, I was doing Puffin's SAT technique (had about 1 LD a week for the first month), Yoshi's ADA (which I find very hard to do), and I was experimenting with my own technique (which I will put on pause). These three techniques were mentally exhausting. I also had first WILD, unintentionally.

For the first month I am going to try Hukif's Gravity RC. Besides that, I am also going to continue my Vipassana meditation practice, as it raises my awareness.

This Workbook has primary purpose of giving me motivation and order in my LD practice, but if anyone is interested feel free to ask me any question you'd like.

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## fogelbise

> That's why I want to start this thread and systematically try out different techniques. A month each, if I see a technique promises, I will do another month. Right now, I am reading Sensei's topics and I have urge to try everything at once, so I hope this topic will give me both motivation and order, so I can get most out of every technique.
> 
> This Workbook has primary purpose of giving me motivation and order in my LD practice, but if anyone is interested feel free to ask me any question you'd like.



Welcome Elaol! You are welcome to use this workbook space to simply log your results and we can chime in more so or less so, depending on your preference. I do think that interacting with others in this workbook can be motivating, one of your purposes, so feel free to give us more direction on how much regular interaction you would like from FryingMan and I.





> In the past two months, I was doing Puffin's SAT technique (had about 1 LD a week for the first month), Yoshi's ADA (which I find very hard to do), and I was experimenting with my own technique (which I will put on pause). These three techniques were mentally exhausting.
> ...
> For the first month I am going to try Hukif's Gravity RC.



I thought I should chime in on this. I believe the gravity technique may take well more than a month to get it working, but if you can stick with it, it should be effective. You will probably also find the gravity technique to be exhausting like you mentioned about the other 3 you tried, but then again it may feel very natural to you, especially with your own personalized approach. I have tried variations of techniques that I also found exhausting but always looked to fine tune them so that they were not exhausting but couldn't stick with the gravity one. You want something that you can keep up without it feeling like a burden while producing results before too long. Have you tried SSILD or any other WBTB technique consistently?

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## Elaol

> Welcome Elaol! You are welcome to use this workbook space to simply log your results and we can chime in more so or less so, depending on your preference. I do think that interacting with others in this workbook can be motivating, one of your purposes, so feel free to give us more direction on how much regular interaction you would like from FryingMan and I.



Thank you! You and FryingMan are more experienced than I am, so whenever you feel you can add something that can help me, feel free to comment. I would like to get help from more experienced members.





> I thought I should chime in on this. I believe the gravity technique may take well more than a month to get it working, but if you can stick with it, it should be effective. You will probably also find the gravity technique to be exhausting like you mentioned about the other 3 you tried, but then again it may feel very natural to you, especially with your own personalized approach. I have tried variations of techniques that I also found exhausting but always looked to fine tune them so that they were not exhausting but couldn't stick with the gravity one. You want something that you can keep up without it feeling like a burden while producing results before too long. Have you tried SSILD or any other WBTB technique consistently?



Due to some medical issues I have, I can't practice techniques from WILD branch, because I need consistent sleep schedule. Also, I've tried SSILD once, it made me feel nauseated. I prefer techniques from DILD branch. I see that gravity RC can take some work, I've read again the tutorial for it. I'll try for the first month, and if it starts feeling more natural, I will continue with it, if I don't see any change, I'll switch to something else.

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## Elaol

I'm having hard time understanding this RC. It is so hard to focus on gravity, when you usually don't pay attention to it. I hope I will figure it out in the next couple of days. I don't know what am I supposed to feel, what is normal, what not. I now know why Hukif said there is large quitting rate. But I won't be in that group.

I've spent Day 1 holding an object in one hand and other free, so I could feel the difference. I also tried, through yoga, to deprive my legs of blood, so I can feel the difference. 

I've also realized that gravity in my dreams isn't distorted, but again, I don't pay attention to it IRL, so when I start doing it during wakefulness, it will transition to the dreams.

I am not really happy with Day 1, tomorrow will be better. 

FryingMan, I know you've tried to develop your own natural RC, using location. How did you come to that idea? I like Hukif's idea of natural RCs. Did you analyze your dreams in some way? Right now, I have no ideas for my natural RC, but probably a reread through journal would give me an idea. I just don't know what to look for.

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## Elaol

Today I have clearer picture of what should I do. I think I know understand the theory behind gravity RC and what I should do. 

Tonight I am going to practice some more with growing accustom with the feeling of my body's weight. 

I have noticed that in the past two days, my recall is awful. Yesterday I couldn't remember a single dream (but I took sleeping pill, so I didn't give it much thought), but this morning two very short dreams. I think it is because I stopped doing RCs. i hope my dream recall is going to come back to normal in the next few days, when the boost of awareness from gravity RC kicks in. 

I am also spending enormous time on computer, so today, I am shutting it down at 8 PM (which is now).

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## Elaol

OK, it is starting to get exciting  ::D: 

I finally know what I should do. I now notice slight pull or weight when my hands are relaxed. I also notice weight of objects I am carrying. On this level I am currently on, I can only notice difference in the "pulling" sensation when I am carrying heavier objects. I go to gym 6 days a week, so that is great chance to notice different weights. 

I've read everything that can be found on this forum about Gravity RC. I heard both Hukif and Azul telling that I should do what feels natural. This pulling sensation feels natural to me and it is not hard to pay attention to it, since I have already mastered ADA (in a way that I can easily become aware ADA-style, but I have troubles keeping it consistent).

I only have difficulties paying attention to pulling sensation when I am lying or sitting, because I don't know what to focus on: the feeling of me pressing another object, contact between me and the object or something else? I would really like to hear others opinion on this. I don't know how it would feel if the gravity was stronger. Does anyone have any info on this?

BTW I was reading about one really tempting technique, but I said to myself: "You've made your workbook, you won't quit until you finish". So, this keeps my motivation up.  ::D:

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## Elaol

OK, I'm super excited for this  ::D: 

Last night I had lucid dream, but with the lowest level of lucidity, so I just knew I was dreaming, but I wasn't conscious enough to stabilize and do something fun. In this dream, I just jumped around. But, I was staying longer in the air than in waking. So, the gravity is indeed messed up in my dreams. I love that I had this dream last night.

One more thing to report. I was finding things odd in my dreams last night, I don't know if I am exaggerating or not, but in two different dreams, I was finding things odd. First, I saw some kids who wanted to rob me. They had red faces. I thought that was weird. I punched one with my leg, but because REM was ending, I wasn't paralyzed, so I punched the wall with my leg. It hurts so bad xD

In other dream, I was dreaming about some child who was devil in disguise. The dream changed, so I was watching that on TV. I switched the channel to number 2. I saw that now I am watching FoxLife. I found that weird, since FoxLife isn't on number 2 anymore.

I think this gravity RC is making me more aware in my dreams. I wonder what will happen in the next few days....

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## fogelbise

> I only have difficulties paying attention to pulling sensation when I am lying or sitting, because I don't know what to focus on: the feeling of me pressing another object, contact between me and the object or something else? I would really like to hear others opinion on this. I don't know how it would feel if the gravity was stronger. Does anyone have any info on this?



You will likely find something that feels natural to you, but yes the pressure between you and the objects you are resting on is one way to note how gravity is pulling you down towards those objects. Hukif is often helpful through PM's or his gravity thread, if you want some additional ideas from the expert.





> OK, I'm super excited for this 
> 
> Last night I had lucid dream



Congratulations Elaol!  ::D:

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## FryingMan

Hi Elael, welcome and congrats on your lucidity!

I indeed did work on a location-based ADA/RC for a while in my first year.   I got some success with it (noticing location/paths in my dreams) but I chose to instead focus more on mindfulness.

I chose location because I always notice features of my dream locations in my dreams, that focused strongly in my recall of my dreams.    It was a toss-up between location and object awareness, I typically also strongly focus on objects as well, but not always.

I noticed gravity a few times in dreams, but it's rare.  In those rare cases, I would feel too light or would be carried away by strong wind, or just started floating.

Something Hukif emphasizes with ADA/RC is that you should always keep in the back of your mind, *why* you are being aware of what you're focusing on (gravity, location, whatever): to recognize the dream state.    

You want to set up an association between feeling gravity and thinking about your state (waking / dreaming).

Don't forget about the fundamentals!    Meditation, like you mentioned, is extremely beneficial.  Building mental strength of focus, becoming an expert in practicing relaxation, learning to stay aware while not being distracted by thoughts, all this is essential in LD practice.

Hukif spent 8 years trying to get lucid before he came upon his gravity ADA/RC approach, and then it took him 3 months of practicing to get his first LD from it.   He had amazingly vivid dreams where he couldn't tell that he was in the dream state (other RCs didn't work for him for some reason).    So he was starting with a very high level of self-awareness, and great dream recall.

So don't forget awareness & memory in your practice, is what I'm suggesting.

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## Elaol

Thank you both for your responses, the feedback I am getting means a lot to me  ::D: 





> You will likely find something that feels natural to you, but yes the pressure between you and the objects you are resting on is one way to note how gravity is pulling you down towards those objects. Hukif is often helpful through PM's or his gravity thread, if you want some additional ideas from the expert.



Yeah, I sent him a message, but he wasn't online in a while, so I didn't get the response. I'll try to be aware on the pressure between me and the object.





> Something Hukif emphasizes with ADA/RC is that you should always keep in the back of your mind, *why* you are being aware of what you're focusing on (gravity, location, whatever): to recognize the dream state.    
> 
> You want to set up an association between feeling gravity and thinking about your state (waking / dreaming).
> 
> Don't forget about the fundamentals!    Meditation, like you mentioned, is extremely beneficial.  Building mental strength of focus, becoming an expert in practicing relaxation, learning to stay aware while not being distracted by thoughts, all this is essential in LD practice.



I didn't know that, it wasn't mentioned in his tutorial. Thank you for that.

I get what you are saying, I can notice my awareness starts do drop while I am talking to someone. I completely forget to stay aware.

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## FryingMan

> Thank you both for your responses, the feedback I am getting means a lot to me 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah, I sent him a message, but he wasn't online in a while, so I didn't get the response. I'll try to be aware on the pressure between me and the object.
> 
> 
> 
> I didn't know that, it wasn't mentioned in his tutorial. Thank you for that.



It was something he mentioned to me personally when advising me on my ADA/RC efforts, and it struck me a being particularly important.  I haven't seen him mention it since, it may be so natural to him now that he doesn't realize he's doing it.





> I get what you are saying, I can notice *my awareness starts do drop while I am talking to someone*. I completely forget to stay aware.



Me, too!  Building awareness in behavior/response/reaction is a big step and can take time.   However, noticing it is at least half the battle, so good job!

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## Elaol

> It was something he mentioned to me personally when advising me on my ADA/RC efforts, and it struck me a being particularly important.  I haven't seen him mention it since, it may be so natural to him now that he doesn't realize he's doing it.
> 
> Me, too!  Building awareness in behavior/response/reaction is a big step and can take time.   However, noticing it is at least half the battle, so good job!



Thank you for your response, it is very helpful. I will try to make connection between those two.

About day 5...

I am not entirely happy with today's progress on the gravity RC. Deadline for my masters application was moved closer than I expected, so I was really stressed out. So I didn't do GRC today as much as I wanted to...

Also, while I was drinking coffee with a friend, I again forgot about GRC, I really have to try harder.

Anyway, not so exciting day. 

See ya tomorrow.

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## FryingMan

Take it day by day.  Don't get frustrated.   Count each lucid moment, where you come back from autopilot and become self-aware again, as a victory.  You want to have more and more of them over time.   It takes time to build up a habit of mindfulness.    Speaking of mindfulness, you may want to look into mindfulness, there are a lot of threads here (see the link to "awesome links" in my signature).

With gravity RC, you're sort of jumping in to what I'd call a "middle practice."    While anything that is right for you can work, by starting with it you're jumping over some more basic, introductory practices, like what LaBerge teaches in Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming ("regular" RCs, reflection/intention moments, prospective memory exercises, dream signs, etc.).    The nice thing about these  ETWOLD practices is that they're not "full time," so you don't feel pressure to hold them up all day.

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## Elaol

Wow, thanks FryingMan, this is something like Sensei's "Thanks for all the fish" topic, which was awesome. I read it all, so now I have some more to read  ::D: 

Today was another stressful day. I am having difficulties deciding which Master should I go to (since I have gain some new information about the program I was going to go to). If someone here is from Germany and knows university which has psychotherapy/counseling master taught in English let me know  ::D: 

OK, that was a little of topic, sorry. 

Anyways, I have something to report. Last nigh when I went to bed, I had several hypnic jerks which kept me from sleeping for a good two hours. I started getting hypnagogic hallucinations at one point and I just went with it. Idk why, but then I decided to do nose-plug RC, I could breathe. That was so shocking that I woke up.

20 minutes after, I got some more HH and I found myself typing an SMS. I thought this was a dream, and again jolted awake.

Those two WILD were really surprising to me, since I haven't been sleep deprived, so no REM rebound. They were probably so short because I was in early stages of sleep and because I was so shocked. 

Around 6 AM, I was dreaming about kissing a girl whose twin sister I liked. It suddenly became so real, I realized I was dreaming and I went with it on purpose for a minute or two, then I woke up.

So three lucids in a night, not so bad, right?

I really need to learn how to stabilize. I have trouble with prolonging dreams, since I usually awake after two or three minutes after I become lucid. I realize this is supposed to be DILD workbook, but I had to write it here. I know a lot of stabilization techniques, I just never manage to do them right.

About GRC; today was better. I was noticing the heaviness of my laptop bag and my water bottle. I also had an epiphany about how to start noticing the legs. I even think it would be better to concentrate on the legs, since my arms are often busy by carrying something. 

Also, when I am noticing my arms, sometimes they seem heavier than usual. That was odd to me, but I guess it is just because I haven't fully adapted to GRC. What do you think?

That's about it. Let me know what do you guys think  ::D:

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## FryingMan

> Wow, thanks FryingMan, this is something like Sensei's "Thanks for all the fish" topic, which was awesome. I read it all, so now I have some more to read 
> 
> 
> OK, that was a little of topic, sorry.



You're welcome!  It's handy to have a collection of links to great posts to refer people to.   Nothing is off-topic here, feel free to ask/ruminate about anything LD-related!





> Anyways, I have something to report. Last nigh when I went to bed, I had several hypnic jerks which kept me from sleeping for a good two hours. I started getting hypnagogic hallucinations at one point and I just went with it. Idk why, but then I decided to do nose-plug RC, I could breathe. That was so shocking that I woke up.



Sleeping/dreaming is so amazing!   I have often wondered, in my many "failed" WILD attempts, if in fact I was actually dreaming of being in bed and continuing my WILD attempt!   The close cousin of a FA, I call it a "false still awake"-ing.





> Around 6 AM, I was dreaming about kissing a girl whose twin sister I liked. It suddenly became so real, I realized I was dreaming and I went with it on purpose for a minute or two, then I woke up.
> 
> So three lucids in a night, not so bad, right?



Nice!   I don't think I've even once managed to "pull myself away" from a KILD (kiss initiated lucid dream)  :smiley: .  Those dream girls can be .... dreamy!





> I really need to learn how to stabilize. I have trouble with prolonging dreams, since I usually awake after two or three minutes after I become lucid. I realize this is supposed to be DILD workbook, but I had to write it here. I know a lot of stabilization techniques, I just never manage to do them right.



Not off topic for us, stabilization is part of dreaming!   2-3 minutes is a decent LD.  I know we all want longer.    To be stable and lucid in the dream state, we need to be stable and lucid in the waking state.   Waking state practice (where or how else are we going to practice?) is key to shaping dream state behavior.





> About GRC; today was better. I was noticing the heaviness of my laptop bag and my water bottle. I also had an epiphany about how to start noticing the legs. I even think it would be better to concentrate on the legs, since my arms are often busy by carrying something. 
> 
> Also, when I am noticing my arms, sometimes they seem heavier than usual. That was odd to me, but I guess it is just because I haven't fully adapted to GRC. What do you think?
> 
> That's about it. Let me know what do you guys think



I'm of the opinion that if you really want to give something a solid shot, you should give it at least a solid year.   LDing is not an immediate-gratification sort of pursuit.   It pays to plan and think for the long-term.   Give yourself time to settle into it, and to notice it more and more.   Maybe set some short and medium term goals about how many times a day and how long you notice gravity.

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## Elaol

> Not off topic for us, stabilization is part of dreaming!   2-3 minutes is a decent LD.  I know we all want longer.    To be stable and lucid in the dream state, we need to be stable and lucid in the waking state.   Waking state practice (where or how else are we going to practice?) is key to shaping dream state behavior.



Can you elaborate this further? Do you mean practicing stabilization in real life, like doing micro-ADA cycles, focusing on all senses, as Sensei recommends? Or do you mean general mindfulness, RCs, etc.?





> I'm of the opinion that if you really want to give something a solid shot, you should give it at least a solid year.   LDing is not an immediate-gratification sort of pursuit.   It pays to plan and think for the long-term.   Give yourself time to settle into it, and to notice it more and more.   Maybe set some short and medium term goals about how many times a day and how long you notice gravity.



I think I will stick with GRC for a while now. I know LD is a skill that takes a bit of time. When I was starting I was spending whole summer 10 AM-2PM trying to WILD, without success of course, timing was awful. Now I accidentally learned how to WILD xD; so I am going to explore that some more while doing GRC as well  ::D:

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## FryingMan

> Can you elaborate this further? Do you mean practicing stabilization in real life, like doing micro-ADA cycles, focusing on all senses, as Sensei recommends? Or do you mean general mindfulness, RCs, etc.?



I mean periods of continuous lucidity and stability/calmness/engagement.   Mindfulness is one way to think about it, yes.   I don't think in the middle of an action dream you'll want to stop and engage senses (although it may not be a bad idea to try!), but remaining mindful of your lucidity and the fact that you're dreaming can be very beneficial for prolonging LDs.

The goal seeking center of the brain is very powerful, and I find having concrete short-term goals in a LD have produced my longest, most enjoyable LDs.    Try that in waking life: out on a walk, pick a goal, like seeing what's on the other side of that tree in the distance, and keep that goal firmly in your mind while walking there, remaining mindful of your immediate experience while you're on your way there, doing occasional RCs if you feel like it.

Waking stability I think manifests itself in paying careful attention to the now, and avoiding distracting thoughts.   So again, sort of like mindfulness.   I think mindfulness is pretty much the answer to everything  :smiley: .

But yes, actually practice what you would do in a dream to stabilize: look all around you, give yourself a pat down, touch the ground, touch things around you, etc.   That can help.

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## fogelbise

Congratulations on all of that awareness to become lucid multiple times!  :smiley:  You probably got all of the information that you need for now from FryingMan, but I didn't want you to think that I was ignoring your workbook. Nice job as usual FM!! The only thing I thought of to add to his excellent answers was regarding stabilization. A lot of it comes with experience, but I think Sensei's approach is helpful. I only remember listening to it in his audio thread (within the 3rd link in my signature box). I can't remember which file it is in but if you like audio I would encourage you to listen to them all. I know that not worrying about stability is very helpful. Be happy that you are getting lucid and KNOW that you can achieve stability. I also personally have been thinking lately how a little bit of detachment is useful for stability. The first level of it is something like "okay I'm dreaming, okay I can do anything I want, and basically not getting excited." 

Another big help is knowing that you don't have to end up awake just because the dream is fading…expecting to go to the void or go to a false awakening or for another dream scene to form, and before you know it you will find many experiences where you don't just wake up and you can extend the time you are lucid dreaming. I think many assumed DEILD's are actually from a false awakening state, but practicing DEILD's can get you looking for opportunities to extend the dream as well, instead of expecting to just wake up. I started off extending my dreams when I heard about the void, then I read some advice from Sageous (info is in the 1st link in my signature box...avoiding the normal path back to your waking body). That advice got me sometimes surfing the space between dreams, sometimes within a complete but temporary void and sometimes just in space with very reduced visibility, temporarily gradually adding more and more detail. Happy dreams!!  :smiley: 

Edit/tip:  :smiley:  show FM some love when you can and click the like button on the posts that you found helpful.  :smiley:

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## Elaol

Thanks fogelbise and FryingMan. I love getting feedback from you. I didn't know about this "like" option, I gave both of you bunch of likes  ::D: 

@FryingMan, I will research more about mindfulness. I do Vipassana, as I told in my first post, but it takes long time for it to have effect. I actually think that GRC works a lot like mindfulness, because the person is constantly paying attention to one thing. Do you agree?

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## FryingMan

> Thanks fogelbise and FryingMan. I love getting feedback from you. I didn't know about this "like" option, I gave both of you bunch of likes 
> 
> @FryingMan, I will research more about mindfulness. I do Vipassana, as I told in my first post, but it takes long time for it to have effect. I actually think that GRC works a lot like mindfulness, because the person is constantly paying attention to one thing. Do you agree?



It can be a lot like mindfulness, if you use it as a continuous anchor into the present moment and to continually stay in touch with your self-awareness.   It's important to maintain a sense of reflection, so that the gravity awareness does not degenerate into simple observation.   The point is not to notice gravity -- the point is to recognize the dream state.   To use the feel of gravity as a never-ending reminder/trigger to yourself to grasp the truth about your present state, a source of constant vigilance, that I believe is the point.    I also theorize that there's a major element of of incubation in ADA/RC: we dream about what we're thinking about during the day, so if we're constantly vigilant for the dream state (via something like gravity, location, dream feeling, etc.), we will dream about looking for the dream state, which should also spur lucidity.

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## FryingMan

> Thanks fogelbise and FryingMan. I love getting feedback from you. I didn't know about this "like" option, I gave both of you bunch of likes 
> 
> @FryingMan, I will research more about mindfulness. I do Vipassana, as I told in my first post, but it takes long time for it to have effect. I actually think that GRC works a lot like mindfulness, because the person is constantly paying attention to one thing. Do you agree?



It can be a lot like mindfulness, if you use it as a continuous anchor into the present moment and to continually stay in touch with your self-awareness.   It's important to maintain a sense of reflection, so that the gravity awareness does not degenerate into simple observation.   The point is not to notice gravity -- the point is to recognize the dream state.   To use the feel of gravity as a never-ending reminder/trigger to yourself to grasp the truth about your present state, a source of constant vigilance, that I believe is the point.    I also theorize that there's a major element of of incubation in ADA/RC: we dream about what we're thinking about during the day, so if we're constantly vigilant for the dream state (via something like gravity, location, dream feeling, etc.), we will dream about looking for the dream state, which should also spur lucidity.

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## Elaol

> It can be a lot like mindfulness, if you use it as a continuous anchor into the present moment and to continually stay in touch with your self-awareness.   It's important to maintain a sense of reflection, so that the gravity awareness does not degenerate into simple observation.   The point is not to notice gravity -- the point is to recognize the dream state.   To use the feel of gravity as a never-ending reminder/trigger to yourself to grasp the truth about your present state, a source of constant vigilance, that I believe is the point.    I also theorize that there's a major element of of incubation in ADA/RC: we dream about what we're thinking about during the day, so if we're constantly vigilant for the dream state (via something like gravity, location, dream feeling, etc.), we will dream about looking for the dream state, which should also spur lucidity.



