Post your dreams

[Mirror Image]

Just some stupid thing they do after you take a week vacation- they make everyone work 7-10 days straight. Schedules are random and hours depend on the season, but the standard being off 2 days a week is pretty much how each week goes, besides that.

That stinks man. My days off are always Mondays and Tuesdays and I work Wed-Sun. Not bad. Coming up, not this weekend, but next weekend, I'll be off Sat-Tues. It's going to be sweet.

[ibanezmonster]

Set schedules can be nice. Another good thing about set schedules is that usually you don't have to experience close-opens.

My 8 days I guess wasn't too bad in comparison to others, who have had 9 or 10 days straight, and they are close to full-time (mine were 7 5-hour days and 1 4-hour day). One of the girls told me after she worked 9 days straight, she felt like murdering everyone (and she is about as happy-go-lucky as you can get). I also heard that another guy (who pretty much has nearly the same personality- always happy and joking around) worked 10 days straight, and on the 10th day he got so mad that he threw his phone against the wall.

Anyone who says that consuming your whole life with work is good for you is either completely stupid or assumes that everyone who doesn't work would spend all of their free time on the couch, eating Cheetos and watching TV.

[Mirror Image]

Set schedules can be nice. Another good thing about set schedules is that usually you don't have to experience close-opens.

My 8 days I guess wasn't too bad in comparison to others, who have had 9 or 10 days straight, and they are close to full-time (mine were 7 5-hour days and 1 4-hour day). One of the girls told me after she worked 9 days straight, she felt like murdering everyone (and she is about as happy-go-lucky as you can get). I also heard that another guy (who pretty much has nearly the same personality- always happy and joking around) worked 10 days straight, and on the 10th day he got so mad that he threw his phone against the wall.

Anyone who says that consuming your whole life with work is good for you is either completely stupid or assumes that everyone who doesn't work would spend all of their free time on the couch, eating Cheetos and watching TV.

Yes, set schedules are very nice. With a set schedule you can plan something on your days off. One thing about my schedule is I only work the closing shift 1 pm - 9 pm. I don't have to worry about getting up early and like you said those close/open shifts. I hate those because you never get enough rest and you can't relax.

If work consumes an entire person's life, then I think this quite unfortunate, but no matter what I'm doing, I just try to enjoy myself.

[ibanezmonster]

Had another lucid dream last night, but for some reason it was only like I was half-aware of it.

It was pretty awesome, because it was one of those flying dreams- I was on the ground, looked up to the sky, and knew I couldn't get hurt if I fell, so I just calmly lifted myself straight up into the sky. That's my only clear memory of the dream right now, but I think I flew to some gigantic nest in a tree or something.

It is a fantastic feeling, being able to fly. 


This seems to be the most effective technique to induce LD- I have to be in the mood to do so first. Then, I read about it in the LD forums online for about 30 minutes. Then, I close my eyes to sleep, but persistently focus on the hypnagogic images (even if it takes longer to fall asleep this way) until I black out. A little bit later, when the REM cycle starts, it's easy to "catch" it. All you do is follow your images again and you get the clarity. Sometimes you discover sleep paralysis along with it (being aware of your sleeping body, yet not being able to move it). My technique is similar to others, but not 100% the same... I won't make up a name for it for now, because there are already so many techniques (WILD, WBTB, MILD, DEILD, VILD, ADA, etc.)

[ibanezmonster]

Another LD...
this one being like the opposite of the last one. During the last one, I was vaguely aware I was dreaming, but had full control.
During this one, I had excellent clarity (the only similarity), but no control.

If I tried to picture anything, it would come out distorted, and I couldn't even move. Then, the dream started dying and while blacking out, I tried to maintain awareness so I could slip into the next dream. I succeeded somewhat... After a few seconds of blackness while trying to keep my mind from falling asleep or waking up, I experienced some sleep paralysis- it felt like my whole body was being lit up by static electricity for a few seconds, and I heard some strange noises. I think I went into another dream, but at that point, I was somewhat waking up because I could hear noises from the living room and couldn't completely fall back asleep.

This is all a pretty common experience, especially for those who haven't completely mastered the technique. But this time, I'm well on my way towards that, especially compared to before. 

[ibanezmonster]

I had another auditory hallucination while half-waking up- my dad calling my name once.
And a dream about a childhood friend I hadn't seen in years visiting... that'll never happen. 

But I did have a bit more success getting somewhat lucid in a dream or two. I was somewhat aware I was dreaming and tried to control things, but imagery wasn't sharp enough. It's weird how I have more success at becoming lucid using my own technique instead of using a dream journal (though I bet that would help).

