Q&A Episode 2: Natural WBTBs, Hypnagogic Imagery, and Hostile Dreamworlds

Ahh, "device/gadget failure" This is actually a really good dream sign. Common things that refuse to work properly in dreams: electronics (specifically phones and computers), legs, getting to work or class or chores on time, or just getting up on time, speaking of time CLOCKS, being improperly (or not at all) dressed, even potty failures of all design, being lost/losing someone, teeth falling out or other body injuries, injured animals or children that can't be helped.. the list goes on.

I personally call them "stress dreams." Hopefully if the stress is dramatic or bizarre enough, we'll question it in the dream and get lucid!

Really good podcast idea, plus it can tie into nightmares a bit.

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Originally Posted by EmptyBucket

Really enjoy these, great job guys :)

Also a point about Pee Back To Bed, When you finally go to the bathroom you will feel very relaxed and may fall asleep easier, and half a liter seems to work good for me ;)

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Thanks, EmptyBucket, it's great to hear that you're enjoying them! Thanks for letting us know you're having fun with them. And definitely agree on the relief angle. :D

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Originally Posted by poprockdreamboy

I've got a question regarding hostile dream environments. In the podcast, y'all talked about hostile dream characters. Well, what about negative situations in dreams? Personal examples include electronics not working properly such as trying to turn my keyboard off, and the buttons not doing what they should do, not being able to move and my mom is calling me to come do something, getting stuck in a dream environment that resembles a bathroom with very dim fluorescent light, having clothes througout most of the dream, then at some point looking down and realizing that I'm naked. Other common examples include falling, getting lost, being late for an important event, failing a test or project. How do you deal with those hostile situations in a dream?

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I agree with Ophelia -- good podcast idea! She's exactly right that as unpleasant as these situations are, they make for great dreamsigns.

If you can learn to view your waking life stresses with a critical, questioning eye (Why do I feel so emotional about this? Does this really make any sense?), this is a habit that should gradually carry over to your dreams. A waking life benefit of this is a certain sense of detachment from surges of emotion. It's like a form of waking meditation. You learn to view these situations as what they are, almost as an outsider rather than just getting swept up and carried along by the currents. Dream Yoga focuses on this a great deal.

Thanks for the question!

All right! I had to listen to this in small portions during the day and not pre bed just to be on the safe side, but I am equally motivated. Some great advice here and it's a pleasure to listen to you talk about lding.:)

Here are some of the ideas from the podcast I am interested in implementing:
- sleeping in from the other side
- dream incubation and visualization (this was also inspired by some recent conversations with NewArtemis)
- I have also been motivated to experiment with straight to bed lding as I had a few successful instances for this as well, so I can combine the above two to play with it whenever's possible. I know success rates are low, but can't hurt to spend 10 mins relaxing and watching dreamlets pre bed.

Also, I love CL's approach to solving dream problems by total denial, which is something that we often have to repeat to ourselves. "Everything is fine, this dream is going in the right direction".

By the way, CL talks about how good he was when dealing with problematic DCs but in recent dreams it has been a bit more challenging. Something similar happened to me during the previous month. I was under quite a lot of stress in July, plus all kinds of distractions and my lds and actions weren't at their best.

First I noticed an increase in non-ld type of nightmares, like I would get more chases than previous months, DCs were more aggressive, etc. When I became lucid, the momentum of the dream would be so strong that I would sometimes cancel the whole LD or phase into the void to a non-ld, instead of calming down (I classified those as micro-lds). After some analysis, I think that my increased level of emotions during that time plus decreased awareness and ADA practices may have spilled over to my dreams and affected the mood there as well. I try to be more detached now and for the moment my dream control is improving. Anyone else noticed a similar correlation?:-?

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Originally Posted by NyxCC

All right! I had to listen to this in small portions during the day and not pre bed just to be on the safe side, but I am equally motivated. Some great advice here and it's a pleasure to listen to you talk about lding.:)

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Thanks, Nyx, I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it! It's exciting to see just how many ideas you're going to be putting into practice. I think that for the sleep-deprived, "sleeping in from the other side" a la Paigeyemps is going to work really well. I think that I can go to bed at pretty much any time so long as I can get my room dark. Embarrassingly, I even nodded off for a second when we were lying in my son's bed for story time last night. :chuckle:

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Originally Posted by NyxCC

- dream incubation and visualization (this was also inspired by some recent conversations with NewArtemis)

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You know what? I tried NewArtemis' visualization tech last night, too, after reading how good your results were with it. It kicks ass! Easy, easy transition back to sleep even after WBTB. I didn't manage to actually incubate the scene I imagined but I fell asleep so easily after a "wide awake" WBTB and did tons of dreaming. I need to swap stories with you two on this!

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Originally Posted by NyxCC

Also, I love CL's approach to solving dream problems by total denial, which is something that we often have to repeat to ourselves. "Everything is fine, this dream is going in the right direction".

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Great, I'm glad that has been working for you! That self-denial and present tense thinking has always worked for me if I can just remember to do it! More often than not, this part ends up being the real trick.

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Originally Posted by NyxCC

By the way, CL talks about how good he was when dealing with problematic DCs but in recent dreams it has been a bit more challenging. Something similar happened to me during the previous month. I was under quite a lot of stress in July, plus all kinds of distractions and my lds and actions weren't at their best.