So, basically, every time I am noticing gravity, I should be thinking whether or not it feels normal? If it does it means I'm awake, if it doesn't I'm dreaming. Am I right?

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## FryingMan

> So, basically, every time I am noticing gravity, I should be thinking whether or not it feels normal? If it does it means I'm awake, if it doesn't I'm dreaming. Am I right?



That's what Hukif recommends -- continual focus on the feeling of gravity: is it waking or dreaming?

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## Elaol

So, I gain a lot of insight today. 

I practiced a bit gravity of my legs. I did leg workout today in the gym. I've put 40kg on the leg extensions and then tried without any weight to see how it feels. 

I also practiced a bit with my arms. 

Nothing special.

See ya tomorrow  ::D:

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## Elaol

I'M SO EXCITEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!  :Awesome Dance:  :Awesome Dance:  :Awesome Dance: 

Sorry for this, but I'm so psyched up.  ::D:   ::D:   ::D: 

Anyway, last night I woke up from the dream, but was lazy to record it (I just know it was so awesome dream, but I can't remember it). Anyway, I was drifting off to sleep, and I jumped out of bed to record the dream, but got only a sentence or two. I had to pee and to eat something, so I completely woke up. I was falling asleep on and off for two hours. I got bored with that and took sleeping pill.

Next dream I had, I was playing a video game I like very much. I realized that I can't play that on my laptop which means I was dreaming. The dream started to fade, and I stabilized it. I can't recall the exact technique I used, I think I was rubbing the door of my room. I also remeber shouting "Lucidity!", but my voice was heavy and I had trouble speaking. The dream finally felt like reality and not like I just woke up form 1000 year long sleep. I also felt gravity feeling strange, like my legs were harder to move (unfortunately that wasn't lucid trigger). i went to the door and said to myself "on the other end of this door will be Dubrovnik". I tried to open the door, but I couldn't find the door knob. I then pushed myself through the window (why didn't I try this with a door?) and I saw the snow outside. The next technique for trying to change the scene was spinning, but I just started to levitate and go back to the bed. Somehow, I forced myself back on the floor. Wheel of time is my favorite book series, so I tried to use saidin, but no luck. The last thing I did was trying to summon light ball, but I focused too much on it and woke up. 

Anyways, I see my dream description is a bit boring (I'm not the best writer), but I am amazed for three reasons:
1. I took diazepine, which usually kills my dreams and I had lucid
2. The gravity felt different in my legs, that gives me more info for daily practice
3. I FREAKIN' HAD THE BEST LUCID DREAM IN MY LIFE

Let me know what do you guys think  ::D:

----------


## FryingMan

Congrats!   Sounds great!  Keep it up and more and more will come your way!

----------


## Saizaphod

> I'M SO EXCITEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!  Sorry for this, but I'm so psyched up.   
> 
> Anyway, I was drifting off to sleep, and I jumped out of bed to record the dream, but got only a sentence or two. 
> I had to pee and to eat something, so I completely woke up. I was falling asleep on and off for two hours.
> 
> I realized that I can't play that on my laptop which means I was dreaming. The dream started to fade, and I stabilized it. I can't recall the exact technique I used, I think I was rubbing the door of my room. I also remeber shouting "Lucidity!", but my voice was heavy and I had trouble speaking.
> 
> I went to the door and said to myself "on the other end of this door will be Dubrovnik". I tried to open the door, but I couldn't find the door knob. I then pushed myself through the window (why didn't I try this with a door?) and I saw the snow outside. The next technique for trying to change the scene was spinning, but I just started to levitate and go back to the bed.
> 
> I FREAKIN' HAD THE BEST LUCID DREAM IN MY LIFE



I'm glad to see people are having fun and being excited at the DVA courses!  ::D: 

I suggest staying in the laying position and keeping your eyes shut for a while when recalling. Your recall is much better when your body keeps calm with your eyes closed. If you do this make sure you won't fall back asleep. What _I_ do, is that I keep one of my hands pointing upwards from the elbow. It sounds a bit funny, but I find it super effective. Haven't fallen back asleep when recalling for four months with the trick  :smiley: 
When you find your self being unable to fall asleep, I think it is pretty effective to use that time for visualization of being inside a lucid dream doing your goals. It requires minimal mental effort(MILD and mantras require a bit more) so it shouldn't make it harder for you to fall back asleep, and it coud boost your chances of becoming lucid once you eventually fall asleep. 

Nice job with the instant stabilization.  :smiley:  Touching surfaces ( initiating your senses and connecting with your dream body ) is an effective way to ground yourself to the space and moment. If something like that happens again that you find yourself being unable to speak, just ignore it and keep going with the other stabilization techniques, and your abilities to perform normal bodily functions willreturn eventually. 

I love door teleportation! I'm actually thinking of starting to experiment with a new expectation "visualization" that could help you as well. Once at a door in my room ( or any other room or space ), I imagine the room is _already_ at the destination in which I'm trying to get to. Like in the photo below. Give the brain a few seconds to create the scenery and then just open the door and leave the room.  :smiley: 

*Spoiler* for _expectation "visualization"_: 







Congratz and welcome to the DVA course! :Party:

----------


## FryingMan

Just a quick note: allowing yourself to fall back asleep while recalling is a great way to DEILD: just keep your mind very lightly considering your recent dreams, and allow yourself to drift back to sleep.

----------


## fogelbise

Yay!! Congratulations Elaol!!  ::D:  Getting lucid, trying a number of different things, noticing the gravity in your legs, great job!! You can build on this and have many more!!

----------


## Elaol

Wow, you guys made my day  ::D:  I really like when someone comments here and gives me feedback  :smiley: 

@Saizaphod I love the drawing  ::D:  

So, about today's practice....

I payed a lot more attention to legs. Now, with effort, I can be aware both gravity in my legs and in my feet. I still have trouble implementing FryingMan's advice to constantly have in mind if the gravity is normal or different. I have hard time doing it without verbalizing it in my mind. That will be my task in the following days. 

I am actually really proud of myself. I notice both the pulling from my watch and my hand. And I constantly notice difference between my left hand and right hand, since the watch is on the left hand. I think I am getting good at noticing gravity. Now I just have to pair it with reflective awareness. I find that hard to do. Any advices?

----------


## Elaol

I so love this thread  ::D:  I look forward to writing on it. 

Anyways, one lucid and one semi-lucid last night  ::D:  

First time I DEILDed. I was dreaming of playing Aion. I remembered I don't play that anymore. But everything went black. I imagined rubbing my hands (seems I do WILDs instinctively, what feels right, I don't focus on specific technique). First I imagined my hand rubbing as I was laying in bed. Then I felt them change position, so I was standing. I was in my room. I went in the living room, the door had door knob this time  ::D:  My mom wasn't awake, but I awoke her, so I could tell her I was dreaming. She told me I must go to bed, she doesn't care if I was dreaming or not. Seems like my lucidity was shaken a bit, so I decided to wake up. 

Not too exciting, but still felt great to have lucid dream. 

Now I am overthinking of stopping having these lucids, since they feel so great. I think I will go into dry-spell again. I really like to self-sabotage myself. 

About GRC, I will try to reflect on my state today, and we'll see how it goes  ::D:

----------


## FryingMan

You're doing great!  Keep it up!  Congrats!

----------


## Elaol

> You're doing great!  Keep it up!  Congrats!



FryingMan, do you have any advice on how to develop that reflective attitude without constantly verbalizing in my head "Is this gravity normal or not"? I am having real difficulties with that.

----------


## FryingMan

It just takes time, for now it will take explicit mental effort to hold a reflective attitude and gravity awareness.   There's nothing wrong with verbalizing, it reinforces your intention and directs your attention where you want it to be.   I've had quite a number of LDs by performing that mental verbalizing in my head in the dream state: I wish I could do it every night in every dream, I'd be lucid way more!    If anything I'd suggest doing LOTS of mental verbalization, as much as you can.  Doing so is a form of dream incubation: we dream about at night what we're thinking about during the day.   So the more daytime thoughts you can spend on reflection/awareness/affirmations about lucid dreaming, the better!       Over time it will become more of a background effect and won't require so much explicit effort, but in the beginning it takes a lot of effort to get started.  It's worth it  :smiley: .

----------


## Elaol

Idk if the phone deleted last post or it is just invisible from the phone. 

Anyways, I practiced GRC on my arms and legs, it went well. I did lots of mental verbalizations. 

I hope I will have good nights sleep tonight and not wake up thousand times like last couple of night. I have feeling I don't sleep at all, while I in fact wake up after every dream. I hope I will get some peaceful sleep with DILD as a surprise. 

Good night all and have awesome dreams

----------


## Elaol

I have to ventilate myself. I'm so pissed off.

Anyways, I have medical condition which requires me to have good night sleep. Lucid dreams never harmed me in any way. 

I hate myself this morning. This workbook is giving me great joy. I love writing about my progress and I really am making progress for the first time in two years I've been actively into LDing. You guys are very supportive, there are awesome threads on the forum, and for the first time in my LD practice I am genuinely happy about my LDing skills. But last couple of days I'm having irrational fears that I will somehow mess up my sleep. And that calls for more irrational fears that the first irrational fears will make me stop LDing (it real fun being me, don't you think?). Now I am in my room, feeling empty inside because I both love LDing and fear it at the same time.  

Sorry for this rant, but I have noone else to talk to about this.

Btw, wasn't lucid last night. I realized I wasn't much into GRC yesterday, so that could be it. I did have good night sleep, though.

----------


## Letaali

That's really crappy. I hope you beat that fear. Sleeping well and lucid dreaming shouldn't be two exclusive things.  ::hug::  



(And my mind is racing, trying to think what medical condition would cause such a fear.)

----------


## Elaol

> That's really crappy. I hope you beat that fear. Sleeping well and lucid dreaming shouldn't be two exclusive things.  
> (And my mind is racing, trying to think what medical condition would cause such a fear.)



Thanks, I know, it is like you know something is true on cognitive level, but you continue to believe in that on emotional level. In my analysis of the fear, I think I am actually scared of my sudden bursts of lucidity and that I will progress so well that every dream of mine will become lucid. On cognitive level I know I am far from that, but I am still eating myself from the inside. 

I have Complex Parital Seizures (CPS). It is mild form of epilepsy characterized by reduced consciousness, without losing it, so it is not grand mal seizure. I made real progress in accepting it in the past month (I have it since I was 8). I will use the same techniques to get rid of this stupid fear. I would ignore the fear, but I know how LDs are susceptible to suggestion and if I fear it on any level, that can be mental block. I think if I had LD tonight, I would get rid of that fear immediately.

----------


## FryingMan

I'm not lucid anywhere near as much as I'd like to be, but I take great pleasure in recalling dreams, in having extremely vivid and present dreams, even "alternate life" level at times.    Recalling dreams takes nothing away from sleep, so at the very least you can focus on getting a good night's sleep, but recalling your dreams at the same time.    Having a mindset of loving all your dreams, lucid or not, helps in promoting lucidity.   One of the best pieces of advice I've read about lucid  dreaming is "take care of your life."  Do what you need to do, take care of your responsibilities, etc.  Cultivate a happy, joyous outlook on life, and your dreams will continue to entertain and amaze you your whole life long.    

It really is a long-haul discipline, dreaming -- and there will be lots of ups and downs along the way.   Just realize that there will always be another "up" time as long as you stick with it, so settle in and enjoy the ride!

----------


## Letaali

> I have Complex Parital Seizures (CPS). It is mild form of epilepsy characterized by reduced consciousness, without losing it, so it is not grand mal seizure. I made real progress in accepting it in the past month (I have it since I was 8). I will use the same techniques to get rid of this stupid fear. I would ignore the fear, but I know how LDs are susceptible to suggestion and if I fear it on any level, that can be mental block. I think if I had LD tonight, I would get rid of that fear immediately.



Good luck! You'll get that lucid dream tonight, for sure. And I know how it feels to have a chronic disease like that. I have two of them myself. One of them is an autoimmune disease that is quite literally eating me from the inside.

----------


## Elaol

First of all, I want to thank everyone for helping me with this fear, both by answering on this topic and by PMing me. This is truly a great community, I love you all  ::D: 

My fear is reduced by all the help I got here. I even understood the irrationality while talking with you guys. There is still emotional residue, but that will pass as well. And I didn't even need to pay for therapy  ::D:  

About GRC, I am really proud by my practice today. I noticed gravity at least ten times today, and for more than 10 min each time. Now, I notice both feet and hands. I guess, by time, it will become easier and easier. And I've been doing a lot of mental verbalization, credit goes to FryingMan  ::D:  

I've noticed my visualizations are also getting better. My friend today was explaining some scenes from amusement park, and I drifted away, like I was dreaming, I was seeing it in front of my eyes  ::D:  I had hard time getting back to this world xD

Happy dreaming everybody  ::D:

----------


## FryingMan

Great job working on your fear, and great job with GRC!   Verbalization is great I even do spoken verbalization.   If anybody followed me around during the day, I'd be locked up in the funny farm for sure, haha.    All those "crazy" people on the streets talking to themselves, maybe they're just LD practitioners!

----------


## fogelbise

> I so love this thread  I look forward to writing on it. 
> 
> Anyways, one lucid and one semi-lucid last night  
> 
> First time I DEILDed.



Awesome job!! Congrats on the LD and on your first DEILD!!  ::D: 





> First of all, I want to thank everyone for helping me with this fear, both by answering on this topic and by PMing me. This is truly a great community, I love you all 
> 
> My fear is reduced by all the help I got here. I even understood the irrationality while talking with you guys. There is still emotional residue, but that will pass as well. And I didn't even need to pay for therapy  
> 
> About GRC, I am really proud by my practice today. I noticed gravity at least ten times today, and for more than 10 min each time. Now, I notice both feet and hands. I guess, by time, it will become easier and easier. And I've been doing a lot of mental verbalization, credit goes to FryingMan  
> 
> I've noticed my visualizations are also getting better. My friend today was explaining some scenes from amusement park, and I drifted away, like I was dreaming, I was seeing it in front of my eyes  I had hard time getting back to this world xD



-Isn't it great to have a place you can talk to others about lucid dreaming and get supportIt is a great community!!  ::D: 

-I am so happy to hear that you were able to put a lid on that fear! Great work to everyone who helped!!

-Great progress on the GRC!! You seem to be connecting with the GRC very well! Yes, FM!..I don't know how I would keep up with these workbooks without FryingMan and his wealth of knowledge and helpthank you FryingMan!!!  ::D: 

-Awesome job improving your visualizations!!

----------


## Elaol

Last night FryingMan gave me an advice to mindfully watch that emotional residue of my fear. I did that, and I thought it would be fine to post here and see what do you guys think (let me know if I am going against the rules here, since this starts to look more like therapy than DILD workbook).

Anyways... The meditation went well, I meditated for 10 min, I couldn't stand the back pain anymore. I noticed that emotional knot in my chest. I observed it mindfully and it seems to disappear after a while and then appears again when I think about LD. I was actually thinking it would disappear through mindfulness, because that was my previous experience. Maybe I wasn't so mindful after all. 

Can you guys recommend some of the most exciting dream journals with magic here? I never read those, and I would like to invoke some positive feelings about LD  ::D: 

@fogelbise Thank you for your response. Yeah, GRC comes very easily to me. I have yet to have dream with gravity, but again, this is only day 11. Thanks for all your support.

----------


## Saizaphod

> Last night FryingMan gave me an advice to mindfully watch that emotional residue of my fear. I did that, and I thought it would be fine to post here and see what do you guys think (let me know if I am going against the rules here, since this starts to look more like therapy than DILD workbook).
> 
> Anyways... The meditation went well, I meditated for 10 min, I couldn't stand the back pain anymore. I noticed that emotional knot in my chest. I observed it mindfully and it seems to disappear after a while and then appears again when I think about LD. I was actually thinking it would disappear through mindfulness, because that was my previous experience. Maybe I wasn't so mindful after all. 
> 
> Can you guys recommend some of the most exciting dream journals with magic here? I never read those, and I would like to invoke some positive feelings about LD



You're doing great! Especially with the three WILDs, really nice! You can post all kinds of things here, this is your personal thread/workbook. 

I think it's also possible to meditate on your back as well if you're getting back pains in sitting position. 

The most clichey DJ to recommend here, but still worth a look  ::D:  Hyu's Adventures Also this entry

Keep it up!

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## Elaol

> You're doing great! Especially with the three WILDs, really nice! You can post all kinds of things here, this is your personal thread/workbook. 
> 
> I think it's also possible to meditate on your back as well if you're getting back pains in sitting position. 
> 
> The most clichey DJ to recommend here, but still worth a look  Hyu's Adventures Also this entry
> 
> Keep it up!



Thansk for your response. That second link is truly, well, out of this world  ::D:  I can't wait until I am able to do that. It is truly marvelous. I also love those permanent realms, like Hyu and Sensei have. One of my dream goals is to make permanent realm. I find that concept very fascinating. 

Btw, I just finished meditating. I have found that half-lotus on a cushion doesn't induce so much discomfort. Also, I get hypnagogia when meditating, which can be used for WILDing, I guess.

Today's tasks are:
1. Learn the feeling of gravity when sitting
2. Go through dream journal and find when do the most of mine REMs end
3. Set intention to wake up at that time

Wish me luck. 

My feelings are now mixed. I still feel that anxiety/grief I was feeling yesterday, but in very slight form, almost non-existing. I also feel energy, pure energy I used to feel before when thinking of LDs, but somehow tainted with that grief. It is best explained by wast sea tainted with oil. The oil (anxiety/grief) is preventing me to experience that pure energy/joy LD is giving me. I will cleanse that sea  ::D: 

Wow, I so love this thread  ::D:

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## fogelbise

> Thansk for your response. That second link is truly, well, out of this world  I can't wait until I am able to do that. It is truly marvelous. I also love those permanent realms, like Hyu and Sensei have. One of my dream goals is to make permanent realm. I find that concept very fascinating. 
> 
> Btw, I just finished meditating. I have found that half-lotus on a cushion doesn't induce so much discomfort. Also, I get hypnagogia when meditating, which can be used for WILDing, I guess.
> 
> Today's tasks are:
> 1. Learn the feeling of gravity when sitting
> 2. Go through dream journal and find when do the most of mine REMs end
> 3. Set intention to wake up at that time
> 
> ...



I love the attitude in that last line!  ::D:  The rest of my comments are in order of your paragraphs above.

Isn't it fascinating...and a fun, inspiring read indeed.

That's great you found an adjustment for comfortable meditating, good job! It too have had back issues and have found workarounds.

I love the way you are creating structure to your practice by outlining your daily tasks!  ::D: 

Good luck! You are doing great and I am sure you are on your way to cleaning up the oil. I do believe that lucid dreaming and it's related practices help us in such endeavors. Quiet contemplation of the roots of these feelings may help. Uncovering and addressing the feelings and needs that led up to that fear (like the need for a good night's sleep). One way to find solutions is to ask yourself a question like "Will I resolve my fear?" while paying attention to the positive solutions your mind comes up with when you ask such questions. You can promote positive answers by starting with "Yes, I will do" "Yes I will start" "Yes I can think about"

This is a great workbook! Keep it up!  ::D:

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## Elaol

Thanks @fogelbise for your feedback, it is much appreciated. I am practicing some psychotherapy techniques, which are similar with advice you gave me. I accepted my seizures in that way, I am sure I can resolve this as well. I am glad you like my workbook, I try not to make it monotonous.  

I am kinda feverish today. So, gravity was a bit odd. Also, I realized I was getting sick when I did RCs to see whats wrong with gravity. I got light-headed and didn't believe myself that I did RC at all. I think it is because of the fever.

I practiced paying attention to sitting. I believe I am getting better at it. Now, I am going to look through the journal to find most occurring waking time. I won't set intention to wake at that time, since I have fever and it probably wouldn't work.

I am proud of myself that I still practiced GRC although I am sick.

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## Elaol

Hello my friends, how are you? I'm in a good mood today.  ::D: 

I had terrible cough last night, so I didn't sleep well, but my fever is passing, my dreams are coming back to normal. I still had few confusing fever dreams, where the plot keeps switching without any logical order. But I also had some interesting gym-craving (haven't been in a gym for two days, I miss it) dreams with continuous plot.

Also, I should note, that even though that fear I was writing you about in the last posts, I had very vivid HH before falling asleep. I was writing on this forum, and I looked at my lucid dream count. It was 90 (I wish xD ). I remembered that I don't have that many dreams, I couldn't remember the exact count, I knew the last number was 8. I thought in the HH/dream that it was 88 (again I wish xD), and I was stunned by the number change, so I kinda jumped in the dream/HH, I haven't reached SP, so I awoke. 

Conclusion: This was transition to WILD and even though I have that residue of the fear, I can lucid dream. Yaaaay!  :Awesome Dance: 

Today's tasks:
1. Go to dream journal, because I wasn't organized last night
2. Continue practicing sitting GRC 
3. If I feel well, set intention to wake up for WILD tomorrow morning

EDIT: I want to add two things and two question for you guys.

First, I saw on World-of-Lucid-Dreaming suggestion to do RC every time you reach for your phone. I could use that to become aware of the gravity until it becomes my second nature.  ::D: 

Second, today I am doing GRC a bit less, since I am really exhausted from fever.

Question: I read a bit about sivason's Dream yoga class. I like that as well, and I would also love to go to Sageous WILD class. Do you guys think I could incorporate Dream yoga into my practice or it should be better to do 2 months of GRC and then try Dream yoga? I want to do this GRC thing right way.

Question 2: Do you think some gravity dream incubation would be good before bed? To speed things up. Or should I wait for it to come naturally?

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## fogelbise

> ...I had very vivid HH before falling asleep. I was writing on this forum, and I looked at my lucid dream count. It was 90 (I wish xD ). I remembered that I don't have that many dreams, I couldn't remember the exact count, I knew the last number was 8. I thought in the HH/dream that it was 88 (again I wish xD), and I was stunned by the number change, so I kinda jumped in the dream/HH, I haven't reached SP, so I awoke. 
> 
> Conclusion: This was transition to WILD and even though I have that residue of the fear, I can lucid dream. Yaaaay!



I agree, that is quite an awesome result!  :smiley:  There are some misconceptions out there about SP that cause a lot of people to fail with WILDs so you might want to read this if you haven't yet: http://www.dreamviews.com/general-lu...alysis-sp.html





> Question: I read a bit about sivason's Dream yoga class. I like that as well, and I would also love to go to Sageous WILD class. Do you guys think I could incorporate Dream yoga into my practice or it should be better to do 2 months of GRC and then try Dream yoga? I want to do this GRC thing right way.
> 
> Question 2: Do you think some gravity dream incubation would be good before bed? To speed things up. Or should I wait for it to come naturally?



Q1: You could get different opinions on this and you might want to go with your gut feeling on this one. It doesn't hurt to learn about different approaches at the same time, especially if you have a lot of free time and you don't feel overloaded already with what you are currently doing. Basically, if you can continue the GRC with the same vigor and frequency while pursuing dream yoga, that should be fine. However, if you do feel like you are doing a lot already and you don't want to "burn yourself out" then you might want to wait in that case.

Q2: I don't think it would hurt at all and should actually help. You might have a dream about noticing gravity being off without becoming lucid, but that is not so bad since those kind of dreams often precede actual lucid dreams very soon after. If you include in the incubation a follow up RC confirming "yes, aha, this is a dream!" that helps even more.

