theultimateone's Dream Journal

Reality Checks:
- Checking hand for fingers / blurriness
- Nose Plug
- Thumb through hand

Dream Signs:
- Judo
- Family
- University at which I study

Short-Term Goals:
- Achieve lucidity :I
- Improve recall
- Improve awareness

Long-Term Goals:
- Use LDing to learn about myself
- Have a LD a week
- Make a dream 'home' - somewhere to start from or return to in each dream

Lucid/Dream Recall History:
- I've been keeping a DJ app and am able to recall a dream most nights, even if it is just fragments

Current Technique:
-DILD, with WBTB when possible

Have been continuing doing reality checks and have tried to implement a basic form of ADA (as in, every hour or so, soak in the environment around me) as well as retracing my daily path in my head. It's been easy to keep up and I can't wait to see if it yields results.

However, I am starting to become a bit concerned about reality checks carrying over into dreams. I'm able to recall a dream most every night, and some are extremely vivid, but I haven't found myself doing any RC's within! Perhaps this is because doing RC's is still relatively new to me, but I feel like I am already doing them compulsively and that they should carry over. Who knows, I'll just keep working at it.

Had some success with WILD! I took a nap and followed Naiya's guide. I saw weird colors in my vision, heard music and crashes in the background, but couldn't get to a dream before my alarm went off. I felt like I was right on the edge of dreaming but wasn't sure how to "dive in". Also, I had issues with swallowing and my eyes twitching when I started going to REM sleep.

Weird night last night. Woke up at 4 unintentionally (after going to sleep at 12) with some strange dreams in my head. Wanted to write them down, but was too lazy to get up. I thought I was writing them down, but was doing so in a fake DJ in my head (was this a DEILD, lol?). Then I thought I had gotten up, but again it was just another dream. Finally, when I actually got up I drank some apple juice, went to the bathroom and tried to write down my dreams, but much of what I had dreamed was lost. I found I was really tired in this state and that made writing down dreams even tougher.

After I woke up in the morning, I continued one of the dreams I had earlier in which I was working in a secret govt lab.

Hi theultimateone. Glad you could join the class! I'm not a teacher, but I pop in time to time to give my support :) You already seem to have the proper approach with the RCs, WBTB, Djing etc. I like your goals too!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by theultimateone

However, I am starting to become a bit concerned about reality checks carrying over into dreams. I'm able to recall a dream most every night, and some are extremely vivid, but I haven't found myself doing any RC's within! Perhaps this is because doing RC's is still relatively new to me, but I feel like I am already doing them compulsively and that they should carry over. Who knows, I'll just keep working at it.

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They probably might and will carry into your dreams at the beginning, but still out of habit. I think the RCs are meant more as brief moments of awareness that make you question things, and that awareness and questioning will then transcend into your dreams, making you RC. RCing is one of my main techniques as well and 95% of the time I question the situation I'm in before RCing when getting lucid. Remember to question the normality of situations and recall where you were 5-10 minutes before. Also about the " feeling compulsive " - thing : What's the big deal with making a few RCs during the day for exchange to be able to enter a world of limitless freedom? :) Keep RCing and the results will come!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by theultimateone

Had some success with WILD! I took a nap and followed Naiya's guide. I saw weird colors in my vision, heard music and crashes in the background, but couldn't get to a dream before my alarm went off. I felt like I was right on the edge of dreaming but wasn't sure how to "dive in". Also, I had issues with swallowing and my eyes twitching when I started going to REM sleep.

