Thread: Cedwards' Workbook

I'm not really new to lucid dreaming, but my lucid dreaming could use a lot of work. And self-discipline. So, I might as well go back to basics!


Reality Checks:
- Nose Pinch
- Examining text and numbers
- Asking myself what I was just doing

Dream Signs:
- Big buildings
- Elevators
- Snakes
- Food
- Water
- Realizing that I haven't studied enough for a class
- Maps
- Driving

Short-Term Goals:
- Increase lucid dreaming time
- Transport to places more effectively
-

Long-Term Goals:
- Find a dream guide
- Build worlds to visit in dreams
-

Lucid/Dream Recall History:
- Decent. Depends on how my sleep schedule. I usually remember dreams from each night, which sometimes take a while to write down the next day. Then again, sometimes I don't seem to remember anything from the night before. It also depends on how much I have been dream journalling.

Current Technique:
- DILD, trying to get the hang of WILDing

Day 1

Night time routine: I might try to establish a more regular routine. This is what I usually do:
Lay down. Read scripture and pray. I usually fall asleep kind of quickly after this. That's what happened last night. Last night I was also dealing with some respiratory issues, had caffeinated tea in the evening, took melatonin, and then took nighttime cold medicine.

Dream Recall: A good bit of recall. The dream journal takes up at least a page, typed.

Time spent dreaming: A little hard to tell, because I don't quite remember where my dreams started or ended. If feels like altogether I was experiencing things for, maybe, 20-30 minutes. Maybe more.

Other notes: Yesterday evening I was intending to try to induce a dream about the Dream Base, with the intention of finding the library. I did some writing ahead of time, describing myself in the present tense as though I were in the dream. My dreams did include elements such as a library (I think), an ocean-like body of water, and statues. However, I often dream about libraries and water. Not so much about statues though. These were glow-in-the-dark statues too, which, perhaps, were inspired by the column/globe and beacon. I plan to try this again tonight, with more intentional incubation.


Went to bed around 12:30. I have been having some respiratory problems, and in the evening I had a cup of tea (which seems to help sometimes). This being caffeinated, I took some melatonin to counteract the sleeplessness. Then I took some nighttime cold medicine. I think I fell asleep rather quickly after Devotions.

Day 2

Bedtime: 12:00 - 12:30. Spent more time reading in the evening than usual (other than studying or Scripture reading). I had intended to try MILDing again, aiming for a dream about the Dream Base library. But then I got absorbed in the adventure story I was reading, and changed my mind to putting in a pier at the Dream Base where we could have a ship and sea voyages. I don't know that changing my intention is always a good idea. I also tried a little of Sivason's dream yoga visualization exercise, laying down and trying to change the patterns and colors that I see. I think I also ended up taking about 3mg of melatonin. Scripture reading, prayer, and then focusing on a mantra.

Dream Recall: Still fairly decent. Almost another page worth. But it didn't come to me all at once in the morning.

Time spent dreaming: Maybe about 10 minutes or so. But there was more that I don't seem to fully recall at the moment.

Day 3

Lucid? No

Bedtime:Perhaps I should keep a more detailed record of my bedtime. I think it was somewhere around 11:00-12:00, but I'm not 100% sure. Lay down, read the Bible, prayed, did some of Sivason's visualization practice, visualized myself at the Dream base, and repeated "remember that you're dreaming" to myself as I fell asleep, I think.

WBTB:Woke up about 3:00. Was awake for about 30 minutes - 1 hour. Used the bathroom, recorded some dreams as quick notes (including "little guys eating each other?").

Woke up around 8:15-8:30.

Dream Recall: Decent, but started getting ready for Church in the morning so I didn't finish jotting down the second half of the night's dreams until this afternoon.

Time Spent Dreaming: A bit hard to tell, since what I have at the moment is mostly quick notes.

Other notes:I had a dream in which I was at a former workplace that I often dream about. I think I recognized it as a dream sign, but did not become lucid. This workplace was a hospital and I probably did not want to risk touching my nose to do the nose pinch RC. I think I might have tried reading something posted in an elevator instead, and I might have ended up being distracted.

Notable Reality Check moments today:(1) Walking down the hall at the University thinking about home, and saw something posted on a bulletin board about something (not sure what) that was asking for people to let them borrow something that reminded me of home. Did a nose pinch, and possibly reading RC. (2) Walking outside, thinking about my great grandparents. For some reason I wasn't sure for a moment if any of my great-grandparents were still alive. Stopped and did a nose pinch RC. (3) We have been having another Polar Vortex here. But we have had some warmer weather, and I saw some spring plants growing. Sometimes I dream that it's snowing at unusual times (like during the summer), so when I saw the snow and ice and spring plants I stopped and did a reading RC. (4) Remembered to do an RC and try to seriously question whether or not I was dreaming when I entered a public restroom. Another common dream sign, which I seem to miss for some reason.

