Day 7

Guess what!? Today I had a (brief) lucid dream during one of the naps! And dreams = REM. *grin* In addition, I didn't oversleep either. Even though from a normal perspective I accomplished nothing today, I feel like I've had a breakthrough.

So yeah. My main goal for today was not to oversleep. And I did it by the skin of my teeth. Today in the wee hours of the morning I felt tired and kept nodding off, but since I was sitting up I didn't actually fall asleep. I was watching some Death Note to stay awake until the next nap. I threw in an extra nap too, which was a little risky, but luckily I woke up after 20 minutes.

I must admit, I didn't feel so well today. Aside from the mental happiness of following the schedule. Physically I was a bum today, but that's alright, it's summer. =P
Also my parents are gone for the next few days, so that made me really happy. I guess did feel pretty good after all. I was tired though, at least in the morning.

The evening naps were the most exciting parts about today. They all went well. I was definitely sound asleep in the one. Feeling more fatigued than normal, I was wise to turn up my alarm. I needed it to wake me up from the sleep, not just tell me the 20 minutes were over. The last nap was the best of all because I had a coherent dream. What's more, I remember it, and I was even lucid for a moment! What fun! =) My body wanted to sleep more, but the alarm was able to wake me up again. After a few minutes I felt awake again and just to be random, I ordered a pizza and went to pick it up. (The road right after the mall and before the bridge on Lackawanna Avenue is closed by the way. *grumble* )

The Dream
Here's what happened. I remember being in my car having to back up. I wasn't really watching where I was going, and I just missed hitting a car. Then I just kept going in reverse, but even faster. I could see numerous cars on the road out the front window as I passed by the going backwards. How in the world haven't I hit anything? I thought to myself. Because you're dreaming of course! Cool! I'm surprised I didn't get nervous after becoming lucid because it's been while since it's happened. So to test it out, I decided I didn't want to go backwards anymore. The car started moving forwards down the street. I came up to a building and didn't really know what to do, so I just let the events play out. Nothing much happened, one minute I was outside the wall, the next I was on the other side. Should that have smashed? I thought. I looked at the other side of the building that was approaching and this time the car smashed through it splintering the wood and making a crashing noise. I was okay, even though I was standing on the roof of the car now, or maybe standing with my head out the sunroof. I tried to pass through the wall of the next building without damaging it. It worked! I passed though it easy, as if it turned into something viscous for the second I contacted it. I was psyched and for some reason I wanted to try and pull myself through the roof of the building head first. I tried but it didn't work. It felt like a blanket over my head. (Wasn't sleeping with a blanket btw) Then I woke up, or at least I thought I did. It could have been a false awakening. Looking back on it I can't tell for sure, but I know the 20 minutes weren't up at this point.

There was also a shorter non-lucid dream after that one. Basically I was over a friends house with my beloved laptop. I went away for awhile and when I came back my friend's mom came over to say hi. For some reason porn kept, subtly, popping up. Odd places like the menu bars of Firefox had tiny pornographic images on them. I tried to close the programs but there was always more. I had a feeling this was happening because of another person who had been near my computer when I left momentarily.

I would like to mention that I was watching The Matrix right before the last nap. Great movie. I forgot how similar being in the Matrix is to being in a lucid dream. Well I started to nod off when Neo was getting ready to go save Morpheus, that's when I realized it was time to take a nap. Perhaps the concept of questioning reality had helped me realize I was dreaming. My advice to people who want lucid dreams: watch The Matrix. =)

Results from Day 7
Adherence to schedule: 10/10 - Yay for me. I added two extra naps, but I'm not counting that against the schedule during adaptation. I shouldn't want any extra naps afterwards.

Mental awareness: 7/10 - Drove through Scranton after a nap, needed to take a detour, still got my pizza home safely. The rest of the day was pretty much mentally inactive haha.

Physical energy: 5/10 - Lazy day. I felt tired during the morning, but the fatigue wore off eventually. Still didn't do much of anything.

I don't even want to talk about Productivity today. =P

Comments: I would like to point out the inverse relationship between adherence and awareness/energy. In all honesty I didn't feel terrific today (aside from the fact I have the house to myself until Friday, whooo!). However, I do feel like I have made a lot of progress since I was able to go fully asleep very quickly as well as dream. Dreaming is the best thing because it means I got some valuable REM sleep. I'd also like to mention that I mostly slept on a couch upstairs. It's just about as comfortable as my bed, but I think it's better for napping since I connect the idea of prolonged sleep with my bed. Couches just seem to be better suited for a quick nap.