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

## Densetsu

_Reality Checks:_
*Pinching my nose
*Reading text/checking the time
*Counting my fingers
_
Dream Signs:_
*Concrete buildings
*Tunnels
*Railways
*Sliding down stairs
**Realizing I'm dreaming but not caring enough to do anything about it D:*

_Short-term Goals (Updated 10-9-2012):_
*Stabilize dreams
*Have more regular lucid dreams
*Speak to my subconscious
*Have less disturbing dreams

Monthly Goal: Attend a Halloween party!

_Long-term Goals:_
*Have greater control over my dreams in general
*Use my dreams for semi-practical purposes

_Lucid Dream/Recall History:_
*I can usually remember 1-2 dreams a night in good detail
*Most of my dreams are lucid, but I don't have control of them for the most part

_Current Techniques Used:_

*WBTB
*WILD

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_Lesson I Homework:_

*Start a workbook: In progress!
*Start a dream journal: Done. The link is in my signature.
*Record the times that I go to sleep/wake up
Saturday-Sunday: ~5 am - ~11 am  ::?: 

_List why you want to lucid dream and plan out what you want to do in the next one._

*I want to lucid dream because there are some things that can only be done in a lucid dream and can never be completely experienced in waking life. In my next lucid dream I want to practice flying. Nothing too crazy.

_Establish a night-time routine:_

*If only the routine I have established wasn't terrible. Right now it consists of opening up the dream journal that I have on my laptop, putting on some quiet music, then going to sleep just about when the sun starts to come up. I need to work on that.


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_Lesson II Homework:_

*Study the induction techniques posted on-site and find on that works best for you: Done. WILD <3
*Practice the technique for ~2 weeks before ruling it out or changing to another technique: In progress. WILD is tough stuff.
*Continue to post your experiences in this workbook, even if they're unsuccessful: You got it.
*Choose a second (or possibly a third) induction technique to compliment the first: I already do WBTB with my WILDs and, hm...MILD is probably the next step I should take.
*Include WBTB in your routine if possible: I already do.  :smiley: 


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_Lesson III Homework:_

*In progress  :smiley: 


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_Lesson IV Homework:_

_When inside of a lucid dream, practice the dream control techniques. Post your results in your workbook._

*Once, I filled an empty bottle with water by thinking about it. It's a small feat compared to other things, but definitely a significant one.

_If you you have a lucid dream and find yourself losing it, practice the stabilisation techniques listed here. Post your results in your workbook._

*Grasping at my surroundings and spinning in place works wonders when I actually remember to do it.

_Visit somewhere you know from waking life, take notes of all its surroundings, are there any subtle differences?_

*Subtle differences? I wouldn't call them subtle. Usually, places that I see in my dreams that I know in waking life are directly connected to each other despite being very far apart in reality. Occasionally places that I come across have similar layouts to places that I know, but have very different architectural themes; for example, I once visited the neighborhood that I grew up in as a kid, with the exception that the roads were dirt paths and the buildings looked like Grecian temples. The realization that things were not all they appeared to be came to me when I saw a yellow Humvee parked in a driveway.

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## RareCola

Hey there! Welcome to the class.

A few things:
- I think your goals should be more specific. I've found I've never had any luck when I'm simply striving for a "lucid dream", as it's an empty goal. You need something to really motivate you, giving you that butterflies-in-stomach feeling. Flying is a good start, but have a think on some more in-depths plans. Checking the Task of the Month on this forum is a great place to start!

- Definitely fix that sleep schedule! You're only getting 6 hours sleep, if you slept for 8 hours you can easily double your chances of having a lucid dream. Make sure you go to bed and wake up within 20 minutes of the same time every day too.

- Do you do anything else before you go to sleep? Dream recall and lucidity especially are greatly enhanced if you practice techniques before bed and during a WBTB. Just "going to sleep" you aren't going to have much luck.