Day 9?

Got away from dream journalling and lucid work for a while. Hopefully I will get back soon. Things have gotten rather busy.

OK, let's try to get back to this. Things seem to be settling down somewhat. Hopefully I can keep this going for more than 4 days.


Day 1, restart

Lucid? No

Bedtime:Somewhere around 12:30-1:00, I think. But I'm not too sure. Took some melatonin to help me sleep. Took a few minutes to get to sleep because I was worrying about a friend and got up at least once to help with something.

Woke up around 10:30.

Dream Recall: Decent.

Time Spent Dreaming: "Feels like" 20 min to half hour total, but maybe less than that.

Missed dreamsigns: Planning a route, visiting a junk store

Other notes:One of my dreams involved a place that looked a bit like what I imagine the Dream Base to look like, which I have still been trying to reach. Interestingly, the plot seemed to be related to the plot of someone else's dream journal I had been reading last night.

Notable Reality Check moments today: I took a walk to the nearby railroad tracks, because I sometimes dream about trains. Did some RC's there. Continued walking, and saw a sign about Florida, and one referring to a "Gold Rush". Both Florida and gold prospecting are dreamsigns, so I did a couple of RC's there, too. As I continued walking, I found a junk store. This is another dreamsign, and one that I dreamed about last night. So I went in and looked around, did an RC or two. There was a little dog in the store. Sometimes dogs are a dreamsign, although they seem to be less so lately.

Day 3

Lucid? No

Bedtime:Somewhere around 1:00am, I think. Took some melatonin to help me sleep.

Woke up around 9:30.

Dream Recall: On the lower side of the scale, but not too horrible.

Time Spent Dreaming: "Feels like" 20 min or so total.

Missed dreamsigns: Public restroom, women going into said restroom (men's room), former home

Other notes: I forgot to update this journal yesterday. After having visited the tracks on Saturday, I did end up dreaming again about railroad tracks that night. This might have been because of the visit, or because where I am now you can hear trains throughout the night. Despite having visited the tracks on Saturday in part to practice reality checking, I did not do an RC when I dreamed about them. I suspect that there is a lag between when I start getting back into the reality check habit and when the habit carries over into my dreams. Hopefully I'll start catching these things soon.

Notable Reality Check moments today: Not much so far out of the ordinary. I did some driving, which is a dreamsign, but is also not too unusual while I'm awake.

Day 4

Lucid? No

Bedtime: Somewhere around 11:30 or 12:00, I think. I need to get better at noticing this, I guess.

Woke up around 7:00 and couldn't get back to sleep.

Missed dreamsigns: none that I can remember

Other notes: I dreamed about a place that I sometimes have recurring dreams about. It might be based on a building on my old college campus that I went to very rarely. I don't know why I would have recurring dreams about this building - it was where the business office was, or something like that. Maybe I should start thinking of this as a dreamsign. This dream also had a plot element that seemed to be based on another dream journal that I was reading yesterday.

Notable reality check moments today: I saw a man from a company that a friend works at. I never heard of (or probably just never noticed) this company before she started talking about it. Later, I saw a semi truck from the same company parked in someone's driveway.

Day 5

Lucid? No

Bedtime: Took some melatonin. Probably went to sleep somewhere around midnight or a bit later. Still not sure.

Woke up around 8:00, perhaps? Maybe a bit later.

Dream recall: moderately decent, I suppose

Missed dreamsigns: airport, train, former home

Notable reality check moments today: nothing too unusual. I did watch a TV show involving a train. This show also featured someone having a dream.

Day 6

Lucid? Almost, but I don't remember if so.

Bedtime: Had a cup of tea earlier in the evening, and wasn't asleep until after 1:00am.

Woke up: Around 8:00

Dream recall: moderately low

Missed dreamsigns: fish

Other notes: I was having a hard time remembering anything when I first woke up. I saw some fish while walking by a lake this morning, which reminded me of a part of a dream, and then was able to recall more. I had a dream where I visited a former workplace for a reunion. When I was there, I realized that this is a dreamsign, and I think was commenting to myself the possibility that it was a dream. I might even have been thinking to myself that logically, even if I don't feel like it's a dream, it probably is. I remember thinking about doing a reality check, but I don't seem to remember what happened after that. A good sign though.