First I noticed an increase in non-ld type of nightmares, like I would get more chases than previous months, DCs were more aggressive, etc. When I became lucid, the momentum of the dream would be so strong that I would sometimes cancel the whole LD or phase into the void to a non-ld, instead of calming down (I classified those as micro-lds). After some analysis, I think that my increased level of emotions during that time plus decreased awareness and ADA practices may have spilled over to my dreams and affected the mood there as well. I try to be more detached now and for the moment my dream control is improving. Anyone else noticed a similar correlation?:-?

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Great analysis. You know, I think that you've broken down my problem perfectly. When I've got more waking life stresses going on, it's harder for me to bring the proper sense of calmness into the dream. Not only does it make me less patient with DCs but it also makes the appearance of hostile DCs more likely. During the when I was treating hostile DCs the worst, I was suffering a much higher than average level of waking life stresses. Nothing that's really all that bad, but more just that feeling of being a little overwhelmed. It really bleeds over into the dream.

Excellent thoughts as always from you, Nyx, thanks!

Well, thanks for making these awesome podcasts!

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You know what? I tried NewArtemis' visualization tech last night, too, after reading how good your results were with it. It kicks ass! Easy, easy transition back to sleep even after WBTB. I didn't manage to actually incubate the scene I imagined but I fell asleep so easily after a "wide awake" WBTB and did tons of dreaming. I need to swap stories with you two on this!

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It's amazing isn't it? I have to confess that I have enjoyed the visualization so much, I even stole some time from my daily meditation to visualize. When I felt like falling asleep I just opened my eyes, did a few more mins of gazing meditation, then stood up. Really nice! I think it's totally worth doing and am looking forward to hearing more of your experiences with it.

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Great analysis. You know, I think that you've broken down my problem perfectly. When I've got more waking life stresses going on, it's harder for me to bring the proper sense of calmness into the dream. Not only does it make me less patient with DCs but it also makes the appearance of hostile DCs more likely. During the when I was treating hostile DCs the worst, I was suffering a much higher than average level of waking life stresses. Nothing that's really all that bad, but more just that feeling of being a little overwhelmed. It really bleeds over into the dream.

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I am very happy to hear that my explanation makes sense. By the way, I think that the brain and also the dream can't tell the difference between when you are emotional about minor issues and when emotional about the end of the world, those chemicals can start circulating in your system on both occasions. (And we all know how irritating minor issues can get too!) Now that we are more or less clear about how this thing works, it is time to take our power back and turn it into awesome dreams. We are calm and relaxed and have good dream control! :)

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Originally Posted by NyxCC

Well, thanks for making these awesome podcasts!

It's amazing isn't it? I have to confess that I have enjoyed the visualization so much, I even stole some time from my daily meditation to visualize. When I felt like falling asleep I just opened my eyes, did a few more mins of gazing meditation, then stood up. Really nice! I think it's totally worth doing and am looking forward to hearing more of your experiences with it.

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Aww, thanks! :content: Yeah, I'm looking forward to getting better and better at using this skill. I'm still trying to get used to just using it as a transition back to sleep, and once I've got that down I'm really interested to see how incorporating mantras and advanced, more specific visualization might work.

I love that you are incorporating this into daytimes practices too. I'm looking forward to hearing more war stories from you guys on this!

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Originally Posted by NyxCC

I am very happy to hear that my explanation makes sense. By the way, I think that the brain and also the dream can't tell the difference between when you are emotional about minor issues and when emotional about the end of the world, those chemicals can start circulating in your system on both occasions. (And we all know how irritating minor issues can get too!) Now that we are more or less clear about how this thing works, it is time to take our power back and turn it into awesome dreams. We are calm and relaxed and have good dream control! :)

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Yes, exactly! In waking life, too, minor issues can ferment in our minds to the point where they seem like the end of the world. It's that same process that unfolds when dreams spiral out of our control, just way more concretely and with better special effects. :)

We are calm and relaxed and have good dream control!

I've just posted episode 3 of the Q&A podcast! You can find it here: http://www.dreamviews.com/dreamviews...-mistakes.html.

We've got questions about time dilation, dream stabilization, common lucid dreaming mistakes, and finally we learn just how well OpheliaBlue can sing the little wow-wow-wow-weeeow beginning part from Let's Get It On.

Check it out when you get the chance!

Yes, I swear by pee water. :D I drink just about 4-5 gulps of water before bed, and then every time it wakes me up to go potty. I use it to record my dreams. I think, it wakes us up at the time we already wake up naturally, which is between sleep cycles, right after last REM of the cycle.

Great time to record a dream that just ended, and also great method to wake yourself up naturally.

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Originally Posted by gab

Yes, I swear by pee water. :D

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I thought that just needed to be quoted. :chuckle:

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Originally Posted by gab

I drink just about 4-5 gulps of water before bed, and then every time it wakes me up to go potty. I use it to record my dreams. I think, it wakes us up at the time we already wake up naturally, which is between sleep cycles, right after last REM of the cycle.

Great time to record a dream that just ended, and also great method to wake yourself up naturally.

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I agree, that's a good way of putting it. It's really like it just "nudges" you toward waking up without the intrusiveness of an alarm.

I also tend to agree with you that it's more likely to lead to well-timed awakenings that coincide with your natural sleep cycle (vs what an alarm would do), but I don't really have any evidence for that.