Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Temple >

Lucid Dreaming and Journals

21:45 / 03.02.02

A few days ago I read somewhere that if one kept a dream journal long enough, your dream would become lucid. Now I've tried this before but every time I set out my notebook and pencil and went to sleep, nothing. It was like I didn't dream, I usually at least have a faint inkling of what I did dream the night before. Is there anyway I can get around this? I've already tried the voice recorder route and still didn't remember anything. It's like I don't want to remember my dreams clearly.

10:16 / 04.02.02

It entirely depends on the way in which you aproach journalling. The idea is that by constantly recording and interpreting what you remember, you become familiar withthe way in which your unconscious constructs your dreams - in effect, you'll become aware of the semiotics and be more likely to recognise that you're dreaming within the dream.

Of course, none of that is helpful if you can't remember your dreams. How much sleep do you get each night? The average person has their longest phase of REM sleep just before they naturally awake at the end of a full eight hours (it varies a bit from person to person). This lasts up to 45 minutes, so it is most likely that you'd remember something after an uninterrupted night's sleep. Alternatively, you could try setting your alarm for a few hours after you go to sleep (experimenting wih the times) and you might catch yourself in the first REM phase.

How much intent are you focusing on this? It may be that you're trying too hard. Our unconsious likes it if we're playful with our intent, rather than gritted-teeth, shit a brick, Glengarry/Glenross style focussed. You might have more success if you ease off the reigns.

I hope this is helpful. There's other techniques you can try - I'll post again when I'm not trying to order books at lunchtime at cybercafe at work!

10:17 / 04.02.02

set an alarm 15-30 mins before you intend to wake. Wake stop alarm and them go back to sleep, it is in this re-etsablished sleeping that much lucid dreaming occurs. Then awake and you should be able to write it all down.
Or eat lots of strong cheese before bedtime, gets the second brain (stomach) working.

10:24 / 04.02.02

There is also a phenomenon called Wake Induced Lucid Dreams (usually abbreviated to WILDs). I've had some success with this, usually from waking when my alarm goes off (after about 6 1/2, 7 hours of sleep), then dozing off with my intent focussed lightly in my mind. There have been a few flashes of images while I'm hypnogogic, and these merge into a more flowing lucid dream once I'm fully asleep.

Apparently it's more difficult for most people to work it this way: my recommendation is to keep trying, but without getting frustrated. These skills can be difficult to develop and may not be gained overnight (bad joke).

18:48 / 04.02.02

To help you remember your dreams, don't move when you first wake up. Lay absolutely still and try to focus on one image/sound/object that you remember. As you do this, links to other images/sounds/objects will form and you'll remember a lot more.
Sounds weird, I know, but it does work.

And don't worry about remembering every exact detail of your dreams. Start out small. Just write a few key words if you can remember anything at all. In time, you'll remember more and will eventually begin to Lucid dream.

I should know as I've been keeping a Dream Journal since about last August! And yeah, I have had a few Lucid dreams!

Nietzsch E. Coyote

00:02 / 05.02.02

I've had some success with the wilds (mentioned above) but I have the same trouble with the record. Try making a habit of asking yourself if you are dreaming during the day. Eventually you will ask while dreaming.

If you do wake up inside the dream force yourself to wake up early. When you wake yourself up you usually remember.

00:26 / 05.02.02

On this subject, someone might be able to help me. Sometimes when I dream, I know I'm dreaming. And sometimes I try to wake up because I want to come out of it - I never can and I get really scared because I'm trapped in my own dream.

Any suggestions on how to get out of these kinds of dreams?

15:14 / 05.02.02

I'm stumped on your question, Indigo. I'm not sure if you'll find an easy answer: mastering control of your dreams enough to wake up at will may be a skill that takes a while to learn.

Here's a link to an forum that specifically discusses dream phenomena. I'm guessing there's someone on there who will be able to point you in the right direction.

I wouldn't hang round there much longer after you get your answer - the forum's shite for conversation.

17:19 / 05.02.02

This might be an easy question.

It's just that you didn;t explain what you mean by "wake up".

Did you suddenly come out of sleepiness and reach for the journal?

Or did you wake up slowly, taking your time,etc..?

Cuz if you did the latter then you skipped the point where you remember your dreams.

The whole point of journal keeping is not lucid dreaming but remembering more and more of your dreams. Thus, as you become more familiar with your dreams you become more proficient inthe dreamworld. In other words, you'll eventually start to realize that you're dreaming (speaking from experience, it seems that one realizes that s/he's dreaming not from an unusual event in the dream but to being accustomed to how dreaming "feels" like. You become familiar with that state of mind.)

So the problem that you have might be that you don't realize that you're awake until the feeling of early morning sleepiness passes.

If you wake up with an alarm clock then write down what you remember, if anything, the moment you reach for the clock to turn off your alarm.

One more question, for how long did you keep a journal by your bedside? A week? A month?

18:11 / 05.02.02

Um - by wake up I mean come back to consciousness. Scares the shit out of me when I can't do that when I know I'm in a dream.

I alway keep my diary by my bed (it goes where I do) and have done for years (on and off, to be fair). haven't remembered many dreams lately though...

01:48 / 06.02.02

Boring educational side note: Moving around in bed during sleep modifies your dreams. Depending on which side you're laying on at the time, your dream will be centered around that part/side of the brain.

So, as Warewullf said, it's wise not to move around too much if you wish to remember/continue your dreams after you wake up for the first time.

It also explains why dreams take on weird turns during the night when our body rolls itself over to avoid bed sores.

*nod* Here ends the mundane lesson