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## FryingMan

Q1: the nice thing about Sivason's class is that his exercises come one by one, and each one in stages.    They're meant to be part of an ongoing practice where you move from stage to stage and exercise to exercises as you can, on your own schedule.   So if you find one that looks good to you, go ahead and try it, but I'll echo fogelbise's good advice to be mindful of if you're overloading yourself.   You have plenty of time, I know the "I want it all right now!" feeling, and wanting to cover all your bases.    As long as you're doing something that boosts awareness, attention (to all your experiences), reflection (about your experiences), and memory (recalling your experiences, dreaming and waking), I think you're covered.   

Q2: any incubation is excellent.  I had a big dreaming night last night with multiple LDs (woohoo finally!) that I attribute to working on incubating the "getting lucid moment" before bed.   In fact I've a new theory rumbling around my head that all DILD LDing all comes from incubation at its root (plus the fundamentals, always).    I see intent as incubation, MILD as incubation, the intention part of reflection/intention as incubation, and I see Hukif's all day RC (GRC in this case) as incubation.    Incubation just means trying to get a particular idea/theme into your dream, that you can use as  your trigger for lucidity.

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## Elaol

Thank you both for useful advice.  :smiley: 

@fogebise I think I would burn myself out atm, since I am meditating, doing GRC and I think it would be too much. Also, I want to try WILDing as well.

@FryingMan I agree with your theory. That is what I loved in your explanation of GRC: mindfulness and incubation technique in one  ::D: 


I have some big news  ::D:  And of course I want your feedback  :smiley: 

I had my first Gravity Induced Lucid Dream (kinda).


*Spoiler* for _Elevator LD (I'll skip some unimportant details)_: 



Some big festival was going on in my town. I didn't want to go, I went in the huge skyscraper for some non-lucid reason (the skyscraper doesn't exist IRL). I took the elevator. On the elevator, I was stomping with my legs. I told myself that gravity wasn't right (although I don't remember actually checking for gravity). I became lucid. My memory was OK, so I remembered Sensei's advice for stabilization (unfortunately, I didn't remember Sageous advice for memory) . My focus was first on sight, than I made some noise with my feet and I touched elevator walls. The walls were kinda bubbly, like someone inserted plastic balls half way through the wall. I told to myself "Behind this wall will be the gym". I pushed the wall and it moved. The next thing I saw was the gym. The dream destabilized, I remember shouting "STABILIZE!". I was in police station, although I didn't notice that until I woke up. The dream was fading and soon ended. 




Idk if this was during my focusing on the gravity (incubation) or due real GRC. What do you guys think?

And it is also important to note:
1. I HAD ONE MORE LD! Better than the ones before
2. My fear didn't stop me from having LD  ::D: 

 :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance: 

I love this emoticon  ::D:

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## FryingMan

> Idk if this was during my focusing on the gravity (incubation) or due real GRC. What do you guys think?



 Determining the cause of any particular lucid moment is difficult given the delayed nature of practice having an effect on results.   I like to say every LD is a "perfect storm" of preparation and conditions (in all their various forms: awareness, memory, rest, health, sleep cycle, brain chemistry, recall/dream awareness, etc.) combined.     It really doesn't matter that you didn't check for gravity first, you had the all-important thought that "gravity is not right" and you immediately connected this to "I'm dreaming".  That's the entire point of the practice.    Of course, it will be much more fruitful if you do actually notice in your dreams that gravity is not waking-style giving you a physical sensation trigger in addition to the verbalization trigger: thus Hukif's advice that the target of your all-day RC should be something that you frequently notice/experience in you dreams.





> I love this emoticon



Me, too!  Congrats and many more!  

 :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance:

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## Saizaphod

> I had very vivid HH before falling asleep. I was writing on this forum, and I looked at my lucid dream count. It was 90 (I wish xD ). I remembered that I don't have that many dreams, I couldn't remember the exact count, I knew the last number was 8. I thought in the HH/dream that it was 88 (again I wish xD)



Keep it up and you'll pass those numbers in no time!  ::goodjob2::  Congratz on your newest lucid as well, your GRC practices are paying off!

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## Elaol

> Keep it up and you'll pass those numbers in no time!  Congratz on your newest lucid as well, your GRC practices are paying off!



Thanks! Indeed they are, I can't wait to be able to control dream well enough so I can do Dream Hero League tasks.

And do you guys like my title: "GRC apprentice"?  ::D:

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## Elaol

Ummm, today I was practicing GRC (duh xD).

I didn't practice it while sitting, didn't feel like it.

I went for a walk with a friend and did it during the walk (and also when walking around the house). I noticed one thing: the feeling of gravity in my feet depends on he shoes I am wearing. I feel different gravity, based on my footwear. So it is harder to adjust to the feeling in my feet without shoes and with different pairs of shoes. I am already adjusted to the feeling without shoes, and the feeling in my hands. I also made progress with feeling of gravity while lying on the bed. 

This RC maybe seem simple, but you have to memorize a lot of different sensations.

That's about it for today.

Going to meditate right now and then straight to bed  ::D:

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## fogelbise

> As long as you're doing something that boosts awareness, attention (to all your experiences), reflection (about your experiences), and memory (recalling your experiences, dreaming and waking), I think you're covered.



This quote belongs in a book, FryingMan. Love it!





> I have some big news  And of course I want your feedback 
> 
> I had my first Gravity Induced Lucid Dream (kinda).
> 
> Idk if this was during my focusing on the gravity (incubation) or due real GRC. What do you guys think?



I am so happy for you Elaol! Awesome result!!  ::D:  

Your question about whether incubation induced or GRC inducedI agree with FM. Be happy it was gravity based awareness in the dream and rest assured that this will add to your GRC practice either way, which you are doing an awesome job with! 





> And do you guys like my title: "GRC apprentice"?



I noticed thatSince you are taking to GRC quite well and you are committed to giving it significant time and attention, I do like your title.  :smiley: 





> This RC maybe seem simple, but you have to memorize a lot of different sensations.



I don't think it is simple. I tried it early in my practice and it just didn't seem like something for me but I probably could have given it more effort and adjustments. I think most people consider it difficult to practice, but you have found a way to make it work for you which is impressive!

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## Elaol

Thanks fogelbise for your awesome feedback. You guys really motivate me to keep on with writing this.

Today I have no special announcements. Anyway, I am really anxious these days, but I try my best to practice GRC. Today I did enough practice, but I could have done better. I have job interview tomorrow, so I am nervous because of that among other things. I hope the next few days will be better, so I can practice GRC more. 

I got an idea yesterday that I could practice GRC whenever I am using my phone. I would continue practicing it while walking, but I thought that if I practice GRC when I use my phone (which is often), then that would increase the rate of my GRC practice.

That's it for today  ::D:

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## Elaol

Yaaaaay I got one more LD, this time semi-lucid  :Awesome Dance: 

I was stealing weed from the biggest drug dealer. When she came to take it away from me, I realized I was dreaming. I did both GRC and nose plug RC, but I don't remember the result. I think gravity was normal, although I am not sure. I tried to do Kamehame wave, but nothing came out of my arms. I looked at my hands, they were normal, and I woke up looking at my actual hands. 

It was really bright in my room, I might consider wearing sleeping mask. Perhaps light woke me up, or the REM was ending. Anyway, I got another success  ::D: 

I'm off to job interview, wish me luck  ::D:

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## FryingMan

Congrats and good luck!    Sleep masks (even just rolling up a light pajama top/tshirt/scarf works great) and earplugs can be very helpful if you are unable to block external light (I like sleeping in total darkness, but my wife can't stand it, so thus the mask).

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## Elaol

Thanks FryingMan for the response. I am really happy with my progress  ::D: 

Today I failed at doing GRC totally. I hope that won't kill the progress I've made so far. But even KingYoshi makes breaks from ADA; so I guess I can sometime make a break from GRC. I did pay attention to it few times today, but two bad things happened to me today, so my mind was focused on them. 

I will do a bit more GRC today, and also during meditation, I will try to make the object of meditation the feeling of gravity. 

Cya tomorrow.  :smiley:

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## Elaol

Hey everyone  ::D: 

Today I was getting back into GRC. I don't know if I am overthinking or what, but somehow gravity sometimes seems different, i.e. my hand seem slightly heavier than usual. What do you guys think about it? I do RC every time it happens.

My legs are fine most of the time, so I consider them more reliable than hands, since I am usually carrying something in my hands. 

Am I trippin' or what about these changes in gravity?

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## fogelbise

Congrats on more lucidity Elaol!!  ::D: 

I often use a sleep mask and ear plugs, so I second the suggestion. They are both very helpful for lucid dreaming I feel.





> Today I was getting back into GRC. I don't know if I am overthinking or what, but somehow gravity sometimes seems different, i.e. my hand seem slightly heavier than usual. What do you guys think about it? I do RC every time it happens.
> 
> My legs are fine most of the time, so I consider them more reliable than hands, since I am usually carrying something in my hands. 
> 
> Am I trippin' or what about these changes in gravity?



I don't think you are trippin', I think it is normal to notice some difference in how heavy your hands feel or even your body in general IWL (more common examples would be like when you are tired, sore, sick, etc). In a dream though you may notice a huge difference, but like in your latest lucidity not always so it is always good to have a few other follow-up RC's which you did. Those moments when several RC's all seem normal are rare, so don't worry about that much.  :smiley: 

Congrats again!!  ::D:

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## FryingMan

I think that if you're doing GRC, and you're noticing gravity, and if you're using that as a reflective trigger to check if you're dreaming, then that's good  :smiley: .  That's the point....

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## Elaol

Thanks guys for the feedback! It really means a lot. 

Today practice was good  ::D:  

I noticed gravity when I was walking alone, not in company, I guess I need more practice for that. I got really good at noticing both hands and feet. I still need to work on noticing gravity while sitting. 

That's about it. This seems like not enough text :/

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## FryingMan

Maintaining awareness while in company is perhaps (at least for me!) one of the most challenging aspects.   But noticing these times is the first step in improving them, and gives you a feeling for when you should be extra vigilant!

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## Elaol

I think I am losing motivation a little bit. First few days I was super psyched because of GRC, now those feelings are less intense (which is normal). 

I really love my progress with this technique, but since I am not as psyched as before, I tend to forget to practice it. What did you guys do in similar situations?

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## FryingMan

Every once in a while, not so often these days but still from time to time, usually towards the end of a longish dry spell, I'll stop and ask myself, "What the #^&* am I doing?   Spending all this effort on ...*dreaming*!?"     I think everybody who spends effort on any discipline that requires significant effort to progress in experiences the same.   Sometimes it's hard to shake off our cultural conditioning that tells us dreams aren't real or valuable.

It all comes down to doing what you love.   For me, I *love* dreaming.   Waking up in the morning after a particularly good night of recall, is just the most wonderful thing in the world.   The same with being lucid in the dream state, there's just no experience like it.    I can't imagine life without regular dream recall and LDs popping in from time to time.  (Sure, I'd like more LDs, who wouldn't?  But with me the main thing is the dreams themselves, lucid or not).  

One thing that really helps me with a continued mindfulness practice is the realization that it is not just about dreaming.   My goal is to be a lucid *person*, not just lucid dreamer.   My practice of attention, reflection, and recall, boosts enjoyment not just in dreaming life, but in waking life as well.   How many people just glide by their entire existence, both waking and dreaming, on autopilot?  They can't remember what they did or experienced today, let alone their dreams from the night before.    I feel like my LD practice has taught me not just how to wake up in dreams, but to wake up in LIFE.    That's why I love it and will stick with it for the long haul.

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## Elaol

Hey guys, 

nothing new to report here. My attention is still kinda wobbly, I'll try to figure a solution tomorrow. When I am sitting, I am losing focus all the time. I'll report tomorrow with, I hope, improved results.

Cya tomorrow  ::D:

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## FryingMan

Oh, and "night work" refers to all the things we do at night to foster LDs: intention setting, mantras, visualizations, MILD, WILD, DEILD, WBTB, dream recall & recording.

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## Elaol

I'll try to figure out something interesting to write, those last two days were soooo boring xD

I had bad dream recall last night, but I think it was because I was watching TV over my usual 10PM boundary (I turn off every screen after 10PM to keep melatonin high). I am writing this because it felt so weird when I tried recalling dreams last nigh, like I have some wall between me and memory. Also, I was conscious again during Non-REM. It is the worst feeling ever. Seriously, don't try it, it sucks :/

Anyways, I think I am a bit tired from GRC, not the technique itself, but the constant reflection. So today, I kinda neglected the part about reflection and focused on sensing the gravity, since reflection part is really boring xD I really try not to get into the habit of automatically answering "Yes" to the questions "Is this gravity normal?". 

So, as I've said, today's practice was just noticing gravity. I gave up on sitting gravity, it is just too hard. I can't possibly remember the feeling of every possible posture. So now I am looking for alternatives. I was brainstorming a bit and I realized this: in 99.999999% of my dreams I am walking. So, I don't really need the sitting feeling. I just need to keep gravity in mind, so I keep that incubation quality of GRC (credit goes to FM  ::D:  ). 

I think the next day will also be focused on keeping gravity in mind and noticing it, without reflection, and from Day 21, I will get into reflection again.

I am really fighting to keep this a 2 month challenge. As much as I love this technique, I have urge to change the technique. But I WILL stick with it. Maybe I'll just freshen it up, or spicy it, with some new technique that complements GRC.  ::D: 

I also got a lot of useful info from FM about his Unified theory, and I think a lot of it can be implemented with GRC. I will think about it some more tomorrow. 

P.S. I am pleased with this post, it came better than expected  ::D:

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## FryingMan

I think it's helpful to frame the reflective questions in such a way as to assume that the answer is "I'm dreaming", and if it indicates otherwise, not to reach a conclusion that "I'm not dreaming."   Instead, just think "hmm, well, I'll definitely be feeling dreaming gravity tonight in my dreams!"

One aspect of the Balance that we must find in our practice is the intensity of the reflection.    It's OK to dial down the reflection intensity, especially if you can keep attention on the continuity of your experience.    If you've established a waking condition, and nothing materially has changed (location, etc.), you can keep reflective awareness at a lower level.     You don't want it to go away entirely, because the dream state can be very very tricky to detect, with false memories and quick rationalizations standing in the way of lucidity.

I think it's OK to change up the particulars of practice, even on a somewhat regular basis.   What you don't want to do is to eliminate one of the fundamentals for a while.   As long as you're working on some aspect of attention/awareness, reflection/vigilance, and recall/memory, in some form, you're building a strong foundation for lucid dreaming.   Keeping things new and interesting and avoiding a slide into dull routine is also important.   Discovering "how long" is part of the journey.  Maybe sometimes you do want an extended run on one particular practice.

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## Elaol

Thanks FM for your response, now I understand your theory a lot better. Can you please help me with reflective questions, I'm having hard time coming up with a question that matches your description?

About today...

I had an interesting dream today. Not sure if it was lucid. It was a sexual dream, I wanted to have sex with DC (non-lucid in this phase), but other DCs kept disturbing us. For example, we were in bathroom getting to business, and DC comes in. Then we go to the bedroom, another DC is entering. So I sat with all DCs in the room and told them I know why they keep interrupting us. It is because this is a dream and my unconscious mind doesn't want me to have sex with this person. I didn't have that "I am in a dream feeling", so I don't know what this was. 

I am also wondering if a person keeps overthinking everything about LDs, why doesn't that person have LDs all the time (since the person thinks about them every second). For example, now I am overthinking every LD of mine will be like this. Sometimes I really hate myself.

Anyways, todays GRC practice went very well. I noticed my weight as usual, but I also tried to notice it while talking with people. So I must give myself a pat on the back.

I also got excited because LDing again. It's been a while. I think I am overthinking everything because I love LDing so much I want it more and more, but I am afraid that I won't be able to do it. Even though, I WILL KEEP TRYING UNTIL I SUCCEED!  ::D: 

That's it for today!

See ya tomorrow!  ::D:

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## FryingMan

Hi Elaol, 
   There is nothing special about any particular reflective question, the main thing is that you are reflective about your experiences.   Some examples could include, "How odd is this?"   "What was I doing <just before this/15 minutes ago>?"   "Why do I think I'm awake?"  "Is this dream-like?"    "Is this a waking location?"   Reflection doesn't necessarily need to be framed as question, but it can be helpful.  

Nice dream!   Sounds like a low-level lucid for sure with the "this is a dream" dialogue.   Not every lucid will necessarily come with a super strong "this is a dream feeling", lucidity falls on a spectrum, it's not just black or white.     You can train yourself to really grab on to these little lucid sparks and fan them into a full-strength lucid dream, it's a matter of discipline and practice.   That's pretty challenging when you're entangled in a hot and heavy moment with a DC hottie  :smiley: .   I have had many what I term "semi-lucids," especially sex dreams, where I know that I'm in a situation not like the normal waking state, but I don't make (or am simply not interested in making!) that final leap to full lucidity and "I'm dreaming."

Note that Sageous  :sageous:  writes that "some dreams are fine just the way they are," not every dream needs to be lucid to be enjoyable or interesting or meaningful.    

As to why do particular people have or not have LDs constantly despite obsessing over them (as I have and continue to do quite a lot of the time!), I think the answer is to be found in my "perfect storm" theory: it takes the coming together of many diverse factors to result in a lucid dream.   Strong intent/desire is one part, but not the only part.   Also, there is the critical notion of "balance" -- strong intent needs to be balanced with relaxation and acceptance and confidence.   Desiring something too intently may actually stall progress if it results in frustration and lack of confidence and feelings of failure.   That's why I emphasize that all practitioners should cultivate a very positive, happy, grateful attitude towards all their dreams.   Work for the lucids, they'll come in time, but enjoy all your dreams, and enjoy the journey and the practice itself, that's the only way to sustain it.

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## Elaol

Hey FM, thanks for response. I guess this is lowest level there is. I am aware there are different levels of lucidity (semi-lucid, lucid, fully lucid and super lucid), but this one was the lowest, I wasn't even in control of myself. But I guess that is success as well.

I have two things to report (I can't wait until tonight to post it). 

1. I had another lucid. It was lucid dream on the continuum. But it was on the end of the REM, the third dream in that phase, so I woke up few seconds after realizing it was a dream. I think the problem with DILDs is that they don't guarantee that you will become lucid at the beginning of REM phase, and if you are not experienced with DEILD than lucids can be very short. What do you guys think of this? I will spice up GRC with occasional WILD practice  ::D: 

2. I tried meditating last night on the feeling of gravity. It was a lot easier than meditating on the breath. My mind became calmer easier. I will definitely continue doing that. 

That is is for this morning  ::D:

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## FryingMan

It's good to practice all techniques, WILD/DEILD included!    There's no guarantee with a WILD that you will make it into the dream lucid, or that you won't lose lucidity immediately even if you enter the dream lucid with a WILD.    The best part of DILDs is that you need not spend a lot of time awake during the night.   Some nights we just can't afford WBTB time, but would still like to have lucid dreams, that's what DILDs are great for!

For beginners, DILDs can indeed come at the end of the REM cycle when we're waking up for the day, and so those LDs can be short.    With practice and repetition, DILDs can move earlier and earlier into the night and the sleep cycle, even right at the start of the dream.   And with more practice, you can learn to extend your LDs to the very end of your REM phase.    And then, if you've studied DEILD at all, you can pop right back into a dream and just keep on going!

There is no fundamental quality difference between DILDs and WILDs.   Yes, with WILDs, you are potentially maximizing your total lucid time, but you are also generally sacrificing time you would otherwise be asleep in order to perform the WILD dive.   Depending on one's WILD proclivities and sleep requirements and tendencies towards insomnia, that could be a matter of minutes or a matter of hours, or you could even lose all the rest of the dreaming for the night if you don't get back to sleep.    There are lots of trade-offs to consider!

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## Elaol

> It's good to practice all techniques, WILD/DEILD included!    There's no guarantee with a WILD that you will make it into the dream lucid, or that you won't lose lucidity immediately even if you enter the dream lucid with a WILD.    The best part of DILDs is that you need not spend a lot of time awake during the night.   Some nights we just can't afford WBTB time, but would still like to have lucid dreams, that's what DILDs are great for!
> 
> For beginners, DILDs can indeed come at the end of the REM cycle when we're waking up for the day, and so those LDs can be short.    With practice and repetition, DILDs can move earlier and earlier into the night and the sleep cycle, even right at the start of the dream.   And with more practice, you can learn to extend your LDs to the very end of your REM phase.    And then, if you've studied DEILD at all, you can pop right back into a dream and just keep on going!
> 
> There is no fundamental quality difference between DILDs and WILDs.   Yes, with WILDs, you are potentially maximizing your total lucid time, but you are also generally sacrificing time you would otherwise be asleep in order to perform the WILD dive.   Depending on one's WILD proclivities and sleep requirements and tendencies towards insomnia, that could be a matter of minutes or a matter of hours, or you could even lose all the rest of the dreaming for the night if you don't get back to sleep.    There are lots of trade-offs to consider!



Yeah, I was thinking about that. Because of my seizure and strict sleep schedule I am on, I could afford WILD attempts about 2 times a week, when I wake up naturally. More, if it is successful WILD or if I fall asleep xD DILDs are still my preferred technique, my health comes first. They both have their advantages and disadvantages I guess. 

I am a bit frustrated because I have had 31 LD by now and none of them were high-level lucids where I could actually do something I like. I don't mean doing Task of the year or Dream Hero League tasks, but I would like at least to fly fully conscious or to have sex with DC. Some beginner stuff. I get really discouraged when I have these low-level lucids. I have all the knowledge how to change low-level into high-level lucid, but I never did it so far in my LDs. 

Sorry for the rant, but when you're into this for so long, it gets pilled up  :smiley:

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## FryingMan

It's good I think to plan both "fun" LD activities and "good for you" LD activities.   Some "good for you" activities involve basic dream control/dream yoga techniques like sticking your hand through a wall (and then knocking on it as if it were solid, and then sticking your hand/arm through again, etc.  fun!)   As for lengthening LDs, I think really working on staying calm is very important.   If you get really excited by flying, and pretty much everybody gets excited by sex, there is a tendency to wake up when excited.    So for those early LDs, if you just look around, explore, interact with some DCs (in a platonic way  :smiley: ), maybe easing your way into a romantic encounter instead of just TKing off the clothes and jumping right in, that may help.    If you instead of jumping into exciting things first tell yourself that you're going to do a little "control" or "engage" exercise, then try flying after that, you can extend the dream and bring about higher levels of lucidity.

And once again, frustration is counter-productive.   Believe me, I understand frustration, but I came to the realization that it was hurting and not helping, so I just let go of it.    I really believe in the positive effects of enjoying all your dreaming experiences, and that as a result, more vivid, lucid dreams will eventually result.

So perhaps set less aggressive goals to start with.   Simple things like finding a door and opening it, exploring a room, or just setting an in-dream goal like "see what's around that corner" and doing it.   Being able to do thing like that while maintaining lucidity is the foundation for the more adventurous dreams which will come later.

Meet your early, easier goals and feel the accomplishment and confidence that comes from doing so.  Then gradually ratchet up the difficulty level.