The trick for clarity and dream recall is to take some form of vitamin B6. Bananas and cheddar cheese are supposed to be the best before bed, so I'll have to try that.

[ibanezmonster]

I just took a little bit of NO-Xplode and worked out, and I actually noticed a difference. Even before then, I noticed a bit of tingling, which is supposed to happen because of the beta alanine. Also has some B6 in it. 

Well, let's see how this B6 thing goes. I bought 100 tablets (100 mg each) and will try 50 mg tonight. 

[Sandra]

Amazing that I stopped having nightmares after watching a few scary A&E murderer stories, and a few horror movies 5 year ago.

Anyone had a similar experience of nightmares disappearing forever after opening yourself up to some horror-movie experience?

[ibanezmonster]

Amazing that I stopped having nightmares after watching a few scary A&E murderer stories, and a few horror movies 5 year ago.

Anyone had a similar experience of nightmares disappearing forever after opening yourself up to some horror-movie experience?

That sounds weird, but probably not considering how dreams often work- less shock value, less dreams, maybe.



I guess 50mg wasn't enough for a very noticeable effect (dreams were just slightly clearer than normal). I'll try 100mg tonight- hopefully that'll be enough. 200mg is supposed to work even better, but it's really not a good idea to take more than that at one time.

[Sandra]

less shock value, less dreams, maybe.

Yep! I think that's it.

When you watch Jeff Duhmer speak - so eloquently and clearly... you're thinking maybe serial killers aren't that bad after all. 

But, seriously, I do think that realizing that some humans are simply disadvantaged and have criminal impulses somehow makes life less terrifying. You just learn how to deal with those you love and trust and how to (safely) tolerate more anti-social people. Statistics look pretty good too. Turns out that evil people are pretty rare.   

[ibanezmonster]

Yeah, probably some of them have criminal impulses, mixed with a lack of conscience. Not a good combination. 


Okay, 100 mg of b6 last night... it worked in a way similar to what I expected, but not completely.
When people say "clearer dreams," I think they mean that if it is not a lucid dream, then, it will get as clear as can be for a non-LD. The clearest a non-LD can get is basically movie-quality. The clearest a LD can get is actually being there-quality.

I took nearly 2 hours to fall asleep (hopefully not because of the pill). I had an "epic" dream about seeing a space shuttle launch in the distance (I live in Florida, so this used to be a common sighting), but it fell back to the ground and crashed. The explosion was so large that it took out the city it was in, and the explosion came like a tidal wave up to where I was, and I and everyone around me had to climb up a building to not be in danger.

(possibly influenced by the video game I was playing last night)... 

[ibanezmonster]

Okay, I think I will only be trying this b6 thing every now and then (or when I eventually get consistent at lucid dreaming). The side effects outweigh the benefits right now.

I took two pills last night (total: 200mg), which is a near-guaranteed effect, but also the maximum safest amount you can take. Yet again, falling asleep was unusually difficult. It makes you alert and concentrated, which is not good for falling asleep.

The real side effect is that, yet again, it gave me a bad dream. This time, I was driving with my friend's roommate and crashed full speed, head-on, into a semi (then I woke up). Even while falling asleep, my mind when to some strange, but similar, thoughts. I rarely get nightmares...

Both of these are known possible side effects... I'll just keep the pills in handy down the road, but for now, no. 

[ibanezmonster]

It's been about 3 weeks since I had a lucid dream...   
but, I did become lucid last night. 

I became aware I was lucid, and then, for fun, looked into the mirror to see how accurately it portrayed me. At first, it was pretty good, but after a couple of seconds, it started distorting my image more and more, into strange shapes, and then the dream started fading.

If I can figure out the way to get lucid every time I tried, then I will worry about the next step- maintaining awareness, clarity, and being able to actually impose my will on the dream without ruining it.

For now, I'll have to keep on trying to unlock the "code" (and I think the method is slightly different for each person). What I did differently was 1) to give up "expecting" a lucid dream; 2) took an unexpected nap for an hour or two during the early evening, so I couldn't fall asleep for about 2 hours later than I normally fall asleep; 3) while trying to fall asleep, played the game of catching every step of the way of falling asleep (catching when your thoughts break down into illogic, images become sharper, etc.). This is exactly how I became lucid during my last try 3 weeks ago.

[ibanezmonster]

No lucids on the 2nd or 3rd, but one last night. However, it was so short I hardly remember anything from it.