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## paigeyemps

Weeeelcome!  ::happyme::

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## Densetsu

Taking up RareCola's advice, I decided to take a day and reflect upon just what I want to get out of this course. After some careful and wordy deliberation I decided that I'd like to use lucid dreaming to talk to my subconscious.

Last night I managed to get to sleep about two hours earlier than I usually do (not that that's saying much, heh), and the results definitely showed. I fell asleep attempting to WILD and had two fairly vivid dreams that both related to music and one that was more like a story, which I posted into the snippets thread. When I woke up I wrote down as much as I could and posted them onto my blog when I got the chance. I even woke up and did a semi-successful WBTB.  :smiley:

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## OpheliaBlue

Oh that's good! So how much sleep are you getting total, just curious?

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## Densetsu

> Oh that's good! So how much sleep are you getting total, just curious?



I usually get about 6 hours of sleep. :\

Last night I had a dream that felt very long, but not very detailed in every area. I think I might need to focus on stabilization techniques and maybe switch from WILD to MILD. Hopefully that will make things happen more smoothly.

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## OpheliaBlue

8 hours of sleep is usually optimal.

And hey, you're from Texas! Me too  :smiley:

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## Densetsu

Last night I actually got a good night's rest and the results definitely showed. I had a fairly vivid lucid dream sometime during the night, but I can't recall any dreams that may have happened after that. Hopefully with my new schedule (I got a job! Hurray!) I'll have better progress. And once I get my own internet connection I'll actually be able to regularly update this workbook, heh.

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## paigeyemps

Ahh cool. And congrats on your job!  ::D:  yay!

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## Densetsu

The job is hard work but it's fun. It's also getting my sleep schedule in check. Though I can't say I've been having good dreams lately; they've all been dark and generally depressing. :\

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## paigeyemps

> The job is hard work but it's fun. It's also getting my sleep schedule in check. Though I can't say I've been having good dreams lately; they've all been dark and generally depressing. :\



Aww:S Do you have any idea why this could be? What's on your mind lately? It could be a lot of things: stress, diet, etc. 

I hope your dreams lighten up though  :smiley:

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## Densetsu

I'm hoping that my low-quality dreaming has been just a fluke. Today, I woke up from an odd (non-lucid) dream and everything feels a bit surreal right now. Hopefully it's just my nerves messing with me.

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## OpheliaBlue

Do you ever try incubating positive dreams before bed, or during a WBTB?

I was just wondering because you mentioned having dark and depressing dreams lately.

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## Densetsu

> Do you ever try incubating positive dreams before bed, or during a WBTB?
> 
> I was just wondering because you mentioned having dark and depressing dreams lately.



Actually, I haven't tried incubating dreams in about a year or so. It used to be that I would think about what would be nice to dream of before bed, but that was before I even learned about lucid dreaming. Speaking of dark and depressing dreams, I took a nap after work yesterday and had a dream that consisted of little more than a series of false awakenings into the same dream; I was in bed and everything was tinted red, and something was constantly keeping a blanket piled on my head, and occasionally turning me over. At one point I felt a hand through the blanket, but I can only be so sure. That night I had no dream recall.

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## OpheliaBlue

Oh wow, that's trippy! And what a coincidence: in my last 2 lucids, I had a hard time getting unstuck from my blankets. And funny that you mention false awakenings. They're a great tool for becoming lucid. You should definitely do RCs first thing in the morning, or at least just heighten your sense of awareness. Then you can turn those lousy FAs into lucids.

You say you used to incubate dreams before bed? That's good, it's a really handy tool for setting up your mind for lucid dreaming. And preferably the same setting you just incubated!

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## Densetsu

During a bout of computer problems (which haven't been entirely corrected), I had a successful WILD! It happened the day before yesterday, on one of my almost all-nighters. Keeping still was kinda tricky because I wasn't even really that tired but after I don't even know how long, I started hearing wind and seeing brightly colored blotches of color. When I opened my eyes I was inside of a empty barn. 