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Nice! :) What helps with me is that I let the sensations grow stronger and stronger, submerging myself into them. Go with the flow, it's like swimming down stream if you let it happen. You'll be in the dream lucidly before you even notice it. Read Sageous' tips for doing The Dive. For the eye twitching, try using a sleeping mask of some sort to put weight on your eyelids. It helps to prevent the flickering.( I use a t-shirt every night for this! :D ) If you feel like you can't stop thinking about the swallowing, then swallow freely, it's allowed if you can't perform properly because of it. :) Also when you realize it's allowed to swallow, the urge might not come at all!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by theultimateone

Weird night last night. Woke up at 4 unintentionally (after going to sleep at 12) with some strange dreams in my head. Wanted to write them down, but was too lazy to get up. I thought I was writing them down, but was doing so in a fake DJ in my head (was this a DEILD, lol?). Then I thought I had gotten up, but again it was just another dream. Finally, when I actually got up I drank some apple juice, went to the bathroom and tried to write down my dreams, but much of what I had dreamed was lost. *After I woke up in the morning, I continued one of the dreams I had earlier in which I was working in a secret govt lab.

I found I was really tired in this state and that made writing down dreams even tougher.

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I think having false awakenings is a great sign of progress. You're really close! Catching FAs are an incredibly easy way to become lucid, because it's really easy to train yourself into the habit of RCing every time you wake up. DEILD is when you wake up briefly and then dive back into the dream like in WILD. *You could have dive back into this dream for example I guess, if it occurred right before you woke up. ^^

Your focus should be on reaching lucidity, not necessarily on writing down every non-lucid you have. Write a few key-notes like the dream characters, the place, the emotions and the plot briefly. Being tired boosts your WILD chances, so you could try to WILD if you find yourself too tired to DJ next time.

Good skills! :)

Welcome to the class!

Why were you using an alarm when trying to wild? Was it close to your regular wake up time?

Hello Saizaphod! Nice to hear from you :)

As for awareness, I've been trying to intro into ADA (try once every few hours), but it's been ... difficult. I understand the concept of taking in everything around you, but as one with ADHD, I find that my thoughts quickly drift to something else. I've been thinking about trying meditation to better calm my mind, but this has been a stumbling block.

Thanks for linking the guide! I was looking for something of the sort but it was tough with such a niche question. I will have to invest in a sleep mask, as it seems to me that's what most broke my entry into the WILD.

And I guess I should look into utilizing FA's because they occur semi regularly for me. In fact, I believe I may have had one in which I even RC'ed (when I looked at my hand, all I could see was blur) but after a second test (the nose pinch), since it worked as in RL, I assumed I wasn't dreaming and went back to bed. However, this could have also possibly been WL and I was just tired out of my wits. Tough to know now. But I will for sure look into working on my FA's if you think that's a good direction.

Thanks for the advice and the kind words!

Hello Nyx! I was using the alarm because I still had homework to do that night and didn't want to sleep throughout the evening. Mostly, this was just a test run, I plan on truly diving in sometime this weekend.

Time to write again! It's been a little while since I've posted, and that's because of school and stress in general. Likewise, I've been taking a small break from LDing because I find enough sleep hard to get, and even when I do its rare I get dreams. However, there were some exceptions, detailed later. In the meantime, I've been keeping track as much as possible in my dream journal. I've lost some awareness, and tend not to RC as much, which is unfortunate.

However, this last Sunday, I went out of town for a school trip which left at 5 am. I decided to sleep in the car and had a strange series of dreams. In one, I was halfway between sleep and waking, and dreamt / hallucinated my fellow travelers were discussing something and I had the urge to contribute, but was worried that doing so would wake me up. I decided not to, and fell into a deeper sleep. Every few minutes, I would wake and turn over, allowing for many dream stages. In one I was lucid but dreaming in the 3rd person. I was also unsure if this was a daydream or an actual dream (looking back, this was probably a half - WILD) so I tried to turn it into a 1st person dream but ended up killing the dream and waking up. I also had two other dreams that were extremely vivid and bizarre.

Bottom line, I feel reinvigorated and rededicated towards Lucid Dreaming! (now I just need to build up habits again)

Good to hear your energy and enthusiasm are back! Have a look around the forum for extra inspiration, it will make it easier to get back into ld habits. :)