Having fun in the dream and really enjoying it, having a slew of little mini-goals to satisfy, not worrying about the dream ending, I find that these approaches have resulted in the longest, clearest, most stable LDs of all.     It's a balance (there's the B word again!): you want to engage in the dream environment, yet hold yourself a little bit separate from it, to prevent getting lost in the plot and losing lucidity.

Do you have a lot of very vivid & present non-lucid dreams?   Dreams where you feel like "I'm really here!" (but just don't realize it's a dream)?   If not, it could be that you're not paying enough attention to your waking experiences.    Or it could be that you're early in your sleep cycles and you mind is too sluggish for a high level lucid.     The best remedy is time and experience: stay positive, love all your dreams, and really enjoy the practice itself.   The dreams will come in time.

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## Elaol

> Do you have a lot of very vivid & present non-lucid dreams?   Dreams where you feel like "I'm really here!" (but just don't realize it's a dream)?   If not, it could be that you're not paying enough attention to your waking experiences.    Or it could be that you're early in your sleep cycles and you mind is too sluggish for a high level lucid.     The best remedy is time and experience: stay positive, love all your dreams, and really enjoy the practice itself.   The dreams will come in time.



Thanks for the response FM, I can try it that way. I will make a list of small goals, I hope accomplishing them will make me more motivated  ::D:  

For example, last night I recalled 10 dreams. I woke up every hour or so. I think since there were so many of them, they were pretty short, few sentences . The night before I recalled 4 dreams, but they were more like the movie, so 4 long dreams. My dreams are mostly visual, and auditory, there aren't other sensations. I rarely feel taste or touch. Some of them are very vivid, some are less vivid. I am also, in the last couple of weeks, recalling a lot of non-REM dreams. I am really happy with my recall  ::D:

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## FryingMan

It's great that you have such good recall!   That should be a great source of enjoyment and confidence!   The vividness I'm referring to is more vividness of awareness:  did you really feel like "you" -- your personality with your memories, were there in the dreams?   This vividness of awareness comes from day practice of attention/awareness/mindfulness, that's one reason why mindfulness is such a great practice for lucid dreaming.

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## Elaol

> It's great that you have such good recall!   That should be a great source of enjoyment and confidence!   The vividness I'm referring to is more vividness of awareness:  did you really feel like "you" -- your personality with your memories, were there in the dreams?   This vividness of awareness comes from day practice of attention/awareness/mindfulness, that's one reason why mindfulness is such a great practice for lucid dreaming.



I see, well, it is me, my body, my voice, but I don't have real life memories. If I am occupied by something during the day, it sometimes transfer to dreams. But usually I don't have any information from daily life. Seems I have to work on my mindfulness. But shouldn't GRC boost vividness of awareness? And do you think it is good that I switched focus of Vipassana to the gravity?

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## FryingMan

Certainly access to memory is impaired in the dream state -- I wasn't referring to full waking memories, but that "sense" that you know who you are.

I don't know if GRC boosts vividness of awareness, I think though that it falls much more under state awareness/vigilance.  I think that vividness of experience comes from bringing your full, high-level awareness/attention to your waking experiences.    If you feel strongly that GRC is right for you, you should follow it.   We all need to find our own path and discover what works best for us.   As long as you're covering the fundamentals, any consistent practice should work.   I personally prefer mindfulness of experience and reaction, since it has benefits to both waking and dreaming life.  I bring in state vigilance frequently but I don't hold it 24x7.

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## Elaol

Since I already wrote a lot today, I'll keep this short.

First, thank you FM for your post. Now I feel there is so many types of awareness, it can really get overwhelming sometimes. Since mindfulness is so beneficial, I will double my Vipassana time. I will do it twice a day (hopefully). If I manage to implement somehow walking mindfulness of breath besides noticing my feet and hands, I'll do that as well, but I think it can't be done atm.

About today's practice. Since I sat most of the day, I was trying to notice the sensation of touching the surface I was sitting on. It went quite well, I wish I walked more though  ::D:  

Let's see what the night is bringing  ::D:

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## FryingMan

I don't think that there are so many different types of awareness.   I think that there are many different shades or descriptions of what is fundamentally the same thing, but every person finds their own way to frame and describe them and label them.   I personally find mindfulness practice and theory congruent to my own views and experiences of lucidity.   As teachers, we encourage our students to find their own path and to seek and experiment and experience on their own and to reach their own conclusions.   Trying to follow each individual interpretation as a different kind of awareness can indeed be overwhelming.

That's why my statement of my "unified theory" is so general.    Pay attention ("be here, now"), reflect ("where/what is here & now, are they dream-like?"), recall (keep your connection to memory open and stretch it and exercise it).   But even that is my own labeling of the nameless aspects of consciousness and experience.   If you're overwhelmed, then you're probably over thinking it.

There are benefits to starting off with following one author's particular lucid dreaming program, ala LaBerge's MILD, or dream yoga ala Holecek: it gives you a holistic program with structure and specific things to do while you're beginning, to avoid the overwhelming aspect.      I don't want to dissuade you from GRC or anything you're excited about, but it seems to me that an all day singular RC approach is somewhat advanced in that it assumes that you've already got the basics (self-awareness with reflection and memory) covered.

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## Elaol

Yaaaay, my favorite kind of post. It's success story time  ::D:   ::D:   ::D: 

First, thanks FM for the response. I have tendency to overthink  ::D:  I think going back to basics can be beneficial, but I'll try to do that while also doing my GRC practice. 

And noooooooow, the moment you've all been waiting for, I had another LD  :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance: 


*Spoiler* for _DC/DS induced LD_: 



I was going back home. It's pitch black outside, all the street lights are off. There is weak light source in the hair salon right at the corner. I see silhouettes of some people. It seems like I recognize one of them, but I am wrong. It is not a person, it is a dog. I turn right near, I'm heading to the entrance of my staircase. I see a shady guy standing there. He tries to attack me, and I warn him I am much stronger than before. He wants to rob someone in the building and orders me to show him where the apartment of the man is. I agree, but when he turns his back on me, I attack him. We fight for a few minutes, and then I decide to rewind the dream and try to escape him (still not lucid ATM). We go up the staircase and I kick him in the balls and start running to my apartment on the fifth floor. When I arrive on the top floor, I see him waiting for me. In this moment I realize that I am dreaming and become lucid. He tells me to wake up. I say no, and stay in the dream. I remember the advice I heard both from Sageous and FryingMan that memory can increase lucidity. So I start by saying my name, where I study, what I study. All accurate information. I am having hard time remembering how old I am, first I think it is 18, but then I remember I am 23. The dream starts to stabilize. But as I continue on improving my memory, I realize I am talking IRL. I wake up 2 minutes before my alarm 




I want to emphasize a few things in this dream:
1. I have more self-esteem, I always ran from the thieves, which are one of the most common dream signs for me
2. I rewinded the dream, although I was not lucid. Maybe at that time I had minimum lucidity, like in the dream from two nights ago?
3. I actually remembered that tip about memory
4. The dream started to stabilize  
5. Again, I became lucid at the end of the REM. I can't wait for that to move to the beginning of the dream, like FM said, so I can have longer lucids

I also tried DEILDing after the dream. I swear I didn't move, I haven't changed my pattern of breathing, nothing, but I couldn't go back in the dream. What do you guys recommend for DEILDing? I will look into some guides here, but personal tips and tricks are usually more useful  ::D:

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## FryingMan

Yay!  Congrats!   Great dream and reflection/realization to get lucid.   Making that connection with waking memory I find very very useful for boosting lucidity.

DEILDing I find is mostly about conditions and in-advance preparedness than technique.   It is practically a non-technique: remain quiet and still, *with a calm, dreamy mindset*, and *lightly* consider the dream you just woke from, and allow yourself to drift off again.   That's it.  If the conditions are right, you'll find yourself back in a dream in seconds.   You can't really control the conditions, which involve being in the right stage of your sleep cycles and your mind/body being still ready for more sleep, and having a very quiet/still bedroom.   The preparedness involved is in recognizing (and if exiting a lucid dream, recognizing the transition out of the dream state) the waking (or more accurately the potential waking, you can never really tell if a "waking" is actual or a FA, IMO, without moving and doing an RC, which can spoil any DEILD attempt, it's very akin to Shrodinger's cat).   So you did your part well: you may just have been too excited at the LD to fall back asleep.   After a good LD, that's is very common for me, especially when I was still within the first several dozen LDs of my practice.

I think the DILDs moving to earlier and earlier in the sleep cycle comes with the mind becoming more and more familiar with operating in the lucid state.   That, and gaining familiarity with lucidity over time allows you to remain calm and balanced.   So, just keep on going, get more lucids, and err on the side of perhaps less exciting LD tasks so that you get familiar with holding the lucid state for as long as you can and build up as many lucid minutes as possible (building up lucid minutes being important is one conjecture of mine).   Also, (another conjecture of mine), the higher your base level of awareness, the less "awake" your mind must be in order to lucid dream, allowing LDs earlier in the night and sleep cycle.

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## Elaol

Thanks FM for reply, I read some tutorials of DEILDs and I'll try to implement all the information I have gained today the next time I have lucid dream. Your help guys means so much, idk if I would do GRC for this long if it wasn't for your support. I can't wait to have GILD again  ::D: 

Sooooooooooooo  ::D: 

Since most of my was spent sitting, I tried to focus on the feeling of sitting and I was successful 30% of the time, which I think is pretty good  ::D:  Now I am going for a walk with my friend which is great chance to practice GRC while talking to someone. I will report tomorrow how it went. 

When I come back, I'll meditate for the second time today. Yep, I increased the number of meditations. I hope that will increase the awareness, so I will become lucid easier than usual. 

I hope I'll have lucid again today. Happy dreaming everyone  ::D:

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## fogelbise

Congratulations Elaol!!...and great interaction here FryingMan!! Great work both of you, it is paying off!!





> I also tried DEILDing after the dream. I swear I didn't move, I haven't changed my pattern of breathing, nothing, but I couldn't go back in the dream. What do you guys recommend for DEILDing? I will look into some guides here, but personal tips and tricks are usually more useful



A mindset that I think helps tremendously is something I have been calling pre-DEILD. I talk about it in this post #8 but the OP is also good to read if you haven't seen it yet: http://www.dreamviews.com/general-lu...ml#post2177196

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## Elaol

> Congratulations Elaol!!...and great interaction here FryingMan!! Great work both of you, it is paying off!!
> 
> A mindset that I think helps tremendously is something I have been calling pre-DEILD. I talk about it in this post #8 but the OP is also good to read if you haven't seen it yet: http://www.dreamviews.com/general-lu...ml#post2177196



Hey fogelbise, haven't heard from you in a while  ::D:  Thanks for response. I will certainly try to implement this advice.

I had the best dream recall last night. 4 dreams, but each half page long. They were so vivid, first time I felt warmth and touch during non-lucid sex dreams. That made me thinking, last night I was pretty good at company GRC. I was walking with my friend and I stayed focused on GRC 50% of the time. I think that is pretty good. I also meditated two times, so I definitely worked on awareness.

That made me thinking of FryingMan's unified theory. Perhaps I should really pay attention to the fundamentals. So, here is the plan:
1. Work towards two half-hours sessions of mindfulness of breath
2. At least once every hour reflect on the current state
3. About recall, idk, maybe I should every night try to relive that day

What do you guys think? Is this OK?

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## FryingMan

> I had the best dream recall last night. 4 dreams, but each half page long. They were so vivid, first time I felt warmth and touch during non-lucid sex dreams. That made me thinking, last night I was pretty good at company GRC. I was walking with my friend and I stayed focused on GRC 50% of the time. I think that is pretty good. I also meditated two times, so I definitely worked on awareness.
> 
> That made me thinking of FryingMan's unified theory. Perhaps I should really pay attention to the fundamentals. So, here is the plan:
> 1. Work towards two half-hours sessions of mindfulness of breath
> 2. At least once every hour reflect on the current state
> 3. About recall, idk, maybe I should every night try to relive that day
> 
> What do you guys think? Is this OK?



Excellent, great news on the recall!   That says your dreaming ("dream awareness" ala Sensei) is in a good place, keep it up!

My "unified" theory has two parts: describing (my framing of) the fundamentals, and doing it both day and night.   Don't try to be "different" at night to get lucid, instead, try to be lucid 24x7 so that the night is not really much different than the day in terms of your mindset.

I think seated mindfulness sessions are very good, they contribute towards all the wonderful benefits including growth of the pre-frontal cortex (as I understand it).   Then try to maintain that attention during your "normal" experiences.  That's the attention I'm talking about**: attention and reflection and recall of your life's experiences, every day.    The more continuously you can do them, the better.   But ease into it so that it's not overwhelming.

For recall, think about, at least some times during the day, maintaining a connection with your memory.   Like, when you're going somewhere, keep in mind both where you have just been and where you're going.  Try to "see" or "feel" the places you have moved through in the last (15 minutes, for example).  Also what you said or did or experienced.   Then a "day review" at bedtime is also very valuable to open up that access to memory going into the dreaming portions of your night.   Something I do from time to time is pick out particular memories from the day that I resolve I will include in my evening review, then in that review see if I can remember them all.  Using a mnemonic approach like the "peg system" is extremely helpful in doing this.

Ultimately, I think the goal is to maintain a continuous blend of all 3.  It's not that "ok, this is the attention hour, then this is the reflection hour, then this is the recall time," but try to keep all of them active.   I certainly don't do this all the time every day, it usually ends up in sections as I remember to do them.   But I think that's the ultimate goal.   Being able to keep a portion of your access to memory alive while in the dream state is very challenging but will yield lots of lucid fruit as you remember your goal of being lucid in the dream state.

Do what you can.  Be confident that if you're working on the fundamentals, maintaining strong intent/desire/excitement about dreaming, the LDs will come when they do.    Feel free to emphasize portions you feel you need to work on more.    For me, I know I'm strong in attention and recall, but weak in reflection and [night-time]intention, goal-setting and night work/WBTB.  LDing needs them all coming together.   We each need to be our own analyst and honest evaluator since only we can see into our dreaming experiences.

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## Elaol

Wow, thanks FM for that response. Now I really understand what to do  ::D: 

I'm so tired, I've been working on this research for 10 hours today. That is why my GRC practice suffered. I couldn't concentrate on both things. I took a 15 minute walk today to clear my head, and that is when I practiced GRC. I will also do another round of mindfulness, so I hope that will increase my chance of lucidity tonight. 

That's it, I'm going to take a shower  :smiley:

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## fogelbise

> That made me thinking of FryingMan's unified theory. Perhaps I should really pay attention to the fundamentals. So, here is the plan:
> 1. Work towards two half-hours sessions of mindfulness of breath
> 2. At least once every hour reflect on the current state
> 3. About recall, idk, maybe I should every night try to relive that day
> 
> What do you guys think? Is this OK?



FM already gave an excellent response, so I just had a few things I wanted to add in order to respond to your question.

1. I feel mindfulness of breath is not only great for LD practice, but also for quickly recognizing stress coming on before it takes hold, anticipating when you may be getting ready to make an overly emotional decision, for raising the ability to focus, and for opening up your field of awareness to name a few benefits.

2. an excellent practiceeven better if you can blend the fundamentals as FM mentioned, but that can be a longer term goal to move towards.

3. I think that is helpful for recall but you are doing something right already. Try to identify what it is that you have been doing that led to your nice recall last night also.

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## Elaol

Thanks fogelbise for your response. Both yours and FMs feedback are really appreciated  :smiley: 

Today was another stressful day. I have those a lot lately. I'm not feeling very well, so my practice is suffering as well. I am really anxious these days, so much I can't fall asleep. But I try to keep LD practice going. Today, I was on some education and I tried to be aware and to keep track of the gravity. It went pretty well. 

I have a lot of thinking to do considering fundamentals. But I will postpone that for a couple of days. 

See you tomorrow  :smiley:

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## Elaol

Hello everyone!  ::D: 

I'm in a good mood today (better than yesterday anyway). So, I have some things to report. First, I had awesome dream recall, yaay me! Second, in multiple dreams I have found something odd, but didn't become lucid. I think I'm on a good way to becoming lucid more frequently. 

Third, I have considered fundamentals and GRC. I think I will try another month with GRC, because it is easy to do it at them moment. I am in not good state of mind, so I cannot do fundamentals right now. I think it would be the best if I do so important task when I am in better state of mind. 

Today's practice was OK. I was noticing gravity pretty well. 

That is it for today.

See ya tomorrow  :smiley:

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## Elaol

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!  :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance: 

First of, sorry for my attitude last couple of days, it was really dark. I will try to talk less about it on this thread.

Second, I had another LD. This time I did something actually  ::D:  Two of the short time goals you guys told me to do. Here is the dream, if you'd like to read it


*Spoiler* for _AWESOOOOME_: 



I am in street market, and I see gipsy woman. She approaches me and I know she will steal my wallet (again thieves in my dreams). I try to defend myself and I realize I am dreaming. I rub my hands against the stone, but I wake up. I return back to sleep (I didn't know this was FA) and I see some gipsy kid (I swear I have nothing against them). Again I know he will steal my wallet. I put my hand on the back pocket, but my wallet is missing. I know that happened in last dream, so I realize I am still dreaming. I see a door and remember my goal to go from one room to another. I do that. I see interesting girl dressed in '60s clothes. I start to dance with her. It is very nice (almost loosing lucidity here). The dream starts to fade, so I spin around. I end up in a cheap motel, in an empty room. I remember my goal to talk to DC and ask him to tell me something. I go in another room thinking to myself that someone will be there. I see a guy. I don't remember how he looks. He tells me something about greek tragedy (I'm reading Divine Comedy atm), but I don't hear him very well. I ask him to tell me something. He tells me: "You shouldn't be afraid of rain and snow, but you might be afraid of the hail". I say OK. I see a closed door. I approach the door and say to myself that I will be in Dubrovnik. I open the door and see luxurious apartment, not like the one in Dubrovnik, but close. My relatives are there, I tell them to leave and they disappear, but come back seconds after. MY third goal was to find a white bunny. I try to do that saying to myself that a white bunny will be behind me. I turn around but nothing is there. I decide I want to fly, but I wake up.  




So, couple things to note:
1. I am very anxious and I still had LD. Yaaay me!
2. I drank sleeping pill again, and I had LD.
3. I think I had this LD because I woke up to record the dream at 6:48, and I had this dream at 7. So, I guess it was unintentional WBTB.

Todays GRC went well. I have nothing crucial to report here. 

That's it  ::D:  

Happy dreaming everyone  ::D:

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## FryingMan

Nice, nice, nice!    Love the doors, the transitions, the DC interactions, the conversation, the spin save!   Keep it up with the mini-goals, did you feel how it helped you stay in the dream by giving you always something else new to do from moment to moment without having to think or pause too long?

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## fogelbise

Awesome job Elaol!! You should be very proud! That night before when you were noticing things, that was a good sign and then you followed through with a good solid lucid dream where you were able to achieve a number of things and notice that you were dreaming 2 different times!  ::D: 

You are doing awesome and I see no problem sticking with what is working for you and waiting to experiment with additional items.

I agree with FM that having those goals ready in your mind definitely helps to extend the dream.

Keep up the good work!  ::D:

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## Elaol

Thanks guys for the response!  ::D: 

@fogelbise That makes sense. Having those micro goals keeps dream longer. I remember I also read that somewhere on the forum, but until you mentioned it I completely forgot about it.

Another success story  :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance:   :Awesome Dance: 


*Spoiler* for _Lucid dreamers killer_: 



I'll skip until the lucid part. So, that man who kills lucid dreamers is after me. I ran from him into my building. On the final floor I realize I am dreaming. The dream is not as lucid as last one, so it is easier to control it, since dreaming mind is mostly on. I go out to confront him. Idk if you have played Skyrim, but there is a shout in the game that blows away the opponent. It is my favorite semi-lucid weapon. I go out and shout FUS-RO-DAH! and he is blown away. I remember my goals. The first one is memory. So I start recalling the facts about me. Now, when I am fully conscious I see some of them were wrong, in some way. For example, I told my smallest toy was a penguin. I would never say that IRL, but now when I think about, I really had small penguin toy. When I have finished with that, I remembered the white rabbit task. I try to do it, but I get white ghost. It looks like those helium balloons you can get at carnivals. Since I am not as lucid as yesterday, I can easily make my hand on fire and attack the ghost. Then I realize he is part of me and I heal him, by making my hand shine blue. I wake, but I am writing my dream on circular paper. I awake for real  ::D: 




Things to note:
1. It seems easier to do things when you are semi-lucid, since dreaming mind is on. But then you lack thought and sensations you have when you have higher lucidity.

Question for my teachers:
1. How do you fight characters in your dreams? I seem to be having moral dilemma. On the one hand, they are part of me. On the other, one of the main reasons I am lucid dreaming is the thrill of the wizards fight.

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## Saizaphod

Two lucids again, nice!  :smiley:  Always happy to see your  :Awesome Dance:  - posts.





> 1. How do you fight characters in your dreams? I seem to be having moral dilemma. On the one hand, they are part of me. On the other, one of the main reasons I am lucid dreaming is the thrill of the wizards fight.



Usually I just go and fight them without giving it a second thought. You're not really hurting anybody/anything, not even yourself. But if you do have a bad feeling of "Maybe I shouldn't fight this person just because I can, and because it is a part of me", then maybe you can kinda like smile and wink at them just to say " We're doing this for fun, but let's pretend it's serious". It's kinda like role-playing with yourself in the end. About the wizard fighting: Maybe you would like to check out the "Dream Hero League's" current tasks? It has a wizard battle - task active at the moment, and you could try to get some points to the thread on the side  :;-): 

Keep it up!  :smiley:

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## Elaol

> Two lucids again, nice!  Always happy to see your  - posts.
> 
> 
> Usually I just go and fight them without giving it a second thought. You're not really hurting anybody/anything, not even yourself. But if you do have a bad feeling of "Maybe I shouldn't fight this person just because I can, and because it is a part of me", then maybe you can kinda like smile and wink at them just to say " We're doing this for fun, but let's pretend it's serious". It's kinda like role-playing with yourself in the end. About the wizard fighting: Maybe you would like to check out the "Dream Hero League's" current tasks? It has a wizard battle - task active at the moment, and you could try to get some points to the thread on the side 
> 
> Keep it up!



Hi, thanks for replying  ::D:  

That sounds like a good advice, I'll use it in a future.

I still have trouble making the dream fully lucid, I want to gain some experience in stabilization and control, and then I will start DHL tasks. They inspire me the most  ::D: 

And yaaaay, 100th post on this page  ::D:

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## FryingMan

Try to mix "good for you" and "fun" stuff in the same dream.   Good motivation to do the "good for you" stuff first  :smiley: .

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## fogelbise

^Agreed. When I read your question about fighting I related to it. Sometimes I fight off attackers or pursuers so I can move on to do what I really want to do but I also sometimes stop and ask the DC why they are coming at me hoping to learn something about myself or about some universal truth. I guess you can also learn how to defend yourself by fighting much like researchers say you can practice sports skills in a dream. All in all though, I agree to mix in types of fun you are into with types of learning that interest you.