Notable reality check moments today: seeing a fish in the lake. Didn't do a reality check though.

Day 8

Lucid? Almost. Picard-facepalm-worthy again.

Bedtime: Had a lot of tea during the day and into the evening. Also took a nap around 6:30pm, feeling tired out yesterday. Had some valerian a couple of hours before bed. Didn't get to sleep until after 2:00am.

Woke up: around 9:45

Dream recall: moderately low

Missed dreamsigns: library, literally sitting and talking with a lucid dreaming expert about lucid dreaming.

Notable reality check moments today: Trying to look at myself in a mirror, but the room I was in was too dimly lit so I moved to the bathroom. Flipped the switch, but the lights didn't come on. I did do reality checks, and kind of doubted that I was awake for a little bit. Mirror image being odd and lights not turning on are both classic dreamsigns for me.

Seems like you are getting closer every day! Do you have any dream goals once you become lucid? That might help transition to a fully lucid state.

Yes, my immediate goal is to go to the Dream Base, and try to find the library for the Task of the Year. After that I hope to find/build persistent realms, and maybe find a dream guide.

I have had some success with lucid dreaming in the past, but have been out of practice for a few months. It usually takes me a bit of time to get back into it, but it does seem like I get these almost-lucids when I'm on track.

Day 9

Lucid? No

Bedtime: About 12:30am. Took some valerian before bed.

Woke up around 8:30.

Dream recall: moderate, probably would be better if I had had more time. Pretty busy day today.

Notable reality check moments today: visited a couple of places that I have not visited for a while, including a gas station.

Day 10

Lucid? Yes!

Bedtime: around midnight, perhaps? Drank a lot of coffee in the evening, then took melatonin.

Woke up around 4:00 with heartburn. The melatonin seemed to have worn off, because I was having a difficult time getting back to sleep. I decided to do a WBTB. I read some dream journals on dreamviews, journaled my sleep/dream experience of the night so far, and took some valerian. Since I wasn't getting back to sleep very easily, I also did some non-dreaming related reading. I didn't get back to sleep until 8:00am. Woke up again about 11:15.

Dream recall: decent, or else I was just dreaming a lot. I haven't fully recalled all of the details.

Other notes: My awareness seemed to be on the lower side. I had some control, but I forgot my goals.

Day 18

Lucid? Yes

Bedtime: Around midnight? 3mg melatonin before bed, WBTB around 3:30 for maybe a half hour.

Dream recall: decent.

Other notes: got lucid doing a nose pinch after an unlikely coincidence. I wasn't fully convinced, and I think I might have done one or two other RC's before deciding to try flying, which worked. Still, there are dreamsigns that I keep missing, which happens during the day occasionally as well. Especially common things like neighbors and driving.

Day 38 (?)

I think I have graduated from the stage of simply trying to have lucid dreams on a somewhat regular basis. Now I'm trying to focus on making them last longer. I think with practice they might just become more stable and longer naturally, but I have also been looking into mindfulness as a way to help. I might check out the dream yoga class at some point.

Day 39:

Some updates on a few basics:


Reality Checks:
- Nose Pinch
- Examining text and numbers
- Counting fingers
- Trying to push finger through hand
- Asking myself if the day's sequence of events seems logical


Recent Dream Signs:
- Libraries
- Fish
- Food
- Shopping
- Water/boats


Short-Term Goals:
- Increase lucid dreaming time
- Transport to places more effectively


Long-Term Goals:
- Find a dream guide
- Visit the persistent realm that I'm working on, and finding "Dreamstone", a mineral that greatly enhances lucid dream abilities


Lucid/Dream Recall History:
- Decent. Could probably stand to be a bit more diligent in my dream journaling.

Current Technique:
- DILD, trying to get the hang of WILDing. It seems that some WILD attempts have lead to me finding myself lucid in bed/on the couch, but I don't remember transitioning and don't remember what happened prior to finding myself in this state. These might have been WILDs, but I don't quite remember.

The "Dreamstone" thing is an experiment with schema. Through imagination, art, and writing, I'm building the idea of a mineral that acts like a lucid dreaming panacea, giving amazing lucid dreaming skills when consumed. Dreamstone (or Oneironite) is found in sizable concentrations in a particular region of the "Dreamstone Realm" (the above mentioned PR), although it could occur elsewhere. The Realm contains a race of Tolkein-esque Dwarves, and one in particular who is waiting for me to show up so that he can guide me to the Oneironite region. Anyway, I suppose I should stop rambling now...