Author Topic: The Sitting Technique  (Read 5220 times)

Offline mapreader

  • Comprehender
  • *
  • Posts: 28
The Sitting Technique
« on: June 19, 2013, 12:45:52 AM »

I found this post on Reddit. I haven't tried it yet, so I can't judge its effectiveness, but I'll leave it here for anyone who's interested:

http://www.reddit.com/r/LucidDreaming/comments/1gi2mk/one_simple_change_has_given_me_lds_pretty_much_at/

Quote
One simple change has given me LDs pretty much at will

This technique was developed by Dreamcatcher81 on the Dreamviews forum.

Sleep sitting up.

Not the whole night, just the latter half. What you need to do is sleep 3-4 hours in your bed, wake up (with an alarm) and go finish your sleep in a recliner or deck chair that has head and neck support.

I used to only LD once every few months, now I have them whenever I drag myself to the recliner (a few feet from my bed) in the middle of the night.
The full method is described here:

http://www.dreamviews.com/beyond-dreaming/118621-sitting-technique-maximize-your-chances-obe-astral-projection.html

It works because your body, being exhausted, will easily fall asleep, but your mind senses (through the vestibular system) that you're in an upright position and so remains aware. The bottom line is that you're asleep, but the higher mental processes that are usually offline at this time such as planning, working memory, attention, problem solving, and self-referential mechanisms are prevented from being shut down. Most of these functions are located in the prefrontal cortex, so I'm guessing that specific part of the brain remains active while sleeping upright and shuts down while asleep in natural positions. Also, you don't go into the deep sleep stages, so you remain in the sweet spot between waking and coma-like sleep.

A few notes
-Read the link, it has a few helpful tips and illustrations.

-Every single one of the LDs I've had from this method (which is more than 70 now) begins in a replica of my room (the place where my recliner is). As such, my room functions as the loading dock of my entire LD universe.

-This method produces LDs that are very high level.

-Make sure you support your lower back with a pillow. If you're not comfortable, you won't fall asleep.

-Also helps to have a pillow behind your neck so that you're facing forward like you are in waking life.

-The recliner/deck chair should be roughly at a 120-130 degree angle.

-Put the alarm on the other side of the room to make you get out of bed.

-If you're having a hard time falling asleep after waking up, I've found that sleep deprivation (30 hours+) works just as well with no need for WBTB. What you do in that instance is stay up for about 40 hours then go straight to the recliner/deck chair rather than your bed. This results in sleep paralysis which you can then convert into an LD. For some reason, going to the recliner in the first half of the night doesn't work without sleep deprivation (rem rebound?).

-If you have trouble falling asleep and don't want to use sleep deprivation, I guess you can only sleep 2-3 hours before WBTB. I'd still strongly recommend you use sleep dep if you can't fall asleep after 3-4 hours sleep, as I haven't experimented with 2-3 hours (because I fall asleep fine on 3-4).

-Whatever you do, don't turn on the lights. That makes it much harder to fall asleep. If your laptop/computer has to be on, download F.lux to eliminate blue glare.

-This technique has made lucid dreaming a choice for me. What I mean is that before I struggled and struggled with little to show for it. Now I simply ask myself, do I want to LD tonight? Y/N? If I'm too tired, have an early wake up or a hectic schedule the next day, I just decide that I'll LD the night after. If I'm not zonked out and don't have any commitments the next day, it's a go. I'm now on the choice side of the LD equation. I simply have them when I want to have them rather than just desperately hoping for them.


Offline Sunshine

  • Research Guild
  • Evaluator
  • *****
  • Posts: 16143
Re: The Sitting Technique
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2013, 05:49:58 AM »
(content removed by user request)
« Last Edit: February 10, 2014, 07:04:01 PM by pj »

Offline Snaggle

  • Synthesizer
  • ****
  • Posts: 361
Re: The Sitting Technique
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2013, 07:38:23 AM »
  I don't think this would really be an effective technique. I can sleep sitting up and not just in a recliner, on a stool with no back support and without falling off while sleeping. If something like my head sets fall off it will wake me up. Unconscious sleep, dream aware sleep and lucid dream sleep are just as common laying down as sitting up.

Offline Vex

  • Lord of the Rings
  • Ambassador Guild
  • Evaluator
  • *****
  • Posts: 3945
  • Ex Kitten
Re: The Sitting Technique
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2013, 09:15:37 AM »
Interesting. I fall asleep sitting up quite a bit and have yet to get lucid in this position. I fell asleep twice yesterday in a sitting position, once in a vehicle while the other occupants went shopping and once when I got home. I have a new couch where in I can sit in the corner between two throw pillows to relax and read or watch a show. I can drop off into a power nap while sitting there. Of course, I'm pretty sleep deprived these days and probably fall too quickly and deeply asleep to even attempt getting lucid. Or perhaps it's the angle? I'm too comfortable? I don't know. I'd like to give this a shot sometime. I wonder if sitting lucidity is very different from laying lucidity.

I'm going to try this next time I WBTB.

