You probably all hate me for saying this, but I kind of miss my insomnia. I really like the feeling it gives me, it’s like a natural/free high and I’m a big pot smoker but have been completely broke for ages. But I’m also a really really lazy person and the only time I get any inspiration to do anything is in the middle of the night when I’m really tired.
I just wish it was easier to control. Sure I can make myself stay up all night without much problem, but that’s likely to spiral out of control and mess my sleeping patterns right up and may cause a relapse into the massive bouts of insomnia I’m prone to.
Also whenever I try WBTB, it is nearly impossible to go back to sleep and actually is impossible to go back to sleep if I’m intent on lucid dreaming.(or intent on anything for that matter) Usually the only way I can get back to sleep is to find a boring movie or tv program that isn’t so boring that i choose to ignore it completely. And this never seems to result in any lucid dreams.
From what I’ve read WBTB is supposed to be the most efficient lucidity inducer but if i can’t get back to sleep it’s not gonna help much. Anyone have any suggestions? Maybe try it earlier? How early is too early to be in REM sleep?
if you have trouble going back to sleep, it would probably be best to keep the period you are awake during WBTB as short as possible. Some just wake up with an alarm and then go back to sleep right away…
I find you have to experiment heavily with the # of hours you sleep, when trying WBTB. For me, four hours of sleep simply doesn’t work…I wake up too much and have difficulty going back to sleep. I am definitely one of those who does better in life on 4 hours than 6 hours of sleep, so, if I set my alarm for 5 hours, I wake up far groggier than 4…and stand a good chance of going lucid if I sit up in bed for 10 minutes, turn on the light, get a drink of water, and then fall back asleep. Which is easy to do because I’m so groggy.
Then I set the alarm for forty-five minutes later…almost never fails as far as producing an intense dream, if not lucid. However, I would add that this method has produced some of the most frustrating “dream interrupted” moments I’ve had. Don’t know why this would be.
Also I’ve had good results for LD with trying a 45 minute nap during the day, when I’m feeling just a little tired. If I’m exhausted, this doesn’t work. But 45 minutes of light sleep at about 2 or 3 pm has given me some of my most intense lucid experiences.
Also, timing music to go off about twenty minutes before your alarm in the morning can have some good results. The key is finding the volume, and the gentleness (ie. probably jazz or ambient) that will enter your mind but not wake you.
Last thing: when quite tired in the afternoon, drink a cup of coffee, then fall asleep. This can have some good results.
The key is not to think about trying to sleep. If you keep thinking thoughts like, “I just gotta get to sleep or I’ll be useless tomorrow”, you’ll only stress yourself out. It’s actually good to let your thoughts wander when you’re tired because you’ll often wander right to sleep.
Odds are though, if you can’t sleep you just aren’t tired physically. You said after school you are exhuasted, well it’s probably just your mind is exhausted and your body feels the same way. I get that same thing after work. The best home-grown, Bona-fide way to solve that issue is as simple as it is challenging: exercise! I always, whether I feel like it or not, go for a mile walk after work. It not only eases my worktime stresses but also effectively uses up my excess energy. Motivation is the only problem with this, so you’re just going to have to force youself to get to it. It’s well worth it in the end, and I can fall asleep with no drugs or intoxicants in roughly a half hour almost every night because I don’t have the day’s stresses hanging over me and I am physically exhausted.
ok, just wondering, I had a case of not-sleeping until 7 in the morning the other day, then i had an LD, then last night I didn’t sleep again. (which was annoying, as I have an Arctic Monkeys tonight, and i go back to school tommorow)
I’m like that to, I feel like I get more done after midnight than during the rest of the day. I think part of the reason is that there’s nobody else awake to distract you. It’s also a lot easier to get to sleep after staying up until 2:30 doing your English homework.
I’ve been couping with an increasing number of sleepless nights due to insomnia. I seem to find some relief in Tylenol PM but I think I might be borderline addicted to it, and it’s not the placebo effect, I tested it. I can barely stand these summer days spent idle, in fact going back to college in August will be a godsend. It’s just the lack of brainwork, I need to have something to work on you know? I’ve had to go to a larger library since I read almost all of the books in the science section since the summer began…I just don’t know what it is, I think I need a quiet vacation. My favorite retreat is Camden/Rockport, Maine.
I don’t usually have insomnia problems, except for occasional nights when I wake up at 2-ish and don’t fall back asleep for hours and hours on end. However, I do have trouble falling back asleep if I awaken when there’s light in the sky. Even with the shades totally closed, I can tell if there’s light outside and the sun being up makes it difficult to fall asleep again. I suppose it’s mostly psychological. I’ve always had a hard time taking naps for the same reason. Any suggestions?
I searched for Kava at wikipedia and I must say, it sounds fantastic! I’ve been having trouble sleeping a lot and use melatonin and warm milk, but I still have trouble sleeping. This kava herbal tea thingy sounds like just the thing I need!
Normally, when I sleep in my bedroom it takes me about 2 hrs to fall asleep but as soon as I change environment (i.e. sleep on couch, in a hotel, at a friend’s place) it cuts it down to about 10min.
I expereince the same exact thing. Now normally it doesnt take me 2 hours, but the prinipal of taking less time to fall asleep when somwhere else still holds true for me. To be honest i have no idea why this is. Never really thought about it…
I bought some today. I had a cup earlier, and am drinking a cup right now before bed. The taste isn’t that good, but it is relaxing and makes me tired. I’ll post again tommorow to tell you if it affected my dream recall (which has been bad lately) or anything like that.