From what little light I had I could see that there were tons of spiders everywhere, so I tried the spinning technique to try and go somewhere a little less horrifying. Didn't work. I couldn't find a door so I pretty much dug my way under the wall, crawled out, and shook off as much dirt and spiders as I could. From there on, things started to fade. I need to work on my stabilization techniques. Lessons III and IV, here I come!

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## paigeyemps

WOW! Congrats!!  ::D:  isn't a successful WILD just amazing?! x) maybe next time you can shoot the spiders with some lasers from your hands or something, that'd be fun!

Heads up: It's almost October! I suggest making a new list of monthly goals you want to achieve, as well as reevaluate your DJ for possible new dream signs or any realizations  ::D:

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## Densetsu

It's been over a week and my laptop is finally back in semi-workable order.

Right now I'm running on the idea that the tone of my recent dreams is being caused by REM rebound due to lack of rest. I've been getting to bed earlier but I end up waking up at around 5-6 am (around the time that I'd usually go to sleep) and feel like hell for the rest of the morning unless I try and get another few hours of sleep.

I've also identified some rather problematic dream signs; if I realize I'm dreaming, I don't care enough to attempt doing things past exploring on foot. If I try driving, the world becomes recursive and I end up going in circles. If I try flying, I don't get enough lift to get anywhere very far.

The second dream sign has to do with talking. My voice usually fails me if I try to speak more than a few words at a time, reducing me to using body language to talk to dream characters. It can be quite vexing.

WILD practice seem to be a toss-up, but WBTB is going great. My MILD is also improving a good deal, which makes me hopeful that I can push past this rough patch soon enough.

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## CanisLucidus

> I've also identified some rather problematic dream signs; if I realize I'm dreaming, I don't care enough to attempt doing things past exploring on foot. If I try driving, the world becomes recursive and I end up going in circles. If I try flying, I don't get enough lift to get anywhere very far.
> 
> The second dream sign has to do with talking. My voice usually fails me if I try to speak more than a few words at a time, reducing me to using body language to talk to dream characters. It can be quite vexing.



Good to see you back.  If I understand correctly, these are all problems that happen to you while you are lucid.

First, on the issue of not caring/motivation when lucid.  I'd definitely suggest having one (or perhaps two) very specific things that you really want to try out in an LD.  Commit it to memory and then get to work on it right away, if at all possible.  If something more interesting pops up in-dream, hey, that's fine too!  Motivation problem solved either way.  If you don't have any big things you're especially excited about, Task of the Month is always fun!  http://www.dreamviews.com/f43/task-m...2012-a-136745/

Second, I see a few dream control problems in terms of flying/driving /talking.  The best advice I can give in general with dream control problems is to overwhelm yourself with positive details.  Flying was always tough for me and the way that I recently broke through on that was to imagine as much detail about the successful experience as possible: the feel of the wind against my hands, the lightness of my body, the way that the foggy air would brush through my hair and chill my scalp.  Whatever part of me had time to doubt a positive outcome was overwhelmed and instead the dream experience mirrored the barrage of positive thoughts.  So far, this seems to work in all sorts of areas.

Like they say, it's hard to "not think about a pink elephant".  It's easier to forget the pink elephant if you are trying to remember your childhood friend's phone number while performing complex arithmetic and hopping around on one foot.   :smiley:

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## Densetsu

I've discovered something, I think.

If my eyes hurt when I'm trying to sleep, my dreaming for that night suffers greatly and I'll only recall fragments at best. Looks like I need to quit the electronics before bed.

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## paigeyemps

> I've discovered something, I think.
> 
> If my eyes hurt when I'm trying to sleep, my dreaming for that night suffers greatly and I'll only recall fragments at best. Looks like I need to quit the electronics before bed.



Ahh that might be a good idea. I noticed when I watch TV before bed and go directly to sleep, my dreams suffer as well. So what I did since then was I would take about 20-30 minutes lying in the dark, with my eyes open before I proceed to sleep. That might help you out too  :smiley:

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## Densetsu

Thirty minutes? That sounds pretty manageable.

