Hi. I am new to forum. Happy to be here and happy holidays.
I am determined to lucid dream, so step 1 toward the goal is accomplished. I cannot seem to remember any of my dreams lately, however.
My sleep pattern is somewhat erratic. I have been taking melatonin for the past two days for some normalization, but I wake up after about 5 hrs and can’t get back to sleep. I just nibble a bit off the 3mg pills I have - otherwise, I’m groggy all day next. Has anybody had this problem and remedied it with time-release melatonin? Just not sure if this is a viable solution.
I keep a dream journal on my computer. In mornings past when I could remember dreams and their fragments, I would pull a laptop onto my chest in bed. The screen was covered by a black, tight shirt to reduce light pollution. I have lapsed in the past - the computer is kind of heavy and typing while supine and without seeing the keyboard or the screen is off-puting in the small hours. Do you think this would be remedied by switching formats? good ol fashioned…
I perform three ongoing prospective memory exercises: a) if pass through doorway, then touch face; b) if walk on steps, then touch face; and c) touch face if see a variable in the environment, e.g., one day it’s yellow gloves, the next it’s somebody on a bicycle, the next it’s matching gloves and boots, etc. I am going to add awareness to this - if I interact with a person, then I will be mindful (in the meditative sense).
I meditate for 15 minutes 3 times a day. In the morning, before a noon nap, and before going to sleep. It is shamatha, the sort where you focus on the breath without trying to change it, etc. I had a spontaneous LD at a meditatin retreat doing vipassana, but dream yoga is explicitly shamatha. It should help more, I suppose.
I read my dream journal at least once a day everyday, review my dream signs, and my reasons for wanting to LD.
I entertain myself with movies associated with dreaming - the science of sleep, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, brazil, vanilla sky, wizard of oz, inception, the big lebowski (I welcome more suggestions!)
I read about lucid dreaming everyday - either the forums or a book I got on sleep paralysis.
I had the words “read this again” stitched onto the left thumbs of two pairs of gloves such that I always have easy access to text. Good for reality checks.
I take pictures of oddities I see in the environment.
I drink green tea. A study linked inhibition of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to lack of astonishment in the face of dream absurdity, and another study I read indicated increases in DLPFC upon drinking this sort of tea.
I exercise. Another study indicated increased DLPFC activity after exercise - even acute exercise
I also read a study which points to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex as more to do with LD then the DLPFC, but I haven’t found any research online to suggest behavioral interventions that might enhance that brain region. Any ideas or knowledge?
Implied in a previous note, I nap everyday practically at the same time. This is usually after walking briskly back to my apartment for about 15 or 20 minutes, drinking some green tea, reading everything mentioned before in some form or fashion, etc.
I wrapped a black sock around my cell phone so I could easily record ideas for songs or dreams without being blinded.
I keep what is essentially a bed pan next to me at night so I don’t have to go the toilet. I am teaching English in China and the apartment they gave me doesn’t have heating throughout - just the bedroom.
So? What could I do better? What could I do without? I’m interested in making this more efficient, too. I’m not so sure I can get my hands on any of the more reputable dream herbs, e.g., calea zacatechichi or silene capensis, but I might be able to get my hands on some artemisia vulgaris. I’ve seen it growing in waste areas around these parts, but I’m in a major city so pollution makes me hesitate to pick it. I got my hands on some galantamine, choline, and dmae, but they make it too hard to fall asleep.
You seem very well prepared and planned! I especially like all the different stuff you’re doing to increase your general awareness. Keeping your mind occupied with lucid dreaming can be very helpful, as is meditating. Regarding the movies about dreaming, here is a great list of various films, some of them are even available on YouTube (or at least they were some time ago…).
Taking naps can provide you with good chances to get LD’s, as you are generally more aware and you go into REM sleep faster than during the normal night’s sleep, which means that you have a good opportunity to do WILD (as you won’t need to wait so long to enter a dream), MILD (you fall asleep faster, so awareness is more likely to still be present upon dreaming) or just having luck with a random DILD (works for the same reason as MILD does).
About the DJ, there are a lot of different ways to keep a DJ, and it all depends on your personal preferences. For example, I’ve kept a written DJ for a long time, by scribbling the dream down on a sheet of paper after waking up (in as much detail as I could remember and felt like writing down), only using a flashlight, and then later in the day writing it down in my DJ book because what I wrote down at night was so messy. Now I keep my iPod close to my bed, use an app to make a customized alarm clock and type down my dreams using the note function at night. I then transfer these notes to my computer, and correct any typos, add more details, comments etc, after that is all finished, I put them into a handy DJ program. It depends on what you like, you could also use a voice recorder.
I personally am not a big fan of these dream herbs, so I can’t help you with this. I hope your bed in China is not as hard as mine was when I was there for a week or so. I felt as if I was sleeping on a table.