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## FryingMan

I'm not a huge fan of LD fighting ("I'm a lover, not a fighter!").   Meaning, I don't go looking for it.  Sometimes it comes up in context and it's actually kind of fun.    Sensei does a ton of it and he says it really helps him remain grounded in the dream.

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## Elaol

Hey guys, I have some awesome news.

First of, which is not awesome, I didn't recall any dreams this morning. But it is probably because I took 10mg of sleeping pills. 

Now the awesome news: I went to therapist today and I found a way to deal with my anxiety. So I hope that my dark posts are over.

About GRC, today went splendid, I am very happy with myself. Yesterday (I didn't have time to write it) was fine, I could have done better.

I also want to tell you that I got that job I was talking about few days ago. I had second chance at applying and I got it, I am starting in a week. This isn't dream related, but writing this has become something I really look forward to, so I wanted to tell you.

See you tomorrow, have wonderful dreams!

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## fogelbise

Congratulations on the new job! That is great to hear about your new hope on the anxiety front! Wonderful dreams to you too!  :smiley:

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## Elaol

Thanks fogelbise!

I had some really weird dreams  ::D:  One was FA-like-dream. I was at my therapist office and I "woke up" to record the therapy, but I was in a room that is totally different that my room IRL and some kid was bothering me while I was recording what I did on therapy.

In the second dream, I was on education. The teacher ask us if we wanted a break and I said yes, but that meant (in dream): "Yes, I need a break of this dream, but I will be back in this dream after the break". So I woke up  ::D:  So weird  ::D: 

OK, g2g now, to many things to do today  ::D:

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## Elaol

Hey guys, it's the 30th day of my practice.

So, I am not pleased with my dedication last few days. I was practicing GRC, but not as the first two weeks. My dreams have changed. Last couple of days they are weird. This morning, I was able to remember few dreams but they were in a format: I am somewhere talking to someone about something. So I don't know the detail, otherwise it would be for example: I am in Sarajevo, talking to Adnan about slacklining. 

I definitely need to increase my practice in the next month. But it is hard to constantly do LD practices when you have 1000 other things on your mind.

I was thinking of including daily mindful/GRC walks. My meditation practice has been lacking as well. Today I will really increase the practice, both for LDing and for dream recall. I really dislike not remembering my dreams. I must get new DJ, since I don't like my new DJ. 

To sum up my impressions of this month:
I really have learned a lot, from various sources. My LD experience has also increased tremendously. I don't know if the reason for that is writing this, because I really enjoy it, or practicing GRC or meditating, or reading about LD a lot, or thinking about LD a lot. Or a mixture of these elements. Thank you everyone, especially to my teachers fogelbise and FryingMan. My practice has been lacking last week comparing to the practice from the first two weeks. But, I have the next 30 days to correct that. 

I'm really looking forward to continuing this journey  ::D: 

EDIT: GRC thingy

So, today I was really gravity-aware  ::D:  For the bigger part of the day. I didn't meditate twice, but I will do it in 20 minutes. let's see what the night is bringing  ::D:

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## Elaol

Hey everyone,

today I did yoga while trying to be mindful of every movement. While doing it, I also played some theta music and meditated afterwards. It was an amazing experience.

Things on GRC front are good as well. I need to spice it up a bit, I am considering three things: fundamentals, dream yoga or WILD. What do you guys think? I need material to write here  ::D:

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## FryingMan

> Hey everyone,
> 
> today I did yoga while trying to be mindful of every movement. While doing it, I also played some theta music and meditated afterwards. It was an amazing experience.
> 
> Things on GRC front are good as well. I need to spice it up a bit, I am considering three things: fundamentals, dream yoga or WILD. What do you guys think? I need material to write here



In my opinion, fundamentals are not things that you do instead of some other practice, they're something you do while performing a practice.   If a practice doesn't cover the fundamentals, then it's not really a practice.    If you did dream yoga ala "The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep" and/or Andrew Holecek, I'd say you would be covering the fundamentals.

WILD is always something to be trying along with a DILD practice.    Perhaps giving it just one or two days per week, and giving it a serious attempt, your best effort each time.    Or maybe just a few times per month even, what ever your schedule will reasonably comfortably allow.    You will gain experience and learn more on every attempt, whatever the results.

I would say you could combine all of them: dream yoga, GRC, and WILD.    For example, you could incorporate reflection upon your sense of gravity in the dream yoga illusory form day practice.

Whatever you decide to do, it is most important that you enjoy the practice, so that you keep it up, whatever it is.   As long as you're working on building awareness, reflecting on your state, and working on memory (day and dream recall), you'll be heading in the right direction.     

Maybe try a bit of each thing and see what resonates with you most strongly.

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## Elaol

Hey FM, what's up? Thanks for the response, now the things are clearer for me. 

Nothing new on GRC front, I think I lost motivation since I don't have any gravity dreams. On the other hand, since I am really anxious these days, that might also be affecting my dreams. I don't know how to be excited again about GRC. I would really like to succeed in it, it seems like a perfect technique, but I don't have that many gravity dreams. Actually I only had that one LD I wrote about here. What do you guys think may be the problem?

I incorporated WILD this morning. I saw a page I wrote IRL, I tried to hard to read it, so I woke up with a twitch  :Sad: 

I also had one dream in which I was counting meds. I thought: This is weird, I might be dreaming. But I gave up, since it looks too real. 

Dammit! It's like I learned yesterday about LDing. Lucid dreaming opportunity status: MISSED!

I was doing yoga these days, not dream yoga. I play theta music, and notice my breathing during every position. It really relaxes me and I finish the session with Vipassana. It lasts about 40 min. Do you think that contributes to my awareness? Since I am 40 min constantly aware? 

I really like Dream yoga by Andrew H. I will buy it asap  ::D:

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## FryingMan

About GRC, it may just be a matter of sticking with it longer to get more of the incubation effect.   Or it may be that another All Day RC target would be more appropriate.   Remember that Hukif didn't decide to just try gravity out of the blue, he did a WILD and discovered that in his dream gravity felt different than waking.     Thus his advice for people to be familiar with their dreams and to choose targets that match their typical dream experience.    I think all day RCs/single focus incubation can work, but it does take thinking a LOT about that one thing for most of the day.   I find that pretty tiring myself.    But I did start to see some results with it.  Maybe it just takes a really long time for some people to get it going solidly.

Yes there can be close misses like that counting meds near miss.   Just chalk it up to experience.   Work on convincing yourself that "looks real" does *not* mean waking state.   Take that mindset and turn it around: any time you think anything "looks real", remember that in the dream state you think you're awake.   Take that feeling and use it for reflection, and do an RC, especially any time you really think you're awake.   At least some of the time you'll be surprised and find yourself lucid in a dream!    Awareness&attention/reflection/memory, they all work together.

I love the Andrew H Dream yoga book.  I need to finish it now!

Good luck and keep practicing!

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## Elaol

Thanks FM, I will get the book ASAP  ::D: 

You didn't answer me to this part of the question, I am really curious what do you think





> I was doing yoga these days, not dream yoga. I play theta music, and notice my breathing during every position. It really relaxes me and I finish the session with Vipassana. It lasts about 40 min. Do you think that contributes to my awareness? Since I am 40 min constantly aware?



I had one more lucid this morning. Yesterday, I was doing GRC, yoga+awareness and recalling my day. Here is the dream:


*Spoiler* for _Test_: 



I was doing some test. I was really confused. The questions were really confusing. Then the scene switched and I was in my room. I couldn't find the test. I figured that this must be a dream, since I can't find the test I was just doing. I did nose-plug RC and it worked. I remembered my goals. First, stabilization using senses. I was touching everything. I remember the dream starting to fade, like my eye was opening, but I continued touching everything and it worked. I was shouting: "Turn on the light!" but nothing happened (it was really dark in my room). The second goal was engaging memory for RL. I did that, but I don't remember this part very well. The third goal was feeling the gravity in my hands and feet. I did that as well and they seemed heavier. I then exited my room and went to the living room, to do the fourth goal: flying. I opened the window and flew out. This is the first time I was feeling the air rushing as I flew. I saw the forest and I went thought it. There were all kinds of freaky animals in vibrant colors.




The follow-up dream, which I am pretty sure is the previous dream, I just lost lucidity


*Spoiler* for _Follow-up dream_: 



I am in a park with my friend, we are walking on tree trunks that are ready for sawing. One lady wants to push us aside, we don't allow her to do so. we found some candy and I refuse to eat one of them, since it might be poisonous. While my friend is eating the candy and I am opening another one, I see one woman with curly orange hair, but it was really ugly, like she wasn't brushing it for months. I get another thief-alert, as you might know from my previous dreams. I become lucid instantly. I run away from her. I fail to stabilize and wake up soon after 




Things to note:
1. First dream was lucid, the best I ever had, but far from fully lucid, since I have memory holes and some parts were less lucid than the others, as the dream progressed I was less lucid. But yaaay me for having LD while being so stressed out. Second dream was semi-lucid, since I ran away from the thief, instead of just ignoring them.
2. I did remember my goals, but failed to to first two properly. I did them, so I can give myself pat on the back, but for the next time I must pay more attention to them
3. The longest lucid ever
4. I actually did something fun
5. This yoga thing might be the cause of my lucidity.

That's about it.

What do you guys think?

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## FryingMan

Yoga, breath awareness, and vipassana sounds good!  Try to also always work in thoughts of dreaming and reflection into what you do, for example, Sensei always relates the videos he watches to things he'd like to do in dreams.

Congrats on another LD!  Seems like you're doing just what you need to!   I don't know if full waking memory is attainable in the dream state all the time, but the more you work on it, the better you'll get.   Most important is full realization about he truth of your experience (that it's a dream).

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## Elaol

Thanks FM for you response. I actually do the same thing as Sensei. When I see something cool in a movie, I make a mental note to do that in a dream. 

Today my GRC practice was lacking. I have some issues which were bothering me, so I didn't have time to do GRC properly. I've noticed gravity periodically during the day, but not constantly. 

How I'm going to do yoga. See you tomorrow, guys. Have wonderful dreams!

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## fogelbise

Excellent job Elaol!! Another lucid with a lot of nice accomplishments along with a semi-lucid!  ::D: 

I like the way that you patted yourself on the back while noting what you can do even better next time. I think it is important to appreciate and celebrate your achievements along the way. I feel it gives us the fuel to improve further.

I think your yoga practices are beneficial to your lucid dreaming practice much the way people note correlations between mediation and lucid dreaming, especially maintaining awareness for 40 minutes at a time!

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## Elaol

Thanks fogelbise for your response. I really enjoy doing yoga, it is very fulfilling. It comes mot as something spiritual, thank as lucid dreaming technique.

Today I have started working. I tech Japanese people English. I open classes and they book them. Because of that, I sit at my computer most of the day. That stops me from doing GRC effectively, since it comes easier to me to do it while walking. Do you guys have any advice what to do while sitting that is beneficial for lucid dreaming?

About today's practice, it was lacking since I was working while day. I'm going to do yoga now. Recall this morning was excellent.

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## FryingMan

Sitting and working at a computer is one of the most challenging things for keeping awareness of any kind.   My usual response to this is: just do it!   Try to notice the times you've zoned out or focused so intently that you've lost general awareness.    Try to set particular points in your lessons or triggers for flashes of self-awareness.     Put sticky notes on the edges of your monitor: "RC!   Reflect!  Dreams!"   What I mean is just feel in a quick instant that you come back to yourself and that your awareness is focused back in your head, seeing yourself sitting at your computer, rather than being lost inside the contents of the screen.   See yourself sitting at your computer and notice things in your peripheral vision.  Just all in one quick flash, not spending a lot of time reflecting because you don't have that time generally in a class.   Try to have a bunch of these little flashes.   Be creative, try to think of new triggers and new ways to _feel_ your self-awareness during these times.    The beginning of building awareness in times of extreme focus is first to recognize the phenomena of getting lost in the details.

For sitting, I'd think that would be great for GRC: butt/back gravity awareness!

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## Elaol

> Sitting and working at a computer is one of the most challenging things for keeping awareness of any kind.   My usual response to this is: just do it!   Try to notice the times you've zoned out or focused so intently that you've lost general awareness.    Try to set particular points in your lessons or triggers for flashes of self-awareness.     Put sticky notes on the edges of your monitor: "RC!   Reflect!  Dreams!"   What I mean is just feel in a quick instant that you come back to yourself and that your awareness is focused back in your head, seeing yourself sitting at your computer, rather than being lost inside the contents of the screen.   See yourself sitting at your computer and notice things in your peripheral vision.  Just all in one quick flash, not spending a lot of time reflecting because you don't have that time generally in a class.   Try to have a bunch of these little flashes.   Be creative, try to think of new triggers and new ways to _feel_ your self-awareness during these times.    The beginning of building awareness in times of extreme focus is first to recognize the phenomena of getting lost in the details.
> 
> For sitting, I'd think that would be great for GRC: butt/back gravity awareness!



Awesome advice, thanks FM. I was working so hard that I see this at 10 PM xD I will apply this, perhaps when I am doing new exercise I will become aware for few seconds, or when I am teaching new word to a student. I also have to tell you guys, although this isn't a place for it, but what the heck, I have really good booking rates, for a beginner, so I am really happy  ::D: 

Today's GRC: while going to the bank, and the gym. The rest of the day none.

Now I am going to do yoga.

I have to note one more thing: I am thinking about my job whole day, since I have to check for classes every 15 minutes. After every REM, I wake up thinking about it. 6-7 times a night. Now I understand how if I thought about LD as much I would have LD all the time. Also, because of that, my DR is slightly worse. 

See you tomorrow, I have to do yoga now to relax a bit, my eyes want to pop out of my head.

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## Elaol

I was lazy ass today. I noted gravity only while walking with my friend.

Idk if I will catch time to do yoga.

My dreams are all about work, in dreamy, hidden meaning kind of way  ::D: 

Shortest post ever

good night!

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## Elaol

I am definitely better today. GRC is better than yesterday, not on the level it was before.

I suck at dream journaling on work days. I still haven't written my dream, and it is 10 PM. 

I probably won't do yoga this evening, I have dreams to write.

Nothing much to report, I hope tomorrow will be more material. 

Oh and yeah, I had semi-lucid, really low level, I think I was doing stabilization when I woke up. Yaaay me  :Awesome Dance:

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## fogelbise

> I also have to tell you guys, although this isn't a place for it, but what the heck, I have really good booking rates, for a beginner, so I am really happy 
> ...
> I have to note one more thing: I am thinking about my job whole day, since I have to check for classes every 15 minutes. After every REM, I wake up thinking about it. 6-7 times a night. Now I understand how if I thought about LD as much I would have LD all the time. Also, because of that, my DR is slightly worse.



It sounds like you are referring to the how many students are booking you for the English classes…that's awesome!

I think the frequent wakings thinking about work will calm down over time as you settle into this new job.





> Oh and yeah, I had semi-lucid, really low level, I think I was doing stabilization when I woke up. Yaaay me



Yaaay! Semi-lucids can be good fun and are a good sign that you are close!

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## Elaol

Thank fogelbise for your response. I hope I will have lucid soon  ::D: 

Today I was better at GRC  ::D:  I was with friends, drinking coffee, and I payed attention to the gravity. 

I also got the book called The Mind Illuminated, it is about concentration meditation. About that, does every meditation increases awareness required for LD, or just mindfulness meditation?

I will now do yoga and hit the bed  ::D:

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## FryingMan

Oooho I love collecting and starting (but not finishing, shame on me!) meditation books, I'll look into that one.  And start finishing some of the ones I've started!





> About that, does every meditation increases awareness required for LD, or just mindfulness meditation?



This is not a question with a straightforward answer IMO.     Mindfulness is, as described in "Mindfulness In Plain English", about training yourself to recognize the truth about your present moment experience, on a moment to moment basis.   That sounds pretty much right up the alley of lucid dreaming to me.   It's about paying attention to life experiences.    Dreams (and waking life) are life experiences.

Concentration meditation is useful for training and quieting your mind, which comes in handy at night time for falling asleep and WILDing.    Being able to concentrate also is a useful precursor for mindfulness.

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## Elaol

> Oooho I love collecting and starting (but not finishing, shame on me!) meditation books, I'll look into that one.  And start finishing some of the ones I've started!
> 
> 
> 
> This is not a question with a straightforward answer IMO.     Mindfulness is, as described in "Mindfulness In Plain English", about training yourself to recognize the truth about your present moment experience, on a moment to moment basis.   That sounds pretty much right up the alley of lucid dreaming to me.   It's about paying attention to life experiences.    Dreams (and waking life) are life experiences.
> 
> Concentration meditation is useful for training and quieting your mind, which comes in handy at night time for falling asleep and WILDing.    Being able to concentrate also is a useful precursor for mindfulness.



Yeah, I once read in Mastering the Core Teachings of Buddhism that Buddha advised first to master basic levels of concentration and then to do insight practices.

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## Elaol

Hey guys, I have some bad news.

I have been praying less and less attention to my practice in the last few days. As the consequences, my dream recall is getting worse and I've fallen out of my GRC practice.

For example, today I was carrying a bag and I didn't notice that weight, I used to notice the weight all the time, while I was walking.

What are your advice in synchronising your life with your lucid dreaming practice? I'm having hard time finding that balance. When I have a lot on my mind, I just forget about lucid dreaming.

LD is something awesome and I've made real progress and I've learned a lot. You've been great and I would like to get back on the right track.

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## FryingMan

Hey Elaol,
   First thing: don't beat yourself up over a couple of bad days.    Our lives and moods (and yes, our dreaming and dream recall) run on never-ending cycles, there are alternating up and down times.   Let yourself recognize that you're moving through a downtime with the knowledge that good times and the more pleasant side of the cycle is just around the corner.

This is one reason why I really like mindfulness: it helps me find joy in otherwise mundane waking life experiences, as well as dream experiences.    Pay attention, reflect, recall, waking or sleeping, and enjoy!   

If GRC doesn't turn out to be your thing, no biggie, move on.   I moved on from all day location awareness to just sporadic location awareness, as part of an overall mindfulness regime.  Maybe come back to it another time after you've concentrated on some other things for a while.    As long as you're in some way working on the fundamentals, all is good and you'll progress.

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## fogelbise

^Agreed  :smiley: 





> What are your advice in synchronising your life with your lucid dreaming practice? I'm having hard time finding that balance. When I have a lot on my mind, I just forget about lucid dreaming.



Mindfulness like FM said here and/or elsewhere has many waking life benefits so it is great to keep working on that, even if you can't do it much on a particular day. We also recommend to find a practice(s) that you enjoy more than the others and keep that going at times when your waking life is super busy by setting random reminders. At the busiest of times you can put in strong nighttime efforts during weekends or days off. To be honest, I am at a stage where my day work is very minimal (some of it runs in the background with little thought perhaps) and I put most of my effort into WBTB with MILD. I recognize that the quality and the length of my LD's are strengthened by putting in a little more day work though and will periodically say okay today I want to focus a little because I really love those highly present dreams and highly aware lucid dreams.

It is better to slow down a little bit if you feel like you are getting to a place where you might feel burned out by putting in too much effort. Slowing down but not stopping will allow you to progress, even if it is more slowlythat is okay!  :smiley:  Getting burned out and stopping altogether is what you want to avoid. We see it all the time and people start over months or years later as the try to remember what was working for them.

Happy dreams!  :smiley:

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## FryingMan

^^ Yes!   Finding a practice that you enjoy is probably most important -- if you enjoy it, you'll keep doing it, and consistency is most important for progress.

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## Elaol

Wow, you guys are awesome, I feel much better. Next week I am buying Kindle and Dream Yoga book  ::D: 

I had an epiphany about GRC couple days ago. I think it is much easier than the practice I was doing. I would love if I could transform my yoga sessions into some LD practice. I mean, the awareness during the practice is beneficial by itself, but I would like to transform it into yoga induced LD. I just don't have an idea how to do it  :Sad:  

FM, you mentioned in a comment about concentration meditation that it is very useful for WILDing. What did you mean by that? Can you clarify further?

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## FryingMan

Concentration meditation: Samatha meditation, meditation on an object: your breath (most common), an external image or object (sometimes called zhine meditation in the Tibetan tradition).   p.s. if you already have a tablet (like an ipad) you can download for free the kindle app.   But if you don't have one, a kindle is a good investment, there are lots of LD and meditation/mindfulness books available on amazon for kindle/ebook.

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## Elaol

> Concentration meditation: Samatha meditation, meditation on an object: your breath (most common), an external image or object (sometimes called zhine meditation in the Tibetan tradition).   p.s. if you already have a tablet (like an ipad) you can download for free the kindle app.   But if you don't have one, a kindle is a good investment, there are lots of LD and meditation/mindfulness books available on amazon for kindle/ebook.



I know, but I like reading at night, and you know the blue light curse  ::D:  

I don't think we understood each other. I meant how to use skills you acquire at concentration meditation to WILD? I know WILD means passive awareness, I was thinking concentration meditation means active awareness. So I am a bit confused  ::D:

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## FryingMan

Got it.   WILD requires you holding your mind very still.  In order to make progress towards falling asleep, one must be good at quieting the inner voice (monkey mind) and keeping it quiet.   At the same time, you do not want to become lax and lose awareness altogether and fall asleep unconsciously.   WILD basically *is* meditation, with the twist that you allow yourself to fall asleep.

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## Elaol

> Got it.   WILD requires you holding your mind very still.  In order to make progress towards falling asleep, one must be good at quieting the inner voice (monkey mind) and keeping it quiet.   At the same time, you do not want to become lax and lose awareness altogether and fall asleep unconsciously.   WILD basically *is* meditation, with the twist that you allow yourself to fall asleep.



I see, so basically I use concentration meditation until I fall asleep. Nice  ::D:  I think that would give good results when used with WBTB  ::D:

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## Elaol

Today I have been working on GRC, but I cannot report much progress. I just lost motivation to do it. I don't know why has that happened since I was having awesome results. Tomorrow I will buy the Dream yoga book. I just don't know if I am going to buy Kindle version or paperback. I would really love to get interested in GRC again. I'll read Azul's and Hukif's tutorials once more. 

Now I am going to read The Mind Illuminated and then do yoga  ::D:  

See you soon  :smiley:

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## fogelbise

> Today I have been working on GRC, but I cannot report much progress. I just lost motivation to do it. I don't know why has that happened since I was having awesome results.



One thing that helps me is to go back and review my favorite lucid dreams. Similarly you can read other's dream journals. Many people find Hyu's dream journal motivating: Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views - Hyu's Adventures - Dream Journals

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## Elaol

> One thing that helps me is to go back and review my favorite lucid dreams. Similarly you can read other's dream journals. Many people find Hyu's dream journal motivating: Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views - Hyu's Adventures - Dream Journals



Thanks fogelbise, Hyu's journal is really amazing. I love the idea of persistent characters, I would like to have one or two as well  ::D: 

I have something to report you guys  ::D: 

I had lucid last night. It was triggered by other dream. In the first dream, I was dreaming I was on an education. Because of that I missed another education. In my next dream, I was on the missed education, so I thought this can't be, since I have already missed it. So, I exited the class. The educator came after me, and I just imagined a concrete wall instead of the door I just went through. It appeared. It was awesome  ::D:  I tried stabilizing, but I did it sloppily, and I woke up, by opening my left eye IRL xD

Notes:
1. I was lucid without any day or night work. Seems I am getting used to the state of LD
2. I didn't work on fundamentals. Can that be the reason my dream was lesser quality than my others, thus I awoke quickly?