On a different note, lately I've been more self-aware in dreams but they've been playing out so...normally. It's to the point where they just seem like everyday memories when I wake up. Last night I dreamed about being in a cafeteria and being disappointed that they were out of mashed potatoes. One good thing, however, is that I've also been recalling a lot of really old dreams and memories that haven't popped up since I was a kid. Some of them were even dreams that I had thought were memories for the longest time. Again, these were dreams that played out completely as normal except for the time frame. A lot of my childhood dreams were simple like that; I used to dream about walking to/from school all the time when I just started grade school.

So, here is what I plan on trying to get used to, starting from tonight on:

No eating before bed! My body doesn't need all that distraction.
No electronics before bed! My eyes need more rest than my body.
More activity during the day, less activity at night! Winding down before bed might do me better than winding up.
More self-awareness while I'm awake! I'm going to see the trees, not the forest. Too bad there aren't any forests where I live  :Sad:

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## Densetsu

Hurray for progress! I can speak properly in my dreams now, and hopefully it isn't a fluke. (I really hope it isn't)

The past few dreams that I've had have been more vivid, but less detailed. There aren't as many jumps or they don't cover as much time as they normally have. This isn't really a big problem, but it is worth noting because they are becoming less fragmented. Right now I'm in the process of putting down my more recent dreams onto paper (I've resorted to noting them down on my phone) and soon I'll start to update my general dream blog. I'll also start a dream journal for more DV related dream tasks. I have to say, everybody, that while I haven't been able to keep as steady a pace as some of you, I have had a lot of fun doing this so far.

My favorite recalled dream from childhood so far is: Being chased around the family car by dust devils. Instead of running inside, I just ran rectangles around the car. I was a strange kid.  :smiley:

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## paigeyemps

Dust devils! Sounds awesome  ::D: 

Also, great job! Don't worry about keeping up with the others, as it is important to go at your own pace. And it looks good, so you're getting there!

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## CanisLucidus

That's great!  Congratulations on the progress.  I know that speaking in particular was something that you were concerned about several days back so I'm glad to hear that you've got your voice back like you wanted.

It sounds like your dreams are growing more memorable and more "focused" on a particular scene?  Would you say that's a fair description?

I'm looking forward to seeing your DJ whenever you do get a chance to start it.  There's a sense of tranquility to your dream descriptions that I really enjoy.  Kind of like kneeling by a koi pond.  While being chased by a dust devil.   :smiley:

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## Densetsu

Today I had the day off, so I tried out a WBTB this afternoon, and I have come to this conclusion: if I don't write them down between going naps, I will not be able to clearly recall my dreams. Three fanciful dreams are now only brief glimpses of memory. I really think one of them would have cleared the monthly task for October, too. :\

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## paigeyemps

What did you mean by 'writing them down between naps'? Did you mean that long waking period in between sleeps (like you wake up in the morning, and nap in the afternoon) or do you mean that time when you wake many times during your sleep?

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## Densetsu

I made a post last night, but it looks like it didn't stick :\

Yesterday afternoon, I learned something the hard way; if I try doing a WBTB, I will not be able to remember any of the dreams if I don't write them down quickly. Three dreams scatter into brief memories. I think one of them even cleared one of October's task (going trick-or-treating and seeing members of DV), but I can't say for sure any more...  :Sad:

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## paigeyemps

Oh  :Sad:  I'm sorry to hear that. The upside to this is that you now know, so you will be able to change up your approach!  ::D: 

A thought just occurred to me though. How long do you stay up? Because that could play a role in this. Maybe a different amount of staying up will have a different effect?

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## Densetsu

> Oh  I'm sorry to hear that. The upside to this is that you now know, so you will be able to change up your approach! 
> 
> A thought just occurred to me though. How long do you stay up? Because that could play a role in this. Maybe a different amount of staying up will have a different effect?



Lately I've been cutting back and getting to sleep around 2 to 3 am (which is still awful, but a lot better than what my schedule used to be).

