Costly Dreams

[bluebird]

March 20th - First day of spring.

No recall.  I will look into supplements to help recall.   A little vitamin cant hurt.

Eat 2 bananas right before bed!

[costlycapybara]

Eat 2 bananas right before bed!

Thanks ate two before going to bed.

March 21 2012

Woke up 6am, no recall, decided to stay up for a bit in order to try WBTB + WILD.  I didn't want to stay up the full 40-60 min, since i had to get up for work soon after.  Stayed up 5 mins.  Tried WILD twice.  Damn you alarm.  Perform RC. Not dreaming. Snooze.

Fragment:  I'm dreaming that I am playing one of those old strategy games, like Warcraft II or something, but I am actually in the game.  My miner looks something like this and I look like my normal self.  Some guy who is playing against me tries to beat him with a stick and I take a bigger stick and beat him up. Then I wake up.

Anyone have any ideas how to improve recall?  Its pretty annoying to wake up and know that I've had at least 3 dreams last night and not remember any of them.
I'll keep eating 2 bananas before bed.  We will see how it goes...

[bluebird]

Anyone have any ideas how to improve recall?  Its pretty annoying to wake up and know that I've had at least 3 dreams last night and not remember any of them.
I'll keep eating 2 bananas before bed.  We will see how it goes...

This is going to sound pretty obvious, but try and think what you have done recently as soon as you wake up. For example if I was to ask you what you had done recently in the middle of the day you would say "well I came from work then I made coffee then I watched TV etc etc". Well if you are thinking this as soon as you wake up you will suddenly have thoughts pop into your head like "Oh, I was fighting a dragon, that must have been a dream..." It usually takes me about 60 seconds to forget my dreams so make sure it's the first thing on your mind as you wake up. The bananas will help too, plus everyone loves healthy food

I'm sure other people will have more advice for you too, but these things I can vouch for being successful.

[costlycapybara]

March 22, Thursday

Went to bed at 12am.  Set my alarm for 4am for WBTB.  Wake up 4am feeling lazy, like I don't want to do it.  No recall for past 4 hours.  "Its ok," I think, "the fun part is ahead."
I stay up leaned on my shoulder for 10 minutes try not to not fall asleep.  Get up, turn on the lights (should I not have?), go feed my cat as he is scratching the bedroom door asking for food.  Almost as though he knows I'm up and available to be his servant once again.  Read an article (by Tsunami) on MM about WBTB and it suggests me

1. Not to turn on the ligh
2. Stay in bed
3. Staying up for 15 minutes.
4. DILD is easier than WILD for beginners

I look at the clock, its 4:37. Damn it! I go back to bed and repeat in my head that I will have a lucid dream.  I think of a dream scene that looks something like the default background to windows XP. Look here.  As I fall asleep I start to notice that in my head I'm floating away while thinking of something else.  "No!" I tell myself, I want THIS!!!  This happens a couple of times until I am not as sleepy anymore, but I still manage to fall asleep.  My alarm was set for 7am, since this is when my girlfriend wakes up for work (I took a day off today). No recall.    I go back to bed and keep going in and out of sleep until I have a fragment

Fragment:
It has something to do with the way Patriots defensive backs are lined up and I was running the possible starters and free agents in my head.

It is not very interesting or important, but I am still happy I have at least something to write... My brain needs to realize that I mean it when I tell it to remember something.

--

I think the reason my WBTB didn't work is that I tried something in between of WILD and DILD.  If I wanted a DILD, I should have taken what ever dream world I was suggested.  If I wanted to WILD, I should have not been moving from side to side like I did.  Rookie mistake.  Its ok there is always a next night.  What else did I do wrong? Let me know people!

[pj]

What you were doing was trying a mnemonic induction of a specific lucid dream and then recognizing what you induced.  It certainly can be done.  It is a form of DILD, as is any lucid where you recognize the dream from within the dream.

You were lucid enough to recognize that you weren't getting what you wanted!  Next time just stay lucid and pick it up from there. . . viola!

[bluebird]

This is the time where you decide between trying to WILD and DILD at WBTB. You can, of course, attempt both, but WILD's require a significant amount of effort and can disrupt your sleep pattern if you get too stressed out over them.

What's worked for me, is getting up and out of bed, but staying away from bright lights where possible. I stay up for about 10 minutes max and then go straight back into bed. I used to go on my laptop but I've found it wakes me up too much so I usually just play about with my phone for a bit to waken me up. After that, I will return to bed and perform relaxation techniques to make my body sleepy. I will let my brain nod off while maintaining a bit of concentration. You will usually start to feel some changes if you are "falling asleep" and only then do I decide to continue with a WILD. For example you will start to see HI and you will start losing drifting out of consciousness briefly.

If I don't WILD, I usually have much more awareness in my dreams which as we all know is a big part of lucidity. So there is no need to worry about WILD's too much, I think I've had only 1 or 2 in my entire time LDing and it's not been a problem. Right now we need to work on your recall, as the WBTB timings seem okay and you are clearly eager to learn. I would suggest heading to bed a little earlier if it's easy enough with your girlfriend, you want to ideally be aiming for the full 8 hours sleep, or a little longer if possible. If you are going to WBTB I have noticed I only need about 7 hours sleep, sometimes much less, so don't worry too much about it when you are going to do a WBTB.

Another point worth noting is not to try it every night. A good balance for most people is to alternate between nights, so you average 3.5 WBTB's per week.

Trying to think what hasn't been covered yet. Tsunami's tips are very very good advice and I'd follow them. You don't have to stay in bed though, if nature calls or if you have something to do (i.e. feed the cat) then that will be no problem.

