Thread: FryingMan's DILD course workbook

Your progress is amazing. And kudos for your enthusiasm!

Focus on sleep for the last several weeks paying off. I'm getting to sleep, and back to sleep, fairly easily, in both city and country. On the couple of times I couldn't recently get back to sleep in 30 minutes (once in city, once in country), I get up out of bed, move to a different room, grab a quick snack if hungry [small bowl of whole-grain cereal], sit in the dark visualizing desired dreams, doing MILD reps, saying my mantras, relaxing, maybe doing some SSILD cycles. After about 20-30 minutes up like this sleep came soon after returning to bed both times.

On top of that the regular exercise has me feeling great. A chronic pain in my shoulder is much better now with swimming and hot sauna/steam baths.

Been slacking a bit on DJ -- getting several days behind transcribing my voice journal entries. I usually remember all of the elements of of the dreams that I end up remembering enough to journal, but after waiting several days to transcribe, one dream had entirely fallen out of my head except for one small moment. It was like reading someone else's dream journal entry! It's important to transcribe same day, both for memory and for keeping LD expectation high.

Now I need to establish and maintain a goal journal for LDs and for recall, and get my RC, RRCs, imagination, expectation, intention training back into full swing. Taking a fresh look through the DJ for reocurring dreamsigns probably also a good idea. Also need to slowly add back in MILD reps and perhaps SSILD cycles after journaling, while maintaining quick back-to-sleep.

Confidence building in city dreaming. I'm paying close attention to conditions (like room temperature) to make them as dream-friendly as possible. Street noise not bothering me now with earplugs in and a fan on for some noise-cancellation. City recall starting to rival country recall, and that's a very good thing leading to a positive outlook.

I did have one ND where the terms "MILD" and "WILD" occurred in my thoughts. That's a good sign as dreaming about lucid dreaming marked a short countdown to my earlier first LDs, so DILDs need to be popping back in any time now (you hear me, DILDs!? Tonight, now that the competition has started!). And with DILDs back I can attempt DEILDs upon LD exit.

I also realized I'd woken up from a dream for the first time in a while. I was able to hold still and do recall. For the last several weeks I've woken with no immediate dream in my head and immediately turned over, but in those cases the old reliable question "What was I dreaming about?" continues to work every time. I've noted that I seem to dream a fair amount even in the first 1-2 hours of the night when I wake up then, but more often I don't wake up until 3 or 4.5 hours (I don't use alarms, just intent "I wake up after every dream and remember it".)

Hello again FryingMan I was asked to help out in this area of the forums so let me know if you have any questions. You and I have been in some of the same discussions, mostly in Sageous' threads and now in the competition thread (where you are ahead of me; keep up the good work!). You may just be using this workbook to track/record your progress and you do seem to be more studious than I so there could be things that I could learn from you instead (including your work and success on getting back to sleep)!

Let me know if you are looking for feedback, but in the meantime...one quick note on SSILD, which has been great for me, is that for whatever reason CosmicIron suggests to not combine it with other techniques during the WBTB. I may take another look at the tutorial, it could have been taken out of the latest revision and I am not sure if that would help but it is how I used it. I just get up (sometimes after putting a quick note in my DJ), go to the bathroom, lay back down and do the cycles (there is some built in awareness just doing this I guess). I did tweak the cycles as well to help me get back to sleep more quickly most of the time.

Hi fogelbise! I was stoked to get DILD #3 in the competition even if it was short. It was different from #1 and #2 in that the moment of lucidity was more of a smooth transition into awareness instead of an instant shocking moment. I also didn't go running like crazy through the dream (the fact that I was already ... occupied ... ... may have had something to do with that). I did think I should work on some competition goals and did tell myself "do a reality check" for the first time in a dream.

I'm very happy that I've re-learned now how to fall asleep. I may now in fact be approaching the opposite challenge -- waking up enough to journal and recall sufficiently, do some MILD/SSILD reps, and gather some awareness before heading back to sleep. Which for me is the much preferable problem, I really don't like lying in bed awake at night.