Let's see...my dream stability and clarity has been going up, but my dream control is ridiculously bad right now. It is literally to the point where if I try to make something happen, or even just try to actively stabilize the dream, it falls apart and everything goes black. One step forward in one aspect, one step back in another. Hurray.

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## paigeyemps

Hey, it's also alright if you don't stabilize. like opheliablue said, it's only necessary if you make it necessary. even i dont stabilize much anymore. and to be honest, it's been so much better because i dont need to do anything because if i dont think about stabilization  the dream doesnt destabilize. PLUS you get to conserve lucid moments for doing other stuff.  just a thought.  :smiley: 

as for dream control, maybe you should practice slowly, say.... first try to look at something and change its color..and not do anything overly extreme. then you can move up and summon small objects..etc

good luck  ::D:

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## Densetsu

Today I forgot what my dream was about before I even woke up. :\ Maybe I'll dust off my radio and listen to adult contemporary while I sleep; from doing that, I can still vaguely remember how Russian politics work.

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## Chimpertainment

Remember where you were, and where you want to go. Then let it be...Forget it all, and keep going.  :smiley:

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## Densetsu

Once again I've been called away for an extended amount of time. This time, however, I have been keeping track of my goals.

Recently I found an old archived thread on this site that discussed manipulating visual snow and its application in dream control. Having a moderately strong case of visual snow, I read the thread over several times and have been doing the exercises daily and they've been working. Not having a reliable internet connection has been a huge damper on my dream blog, but everything is being written (and put into coherent sentences when needed) down in a word document.

Two days ago, I bought a bottle of valerian root extract. The past two nights have been the best rest that I've had in a long time, and I'm not as drowsy when I wake up. It's a really good feeling  :smiley:

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## paigeyemps

Welcome back Densetsu! Great to hear it's been going good for you. Have you had any interesting dreams on your time away?  :smiley:

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## Densetsu

I do, I do!

My blog will be used to keep track of general dreams, and I've found a use for the dream journal! I'd like to use it o keep track of more specific dream-related matters that are part of an incubation project that I've been working on for about a week. I suppose you can say that it will be my training journal.

Reviewing my dream notes I've seen that I tend to have a lot of dreams involving school, to the point where people in the dream note that I've been missing a lot of class lately. In one case (which is about to be posted in the dream snippets thread), a teacher returned graded work and I received a significantly higher amount of paper back than everybody else in the "class".

On days that I can't remember my current dreams well, I tend to recall past dreams more easily. One of these dreams in particular was fairly interesting to me, so I'm going to be using the situation that dream put me in as a dream exercise.

So far, taking valerian root before bed has little effect when I'm awake. Sometimes I wonder if it really works, but the quality of sleep that I've had so far says that it does. Alternating between taking two pills (a small dose) and three pills (a standard dose) has been very good for getting rest but hasn't really done anything noticeable to the vividness of my dreams or for the quality of my dream recall.  Last night I considered taking a higher dosage but ultimately decided to speak with my doctor before doing so, just to be safe.

All in all, things have been a bit rocky but I have had some definite progress over time.  :smiley:

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## Densetsu

Today (quite some time ago), I finished the first day of classes for my new semester. With both school and work, I will be following a much more rigid schedule that will hopefully hammer some discipline into me. The mere fact that I'm up at 3 am on a school night is a testament to my procrastination.

Nevertheless, I will wake up at 9 am like I'm supposed to, go to school, and update my dream journal between classes. After coming this far, through all the setbacks and progress, I can't do anything but see this through. Wish me luck everybody, for I'd like to have as much of it as possible on the road ahead. I'm far too wordy for my own good.  ::zzz::

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## paigeyemps

Good luck! I am going through the same stuff as well, what with classes and all. And yep, I try to journal my dreams in my spare time, especially when the class is boring! Hahaha

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## Densetsu

As expected, things didn't go too well last night. However, I did sleep pretty well.

Also, Dreams of a Lofty Tower is up today. Yes, last night I linked to a page that didn't exist.  :wink2:

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## Densetsu

Looks like the text file that had my more recent dreams in it somehow became corrupted, so I've lost a good amount of private entries.