Thanks for the kind words! I think that your method of re-writing the dreams would be good for me, but I am worried about overloading myself - it’s just that I’m already doing a lot of stuff and I don’t want the time costs to start outweighing the benefits. I’ll wait and see if it’s necessary, but it seems like it would be quite useful.
The heat is the only issue I have in my apartment here. I’m in Hunan, which is in the south, so it’s not too bad. What brought you here for a week? I’m teaching English at a uni - loads of free time to explore whacky stuff like this. Learning Chinese is fun. What do you do?
Waiting is probably a good idea. The time costs were one of the main reasons why I switched to a digital DJ, writing by hand was simply too slow and tiring.
A thing that I forgot to say is that you should try to fix your sleep schedule, as a regular sleeping pattern is the best thing to do in order to get a good DR. Moreover, don’t put any kind of stress on yourself (most of the time stress is a major DR and LD killer).
I was in China thanks to a student exchange program, and I really, really enjoyed it, it was an awesome experience.
I must appreciate you for ur commitment. By this time, you must have become an expert in lucid dreams, given ur rigorous preparation. By, I feel, by stressing yourself too much you are actually spoiling your chances of having successful ld. I mean to say, thats just my observation. Ld isnt that diffecult, its a subtle thing and very fragile. I used various techniques, hv even dream mask with me and have tried various kinds of reality checks, subliminal messaging etc. But what i found to be most effective is Reading books related to lucid dreaming before bedtime, i.e, before going to sleep, increases chances of lucidity. Its such a simple thing. I experienced the benefits, quite by accident. I was reading the book ‘exploring the world of lucid dreaming’ one night. I was engrossed in reading it and it was in small fonts. As i continued reading, i started feeling sleepy due to strain on my eye muscles. then, as i started falling asleep, i recalled one line that i have read and it kind of, Triggered a whole range of texts in my mind. For about few hours, my mind was constantly playing out the texts that i have read, like a radio. soon i fell asleep and had a dream in which i was at a class and the teacher was teaching what i have read in the book. This was not lucid dream coz i realised i am dreaming only after waking up. But this is to say, Reading about lucid dreaming is one of the most effective ways to induce lucidity. As they say, THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE VERY SIMPLE THINGS.
Thanks for the words of advice, lucky. I must say that in the past, the only times I’ve had an LD spontaneously was while at a meditation retreat - after maybe 50 hours of accumulated practice. I would wake up in the morning, meditate for 2 hours straight, eat, and then take a nap. I had one brief but vivid, stable LD, but nothing since returning to society.
The measures I’ve taken do seem beyond the pale - even to me - but I think I’m a hard gainer, so to speak. Even with everything I’ve done, I haven’t had any success - still working on my DR. It is improving, however. The measures don’t seem stressful, though. They have carried over into other areas of my life. I quite enjoy the memory exercises, etc. I see the world in a very different, more open light. Laberge warns that living with a dull, lax form of consciousness will equate to a similarly passive dream life. That being said, there are individual differences that can make LD harder for some.
So, would you recommend I stop all of the techniques I’m using in favor of reading before bed, or are there some specific ones you’d recommend I cut?
Thanks a lot for the advice, best of luck to you, and happy new year!
@ Chrlemagne : Happy new year to you and wish you more LDs this year.
As reg. your question as to whether you should stop all the techniques in favour of reading? My Straight Answer is NO. But i would recommend you to De-stress yourself and holistically approach LD. Its because of your accumulated stress that i think, is responsible for your low LD count. I recommend you to continue doing what suits you best at the same time ENJOY the process and not look at it mechanically.
I have been trying LDing for the past 3 years. Its only after a year and a half that i found success. I used to download all kinds of Lucid dreaming products, technology assisted kits etc and what not, constantly used to reality check, meditate, do WBTB but found little success. It came to a point where i began to feel dejected and started to believe LD is a specialised skill meant for only gifted individuals. At this point, one day while i casually slept, had a dream in which my father was switching ON the water tank near my bedroom. I realised we had no water tank near my bedroom and i did reality check by jumping only to find myself suspended in mid air. Then i teleported to another locale in my house and it was the MOST EXTRAORDINARY and VIVID dream i ever had. Now also i couldnt figure whether it was a lucid dream or OBE. But the feeling was intense and exhilarating. I jumped up and down in my dream and enjoyed being lucid for close to 5 mins. I regained my confidence to LD.
Thinking back, I did everything required for a successful LD yet was not able to achieve results because constant stress and concern. So i believed what is more important to achieve a sucessful lucid dream is LETTING GO and feel free.
I cannot say the efforts i have done is futile or doesnt help. all efforts whether it is reading book about LD or subliminal messaging or yoga or meditation etc employ same technique - AFFIRMING THE SUBCONSCIOUS YOUR INTENTION TO ACHIEVE LUCID DREAM.
