Question about 99 days

I have a few questions for Allison. I think you mentioned in another post that at the beginning of your lucid dreaming pursuits that you attempted to LD for 99 days in a row without much success. Were you trying the same technique every night? If so…what was it? Did you go right to having 1 or 2 lucid dreams per week after the 99 days?
What has helped you the most in becoming a consistent and accomplished lucid dreamer?
I have been working on having lucid dreams for many years…but have only had a small handful. Would love to hear more about your journey.

Kindly,

Bob

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Hi @Bob44, Nice to meet you!

You’re right, I mentioned 99 days to lucidity in my post about supplements, specifically on my experiences with Galantamine.

For clarity, I did have lucid dreams during those days, but ONLY with the support of Galantamine. Using it was a fantastic crutch to give me a sense of what is possible. I ultimately decided to stop using it until I could achieve and sustain lucidity over time without it.

//

Now for your questions:

Q.) Were you trying the same technique every night? If so…what was it?

A.) Every night, I was (and still am) practicing Wake Back to Bed - waking up around 5:00, meditating or reading about dreaming for 10 - 20 minutes and going back to sleep.

I have always liked Andrew’s 21 breaths meditation so I will count 21 long deep breathes and then visualize a red lotus (or red circle on occasion) in my throat center which I learned from his book. I do this practice while focusing on hypnogogic imagery when I get back into bed nearly every night to this day.

I was also (and still) do a dedicated nighttime ritual. The activities of it change, but I always take at least 30 minutes to wind down, practice a short meditation, read quietly, dim the lights, maybe take a bath… avoiding any screen time.

And then at the point of sleep, repeating my intentions: I will remember my dreams, I will be aware that I am dreaming, etc, and watching hypnogogic imagery before drifting off to sleep.

I pretty much do all of that every night consistently. I also have triggers during the day to ask myself if this is a dream. The repetition during the day naturally carries into dream.

//

Q.) Did you go right to having 1 or 2 lucid dreams per week after the 99 days?

A.) No, it built over time. It was happening more frequently but they were “lower level” - quality and duration also matters. I’d say I was having a lucid dream every two weeks after the “first” but of lower quality. That continued on for several months before I noticed the quality and duration improving. Today, I have lucid dreams a few times a week, many strong, some weak. I can feel myself getting better, but I don’t pressure myself. I enjoy Galantamine now if I have a specific goal/intention that I want to work on or if it’s something like a Super Blood Wolf Full Moon Eclipse that just feels kind of special.

I think it’s important to remember that lucid dreaming is a skill and it takes practice. How much practice you put in is how much you’ll get out. Balance is also critical so I think it’s about finding what’s best for any individual. For me, rigor and consistency combined with lightness, humor and wonder was (and is) key. People probably find it hard to be both rigorous and relaxed about it, but that’s been my approach. Another way of saying it is, “put in the work, but don’t take it too seriously.”

All of that being said, I do the practices daily and nightly. I love it. But… Sometimes I don’t feel like it, and so I don’t. If it feels like too much work, then it’s not enjoyable. And if I am stressed about it for some reason, that’s a key sign that I need to pause for a moment.

//

Q.) What has helped you the most in becoming a consistent and accomplished lucid dreamer?

A.) Never forgetting the basics. Dream Recall is the number one skill to build. Lucidity will naturally come after. When I first started, I was not remembering my dreams at all. Today, I’m often recalling 5-7 regularly… and in great detail. It all comes from finding your special way of writing them down as soon as they happen. You have to love that part. I write them ALL down. I think that’s hard for people.

Others: Not worrying about results, and just being surprised and delighted by what happens. Doing the practices everyday, putting in the work, and data. I really love data so I try to keep track of as many details as I can and keep records to find patterns, trends, and insights. I’m likely unique in the amount of data I collect.

//

I have been working on having lucid dreams for many years…but have only had a small handful.

I’ve had spontaneous lucid dreams all of my life. I had deep interests in dreaming but could never really get it off the ground. I think the crutch of Galantamine in my early “restarting” days (last June) really helped bolster my confidence in what is possible. It was a gift for me.

But I was also very patient, approached things with lightness, and understood that this is a path… I was able to take a child-like approach to my journey and was thankfully resistant to being rushed. (Though I think Galantamine really helped me in this way, because I was able to experience the possibilities early on and say, I need to train for this without the performance enhancers…).

While at the same time, to this day, I frequently have hazy, murky, low-level lucid dreams, plenty of non-lucid dreams, and whole a lot of dreams that are simply, utterly mundane. Sometimes I have no dream recall and will panic for a hot second about how it’s lost! Of course, it’s never lost and I have a good laugh about it.

All this to underscore that time, patience, and the most positive expectation framework that’s right for you will go a long way… at least it did for me. There is no comparison to others, only to what you did yesterday.

It will take quite a while to become an advanced pianist. It’s very different when you first start, to a week, a month, a year… 10 years… 40 years! Think about that! It’s the same with dream practice to me.

Always happy to answer any and all questions!

// Allison //

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@Bob44 I’d also love to hear about your experiences! What practices are in your toolkit? Where have you found your successes?

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Hi Allison,

Thank you so much for the detailed and thoughtful responses to my questions.
I find your ld progression very inspiring. From my perspective, you are blessed to be able to see hypnogogic imagery both while falling asleep and during wbtb. Have you been able to see/observe hynogogic imagery since your youth?
I really like that you do wbtb every day even though many ld teachers don’t recommend doing so.
I know that the amount of sleep before wbtb various from person to person but I am curious as what works best for you. You have a set time that you wake up every morning…so you must have a set bedtime as well. What time do you go to sleep and how long do you sleep in on the back end of wbtb?