Come on Costly, you'll be lucid soon I just know it

[costlycapybara]

I woke up at 4am and started writing.  Needless to say even the pharmacist would have problems deciphering what I wrote.
I also had a fragment, but I remembered it when I was driving to work and didn't write it down, and now its gone.

March 23, 2012

Exams

I was in a large dining hall, just like the one from Harry Potter.  The ceilings are sky high and the desks are wooden.  We are all taking the exam.  My classmate from high school, who I haven't seen in over 5 years, was there as well as Harry Potter.  The exam itself is not difficult, but it felt like it was very important. It is also in a scantron format, so I write the answers first on the exam workbook and then copy them to scantron sheet.  I forget to transfer a couple and I notice only after I hand it in.  It sucks to know the answers and forget to copy them over to the stupid scantron.  I'm walking back to my desk as I am beating myself up about it and then I wake up.

--

Even though this was a short description, it is only due to my poor recall.  I have a feeling that the dream took longer.

[costlycapybara]

Come on Costly, you'll be lucid soon I just know it

I hope you don't mind, I actually went back to compare your Lucid progress to mine:
(first column is you, second is me)

1.D/F
2.N/F
3.D/N
4.D/D
5.N/N
6.F/F
7.N/D
8.N
9.L

Night 7 for me was the exam.  I am not saying I expect to be lucid by night 9, but it helps me put my progress in perspective, and focus on my primary goal - improving dream recall.  One of the quickest and most consistent people to achieve lucidity (blue) didn't have a lucid until night #9 of trying.

[bluebird]

Let's hope 4,6 and 9 follow a pattern

[Sunshine]

(content removed by user request)

[costlycapybara]

no recall

[bluebird]

Keep trying! You can do it!

[Rhapsode]

Super fun-time dream recall tips from Rhapsode. Use all! Use none! Any way you do it, you'll have fun!*

*Or 8 hours of ceiling watching during mind-numbing wakefulness as the insanity slowly creeps in...

Super Supplements (to be used sparingly):
1.100-200 mg B6 1/2 hour to an hour before bed.
2. Choline (DMAE or Acetylcholine), 100-400 mg, and preferably taken during a WBTB (4 or so hours after falling asleep)
3. 4 mg Galantamine DEFINITELY taken during a WBTB and on top of the choline.

Herbs and Crystals (to be placed in a satchel within or beside your pillow):
1. Moonstone (Clefairy!)
2. Mugwort (can be drunk in a tea as well)
3. Lavender

Daily Practices:
1. WRITE IN YOUR G'DAMNED DREAM JOURNAL SOON AS YOU OPEN YOUR MOTHER F'N EYES.
2. Meditation during the day but definitely before sleeping or during the WBTB.
3. Day's recall: Before you initially go to sleep think about the day's events but go backwards, especially the events that had an emotional impact on you. Don't dwell - simply remember, accept what happened, and move on. This is good practice for remembering your dreams later in the night.

Last Resort:
1. Sacrifice a small animal and pray to the dream gods that they'll finally be decent enough to let you remember a stupid dream or two.

Also:
That's it.

Good luck!

[greg lousy]

     I just wanted to add that Stephen Laberge recorded a much higher success rate with WBTB periods of at least 30 minutes, during which you engage in active mental activity. Granted, this will increase the challenge of falling back asleep.

      Speaking of Laberge, I highly recommend reading one of his books if you haven't.  "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming" is a great kind of Dreaming 101 type guide, and "Lucid Dreaming: A Concise Guide to Awakening in Your Dreams and in Your Life" is kind of an updated and abbreviated version.

     This being said, it sounds like you've already absorbed the most important lesson, by thinking about and working towards lucidity with such energy. I'm of the opinion that effort is more important than technique.

      We're lucky to have Bluebird here to provide such an example.  He's worked unusually hard, and become unusually lucid unusually quick.

Also - lucidity aside - I think you will start seeing improvements in recall very soon. Keep it up!!!!!!!

[costlycapybara]

1.100-200 mg B6 1/2 hour to an hour before bed.

I'll go to the pharmacy today to pick some up.

Daily Practices:
1. WRITE IN YOUR G'DAMNED DREAM JOURNAL SOON AS YOU OPEN YOUR MOTHER F'N EYES.

Hahaha Yes, sir!

2. Meditation during the day but definitely before sleeping or during the WBTB.

Idk how to meditate...  :(

3. Day's recall: Before you initially go to sleep think about the day's events but go backwards, especially the events that had an emotional impact on you. Don't dwell - simply remember, accept what happened, and move on. This is good practice for remembering your dreams later in the night.

Good idea. Also sounds like an activity that would put me to sleep quick.

Last Resort:
1. Sacrifice a small animal and pray to the dream gods that they'll finally be decent enough to let you remember a stupid dream or two.

I think i'll start with this one!!! 

     I just wanted to add that Stephen Laberge recorded a much higher success rate with WBTB periods of at least 30 minutes, during which you engage in active mental activity. Granted, this will increase the challenge of falling back asleep.

      Speaking of Laberge, I highly recommend reading one of his books if you haven't.  "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming" is a great kind of Dreaming 101 type guide, and "Lucid Dreaming: A Concise Guide to Awakening in Your Dreams and in Your Life" is kind of an updated and abbreviated version.

     This being said, it sounds like you've already absorbed the most important lesson, by thinking about and working towards lucidity with such energy. I'm of the opinion that effort is more important than technique.

      We're lucky to have Bluebird here to provide such an example.  He's worked unusually hard, and become unusually lucid unusually quick.

Also - lucidity aside - I think you will start seeing improvements in recall very soon. Keep it up!!!!!!!

Thanks greg.  I already see improvements in recall.  I recall at least something 6 times out of 9.  Much better than what I used to.  I'll definitely get some literature for this.