It's not that big of a deal, though, since most of it was almost unreadable sentence fragments. Since I'm in school all day and at work right after, I've decided to switch my advanced vision control exercises for ADA. The sight control has led to some pretty vivid dreams in the past but with my lack of dream control I figure that something that leads to more tactile results might do the trick.

Because of having to get up earlier to get to school, I've been taking less valerian and melatonin. Hopefully this means that their effects will be more pronounced when I do get around to taking them.


*Current Reality Checks:*
*Checking the time on my phone
*Going to my phone's home page
*Interlocking my fingers and counting them
*Looking out of one eye, the switching to the other eye

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## Densetsu

Today I woke up just as my alarm went off. Getting to sleep on time is still a bit difficult, but waking up early isn't as much of a problem as it used to be because I've been winding-down for a longer amount of time before bed.

My first session of ADA during class went pretty well. I can still picture my view of the classroom fairly easily and the notes that I took down were pretty detailed compared to what I usually do. Despite not doing my usual AVA exercises, I notice that I'm becoming more aware of my visual snow and eye floaters. They're cool to look at but they might end up being a distraction if my focus on them throughout the day increases too much.

The time here is 2:55 pm, and I am not dreaming.

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## Densetsu

Time to get organized. 

Goals for February:

*Have 5 lucid dreams during the month
*Attempt Basic and Advanced Tasks of the Month
*Solidify dream state
*Inspire a pair of sigils
*Tame my sleeping schedule once and for all
*Document as many of my lost dreams from memory as possible
**Initiate Project Pax*

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## Densetsu

"It is as if the dream reaches out towards itself, just before the dreamer awakens. This brief moment is of the utmost importance, as the-"

This was my first thought upon waking up today. Under my current schedule, Friday and Saturday are the only days during which I can stay up later than usual. During these days, and maybe once or twice throughout the week, I plan on trying WBTB by taking half of my extra strength melatonin before bed, followed by the other half before going back to sleep a few hours later. Work on my non-dream related goals for the month is progressing smoothly

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## paigeyemps

Hey Densetsu, good to hear you're doing well. May I ask what technique, if any, do you use on normal days along with ADA?

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## Densetsu

Glad you asked. Recently I bought a pair of prescription glasses to help with my nearsightedness, so I've been paying a lot more attention to how everything looks in general. I've also been taking a more hands-on approach to handling my schoolwork, noting how the grips on my camera feel, the slight pressure required to adjust the focus, the murderously uncomfortable hardness of the chairs in my English class, etc. In retrospect it all sounds very distracting, but these small things seem to be helping.

The second "exercise" that I've been doing is one to work out my short and long term memory. If I find myself doing something that I've done before, I think back and try to remember as many times I was in a similar situation as I can. This has shown that I'm pretty good at remembering things that I've seen and how it felt to see/do these things, but I'm just terrible at recalling exact dates unless they were particularly memorable.

The time is 2:53 pm and I am not dreaming (though I wish I was).

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## paigeyemps

Ooh, thanks! Those little exercises sound like really good practice. I do something similar, with noticing the little details in waking life that I never pay attention to. I also put a lot of attention on my sense of smell since it seems to be quite developed in my dreams. And strangely, because of tihis, my sense of smell in dreams increases exponentially x)

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## Densetsu

It looks like taking Valerian root extract less often is causing it to have a more pronounced effect. Even when I take less than the standard dosage, I find that I sleep much more peacefully throughout the night. To date, I have yet to take more than the recommended dosage nor have I taken Valerian in combination with any other pills other than zinc.

Progress on my goals for the month so far:
*My sleep schedule is as wily as ever, but it is slowly becoming more normal. if I can schedule it I want to have a biphasic sleep schedule
*My dream state is still fragmented, but working on the sigils is helping a bit
*Project Pax is under way, and the details will be posted in my dream journal later tonight (I'm writing and editing the outline and tying it into another workbook that I'll soon be starting in another subforum)

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## Densetsu

Schoolwork is getting in the way of me finishing my outline, but here's a quick overview of the first half of what I have planned so far.