I had a powerful ld about 30 years ago. Still very much figuring out how to ld with any kind of consistency. That being said…wbtb always increases the chances of something happening even if it’s just an increase in vividness. I have found that doing some energy work while lying in bed…circulating/gathering energy etc often increases the depth and overall quality of my dreams.
I sometimes do another practice that I call walking the path. I lay down in bed, imagine that I am dreaming…get up and walk a path around my home…stopping at various points…observing carefully.
I return to my bed and then replay/visualize everything I just did. When I do this practice consistently I usually experience an increase in…I’ll just call it explorations in consciousness…I have had several experiences that might be labeled out of body experiences or they might be lucid dreams that simply start from me becoming aware of my energy body while I am lying in bed. I am not concerned about which one I might be experiencing.
Thanks again for your willingness to answer questions and share from your experiences.

Bob

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Hi @Bob44 - All great points. I think it’s so helpful to share different ways that everyone approaches this space and this is my humble way that seems to work for me. On the one hand, I feel that I have made good progress since I first started, on the other hand, I still very very much at the start if I think about a lifetime of practice.

//

Have you been able to see/observe hypnogogic imagery since your youth?

I never really thought about if before when I was young. In fact, I only started to understand what it was when I started this dedicated focus. I ignored it as nothing interesting before. I only sometimes have full hallucination “glimpses” of things and scenes. It’s mostly waves of color bands. Lately I have been seeing some symbols that look like an ancient language, which has been quite fascinating!

//

I really like that you do wbtb every day even though many ld teachers don’t recommend doing so.

I’m training myself to naturally wake up at the end of sleep cycles. It doesn’t always work, but I am getting better at consistently waking up without an alarm at nearly the same time(ish) throughout the night.

Overall, I like to approach all of my practices on a “path of least disruption” - that means adapting a series of practices that I can do in smaller ways every day and night without disrupting my life or disturbing my partner. For me, I think it’s better to practice small, light amounts daily than to do one big “disruption” every once in a while. I guess you could say I do micro WBTB every day and micro state checks and micro journaling… etc and so on… Now it feels much more integrated into my life and that’s what I’m going for.

//

What time do you go to sleep and how long do you sleep in on the back end of wbtb?

I don’t think people talk about this enough! Sleep hygiene is so so important and I am precious about sleep. I typically go to bed between 10:30 and 11:45 though my ideal time seems to be around 10:45 - 11:00 for an optimal night of dreaming. I fall asleep fairly quickly. I also wear an eye mask and ear plugs.

I wake up in the morning between 7:30 and 8:30, though it a little longer on weekends to really fish out as much REM as I can. I am lucky to start work later so that I able to keep this kind of sleep schedule regularly. My sleep is non-negotiable and I aim to get 8.5 hours. Not realistic for everyone, I can understand.

I wake up naturally through the night, though it usually starts around 3:00ish. Sometimes 1:00ish. Most often 5:30ish. In early sleep that is intended to be for deep restorative sleep, I just get up for a moment, try to fish out any dreams I might have been during those really short REM periods (sometimes I can pull them out, often not early on) and go back to sleep. I won’t start “true” WBTB practices like meditations, or breath work or visualizations until the later stages, cycle 4-5 around the 5:30ish timeframe and my awake time during this point of the night is usually 15-20 total minutes with out of bed time around 10 minutes.

All of this has increased my overall sleep quality. I often wake up feeling good, refreshed and don’t feel tired throughout the day. I know there’s a perception that these practices will make you feel tired and that you’re not getting enough sleep. I’ve found it to be the opposite for me. Galantamine nights are different though!

//

Still very much figuring out how to ld with any kind of consistency.

I hear you! I think the “micro path of least disruption” is the best way to me for consistency. It’s got the long-term view in my mind.

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I sometimes do another practice that I call walking the path.

I’ve heard a few other similar stories from people practicing these kinds of specific visualization of them doing something specific or being somewhere specific. This seems like a really fantastic approach! I’m absolutely going to bring this thinking into my practices.

//

I have had several experiences that might be labeled out of body experiences

Yes. Likewise. I call them OBE Lucid Dreams that start with me almost peeling up out of my body in what appears to be my actual waking bedroom and then goes from there. They feel different to be sure - and are more esoteric so more challenging to categorize. It’s very interesting and exciting to me to continue expanding the definitions of what these experiences are and how we can all create an evolved common language about them.

What else can I share??

// Allison //

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Thanks again for your willingness to answer my questions and share from your experiences.

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Of course! If you implement any new practices in your routines, do share!

Great to hear about your night time routine @Allison and @Bob44

I’m trying to work out what’s best for me so interesting to hear what other people do. I totally agree about sleep hygiene and now try to go to bed around 10.30, read for an hour with only a red light on. I also meditate and visualise a red lotus in my throat as I fall asleep and mentally tell myself to remember my dreams.

I now naturally wake up at 1, 3 and 5 but am finding it super difficult to get up and record my dreams. I’m convinced I’ll remember them in the morning and obviously forget most of them if I haven’t written them down! I’ve also had great success with WILDs but most of the time feel too attached to the soft cosy world of sleepiness to get up and practice them. Any tips on motivation to write down a dream whilst feeling sleepy?

In the morning I try to do 45mins breath attention meditation.

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I use an app on my Apple watch, Just Press Record, to audio record details of a dream when I wake up, and then go back to bed. This helps me to remember my dream and recall details when i get up and can sit quietly and write them down.

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