LucidCats LucidDreams

[LucidCat]

Hi LucidCat and all,

Just thought it might be worth sharing this, I've recently found out that pinching my nose can be a powerful reality check, maybe because if you pinch your nose in your dream there's hardly a way (if at all possible) that your brain would actually be tricked stop the body from breathing. Checking my hands has failed several times, even while dreaming, but trying to block your breath will always work while you're awake and probably never work while you're asleep. Of course you'll have to pinch your nose many times during the day, hoping that nobody notices...

Good luck and keep it up!

Hey T-GR - thank you for your input. I do like a dozen different reality checks, depending on the situation. The nose pinch is one of them but as you already stated - I only do that when I'm not in public. So far it hasn't crept into my dreams. For some reason I don't believe it's fail proof either. Some time ago I read a post in this forum where one of the members wrote that it didn't work.
I think it's the same with every reality check - it all depends on your expectations - if you're able to trick your mind into believing that it'll work - it will work.
Recently I have read something about these experiments in the 70s, when they successfully tried to prove the existence of lucid dreaming. One very known test was that a lucid dreamer would move the eyeball in a specific pattern while being in a lucid dream. In another one they were advised to stop breathing intentfully - and yes, they could stop breathing while they were lucid dreaming. I don't know if that applies also to the unaware dream state.
That being said - it might indeed a reality check that is harder to fail on - and I think it won't harm if I do it more.

[LucidCat]

And it happened again.
To give you an overview: I'm still dream journalling, doing reality checks/questioning quite frequently, I try to meditate on a regular basis (but not enough to be honest), and I try to have some mindful moments every day. Still taking DMAE and choline.
What's new: I started working out (at least 3 time per week)... I also use a sleep-mask every now and then.

On Sunday I worked out in the afternoon, went to bed fairly early. I had a rush of motivation, and I set my alarm to wake up after 6 hours in order to attempt some WBTB/MILD thingy.... I was wearing the mask, too.


9th Lucid Dream on April 16th, 2018

I woke up with my alarm and wrote down the dream I just had, which took me about 20 minutes, went to the bathroom and got back to bed.
There I was first of all relaxing my muscles, then visualizing the scenes and details from the dream before.

Then I did something stupid - I changed my mind and wanted to get a WILD - so kept myself awake being in sleep paralysis and meditating/observing hypnagogia... but I was trying too hard even though I told myself to not pressure myself.
(I should have known. Most of my WILDs happened uninentionally, and the one time I succeeded on purpose I didn't really give a damn if it worked or not - and that's why it worked.)

Finally, I gave up on trying, changed my position several times and finally fell asleep.
I was dreaming normally first, until I got to following dream scene:

I am in the living room, watching my real life cat named Bazi sleeping in the armchair, as he usually does. He's not alone. There's another quite similar cat entangled with him, as if they are cuddling. I'm thinking: "Oh, we got a friend for Bazi, great." Suddenly Bazi wakes up and is not amused about the other one - he starts hissing and fighting it aggressively. The other cat is clearly intimidated and backing off. Its fur is slowly turning blue. I'm trying to think about how to get the cats to like each other - and suddenly I'm walking through a bright huge building with big windows and white walls. Quite minimalistic. It's like I'm looking for help there to solve the problem when it occurs to me that -

"Oh, wait a second... that other cat turned blue. There's no such thing as blue cats. This cannot be real. This is a dream!"
When realizing, my movements get slowed down, like in slow-motion and I'm feeling a little dizzy and overwhelmed. I quickly recollect myself though, while walking around aimlessly, trying to think of what to do.
First I start exploring my surroundings a little, I touch the wall, look out of the big window (it was a little blurry out there). But I soon I get bored with that and decide to jump down the staircase - just like that. I did, and I was sailing down very slowly.
I'm again at the top of some stairs which are leading down into a huge, bright entrance hall. Some DC's are walking upstairs, one looking like one of my co-workers and I feel a little shy about talking to them. I'm walking downstairs, still wondering what to do next. The entrance hall reminds of a hotel, and there is something like a reception/information check-point in the middle of it. "Alright", I think, "I can ask for help there". As I approach I remember one thing I always wanted to try in a lucid dream: horseback riding. So I have a plan. There's one DC still getting information from the receptionist and then it's my turn.
I look at the dude behind the counter... he's middle-aged with dark grey hair and a very serious expression on his face. He wears a black apron over a white shirt.
I say: "Hello..."
He says: "You have to be aware that this is a dream, not reality" (so dead-serious... hehe)
I reply: "I am aware of that. I'd like to go horseback riding."

Not a split-second later I find myself floating on my back through some kind of greyish void.
I think: "This isn't quite what I wanted. I gotta change something"
And I manage to get into a vertical position - which results in myself sitting on a horse that is galloping like crazy down a road in my home place. I look down and see that it's actually quite a small pony, with chestnut colored fur, and my legs are almost sliding on the ground. I get to slow down the pace a little and literally feel the typical gallop rhythm through my body and I adapt to the movement easily.
(I did horseback riding as a kid, and it's far away from being that easy, but it felt quite authentic anyway)
I ride like two times around a barn.

At some point I fall out of lucidity and keep dreaming other crazy stuff. All of this took maybe about 5-10 minutes (at least it felt like that) and I think it's the longest lucid dream I've had so far.

[LDer Charles]

Hi LucidCat! Thanks for continuing to post new LD stories. I just went back through and caught up on them. Very enjoyable to read. Thanks!

[jimmy]

Hey Jimmy! Those similarities are quite funny, indeed. Generally, I'm super game for some exchange of experiences. However, I think you deserve having your own thread where you share your own personal experiences - it would simply easier to keep good overview for both of us and for everybody else who reads along. Then we can comment on each other's posts without getting stuff too mixed up. At least that's my opinion - what do you think?