So whatever method you employ it will definitely work if it is able to reach your subconcious mind and it only depends on your sincerity. But feeling stress and too much pushing only prevents the message from reaching subconscious. It is for this reason that i recommend to let go and feel free believing in your ability to LD. Its only a matter of time till you achieve tangible results.
The SC mind is like a child. If you beg with him or prod him unnecessarily it ll not obey you. You leave him free for sometime, it ll come behind you.
Hope you got the message. Continue your practise, Enjoy the process, Believe in your ability and let go of the obsession to LD.
Well let’s see if there is any advice that I could give…
Personally, I don’t use melatonin, but as to your problem sleeping only 5hrs, I recall reading further down that you nap as well in the afternoon. You should realize that since you are sleeping during the day regularly you are effectively a bipahsic sleeper. (I’m actually writing an FAQ / article on PolyPhasic sleep for the forums right now on the subject, but here’s the gist of what biphasic sleep does for you.)
Because you sleep during the day as well as at night you actually don’t need as much sleep. You still need a good six or seven hours of sleep with a biphasic sleep cycle, but, depending on how long you sleep during the day, you’ll need less sleep at night.
If you want to sleep longer during the night my only advice would be to stop taking a nap during the day. One method you could use to return to monophasic sleep would be to not sleep for twenty-four hours and then go to sleep at what you would consider a normal time and sleep for 8 hours or so.
I used to keep a hand-journal as well, but I no longer do so. I only type my dreams into the computer now. However, I don’t go to as much extremes as you do. I don’t block out the light, nor try to type in the dark while in bed.
You could improve your dream recall by using a method similar to Leijona’s. You could use a notepad and scribble notes about your dream onto a piece of paper and then get up and type your dream from your notes. I tend to use this method myself when I don’t have time in the morning to type up my dreams before class.
If you’re struggling to even remember dreams at all then I would suggest you set an alarm to wake you up during a REM cycle. Also you should write every bit of detail down you can remember, no matter how insignificant it might seem. Doing so will help you recall improve.
Those are great for improving awareness. I used to try doing something similar, but, again, nothing to the extent with which you have. I’ll have more advice to offer you on the amount of work you are doing shortly after I get through your list, but for now just know that these are great for improving awareness, just remember “too much of a good thing…”
Meditation is also great. I have tried to meditate, but I tend to have the problem that I can’t keep up with it, so I meditate whenever I feel I need to. I don’t know about any particular meditation techniques; all I do is sit there and try to calm my mind and keep it clear.
That’s good, but do you act upon your dream signs that you find? If not, you are still gaining familiarity with your own dreams. I believe that if one were to keep a dream journal long enough eventually one would have natural LDs just from being familiar with his or her dreams, but one must keep that DJ regularly.
If you’re not already, you should link your mental exercises from number 3 with your dream signs in that when you see a dream sign in real life you touch your face. This way the pattern of touching your face is far more likely to occur in your dreams.
I like to watch the dream movies too, but this brings me back to what I said earlier about too much of a good thing.
Again, I like to as well, but too much can be bad for your success.
Interesting implementation of the text RC.
Intersting, again.
Tea is good. Tea is very good.
Exercise is good for everything, not just dreams.
Not really. I read some of the dream related studies when they show up on the forums, but I mostly just read them for the science-dream-entertainment.
Recall that I said that this could be why you only sleep for five hours each night. If you wish to sleep longer at night you may need to remove the nap.
I’ve used a voice recorder before.
Not to judge, but that seems a little extreme. I would suggest you just get up, because that could wake you up enough to act as a WBTB.
You’re doing a lot. And that could be good, but, personally, I’ve found that less is more. I’ve noticed that in the past when I’ve been extremely gung ho about lucid dreaming and using various techniques I had little success. I would get dejected to the point of quitting and when I stopped and just had a normal easy night’s sleep I’d suddenly have an LD.
It’s almost like you’re overloading your brain. You have all this lucid dreaming related stuff in your life that your brain sees no reason to give you anymore at night as well. Why should it? You already spend more time on LD related subjects awake then you spend time asleep. The body seeks balance, and putting to much LD in won’t give you any LDs.
Now I’m not saying stop everything, no that would be too extreme. I’m merely suggesting you thin your schedule out. You don’t have to do so much. Also you should remember that lucid dreaming is just that dreaming. It happens when you are asleep. There’s still an entire world out there that doesn’t exist within your head.
Yes you should still try to have LDs, but you should also live your life somewhat normally. If you spend the majority of your time awake trying to prep yourself for lucid dreaming you’re likely to spoil your chances for actually having an LD.
On another note you need to keep in mind that your attitude towards having LDs will greatly affect your chances as well. If you don’t believe it will happen, it won’t, although I don’t think you have much to worry about with belief.
I hope I covered everything, and I hoped I helped. If you have any other questions be sure to ask.