And also The Mind illuminated is awesome, a must read for any meditator, I love it so much  ::D:

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## FryingMan

Congrats on the lucid!





> Notes:
> 1. I was lucid without any day or night work. Seems I am getting used to the state of LD
> 2. I didn't work on fundamentals. Can that be the reason my dream was lesser quality than my others, thus I awoke quickly?



Lucid dreaming practice doesn't wear off in half a day  :smiley: .   It is the slow, gradual transformation of your brain, into one that operates in the lucid mode more readily, and for longer.   You don't see instant results the same day, or the next, but eventually, over time (we talk of months and years, not days or weeks), all that work and that transformed awareness begins to manifest in your dreams (and waking life!).

So you *did* have day and night work: _every day_ you've practiced lucid dreaming training up to now has contributed to your results last night, not just what you did earlier that day.

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## Elaol

Thanks FM, that makes a lot of sense! :-)

Just a quick note since it's part eleven. I did great on grc front. I'm definitely getting better.
Didn't do yoga this evening

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## Elaol

Hey guys, I had so awesome dreams last night. Not lucids, but whatever  ::D:  

Today was a good day. I did GRC a lot, I think I am getting back to the right track.

I bought essential oil burner and lavender oil, I am enjoying in the scent, it is so relaxing. I want to meditate while the room smells of lavender.

I am reading further into The Mind Illuminated and I love it more and more. I can see how that can be applied to the LD practice, not just for WILDs, but for DILDs as well. Any technique, actually. But it is a long journey ahead of me  ::D: 

Now I am going to finish the chapter and do yoga. 

My weekend is filled with classes, so I will get some rest today. 

Have wonderful dreams  ::D:

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## Elaol

I missed the last day. Crap  :Sad: 

Anyways , for day 43 I did GRC during the day, and I skipped yoga during the night.

For day 44, I have one thing to note (I will write about techniques in the evening)

I had 2 dreams in last 4 days (I think) that included me thinking about LDing. In the first dream, I was thinking how creating protective shield around me was good practice for dream control when I become lucid. In the second dream, I used my mind to make room bigger, I didn't think about LDing, but I did some dream control stuff. These dreams were not lucid. What the hell is going on? 

I'm really sad for those two missed opportunities.

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## FryingMan

On the contrary, you should be very pleased, because dreaming *of* lucid dreaming is a sure sign that a lucid dream is just around the corner!

Just perhaps work in to your reflection/vigilance that the subject of dreaming coming to your mind is a prime time to perform an RC!

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## Elaol

Thanks FM, I really hope I will have lucid dream tonight.

I definitely need some work on fundamentals. Next month, I will start dream yoga practice. I lost motivation for GRC, I hope I will not develop method-changing-syndrome  :smiley: 

Today's GRC 3/10
Yoga 0/10

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## FryingMan

I think there's nothing wrong with looking around and trying different things.    Everything you do and learn changes you.   That's why it's great to re-read your favorite LD literature from time to time, you keep discovering new things and re-discovering thing you've perhaps forgotten.    You have to enjoy the practice, if you don't, it will fall away eventually.    That's why I recommend a practice that has benefits beyond just lucid dreaming (e.g., mindfulness).

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## fogelbise

You are doing very well Elaol. Be proud of that and know that you will be able to expand your achievements tremendously over time by keeping up your efforts, making adjustments and including practices that you enjoy. I agree with FM that those dreams of lucid dreaming are a very good sign.





> In the first dream, I was thinking how creating protective shield around me was good practice for dream control when I become lucid.



This could be an important clue given to you from your mind and could be a great way to maintain lucidity and lengthen lucid dreams. Because it came to you in a dream it could be very effective for you. Just believing that it will be effective could prove to be very powerful!  :smiley:

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## Elaol

Thanks for responses. I agree with you guys about enjoying the techniques. I can't wait to read Dream yoga. Those are techniques monks use, right?

Today i played a bit with GRC, and I am going to do yoga and try meditations from The Mind Illuminated. I will post if it affects my dreams. 

Have wonderful (and hopefully, lucid) dreams  ::D:

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## FryingMan

> I can't wait to read Dream yoga. Those are techniques monks use, right?



Yes!

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## Elaol

Hahahahah FM, short and precise, I love it  ::D:  Thanks for answering.

Today I bought Dream yoga, I will start to read it tomorrow  ::D: 

I had awesome recall last night, mostly short dreams, few sentence each, but there were a lot of them.

I meditated last night, it was pretty hard to sit for 20 minutes, but I was proud of my success  ::D:  I did pretty good. Idk if the recall is from GRC, yoga, meditation, something else... Probably a mixture of those things  ::D: 

Today I was at home mostly, I did some GRC, but not much. I will skip yoga tonight and go straight to meditation. I hope I will have lucid soon  ::D:

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## Elaol

Another lucid todaaaaay  ::D:  Maybe a lucid nightmare.... I'll let you decide  ::D: 


*Spoiler* for _Lucid Nightmare?_: 



I'll skip to the lucid AHA moment. The dream lasted for good 10 minutes before the following part. I am looking at the mailbox. There is some mail inside. I open it, but when I close it, I see the door of the mailbox is different. I realize it is a dream. I look around and find my mom's keychain. It is in shape of little blue bag. I look at it (to stabilize) and realize my vision is becoming blurry. I squeeze it in front of my ear and the dream becomes more stable. Near me there is one woman in her late 40's. She has ginger hair. I step away from her (starting to loose lucidity), but she teleports behind me and unzips the zipper on my hoodie.I turn around and look at her. Fear is starting go increase (semi-lucid at this moment). I want to get away from her. The "camera" is shifting to 3rd person and I see myself running away from her. I decide to wake up




Things to note:
1. Is it common that stabilization works better for some senses than the others? I am auditory type, which means I rarely see pictures during reading, I hear the characters talk, I learn better by listening to someone, etc. So it is obvious that I stabilize by listening. Is this making sense?
2. I was really afraid of this woman. I hope it won't show up in all my dreams, like Hyu's dream guide who turned evil.
3. What are your advice on increasing the quality of my dreams? I would really like to be fully lucid and do fun stuff. I know most if not all of the stuff on the forums, I know stabilization techniques, memory tricks, etc. What else can you suggest me?
4. Is it possible that meditation (which I have been doing for the last two days) has influenced on me becoming lucid

Today I was doing GRC, I won't do yoga, and I am going to meditate right now  ::D: 

See you tomorrow  ::D:

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## FryingMan

> Things to note:
> 1. Is it common that stabilization works better for some senses than the others? I am auditory type, which means I rarely see pictures during reading, I hear the characters talk, I learn better by listening to someone, etc. So it is obvious that I stabilize by listening. Is this making sense?



Sure, everyone experiences phenomena differently.  As Sensei says, we should each of us concentrate on our strengths.





> 3. What are your advice on increasing the quality of my dreams?



Increase the quality of all life experience.   For all experience, the recipe is the same: pay attention, reflect, recall.   Our dreaming selves are our waking selves, just muted by impaired access to memory and a layer of fog on our awareness.   If you become a person who consistently lives in the present moment with awareness and attention (with a nod towards recognizing the dream state, bringing in reflection and memory), without regretting the past or fearing the future, wherever that present moment may be (waking or dreaming), that should be all that's required.





> I would really like to be fully lucid and do fun stuff. I know most if not all of the stuff on the forums, I know stabilization techniques, memory tricks, etc. What else can you suggest me?



If you want to be fully lucid and do fun stuff in dreams, then I suggest working on being fully lucid and doing fun stuff in waking life.   Also, visualize the kinds of dreams you want to have, and spend time building up a set of go-to goals that you can immediately start working on in dreams without having to work hard to remember them.    There is knowing, and there is doing.    At some point I realized I had spent large amount of time slurping up knowledge, and little time applying it.    The point of learning is to eventually start doing.    So formulate a plan, and adjust your balance of time more towards practice than research...and do it!





> 4. Is it possible that meditation (which I have been doing for the last two days) has influenced on me becoming lucid



Of course it has, in some very small way.   Just like everything you've done up to today also influenced last night.   It's the sum-total of who you are now.  Change comes slowly, though, so be persistent, patient, and dedicated in your practice.

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## Elaol

Thanks FM, very informative post. I will try stabilization by listening next time. I have also spent a lot of time learning, but I didn't have lucids at that point so I used that time effectively. I have made myself flashcards with goals. Each has 4 goals: stabilization, lucidity-improving, learning something new, and fun. Those are all short-term goals, ready for fulfilling  ::D: 

Seems that everything LD related is connected to Awareness, Reflection and Recall. That makes it easy to focus on those aspects and by doing that improving number/quality of lucid dreams.

Today I did a bit GRC, and now I am going to meditate. My back hurts so much during meditation, I will try to relieve it somehow. Now I will read Dream yoga and then meditation, perhaps even a bit of yoga  ::D:

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## FryingMan

> Seems that everything LD related is connected to Awareness, Reflection and Recall. That makes it easy to focus on those aspects and by doing that improving number/quality of lucid dreams.



That's how I see it!   Then there are the other qualities like focus, drive, intent, expectation, patience, etc.   But self-awareness and memory are king.





> Today I did a bit GRC, and now I am going to meditate. My back hurts so much during meditation, I will try to relieve it somehow. Now I will read Dream yoga and then meditation, perhaps even a bit of yoga



I do most meditation with back supported or even lying down.  I figure that I do WILDs when lying down, so familiarity with lying meditation must be good.   Not sure 100% of the validity of that or if I'm missing something by not doing "proper" sitting meditation.   Just thought I'd throw that out there  :smiley: .

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## Elaol

I understand that lying meditation is good preparation for WILD. Even though, I can't meditate while lying down, since I start daydreaming and my mind wanders more than if I meditated without support. It is like I get HH 5 minutes after I lay down. Today I filled my cushion with more sponge, so it is firmer, I will see if my meditation will get any better.

I had such a wonderful dream. I had a cousin who was always bullying me in 6th grade until 9th. I never returned the favor, since I was very quiet child. Last night I had a dream where he was bullying adult me again, and I decided to return the favor, and beat the hell out of him. It was so satisfying dream, and even though it is not reality, I have feeling of such satisfaction, like it really happened.  ::D:  I am very happy right now  ::D: 

I didn't do GRC today, like you guys have said, I must enjoy the practice and I don't enjoy GRC any more, for some reason. I now know even more about it and it is even easier to do it than when I started, but for some reason I just "forget" to do it. It might be some unconscious resistance, or something else, I don't know. I will continue with GRC until day 60, and then I will decide what next.

Now, I'm going to take a shower and then I will try to meditate and see how my back feels  ::D: 

I really love sharing my dreaming experiences here, this is what motivates me the most  ::D:

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## fogelbise

@FM - Post #149 is brilliant! You are beginning to sound like Sageous or something!  :smiley: 

@Elaol - Congratulations on your lucid the other night!  ::D:  I would call it a lucid where your lucidity waned and then that bit of nightmare scenario unfolded. I don't think you will see her again. She meant no harm though and perhaps was just a part of you subconscious trying to open up your view a little bit by unzipping your hoodie, wanting to show you something.

And you overcoming the bully - awesome! I had a similar dream and I think I have a good idea how it felt for you. Such dreams remind us that lucid dreams aren't the only dreams we can have a lot of fun in!  :smiley: 





> I really love sharing my dreaming experiences here, this is what motivates me the most



And we enjoy having you hear and reading about your experiences and progress!  ::D:

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## FryingMan

> @FM - Post #149 is brilliant! You are beginning to sound like Sageous or something!



Does that mean I can dream like him now?   Please?    :smiley:    Thanks!

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## Elaol

Thanks guys for answers  ::D:  They really mean a lot to me  ::D: 

Today I had one more interesting dream. I dream again about secret bathroom (idk if I posted about it before). To give short intro: I dream often about bathroom (usually in my university). You push one tile or something like that and secret door opens. There are very interesting things I can find in there. My dream from couple nights ago about doors in the bathroom and spiders and protective fields happened in that bathroom  ::D:  

In this dream, I was again in that bathroom. I was female with lavender skin. Two other beings like me came in the bathroom, but they didn't see me. One of them had one white wing and perhaps the other was black, I am not sure. They took small cup of purple powder and blown it on the wall. It created portal to the universe. It wasn't meant for me, but I entered it. I was teleported like warp speed in Star Wars/Trek and I found myself near the bathroom door. I had one ring with black fang on it. It contains all the energy of those two beings. I took it and I don't remember the rest. 

I really enjoyed this dream  ::D: 

Today I was on education whole day, so I didn't do much of induction techniques.

Now I am going to meditate and if I wake up early next morning, I will try WILD, it's been a while  ::D:

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## fogelbise

^Very interesting dreams with the portal and alien beings! Interesting bathrooms, perhaps bathrooms are a great place for you to RC and reflect IWL.





> Does that mean I can dream like him now?   Please?      Thanks!



You are heading in that direction for sure!

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## Elaol

Wow guys, I can't believe how awesome my non-lucids are. Last night I had 2 dreams (haven't written them yet, had education, so didn't have time, it's 10PM, I'm feeling awful). Anyway in one of them I was part of the X-Men team. I was Prism (not original X-Men Prism, but Nightcrawler-like being, I was creating prisms which teleport people or myself). We were fighting another team and it was so awesome to teleport in that way. It was really movie like, I felt awesome after that dream  ::D:  

I started reading Dream Yoga, it is really cool, I like everything I have read so far. Next week will be very, very busy, since I have 20 classes per day. I will use FM's advice and before each class I will become aware for short time and reflect on my current state. 

I have questions for you guys: every time I become lucid, I never feel that rush or excitement. I just say "Oh, it's a dream, lets stabilize..." I am very calm and cold. Why do you think that is?

Today I did short GRC and now I will meditate.  ::D: 

See you soon ;D

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## FryingMan

Yes, dreams are so amazing, all of them, including the non-lucid ones!   In many ways I think non-lucid dreams are superior to lucid dreams, .   I love being lucid, but I love the wildness and unpredictability and craziness of non-lucid dreams.   And non-lucids come for "free," every single night!

Which Dream Yoga book are you reading?

I think remaining calm when you get lucid is a good thing, that helps prolonging the dream.     Many people just rush off running right away and lose control and have to work at being calm, so I'd take that as a positive!

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## Elaol

@fogelbise, I now see I forgot to comment on your reply. I was also thinking bathrooms are good RC time for me. Also malls are. I actually tried to do RC every time I was in a mall (which is every day, since my gym is in the mall). But that never transferred to my dreams, so I figured that if I did the same thing with bathrooms it wouldn't have any effect. I might try it again now  :smiley: 

@FM I am reading Dream Yoga by Andrew H., just as you recommended  ::D:  I didn't get to the techniques yet, but the benefits of DY are really amazing. I think I will pass on sleep yoga and bardo yoga, it isn't appealing to me, but dream yoga sounds really good  ::D:  And since those techniques are perfected for 2500 years, they must be effective  ::D:

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## FryingMan

> @fogelbise, I now see I forgot to comment on your reply. I was also thinking bathrooms are good RC time for me. Also malls are. I actually tried to do RC every time I was in a mall (which is every day, since my gym is in the mall). But that never transferred to my dreams, so I figured that if I did the same thing with bathrooms it wouldn't have any effect. I might try it again now



This is an issue with specific triggers.   I myself have yet to get lucid once in a sports dream, despite having them fairly frequently, and even doing quite a bit of visualization of getting lucid in them.   I tend to think targeted location or action lucidity is weaker than general self-awareness, just because our self-awareness is always with us, while a specific action or place in a dream may or may not occur.   That may not be entirely correct (especially if one works *really hard* on a specific trigger, which could in effect incubate it happening), but I tend to think more along these lines, now.   It is better just to stop, and have a reflection moment, wherever you are, not dependent on any other factor other than you feel "it's time now to check" [if you're dreaming].




> @FM I am reading Dream Yoga by Andrew H., just as you recommended  I didn't get to the techniques yet, but the benefits of DY are really amazing. I think I will pass on sleep yoga and bardo yoga, it isn't appealing to me, but dream yoga sounds really good  And since those techniques are perfected for 2500 years, they must be effective



Great, I love that book, I need to finish my first pass through it and go through it again.    His suggestions for activities are sprinkled throughout the book, so you need to pay attention (hah!)  to find them all.   Yes I concentrate on dream yoga myself, it is a prerequisite for the others anyway and the natural order of progression: awareness in the moment of experience, awareness in the moment of reaction to experience, awareness in dreams.   << These by the way are an excellent way to gauge one's progress.   I myself must judge that I'm still very weak in the first, and almost non-existent in the second.    So there's a long  way to go.    Just knowing about these helps you start to work on them.   Every day, make a goal to stay aware in the moment of experience and in reaction to experience, as much as you can.

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## Elaol

Thanks FM for the response. I can't wait to get into the practice of dream yoga.

I entered the spellbee2's contest. I think it is great and that it will inspire me to work harder on my lucid dreaming journey.

Today a bit of GRC and now I am going to meditate

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## fogelbise

Yes, the bathroom idea is mainly to give you more opportunities to remind yourself to RC, to remind yourself that any moment could be a dream. The important thing is that it is never done with a dismissive attitude like "of course I'm not dreaming but I will RC because I'm supposed to" but to rather really stop and contemplate (reflect) on the moment and how "maybe I could be dreaming right this momenthow many dreams do I take for reality only to wake and realize it was all a dream."

Have you ever had a lucid dream where once you realized you were dreaming you were surprised at how real and waking-life-like it felt up until that realization? If you have had one, those are great dreams to recall when you are doing RC's. You tend to do the RC with much more reflection and wonder.

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## oneironautics

" I am very calm and cold. Why do you think that is?    Just a guess, but i read all over the internet 'Get Lucid, Stay Cool'   staying cool  :;-):

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## Elaol

@fogelbise I never had such dreams. My lucids were fairly realistic, but nothing with clarity of waking life. I hope I will have those soon  ::D: 

Today I did plenty of GRC (in relation to previous days). I will try other postures for meditation, since my back is killing me (not necessarily from meditation, I haven't been moving a lot these days). 

That is about it for today, I hope I will have lucid tonight, I miss them  ::D:

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## fogelbise

> @fogelbise I never had such dreams. My lucids were fairly realistic, but nothing with clarity of waking life. I hope I will have those soon



Keep it up and you will!  :smiley:  How about any non-lucid dreams where you wake up from them and you felt like you were just there in another world that felt just as real as this one? Recalling moments like that can also make your RC's more effective.

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## Elaol

Yeah, fogelbise, I actually had one of those. The things that happened couldn't happen in real life, but it was highly realistic.

Today I did a bit of GRC, and now I am going to meditate

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## Elaol

I really hate that I don't have anything to report these days, but since I am working 10 hours a day it is really hard to keep lucid dreaming in mind. This will last for another week so I think I will be OK.

What do you guys think, is meditation alone enough to keep my current progress until I can actively do lucid dreaming techniques?

Today I did yoga and mediated

P.s. two days ago I had a dream that I think was lucid. I woke up with that idea but I couldn't remember anything from that dream except that I had lucid dream. What do you think about this?

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## FryingMan

Long working days can be tough on awareness.  Keep an eye out for little chances to work back in some awareness during work: just take a moment to "see yourself" there at your work, bringing in a sense of self-awareness, perhaps throwing in a quick RC.    Certainly when you take breaks: get a drink of water, go to the bathroom, stretch your legs, that's a good time to remember dreaming, do an RC, have a nice reflection/intention moment.    Do what you can.   Good for yoga and meditation!

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## Elaol

OK, I'm starting over, continuing my GRC journey. I realize that it was working, for whatever reason, I guess because it was building my awareness. Anyway, today I payed attention to the gravity again, and I am a bit wobbly. I will get back to shape in a few days. From day 60 I am strating implementing dream yoga techniques  ::D:  

Also, I am so psyched up about the competition, so I really want to LD now  ::D:  Btw FM, we are both in the same team  ::D: 

I can't wait until I have my next LD  ::D:  

Also, I want to share an interesting dream I had last night. This is the most important part:

I am looking at the sky and it has beautiful gradient from light to indigo blue. The stars are visible. I realize I was looking at the sky last night, but I didn't write it down, so it is different now than yesterday. I am writing it now, but the stars have changed. 

When I was writing it at 5PM, I realized it must be about my dreams. I don't write them and they lose some details, and when I write them at night, they are changed. I am really shocked by how straightforward this message is.....

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## FryingMan

> OK, I'm starting over, continuing my GRC journey. I realize that it was working, for whatever reason, I guess because it was building my awareness. Anyway, today I payed attention to the gravity again, and I am a bit wobbly. I will get back to shape in a few days. From day 60 I am strating implementing dream yoga techniques  
> 
> Also, I am so psyched up about the competition, so I really want to LD now  Btw FM, we are both in the same team



Do what you like and what works for you!    Woohoo teammates!

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## fogelbise

> P.s. two days ago I had a dream that I think was lucid. I woke up with that idea but I couldn't remember anything from that dream except that I had lucid dream. What do you think about this?



Really reach deep for those kind of dream memories. Most times I wake with only the thought that I was lucid at some point during the night I am able to recover the memory of the lucid dream. Because of those experiences I suspect many memories like this are due to becoming lucid so I really try hard to remember because if you can't remember the details then you can't be sure if you were really lucid.

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## Elaol

Yeah, fogelbise, I will try it next time. This memory has already faded away :/

Today I was really into GRC, I am getting better and better. I keep reading dream yoga  ::D:  

My dreams are really interesting these days, I love my non-lucids. I can't wait to have a lucid dream, so I can boost my score at the competition  ::D:

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## Elaol

So I have had another LD. Here is the link. 

I have been doing red dot in the throat thingy, from the dream yoga book. I did it after every natural awakening. I had an awesome dream recall this morning, and also one lucid, not very high level, but still lucid. My dreams very also very interesting. Could it be the red dot in the throat thingy (I forgot the name)? FM, I hope you know what am I talking about  ::D: 

Also, I must try the technique from the dream  ::D:  

Also, I did GRC yesterday, and meditated, so that could also contribute to the LD and recall  ::D:

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## FryingMan

Great to hear it!  Yes I know the red dot in the throat thingy  :smiley: .   There are many different "... in the throat" things.   Looks like it, or your increased intent and attention, or the combination thereof, made a difference.   Also, it is the sum-total of all the work you've done so far.

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## Elaol

I see I have missed two day, I feel awful.

Day 58

I was pleased with my GRC practice. I also meditated for 20 minutes. 

Day 59

I had horrible day at work, so my practice suffered as well. I didn't do much GRC, but I meditated.

__________________________________________________  ______________________________________

I see my posts are becoming boring. I guess I have learnt all I could for my current level. When I have more lucids it will become more interesting.  ::D:

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## Elaol

I did a little more GRC than the last few days, I did it while being with my friend in the cafe. I also meditated. 

Today I had beautiful dreams, I have really enjoyed them. 

I will try WBTB+SSILD next morning, it sounds easy, I think I will experiment next month with that technique a couple times a week  ::D:

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## Elaol

GRC+meditation, same as before. 

