One of the main issues that currently prevents me from having regular lucid dreams is my lack of dream recall. It's very rare that I manage to recall a dream. Failure to recall dreams means that I can't complete a dream journal and therefore can't identify dream signs and will be much less likely to carry an awareness in to my dreams.
Last week I tried a couple of techniques to improve my dream recall with very positive results.
1) Mnemonic Induction Of Lucid Dreams (MILD).
I have been aware of this technique for a long time and used it in a half hearted way. This technique is basically about conditioning your mind prior to falling to sleep. I wrote an article on the subject (click here to read it) which helped me focus on the topic, but the key to success is to believe in it and put importance in achieving results using it. The first night I tried it I woke after my first dream and recorded it and then woke later in the morning and recorded a second dream. That represents massive progress for me.
2) Drinking Water To Wake
I find that when I go to bed I fall to sleep before spending very long at all using the MILD technique. I introduced an additional method as a backup and again had great results. Just before going to bed I drank between half and three quarters of a pint of water. This results in waking during the night to go to the toilet and provides additional opportunities to recall dreams. The first time I tried it I dreamt that I was about to perform on stage in a band, but I needed to pee. As I walked to the toilet in my dream I woke up. This highlighted another potential benefit of this method, needing to pee could be a dream sign. Now I plan to do a reality test whenever I go to the toilet. Having woken to take a pee, you also have another opportunity to practise the MILD techniques as you fall back to sleep. If I wake up after only a couple of hours, I also drink more water to have another waking.
Using the combination of these techniques I have gone from hardly ever recalling my dreams to recalling at least 1 most nights. I will continue using the techniques and see if the effectiveness drops off over time. I will record these and any other techniques I find useful in my article on improving dream recall.
Monday, 28 July 2008
Monday, 14 July 2008
A week off
Last week wasn't the most productive as far as improving my lucid dreaming abilities. The week started off with my girlfriend being ill and ended with me catching her bug. Both these events led to late nights, irregular sleep and some nights with no sleep at all.
At least I can confirm that poor sleep doesn't help lucid dreams. Saying that, I did have one lucid dream experience. I was having a rough night, slipping in and out of sleep, then I found myself in a state of sleep paralysis. There were no images, but I was totally surrounded by a pure white light and I had the sensation of spinning around and falling. I knew I was in my bed dreaming, but this didn't feel like a good experience so I tried to bring myself out of it. My girlfriend was fast asleep beside me, so I tried to talk to her from within my dream saying, "Kelly, can you wake me up!!". I have no idea whether I only said this in my dream or out loud. After I woke myself up I regretted not putting up with the sickening sensations. I promised myself that next time I will continue and try to gain control of the dream. I think that would have been difficult though.
I am still not sleeping well at the moment and feel quite rough. So, whether I like it or not last week was a week off my lucid dreaming training and next week may not be a good one either.
On a brighter note I complete my first major milestones on my lucid dreaming website, www.iAmLucidDreaming.com. We now have a working lucid clock to help with reality checks, an online dream journal and a dream to do list to plan what we do when we become lucid.
At least I can confirm that poor sleep doesn't help lucid dreams. Saying that, I did have one lucid dream experience. I was having a rough night, slipping in and out of sleep, then I found myself in a state of sleep paralysis. There were no images, but I was totally surrounded by a pure white light and I had the sensation of spinning around and falling. I knew I was in my bed dreaming, but this didn't feel like a good experience so I tried to bring myself out of it. My girlfriend was fast asleep beside me, so I tried to talk to her from within my dream saying, "Kelly, can you wake me up!!". I have no idea whether I only said this in my dream or out loud. After I woke myself up I regretted not putting up with the sickening sensations. I promised myself that next time I will continue and try to gain control of the dream. I think that would have been difficult though.
I am still not sleeping well at the moment and feel quite rough. So, whether I like it or not last week was a week off my lucid dreaming training and next week may not be a good one either.
On a brighter note I complete my first major milestones on my lucid dreaming website, www.iAmLucidDreaming.com. We now have a working lucid clock to help with reality checks, an online dream journal and a dream to do list to plan what we do when we become lucid.