Good idea - will get on to that over the next few days and drop you a message when it's up and going

[LucidCat]

Hi LucidCat! Thanks for continuing to post new LD stories. I just went back through and caught up on them. Very enjoyable to read. Thanks!

I'm glad you enjoy them - thanks

[LucidCat]

Good idea - will get on to that over the next few days and drop you a message when it's up and going

I'm really looking forward to it - and curious as well.

[jimmy]

Hey,

So I finally got off my butt and started a thread, it's called "my LD experiences" - would love to hear your thoughts if you have the time

[LucidCat]

Hey,

So I finally got off my butt and started a thread, it's called "my LD experiences" - would love to hear your thoughts if you have the time

Awesome! I will take my time during the weekend!

[LucidCat]

Yesterday was Saturday, and I did quite a few things. As always, I wrote my DJ in the morning, did 20+ RC's (as mindful as I could), then I did some physically exhausting garden work, meditated in the afternoon;
New things:
I'm currently trying to reduce my caffeine consumption.
And I've got myself another notebook last week, to write down the things I read in articles or books, I hear from youtubers and so on... and I wrote down quite some stuff yesterday.
I got motivated to attempt WBTB+MILD again. Here's what happened:

10th Lucid Dream on Sunday, 22nd April, 2018
I went to bed 15 minutes before midnight (too late actually) - set my alarm at 4:30 am (which was maybe too early).
When I woke up I first did a reality check. My dream recall wasn't quite as good as usual, but I wrote down 'something' at least. Then I went to the bathroom, then downstairs to drink something. After 15 minutes I was in bed again, making it all comfortable, looked at the Lucid Cat for a while to calm my mind down, put on the sleep mask and went to sleep.

While trying to fall asleep I repeated the affirmation: "Tonight I will realize I'm dreaming" over and over in my head.
I also tried to visualize a dream, where I simply walk around in a random town.
All this thinking kept me awake pretty long, and then I decided to let it go so I could fall asleep better.
First I was having some unaware dream stuff going on that I'm almost completely oblivious of. Maybe it was about me looking for something but I'm not quite sure.

I find myself in a half-dark, window-less industrial looking building which feels like it is underground. There is some diffuse orangey light shining, the source of it unknown. The walls look like half made of concrete, half made of steel. Just out of the blue, without even checking reality, I know that I'm dreaming.
It is a little blurry first, so I rub my hand together and it gets clearer. As I don't know what else to do in such a weird place I start moving - I'm floating, not walking (which was not a conscious choice I made). As I float through the hallways, doors, staircases I get faster and faster without intending it. At some point it is so fast that everything around me becomes just a blur. It feels like that greyish void again from my last lucid dream. Finally I lose awareness.


As far as I remember I had a false awakening after that. I forgot to check reality after waking up, and I even went to work in the dream.
My dream recall really sucked today but overall I'm happy that the technique itself worked.

Tomorrow I don't have to wake up that early, so I'll give it another shot. I'll change a few things in my approach:
1. I'll go to bed earlier
2. Set my alarm after 6 hours
3. I'll add a dream recall improving affirmation

Any other suggestions on what I could change in order to improve my WBTB/MILD approach?

[LucidCat]

The next one happened this morning.
I don't do anything much different than usual - my reality checks have become less frequent but more mindful.
(I usually add now the questions: "Where am I in space?" "What am I doing?" "Where have I been before?" and really think about the answers.)
My dream recall has been quite decent in the last days, even though I had skipped the supplements.
The last days, my long distance boyfriend was here again, and in the morning I woke up several times and fell asleep again. Each time before falling asleep I repeated "I will realize I'm dreaming" in my head. So I'd say - the following counts as a MILD.

11th Lucid Dream on May 1st, 2018
It starts as one of my usual work related stress dreams. It's Wednesday at around noon - and I'm at the grocery store when I remember that I should have been at an appointment with a patient at 10:45 (an appointment that I do have in real life). I leave my cart where it is and start running... while doing so I realize I'm not gonna make it, that my patient has been waiting in vain and I'm even late for the next one in line.
Suddenly, I find myself overthinking the whole situation, I notice that something is strange but I cannot tell what. While thinking - the surroundings change and I find myself inside of a cosy, bright house on the top of some wooden stairs.

Then I get it. "Stuff like that never happens to me in real life - but it often happens in dreams. I'll do a reality check."
I successfully push my right index finger through my left palm. I'm dreaming!

In the same moment my dream starts losing stability: the colors desaturate, they dissolve into pixels until I only see tiny black triangles on an orange ground.
I'm still feeling my dream body though and I rub my hands together in order to regain control. While doing that it feels like I'm slowly falling. Suddenly I land in a children's bedroom that has just materialized.
There are two beds with colorful sheets, with Micky Mouse and Ladybird patterns on them. Everything is made of wood. There's a huge window that shows me that the house is placed somewhere in nature. On the other side of the room there's a big shelf - and my Lucid Cat is placed on one of the boards. It reminds me one more time I am dreaming. I caress it with one finger (it feels the same way as in real life) and say "Hello, Lucid Cat!" like talking to an old friend.
Again, the scene changes and I feel like I'm slipping down into the basement of the house.
The basement is made of wood panels and it feels like a stable. On a bed of hay there's a creature, about the size of big cat. It reminds me of a wombat and I caress it for a moment. Then I see a human-like woman's head which looks like it's roughly made of greyish clay. It's talking some gibberish. A co-worker of mine explains to me something about the creature while I'm slowly losing lucidity.

I woke up soon after that.