I have one new thing to report. I am having really interesting dreams lately. FM, do you think that could be because of meditation? I read in Dream Yoga that when you meditate, the dreams can become more interesting, since you are having more access from clear-light mind. Could these very interesting and emotional dreams be glimpses of clear-light mind?

I had a dream couple of day ago which gave me insight into my feelings toward one girl. I didn't know I felt that for her, but after the dream it became so clear to me  ::D:

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## FryingMan

It could be!    Or it could be just that time in your dream cycle.   Or it could be day residue is just producing different, more interesting dreams.    Or it could be that you're paying more attention to your dreams and finding parts of them that are interesting!    I find the overall theme and quality of dreams evolves over time, sometimes they're silly, sometimes serious.   They generally reflect what's going on in our wakings lives to some extent, to what we're spending our time thinking about.    

As for clear light mind, maybe!    But from what I understand it takes considerable dedication and very lengthy practice to really start penetrating to the clear light mind.   I don't think that's something that happens in days, but I could be wrong....

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## fogelbise

Awesome! You had what very well could have been a lucid dream last week and then you realized that you had a definite lucid dream 2 nights later! Nice result! Keep up the great work!

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## Elaol

Thanks guys so much  ::D: 

Yeah, FM, I guess you need a lot of work to experience clear-light mind. Maybe those were dreams of clarity  ::D: 

I tried SSILD last night. It worked  ::D:  I had one more lucid dream  ::D:  Still not fully lucid, but I will get there eventually, although in this one I was close, I think  :smiley: 

I also meditated last night and it was very productive meditation, I didn't experience mind-wandering as often as I use to.

So here is the link to the dream, if anyone is interested  ::D:

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## FryingMan

Woohoo!   Congrats on the LD!

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## fogelbise

Congratulations once again Elaol!  ::D:  You really should be proud of your consistent LD's! I can't remember if I mentioned it to you, but SSILD was my primary WBTB technique and was used before most all of my LD's for the first 3 years or so of my adult practice. You have been getting good results from multiple methods though!

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## Elaol

Thanks fogelbise, that means a lot to me  :smiley:  Care to share some tips & tricks for SSILD? I know the warm-up cycles and 4-6 cycles lasting 30 sec for each sense. Since you have used it for so long, I guess you have some tips that aren't shared on the tutorial page  ::D: 

Today, GRC+meditation. Will try SSILD+WBTB when I wake up in the middle of the night.

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## fogelbise

> Thanks fogelbise, that means a lot to me  Care to share some tips & tricks for SSILD? I know the warm-up cycles and 4-6 cycles lasting 30 sec for each sense. Since you have used it for so long, I guess you have some tips that aren't shared on the tutorial page 
> 
> Today, GRC+meditation. Will try SSILD+WBTB when I wake up in the middle of the night.



I would be happy too.  :smiley:  You might want to consider continuing with what worked for you the other night though and just let me know later if you really want to change it up at all or if you don't really like the way you were doing it, or just love experimenting (which is great). I don't want to take you off the course too early, for something that is already working for you. Does that sound good? I do like your enthusiasm to try different things and maybe that is a good course of action for you. Let me know.  :smiley:

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## FryingMan

My advice for SSILD is: do what you like, play with the cycles.  I prefer shorter cycles, sometimes I skip the body and just go back and forth between vision and hearing.    Most important: continue to relax throughout, since you need to make progress towards sleep.    So keep your attention lightly on the cycles, not a sharp, laser focus.

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## Elaol

OK, fogelbise, I will experiment and if I have any questions, I will ask  ::D:  FM, thanks for the advice  :smiley: 

Today, a bit of GRC. I honestly think it doesn't even matter anymore, I rarely remember to do it. I will try for one more week. Then I will make final decision about GRC

I'm off to meditate.

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## Elaol

OK, for the first time in a long time, I have new insights and something interesting to write here:

1. I have realized that my GRC was more of a mindfulness practice than actual Hukif's GRC. I wish it was more like Hukif's, but in the last few weeks (I feel horrible I had to write weeks), I just haven't been doing it Hukif or Azul's style. Anyway, since I have hard time following my breath without influencing on my breathing patter, I have decided than in my future practice I will do some kind of mindfulness during the day: gravity, visuals, sounds, tactile sensations, etc. and practicing mindfulness of breath, since it is the best one. If I feel like it, I will do GRC Hukif's style. What do you think about this idea?

2. I have a question here. I had lucid dream, but this is first of a kind for me. Anyway, I have schedule on the website I am working on, where I see how many classes are booked, cancelled, completed, etc. This night I had a lucid dream where I was looking at that website. There were a lot of cancelled classes (the ones that were booked, but I didn't show up). I know I only have one a month or less, so I figured out this was a dream. But, I didn't have physical body, so I didn't know how to do transition, there was only the schedule in the dream. What to do the next time something like this happens?

OK, that's it, can't wait for your feedback  ::D: 

EDIT: Oh, and yeah I tried SSILD again. I guess I focused too much on it, since I couldn't fall asleep. But again, I did have lucid, so I count that as success. Seems like SSILD doesn't produce FA or WILD for me, but rather builds awareness for the next couple of dreams. 

Also, the unable to fall asleep is wrong. I did fall asleep, but I was kind of conscious of the process. I was in some weird state when it seems like I didn't fall asleep at all, but in fact I know I did fall asleep.

EDIT 2: My 40th LD! WooHooooo!  ::D: 

EDIT 3: GRC+meditation

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## fogelbise

> I would be happy too.



That should have read "I would be happy to."(share some tips and tricks) but it sounds like you figured out what I meant. 





> ...What do you think about this idea?



I say go with your gut instinct on this oneit sounds like you are already leaning in one direction.





> 2. I have a question here. I had lucid dream, but this is first of a kind for me. Anyway, I have schedule on the website I am working on, where I see how many classes are booked, cancelled, completed, etc. This night I had a lucid dream where I was looking at that website. There were a lot of cancelled classes (the ones that were booked, but I didn't show up). I know I only have one a month or less, so I figured out this was a dream. But, I didn't have physical body, so I didn't know how to do transition, there was only the schedule in the dream. What to do the next time something like this happens?



Congrats!!  ::D:  Realizing the scenario just didn't make sense is how I became lucid last night too. It feels like a nice success and reminds me of another student's "dream detective" idea.





> EDIT: Oh, and yeah I tried SSILD again. I guess I focused too much on it, since I couldn't fall asleep. But again, I did have lucid, so I count that as success. Seems like SSILD doesn't produce FA or WILD for me, but rather builds awareness for the next couple of dreams. 
> 
> Also, the unable to fall asleep is wrong. I did fall asleep, but I was kind of conscious of the process. I was in some weird state when it seems like I didn't fall asleep at all, but in fact I know I did fall asleep.



This is how it often seemed to work for mefeeling like I can't go to sleep, being done with the cycles and just rolling over and going to sleep at some point and having a DILD.





> EDIT 2: My 40th LD! WooHooooo!



#40!! Nice milestone!! Here's to many more!!  ::breakitdown::

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## Elaol

Thank you fogelbise, for such a lengthy response.  ::D:  

I have tried SSILD again this morning, I am not sure if I became lucid, I don't think so. I had a very interesting dream, which I will write later in the DJ (I have a class in half an hour, so I can't do it now). Anyway, I was running away from a trolloc (Minotaur-like creature). It was very vivid dream. In one part, I found a hole in the stable, and I hid inside, because it smelled like cows, so he couldn't follow my scent. I heard his footsteps. I was thinking to myself: "He is going away, you can't hear his footsteps". I think I was trying dream control, but I am not sure. Anyway, SSILD gave me one of the greatest dreams ever  ::D: 

I have a question: because of my epilepsy, I need to get a good night sleep. SSILD sometimes prevents me from falling asleep (i.e. this morning, I felt like I was in the bed for the next half an hour). Did anything like that happened to you, and if so, how did you deal with it?

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## FryingMan

> 1. I have realized that my GRC was more of a mindfulness practice than actual Hukif's GRC. I wish it was more like Hukif's, but in the last few weeks (I feel horrible I had to write weeks), I just haven't been doing it Hukif or Azul's style. Anyway, since I have hard time following my breath without influencing on my breathing patter, I have decided than in my future practice I will do some kind of mindfulness during the day: gravity, visuals, sounds, tactile sensations, etc. and practicing mindfulness of breath, since it is the best one. If I feel like it, I will do GRC Hukif's style. What do you think about this idea?



Well, I think the Hukif style GRC requires keeping the idea constantly on your mind so that you effectively incubate the idea occurring in dreams.   So doing it for a little while instead of every moment of every day will probably be less effective.

I think mindfulness of breath is good because it is very natural, especially for a meditation practitioner.   I went with it as an all day RC for a while (or at least an all day mindfulness boost) and I started to  get breath awareness in dreams a little bit but didn't continue it.   That seems to be the way with all day RC: it's pretty tough to keep it going.       I'm  a big fan of mindfulness (with LD-focused reflection included), so I think that's a great approach.   

And congrats on 40 LDs!

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## fogelbise

> I have a question: because of my epilepsy, I need to get a good night sleep. SSILD sometimes prevents me from falling asleep (i.e. this morning, I felt like I was in the bed for the next half an hour). Did anything like that happened to you, and if so, how did you deal with it?



It took time and experimenting with it to feel like I was still getting good rest, but because of your condition I am not sure if it is a good technique for you. If you want to try my adjustment to the cycles and see if that makes it easier for you to get to sleep and feel rested and not have an effect on your epilepsy, let me know and I will share it with you.  :smiley:

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## FryingMan

I found SSILD also very invigorating the first few times I tried it.    The trick is to constantly relax and release tension on every breath as you do the cycles.   Try not to "hold on" to your awareness really tightly.

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## Elaol

Thanks guys for your responses.

FM, I completely agree with you, I will experiment a bit with this mindfulness.

fogelbise, I don't think I am losing a lot of sleep, I would just like to be ale to fall asleep immediately or at least as if I didn't do the technique. About your adjustments, if it doesn't include waking up after x hours of sleep, please explain. If it does, I can't do that :/ SSILD works great so far, so I will experiment with it until I find a way to sleep more easily.  :smiley: 

I have a question for you: did you experience some degree of habituation on SSILD? 

I don't think it is necessary to say what did I do today, I will write some important facts here, but I find writing "GRC and meditation" every day is kind of boring  :smiley:

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## FryingMan

> I would just like to be ale to fall asleep immediately



Believe me, I know what you mean!    I've lost a great deal of sleep in LD practice, that's for sure.   I continue to work on learning to fall asleep quickly.   It takes practice.   For now, while perhaps exercising relaxation, avoid the more stimulating night-time practices, or put tight limits on how long you do them before aiming directly for sleep.

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## fogelbise

> fogelbise, I don't think I am losing a lot of sleep, I would just like to be ale to fall asleep immediately or at least as if I didn't do the technique. About your adjustments, if it doesn't include waking up after x hours of sleep, please explain. If it does, I can't do that :/



I've only ever used it after a WBTB.





> I have a question for you: did you experience some degree of habituation on SSILD?



I don't believe so. It worked strongly for me for over 3 years and then only stopped using it when I started playing with MILD again...just because I enjoyed MILD more. I am itching to do some SSILD again though. My MILD felt a bit habituated last night like I wasn't really putting any effort into it so maybe I need to switch off of it for a short while to refreshen my MILD.

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## Elaol

Thanks for responses guys.

fogelbise, I am glad you didn't have any sort of habituation to SSILD. That's good to know. I never managed to do MILD, either it doesn't work for me or I haven't done the right technique.

FM, I see what you mean. If the SSILD is too stimulating, I might awake myself too much. If it is not very stimulating, I can fall asleep before doing the cycles. last couple of nights (with the exception of last night) I did very focused cycles around 30 seconds each, 4 sets  ::D:  last night, I did less focused cycles, and I caught myself having dreamlets after second cycle. I am not very good at watching dreamlets and doing WILD in that way. As soon as I realized what is happening I woke myself up. I continued with the rest of the two cycles, but I didn't have LD this morning. I guess it can't work every time  :Sad: 

Btw my phone is screwing up with me. I had three dreams recorded, only to find out, this morning, that the files are corrupted. 3 points less on the competition  :Sad:

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## FryingMan

> I am not very good at watching dreamlets and doing WILD in that way. As soon as I realized what is happening I woke myself up.



This is very common.   Dreamlets *hate* being looked at, they are very shy, they tend to vanish if you focus on them  :smiley: .

Ack sorry about the dream recording corruption -- that happens to me once in a while and it's very disappointing.   

For exactly this "shy dreamlet" issue, sivason has a dream yoga exercise in his class which I really like: diffuse vision.

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## Elaol

Thanks FM, I will definitely read that post  :smiley: 

FM, I would like to hear your opinion about something. I have read 54% of the Dream Yoga, at least my Kindle say so. Anyway, I don't find anything new there. I really like dream yoga tasks for accessing clear light mind, I think those can be life-changing, but reading techniques for DY, there are reality checks and WILD with anchoring technique. Nothing special. I might say I am a bit disappointed. What do you think about this?

Also, illusionary form techniques aren't exactly clear for me, I don't understand them completely. I do understand what he says, but considering everything a dream is hard to grasp on. 

I would really like to hear your reflections on these two paragraphs.

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## Emixman

Inbox full, clean some space there  :tongue2:

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## Elaol

> Inbox full, clean some space there



done  ::D:

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## FryingMan

> Thanks FM, I will definitely read that post 
> 
> FM, I would like to hear your opinion about something. I have read 54% of the Dream Yoga, at least my Kindle say so. Anyway, I don't find anything new there. I really like dream yoga tasks for accessing clear light mind, I think those can be life-changing, but reading techniques for DY, there are reality checks and WILD with anchoring technique. Nothing special. I might say I am a bit disappointed. What do you think about this?
> 
> Also, illusionary form techniques aren't exactly clear for me, I don't understand them completely. I do understand what he says, but considering everything a dream is hard to grasp on. 
> 
> I would really like to hear your reflections on these two paragraphs.



It would take a lengthy book review I think to really address your points.   If you think that you didn't find anything new in Holecek, do you think that you put in practice his suggestions?  Do you on a daily basis think about the insights he offers, did he reinforce what you already think you knew?   I think for example that the chapter on mindfulness is perhaps the most important writing for LD practitioners, on how to approach lucid dreaming as lucid living, except for a few excerpts from TYoDaS.

Not every resource clicks for everybody.   I find Holecek's description of just about everything deeply resonate with me, reinforcing ideas I have, and giving me new ways of looking at things.  Maybe another author resonates more for you.   Nothing has to be one size fits all.   It's not simply "producing something new" that's important, it's describing it in a way that makes it viscerally comprehensible for regular people.   That's what I love about Holecek.   And that so many great ideas and framing of concepts are all in one book makes it indispensable in my opinion.

Illusory form takes some getting used to.   But really, if you think about it, this IS a dream kitchen that I'm sitting in right now, writing this on a dream computer, using my dream body.   If that's too much of a leap to make, consider that this *could be* a dream.  Any waking moment could be taking place in the dream state.

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## Elaol

> It would take a lengthy book review I think to really address your points.   If you think that you didn't find anything new in Holecek, do you think that you put in practice his suggestions?  Do you on a daily basis think about the insights he offers, did he reinforce what you already think you knew?   I think for example that the chapter on mindfulness is perhaps the most important writing for LD practitioners, on how to approach lucid dreaming as lucid living, except for a few excerpts from TYoDaS.
> 
> Not every resource clicks for everybody.   I find Holecek's description of just about everything deeply resonate with me, reinforcing ideas I have, and giving me new ways of looking at things.  Maybe another author resonates more for you.   Nothing has to be one size fits all.   It's not simply "producing something new" that's important, it's describing it in a way that makes it viscerally comprehensible for regular people.   That's what I love about Holecek.   And that so many great ideas and framing of concepts are all in one book makes it indispensable in my opinion.
> 
> Illusory form takes some getting used to.   But really, if you think about it, this IS a dream kitchen that I'm sitting in right now, writing this on a dream computer, using my dream body.   If that's too much of a leap to make, consider that this *could be* a dream.  Any waking moment could be taking place in the dream state.



I didn't exactly said what I intended. I really love the book, it is written in a beautiful manner and very pleasant to read. I enjoy reading it. I was meaning to say that there isn't anything new techniques-wise. I thought Tibetan monks use some extraordinary techniques, but from this book I found out they use RCs and WILD. I had irrational belief, so I am a bit disappointed that they use the same techniques we do..

About illusory form, I find your interpretation better. It is easier to think this could be a dream, than this is a dream. The latter is really not understandable for me  ::D:  

Thanks for your feedback FM  :smiley:

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## FryingMan

> I didn't exactly said what I intended. I really love the book, it is written in a beautiful manner and very pleasant to read. I enjoy reading it. I was meaning to say that there isn't anything new techniques-wise. I thought Tibetan monks use some extraordinary techniques, but from this book I found out they use RCs and WILD. I had irrational belief, so I am a bit disappointed that they use the same techniques we do..
> 
> About illusory form, I find your interpretation better. It is easier to think this could be a dream, than this is a dream. The latter is really not understandable for me  
> 
> Thanks for your feedback FM



The lotus visualization and tracing exercises were new to me, along with the investigation of the waking/sleep barrier in naps.

And I think it's more accurate to say that we do the same techniques as *they* do, since they've been doing it for a loooong time  :smiley: .      They heavily emphasize awareness in experience and response, unlike most western resources, and that plus illusory form and intention (they talk alot about this) create a very strong fundamental basis for LDing that I think.   There are all sorts of preparations for the night that are not mentioned anywhere else: loving kindness mantras/meditation, setting the protective forces about your room, etc.

It should really drive home the point that we don't need (more) techniques, we need to put into practice the fundamentals, in order to become lucid people 24x7.

For me, it is a joyous revelation to read that awareness is really all we need, and they show exactly how to develop it.

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## Elaol

Thanks FM; the book definitely deserves a reread.  ::D:  

I have two ways that I will continue my practice, I would like to hear yours feedback:

1. Since we have established that awareness is the key, how about focusing on one sense at a time (hearing/sight/touch)? That way I would be aware of the present, without huge pressure of ADA.

2. For reflection, I got an idea about constant RC, something like FMs location RC. Many people has said that it is good to reflect where you are, is that dream-like and where you will be in 15 min. I was thinking to do that. I see where I am now, wonder if it is dream-like, so I try to find something odd, remember where I was 15 minutes ago and where I will be in 15 min. When I arrive at that location, I wonder is that location the correct one, see if it is dream-like, and so on....

What do you guys think? Is this a good way?

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## FryingMan

I'm not a fan of sense focus as defining awareness.  That's like classical "ADA", and I think mindfulness is much more important and relevant.  It is *self*-awareness that is key, not basic environmental observation.    All you need I think is the sense that "*I*...am *here*....*now*".

Which isn't to say I don't look and listen, etc.   I do this as part of enjoying my life experience, but I don't place an undue emphasis on the environment, I rather "feel myself" (haha) in the place, in that moment.

I will say that paying attention to visual detail as a habit results in extremely vivid and detailed dreams.   So I guess I'm contradicting myself a bit.  Some element of really looking at where you are is certainly important.   Just not for the awareness part, but as a part of being fully involved in your environment.  I hope that's not too confusing!

Like the TYoDaS drill into us: what we need are these things, in sequence: 1) awareness in the moment of experience; 2) awareness in the moment of behavior (response to experience); 3) awareness in the dream state.    You start with 1, work to 2, and then finally 3 will come around more and more.

Judge your progress by honestly self-evaluating: do your mindfully control your responses to experience, or do your (mindless) responses to experience control you?

I think location reflection is good.  I do it a lot.  And I may even revive it to near ADRC status.    But that's not the only reflection we need.    We should constantly reflect on our experiences, whatever they are, beyond just location.

For example, my 2nd LD came from me dropping a stack of cards and trying to pick them up.  I just couldn't, they kept slipping between my fingers and falling back down to the ground.  I chuckled to myself and told myself, "this is one of those times you should check to see if you're .... DREAMING!  OMG!"   That's the sort of thing I'm talking about**:  keeping a constant eye out for things that are dream-like.  Of course, it helps a lot to be really familiar with your dreams, so know the sort of things you're looking for.

Another semi-repeating theme for a while was the inability to count a small collection of objects (billiard balls in particular).

The reason I chose location for an ADRC is that my dreaming locations, other than a few well-established influential places (childhood home mostly, and somewhat more recently, former adult home, interestingly enough, current home only about 3-4 times ever), never take place in waking life locations.   They're always made up, imaginary.    I think this is a reasonably important pre-requisite for location ADRC.   Even though they're made up, they have very common features: steep auditorium seating (lots and lots of these), racquetball/squash/basketball courts, stairways that descend along the perimeter of the walls (square buildings).  

For a while I was really looking at trees a lot in dreams.  I finally did some daytime MILD on this theme and caught a LD when I found myself again looking at a big impressive dream tree.

Addtionally, I kept a major eye out for all transitions, and on my path when moving.   I held in my mind a map of where I came from, and where I'm going to.   I got an LD once from noticing that a path that used to be open to me became unexpectedly closed off.   Another time, I found myself on a ledge in an outside huge open quarry -- that's not what got  me lucid, though: it was the fact that I knew I had just one moment before been somewhere else entirely different.

So location has a number of aspects: the place, of course, but also path and transitions.

transitions never worked out much for me other than that one time, because I don't notice them much in dreams.  But maybe, becoming highly sensitive to them would still be valuable.

So if location is something that really resonates with you, I'd say go for it.  But keep yourself open for your dreaming tendencies and think about building a waking practice around what you find yourself paying attention to most in dreams.

I also pay attention to contraptions a lot in dreams: locks, faucets, mechanical things, I get up close and really look at them.   And, I see (used to, not so much any more) really bizarre highly detailed  objcts.    That's another example of looking at your dreams and building your waking ADRC to match.

Dreaming tendencies ("dream signs") tend to shift over time.   So be open to changing your daytime focus (or secondary focus at least) to match what your dreaming tendencies of the moment are.   Having a detailed dream journal is of course pretty important for this.

Hope this helps!

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## FryingMan

I will continue on about reflection for a bit because I think it's important to frame questions the right way in order to maximize chances for lucidity.   I will use as an example my final two dreams from this last waking which were screaming "DREAM" at me but I didn't convert.   Well, not entirely true, I *did* do an  RC in-dream at last, but my doubting the dream state led me to keep re-checking instead of getting on with the LD, fully lucid.

The sorts of questions we ask ourselves should be targeted and clear and focused on identifying dream and thinking the word "dream."   Questions like "where was I before this?"  or "how did I get here?"  or "what was I doing 15 mins ago" all have answers that the dreaming mind can quickly and easily answer with rationalizations and false memories without the concept of dreaming, and keep your thoughts focused on responding to dream phenomena instead of contemplating your state (which  is what reflection is all about, it's whole raison d'etre).

An ideal question I got from the Lucidity Flashes website is: "How odd is this?"   It isn't a yes/no question (but I don't think yes/no are bad necessarily), and it really can't be answered satisfactorily by rationalization and/or false memory (although this is always a possibility, the dreaming mind is a master at coming up with reasons to keep you non-lucid: it does this in every dream every night!).