Monday, 7 July 2008
2nd Week Lucid Dream Attempts
Wake Back To Bed Method
I used the WBTB method most days last week in my attempts to induce Dream Initiated Lucid Dreams. On one occasion I couldn't get back to sleep which is the worst case scenario. Due to this potential problem I have only been getting up for short periods and for a couple of mornings I stayed in bed and tried to recall my dreams for about 5 minutes before drifting off back to sleep. I only had one lucid dream and this was on an occasion when I got up for about 10 minutes. My sleep pattern has not been regular enough this week either. I need to get that back in check and then risk getting out of bed when using this method.
Sunny Summer Mornings
All my recent lucid dreams have been very short and have felt unstable. I noticed that the walls have been giving off a shimmering light. We have wooden vertical blinds in our bedroom and these let a lot of light in to the room in the morning. I suspect that the bright light on my eyelids is resulting in the shimmering light in my lucid dreams, which may be the reason why they are so unstable and short. To test this I have ordered a sleep mask that states it will block out 100% light. When this arrives I also plan to use ear plugs to mute any other distractions. I will be interested to see how this partial sensory deprivation will affect my dreams and lucid dreaming. I hope the sleep mask comes soon.
Caffeine or Coincidence?
I have only been drinking decaf coffee and tea for months and I hardly ever eat chocolate so my caffeine intake should be pretty low. One night this week my girlfriend convinced me that green tea does not contain caffeine so I had a cup together with half a bar of dark chocolate. That night my mind was a whirlwind, I was also distracted by thoughts of work too. I knew my mind wasn't anywhere close to being in a state to have lucid dreams. Was this all due to the caffeine?
Dream Recall
I did manage to recall a few dreams this week which is an improvement, but this is an area I need to work on much more.
Conclusions for the second week
If you have any tips or would like to discuss lucid dreaming come and chat with me at my website: www.iAmLucidDreaming.com
You may have noticed I have a gadget on my blog which links to other lucid dreaming blogs. If you fancy documenting your efforts as I am doing please add your blog to the gadget too. Click here for more details.
I used the WBTB method most days last week in my attempts to induce Dream Initiated Lucid Dreams. On one occasion I couldn't get back to sleep which is the worst case scenario. Due to this potential problem I have only been getting up for short periods and for a couple of mornings I stayed in bed and tried to recall my dreams for about 5 minutes before drifting off back to sleep. I only had one lucid dream and this was on an occasion when I got up for about 10 minutes. My sleep pattern has not been regular enough this week either. I need to get that back in check and then risk getting out of bed when using this method.
Sunny Summer Mornings
All my recent lucid dreams have been very short and have felt unstable. I noticed that the walls have been giving off a shimmering light. We have wooden vertical blinds in our bedroom and these let a lot of light in to the room in the morning. I suspect that the bright light on my eyelids is resulting in the shimmering light in my lucid dreams, which may be the reason why they are so unstable and short. To test this I have ordered a sleep mask that states it will block out 100% light. When this arrives I also plan to use ear plugs to mute any other distractions. I will be interested to see how this partial sensory deprivation will affect my dreams and lucid dreaming. I hope the sleep mask comes soon.
Caffeine or Coincidence?
I have only been drinking decaf coffee and tea for months and I hardly ever eat chocolate so my caffeine intake should be pretty low. One night this week my girlfriend convinced me that green tea does not contain caffeine so I had a cup together with half a bar of dark chocolate. That night my mind was a whirlwind, I was also distracted by thoughts of work too. I knew my mind wasn't anywhere close to being in a state to have lucid dreams. Was this all due to the caffeine?
Dream Recall
I did manage to recall a few dreams this week which is an improvement, but this is an area I need to work on much more.
Conclusions for the second week
- My sleep pattern was less regular which may have reduced the effectiveness of the WBTB method.
- I do need to get our of bed when using the WBTB method.
- Bright light may be having a negative effect.
- Caffeine is bad especially when your body isn't used to it.
If you have any tips or would like to discuss lucid dreaming come and chat with me at my website: www.iAmLucidDreaming.com
You may have noticed I have a gadget on my blog which links to other lucid dreaming blogs. If you fancy documenting your efforts as I am doing please add your blog to the gadget too. Click here for more details.
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