More Progress! My First Conscious "Is This a Dream?&quo

[oilfieldpilot]

OK, so this should probably go into the LD section, but I usually post here and this is some progress for me

First things first though; Give credit where credit is due!
More thanks to both Maj Tom AND Frank!
You both have been sooooo instrumental in MY progress...I read the posts and do a lot of cut/paste into Word to build my own Info library. Keep up the great work and THANK You for your selfless dedication to this site!!! Y'all are the BEST!

LATEST ACHIEVEMENTS:
I have been focusing more on LD and trying to get to that magical point where I finally do a RC in my dream. I have always been a vivid dreamer and good at recall, but Never controlled them. Like my OBE and AP, they are all spontaneous, and happen in spurts, then stop (like now)
But I keep up the faith and practice, and DON'T let it get me bummed out...that is only counter productive! (easier SAID than Done...right Andali???!)

Anyway:
I achieved my "first" step towards a controlled LD the night before last!  
Here it is in a nutshell:
I had been pondering the HOW's of How the hell am I going to ask myself IN my dream if I am dreaming. I have been doing a tons of reality checks daily...as I just incorporate that into normal daily flying operations (not too good to daydream while flying these eggbeaters!)
SO, I dreamed that I took off from a ship and was airborne, about 400'. Then I realized "hey, something is not right..." I remembered (while in dream) that I had started my helicopter and suddenly I was flying.....hmmmmm what is wrong here?
Then I realized, Oh $#IT!...I did NOT do any proper start-up procedures! I had literally jumped in the machine like it was a car and driven (flown) off.
It dawned on me that I had NOT turned on the generator, nor done anything else that you HAVE to do in order to launch safely and successfully.

THEN I said...."Hey, wait a minute (as lightbulb goes off in head)  
and I ASKED the question "Is This a Dream?"
And sure enough, it was as though "IT" was caught...I felt the feeling as though I had ruined the game, prematurely told the punchline, etc. "Hey, she knows now, so we can't keep screwing with her anymore, at least not in this dream!"

I felt bodily sensations and the dreamscape dissolved.
I tried to contain my excitement, but did not do anything to keep the dream going (rub hands, do math problems, spin, etc). But that is OK, I just wanted to confirm what I was experiencing!

OK, that is all.

Cool huh?
OK, just needed some validation and continued encouragement...I ADMIT!!!

Happy Trails and Hang Lucid!

AK
OFP
SkyChicken

[Ben K]

Haha thats great progress. I just recently had my first phasing/ld experiance myself. I was laying down practicing, then after awhile i found myself riding either in a cab or driving it. I remember going lucid and then i tried to fly out the car but the scene dissolved and i felt sort of shocked

The thing is im pretty sure it was an LD because it seemed dream-like, and i cant remember it at all.

How long have you been practicing? Ive beeng trying to phase basically every night before i go to sleep for about 2 weeks. Sometimes i will drift off into sleep, but sometimes i will have some weird sensations or visuals or something and feel really drained and just make a conscious decision to sleep.

Anyway keep up the progress, and keep us updated  

[catmeow]

Hi oilfieldpilot

I felt bodily sensations and the dreamscape dissolved. I tried to contain my excitement, but did not do anything to keep the dream going (rub hands, do math problems, spin, etc). But that is OK, I just wanted to confirm what I was experiencing!

I find that this happens to me too, the dream scenery fades and I feel myself back in bed.  However, for me at least this is rarely the end of the matter.  At this point, for me at least I can invariably go through some sort of exit procedure and get back into the LD/OBE (whatever you want to call it).  So maybe you could give this a try too.  It takes a little skill to keep yourself in the MABA state as you wake from the LD, but it's worth the effort, because you will probably find yourself returning back to the LD quite easily with a little practice!  

catmeow

[Frank]

Hi:

What gives me a lot of consistency is I know when my body is most receptive to this kind of work. It's after I've been sleeping for about 6 hours. I'll wake up, have a pee, drift off for about half an hour then come awake, but not completely. My mind will be awake but my body will be in a dreamy kind of relaxed state.

By now I know exactly how the state feels so I work on achieving that state first. If I'm a little too sleepy, then I'll have a little sleep for, maybe, another 15 mins and see how I feel then. It sounds a bit convoluted but I've done it so long I tend to just fall into it most mornings.

Once these conditions come about, I start looking within and going through some kind of basic mental rundown. Within about 10 minutes I make "the switch". Sometimes it can take a little longer, sometimes shorter. But the key, for me, is to get into that preparatory state first. Because that's what makes it "easy" for me. I can do it other ways, I've even done it whilst sitting in a semi-darkened room with other people around in a kind of "joint sitting" as I think it's called. Which felt a bit weird the first time I did it but the same principles apply.

But I find it easiest doing it following sleep. So I tend to just concentrate on the way I find it easiest.

Of course, to make this work you have to get into a little routine of going to bed at a certain time, sleeping for x-number of hours, then finding that naturally relaxed state. If you try when you are too tired, you'll tend to fall asleep, and if you are too awake then you'll have difficulty making the switch. But if you can get it just right (or thereabouts) then the switch should come fairly easily.

In a sense you can think about it as falling asleep but not quite. You let your body fall back to sleep but your conscious faculties remain entirely under your control. In which case you will find yourself fully awake and alert, but you will be focused within F2 of consciousness instead of Focus 1 (the physical).

Yours,
Frank

[oilfieldpilot]

Hi Ben, Cat & Frank,
Thanks for all the info and continued encouragement!

I need to keep absorbing all the info and just see what works best for me too. I keep reminding myself "Effortless Intention" and Trust that things will happen and I will progress.

My real 'problem' and I try not to claim it as a problem, is insomnia. I do feel that insomnia is more related to the day/night routine our society forces upon us. In my case, I have been up before dawn (farmlife and now flying sunup to sundown) and to bed when the chickens go to roost.

I have Always had spontaneous, verrrry vivid LD's and oobs throughout life. I just never knew what they were and went along for the ride. But just last Feb did a string of these experiences allow me to take control and do many things. However, they were still all induced spontaneously. Now that I know what one can do, I am trying to learn to do them consciously...and that is challenging.

Since my recent little 'accomplishment', the last 2 nights have been total blackouts (or as TMI calls them Click-outs). These are verrrry rare for me. But I don't allow myself to get frustrated.

I have had some good chuckles however the last 2 days flying; I had a solid 8 hrs in flt today with about 20 launches from platforms. Each time I made SURE I wasn't dreaming   and double checked Everything in the systems!!! HAhahaha!

Thanks again, and good luck with your travels too! Maybe someday we can meet in the dreamworld or elsewhere;-)
We don't need no stinkin' helicopter to go Fly!!!

-ofp