The first strong sense of reflection I had was in the 2nd to last dream where I noticed that the house I was in (someone else's house) looked *exactly* like my childhood home.  I noticed the back porch door, kitchen/dining room/deck layout.  In the dream I even said "this place is exactly like my house!".    Had I asked myself "is this a dreaming/waking location?" I may have caught it.   I think getting the world "dream" into your mind as much as possible, especially in the dream, is very important.   Thinking, saying, hearing, reading "dream" should jolt your awareness into high gear and cause an immediate RC.    Reading DV can get exhausting if you do that, so be smart about it.   I missed another LD a week or so ago when I was reading a "lucid dreaming" newsletter, and I was more concerned about covering up what I was reading from my sister how was looking over my shoulder (another dream sign, desiring privacy) than noticing the implication of an occurrence of "dream."

So location reflection should ideally be focused on the notion of dream: "is this a dream location?"   double trigger there: location reflection, and the word "dream".  To avoid yes/no you could phrase it as "how much like a dreaming location is this?" but that's a bit long.

Another big dream sign is things changing on you unexpectedly.   The tendency here is to look to WHY it changed.   This is not important for lucidity and leads to rationalization and false memory explanations.  The key thing is noticing the change itself and stopping there: "change means dream!"

In one dream I had a small stone in my hand that because a large one.   In another my location changed from one organization/layout to another so that I couldn't find my bed.  My thought? "Oh, they've changed it again, like they did before [FALSE MEMORY]," and all I could think about was finding my bed and walking through unfamiliar, dreamy rooms, including a strange library with books with oddly colored pages.   "change means dream!"   "odd/strange books, dream!"

Another common dream occurrence for me is this feeling/compulsion of being driven forwards into movement.   This one is tricky to form a question for.  Maybe form a trigger like "moving means dream!"   In waking life I can easily stand in quiet contemplation, but dreaming is all about running ahead.   Maybe think about this and how to form a good reflective question that leads to "dream."

Maybe another good question that covers all these situations is "how dream-like is this?"

Anyway, think about the things you encounter in dreams, and focus your waking reflection on questions that lead directly to the notion of dream, and avoiding as much as possible the opportunity for your dreaming brain to fill the answer in with rationalizations or false memories.

In the end, what we're looking for are triggers: "odd/change/moving/unexpected/weird" -> "DREAM!"

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## FryingMan

One more point on reflection: it's good also to have "triggerless" moments: this is what illusory form is great for: you're just always realizing that this experience is all a dream (or "like a dream" if you wish): it is formed entirely from your brain/awareness interpreting the things of your  raw experience as higher level ideas via schema.

I usually don't "think through" it that much, but I'm giving an idea of the sort of underlying currents that go on with those kind of moments.

Usually I just verbalize to myself, "any conscious moment could be taking place in the dream state!"

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## Elaol

First FM, thank you for such lengthy responses, I surely didn't expect this, you're awesome  ::D: 

I have learned a lot from this. Location is something that might be unusual in my dreams, but I am not sure if location RC is for me. I often dream of imaginary locations, or going to the places I've never been to. But I wouldn't say that is the main characteristic of my dreams. Perhaps I should develop Toilet Induced Lucid Dream, we are missing TILD anyway  ::D:  I think a reread through my journal would be very useful now, since I need to find common characteristic for most of my dreams, I have dream signs, but they don't happen in almost every dream. I will increase my awareness in malls and toilets, since those two are the most common.

I think developing "here and now" train of thought is very difficult, but very useful. It is difficult, because you have to consciously think about what you are doing, until that mindfulness becomes part of your personality. "This is like a dream" attitude works fine for me, so I will apply that as well. I just need one brainstorming session to figure out how to integrate that attitude to my lifestyle. "Illusory form" reread will be very useful there  ::D: 

The question "How odd is this?" is ideal for reflection, I think. 

OK, I got very useful information, now I am going to think about how to apply it. I am so motivated to LD because of the competition  ::D:

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## FryingMan

"I am here now" is definitely sporadic, not on all of the time.   It's my version of the Sageous RRC.   You're welcome!

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## fogelbise

Wow, you've kept FM busy turning out a lot of material heregreat job FM!





> It is easier to think this could be a dream, than this is a dream. The latter is really not understandable for me



If you think back to an average waking life occurrence from yesterday or even an hour ago, you will often notice how "distant" or "fleeting" it feels, much like average dreams. How about this moment right now? It will be gone in a matter of seconds much like average dreams. Isn't every moment a dream? If you still don't quite feel it, I see nothing wrong with "it's like a dream" followed by some sincere RC's.





> Maybe another good question that covers all these situations is "how dream-like is this?"



I really like this question! Asking that question really makes me contemplate my current state - waking or dreaming?

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## FryingMan

> Wow, you've kept FM busy turning out a lot of material here…great job FM!
> 
> If you think back to an average waking life occurrence from yesterday or even an hour ago, you will often notice how "distant" or "fleeting" it feels, much like average dreams. How about this moment right now? It will be gone in a matter of seconds much like average dreams. Isn't every moment a dream? If you still don't quite feel it, I see nothing wrong with "it's like a dream" followed by some sincere RC's.
> 
> I really like this question! Asking that question really makes me contemplate my current state - waking or dreaming?



Yes, indeed.   The flipside of this is that dream experiences can be so compelling and waking-like that you feel like they were waking experiences.   I just woke from a dream "so real" (I dislike describing dreams as being "like reality" -- dreams to me *are* reality.  Dream experiences are just as authentic and felt just as much as waking experiences.   At least, they are if you learn to pay attention to your dream (and waking) experiences.) where I felt that I lived through all of the experiences.  Which I did!   It was as highly detailed, multi-scene continuous adventure.   Astonishing!   I love lucids, but I'll take a cinematic, long, vivid non-lucid like that any day over a (sometimes more boring) fully lucid dream.

When you have enough experiences like this, you really feel deep in your gut that "all experience is dream."

LaBerge writes that (paraphrased) "dreams are waking experiences unconstrained by physical sense input, and waking experiences are dreams constrained by the physical senses".

It really all is a dream!  :smiley:

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## Elaol

OK, thanks guys for responses. 

I am currently in the process of going through last two weeks of my journal, so I can find ADRC idea  ::D:

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## FryingMan

I've never tried it but ideally "mindset" would be a perfect ADRC that integrates with mindfulness & meditation.   That feeling in a dream (I have it at least) of reacting not reflecting, strong emotions, and that feeling of always being pushed to move fowards, always moving, scenes always changing.    That and noticing the times I stop and closely observe objects.

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## Elaol

OK, I have some new insights, but I will write about them tomorrow.

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## Elaol

For the last two days I've been procrastinating. Well, not exactly, I have been thinking a lot. So I will write three ideas, the first two are about my next technique, the third one is about SSILD.

1. Location RC

In my dream, I have several places that are present in 75% of my dreams: toilets, hills, malls, car/bus, Sarajevo (capital city of Bosnia), school, places I never visited etc. Because of that, I think it would be good to develop location awareness. The downside to this is that it doesn't really improve my self-awareness and I cannot apply it to all my dreams. This would also include RCs about where I was 5 min ago, where I will be in 5 min etc.

2. Situation RC

I have an idea about this, but it is hard to put it on paper/screen xD I would pay attention to what is happening around me, is it dream-like, does that happen in real life. That would mean more observation, which should increase quality of my dreams (FM, you said that paying attention to visuals increase quality of dreams, I think the same is applied here).  This means more reflection and awareness, and self-awareness. I just don't know if this is overwhelming and how to incorporate all of this without my head exploding.

3. SSILD

Since I couldn't fall asleep two nights ago after SSILD, which chained thoughts about not getting enough sleep=seizure, I was wondering, what effect would have going though cycles while going to the bathroom/drinking water (which is what I do during my short WBTBs)? 

That's about it, please I need your feedback to find out what to do next  ::D:

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## FryingMan

I think you can work in location awareness to self-awareness, using it at least as a trigger to entering a general higher state of vigilance.   Situational reflection is great and is the one thing that I work on in addition to location.   You can make it sporadic, you don't have to try to keep it always on.   Sporadic is the way forwards.   Just see, over time, if you can decrease the time in between the "stop and check" moments.   You can also use static/dynamic filtering: if you're in one place, and you've already checked if it's a waking/dreaming location, and you're staying there, then you can keep your  vigilance low, "on the back burner" so to speak.   Noticing static (staying still) vs. dynamic (moving alot, a lot of transitions, a lot of changes, lots of emotions, fight/flight, etc.) experiences is in itself a great thing.

You may want to avoid SSILD or any night-time awareness-raising activity unless you can fall back to sleep really quickly.    I can't say if doing SSILD on the way to the bathroom would do anything or not, I would tend to think not, but hey, go ahead and see if it works.    

You know, a lot of LDing is experimentation and personal discovery.    If you have an idea, just try it out!  Keep good records, and go with it for a few months and see what the results are.  Regardless of what we teachers have to say here, you're the dreamer, so go with what feels good or interesting.      If it doesn't seem to work after a while, try something else.    Sometimes it's good to stick with one thing for a while, sometimes it's good to switch to something fresh so you do it more seriously with more attention.

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## Elaol

OK, a lot of things is happening in my life now  ::D: 

I have made my decision on how to continue my progress, and of course, I need your feedback:

1. Go back to GRC, but just noticing weight
2. Do Location RC (where I was 15 min ago, where am I now, where will I be in 15 min, is that dream-like) every now and then, but increase the amount of RCs with time

Now my question is: does this increase self-awareness?

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## FryingMan

> OK, a lot of things is happening in my life now 
> 
> I have made my decision on how to continue my progress, and of course, I need your feedback:
> 
> 1. Go back to GRC, but just noticing weight
> 2. Do Location RC (where I was 15 min ago, where am I now, where will I be in 15 min, is that dream-like) every now and then, but increase the amount of RCs with time
> 
> Now my question is: does this increase self-awareness?



Hi Elaol!    It's not a simple yes/no answer.  I think the answer is that you get as much self-awareness out of it (or any exercise) as you put into it.   If you bring your self, you, into the equation when you reflect on these particular aspects of your experience (gravity, location), and you have a "self aware moment" while doing it, then I believe yes this would serve to increase self-awareness.   The way to increase self-awareness is....to be self-aware more!

That being said, I think GRC ala Hukif is not really a self-awareness exercise.  It is more about establishing an almost unconscious trigger, an always-on but (eventually) background level of vigilance, that, when combined with intent and memory ("I am noticing gravity in order to become lucid in the dream state"), causes you to become lucid because "the gravity feels like dream gravity."  It's sort of a nagging feeling that gets your attention.   I also think the always-thinking about something (e.g., gravity) incubates the experience of noticing gravity in dreams (that's my personal theory).

So I'd distinguish between specific, always-on vigilant triggers and sporadic, highly reflective self-aware moments.   I think probably having only one of the "always-on" would be better, if you do too many it could be overwhelming.

You could certainly have a LOT of the sporadic ones, sure.   But if you want the Hukif-style GRC, it's not sporadic, it's every moment (as a goal) of the day, from morning through night.

I think that's why location awareness is hard for ADRC (all day RC): it requires a bit too much processing to be "always on."   It can be very frequent, but sporadic.   Here it helps I think to use triggers like major transitions (inside/outside, walking/car, etc.) in order to "schedule" the most advantageous times for location awareness.

edit: A thought I had as to how to manage multiple ADRC would be to do SSILD-like "cycles": spend some time on gravity vigilance, then spend some time on location vigilance, then spend some time on ...whatever you want...and then loop back to the beginning.   This constant cycling may help to keep the vigilance from falling away entirely.   It's what I realize I do in my practice.  I'll focus on one thing for a while (location), then another (my awareness, "I am here now"), and then another ("how odd is this?").

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## Elaol

Heeeeey everyone  ::D: 

I have a lot to report  ::D:  

First of all, thank you FM for so comprehensive responses. I have realized that in all my lucids I have become lucid by becoming self-aware, so now I try to "step back" and observe everything during my Location RC periods.

I finally realize dream yoga's attitude "This is a dream". This is my point of view: we all perceive this world differently, so this world doesn't not exists (in this way we see it) without our perception. Since everyone has different perception, this world is different for everyone. Because of that, we can say it is like a dream, since the world in way one is seeing it exists in that way for that individual. Does this makes sense? 

I am back to GRC as well  ::D:  I am just noticing weight of objects which help me become more mindful.

Also, I am meditating, and I can say I am doing really good job.

Last night I had another LD after 15 days, but my mom's alarm started ringing in another room, so I woke up :/

I am still struggling with quality of my lucids, I really want fully lucid dream... Last night I forgot to stabilize as well :/ What are your tips and tricks for increasing quality of dreams? I know once FM said that I need to observe closely my environment in order to increase quality, any more dreams?

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## Elaol

Soooo, first Location Induced LD  ::D:  

I am walking through a mall, and I come to a staircase. I say to myself: the location here might change. It then hits me: I'm dreaming! I stabilize by touching the wall while continuing to walk down the stairs. I am also focusing on stepping sensations. Suddenly, I loose sense on sight. I try really hard to see again. I change the surroundings so I am standing in a grass field, I can sense grass on my bare feet. But the sight is gone and I lose lucidity.

So, I am happy I had another lucid, but I am really sad that in 42 lucids I have had, none of them was fully lucid.

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## FryingMan

Great!   I have some urgent waking life matters that will be taking a lot of my time for a while, so I may not be updating here very frequently for a while.

Just keep it up, location may be the thing for you!    

As for quality, take walks pretending you're lucid, and having the sort of lucid experience you wish for.    Hold the lucidity you wish to have for as long as you want to have it in a dream.    You need to be able to do it while awake before you can do it in a dream (my theory)!

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## Elaol

OK, thanks FM, I hope you solve that problem as soon as possible. 

If you find some time, please elaborate this theory a little more. What do you mean by hold lucidity? I guess you meant that I do stabilization and wander around as if I am lucid. Do I need to do anything else for maximum effect?

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## FryingMan

I mean to *be lucid*.   What is lucid?   Self-awareness.   Be aware of your awareness, be aware that you're aware of your state.     Be the way you want to be in dreams.  Ask yourself, what is that way?   What do you mean, "fully lucid?"    I do not mean walking around rubbing your hands like crazy or constantly "thinking about stabilization," no.   Instead, enjoy the experience, fully participate and pay attention to it while it's happening.     Visualize what you want your lucid dreams to be like, how your mind is clear, how you notice things, how you remember your current set of dream goals, then *be* that way in your practice.    Visualizing the dream control you want to do is also quite good and builds positive expectation.

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## fogelbise

Congratulations on your first location induced LD!!  ::D:  

I agree with FM's recommendations. When he says to be aware of your awareness, that is something that can take some time to sink in. It is something I was able to develop through Sageous' RRC (and reading that part of ETWOLD). When I am working on it consistently while keeping a strong sense of me in those exercises, I seem to have higher level lucid dreams. *I* am *here* *now!* *I* am he who is aware! *I* am he who is aware of my awareness!  :smiley:

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## Elaol

Thanks guys for your responses  ::D: 

I have some interesting things to mention.

First, the stupidest way I missed becoming lucid. I was dreaming of my mom having bracelet. On that bracelet are written the following words: This is a dream! I dreamed about that and didn't become lucid *facepalm*

The next thing, I had my first real Gravity ILD. I was carrying suitcase and I lifted both the hand with suitcase and the other hand. I thought to myself: it shouldn't be that easy to lift the hand with suitcase, I must be dreaming. Then I tried to stabilize. Everything started blinking and I started to float (unintentionally). I floated back to my room. At that time I felt both my dream body and my real paralyzed body. I floated into my real body and the paralysis has stopped.

I had meditative walk, where I practiced self-awareness, GRC and location RC. It felt really relaxing and it gave me lucid dream  ::D: 

One thing to note: I think I overthink stabilization. I don't have high level lucids yet, I think I focus too much on stabilization and then the dream collapses. The next time, I will just become self-aware and that is it. I will see how it goes  ::D:

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## FryingMan

Yes, overthinking stabilization can cause stabilization problems.   As I've said many times: just enjoy the dream and focus on goals.

Congrats on the gravity LD!    This should show you that patience and consistency are rewarded!

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## fogelbise

Congratulations on your Gravity ILD!!  ::D:  Very nice work!!

I forgot to mention…although it might have been mentioned at some point already, but a "just got lucid" ritual, practiced during the day or during awakenings, is also a great way to raise the level of your lucidity. You can mix in your focus on self awareness during the practice. When you become lucid in a dream there is a better chance that you will remember this practice and benefit from it. I definitely agree with FM to not worry about stabilization or even this suggested practice and your primary focus should be on enjoying the dream and pursuing your goals. Do you also have any fun goals set up for your next LD? That is highly recommended.

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## Elaol

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your comments  :smiley: 

I am practicing meditative walks right now, as I have mentioned, where I focus on word "Dream", I try to become more aware and do GRC and LRC. I also "act" that I have just realized that I am lucid and I raise my self-awareness and try some of my goals.

Yes, fogelbise, I have some fun goals. Idk if you are aware of Lucid Challenge "Journey of 1000 miles". I think it is very fun and I can't wait to try it  ::D:

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## fogelbise

Your current practices sound great!

I haven't seen that Lucid Challenge. I should take a look. I don't get around all of the different sections of DV as much as I used to.

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## Elaol

OK, guys, long time no posts xD

I have a question I would like to ask you, but idk how to express it.

Anyways, last couple of days, I was practicing walking meditation. After about 20 days, my lucids have started again, I had the best LD so far. This morning I had one more, location induced. I got too excited and it was like I was leaf on the wind, I was flying and lost control and woke up. 

I know both of you were telling me I need to improve my waking life in order to have better lucids. What areas should I improve except awareness and reflection?

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## FryingMan

Congrats on the great LD!  In addition to the fundamentals of awareness/attention, reflection, and memory/recall, I think cultivating a grateful/thankful, compassionate, happy attitude towards life is highly effective.   It benefits all experiences, both dreaming and waking.   The dream yoga authors promote loving kindness recitations as being very helpful.

Have you been practicing a "just got lucid" ritual of some kind?   Doing this while awake can help you to remember to do it in dreams, which can really elevate the dream experience.    Waking visualization / MILD can also really help with incubation and lucidity and doing particular kinds of dream control.

I think there is a tendency to always be looking for something else, some other different thing to do, that may be the silver bullet.   I don't think there are silver bullets in LD practice, beyond the fundamentals.    Believe in them and practice them consistently and diligently, and cultivate a happy attitude towards life and dreams.     Try to encourage the "perfect storm" of conditions (being well-rested, sleep schedule, stress free, content/happy with life) and practices (mindfulness, WBTB, expectation, intention).   Rather, rinse, repeat, experiment, keep careful records, and notice trends to find what seems to work best for you.

Having said that, I think you can find lots of useful exercises in Sivason's Dream Yoga class here in the DVA: diffuse vision, visualization, and so forth.

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## Elaol

Hey my mentors  ::D:  Sorry for being away for such a long time. 

Since I have started working, I have not been dedicated as before. That, combined with some other major personal issues has prevented me from practicing LDing. 

I am back now, and I hope I will experience more high-quality lucid dreams.

See you!

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## fogelbise

It's great to see you back! Anytime you need to, I recommend simply slowing down. I recommend to try not to stop altogether and look for the joy in as many of your practices as possible.  :smiley: 

I'm looking forward to reading about your first LD since returning!

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## Elaol

Hey everyone  ::D:  

I have really enjoyed the spellbee2's competition. It has made me thinking. So I have some ideas I would like to share with you, and of course, to hear your feedback.

1. I have trouble sleeping these days, I wake up tired no matter what. So I was thinking of not recording my dreams during the night (I will still write them down in the morning), since I expose myself to blue light and wake myself up even more. That will, of course, influence my dream recall. Do you have any ideas how to remember my dreams without recording them during the night? I know dreams are very slippery and I tend to forget most of them. 

2. This is related to the question above. Since most of my LDs are happening after 6 AM, do you think not remembering dreams 12 AM - 5 AM (because I will not voice-record them) will damage my LD practice?

3. I will probably start doing DEILD, since I think it is the best technique right now, because I will not record my dreams. I also plan to make my own meditation that will help me achieve more DEILDs.

4. Since it is very hard doing GRC and teaching people at the same time, I was thinking of doing something similar, constant reality check based on blinking, since we do not blink in the dreams, at least I don't. I will experiment with that some more  ::D: 

So that is about it  ::D:  I am looking forward to your feedback  :smiley:

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## FryingMan

Hi, Elaol!





> Do you have any ideas how to remember my dreams without recording them during the night? I know dreams are very slippery and I tend to forget most of them.



Most of the time I do not record during the night now.  I may change that but that's where I'm at right now.   Much more important than recording during the night is reaching for the recall every time you find yourself awake.   It's up to you how long to do it, since doing it for longer can lead to more wakefulness.    I keep a running list of remembered dreams throughout the night, adding to it with every waking.    I give each dream a title/tag/keyword, and associate at least one or two visual memories with it.  Doing this, and reciting the list of key phrases over and over, I generally make it through the night with most of the recall still intact.  Some detail may suffer, especially earlier dreams, but this is a good compromise and I think actually is a very good exercise for recall, and it tends to build recall even higher.

You can avoid blue light and waking too much by using a voice recorder.  Easiest and most available is the one on your smart phone.  You can keep the lights off, stay still in your sleeping position, and keep your eyes closed except for starting and stopping the recorder.  This is what I do when I record and it works great!





> 2. This is related to the question above. Since most of my LDs are happening after 6 AM, do you think not remembering dreams 12 AM - 5 AM (because I will not voice-record them) will damage my LD practice?



I still recommend reaching for dream memories, at least quickly, every single time you find yourself awake.   You can set a shorter time limit, or if the dreams were not all that interesting, maybe skip over them, but I think maintaining the habit of performing recall immediately upon waking (unless you're attempting a DEILD) is critically important.





> 3. I will probably start doing DEILD, since I think it is the best technique right now, because I will not record my dreams. I also plan to make my own meditation that will help me achieve more DEILDs.



Getting good at DEILDs is a very worthy investment of time and effort, and is good strategy to trade-off at least some dream recall for higher chances of lucidity.





> 4. Since it is very hard doing GRC and teaching people at the same time, I was thinking of doing something similar, constant reality check based on blinking, since we do not blink in the dreams, at least I don't. I will experiment with that some more



I myself lean towards general mindfulness rather than specific all-day-RC.   One reason is that general mindfulness is useful for more than just lucid dreaming.   Find what makes sense *to you*, something that you can maintain most of the day including when teaching, and do it.    Maintaining awareness and reflection is more important than what specific thing you focus on.

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## Elaol

Sorry FM, I just realized I haven't liked your response. I've been practicing everything as usual, but for some weird reason, my sleep is disrupted. I wake up tired and I am sleepy throughout the day. I don't wake up as usual during the night, which is why my DR has decreased. Do you think I can still use techniques for LD even though I have significantly less dreams per night? Now I have 3-4 very short dreams per night.

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## FryingMan

Could be a sign  that you just need to rest.    We all have times where that's the top priority.   The dreams will always be there once you're ready.   Take care of yourself!  Healthy diet and exercise helps with fatigue.

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