I'll do the basic relaxation tense/relax, very quickly, particularly focusing on the forehead and the jaw. Mostly the jaw, I hold a lot of tension there typically. I've added very fast tense/relax of arms/chest, then abdomen, then legs/butt, then toes/feet.

I've discovered I tend to become alert by placing focus on my vision: focusing on my closed eyelids. Usually when I "shock" back to alertness my focus is immediately and strongly on the vision sense. I've found that focusing on hearing (as in the hearing/ears axis in SSILD) removes the focus on vision, and that is very relaxing for me. My eyes then become relaxed and unfocused and I'm more "looking" using my "mental vision." I then gently remove the focus on hearing and leave the eyes unfocused, and I'm quite relaxed at this time and can fall asleep very quickly from there.

Sometimes I have thoughts that pop in, some which bring alertness. I do a trick I read somewhere about just acknowledging the thought and then ignoring it / letting it go. I used to get upset about these thoughts waking me up, which created an endless cycle of tension and alertness boosting each other.

And then sometimes if the thoughts don't let me go I imagine the top of my head opening up and the thoughts just spilling out.

When I do breathing going to sleep I will "push" myself forwards into my relaxed mental vision on each exhale, and feel like I'm sinking "deeper" and "farther out" from my body on each exhale.

I think that perhaps the relaxed vision will help with WILDs, where the challenge is not snapping back to awareness when something interesting happens ("noise" sensations, dreamlets).

I'm really working now on boosting the daily "I'm dreaming" repetitions ala BrandonBoss, and I'm also including Sageous's RRC with each one. And getting in more RCs.

I do about 12 rhythmic reps of "I'm dreaming..." (sometimes with visualization, sometimes without), followed by "do a reality check" where I do the physical nose plug, check hands [including verifying the rings], close each eye to see nose, and maybe pull/stretch finger, and push finger through palm. And I then say "past/present/future" and think back through the day, what I'm doing now, and what I'll be doing later. Once in a while I'll do the RRC along with this: "I exist! I affect everyone/thing around, everyone/thing around affects me".

I'm trying to do that all throughout the day now. I'll keep it up for a few weeks and see if it brings me to BB level . I know I'm still new but I'm really hoping to get the LD frequency and quality up very soon.

I've met my goal of 1 more LD in October, I'm now modifying that to yet one more by the end of the competition (1.5 weeks).

I'm also going to up my WILD attempts to at least 3/week.

edit: about SSILD, I know CI recommends nothing else. But I think that combining the SSILD reps with MILD visualization may be stronger. I take strict sticking to techs with a grain of salt. Both my first two DILDs came with the combination of MILD and SSILD. As BB notes, Bruce Lee's famous quote: "Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own."

Now that I can get back to sleep when I want to, I will try some experiments of MILD and SSILD each on their own, and perhaps add some WBTB which I didn't need to do before but may need to do now.

(I started typing up a response and lost it...computer issue...anyway, trying again...)

Congratulations on your latest LD! There are so many great nuggets in your post above! It is just another example of why I said you were a true student of LDing in the other thread. If you continue on this path, I have no doubt you will be up there with the best of them!..and I am not saying that lightly. I recommend letting BrandonBoss know that you appreciate his tips anytime you get the chance. I am not sure if I did that as much as I should have.

I will definitely try out some of the getting to sleep methods you use and perhaps tweak them if necessary, thank you for sharing! Oddly enough I have my highest percentage of success recently when I have trouble getting to sleep, eventually having a WILD entry. I think the struggles getting back to sleep may be putting me in a lighter sleep though because I often wake up too quickly from my lucids. Most of my SSILD successes early on were all DILDs which I need to bring back into the mix more.

WBTB - it sounds like you already understand that you have to find that balance between staying up long enough to reactivate your waking memory (without thinking of waking concerns of course) and short enough that you can get back to sleep (and you have addressed that quite nicely!).

RCs, RRCs, and your mantra: Early on it was hard for me to pair these up with the right mindset. I was doing the exercises but not with the best mindset I think. If you have that down, you are doing well. I believe Sageous calls it a sense of wonder I believe. I liken the alertness that I think is helpful to the feeling that you might have in a dark room right after watching a scary movie and checking over your shoulder...wondering, could I be dreaming right now and something could leap over the couch at any moment?

