Messages

Ah, thanks. I hadn't considered how affirmations could have those effects. The one I used seemed pretty simple: "When I fall asleep tonight, I will maintain lucidity." That's it. And it apparently had some kind of profound effect, just not the one I would have expected.

I appreciate the advice, and I will take a look at that PDF that Kurt linked.

I'm able to recall a few "scenes" from my dream(s) last night, so it seems as though this was just some kind of fluctuation that was either induced by the affirmation, or was something happening on a subtler level.

My ears were ringing on and off all day yesterday, so it may have been coincidental that they rang when I tried to recall that night's dream states. It's also pretty odd for my ears to do that, but I guess all I can say now is that I'm glad it's gone and I don't appear to have tinnitus or something :p

I'd be interested in hearing it. The best explanation I've been able to find so far points to either a traumatic dream that my conscious mind has blocked me from recalling, or being out of REM phase for a substantial amount of time before waking, or not even having any REM phase at all. But all of those would be quite unusual for me. I cannot remember the last time I woke up naturally (as opposed to an alarm clock or other such external disturbance) and had zero recollection of my dream states. There is always at least a glimpse of something.

Normally, I have rather vivid (although not lucid) dreams, and vivid dream recall. This is thanks in part to the St. John's Wort I take for therapeutic reasons, and the melatonin I take as a sleep aid. I can tell you about the dreams I had on the three previous nights, despite never having written anything down about them. I can visualize parts of those dreams quite clearly in my mind's eye, as easily as I can recall a waking memory.

I have been attempting OBEs for several days now, using the techniques described in one of William Buhlman's books. I have attempted OBEs before going to sleep, after waking up in the morning, and in the middle of the day. Tonight, for the second night in a row, I attempted to induce a lucid dream through written, spoken, and "mentalized" affirmation. It did not work, and when I woke up this morning, I could remember nothing of my dream(s) that night. Not even a shred. I understand how waking unexpectedly versus naturally can affect recall, but I woke up naturally. For me, this is like blacking out. It's like knowing that I've been *somewhere* for several hours, but not remembering. Furthermore, whenever I try to remember what I dreamed about, my right ear starts ringing.

I searched around on Google and could not find any precedent for this phenomenon. It's the worst dream recall I have ever had. Can anyone shed light on this? Thanks.