Lucid Dreaming Rituals During WBTB

[DrTechnical]

Moonbeam had made a comment in my dream journal today which prompted this post. It was a statement that had some validity. It basically had to do with tasks you do before lucid dreaming which are pattern based.

I'm personally a big believer in WBTB. When I'm making a serious LD attempt I always leverage that idea. But there are a lot of other rituals I do as well:

1) Leave my bed all together and go downstairs.
2) Adjust the couch pillows to lay down more easily.
3) Get the dog on the far odiment so she's not in my way.
4) Set the wind-up alarm clock.
5) Put out my magic wand on the counter top (great conceptaul aid. It's always there right were I left it when I enter my dreamspace and go to the kitchen).
6) Have a light snack, maybe a little ice cream.
7) Watch TV
Stay up for ~50 minutes, turn off the TV and use the bathroom.
9) Make sure all lights are off but the kitchen nightlite.

I think you get the point. There is a very specific ritual here which tells my brain "OK, we're going to lucid dream now - plan accordingly"

I can almost gaurantee that this plays into my rate of lucidity.

If you're reading this and it sounds interesting, give it a try. But because you are really trying to send your sleeping mind a message with this ritual, it may take many events before the pattern is perceived and it improves things. Be patient.

[pj]

You definitely have a point here.  I don't really follow a routine, but looking back realize that I did when I was enjoying a lot more lucids.  Leaving my bed was always part of it for me, too.

Thanks for taking the time to post this here.  It bears attention!

[AspirationRealized]

what about those who wake up too much initially to follow a ritual and stay drowsy? If I wake up and stay up more than a few minutes it's like going to bed before.

I think there's A LOT of validity here. In fact there is a psycholgy term for it.

A real life occurence of this phenomenon is related to most overdoses on heavy drugs. Users would OD on lesser amonts of their poison of choice because they weren't in the same routine. Say someone always shoots up in their bed room. You walk in and your body starts to react as you reach under the bed for your stash. By the time the needle hits your skin your body has "prepared" tself physically (the specific reactions I don't recall) and you're ready. People would OD just from missing their routine.

[DrTechnical]

If you typically wake up too much during WBTB, try L-theanine and/or 0.5 mg of Melatonin. Either of those solutions work for me.

[Sean999]

Hmm, maybe I should create set routine for my WBTB. It would definitely reduce the disorientation of waking in the middle of the night. Plus I would actually have something to concentrate on, rather than aimlessly daydream and fall back asleep unconscious.

Now that I think of it, I did have a routine quite a while ago. It yielded more positive results than what I'm getting now.

[annsie]

I have a routine every night, its more for my spiritual development and psychic training, but it does help LD a lot.

About 30 mins before bed, I drink a cup of green tea, light an incense and sit on the floor next to my bed doing a 20 mins meditation or read a spiritual book. Then I get into bed, lie down on my back doing some deep breathing exercise while listening to meditation music or chanting music until I get into SP.

From the state of SP, I often go straight into a dream or a LD, unless I am too mentally/physically tired that I let go of the stream of consciousness and fall asleep.

If I really want to WBTB, I would light a candle as well as the incense, so that I have to get up again out of SP to blow off the candle.

Edited to add: If there is something I really need to do in the dream, like contacting my late husband or wanting to OOB, I would also call on my spirit guides to come help me.

[chris31]

Dr T, what happens to the amount of lucids you have if you don't try any induction methods for an extended period of time?

[DrTechnical]

Dr T, what happens to the amount of lucids you have if you don't try any induction methods for an extended period of time?

I have very few off the cuff lucids.

When I try to have lucids I generally succeed, but this is based on my experience of how to interleave techniques without cross tolerance.

My two main techniques are Galantamine/Choline and a BW entrainment method I have developed.

I also like to use Calea Z extract from time to time, sometimes with nicotine - less likely to have a lucid, but I always have great dreams.

[Sunshine]

(content removed by user request)

[DrTechnical]

For once I did a WBTB last night, not by choice but because I couldn't get back to sleep.  It consisted of me waking up, trying to WILD for about an hour, failing, then having a DILD.  I had taken ginseng before bed, and I think that's what woke me up later.  So it does work, even for me, if I can get back to sleep.  That's the hard part. 

It does seem like your ritual is a big part of your success, if you don't have many lucids without it.  I'd like to have a nice short ritual that was enough of a trigger to do the trick.

Honestly, I don't see how people can have predictable DILDs without WBTB? I can't. The ritual thing is a more or less independent factor, but I think it helps.

Does Ginseng have a mild stimulant effect? I forget. I haven't used it since the early 90's. I remember being behind two woman at GNC once who were explaining that some people believe it to be an aphrodisiac - and that one of their little brothers had heard this and started throwing ginseng tabs down girls shirts to "get them horny". Ah ... to be 13 again 

[Sunshine]

(content removed by user request)

[SStride]

[Sean999]

Thanks for that, SS! I feel inspired to try WBTB again. Maybe my journal will see a comeback too!

[DrTechnical]

Any serious lucid dream attempt should include WBTB. MHO. It's kinda like quality in products. Often, you get what you pay for. Here, you get what you sacrifice for.

[Sean999]

I haven't really made any serious attempt in a long time. Bogged down with school and such, and my sleep schedule isn't optimal.

I did attempt WBTB last night, but it was terrible. Must have been bad timing; I felt exhausted upon awakening, and I was tossing and turning as I tried to fall back asleep. Had some of those annoying dreams that "leak" into reality and involve a problem related to my position on my bed. >.>

Must have been a shock on my body to WBTB after so long, so I'll keep at it.