Great job meeting your goals and making new ones! Yes, the frequency should definitely go up with time, especially with the approach that you are taking. I think most people that get good at it go from having LDs a couple of times a month, to maybe once a week, to several times a week with the right commitment.

Thanks again! Yes I'm appreciative of BB's responses, good point to let him know that frequently. It's really interesting that in the beginning, about the first month, leading up to my first LD, I had "easy" recall that developed pretty quickly. It was just all there right when I woke up, and I would wake up 3-4 times per night. Now, with the sleep optimizing schedule (trying to be regular, getting tiring exercise almost every day, etc), the recall comes a bit slower and there seems to be a bit less than in that first month. I know I'm forgetting lots of dreams/details upon waking. That was always true, even a month ago, but I seem to be remembering a bit less now, every night. That might be a bit of the initial excitement and anticipation wearing off, I suppose. I think the sleep issues after the first LD may have been even higher anticipation and excitement due to experiencing the first LD. Certainly it was also due to the increased alertness that comes with doing MILD reps. SSILD also seems pretty stimulating to me in the past, but I'll start integrating it back into the nighttime schedule.

That's some excellent info from both parties. Awesome schedule, Fryingman!

DILD #4 last night, with several very important firsts: first LD in the city, first LD sharing a bed, first LD within 1 week of previous LD. I've proved to myself that I can LD anywhere, not just in my lucid hideout . Short LD, but sweet (in my DJ).

I think it is important to celebrate those firsts. I feel it helps you to build on them. Next thing you know it will be first time 2 nights in a row, first time more than one LD in a night, first time 3 nights in a row, and on and on!

I also like those magical dream girls! It does feel like young love sometimes!

Woohoo I would love to hit and maintain that progression soon! Being sick this week (still far from well unfortunately) has given me the proverbial 1 step back after the two steps forward. Recall is on its way back (pretty good recall last night) but it couldn't have come at a worse time in the middle of the competition when I really need a lucid with some extras. Daily RC practice almost nil while sick, gotta get the lucid mindset jump-started yet again.

Definitely too bad getting sick Things like that, going on vacation, getting super busy definitely can temporarily slow down the progress...but you definitely can get it back! You will be back at it in no time. Get well soon!

Finished just on the wrong side of a photo finish on the competition, oh well.

You were practically tied for first! And you are very new to all of this. That is fantastic!! You should definitely take that as a nice success

I have been meaning to ask you about your glottal stop RC. Do you know what it is supposed to feel like if you are dreaming? (I have only tried it IWL).

^^ Thanks! Yep quite close in the contest. I have yet to do any RC while dreaming so I have no clue about the glottal stop RC . I think it will feel like closing off the back of the throat but still being able to breathe. The key I think is doing it a bunch in WL and getting used to how it feels, at what muscle movement closes the airway. It doesn't take much to do it, I'm trying to get into the habit of doing it every once in a while when trying to fall asleep when it takes a little longer than normal.

Cool. Did you think up the glottal stop RC or did you read it somewhere? Seriously, I would celebrate coming out as fresh to this whole thing and finishing up at the top! Speaking of times it takes longer...reading what Sageous posted about being patient and enjoying the quiet time while waiting has given me incredible peace during my WBTB/WILDs. I can point you to the post if you didn't see it, it was about techniques to use when having trouble getting to sleep. Will check my PM.

Oh no I can't take any credit for the glottal stop RC, read it somewhere when looking for a motionless RC. And I'd appreciate the link to the article you mentioned from Sageous about taking longer getting to sleep.

Found it:
http://www.dreamviews.com/wild/12557...ml#post2057511
link jumps you directly to the specific post, not the greater thread...