I was reading this thread:
http://www.dreamviews.com/f12/possibly-key-lucid-dreaming-114161/

and tried this completely new technique last night. He joking refers to it as "BILD" (Belief-induced lucid dream).

It's simple: tell yourself you lucid dream all the time, and it's normal. Don't even try to convince yourself, just accept it as fact whether it is reality or not, and it will become true.

The only reason why I decided to do this is because of the overwhelming success rate of the people posting in the thread compared to the people posting in other threads trying the standard techniques.

There may be something to this- that's similar to how I learned to play guitar so quickly. I started with difficult stuff and had no doubt in my mind that I'd be able to play it soon, and it became true. It has nothing to do with talent or innate skill.

[ibanezmonster]

Getting closer...

That last trick worked the first night, but nothing the next two nights. It works excellent for some, not at all for others.

Last night, I just focused on and read about lucid dreaming for an hour before bed. I thought about it intensely as I fell asleep, trying to hold my concentration and excitement that I just knew I was going to do it every second I remained awake.

Sure enough, I realized I was in a dream after I blacked out. Except the dream sucked and I had no control, and was so close to waking up that I decided just to wake up.

But... that's not the point. The point is to get step one down to where I can become lucid, say, at least 5 out 7 nights of the week and then focus on step 2 (controlling LDs). I'm going to try the technique I used last night and see if that actually works consistently.

[ibanezmonster]

Getting even closer... 

I thought about getting a LD strongly before bed, but I was thinking about other things, so I wasn't surprised when, at first, I didn't become lucid. I woke up at 8 (slept ~7 1/2 hours), thought about it, but went back to sleep without even really trying to become lucid.

So then, I found myself standing at the side of the road in an area next to half-dead trees with dead leaves on the ground and power lines. I realized I was dreaming. As soon as I did, I was able to make everything so clear that it felt real, or extremely close to real. But at the moment, I wasn't really interested in making things realistic, so I tried to test my skills by summoning an anime character. Well, that completely failed, the dream became distorted, and I woke up.

What I should try is doing the same method, but setting my watch alarm to wake myself up about 5-6 hours into sleep. That's pretty much the optimal time for dreaming- because of REM cycles, dreams are longest and most vivid during that time.

[ibanezmonster]

Nothing significant this week to write about for two reasons- 1) haven't been trying enough; 2) not many dreams anywhere near vivid, and during the few dreams I've had, I thought they were just thoughts.

To get more vivid dreams, cheese, bananas, and V8 is recommended. Maybe tonight I'll try that B6 again... hopefully I won't get a nightmare from it again. 

Also, I have a theory of why I've had some success with my technique when I actually try hard enough (my technique is to think about realizing I'm dreaming intensely before I fall asleep)- it's just like remembering something. You can write notes all you want, but how do you remember to read those notes? The only way to really remember something is to stress it in your mind as EXTREMELY important, and it will just come to you "in waves" without any effort. Likewise, when I'm dreaming, to remember to realize it is a dream.

[ibanezmonster]

That vitamin B6 is some crazy stuff! 

Tried 150mg last night, and had long, crazy dreams. The first half was almost nightmarish, but the second half was just wild and silly.
I don't remember many details- but one excerpt: I was on a "theme park ride" which involved holding onto a whale which dived underwater and then came back up and tossed me into the sky. Then, I had to land on a giant pink ball at the edge of an island.

The only thing is: why didn't I become aware that I was dreaming?! WTF?   (maybe i'm at a point where I can only succeed by not trying...) 

[ibanezmonster]

After 2 weeks of virtually no lucid dreams, I finally had one last night (it was wonderful). 

What I did was go on the DreamViews forum and research more of the various lucid induction techniques, and read about what various people did for success, etc. I had no distractions at all, and complete focus on the topic.

My conclusion is that the only way to lucid dream is for my subconscious mind to be in the mood for lucid dreaming. How I will be able to do this consistently, every night, will be a challenge to figure out. 

[Szykneij]

That vitamin B6 is some crazy stuff! 

Tried 150mg last night, and had long, crazy dreams. The first half was almost nightmarish, but the second half was just wild and silly.
I don't remember many details- but one excerpt: I was on a "theme park ride" which involved holding onto a whale which dived underwater and then came back up and tossed me into the sky. Then, I had to land on a giant pink ball at the edge of an island.

The only thing is: why didn't I become aware that I was dreaming?! WTF?   (maybe i'm at a point where I can only succeed by not trying...) 

Greg, I think it's a very good thing there are likely no opium dens in your neighborhood.