Step 1: Resetting the sleep schedule.
Step 2: Dream control techniques
Step 3: Physical workout routine
Step 4: Sigil Inspiration

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## Densetsu

A brief explanation of Step 1: Resetting the sleep schedule.

Try as I might, I've ultimately failed at resetting my sleep schedule by simply going to sleep earlier. When I try that, the only thing that happens is waking up in the middle of the night exhausted and unable to get back to bed for a few hours. So my sleep deprived mind came up with another solution.

"If you can't tame the beast, slay it."

Step 1 consisted of sleeping only 3-4 hours a day for three days. It sounds awful, I know. It felt awful, too. Right now I'm just plain tired. The only thing left is to wait until my hopeful bedtime and sleep. There will be no further usage of sleep aids until this step is officially complete and my sleep schedule is once again at an acceptable rhythm.

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## CanisLucidus

Wow, good luck with fixing your sleep schedule.  The sleep deprivation sounds rough, so be good to yourself for the next few days!

Something else that helps me when dealing with jet lag is to limit my exposure to artificial light once the sun goes down.  Keeping the lights down is a good idea.  If you tend to get a lot of screen time at night, I'd recommend a program like f.lux (available for free here) that tunes the color temperature of your screen so that you aren't overexposed to blue light.  This should help you get your natural melatonin production back where it needs to be.  It's only in the past couple of centuries that humans have _ever_ experienced such high levels of blue light in the evenings.  It's had some bad effects on sleep rhythms.

I also suggest forcing yourself to get up at your new planned wake-up time.  Once you're up, try to get outside for some exercise in the sun.  A good walk outdoors is just perfect.  Now you _want_ the blue light exposure you were trying to avoid at night.  The combination of sun exposure and exercise will help signal to your body that it's time to be out on the hunt again.

The combination of these steps should help you get your Circadian rhythm where it needs to be.  Good luck... this can be tough, but I know you'll get your sleep schedule sorted out!

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## Densetsu

Ten days and five essays later, things are almost back on track. My Circadian rhythm is still a little off because I've been napping a lot lately and my dream recall is still a bit shot because I've been really~ preoccupied with school for the past month or so, but things are changing; I can feel it.

I wake up feeling (slightly) refreshed instead of feeling exhausted. I go to sleep earlier than I used to (today being an exception) and it feels like my dreams aren't quite so frayed.

Semi-final update on February's Goals:
*Have 5 lucid dreams during the month - I fell short by four. The one lucid dream that I did have was spectacularly educational, though.
*Attempt Basic and Advanced Tasks of the Month - Failed~
*Solidify dream state - One rock and a small ripple
*Inspire a pair of sigils - Complete! I inspired three, which I really need to scan.
*Tame my sleeping schedule once and for all - Semi-complete. The beast is weakened and nearly tame.
*Document as many of my lost dreams from memory as possible - Semi-complete. Long-term recall is tougher than it sounds.
*Initiate Project Pax - Complete!

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## Alucinor XIII

Good luck getting your sleep back on track! But keep a look out-- when you're sleep schedule has been out of whack, straightening it back out can result in REM Rebounds, so its a prime time to have some powerful dreams!

Oh, and recalling "lost" dreams is great idea, it'll really work your memory. Its also a good idea to go through old dream journals and try to remember those dreams as vividly as possible. I'm not sure, but dreams seem to be stored in a very different way, so remembering and reimaging old dreams seems to exercise that part of our memories. 

Keep it up =]

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## Densetsu

REM rebound is right; I ended up having a short but significant lucid dream earlier today! I'm getting back in the habit of questioning the physics of dreaming while I'm in them and subtly paying attention to the visual aspect of said dreams.