Woohoo DILD #5 just a little while ago. Could have used it a few nights ago in the competition! Will DJ later today. Fairly amazing night of dreams. Stabilized: ran my hands all over the ground and railings, seeing and feeling the textures. No running, no rushing, no succumbing to temptation, slow and considered. Did first RC in a dream: hand check. My hands are FREAKISHLY BIZARRE: constantly morphing, uncountable (because constantly changing, but many more than 5 in any case) "fingers" growing and shrinking, little gnarled mini-hands growing out of my hands in place of fingers. Consciously ignored the females around, could it be there's hope for me ? . Duration: a few minutes. Spent the whole time re-looking at my hands and feeling a bit embarrassed about how weird they were. Wondered if DCs saw my hands as I saw them. Woke up with no transition, said "darn!". Thought about trying to DEILD back in, tried for maybe 1 minute, decided to journal instead.

Goal: 8 LDs in November! Progress: 1/8

Awesome! Congratulations on your calm approach and another LD! I guess you can always do the other tempting things later (if you choose to) when you feel that you have control in the palm of your hand. Nice recovery from your illness and nice aggressive goal!

Nice going, FryingMan!

Looking at hands is my favorite RC and when I RC in a dream, 99% of them I do the "hands". My first hands looked like lizard's toes. Next ones, like a mummy. Now, they look normal, only I always have either more than 5 fingers, or they are deformed, like shorter or such. But they have right color and everything. So it's a huge surprise when I see normal hands and I count 6 or 12 fingers. I love that.

Good luck and happy dreams

Last night was shaping up to be an epic night of recall at the very least, but I just got too tired and couldn't get up the will to record after the first three early wakings. I actually had some recall at 2 hours, fairly unusual for me, probably because I was woken by some outside noise (I didn't have earplugs in) but most of it slipped away and was just left with a fragment. Put in earplugs. Then I had great recall at 3.5 hours and 5.5 hours, very detailed recollection of several interesting scenes, but it was a struggle to stay awake and record. The next thing I knew it was 10.5 hours and I was left wondering what the heck happened with the rest of the night!?

Not surprising, still recovering from last week of sickness, and my sleep schedule is in tatters. Multiple hours difference in to-sleep times per night. Renewing my resolve to get to bed early and regularly. I wonder if the accumulated loss of sleep over the last several months of waking multiple times per night is catching up with me?

I seem to have flopped entirely to the other end of the sleep spectrum: instead of not being able to get back to sleep, now I can't stay awake enough to do recall and record! Got to find that happy medium, and it's probably to be found in a very regular sleep schedule and in getting enough sleep.

I also need to get to a more regular sleep schedule as it is apparently very important. I wouldn't worry about feeling lazy...sometimes it is nice to take a break and just doze off...you don't want to burn yourself out but rather keep the right balance in your daytime practice as well so that you can continue progressing. 10.5 hours, wow, perhaps you were catching up. I also use earplugs and find them to be a great help.

I've been working on WILDs this last week since I had the bed to myself with spouse away on a trip. 3 formal attempts, one half-assed attempt. Each time starting the WILD around 5 hours after bed, and each time spent 2-2.5 hours awake. Once I think I got lucid but there was no dream there, or maybe I didn't quite make it in, it was accompanied by the "lead blanket" sensation / labored breathing and "that DILD feeling". But on the 4th day I just wanted to get right back to sleep and hopefully DILD, but even though I was really tired my body had gotten used to waking up at the 5 hour mark, and couldn't fall asleep!

Today I woke up for the first time at the almost 6 hours (I was yawning all during the day, super tired after 4 days of reduced sleep) and still couldn't get back to sleep right away! I watched myself falling asleep, and even got the 'lead blanket' / shaky breathing sensation, but there was no "lucid feeling" that went with it, and I tried visualizing rolling out of bed or looking at my hands but I think I just wasn't asleep (at least my mind wasn't). Looong time getting back to sleep. Woke at 9 hours with some recall but too tired to journal, next thing I know it's 11 hours and I have to get up and get going. Journaled some recall from the earlier waking (most detail lost unfortunately) and the last waking.

Oh and I spent at least a solid minute in the last dream period studying a menu in a bar. Over and over and over again, trying to choose a combination of two liquors to make a cocktail. The dream did not fade or collapse while doing this. So I wonder about the "don't focus your attention too closely on one thing for too long or you'll lose the dream" advice.