So I started writing in my DJ for real last Monday (five days in a row now, that’s my record so far ) and well, I guess I would just like some input here.
It actually appears that I have excellent dream recall abilities, because I have been able to recall 3-4 dreams every single night, even the first night.
I remember that I talked to people about lucid dreaming during the first few nights, and there have been a few moments when I’ve actually thought things were strange in the dream world, although I didn’t actually question the nature of everything, I was simply like “what’s this? this is stupid” and then lost consciousness again.
The quality of the dreams… well, it has been kind of equal actually, there is some clarity enough for me to see colours and somewhat clear scenes (for example, this last night I had a Star Fox-ish scene where I controlled an airplane or something and it crashed; it was somewhat vivid actually, and it looked a lot like Star Fox 64).
The vividness hasn’t really improved dramatically much, but it definitely hasn’t gotten worse either.
I was just curious - how is my progress so far?
Can I expect lucid dreams within the next few days or weeks?
What does my progress sound like?
Do I seem to do everything right?
Your progress sounds very awesome to me! I say you can expect LD’s soon, continue what you are doing since it seems like it’s working like a charm for you, maybe add a bit more awareness IRL to get over this tiny gap between wondering and realizing. Continue writing in your DJ by all means and congrats on being able to recall so many dreams every night!
Thanks.
Yeah actually I’m not totally sure if I thought things were strange during the dream, but I seem to remember something like that.
I would just like to ask something:
exactly how does the transferring between waking and dreaming happen?
I mean I have had a few lucids before, but I don’t remember exactly how they started.
Do I just lie there in bed and suddenly find myself standing up somewhere?
I’m asking because most of my LD’s have been False Awakenings, and they way they started was very natural because they simply started with me getting out of bed, just like I always do when I’m awake as well - but what will my “starting point” be like in random LD’s that just start somewhere?
Should I just lie and practice MILD until I start lucid dreaming “somewhere”, or is it a good idea to actually prepare exactly where the dream should start?
If I remember correctly, the “real” MILD as LaBerge developed it contains to take a dream you recalled and then choose a point/scene in which you imagine yourself getting lucid. I usually do MILD just by repeating a mantra until I fall asleep. When you already have an image of how the dream should start and you try to incubate this dream, it’s technically a VILD I think. But that doesn’t really matter, you can do as you please, techniques need to be altered a little. My suggestion would be that you try both ways if you can’t decide which way to choose and then see which one works better for you.
As for the start of dreams in general, most of them just start somewhere without you knowing or even having an idea of how you got there. That’s the theory behind the idea of asking questions like “Where am I? How did I get here?”. That won’t be any different with your LD’s (unless you are doing VILD or WILD and consciously try to build the dream setting around yourself). So it actually is like you said, you lie in your bed and then you just are somewhere (different of course when you become lucid somewhere in the middle of a dream, then you should be able to remember how the dream story started and how you got to where you are now).
In between waking and dreaming there is of course the hypnagogic state including HH and SP and some lighter sleep (unless you did WBTB). If you are interested in how dreams are formed, I suggest you give WILD a go, just to get an idea of how the transition between waking and dreaming looks like for you, the experience can be quite exciting.
Thank you.
Yes, I have noticed that the transition between dreaming and waking is kind of backwards - I stand up in the dream and then I keep that position and suddenly realize that I have a ceiling above me.
I kind of had this imagination during MILD attempts that I somehow needed to “prepare the dream setting” thoroughly while falling asleep, so that I had something to dream in, so to speak.
I felt worried that if I simply practiced MILD then I may have entered the dream without knowing it, because I believed I would still have my eyes closed and basically keep doing MILD all the way into the dream itself - and miss the dream.
By the way, one more question:
how long does it usually take for dream vividness to substantially improve?
My dreams have pretty much been “marginally above typical ND quality”, although I do seem to remember 2-3 scenes that were a little more vivid than the others.
I try to record as much as possible when I wake up, but it’s kinda hard to keep track of all the details from several different dreams at once; if I remember lots of stuff in one dream then I lose track of the other dreams for a moment etc.
That sounds more like you’re trying to WILD. MILD is about entering the dream without knowing it. MILD is a kind of DILD, which means that you first have a ND and then at some point become lucid. Doesn’t really matter though which technique you use, as long as you get lucid.
DR is such an elusive thing which depends on so many personal conditions, I think it’s almost impossible to give an answer to this question…For me, if I write in my DJ consistent, my dreams get more vivid/longer within a few days/a week. Try the following when you remember many dreams at once: Don’t think about them too much, don’t think about the details. Instead, focuss on each one for a short time (a few seconds are enough for me) and remember the first thing which comes to your mind when you think about the dream. This can be a strong emotion, the first scene or the main theme. Couch this into only a few words (even one can be enough), then do this for the other dreams. Remebering these few words shouldn’t be too hard. Then you can quickly write them down and it should be possible for you to reconstruct the whole dream with all its details with the help of your short notes. Now this sounds way more complicated than it is, but it works very well for me.
) and well, I guess I would just like some input here.
I say you can expect LD’s soon, continue what you are doing since it seems like it’s working like a charm for you, maybe add a bit more awareness IRL to get over this tiny gap between wondering and realizing. Continue writing in your DJ by all means and congrats on being able to recall so many dreams every night!
MILD 