« Last Edit: June 19, 2013, 12:31:12 PM by Vex Kitten »
The impossible is possible tonight. ~Smashing Pumpkins 
https://twitter.com/MortalMist/status/473630187901317120

Offline Sunshine

  • Research Guild
  • Evaluator
  • *****
  • Posts: 16143
Re: The Sitting Technique
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2013, 10:49:19 PM »
(content removed by user request)
« Last Edit: February 10, 2014, 07:04:01 PM by pj »

Offline Vex

  • Lord of the Rings
  • Ambassador Guild
  • Evaluator
  • *****
  • Posts: 3945
  • Ex Kitten
Re: The Sitting Technique
« Reply #5 on: June 21, 2013, 12:35:47 AM »
Tried this, this morning but didn't score any LDs. Probably not enough sleep prior to trying WBTB. I'll give it a shot again when I can get at least a good 4 hours sleep first.
The impossible is possible tonight. ~Smashing Pumpkins 
https://twitter.com/MortalMist/status/473630187901317120

Offline greg lousy

  • _--<<<::((*** & ***))::>>>--_
  • Evaluator
  • *****
  • Posts: 842
  • happy perpetual birthday
Re: The Sitting Technique
« Reply #6 on: June 30, 2013, 02:47:14 AM »
It seems to me that the habitual chair sleepers would be at a disadvantage with this technique because the brain has already learned that it can be asleep in this position. 

If I remember correctly, the fourth phase of dream yoga involved semi upright position (didn't get there myself)
........ and I cannot find my way back to the sea, but the saltiest sea knows its own way to me    -   Joanna Newsome

Offline Vex

  • Lord of the Rings
  • Ambassador Guild
  • Evaluator
  • *****
  • Posts: 3945
  • Ex Kitten
Re: The Sitting Technique
« Reply #7 on: July 05, 2013, 06:37:10 PM »
That's probably true about habitual chair sleepers being at a disadvantage. I'd still like to get lucid at least one time while sitting up, just to see if the dream feels different from a laying lucid dream. By being in the sitting position that one might be a in little more control of the the dream? Maybe it'd be easier to hang onto the awareness?
The impossible is possible tonight. ~Smashing Pumpkins 
https://twitter.com/MortalMist/status/473630187901317120

Offline Vex

  • Lord of the Rings
  • Ambassador Guild
  • Evaluator
  • *****
  • Posts: 3945
  • Ex Kitten
Re: The Sitting Technique
« Reply #8 on: July 26, 2013, 02:44:36 PM »
It seems to me that the habitual chair sleepers would be at a disadvantage with this technique because the brain has already learned that it can be asleep in this position.  

If I remember correctly, the fourth phase of dream yoga involved semi upright position (didn't get there myself)

I still haven't been able to get lucid by sleeping sitting up. Not saying it's impossible but I think what you said is right, I'm at a disadvantage because I already sleep in that position. I'd have to learn some new freaky position to sleep in to get lucid. Someone needs to whip up a book of dreaming positions called the lucid sutra.
The impossible is possible tonight. ~Smashing Pumpkins 
https://twitter.com/MortalMist/status/473630187901317120

Offline Shellidfl

  • Doing "It" all night long... LDing, that is!
  • Evaluator
  • *****
  • Posts: 3403
  • "Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try."
Re: The Sitting Technique
« Reply #9 on: July 26, 2013, 03:11:08 PM »
 :goodidea:

Offline iadr

  • Evaluator
  • *****
  • Posts: 9160
  • Peace Be With You!
Re: The Sitting Technique
« Reply #10 on: July 26, 2013, 06:48:26 PM »
Although it sounds like a good idea, as it is very similar to the method of sleeping in a reclined position with one's head tilted up in order to have an obe. we used to wake up with a headache when falling asleep in our recliner. In addition, we never had a lucid dream in this position, although our first lucid dream came when we fell asleep with our head propped up on a pillow in our bed. Further attempts at this though resulted in stiff necks and headaches when awakening.
Beg and Bas: HA GG TR LM CL SO LC RS FL LW TD
Int: EF BI JR DC WH CT CW IA WA TA WT JT RA WW WF RA MF WF BO TK
Advanced: TT AN OB CS BH ST
Sea:
All tasks completed. Going through a second time.

Offline Snaggle

  • Synthesizer
  • ****
  • Posts: 361
Re: The Sitting Technique
« Reply #11 on: August 04, 2013, 06:29:17 PM »
Although it sounds like a good idea, as it is very similar to the method of sleeping in a reclined position with one's head tilted up in order to have an obe. we used to wake up with a headache when falling asleep in our recliner. In addition, we never had a lucid dream in this position, although our first lucid dream came when we fell asleep with our head propped up on a pillow in our bed. Further attempts at this though resulted in stiff necks and headaches when awakening.

Iadr, if one drops one's head forward one will get a stiff neck, if backwards it's more relaxing than a pillow.

Offline Vex

  • Lord of the Rings
  • Ambassador Guild
  • Evaluator
  • *****
  • Posts: 3945
  • Ex Kitten
Re: The Sitting Technique
« Reply #12 on: August 08, 2013, 12:35:41 PM »
All this makes me wonder if there is an ideal angle at which one's head should be to attain lucidity. When I first started seriously trying to ld, I noticed that I got lucid more often when I used a certain pillow. After I washed that pillow it wasn't the same and I didn't seem to get lucid as much when using it. Maybe it was just the comfort factor, I don't know. All I knew was I called that one pillow my lucid pillow and would not let anyone else touch it. I should shop around for another.
The impossible is possible tonight. ~Smashing Pumpkins 
https://twitter.com/MortalMist/status/473630187901317120