Tonight's exercise:
*20 sit-ups
*20 push-ups
*20 squats
*160 deep breaths (5 seconds per breath)

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## paigeyemps

Wooot! Congrats on the lucid :3

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## Densetsu

How does almost three weeks fly by so quickly?

Things are doing a lot better, and I've gotten messy notes on about eight of my older dreams written down. However, there were some...domestic issues that set me back a bit, but I'm willing to play catch-up again. I'm getting better at imposing static objects over my field of vision (as part of my advanced vision exercises) and the vividness of my dreams is increasing, but my dream recall still has a way to go before I'm back where I was a few months after I first joined DV.

Luckily, I have had a couple of fairly vivid dreams that I can recall easily. For now I've chosen to keep them private because I'm using them for a multimedia project that I'm chiseling at in my free time.

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## Alucinor XIII

Glad to hear you're getting back on track Denny.  :tongue2: 

Not sure if you intended it or not, but using your dreams for any type of project or creative pursuits in waking life is a good way to further cement lucidity into your subconscious. The more dreams you remember, the more creative fuel you'll have for projects, and the more dreaming will become a natural part of your life...and that means more dreams you'll remember....and so on. Its a nifty cycle. 

Good luck!

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## Densetsu

Thanks, Luci.  :tongue2: 

Today I was cleaning my room and I found my old phone tucked away in a drawer. I popped it onto the charger, turned it on, and looked through it to see if it had any half-asleep dream logs on it. There weren't any logs, but there were two contacts which caught my eye.

Name [24/32]: Nice Guy ###55555555GGGG
Mobile: ###-555-5555

Name [32/32]: Purple Purple Purple Purple Pur
Mobile: 997-147-2500256


What dreams they represent I honestly have no clue.

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## paigeyemps

> Thanks, Luci. 
> 
> Today I was cleaning my room and I found my old phone tucked away in a drawer. I popped it onto the charger, turned it on, and looked through it to see if it had any half-asleep dream logs on it. There weren't any logs, but there were two contacts which caught my eye.
> 
> Name [24/32]: Nice Guy ###55555555GGGG
> Mobile: ###-555-5555
> 
> Name [32/32]: Purple Purple Purple Purple Pur
> Mobile: 997-147-2500256
> ...




What. Looool i've experienced this too. One time i found like 3 people added to my contacts around the time i should have been asleep. I wonder what went on o.o

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## Densetsu

When I try placing things on a timeline, I often find that there are many small events that I cannot quite fit into a particular day. Perhaps I made a trip somewhere, something just mundane enough to ignore happened at school, or I had a conversation with somebody that they don't remember. Oftentimes these small memories are actually dreams that were so normal that I just assumed they actually happened. In some cases, these dreams actually are just memories of things that I've done years before. Backtracking through what you've done for a week and coming up with eight or nine days worth of material can be quite vexing, to say the least.

However, it does provide a new perspective on my dream state. Could these overly normal dreams mean anything? If they do, why aren't they more significant? ...Or maybe their plain nature is their significance? These are the things that keep me up at night. ◔ ⌣ ◔"

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## paigeyemps

To be honest, i think they're just residual memories that the brain randomly recreates with no apparent reason really. I think that plainly normal things seem to pop up a lot since we usually consciously think of the memorable ones, and therefore they leave the mundane and trivial things to the subconscious. And when we try to backtrack on the things we did, a lot of the irrelevant subconscious info gets thrown in our mind as well, since we are desperately trying to remember something and if our brain can't get info, it'll start taking from the other resources (like the subconscious). [I think this may also be how instincts work — when we are out of ideas we get instincts which is actually just our subconscious resurfacing, you know?]
>i hope that made sense lol

Anyway, it's also quite nice to recreate your entire day before bed. I've heard many people saying it increases awareness once you start dreaming, though i havent actually tried it much myself. I always fall asleep right away haha

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## Densetsu

I think it's working~

My recall is slowly getting better, but only if I consciously stop and think about what I just finished dreaming about when I wake up. Even things like my alarm are a bit of a distraction right now and I hope that changes soon, though I'm not going to rush things.

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